The MyAnimeList site, a reference for all anime lovers, had the misfortune to be hacked by a frantic fan. The latter has replaced all the titles on the site with his favorite work.
MyAnimeList, one of the most popular platforms for anime fans, has been transformed into a huge billboard. On May 10, 2023, the site announced its unavailability for emergency maintenance caused by an individual who “ overwritten anime database information to change all titles to “Let’s All Love Lain “.
Concretely, a hacker, probably a supernatural anime fan Serial Experiments Lain, has decided to put the entire site in the colors of his favorite saga. You have to imagine these millions of fans who only see one and the same work on their anime reference platform.
Serial Experiments Lain“masterpiece” according to a hacker
The hacker went even further: he modified the ratings given by users on the anime, so that it was only evaluated with the three most laudatory evaluation criteria of the site: “very good “, “excellent” and “masterpiece”. For 48 hours, the greatest anime in history were just episodes of Serial Experiments Lain.
MyAnimeList is a well-known site and app for anime fans. The application, downloaded by more than a million people on the Play Store, acts as a virtual notebook to follow its progress in a saga, while being a social network to exchange for hours with other fans. Note that MyAnimeList is also a rating platform for works, a kind of Allociné for anime fans.
The MyAnimeList teams quickly seized the case, to identify the hacking techniques used and to repair the site. It returned to normal on May 12, 2023 and is operating normally today.
However, the managers of MyAnimeList cannot rest easy. This incident points to the lack of security around the site, which is used by millions of people. To defend their favorite anime, anime fans can sometimes go to great lengths. Some well-known authors, such as Hajime Isayama (The attack of the Titans) or Tatsuki Fujimoto (chain saw man) have, for example, received death threats from fans who did not like the end or certain narrative choices of their works.
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