This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2021) |
![]() | |
Medialink | |
Formerly |
|
Company type | Public |
SEHK: 2230 | |
ISIN | KYG5958A1013 |
Industry | Entertainment and retail |
Founded | March 1994 |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong |
Area served | Worldwide (primarily Asian markets) |
Key people |
|
Products | Anime, motion pictures, and merchandise |
Services | |
Revenue | ![]() |
![]() | |
![]() | |
Total assets | ![]() |
Owner | RLA Company Limited (75%) |
Number of employees | 99 |
Parent | RLA Company Limited |
Subsidiaries |
|
Website | medialink.com.hk |
Medialink Group Limited is a content distributor and licensor based in Kowloon, Hong Kong specializing in the distribution of Japanese anime and brand licensing. Its offices are located at Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Registered from Hong Kong Companies Registry, Medialink was founded as Medialink International Limited by Lovinia Chiu in March 1994.[ citation needed ] In 2018, co-founders Lovinia and Noletta Chiu integrated Medialink Entertainment and Medialink Animation International into the Medialink Group, which was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2019. [2]
Medialink Entertainment handles the content acquisition and distribution of Japanese anime in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Micronesia, and Polynesia. The company does not directly release its own properties, but instead selects some anime titles for release on home video through its distribution partners such as Asia Video Publishing in Hong Kong, CaiChang International Multimedia in Taiwan, Dream Express (DEX) and previously Rose Media and Entertainment in Thailand.[ citation needed ]
In addition, the company also sub-licenses select titles to streaming services and TV stations. In 2018, the company launched a new brand called Ani-One to simulcast new anime titles and distribute older series on their partnered platforms. Its notable clients include Netflix, Animax Asia, iQIYI, Bilibili, Dimsum, [3] and local streaming services in select served regions. [4] [5] It also offers anime contents on its own YouTube channel since October 2019. [6] On 10 April 2021, Medialink announced that they had reached a distribution partnership with Mediacorp, with Medialink titles being made available to stream on meWATCH. [7] On 1 July 2021, Medialink launched a membership program called Ani-One ULTRA to simulcast select titles and old anime series under its Ani-One YouTube channel. [8]
In 2019, Medialink began co-producing and co-funding anime projects. [5]
Medialink Animation International manages the brand licensing business. It is involved in the licensing of various brands, including Garfield, Popeye, Betty Boop, The Little Prince, and My Hero Academia. [5]
In 2020, Medialink started venturing into the e-commerce business during the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] Launched in August 2020, Ani-Mall is an online store selling anime-themed clothes, toys and other merchandise from Medialink's licensed brands. [9]
On 19 September 2020, Medialink launched a new educational entertainment VOD platform on MyTV SUPER for children in preschools. [9]
On 18 October 2023, Medialink announced the partnership with Bilibili to handled the distribution & licensing for their donghua series in Southeast Asian markets, [10] resulting the launch of Ani-Mi VOD platform. [11]
Medialink was also evolved in movie production, such as One Second Champion and Drifting with mm2 Entertainment. They also responsible for releasing Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle anime film in the Asian markets as well.
Funimation was an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It streamed popular series, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, YuYu Hakusho, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, Black Clover, Fruits Basket, Assassination Classroom and Tokyo Ghoul among many others. The service and its parent company were acquired by Sony, who ran the service through Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2017 to 2019 and then through SPE and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex from 2019 to its closure in 2024. In 2021, Sony acquired Crunchyroll.
Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyroll Ltd. since 2022, while its U.S. branch was absorbed into Starz Inc..
Animate Ltd. is the retailing arm of MOVIC and is the largest retailer of anime, video games and manga in Japan. The first flagship store of Animate was opened in 1983 in Ikebukuro, a district in Tokyo, Japan.
Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific was a Hong Kong–based commercial broadcasting company operating multiple specialty television channels. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman Richard Li.
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and New Zealand.
Animax is an Asian pay television channel owned by KC Global Media Asia. The channel was originally owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and took its name from the Japanese satellite TV network; which was then-majority owned by subsidiary Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan. The channel would be sold to its current owners on January 1, 2020.
