What You Need to Know:
- MyAnimeList Co., Ltd. (MyAnimeList) announced today that Japan-based companies Akatsuki, The Anime Times Company, DMM.com, and Kadokawa are collectively underwriting 311 million yen (approximately US$2.83 million) of MyAnimeList stock through a third-party allotment.
- On February 18, Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Media Do announced that they would underwrite a total of 1,200 million yen, and the capital increase is proceeding smoothly.
- MyAnimeList stated that it will continue to use the funds obtained from the third-party allotments to improve and expand its platform.
- MyAnimeList has stated that going forward, they will continue to pursue the possibility of accepting external capital and collaborating with businesses related to anime and manga IP in order to strengthen their financial base and accelerate the expansion of their service through aggressive investment. Through various initiatives with content holders and businesses, including companies that will become new shareholders, MyAnimeList will strive to form a more ideal fan community and database as well as build the world's largest anime/manga-specialized SNS platform.
- MyAnimeList endeavors to be a comprehensive platform for overseas fans to connect with and discover new Japanese anime, manga, and related media. In the two years since its acquisition, Media Do has launched official apps for iOS and Android; hosted numerous industry and community events; and prioritized improvements to the website's aging infrastructure to increase security and stability under growing access numbers. As of February 2021, MyAnimeList supports 18 million monthly active users—an 80% increase from March 2019.
- With recent breakthroughs in digital services to provide translated anime and manga in near real-time, straight from Japan, these unique media styles are gaining attention worldwide. To keep pace with a dynamic industry and the demands of growing international interest, MyAnimeList has raised funds in its endeavor to strengthen the connection between overseas fans and the industry in Japan.
- MyAnimeList will actively invest the funds obtained from this financing to accelerate expansion of its platform, while striving to:
- improve accessibility for new and returning fans;
- promote richness of information exchange and user interaction;
- increase robustness of the service under increasing traffic loads; and
- advance interconnection between overseas fans and content holders/businesses.
- Immediate development plans towards these goals include:
- Infrastructure changes to increase speed and support advanced UI/UX features
- Multi-language support for the anime/manga databases and user lists
- iOS/Android app advancements: e.g. dark mode, manga lists, social functions, etc.
- Upgrading user communication tools to increase information sharing
Source: MyAnimeList
About MyAnimeList
MyAnimeList is an engaged community of overseas anime and manga fans who are passionate about organizing and scoring titles on their list, discussing their opinions, and discovering new series. The content databases contain more than 250,000 user-added and -maintained entries, with over 375,000 associated reviews and recommendations. It is the wealth of input by its wide and varied community that makes MyAnimeList a trusted source of critical reception and encyclopedic information by more than 18 million monthly active users in 230 countries. Since its creation in 2005, MyAnimeList has promoted knowledge creation and curation by the anime/manga fan for the anime/manga fan—and it is committed to continuing this support.
About Akatsuki
Akatsuki is an entertainment company incorporated in June 2010 that specializes in mobile games. The company developed Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle—published by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.—for iOS and Android devices in 2015, and the game has since accumulated over 300 million downloads and US$2 billion in revenue worldwide.
About The Anime Times Company
The Anime Times Company is a video distribution company launched by Avex Inc. through a joint investment made by Avex Pictures Inc., Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan in November 2014.
About DMM.com
DMM.com is an electronic commerce company founded in November 1999 that offers online shopping, video streaming, e-books, rentals, and additional services. The company rebranded as DMM.com in July 2003 and began video, game, and e-book distribution. DMM.com claimed to have over 34 million service subscribers as of February 2020.
About Kadokawa
Kadokawa is a media conglomerate formed through a merger between the original KADOKAWA CORPORATION (founded as Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd. in 1945) and DWANGO Co., Ltd. in October 2014. It was known as KADOKAWA DWANGO CORPORATION until July 2019, when an absorption-type company split led to its current title. Kadokawa brings together various publishing, film, video game, and mass media companies under the Kadokawa Group, which includes BookWalker, ComicWalker, J-Novel Club, Kinema Citrus (31.8% stake), and niconico, among others.
