Another series joins the ranks of Sasaki and Miyano and Assassination Classroom on a list of banned manga titles in the United States. On November 21, The Richmond Observer reported that the Richmond County Schools in North Carolina had removed all copies of Unico: Awakening sold at Scholastic Book Fairs in the district following a complaint filed by a mother of a 6-year-old first-grade student at Mineral Springs Elementary.
The fantasy adventure series is an adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s original manga, featuring the collaborative manga of Samuel Sattin and Gurihiru. Nikki Fletcher, the mother who filed the initial complaint, reported being shocked by the graphic novel's depiction of animal abuse and gun violence. Fletcher took photos of the book's cover and one page spread, with the panels depicting a man kicking a cat and shooting a handgun at a cat.
Cameron Whitley, the district's executive director of communications, informed The Richmond Observer that the district has pulled all copies of the series from its Scholastic Book Fair events for the time being so the school board can conduct a thorough review of the contents of the manga.
“We are aware of the issue and take all parent concerns seriously,” Whitley told RO in an email last Thursday. “The book has been removed from the current Scholastic Book Fairs to allow us time to review the concern and reach out to (S)cholastic.”
Unico: Awakening is rated for ages 8-12, or grades 3-7.
Recent Manga Bans and Removals in the United States
On November 15, South Carolina moved to remove Assassination Classroom manga by Yūsei Matsui from its school libraries, following a complaint from a mother of a ninth grader at Socastee High School about the contents of the manga series, noting that numerous pages depicted "handguns, rifles, knives, and potions," and that the story "talks about killing in the pages." She also pointed out that "there's girls in lingerie hopping on top of men in the book." She also mentioned how the manga's characters discuss ways on how to kill their alien teacher. According to the policy of the district, the decision of the District Reconsideration Committee "and if applicable, the local board's review" cannot be challenged for five years.
Yūsei Matsui's manga series was also removed in the library of Gifford Middle School in eastern Florida in March 203 after various groups complained about its content. Assassination Classroom was also removed from the electronic library of Elmbrook School District in southeastern Wisconsin after a parent complained about it.
On August 27 of this year, Brevard Public Schools Board in Florida banned Volume 1 of Shō Harusono's Sasaki and Miyano boys-love manga from the district's school libraries during a board meeting. Someone in the district challenged the manga's including in the school's libraries, saying that "sexual orientation should not be encouraged, suggested, or implanted" in the youth. The complaint also pointed out concerns that the youth would be "exposed to age-inappropriate, obscene, explicit content" and that there was "no value in making homosexual books available at school."
What is Unico: Awakening about?
Scholastic, which published Samuel Sattin and Gurihiru's manga adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's Unico manga, shared a description for Unico: Awakening's story:
UNICO tells the story of a fierce young unicorn who angers the goddess Venus with his 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 Forgetfulness. Instead, the West Wind takes pity on Unico, and to protect him, brings him from era to era, constantly on the move, always forgetting where he's been before. As he works to unravel the mystery of who he is and where he comes from, he is hunted by gods and monsters, and will need to unlock his full powers to save the world. Unico is joined by a cast of characters, some of whom–like Chloe the watchcat or the mysterious Sphinx–are brave and kind, while others–like the all-powerful Venus and her servant the Night Wind–are bent on destruction.
