MyAnimeList
The year 2004 marked the birth of a digital archive for anime and manga fans. Garrett Gyssler launched the site in November of that year under the name AnimeList. He maintained the platform alone until 2008, when he decided to incorporate the possessive My into the title. This change mirrored the popularity of Myspace during those years. The site provided users with a list-like system to organize their collections. It facilitated finding others who shared similar tastes through its large database. As of March 2024, the site reported having approximately 26,417 anime entries. That same month, it listed 68,308 manga entries.
CraveOnline purchased the platform on the 4th of August 2008, for an undisclosed sum of money. AtomicOnline owned CraveOnline at the time of this transaction. DeNA announced its purchase from CraveOnline in 2015. They partnered with Anime Consortium Japan to stream anime via Daisuki. Media Do acquired MyAnimeList in January 2019. Their purchase included intentions to focus on marketing and e-book sales. Gaudiy, a Tokyo-based company specializing in Web3 technology, acquired Media Do's stake in April 2025. On the 7th of May 2025, Gaudiy bought out remaining shareholders to become the sole owner.
Users create lists that they strive to complete within the application. The site allows members to submit reviews and write recommendations for specific titles. Blog posts appear alongside interest stacks produced by active community members. Clubs form to unite people of similar interests across the globe. RSS news feeds provide updates on anime and manga related topics. Challenges initiate for users to complete their personal lists. Profile settings allow changes to list style through Community designs or Modern designs. Users can freely customize cover images and background styles on their pages.
A show's rank is calculated twice each day using a specific mathematical formula. The system requires a minimum number of votes currently set at 50. Only scores where a user has completed at least 20% of the title count toward the average. In February 2020, the platform updated its scoring system to prevent vote brigading. This update aimed to protect the integrity of aggregate rankings. The formula incorporates total user votes and the average score across the entire database. Rankings reflect the collective opinion of registered members rather than editorial staff decisions.
The website went under emergency maintenance on the 10th of May 2023 after being hacked. All anime titles were replaced with references to Serial Experiments Lain during the attack. Personal information and data of users remained safe from breach throughout the incident. On May 13, the website resumed online activity after restoring its databases. Any list updates made approximately 8.5 hours before the incident required remaking by users. Site staff took it offline again in May and June 2018 for security concerns. They disabled the API for third-party apps to conform to European Union GDPR regulations.
MyAnimeList opened an online manga store on the 8th of March 2018. Kodansha Comics and Viz Media partnered to allow digital purchases from the website. The service originally launched in Canada before expanding to other English-speaking countries. Crunchyroll and Hulu embedded episodes directly onto the site starting in April 2016. Over 20,000 episodes became available through this integration. Hidive announced a partnership on the 25th of September 2019 to incorporate content ratings. Users received curated selections of embedded Hidive content for free. NFT products based on Fist of the North Star Manga Fragments appeared in October 2021.
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Common questions
When was MyAnimeList launched and by whom?
Garrett Gyssler launched the site in November 2004 under the name AnimeList. He maintained the platform alone until 2008 when he decided to incorporate the possessive My into the title.
Who currently owns MyAnimeList as of May 2025?
Gaudiy became the sole owner of MyAnimeList on the 7th of May 2025 after buying out remaining shareholders. This Tokyo-based company specializing in Web3 technology acquired Media Do's stake in April 2025.
How does MyAnimeList calculate show rankings and what are the voting requirements?
A show's rank is calculated twice each day using a specific mathematical formula that requires a minimum number of votes currently set at 50. Only scores where a user has completed at least 20% of the title count toward the average.
What happened during the MyAnimeList hack on the 10th of May 2023?
The website went under emergency maintenance on the 10th of May 2023 after being hacked and all anime titles were replaced with references to Serial Experiments Lain. Personal information and data of users remained safe from breach throughout the incident while the site resumed online activity on May 13.
Which streaming services have partnered with MyAnimeList for content integration?
Crunchyroll and Hulu embedded episodes directly onto the site starting in April 2016 and over 20,000 episodes became available through this integration. Hidive announced a partnership on the 25th of September 2019 to incorporate content ratings and provide curated selections of embedded Hidive content for free.