, formerly , is a Japanese

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

and

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

company of

Kadokawa Future Publishing is the publishing arm of Kadokawa Corporation, publishing manga, novels, light novels, magazines, tabletop role-playing games and other type of content with eight different publishing brand companies that previously merged with it. The company u ...

headquartered in

Nishi-Shinjuku is a skyscraper business district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The region was previously called . History Nishi-Shinjuku was Tokyo's first major foray into building skyscrapers with the first appearing in the 1970s with Keio Plaza Inter-Con ...

Shinjuku, Tokyo , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

between

ASCII Corporation was a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, becoming ASCII Media Works. The company published ' ...

and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president and CEO of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the first president and CEO of ASCII Media Works. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. The company specializes in publishing of books, entertainment and computer magazines,

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, and

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s. ASCII Media Works is known for their brand magazines and book imprints which include such well-known magazines as ''

Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comi ...

'', and ''

Dengeki G's Magazine was a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and seri ...

'', along with the company's main

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

publishing imprint

Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint (trade name), imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (a division of Kadokawa Future Publishing formerly called MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with th ...

. Most of the company caters to the Japanese male

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...

crowd, covering such topics as

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

, light novels,

plastic model image:South-Goodwin.jpg, 300px, A young boy starts painting an assembled plastic model of the South Goodwin Lightship A plastic model kit, (wikt:plamodel, plamo in Eastern world, Eastern influenced parlance), is a consumer-grade plastic scale mo ...

ling, and

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

s. The company also deals with

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

and enterprises related to

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

(IT), such as the publication of ''Weekly ASCII'', along with other PC and IT magazines. ASCII Media Works also publishes multiple magazines targeted towards females such as ''

Character Parfait (lit. "Nintendo Shock") is a Japanese gaming magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). The magazine mainly covers information pertaining Nintendo games and consoles. History and profile The magazine was originally named ' ...

'', '' Dengeki Girl's Style'', and ''

Sylph A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...

''. The company runs yearly contests for original novel and manga submissions, such as the light novel

Dengeki Novel Prize The is a Japanese literary award handed out annually (since 1994) by the Japanese publisher ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) for their Dengeki Bunko light novel imprint. The contest has discovered many popular and successful light noveli ...

contest.

History

ASCII Media Works resulted from a

between two Japanese publishing companies—

ASCII ASCII ( ), an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for representing a particular set of 95 (English language focused) printable character, printable and 33 control character, control c ...

and MediaWorks—on April 1, 2008. The company is a continuation of MediaWorks, but despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company is a member of the Kadokawa Group and is thus affiliated with

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

, another Japanese publishing company. According to an official press release by

Kadokawa Corporation , formerly is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Fujimi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango (company), Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014, the company has ...

, the merger stemmed from a steady outgrowth in the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

and mobile parts of society which led publishing companies to branch out to encompass the ever increasing needs and demands of the consumers. Due to mutual company interests, the merger went through to create a stronger company which has more outreaching possibilities than either company could have done on their own. ASCII brought their expertise with IT and

. In contrast, MediaWorks brought their expertise of media pertaining to entertainment, such as with visual or printed media including

s, or magazines covering such media products. In addition to making the combined company more diverse, company management is planned to become more efficient, base revenue is meant to increase, and the company may take on new business opportunities in the future.

Enterbrain , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on January 30, 1987, as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strate ...

had been considered for merging with ASCII and MediaWorks, but this was eventually rejected. In April 2011, the video game division of ASCII Media Works was merged into Kadokawa Games along with the video game divisions of Kadokawa Shoten and Enterbrain. ASCII Media Works ceased being a

kabushiki gaisha A or ''kabushiki kaisha'', commonly abbreviated K.K. or KK, is a type of defined under the Companies Act of Japan. The term is often translated as "stock company", "joint-stock company" or "stock corporation". The term ''kabushiki gaisha'' in ...

on October 1, 2013, when it was merged with eight other companies to become a brand company of

Magazines published

ASCII Media Works publishes magazines under the ''Dengeki'' imprint which feature video games, anime, manga, hobbies and special interests; these magazines were previously published by MediaWorks prior to the merger. Information technology magazines previously published by ASCII, such as ''Weekly ASCII'', are now published under ASCII Media Works.

Publishing imprints

Light novels

;

: is a

imprint aimed at a male audience established in June 1993. The editors in charge of this imprint have a reputation for welcoming new authors, and hold a yearly contest, the

, to discover new talent. The eighth volume of ''

Kino's Journey , shortened to ''Kino's Journey'', is a Japanese light novel series written by Keiichi Sigsawa, with illustrations by Kouhaku Kuroboshi. The series follows a traveler named Kino and her talking motorcycle named Hermes, as they ex ...

'', originally published in October 2006, was Dengeki Bunko's 1000th published novel. In April 2007, three films based on separate light novel series published by Dengeki Bunko were produced; the three titles were ''

'', ''

Shakugan no Shana , also known simply as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 27 novels from November 2002 to November 2023 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint ...

'', and ''

Inukami! is a Japanese light novel series written by Mamizu Arisawa, with illustrations by Kanna Wakatsuki. The series originally started serialization in volume seventeen of ASCII Media Works' now-defunct light novel magazine ''Dengeki hp'' on Apr ...

