Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor ofanime in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the United States, and Australia. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch becameCrunchyroll UK and Ireland, also currently known as Crunchyroll Ltd. since 2022, while its U.S. branch was absorbed intoStarz Inc. (now owned byLionsgate).[1][2][3]
Despite its name, the company's principal business was the distribution ofanime rather thanmanga, although they published some manga (such asCrying Freeman) under the Manga Books imprint.[4]
Manga Entertainment's original logo and initial imprint
Manga Entertainment (formerly Island World Communications) was founded in London in 1991 byChris Blackwell and Andy Frain,[5] with Laurence Guinness in a key role,[6][7][8] as a subsidiary ofIsland Records' Island World Group.[9] IWC took over the company number for Golden Square Music, but had no relationship to IWC or Manga.[10][9][11][12]
Manga Entertainment expanded into North America in 1993 with the purchase of L.A. Hero, forming Manga U.S. while Manga UK entered the Australian market in late 1993 and began releasing titles in January 1994 in conjunction with the Australian division of Island's parent company,PolyGram (throughPolyGram Video) and local independent distributor Siren Entertainment.[2][13]
On May 13, 2004,IDT Entertainment, a division ofIDT Corporation announced they would purchase Manga U.S., becoming a subsidiary of IDT Entertainment.[14][15][16] In 2005, Manga UK and Manga U.S. began to operate independently from each other, but still remain under the same ownership.[9]Liberty Media would then purchase IDT Entertainment in 2006, which would be renamedStarz Media.[17]
In 2011, Manga U.S. ceased licensing new products after the release ofRedline and was absorbed into Starz Media. On August 8, 2012, Liberty Media announced that it would spin-off Starz Media into a separate publicly traded company.[18] The spin-off ofStarz Inc. was completed on January 15, 2013, which included all subsidiaries.[19]
On February 26, 2015, the UK branch was acquired from Starz Media, alongside its parent Anchor Bay UK, by managing director Colin Lomax.[20][21][22] 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.[23]
In June 2016,Lionsgate announced they would acquireStarz Inc.[24][25] which would eventually be completed in December 2016, placing Manga U.S. underLionsgate 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. After Platform Entertainment stopped distributing Manga titles, they went on to having their titles released in the UK by Spirit Entertainment.[26]
In 2017,Lionsgate Home Entertainment relaunched Manga U.S.' website and itsFacebook andTwitter pages, and confirmed a relaunch in the near future. Lionsgate currently licenses the Manga Entertainment brand-name fromCrunchyroll.[27] In the following year, the CEO Colin Lomax had died, between Christmas 2017 and New Years Day 2018.[28] As of September 2023, the relaunch did not happen as of yet, with some of Manga's titles likeGhost in the Shell being rereleased under the main Lionsgate banner.
^Lent, John A. (2001). "Chapter 4: The Development of the Japanese Animation Audience in the UK and France by Helen McCarthy".Amazon Books Online.ISBN0253340357.