Bikkuriman is a line of wafer snacks produced by Lotte, made notable for the randomly assorted bonus stickers included inside each snack. First released in 1977, Bikkuriman became wildly popular in Japan with the introduction of the Devil VS Angel Seal series of stickers, leading to a prolific number of media tie-ins.
Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), formerly Tiger Gate Entertainment, is a diversified media company based in Hong Kong that operates pay television entertainment channels in Asia and oversees Lionsgate distribution rights in Greater China and Southeast Asia. It is a joint venture co-owned by Saban Capital Group, Lionsgate and Celestial Pictures.
Bilibili, nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese video-sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos. Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including anime, music, dance, science and technology, movies, drama, fashion, and video games, but it is also known for its extensive kuso-style parodies by subcultural content creators. Since the mid-2010s, Bilibili began to expand to a broader audience from its original niche market that focused on animation, comics, and games (ACG), and it has become a major Chinese over-the-top streaming platform serving videos on demand such as documentaries, variety shows, and other original programming. Bilibili is known for its scrolling danmu commenting system. Bilibili also provides a live streaming service where the audience can interact with streamers. Bilibili also offers games, mostly ACG-themed mobile games, such as the Chinese version of Fate/Grand Order and the Chinese game Azur Lane. In the third quarter of 2022, the number of average monthly active users reached about 332.6 million, including 28.5 million paying users.
Cineverse Corp. is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cineverse’s businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution.
Emperor Group is a diversified group of companies founded by Albert Yeung in Hong Kong. Albert Yeung's father, Mr Yeung Shing, opened a watch shop named "Shing On Kee Watch Shop" in 1942, setting the business foundation. Six companies within the Group are listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. These include Emperor International Holdings Limited, which focuses on real estate investment and property development; Emperor Watch and Jewellery Limited, which specializes in the retail of luxury watches and fine jewellery; Emperor Entertainment Hotel Limited, which concentrates on hotel and gaming businesses in Macau; Emperor Capital Group Limited, which provides a wide range of financial services; and Emperor Culture Group Limited, which principally engages in entertainment, media and cultural development business; and Ulferts International Limited, which is engaged in chain retailing of upmarket European furniture; and New Media Lab Limited ,which provides one-stop integrated digital advertising solutions.
Aniplus Inc. is a South Korean television channel and anime distributor. Founded in 2004, the company also operates different businesses including a video on demand platform and a merchandising arm in its own country.
Peach Boy Riverside is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Coolkyousinnjya, serialized on Neetsha's webcomic distribution site Weekly Young VIP since January 2008. The remake version written by Coolkyousinnjya and illustrated by Johanne was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Magazine R, as well as the website and app Magazine Pocket, from August 2015 to July 2024, and was collected in sixteen tankōbon volumes. The manga is licensed in North America by Kodansha USA. An anime television series adaptation produced by Asahi Production aired from July to September 2021.
Muse Communication Co., Ltd. is a Taiwanese distributor and licensor that specializes in the distribution of anime. Based in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, the company also distributes Asian and European films in Taiwan. It has licenses for several popular anime series and tokusatsu such as Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, One-Punch Man, Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, Spy × Family, Saint Seiya, Hunter × Hunter, Pretty Cure Series, Kamen Rider Series, Super Sentai, and many more.
Crunchyroll Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, is an anime distributor and licensing company in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1987 as Island World Communications, the company operated as Manga Entertainment Ltd. until 2021. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Television and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.
Build Divide is a Japanese mixed-media project created by Homura Kawamoto and Hikaru Muno. It consisted of a collectible card game which debuted in October 2021, and an anime television series by Liden Films aired in the same month and ended in June 2022. The anime series is licensed in North America by Aniplex of America and Southeast Asia by Medialink.
Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll Store Australia, and previously known as Madman Anime, is an Australian video publisher and distribution company focused on Asian entertainment. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film distributor Madman Entertainment, the company is now operated as a division of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.
Alice Gear Aegis is a Japanese mobile game developed by Pyramid and published by Colopl released in 2018.
Media related to Medialink Group at Wikimedia Commons