Seven Seas Entertainment

Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California.[1] It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as well as select webcomics. The company is headed by Jason DeAngelis, who coined the term "world manga" with the October 2004 launch of the company's website.[2]

Seven Seas Entertainment
Founded2004
FounderJason DeAngelis
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationLos Angeles, California
DistributionPenguin Random House Publisher Services
Publication typesManga, graphic novels, OEL manga, light novels, danmei
Imprints
  • Ghost Ship
  • Airship
  • Steamship
Official websitewww.sevenseasentertainment.com

History

In April 2005, Seven Seas became the first manga publisher to release downloadable manga content for the PlayStation Portable and, as a result, gained over 12,000 downloads in the first five days.[3] Seven Seas followed the PlayStation Portable announcement with enlisting the platinum-selling Filipino group the J Brothers to create a theme song for its web OEL manga series Aoi House entitled "Itsumo Futaride". During Comic-Con 2005, Seven Seas Entertainment premiered the pilot of its No Man's Land flash anime series and later followed it with a flash animation music video based on Aoi House.

In October 2005, it announced plans for its first Japanese license for novels and manga from the Boogiepop series by Kouhei Kadono and Kouji Ogata.

In September 2006, Seven Seas announced a project to translate and publish Japanese light novels, including popular titles such as Strawberry Panic!.[4]

In March 2008, Seven Seas Entertainment began publishing new editions of Rachel Robert's popular children's fantasy novel series Avalon: Web of Magic in conjunction with Red Sky Entertainment. A three-volume manga spin-off titled Avalon: The Warlock Diaries followed which started in June 2009.[5] Seven Seas and Red Sky Entertainment also launched a dedicated website for the Avalon novel series in September 2008 at AvalonMagic.com.[6]

On August 1, 2012, Seven Seas Entertainment launched the ad-supported free webcomic portal Zoom Comics in partnership with Pixie Trix Comix. The initial launch titles included Amazing Agent Jennifer, Dracula Everlasting, Paranormal Mystery Squad, and Vampire Cheerleaders.[7]

On January 20, 2017, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that it had partnered up with online light novel publisher J-Novel Club to release their licensed properties in print.[8]

On October 11, 2017, Seven Seas Entertainment announced a new manga imprint called Ghost Ship for its mature titles. Manga series licensed under this imprint are distributed through Diamond Book Distributors.[9]

On October 5, 2018, Seven Seas Entertainment won the Harvey Award for Best Manga for its English version of My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness.

On November 13, 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced a new imprint called "Airship" for its light novel and Japanese prose novel licenses.[10]

On November 20, 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that it would be switching distributors worldwide, with all imprints moving to Penguin Random House Publisher Services from July 1, 2021.[11]

On December 21, 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they would publish Hiveworks webcomics in print.[12]

In early 2021, it was found that Seven Seas Entertainment had been making alteration to their English translations of certain light novels.[13]

On August 4, 2021, Seven Seas Entertainment began licensing Danmei novels from China, beginning with The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, and Heaven Official's Blessing, all written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.[14]

On January 5, 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment began releasing Korean webtoons in print, beginning with PULSE, Love is an Illusion!, and Killing Stalking all published on the Lezhin Comics web platform.[15]

On January 26, 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced a new imprint called "Steamship" for its shōjo, josei and teens' love romance manga titles, beginning with GAME: Between the Suits, I'll Never be Your Crown Princess!, Ladies on Top, and Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts.[16]

On May 23, 2022, employees of Seven Seas announced the formation of "United Workers of the Seven Seas", a union working with Communications Workers of America.[17][18] On May 29, 2022, Seven Seas management announced that it would not voluntarily recognize the union and has requested an election with the NLRB.[19]

On May 25, 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment began licensing manhuas from China, beginning with the manhua adaptation of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.[20]

On May 31, 2022, it was revealed that Seven Seas had hired the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart to represent them[21] in their NLRB case with their employees. In response the United Workers of the Seven Seas tweeted out that Seven Seas had hired "the union-busting firm Ogletree Deakins" to counter their union efforts.[22]

