Media Do Co. has agreed to transfer all shares of MyAnimeList, operator of the world’s largest English-language anime and manga community website, to blockchain-focused technology company Gaudiy Inc. The transaction is expected to generate a special profit of ¥531 million ($3.5 million) for MediaDo in the fiscal year ending February 2026.
With approximately 18 million registered users across more than 240 countries and regions, MyAnimeList has been under MediaDo’s umbrella since January 2019, when the e-book distributor acquired it from Japanese mobile gaming company DeNA.
Media Do, Japan’s largest e-book distributor, has been aggressively expanding its digital publishing portfolio but has struggled with profitability in some of its strategic investments. The decision to divest MyAnimeList aligns with the company’s ongoing business restructuring efforts to improve its financial performance.
Gaudiy, established in 2018, specializes in applying blockchain technology and AI to maximize the value of intellectual property in the anime industry. Following the transaction, Media Do indicated it may pursue a business alliance with Gaudiy to maintain connections to the anime community.
The sale marks another ownership change for MyAnimeList, which was founded in 2004 and has previously been controlled by CraveOnline, DeNA, and most recently MediaDo. In 2021, the site raised ¥1.36 billion through a third-party allocation that brought in major Japanese publishers including Kodansha, Shueisha and Shogakukan as investors.
