Another classic manga hit by controversial US school ban

In a wave of recent book bans across the United Statesyet another series joins the ranks of Assassination Classroom And Sasaki and Miyano on a list of manga banned in the United States. The Richmond Critic newspaper, by Anime News Networkrecently published an article on Thursday, November 21 that the Richmond Country School District in North Carolina had deleted all copies of Unique: Awakening following a complaint filed by the parent of a first-grade child at one of the district’s schools. The series is an adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s original work, featuring the collaborative work of Samuel Sattin and Gurihiru.

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The mother who filed the initial complaint, Nikki Fletcher, says she was shocked by the content featured in the series and that it depicted gun violence and animal abuse. The district’s executive director of communications, Cameron Whitley, said they have removed all copies of the book at this time so the school board can conduct a thorough review of the manga’s content. The series is rated appropriate for children ages 8-12 or for grades 3-7.

(RELATED: Controversial manga banned from schools due to violent content)

Unico Awakening is far from the first manga to be hit with school-wide bans

Although it is published and marketed to a younger audience, Unique Awakening has officially been lumped in with other manga recently banned in the United States. Published by Scholastic, Unique is described as “…the story of a fierce young unicorn who angers the goddess Venus with her ability to inspire positivity and hope. Driven by jealousy, she vows to destroy him, ordering her servant, the West Wind, to abandon Unico on the Hill of Oblivion. Instead, the West Wind takes pity on Unico and, to protect him, takes him from era to era, constantly on the move, always forgetting where he was before. As he struggles to unravel the mystery of who he is and where he comes from, he is hunted by gods and monsters and will have to unleash all of his powers to save the world. Unico is joined by a group of characters, some of whom – like Chloe the guard cat or the mysterious Sphinx – are brave and kind, while others – like the all-powerful Venus and her servant the Night Wind – are determined to destruction.

Assassination Classroom had a pretty unlucky streak with American school districts, being banned in Horry County Schools in South Carolina and Gifford Middle School in eastern Florida, both removing the series from their libraries. The series was removed for the third time by the Elmbrook School District in Wisconsin, banning the book from its electronic library system.

In addition to the shonen classic, a popular love series for boys, Sasaki and Miyanowas banned by the Brevard Public School Board in Florida after a parent filed a complaint stating that “sexual orientation should not be encouraged, suggested or implanted” in fictional media.

Banning books from school libraries is risky under any circumstances, and with the recent wave of manga bans in the United States, it’s unclear what the future of the medium will look like in schools.