Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensee, and distributor of Japanese animation in the United Kingdom and, previously, the United States that was founded in 1987. The UK branch is currently owned as a subsidiary of the U.S. licensor FUNimation Entertainment, while its U.S. branch is independently operated and owned by Lionsgate.
Despite its name, the company's principal business is the distribution of anime rather than manga, although they have published some manga (such as Crying Freeman) under the Manga Books imprint.
History
Manga Entertainment (formerly Island World Communications) was founded in London in 1991 by Chris Blackwell and Andy Frain as a subsidiary of the Island World Group. IWC took over the company number for Golden Square Music, but had no relationship to IWC or Manga.
On May 13, 2004, IDT Entertainment announced they would purchase Manga US, becoming a subsidiary of IDT Entertainment. In 2005, Manga UK and Manga US began to operate independently from each other, but still remain under the same ownership. Liberty Media would then purchase IDT Entertainment in 2006 and would be renamed to Starz Media.
In 2011, Manga US ceased licensing new products after the release of Redline and went dormant. On August 8, 2012, Liberty Media announced that it would spin-off Starz Media into a separate publicly-traded company. The spin-off of Starz Inc. was completed on January 15, 2013 which included all subsidiaries.
In November 2014, it was revealed that Manga UK's Director of Marketing and Acquisitions Jerome Mazandarani, and product manager Andrew Hewson had left Manga Entertainment to form Animatsu Entertainment, a new anime licensing company. The company was registered on September 11, 2014, with Mazandarani becoming COO and Hewson becoming marketing manager. On January 13, 2015, Animatsu announced that it had reached a licensing deal with Sentai Filmworks to distribute titles in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company would also enter into a sales and marketing partnership with Manga UK. With the partnership, Animatsu was responsible for licensing, marketing, and brand management, whilst Manga UK was responsible for distribution and sales.
On February 26, 2015, the UK branch was acquired from Starz Media, alongside its parent Anchor Bay UK, to managing director Colin Lomax. Anchor Bay UK was renamed to Platform Entertainment and went on to have exclusive rights to the Manga Entertainment branding and catalog in the UK and Ireland. In September of that year, Mazandarani revealed that Animatsu and Manga UK were in the process of merging operations. The Animatsu brand would ultimately be phased out, with its final release being Hello! KINMOZA, released on July 2, 2018. Animatsu Entertainment was dissolved on December 31, 2019.
On June 17, 2016, it was announced that Animatsu had acquired the global rights to the film In This Corner of the World, with Mazandarani credited as "Overseas Manager" for the film. Animatsu later announced that it had reached a distribution deal with Shout! Factory to distribute the film in North America. That same month, Lionsgate announced they would acquire Starz Inc. which would eventually be completed in December 2016, placing Manga US under Lionsgate Home Entertainment. In the same month, Kaleidoscope Film Distribution announced they had purchased Platform Entertainment and confirmed that they would split Manga UK off to become separately operated.
In 2017, Lionsgate Home Entertainment relaunched Manga US' website and Facebook and Twitter page, and confirmed a re-launch in the near future. Lionsgate currently licenses the Manga Entertainment brand-name from the UK branch and also holds the distribution rights to some of the anime they licensed such as Ghost in the Shell.
On May 29, 2019, FUNimation Entertainment announced that they had acquired Manga UK, with the former merging its UK and Ireland operations into Manga. Manga UK also announced that they were co-producing the anime television series Cannon Busters with Netflix.
On September 24, 2019, Sony Pictures Television and Aniplex announced that they were consolidating their international anime streaming businesses, including Madman Anime Group and Wakanim, under a new joint venture, with Funimation as the leading company for the group and its general manager Colin Decker leading the joint venture.
On April 12, 2021, it was announced Manga Entertainment UK would rebrand as FUNimation Entertainment in the United Kingdom and Ireland on April 19, 2021.[1]
Dubs
Manga Entertainment, Ltd.