On June 24, 2022, the United Workers of the Seven Seas announced that Seven Seas had agreed to voluntarily recognize the union after a majority card check.[23]

On May 30, 2023, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they would begin publishing audiobooks under the new "Siren" imprint in the following month.[24]

Controversies

In early 2021, it was found that Seven Seas Entertainment had been making alterations to their English translations of certain light novels. This resulted in multiple lines or paragraphs being altered for the English release. Some of the titles affected were Classroom of the Elite, I'm in Love with the Villainess, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.[25] Altered sections were made without consulting the original authors and involved controversial issues including sexual assault and homophobia. In the case of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation this involved plot points being rewritten, while in I'm in Love with the Villainess it involved omitting text.[26]

After receiving criticism, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they would be revising these changes, republishing the affected volumes, and making changes to their editing process to "make sure important lines are not lost".[27]

In May 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment released the first volume of I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend into a Girl. Their localization of this was criticized for portraying Hiura – a feminine male character in the original – as a trans woman and removing the intent of it being a boys love story;[28][29] Seven Seas Entertainment responded by revising this for future volumes and for reprints of volume 1.[30]

Age Ratings

Seven Seas currently has six different age ratings for their titles (they previously had a single unified "Older Teens" rating for ages 16 and older, but that was changed to have separate "Older Teen (15+)" and "Older Teen (17+)" ratings to better indicate the intensity and frequency of the different types of content):

Seven Seas Entertainment Age Ratings[31]
RatingDescription
All agesAppropriate for readers of any age. No swearing or suggestive themes/sexual content. May include mild fantasy action/violence.
Ages 10+Intended for readers aged 10 years and older. No swearing. May include mild action/comedic violence, mildly crude humor, or mild tobacco/alcohol use.
Teen (13+)Intended for readers aged 13 years and older. May include mild swearing, mild suggestive themes, moderate violence, and/or tobacco, alcohol, or other substance use.
Older Teen (15+)Intended for readers aged 15 years and older. May include moderate swearing, mild suggestive themes/sexual content, partial nudity, violence, and/or tobacco, alcohol, or other substance use.
Older Teen (17+)Intended for readers aged 17 years and older. May include frequent swearing, intense violence, nudity, sexual content, and/or tobacco, alcohol, or other substance use.
MatureIntended for readers aged 18 years and older. May include intense language, nudity, sexual content, extreme violence, and/or other mature themes.

Titles

Original series

Hiveworks

Seven Seas Entertainment (manga)

Ghost Ship (manga)

Steamship (manga/light novel)
  • Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way With You
  • GAME: Between the Suits
  • Healer for the Shadow Hero
  • I Can't Refuse S
  • I Want You to Make Me Beautiful
  • I'll Never be Your Crown Princess!
    • I'll Never Be Your Crown Princess! – Betrothed
  • Ladies on Top
  • Loyal Soldier, Lustful Beast
  • My Boss is a Giant: He Manages My Every Need With Enormous Skill!
  • Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts
  • Revenge: Kaedama Kon
  • The Villainess and the Demon Knight

Airship (novel/light novel)

Siren (audiobooks)
  • Classroom of the Elite
  • I’m in Love with the Villainess
  • Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
  • Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!
  • The Saint's Magic Power Is Omnipotent

Danmei
  • Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu
  • Case File Compendium: Bing an Ben
  • Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation
  • Guardian: Zhen Hun
  • Heaven Official's Blessing
  • Peerless: Wu Shuang
  • Remnants of Filth: Yuwu
  • Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang
  • The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish: Canji Baojun De Zhangxin Yu Chong
  • The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun
  • The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
  • Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu
  • You’ve Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post – Fei Ge Jiao You Xu Jin Shen

Webtoons

Manhua

Former titles

Original series

Seven Seas Entertainment (manga)

Novel/Light Novel
  • Diva v. Poe
  • Gun Princess
  • The Pirate and the Princess: The Timelight Stone

