Jesse McCann, a writer, read the recent story about the Dragon Ball manga being pulled from the Maryland school disctict library shelves (see "Libraries Ban 'Dragon Ball'") and had this to say:

The news that the Wicomico County, Maryland school officials have removed all copies of the Dragon Ball manga series from high school library shelves in the district saddens me.  I wrote a couple of activity books about Dragon Ball for Scholastic Books a few years ago, so I’m familiar with the source material.  While I don’t know what parts specifically upset the school district, when they say it was the pages depicting "nudity and some sexual allusions," I have a pretty good idea.  Goku, the hero of the Dragon Ball series, is a little boy in these early Dragon Ball volumes.  He does get a glimpse of his leading lady naked a few times. Goku’s elderly master is an expert fighter, and also a sexual pervert.

The instances that upset the Wicomico County (ironic name) officials are most likely looked at by the Japanese as humorous and innocent.  Yes, they look at an elderly pervert as a harmless, foolish and funny character.  They look at young Goku’s budding sexuality as a source of humor.  Meanwhile, officials like Councilman Joe Holloway are disgusted by these instances.  So much so, elementary, middle and even high school students no longer have access to these Young Adult-Rated books in the libraries.  So sad.  This not only illustrates the differences between cultures of the world, but of those in the United States, too.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.