News
Media Do Acquires MyAnimeList Website
posted on by Karen Ressler
Anime database website MyAnimeList and e-book distributor Media Do Holdings announced on Tuesday that Media Do has acquired MyAnimeList from DeNA.
According to a statement from MyAnimeList founder and site administrator Garrett Gyssler, DeNA will continue to operate the site for the next few weeks as "bunch of logistics and legal hurdles are still being worked out." After this, a new team from Media Do will take over and will have a "new vision" for the site's future.
Media Do's press release mentions that it plans to "enhance MyAnimeList's functions as an overseas e-book distribution and marketing platform."
MyAnimeList launched in 2005, and DeNA purchased the site in 2015. The site recently opened a digital manga store in partnership with Viz Media and Kodansha Comics last March.
DeNA also previously partnered with Anime Consortium Japan (ACJ) to stream anime on MyAnimeList by embedding videos from ACJ's now-defunct Daisuki streaming service. MyAnimeList later added anime embedded from Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Tokyo-based Media Do distributes e-books for many Japanese publishers. The company established its American subsidiary Media Do International in San Diego, California in 2016, and it publishes translated manga such as Baki digitally.
Sources: MyAnimeList (link 2), PR Times
Update: MyAnimeList corrected its announcement to note that Yōichirō Watabe is the current CEO of MyAnimeList, LLC. Media Do has yet to name who will be the CEO of MyAnimeList after its acquisition is completed.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history