A massive new report from ၂၀၂၆ has officially ranked the most banned manga in America.
According to a report by ၂၀၂၆ PEN America, the ban on manga in U.S. schools set an all-time record; Texas and Florida took the lead, targeting Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul, and other titles.
A new report from PEN America reveals that popular manga in the United States is being pulled out of public school libraries during a record-breaking year for school book bans. PEN America's latest Index of School Book Bans ၂၀၂၅ - ၂၀၂၆ listed books ၁၁၉၈၂ banned during the academic year, the highest number annually since the organization began tracking restrictions in ၂၀၂၁.
The report listed Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul and Dragon Ball Z as the series that were affected. Texas led the country in record bans,၈၁၉၃ followed by Florida.၃၂၁၂ Authors who have been most impacted include Atsushi Ohkubo, creator of Soul Eater; Hajime Isayama, author of Assault; and Rumiko Takahashi, creators of Inuyasha, Japan's largest manga publisher.AI
Major manga titles removed from school libraries
The outstanding manga series identified in PEN America's latest report include Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul, Soul Eater, Inuyasha, Assassination Classroom and Dragon Ball Z. Other affected works are Ohkubo's Fire Force and Takahashi's Ranma 1/2.
The original text also mentions Square Enix and visual samples from Shueisha and Kodansha, references the Super Saiyan 2 Gohan construction aura in Dragon Ball Z and Eren in Attack on Titan.
Three Japanese filmmakers on top of most banned list
Based on PEN America's total creator rating, the three Japanese artists are among the top 10 most banned authors in the United States during the academic year.
Atsushi Ohkubo had 106 bans, including Soul Eater and Fire Force.
Hajime Isayama was banned 89 times for Attack on Titan.
Rumiko Takahashi had 63 obstacles, including Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2.
The report also states that Tokyo Ghoul and Attack on Titan Volume 34 is the final installment of Isayama's manga,၈၁၉၃၃၂၁၂ which appeared in PEN America's index for the first time during the academic year. Ohkubo and Isayami specifically noted that further works by the same creator were targeted, with PEN America banning one book due to what it called "the Scarlet Letter effect".
Violence, sexuality and mature content shape the challenges.
The reasons for banning individual characters vary, but many of the series that have impacted include violence, sexual content or mature themes. Victim has been known to vividly depict death and violence in addition to war, discrimination and political extremism. Tokyo Ghoul follows a college student who becomes a hybrid between anthropomorphic and ghouls through a storyline involving cannibalism, graphic violence, and psychological trauma.
Other affected manga have different concerns. Soul Eater combines supernatural combat with occasional sexual imagery, while Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2 feature varying degrees of nudity, romantic situations, and gender-neutral themes. Dragon Ball Z has been popular among young anime fans for years but often features fighting, injury, and death.
Visual storytelling is what makes manga so special.
PEN America argues that manga is especially vulnerable to censorship because of its visual storytelling. The organization has highlighted a practice called "context stripping", in which individual manga panels depicting violence, sexuality or gender identity are used to label the entire work as inappropriate without consideration of the surrounding context.
State legislative and regulatory pressure has led to an increase in bans.
As the banning of manga books is gaining popularity among young people in the United States, such restrictions are increasing.
In Texas, Senate Bill 13, which passed in 2010,၂၀၂၅ set new restrictions on what content is considered "inappropriate" or "obscene" in school library materials. The report also noted the growing use of artificial intelligence to remove books, with some countiesAI using tools to identify inappropriately titled material. At PEN America, these tools have found instances where other counties and districts recommended removing books that had been banned as a result, creating an increasingly widespread circle of restrictions.
Schools narrowed, retail outlets remained open
Despite the scale of the ban, affected manga can still be purchased from bookstores and retailers in the United States. The restrictions have impacted access to books at public schools more than a nationwide ban; however, with over names ၄၅၀၀ appearing on PEN America's list for the first time this year, the organization warns that increasing restrictions could further hinder students' access to popular literature including some of Japan's most important manga franchises.
Practical diversity is important to readers.
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The list also states that participants must be 18+/19+ depending on the jurisdiction.