XL Media

XL Media (ЭксЭл Медиа) is an independent publishing house based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. According to its own account, the company began operating in 2005 by releasing licensed anime, and from 2010 it became one of the first publishers to shape the official manga market in Russia. From 2014 its licence portfolio expanded beyond manga to include Western comics, light novels (ranobe) and game artbooks. The company describes its editorial mission as publishing comics and manga that it regards as serious literature, without genre boundaries or formulaic plots, and it states that it only publishes titles its own team likes. The publisher's catalogue spans Japanese manga, Western comics, light novels, artbooks and novels. Its manga list includes well-known series such as Berserk, Blame!, Monster, Fairy Tail, Akira, Sailor Moon, Tokyo Revengers, The Promised Neverland, Cells at Work!, Initial D, The Apothecary Diaries and many others. Its light-novel line includes titles such as Fate/Zero, No Game No Life, Spice and Wolf-related works and The Apothecary Diaries, while its comics line covers Hellboy, Saga, Spawn, Judge Dredd, From Hell and 30 Days of Night, among others. Artbooks include volumes tied to games such as NieR: Automata, Genshin Impact, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Atomic Heart. XL Media has been recognised by the Russian comics community: the site Comicsboom.net twice named it the best comics publisher in Russia, in 2015 and 2016, and many of its books have won nominations such as Best Translated Comics Series and Best Translated Comics Book. In 2019 the company opened its own online store at xlm.ru, and in 2020 it became an official distributor for Good Smile Company. It has also expanded into physical retail, opening its first offline store in Saint Petersburg on 24 December 2022 and a second in Moscow on 18 November 2023. In August 2023 it began publishing Chinese novels. The company is registered as ООО «ЭксЭл Медиа Ретейл» and operates from ulitsa Yegorova 26A, Saint Petersburg. It maintains an active news and product site at news.xlm.ru and a social-media presence including VK and Instagram. Its declared ambition is to keep expanding its circle of foreign partners and to offer Russian-speaking readers a broad range of licensed products from Japanese manufacturers.

XL Media began its activity in 2005 in Saint Petersburg, initially releasing licensed anime. Its first release was the anime title Tristia, which was well received for the quality of its video and translation. However, due to management changes, the Russian release of Rumbling Hearts was delayed for a long time; it is considered the company's first serious release, as the two initial releases were mainly issued to test capabilities and analyse the market. On 29 September 2006 XL Media announced the release of the long-awaited title as well as the opening of a new partner programme aimed primarily at numerous Russian anime clubs. On 22 October 2007 the company announced its sale to Reanimedia, but the deal was subsequently cancelled. Nevertheless, staff who had already moved to Reanimedia remained in their new positions, and XL Media continued working with an updated team. On 1 September 2010 XL Media announced an expansion of its activities and plans to publish manga, becoming one of the first publishers to shape the official manga market in Russia. From 2014 the company began releasing Western comics and artbooks, and its licence portfolio grew to include comics, light novels and game artbooks alongside manga. On 8 November 2019 the company opened its own online store, announcing it in its VK group. On 24 December 2022 it opened its first offline store in Saint Petersburg. On 21 August 2023 it began publishing Chinese novels, again announcing the move on VK. On 18 November 2023 it opened a second offline store, in Moscow. In 2020 it became an official distributor for Good Smile Company. The company has stated that it intends to expand its circle of foreign partners further and to offer customers a rich assortment of licensed products from Japanese manufacturers. Throughout its history XL Media has emphasised production quality: it selects materials and printing houses, preserves original sizes and formats, often issues hardcover editions of books that appeared in paperback abroad, and takes responsibility for translation, editing and proofreading, fully adapting signage and sound effects into Russian and adjusting speech balloons to fit the text. Its catalogue has grown to include major manga, comics, light novels and artbooks, and its editorial stance is to publish works it regards as serious literature without genre boundaries.

• 2023

  Began publishing Chinese novels.

• 2023

  Opened second offline store in Moscow.

• 2022

  Opened first offline store in Saint Petersburg.

• 2020

  Became an official distributor for Good Smile Company.

• 2019

  Opened its own online store at xlm.ru.

• 2016

  Named best comics publisher in Russia by Comicsboom.net for the second time.

• 2015

  Named best comics publisher in Russia by Comicsboom.net.

• 2014

  Began releasing Western comics and artbooks.

• 2010

  Announced expansion into manga publishing.

• 2007

  Announced sale to Reanimedia; the deal was later cancelled.

• 2006

  Announced release of Rumbling Hearts and opened a partner programme for Russian anime clubs.

• 2005

  Company began operating in Saint Petersburg, releasing licensed anime.

Independent Russian publisher of licensed manga, comics, light novels and artbooks, known for high production quality and community recognition.

• Berserk

• Blame!

• Monster

• Fairy Tail

• Akira

• Sailor Moon

• Tokyo Revengers

• The Apothecary Diaries

• Fate/Zero

• No Game No Life

• Hellboy

• Saga

• Spawn

• Judge Dredd

• NieR: Automata World Guide

• Genshin Impact: Official Illustrations

• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Illustrations

• Atomic Heart artbook

• 2021-10-15

  XLMedia appoints Cédric Boireau as non-executive director[6]XLMedia任命Cédric Boireau为非执行董事igamingbusiness.com

  Reported: 2021-10-15

  XLMedia appointed Cédric Boireau as a non-executive director with immediate effect; he will represent Premier Investissement on the board and join the audit and risk committee.

• 2021-09-23

  XLMedia announces acquisition of BlueClaw[7]XLMedia 宣布收购 BlueClawigamingbusiness.com

  Reported: 2021-09-23

  XLMedia announced a £1.8 million acquisition of BlueClaw media. The article describes the acquisition as announced, not completed.

• 2021-09-23

  XLMedia reports H1 2021 results and loss[7]XLMedia 宣布收购 BlueClawigamingbusiness.com

  Reported: 2021-09-23

  XLMedia reported its first-half 2021 results: revenue rose 16.2% to $32.2 million, while the company recorded an $82,000 loss after tax, compared with a $99,000 profit in the first half of 2020.

1. 1Xl Media издательство комиксов и манги на русскомnews.xlm.ru
2. 2Xl Media издательство – о насnews.xlm.ru
3. 3Все новинки издательства XL Medianews.xlm.ru
4. 4XL Media — Википедияru.wikipedia.org
5. 5Wikidata Q4053315wikidata.org
6. 6XLMedia任命Cédric Boireau为非执行董事igamingbusiness.com
7. 7XLMedia 宣布收购 BlueClawigamingbusiness.com