Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. 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.

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. 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!. 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. Seven Seas and Red Sky Entertainment also launched a dedicated website for the Avalon novel series in September 2008 at AvalonMagic.com. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. On December 21, 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they would publish Hiveworks webcomics in print. In early 2021, it was found that Seven Seas Entertainment had been making alteration to their English translations of certain light novels. 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. 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. 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. 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. On May 29, 2022, Seven Seas management announced that it would not voluntarily recognize the union and has requested an election with the NLRB. 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. On May 31, 2022, it was revealed that Seven Seas had hired the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart to represent them 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. 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. On May 30, 2023, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they would begin publishing audiobooks under the new "Siren" imprint in the following month.

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. 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. 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". 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; Seven Seas Entertainment responded by revising this for future volumes and for reprints of volume 1.

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):

Titles

Original series

Hiveworks

Seven Seas Entertainment (manga)

Ghost Ship (manga)

• 2.5 Dimensional Seduction • 12 Dirty Deeds to Unite the Princess and Her Heroine • Ayakashi Triangle • Becoming a Princess Knight and Working at a Yuri Brothel • Betrayed by the Hero, I Formed a MILF Party with His Mom! • Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! • Call Girl in Another World • Cat in a Hot Girls' Dorm • Creature Girls: A Hands-On Field Journal in Another World • Darling in the Franxx • Desire Pandora • Destiny Lovers • Devilish Darlings Portal Fantasy • Do You Like Big Girls? • Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to You? • Double Your Pleasure – A Twin Yuri Anthology • Ero Ninja Scrolls • Gunbured × Sisters • How to Build a Dungeon: Book of the Demon King • I'm Not a Succubus! • I'm Not Meat: Get Your Filthy Paws Off Me! • Imaizumi Brings All the Gals to His House • Inside the Tentacle Cave • Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon • Isekai Affair: 10 Years After Defeating the Demon King, the Hero Cheats on His Wife With a Warrior Woman Who Lost Her Husband • It's Just Not My Night: Tale of a Fallen Vampire Queen • JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World • Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star • Might as Well Cheat: I Got Transported to Another World Where I Can Live My Wildest Dreams! • Monster Marriage Shop • Parallel Paradise • Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time • Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! • Rise of the Outlaw Tamer and His Wild S-Rank Cat Girl • Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight • She's the Strongest Bride, But I'm Stronger in Night Battles: A Harem Chronicle of Advancing Through Cunning Tactics • Shiori's Diary • Sundome!! Milky Way • Super HxEros • Survival in Another World with My Mistress! • Tamamori's Fantasies Never Stop! • The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You • * The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Secret Love Story (light novel) • The Cursed Sword Master's Harem Life: By the Sword, For the Sword • The Elf Sisters Can't Wait for the Night • The Hungry Succubus Wants to Consume Him • The Witches of Adamas • To Love Ru • * To Love Ru Darkness • Welcome to Succubus High! • Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? • Wicked Trapper: Hunter of Heroes • World's End Harem • World's End Harem: Fantasia • * World's End Harem: Fantasia Academy • Yandere Dark Elf: She Chased Me All the Way From Another World! • Yokai Girls • Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs

Steamship (manga)

• A Suitable Fetish • Adored By an Elite Officer: Could This Be Love? • Alpha Wolfgirl x Omega Wolfboy • At Your Service in Another World • Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way With You • Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze • GAME: Between the Suits • Guilty Smile • 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 • Loved by Two Fiancés • Loving Moon Dog • Loyal Soldier, Lustful Beast (light novel) • My Boss Is a Giant: He Manages My Every Need with Enormous Skill • Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts • Revenge: Mrs. Wrong • Seduced by the Demon King: A Sensual Rebirth • Sex Drive • Shindou-kun's Tight Squeeze: Helpless Against His Alluring Touch • Sweet Heat Before Falling in Love: The CEO and His Fated Omega • The Missing “O” (webtoon) • The Obsessed Mage and His Beloved Statue Bride: She Cannot Resist His Seductive Voice (light novel) • The Trapped Former Villainess Wants to Escape from the Sadistic Prince • The Villainess and the Demon Knight (manga and light novel) • The Yakuza and His Omega: Raw Desire • Virgin Marriage: A Maiden Voyage into Passion's Embrace • You Will Become My Wife

Airship (novel/light novel)

