Although Yusei Matsui had a stellar year with his latest manga adaptation of The Indescribable Samurai gaining acclaim, his previous hit, Murder ClassroomIt’s seen better days. As reported by WMBF News November 15, 2024 Horry County School District recently moved to take over Murder Classroom out of their libraries, with no possibility of challenge for five years. The request was initially made by a concerned mother of a ninth-grader who checked out the book, with the mother citing “photos of violence, weapons, and other content that she believes are inappropriate for students her daughter’s age” in the series.
Despite Murder Classroom being about its main characters killing their powerful alien teacher to save their planet, the series’ violence and other mature themes are fairly tame. The manga is well-loved by its readers and was nominated for the Best US Edition of International Material – Asia category at the 2016 Eisner Awards, indicating strong critical reception in the United States. However, the prohibition of Murder Classroom in American school libraries is just the latest in media censorship.
Murder Classroom: One of the Most Banned Manga in the United States
The instinctive reaction is understandable
Given its premise and the persistent problem of violence or shootings in U.S. schools, the reactionary stance of banning Murder Classroom It is a non-isolated incident to Horry County. Comic beat reported the series as the most banned manga in America in 2023“banned in 6 school districts, banned pending investigation in 3 school districts, and removed without formal ban in 1 district.” This puts the manga above My Hero Academia, Soul Eaterand Black Butler, the latter of which is much less harmless than Murder classroom.
Anime News Network further reported that the manga depicts “pistols, rifles, knives and potions”, as the father further stated, which led to a review by the District Reconsideration Committee. The results of the review resulted in formal removal, yet another case of schools banning the reading of content due to subject matter considered indecent or promoting violence. This puts Murder Classroom and other manga in fascinating company as an important topic in American literary sensibilities.
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Its removal will generate greater readership
The problem with requesting this removal is that can often provoke the curiosity of your readersespecially with Murder Classroom being a Shonen Jump Weekly manga; It has easy digital accessibility. But with mere references to weapons and murder despite the series being a comedy with great characters Murder Classroom prohibition is certainly a wrong decision. But it also places manga in surprising company alongside such prominent American literature as To kill a Mockingbird.
But like Erin Gruwell, the teacher behind The Freedom Writers’ Diary stated, “The best way to get a teenager to read a book is to ban it.” Given that The Freedom Writers’ Diary was also banned this year from Horry County school libraries, according to MinhaHorryNews, for being “age inappropriate,” it couldn’t be more exaggerated. As for Murder Classroomits removal will certainly not prevent it from being accessed by curious readers, calling into question what was truly achieved with this ban.
Sources: WMBF, Comic beat, Anime News Network, MyHorryNews