Tennessee schools remove Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan and more popular manga titles amid new state law

Tennessee schools have removed numerous manga titles from libraries following updates to state obscenity laws.

Two district schools in Tenessee have removed many popular manga titles such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan among other books from the school libraries in the past two months. Meanwhile, other schools are still debating on ways to adhere to a new state law introduced this year to limit the books in school libraries.

Recent updates to Tennessee's 'Age-Appropriate Materials Act' led to the removal of numerous manga titles from school libraries. (@Jujutsu_Kaisen_/X, @AttackOnTitanEN/X)

Manga titles removed from Tenessee school libraries

On July 1, 2024, the Tennessee state legislature made updates to a law called the "Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022." These changes expanded what is considered "obscene" or inappropriate for certain age groups.

It stated that any material “containing nudity or describes or depicts sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse" prohibits certain materials that appeal to the "prurient interest." This means content that is overly focused on sexual or inappropriate themes.

On November 11, 150 titles were discarded from the Rutherford County Schools’s libraries after they were flagged by board member Frances Rosales. In addition, the first eight volumes of Yūsei Matsui's Assassination Classroom manga and volume 1 of Atsushi Ōkubo's Fire Force, among other titles, are still under review, as reported by Anime News Network.

Caleb Tidwell, another member of the board, stated that these titles contained sexually explicit content according to the school board policy and state obscenity laws. One of his supporters said that they contained “pornographic material” during a board meeting in September.

The removal of titles followed a previous list of banned books by Tidwell in February which contained 35 book titles which were not part of the district’s curriculum but were available in the school libraries. Within 60 days, the district has to review the books and decide if they are to be returned to other libraries or banned permanently.

Meanwhile, Wilson County Schools, another district school in Tenessee, listed over 400 title sit removed from school libraries on October 24.

These titles include Case Closed, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Bungo Stray Dogs, Fist of the North Star, The Tempest Manga Shakespeare, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes (Volumes 1 and 3), Vampire Knight, Parasyte (Volumes 1-8), Rosario+, Attack on Titan (all volumes and subseries), Tokyo, Ghoul, The Promised Neverland, Blue Exorcist, Durarara!! (Volume 2), Bloom Into You, Soul Eater, Akira, The Seven Deadly Sins, Inuyasha, Black Butler, Hunter X Hunter, Alice 19th, Air Gear.

Recent manga bans in the US

In North Carolina, all copies of Unico: Awakening, which was sold at the Scholastic Book Fairs at Richmond County Schools in late November, are under review. In November 2023, Assassination Classroom was pulled from Horry County, SC, after a complaint about violence and animal abuse.

Similar actions were taken in Florida and Wisconsin. In August 2023, Sasaki and Miyano, a boys-love manga, was banned in Brevard, FL, due to concerns over its depiction of sexual orientation. Additionally, Utah banned 13 books statewide, including non-manga, citing concerns over pornographic or indecent material.