• 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! • A Little Princess (Yū Shiina) • A Tale of the Secret Saint • * A Tale of the Secret Saint ZERO • Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter • Adachi and Shimamura • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Kriss Sison) • Alice in the Country of Diamonds • Anne of Green Gables (Maki Minami) • Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest • * Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Zero • At Night, I Become a Monster • An Autumn in Amber, a Zero-Second Journey • Ballad of a Shinigami • Berserk of Gluttony • Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka • Boogiepop • Bowing to Love: The Noble and the Gladiator • Buck Naked in Another World • Classroom of the Elite • * Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 • Clockwork Planet • Dance in the Vampire Bund: Secret Chronicles • The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku • Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! • Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! • Division Maneuver • Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist • Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City • Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells • Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess • Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash • Hello World • Heroine? Saint? No, I'm an All-Works Maid (and Proud of It)! • The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter • How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom • I Abandoned My Engagement Because My Sister is a Tragic Heroine, but Somehow I Became Entangled with a Righteous Prince • I am Blue, in Pain, and Fragile • I Had That Same Dream Again • I Have a Secret • I Swear I Won't Bother You Again! • I Want to Eat Your Pancreas • I Will Forget This Feeling Someday • I'm in Love with the Villainess • * I'm in Love with the Villainess: She's so Cheeky for a Commoner • I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! • * I'm the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! • Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut • Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear • Loner Life in Another World • Magic User: Reborn in Another World as a Max Level Wizard • Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills • Modern Villainess: It's Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash • Monster Girl Doctor • Monster Musume – Monster Girls on the Job! • Muscles are Better Than Magic! • Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation • * Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – A Journey of Two Lifetimes [Special Book] • * Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Recollections • * Mushoku Tensei: Redundant Reincarnation • My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's • Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA • The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! • Occultic;Nine • Penguindrum • Perfect Blue: Awaken from a Dream • * Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis • Peter Pan (Kriss Sison) • Pita-Ten • Planet of the Orcs • Pollyanna (Yukawa Kazuno) • Pride and Prejudice (Shiei) • Qualia the Purple • Raven of the Inner Palace • Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! • Record of Lodoss War • Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling • Reincarnated as a Sword • Reincarnated into a Game as the Hero's Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes • Restaurant to Another World • Ride Your Wave • Riku Can't Be a Goddess • Ripping Someone Open Only Makes Them Bleed • ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!! • Sarazanmai • SCP Foundation: Iris Through the Looking Glass • She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man • Skeleton Knight in Another World • Strawberry Panic! • Summer Ghost • Survival in Another World with My Mistress! • Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō • True Tenchi Muyo! • The Ancient Magus' Bride: The Golden Yarn • * The Ancient Magus' Bride: The Silver Yarn • The Case Files of Jeweler Richard • The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain • The Evil Queen's Beautiful Principles • The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe • The Invincible Shovel • The Mimosa Confessions • The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior • The Most Notorious "Talker" Runs the World's Greatest Clan • The Princess and the Goblin (okama) • The Saint's Magic Power Is Omnipotent • The Secret Garden (Yū Shiina) • The Sorcerer King of Destruction and the Golem of the Barbarian Queen • The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary • The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom • The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes • The Twelve Kingdoms • The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz & The Marvelous Land of Oz (Kriss Sison) • There's No Freaking Way I'll be Your Lover! Unless... • Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court • Titan (Mado Nozaki) • To Every You I've Loved Before • * To Me, the One Who Loved You • Too Many Losing Heroines! • Toradora! • Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs • * Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of That Otome Game is Tough for Us • True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends • Until I Meet My Husband • Vivy Prototype • Wait for Me Yesterday • Wicked City • Witch and Mercenary • The World's Fastest Level Up • Yes, No, or Maybe? • * Yes, No or Maybe? – Center of the World • * Yes, No or Maybe? – Where Home Is

Siren (audiobooks)

• Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter • At Night, I Become a Monster • Berserk of Gluttony • Classroom of the Elite • * Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 • I Had That Same Dream Again • I Want to Eat Your Pancreas • I'm in Love with the Villainess • * I'm in Love with the Villainess: She's so Cheeky for a Commoner • Lout of Count's Family • Loyal Soldier, Lustful Beast • Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation • * Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Recollections • * Mushoku Tensei: Redundant Reincarnation • Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA • Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis • Qualia the Purple • Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! • Reincarnated as a Sword • Ripping Someone Open Only Makes Them Bleed • ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! • Survival in Another World with My Mistress! • Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō • The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain • The Evil Queen's Beautiful Principles • The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe • The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! • The Saint's Magic Power Is Omnipotent • The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash • The World's Fastest Level Up • Toradora! • Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs • True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends • Until I Meet My Husband • Witch and Mercenary

Korean / Chinese novels

Danmei

• Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu • Case File Compendium: Bing an Ben • Dinghai Fusheng Records • Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation • Guardian: Zhen Hun • Heaven Official's Blessing • Joyful Reunion • Legend of Exorcism • Peerless: Wu Shuang • Remnants of Filth: Yuwu • Riverbay Road Mens' Dormitory • Run Wild: Sa Ye • Silent Reading: Mo Du • 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

Baihe

Webtoons

Manhwa

• A Stepmother's Märchen • Bastard • Checkmate • ENNEAD • Killing Stalking • King the Land • Love Is an Illusion! • * Love Is an Illusion! – The Queen • No Love Zone • Obnoxious Hero-kun • Perfect Buddy • PULSE • Punch Drunk Love • Reborn Rich • The Big Apple • The Dangerous Convenience Store • The Lady and Her Butler • The New Recruit • What It Means to Be You • Who Made Me a Princess

Manhua

• Dinghai Fusheng Records • Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation • I Ship My Rival x Me

Former titles

Original series

• Chugworth Academy • Earthsong • Inverloch • Pandora: A Death Jr. Manga • Speed Racer

Seven Seas Entertainment (manga)

• Afro Samurai (now licensed by Titan Manga) • Akatsuki-iro no Senpuku Majo (dropped) • Angel Beats! Heaven's Door • Boogiepop Dual: Losers' Circus • Eve and Eve • Kodomo no Jikan (rescinded, now licensed by Digital Manga)

Novels/light novels

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