References
  1. "I, OTAKU "ARE YOU AN OTAKU?" CONTEST." Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved on October 25, 2011. "This contest is sponsored by Seven Seas Entertainment LLC, 626 Midvale Ave. #1, Los Angeles, California, 90024"
  2. Correction: World Manga
  3. Manga for Sony PSP: Seven Seas Announces 12,000 Downloads in 5 Days
  4. Seven Seas Entertainment Launches new "Light Novel" Imprint
  5. "Avalon book listing on Gomanga.com". Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
  6. Avalon Magic: dedicated website for Avalon series
  7. "Robot 6: Seven Seas sets up global manga webcomics site". Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  8. "Seven Seas Entertainment Collaborates with J-Novel Club to Bring Light Novels to Print". Anime News Network. January 20, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  9. "Seven Seas Launches New Ghost Ship Imprint to Deliver Mature Manga Through Diamond Book Distributors, Including New Titles YUUNA AND THE HAUNTED HOT SPRINGS and WORLD'S END HAREM". Seven Seas Entertainment. October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  10. "Seven Seas Focuses on Light Novels with New Imprint: Airship". Seven Seas Entertainment. November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  11. "PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHER SERVICES & MANGA PUBLISHER SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT SET JULY 2021 WORLDWIDE SALES & DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT". Seven Seas Entertainment. November 20, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  12. "Seven Seas and Hiveworks Comics Join Forces to Bring Webcomics to Bookstores". Seven Seas Entertainment. December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  13. "Why Seven Seas Altered Its Light Novels". Anime News Network. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  14. "Seven Seas Licenses Three Blockbuster Chinese Novel Series from Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: THE SCUM VILLAIN'S SELF-SAVING SYSTEM, GRANDMASTER OF DEMONIC CULTIVATION, and HEAVEN OFFICIAL'S BLESSING". Seven Seas Entertainment. August 4, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  15. "Seven Seas Licenses Lezhin Webtoons KILLING STALKING, LOVE IS AN ILLUSION!, and PULSE for Print Release". Seven Seas Entertainment. January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  16. "Seven Seas Raises the Temperature with Steamship: A Sexy Romance Imprint for Women". Seven Seas Entertainment. January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  17. "Manga Publisher Seven Seas' Workers Form Union". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  18. Reid |, Calvin. "Seven Seas Staff Launches Effort to Form Union". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  19. "Seven Seas Releases Statement on Workers Union". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  20. "Seven Seas Licenses GRANDMASTER OF DEMONIC CULTIVATION: MO DAO ZU SHI Manhua/Comic Series from Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX)". Seven Seas Entertainment. May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  21. "Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC | National Labor Relations Board". www.nlrb.gov. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  22. "United Workers of Seven Seas on Twitter: "Our employer, Seven Seas Entertainment (@gomanga), has hired the union-busting firm Ogletree Deakins."". Twitter. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  23. Mateo, Alex (June 24, 2022). "Publisher Seven Seas Voluntarily Recognizes UW7S Workers Union". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  24. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (May 31, 2023). "Seven Seas Launches Siren Audiobook Imprint With 3 Titles in June". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  25. "Why Seven Seas Altered Its Light Novels". Anime News Network. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  26. "Why Seven Seas Altered Its Light Novels". Anime News Network. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  27. Morrissy, Kim. "Seven Seas Addresses Mushoku Tensei, Classroom of the Elite Light Novel Localization Changes (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  28. DiGiovancarlo, Gina (June 15, 2022). "Manga Publisher Seven Seas Massively Misunderstands New LGBTQIA+ Release". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  29. McClain, Carrie (June 23, 2022). "Seven Seas Pubwatch: June 2022". WomenWriteAboutComics. Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  30. "Seven Seas Entertainment on Twitter". Seven Seas Entertainment. July 19, 2022. Archived from the original on July 19, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via Twitter.
  31. Age Ratings
  32. Mateo, Alex (December 8, 2021). "Seven Seas Licenses 7th Time Loop, Crossplay Love, SHWD Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
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