and word bubbles unaltered. The manga has also been licensed in other English-speaking countries, distributed in the same Viz format separating it into Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. From August 2005 to November 2007, Gollancz Manga, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group released the 16 volumes of Dragon Ball and the first four of Dragon Ball Z in the United Kingdom. Viz took over the UK license after Gollancz left the manga market. In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment has released all 16 volumes of Dragon Ball and the nine "Viz Big" volumes of Dragon Ball Z between 2009 and 2010. Controversy in the United States The manga's content has been controversial in the United States. In November 1999, Toys "R" Us removed Viz's Dragon Ball from their stores nationwide when a Dallas parent complained that the series had "borderline soft porn" after he bought them for his four-year-old son. Commenting on the issue, manga critic Susan J. Napier determined the ban as a difference in culture due to Japan having tolerance for sexuality in manga while other countries do not. After the ban, Viz reluctantly began to censor the series in 2000 to maintain its wide distribution. Viz made some "concessions" as well, and assured readers that all changes were approved by Toriyama and Shueisha. Toriyama made suggestions himself such as obscuring Goku's genitals with objects, rather than "neuter him." A fan petition was created, garnering over 10,000 signatures, and a year later, Viz announced they would stop censoring Dragon Ball and increased its "age rating" to 13 and up instead, reprinting the first three graphic novels. However, they continued to censor several characters' lips by shading them in completely. This avoided racist stereotypes, such as that of Mr. Popo's image. In October 2009, Wicomico County Public Schools in Maryland banned the Dragon Ball manga from their school district because it "depicts nudity, sexual contact between children and sexual innuendo among adults and children." Esther Keller, Robin Brenner and Eva Volin of School Library Journal had no opinion on whether or not removing the manga from all schools in that district was right. However, Brenner and Volin criticized the parents who had a problem with the manga for going to a county council member who is involved with politics instead of to the librarian of the school that carried the manga. Other publications While Dragon Ball