''. : Aside from the main Dengeki Bunko imprint, there is the sub-imprint established in 1994 when it was originally related with

tabletop role-playing games A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

. The imprint stopped production in September 1997 but was later restarted in December 1999 as a

computer game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...

and light novel publisher. The imprint succeeded the previous publishing imprint Dengeki G's Bunko. : There is also the light novel imprint that focuses on the publication of web novel works in paper format. The label started in January 17, 2019, with the re-release of ''

Boogiepop and Others is a Japanese light novel written by Kouhei Kadono and illustrated by Kouji Ogata. The first in the ''Boogiepop'' series, it was released in 1998 by MediaWorks and won the fourth Dengeki Game Novel Contest. A manga adaptation by Kouji ...

'' and is aimed at male audience. ; B-Prince Bunko : is a

yaoi , also known by its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created by women for a female audience, distinguishing it from the equivale ...

light novel imprint established in 2008. The imprint held a contest in 2010 to give amateur authors a chance to make a professional debut. ; Jewel Books : A light novel imprint that is aimed at adult women, and contains adult drawings. The label started on June 25, 2014, with the release of two light novel volumes.

Manga

;

Dengeki Comics is a manga publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks) and is aimed at a male audience. Aside from the main Dengeki Comics label, there is the related Dengeki Co ...

: is a

publishing imprint aimed at a male audience. Aside from the main Dengeki Comics imprint, there is the related Dengeki Comics EX imprint which publishes a lesser number of manga volumes. A large amount of the manga published under Dengeki Comics was originally serialized in the manga magazine ''

''. ; Sylph Comics : is a manga publishing imprint aimed at a female audience. The manga that are published under this imprint were originally serialized in the

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Manga, Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent girls and young adult women. It is, along with Shōnen manga, manga (targeting adolescent boys), Seinen manga, manga (targeting young adult and adult men ...

magazine ''

''. The first bound volumes were published under this imprint starting on March 21, 2008.

Novels

; Mahō no Island Bunko : is a novel imprint established on October 25, 2007, which publishes new works on the

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

-accessible service Mahō no Island operated by the company of the same name, which is a subsidiary of ASCII Media Works. Mahō no Island Bunko publishes general novels. ;

Media Works Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works. It was established on December 16, 2009 with the publication of eight novels, and is a mainstream novel imprint aimed at a general audience. The imprint is ...

: is a publishing imprint established on December 16, 2009, aimed at a general audience for mainstream novels. Winners of the Media Works Bunko Prize in the

are published on this imprint, along with winning 500,000

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

Contests

; Dengeki Comic Grand Prix : The is an award handed out semiannually (since 2004) and annually (since 2010) by ASCII Media Works for original

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

in two divisions: shōnen and shōjo manga. There are three types of prizes given out each contest: the Grand Prix Prize (2 million

), the Semi-Grand Prix Prize (500,000 yen), and the Excellence Prize (300,000 yen). The Grand Prix Prize has only been handed out twice in the contest's history, with the first round in 2004 and the third round in 2005. There was also once a ''

Dengeki Moeoh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comi ...

'' Grand Prize division which was held twice with a Grand Prize and Honorable Mentions. ; Dengeki Taishō : The is an award handed out annually (since 1994) by ASCII Media Works with two divisions: the

for

s under

, and the for

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

s. Each division consists of the Grand Prize (1 million yen), Gold Prize (500,000 yen), Silver Prize (300,000 yen), and Honorable Mention (50,000 yen). The first two rounds also had a

game design Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

division called , and between the third and eleventh rounds there was a

division called .

Video games

ASCII Media Works has been in the business of developing and producing video games of series that have light novels or manga published by the company. These games are typically

s, a genre of

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

s, but some have also been sound novels, which has less attributes of an adventure game than a normal visual novel. The video games produced are ported to the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

. Since ASCII Media Works is a continuation of MediaWorks, the company includes the video games previously produced before the merger with

on their official website for their video games. The video games produced are organized into categories for similarly made games. Aside from the main class of visual and sound novels produced, three games were re-released in the Dengeki SP series at reduced prices from their original release; SP stands for "special price". Another class produced exclusively for the Nintendo DS are under the

imprint series DS Dengeki Bunko, and are games based on

s published under ASCII Media Works' male light novel imprint

. Five games have been produced under this brand, and the two games in the series based on ''

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu is a Japanese sci-fi light novel series written by Mizuhito Akiyama with illustrations by Eeji Komatsu that centers on the relationship between Kana Iriya, a high school girl who has to fight alien invaders, and Naoyuki Asaba, a member of ...

'' were re-released in a single package together. The company lists the titles which have been the most popular among the games they have produced which include releases based on ''

Sister Princess is a Japanese light novel series written by Sakurako Kimino and illustrated by Naoto Tenhiro that began serialization in 1999 and ended in 2003. In 2001, a manga series and a bishōjo game for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation were r ...

'', ''

DearS is an ecchi shōnen Japanese manga series co-written and illustrated by Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara, credited under their pen name Peach-Pit. It was serialized monthly by MediaWorks in their magazines '' Dengeki Comic Gao!'' from Octobe ...

'', ''

Futakoi is a light novel, visual novel and anime television series created by Hina Futaba and Mutsumi Sasaki. The anime aired in Japan in 2004. It replaced '' Sister Princess'' as '' Dengeki G's Magazine'' premiere flagship title. It tells the sto ...

'', and ''

Strawberry Panic! ''Strawberry Panic!'' is a series of Japanese illustrated short stories written by Sakurako Kimino, which focus on a group of teenage girls attending three affiliated all-girl schools on Astraea Hill. A common theme throughout the storie ...

''.

References

External links

Dengeki Online
* {{Authority control Japanese companies established in 2008 Book publishing companies of Japan Book publishing companies in Tokyo Comic book publishing companies of Japan Publishing companies established in 2008 Kadokawa Corporation subsidiaries Manga distributors