Specials/OVAs
- GoShogun: The Time Étranger (1985) (World Wide Sound)
- The Supergal (1986) (World Wide Sound)
- Violence Jack (1986-1990) (World Wide Sound)
- Dangaioh (1987-1989) (World Wide Sound)
- Devilman (1987-1990) (World Wide Sound)
- Junk Boy (1987) (World Wide Sound)
- Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 (1987) (World Wide Sound)
- Wicked City (1987) (World Wide Sound)
- Appleseed (1988) (World Wide Sound)
- Dominion Tank Police (1988-1989) (World Wide Sound)
- Hades Project Zeorymer (1988-1990) (CTV Studios)
- Ultimate Teacher (1988) (World Wide Sound)
- Angel Cop (1989-1994) (World Wide Sound)
- Gall Force: Earth Chapter (1989-1990) (CTV Studios)
- The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor (1989-1992) (World Wide Sound; Remixed Version)
- Lupin the 3rd: Bye, Bye, Lady Liberty (1989) (World Wide Sound)
- Megazone 23 - Part III (1989) (World Wide Sound)
- A.D. Police Files (1990) (World Wide Sound)
- Adventures with Iczer 3 (1990-1991) (CTV Studios)
- Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990-1991) (World Wide Sound)
- Dark Myth (1990) (World Wide Sound)
- Mad Bull 34 (1990-1992) (World Wide Sound)
- Bubblegum Crash (1991) (World Wide Sound)
- Detonator Orgun (1991-1992) (CTV Studios)
- Doomed Megalopolis (1991-1992) (World Wide Sound)
- The Heroic Legend of Arslan (1991-1995) (World Wide Sound) (Episodes 1-4)
- Judge (1991) (World Wide Sound)
- Legend of the Dragon Kings (1991) (World Wide Sound)
- Psychic Wars (1991) (CTV Studios)
- Vampire Wars (1991) (CTV Studios)
- Tokyo Babylon (1992-1993) (World Wide Sound)
- Battle Angel Alita (1993) (World Wide Sound)
- New Dominion Tank Police (1993-1994) (World Wide Sound)
- Bounty Dog (1994) (World Wide Sound)
- Genocyber (1994) (World Wide Sound) (Episodes 1-3)
- Shadow Skill (1995-1996) (CTV Studios)
Films
- Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo (1978) (World Wide Sound)
- Space Adventure Cobra (1982) (World Wide Sound)
- Odin (1985) (World Wide Sound)
- Project A-ko (1986) (World Wide Sound)
- Demon City Shinjuku (1988) (World Wide Sound)
- Patlabor: The Movie (1989) (World Wide Sound)
- Venus Wars (1989) (World Wide Sound)
- A Wind Named Amnesia (1990) (World Wide Sound)
- Sword for Truth (1990) (CTV Studios)
- Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993) (World Wide Sound)
- Roujin Z (1993) (World Wide Sound)
- X (1996) (World Wide Sound)
- Millennium Actress (2001) (Village Productions, Ltd.)
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) (Epcar Entertainment)
Manga Entertainment, Inc.
Anime
Series
- Super Dimension Century Orguss (1983-1984) (Animaze; Episodes 1-17)
- Fist of the North Star (1984-1987) (Animaze; Episodes 1-36)
- Street Fighter II V (1995) (Animaze)
- Virus (1997) (Skypilot Entertainment)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002-2003) (Animaze)
- Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG (2004-2005) (Animaze)
- Noein: to your other self (2005-2006) (Media Concepts)
- Tokko (2006) (Bang Zoom! Entertainment)
Specials/OVAs
- Amon Saga (1986) (Skypilot Entertainment)
- Black Magic M-66 (1987) (Animaze)
- The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor (1989-1992) (Animaze)
- Giant Robo: The Animation (1992-1998) (Animaze)
- Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again (1992)
- Ambassador Magma (1993) (Animaze)
- Orguss 02 (1993-1995) (Animaze)
- Macross Plus (1994-1995) (Animaze)
- Tokyo Revelation (1995) (Animaze)
- Landlock (1996) (McLear Digital)
- Rayearth (1997) (Skypilot Entertainment)
- R.O.D: Read or Die (2001) (Gaijin Productions)
- Street Fighter Alpha: Generations (2005) (Media Concepts)
- Karas (2005-2007) (Bang Zoom! Entertainment)
- Strait Jacket (2007-2008) (Bang Zoom! Entertainment)
Shorts
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Tachikomatic Days (2002) (Animaze)
Films
- Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) (Animaze)
- Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987) (Animaze)
- Ninja Scroll (1993) (Animaze)
- Ghost Sweeper Mikami (1994) (Skypilot Entertainment)
- Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994) (Animaze)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995) (Animaze)
- Black Jack: The Movie (1995) (Animaze)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997) (Gaijin Productions)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) (Gaijin Productions)
- Perfect Blue (1998) (Animaze)
- Street Fighter Alpha (2000) (Animaze)
- Kai Doh Maru (2001) (Skypilot Entertainment)
- Dead Leaves (2004) (Gaijin Productions)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2006) (Animaze)
- Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007) (Airwaves Sound Design, Koko Productions & North Hollywood Sound)
- Redline (2009) (Bang Zoom! Entertainment)
Animation
- Red Hawk: Weapon of Death (1995) (Animaze)
- Armageddon (1996) (Animaze)
Talent Pool
Voice Actors
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References
External Links
- Manga UK official website
- Manga Entertainment US at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Manga Entertainment UK at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
