How the Anime News Network Encyclopedia and MyAnime Lists Work

Anime News Network (ANN) runs two connected tools for organizing anime information: the Encyclopedia, a community-editable database of titles, people, and companies, and MyAnime, a personal list system for tracking what you watch and how you rate it. Both are tied to a free account — the site's registration text says signing up is "free, easy, and private," and lists discussing in the forum, contributing to the Encyclopedia, and building MyAnime lists as the things an account unlocks. You don't need an account to read news or browse the Encyclopedia; you do need one to edit entries or save a list.

What the Encyclopedia covers

The Encyclopedia is ANN's structured reference layer, separate from its news feed. It holds entries for:

• Anime and manga titles — the works themselves, with staff, cast, and release data attached
• People — voice actors, directors, writers, composers, and others credited on those works
• Companies — studios, licensors, and publishers involved in production or distribution

Entries are cross-linked, so a title page connects to the people and companies credited on it, and a person page connects back to everything they worked on. That linking is the main reason to use it over a general search engine: you can move from a show to its staff to their other credits in a few clicks.

Contributing and editing entries

The registration copy explicitly names "contribute to the Encyclopedia" as an account benefit, which means entries are community-maintained rather than locked to staff. In practice this works like most fan-edited databases: you find an entry, propose or make a correction or addition, and it becomes part of the record. If you're relying on the Encyclopedia for a specific fact — a birth date, a credit, a release window — treat it the way you'd treat any crowd-sourced reference and check it against a second source when the detail matters.

How MyAnime lists work

MyAnime is the personal side of the same account. You build lists of what you're watching, have watched, or plan to watch, and attach ratings. The registration text frames it as "build your own MyAnime lists," so the list is yours to organize rather than a public profile you're required to fill out. Typical uses:

• Track episode or volume progress across ongoing series
• Record scores so you can compare and revisit your own ratings later
• Keep a backlog separate from what you're actively watching

Because it's account-based, your list persists across sessions and devices as long as you log in. The site's login block supports both direct login and Facebook/Twitter sign-in, so you can pick whichever you already use.

Searching and browsing the database

The site's own search description says you can search "anywhere on the site, in the encyclopedia, in the forums" — meaning the search scope is selectable rather than global by default. If you want database results instead of news articles, narrow the scope to the Encyclopedia before searching. From there, browsing works through the cross-links described above: start at a title, follow a name, and keep going.

What this is good for, and what it isn't

The practical split: use the Encyclopedia when you need to trace credits or confirm what a title is connected to, and use MyAnime when you need to remember where you left off. Both sit behind the same free registration, and neither requires payment based on anything stated on the site.