MyAnimeList
Encyclopedia
MyAnimeList, often abbreviated as MAL, is a social networking website
. The site provides its users with a list-like system to organize anime
and manga
. It facilitates finding users who share similar tastes and provides a large database on anime and manga. Recently it suffers from database issues, slow loading times, and other various website related issues, however the creator "Xinil" and the team behind the website are constantly resolving issues.
The website was created and is actively maintained by Garrett Gyssler, who goes by the alias of "Xinil". Currently, there are forty staff members who update the anime and manga databases, moderate the community, and post news stories. As of July 14, 2009, MyAnimeList claims to have registered over 200,000 users, of whom over 40,000 sign in every day.
On August 4, 2008, CraveOnline
, a men's entertainment and lifestyle site owned by AtomicOnline, purchased MyAnimeList for an undisclosed sum of money. However, according to Mike Dodge, SVP and general manager of AtomicOnline, the sum was on the lower end of their typical acquisitions, which he said range from $400,000 to $2,000,000.
script was added to the site. On December 11, the forum was replaced by a new system, custom written from scratch by Gyssler.
, Korean animation
, and Chinese animation
. Similarly, MyAnimeList has information on manga
(Japanese comics), manwha (South Korean comics), manhua
(Chinese comics), as well as dōjinshi
(fan comics) and light novels. The users' anime or manga lists can be personalized in terms of content and visual style by either utilizing the site's native modification tools or by writing one's own CSS
code to control what information is displayed and how it is presented. Users can also customize signatures that show what they have recently watched and/or read, their favorites, and other things.
The site also features a searchable person database that provides various information, such as people's names in their native writing system or their date of birth, of Japanese, English, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Brazilian, and Italian voice actors. The person database also lists other people in the anime or manga industry, including anime or manga staff members whose entries are cross-linked with their respective media entries. Another database provides information on fictional character
s, listing the media in which they appear as well as their respective voice actors. A third searchable database contains fansub
bing groups which lists what these groups have subbed and provides users with the ability to rate the quality of the fansubs.
Users can submit reviews, write recommendations, blogs, post in the site's forum, create clubs to unite with people of similar interests, and subscribe to the RSS
news feed of anime and manga related news. Another feature is discussions about episodes and chapters in the forums. Users are asked if they would like to discuss an episode or chapter after updating an entry on their list, however this feature can be disabled.
mentioned the site in the "Otaku
" category of its "Best of the Web" feature in 2008, calling the site the "nerdiest thing ever conceived", and comparing its way of displaying user profiles as a list of statistics to "some sort of freakish anime fantasy football."
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
. The site provides its users with a list-like system to organize anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. It facilitates finding users who share similar tastes and provides a large database on anime and manga. Recently it suffers from database issues, slow loading times, and other various website related issues, however the creator "Xinil" and the team behind the website are constantly resolving issues.
The website was created and is actively maintained by Garrett Gyssler, who goes by the alias of "Xinil". Currently, there are forty staff members who update the anime and manga databases, moderate the community, and post news stories. As of July 14, 2009, MyAnimeList claims to have registered over 200,000 users, of whom over 40,000 sign in every day.
History
According to Gyssler, the site was launched in November 2004 and originally hosted on his personal website, before it was moved to the domain myanimelist.net, during April 2006, in an attempt to increase the user base. He further states that, since then, the site has "had a huge influx of new users".On August 4, 2008, CraveOnline
CraveOnline
CraveOnline is a male lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company AtomicOnline, the publishing division of Evolve Media Corp.- History :...
, a men's entertainment and lifestyle site owned by AtomicOnline, purchased MyAnimeList for an undisclosed sum of money. However, according to Mike Dodge, SVP and general manager of AtomicOnline, the sum was on the lower end of their typical acquisitions, which he said range from $400,000 to $2,000,000.
Features history
MyAnimeList originally consisted solely of a no-frills anime list. Databases were absent and the site had no other significant features. On June 29, 2005, the anime database was created to standardize anime series' names on every user's list. Prior to the launch of the first generation forums in 2006, the website utilized the "Panel" system for user communication. This system was similar to the "Profile Comments" feature on MAL today, which is the ability for users to place text messages on another user's profile page. The Panel system was mostly created to allow users to communicate with the administrator, but could also be used for discussions among themselves. Communication between members was improved when on April 6, 2006 a forum system which utilized the Simple Machines ForumSimple Machines Forum
Simple Machines Forum is a free Internet forum application. The software is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database backend, although multi-database support is being developed for version 2.0...
script was added to the site. On December 11, the forum was replaced by a new system, custom written from scratch by Gyssler.
Current features
MyAnimeList lists animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, Korean animation
Korean animation
The art of Korean animation, or Han-guk Manhwa Aenimeisyeon , has gone from hand-held flip books in early times to studios that produce most of the work for major American and Japanese animation companies...
, and Chinese animation
Chinese animation
Chinese animation or Manhua Anime, in narrow sense, refers to animations that are made in China. In broad sense, it may refers to animations that are made in any Chinese speaking countries such as People's Republic of China , Republic of China , Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.- History :The...
. Similarly, MyAnimeList has information on manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
(Japanese comics), manwha (South Korean comics), manhua
Manhua
Manhua are Chinese comics originally produced in China. Possibly due to their greater degree of artistic freedom of expression and closer international ties with Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan have been the places of publication of most manhua thus far, often including Chinese translations of...
(Chinese comics), as well as dōjinshi
Dojinshi
is the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...
(fan comics) and light novels. The users' anime or manga lists can be personalized in terms of content and visual style by either utilizing the site's native modification tools or by writing one's own CSS
CSS
-Computing:*Cascading Style Sheets, a language used to describe the style of document presentations in web development*Central Structure Store in the PHIGS 3D API*Closed source software, software that is not distributed with source code...
code to control what information is displayed and how it is presented. Users can also customize signatures that show what they have recently watched and/or read, their favorites, and other things.
The site also features a searchable person database that provides various information, such as people's names in their native writing system or their date of birth, of Japanese, English, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Brazilian, and Italian voice actors. The person database also lists other people in the anime or manga industry, including anime or manga staff members whose entries are cross-linked with their respective media entries. Another database provides information on fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s, listing the media in which they appear as well as their respective voice actors. A third searchable database contains fansub
Fansub
A fansub is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program which has been translated by fans and subtitled into a language other than that of the original.-History:...
bing groups which lists what these groups have subbed and provides users with the ability to rate the quality of the fansubs.
Users can submit reviews, write recommendations, blogs, post in the site's forum, create clubs to unite with people of similar interests, and subscribe to the RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
news feed of anime and manga related news. Another feature is discussions about episodes and chapters in the forums. Users are asked if they would like to discuss an episode or chapter after updating an entry on their list, however this feature can be disabled.
Reception
JapanzineJapanzine
Japanzine is a Japan-based English-language magazine, published by Carter Witt Media. Now 20 years in publication, it is the successor magazine to "The Alien" and caters largely to the expatriate community in Japan...
mentioned the site in the "Otaku
Otaku
is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
" category of its "Best of the Web" feature in 2008, calling the site the "nerdiest thing ever conceived", and comparing its way of displaying user profiles as a list of statistics to "some sort of freakish anime fantasy football."