[Discussion] Tennessee Schools Crack Down on Manga: Hundreds of Titles Banned Under New Obscenity Laws

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Tennessee Book Ban Targets Manga in Schools

Dozens of popular manga books have been removed from the lists of approved reading in Tennessee school districts following the recent amendment to state obscenity laws.

Rutherford County Schools leads the ban, having seized more than 150 books from their libraries, including Fire Force and Assassination Classroom. Advocates of this ban argue that these manga encourage explicit content unfit for the target audience. However, these publications maintain sponsorship for young adults, negating any labeling of them as adult-oriented.

School Board members Frances Rosales and Caleb Tidwell allegedly spearheaded this campaign for book restriction, citing violent graphics and possible obscenity as key concerns.

Implementing the New Obscenity Regulation

The upheaval is due to Tennessee's recent revival of its definition of "obscenity." According to the updated laws, which are in effect, any book "containing nudity or describing or depicting sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse" can be classified as obscene. This new implementation has led to the widespread expunging of such titles from school repositories.

Multi-District Manga Clampdown

Following Rutherford County's example, Wilson County Schools has also enforced a statewide book ban. Approximately 400 books have been taken off the library shelves in this district alone. Among the affected titles are: Jujutsu Kaisen, Case Closed, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Bingo Stray Dogs, Fist of the North Star, The Tempest Manga Shakespeare, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vampire Knight, Parasyte, Rosario + Vampire, Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul, The Promised Neverland, Blue Exorcist, Durarara!!, Bloom Into You, Soul Eater, Akira, The Seven Deadly Sins, Inuyasha, Black Butler, Hunter x Hunter, Alice 19th, and Air Gear. This restriction may affect even broader districts as a 'ban-watch-list' detailing the affected books is being circulated among other schools in Tennessee.

The recent ban follows a precedent set in South Carolina, where a copy of Assassination Classroom was pulled from a library following a parent's protest that high schoolers are not mentally equipped to handle its themes. As per recent developments, the children’s manga Unico is undergoing review in North Carolina for its violent content, marking another potential notch on the belt of manga censorship.

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