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Anime News Network MCP server

Lets your AI search anime and manga, read cast and episode details, and check the news wire.

This is a small helper that connects your chat AI to Anime News Network, a site that has tracked anime and manga since 1998. Once it is set up, you can ask your AI about a series, its cast, its episodes or the latest news, and it will look it up for you. It is handy if you follow anime or manga and want quick answers without opening a browser.

What is an MCP server? The 30-second version

On its own, your AI can only chat with what it already knows. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI one new skill, here a connection to the Anime News Network encyclopedia and news wire. When you ask a question, your AI passes it to this helper, the helper fetches the answer from Anime News Network, and your AI tells you what came back. You do not need an account or a key for this one.

What this MCP server does

You type a question in your chat, like asking about a specific anime. Your AI sends that request to this helper program running on your machine. The helper talks to the Anime News Network website, searches its encyclopedia or reads its news feed, and brings back the matching rows or article text. Your AI then turns that into a normal answer in the chat, with the source link included. It works the same way for cast lists, episode counts, reader ratings or today's headlines.

Flow diagram: you ask your AI “Who voiced Spike in Cowboy Bebop?”, the Anime News Network MCP server connects it to Anime News Network, and you get back answer with names and links.

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What you can do with it

Search the encyclopedia for an anime or manga by title
Read one entry with its genres, themes, episode count and themes songs
See who voiced which character and in which language
List the cast and staff credited on a series
Browse what was recently added to the encyclopedia
Check the reader ratings for a series
Read the anime news wire for the US, UK or Australia

Try asking your AI

“What does the encyclopedia have on Cowboy Bebop?”
“Who voiced Spike, and in which languages?”
“What anime were added to the encyclopedia recently?”
“What is the anime news today?”

What it gives back to you

You get back normal chat answers built from the data: titles, cast names with roles and languages, episode counts, genres, reader scores, or a list of recent news stories with short summaries and links. Each result also carries the address of the encyclopedia page or article, so you can click through and check it yourself. Longer plot summaries come in slices, and your AI can ask for the next part if you want more.

Before you start

What you need

The Claude desktop app or another chat app that supports MCP servers
Node.js version 24 or newer (or Docker, if you prefer that route)

Good to know

It only reads public pages and changes nothing, but it sends requests to Anime News Network, so it paces itself to about one request per second and asks you to keep the source links when you share results.

Install it with your AI

Add Anime News Network MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed

You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.

Sign in to get the install prompt

Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Anime News Network MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.