Media Do, Japan's largest e-book distributor, bought Seven Seas Entertainment, an independent Los Angeles publisher of English translations of Japanese manga and light novels, for $80 million. Seven Seas had sales of about $50 million in 2024. Media Do plans to use its AI translation system to cut translation time, a plan that drew criticism from fans and creators. About Seven Seas Jason DeAngelis founded Seven Seas in 2004, and it has licensed more than 1,300 series from Japan, China, South Korea and elsewhere, including manga, light novels, webtoons and danmei. It made an adjusted profit of $6.6 million in 2024, slightly below its pandemic highs. Its leaders, editorial direction and distribution through Penguin Random House Publisher Services stay the same. Media Do in the US This was Media Do's second big US purchase, after publishing software maker Firebrand Technologies in 2021. Daihei Shiohama, head of Media Do International, said the company would give the Seven Seas team resources to keep championing great stories. Book Advisors and industry veteran Kuo-Yu Liang advised Seven Seas.
