Media Factory

Founded December 1986 · Japan

Media Factory (メディアファクトリー, Mediafakutorī), formerly known as Media Factory, Inc. (株式会社メディアファクトリー, Kabushiki gaisha Mediafakutorī), was a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing. The company was founded on December 1, 1986, and was a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd., based in Shibuya, Tokyo. Media Factory was possibly the first anime distributor to ask for sites to not link to fansubs of any anime produced by the company. On October 12, 2011, Media Factory was purchased by Kadokawa Corporation for ¥8,000,000,000. Media Factory also has a monthly manga magazine, Monthly Comic Alive, and its own light novel imprint, MF Bunko J. Media Factory also holds the license for the distribution of The 39 Clues in Japan. Media Factory ceased being a kabushiki gaisha, as well as retired the Pokémon anime series on October 1, 2013, when it was merged with eight other companies to become a brand company of Kadokawa Corporation. It had a record label, Pikachu Records, that produced Pokémon CDs and Pokémon soundtracks in Japan from 1997 to 2012. Most Pokémon albums in Japan came from Pikachu Records during this period. It was retired when Media Factory was purchased by Kadokawa Corporation. On August 17, 2021, the website for Media Factory was officially closed with a notice directing readers to Kadokawa's website for future products and services.