Two years ago, in the year 2023, I wrote an article about the Assassination Classroom manga getting banned from public school libraries in the states of Florida and Wisconsin. The ban was partly related to the ongoing book bans enacted not only in the state of Florida, but many other states nationwide. It was an unfortunate event that truly exposed the corruption of political elite ideology from both sides.
Now, it seems like things are about to change. For now… According to a recent report from Niche Gamer, an Obama appointed federal judge in Florida by the name of Carlos Mendoza, has overturned a law that was used to ban Assassination Classroom and other famous anime and manga titles by conservative groups. So, what just happened, exactly?
As I stated before, the article that I previously wrote talked about the 2022 and 2023 laws signed in to Florida during those years. The bill, aimed to demand schools to remove books containing obscene material also gave the empowerment of any resident in Florida, regardless of county, to demand any remaining titles removal from the libraries. During that year, Florida, alongside Wisconsin, saw the use of the law to ban Assassination Classroom in the Gifford Middle School Library at Indian River County. Since then, there’s been a massive domino effect of many manga books being removed from public school counties in other states. It also enacted a new timeline of similar cases involving the censorship of anime and manga, such as the one that happened in North Carolina, and then another in Texas. Notably, this trend started in late 2024 by conservative activists affiliated with the Moms For Liberty movement.
The state of Florida has found itself recently in a tug of war on regards to should be available and not. In other words, the state has become ground zero for what’s considered moral and unmoral related to entertainment. Ranging from social media bans, to age verification for pornography, and media deemed suitable or unsuitable. Earlier a month ago, Florida was one of the states that lost direct services from Denpasoft due to its enforcement of age verification. Similiarly, Texas’s bill that I covered earlier has taken into effect since yesterday. The situation remained so dire, that JAST VEXPO 15 was banned from attending San Japan of Texas due to being too proactive.
Regardless of the outcome. For once, its refreshing to hear good news. Especially after back to back negative updates about the current state of anime and manga’s fight against censorship. Also, I would recommend reading or watching Assassination Classroom. That series is a classic, and you will LOVE it to bits. A good story, amazing characters, an interesting concept, emotional themes, and so much more. Not to mention Koro sensei’s rise to prominence and becoming a phenomenal character among all anime and manga fans.
The whole point is to remind everyone, no matter how much you disagree with someone’s work, censorship is never the solution. Especially when it’s over a brilliant masterpiece like Assassination Classroom. The shocking thing is, what it’s being accused of, isn’t even like that at all. Also, I do believe that common sense and good parenting is important for children to know what’s right and wrong. I mean… Come on… I knew this already when I was young and would witness fiction like Death Note… I knew what entertainment and fiction were, and I knew that fiction and non-fiction were separated. Sadly, all of this stems through ignorance. That’s why it’s our job as otaku to educate those ignorant of anime and manga.
As expected, governor Ron DeSantis has to appeal the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. It will be interesting to see how things will turn out. Who knows? Knowing the supreme court conservative majority, one can at least hope that the tides will favor us, right? (Saying this with 100% non-political neutrality.)
Sources: Niche Gamer
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