Manga Entertainment

US anime distributor

For the UK company formerly known as Manga Entertainment and also currently known as Crunchyroll Ltd., see Crunchyroll UK and Ireland.

Manga Entertainment, LLC

U.S. logo of Manga Entertainment

Company type| Subsidiary
Industry| Entertainment
Genre| Anime
Founded| December 4, 1987; 37 years ago (1987-12-04) (UK branch)
1993; 32 years ago (1993) (U.S. branch)
Defunct| 2017; 8 years ago (2017) (U.S. branch)
April 19, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-04-19) (UK branch)
Fate| Folded into Lionsgate Home Entertainment (U.S. branch)
Spun off and later acquired by and folded into Funimation (UK branch)
Successors| Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2017–present, U.S. branch)
Crunchyroll UK and Ireland (2021–present, UK branch)
Headquarters| Los Angeles, California, United States
Products| Anime
Parent| Island World Group (1991–1998)
Starz Distribution (2004–2017)
Website| www.manga.com

Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyroll Ltd. since 2022, while its U.S. branch was absorbed into Starz Inc. (now owned by Lionsgate).[1]

Despite its name, the company's principal business was the distribution of anime rather than manga, although they have published some manga (such as Crying Freeman) under the Manga Books imprint.[2]

## History

[edit]

Manga Entertainment's original logo and initial imprint

Manga Entertainment (formerly Island World Communications) was founded in London in 1991 by Chris Blackwell and Andy Frain[3] with Laurence Guinness in a key role.[4][5] [6] as a subsidiary of Island Records' Island World Group. IWC took over the company number for Golden Square Music, but had no relationship to IWC or Manga.[7][8][9][10] 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 (through PolyGram Video) and local independent distributor Siren Entertainment.

On May 13, 2004, IDT Entertainment, a division of IDT Corporation announced they would purchase Manga U.S., becoming a subsidiary of IDT Entertainment.[11][12][13] In 2005, Manga UK and Manga U.S. began to operate independently from each other, but still remain under the same ownership.[8] Liberty Media would then purchase IDT Entertainment in 2006[14] and would be renamed as Starz Media.

In 2011, Manga U.S. ceased licensing new products after the release of Redline 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.[15] The spin-off of Starz Inc. was completed on January 15, 2013[16] which included all subsidiaries.

### 2015–present

[edit]

On February 26, 2015, the UK branch was acquired from Starz Media, alongside its parent Anchor Bay UK, by managing director Colin Lomax.[17] 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.[18]

In June 2016, Lionsgate announced they would acquire Starz Inc.[19][20] which would eventually be completed in December 2016, placing Manga U.S. 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. After Platform Entertainment stopped distributing Manga titles, they went on to having their titles released in the UK by Spirit Entertainment.[21]

In 2017, Lionsgate Home Entertainment relaunched Manga U.S.' website and its Facebook and Twitter pages, and confirmed a relaunch in the near future. Lionsgate currently licenses the Manga Entertainment brand-name from Crunchyroll.[22] In the following year, the CEO Colin Lomax had died, between Christmas 2017 and New Years Day 2018.[23] As of September 2023, the relaunch did not happen as of yet, with some of Manga's titles like Ghost in the Shell being rereleased under the main Lionsgate banner.

## See also

[edit]

* Manga Force: The Ultimate Collection

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "About Us". Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
2. ^ Shirow, Masamune (1995) [1985]. Appleseed Volume One: The Promethean Challenge. trans. Studio Proteus (UK ed.). London: Manga Publishing. ISBN 1-900097-01-X.
3. ^ Hoad, Phil (July 10, 2013). "Akira: The future-Tokyo story that brought anime west". The Guardian.
4. ^ "Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'". Animation Obsessive. May 6, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
5. ^ Segall, Mark (August 1, 1996). "Manga Entertainment: Taking Anime To The Next Stage". Animation World Network. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
6. ^ Kissane, Kevin (June 20, 2023). "A History of Manga Entertainment (Part 1)". Postcards of Pop Culture. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
7. ^ "MANGA ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
8. ^ a b "Answerman - What Ever Happened to Manga Entertainment?". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
9. ^ "Akira: The story behind the film". Empire Online. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
10. ^ Lent, John A. (2001). "Chapter 4: The Development of the Japanese Animation Audience in the UK and France by Helen McCarthy". Amazon Books Online. ISBN 0253340357.
11. ^ "IDT Entertainment Acquires Manga Entertainment; Company Gains Extensive Library of Japanese Animation Programming". www.businesswire.com. May 13, 2004. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
12. ^ "IDT Acquires Manga Entertainment". iCV2. May 13, 2004.
13. ^ "IDT Acquiring Anime Giant Manga Ent". Animation World Network. May 13, 2004.
14. ^ "Liberty Media to Acquire IDT Entertainment; Starz's Top Premium Television Service to Join With IDT's Animation and Live Action Production and Home Entertainment Distribution Business". www.businesswire.com. May 16, 2006. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
15. ^ "New York Deadline" Liberty Media Says It Will Spin Off Starz Archived February 28, 2023, at the Wayback Machine deadline.com, Retrieved on August 8, 2012
16. ^ "Yahoo Finance" Liberty Media Spins-off Starz Archived August 14, 2021, at the Wayback Machine finance.yahoo.com Zacks Equity Research, Retrieved on January 24, 2013
17. ^ "Starz Sells Manga Entertainment". Anime News Network. February 26, 2015. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
18. ^ "Colin Lomax, former Anchor Bay UK chief, dies aged 56". Screen. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
19. ^ Lieberman, David (June 30, 2016). "Lionsgate Agrees To Buy Starz For $4.4 Billion In Cash And Stock". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
20. ^ Schwindt, Oriana (December 8, 2016). "Lionsgate, Starz Close $4.4 Billion Acquisition". Variety. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
21. ^ "Kaleidoscope buys distributor Platform Entertainment". Screen. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
22. ^ "Manga". www.manga.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
23. ^ "Manga Entertainment CEO Colin Lomax Passes Away". Anime News Network. January 3, 2018. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Manga Entertainment US at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

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Starz Entertainment

Media assets|

| Starz Inc.|

* Starz
* Starz Encore
* MoviePlex
* Starz Distribution

|

Streaming services*|

* LOL Network

Broadcast and FAST networks|

* Free TV Networks*

Celestial Tiger Entertainment*|

* Celestial Movies
* Kix
* Thrill
* cHK

Former or defunct assets
and predecessors|

* Anchor Bay Entertainment
* Film Roman
* Manga Entertainment (U.S. branch) (Now part of Funimation)
* Overture Films
* Starz Animation / Arc Productions

Key personnel|

* Frank Giustra (founder)
* Jon Feltheimer
* Michael Burns

*Joint venture

Authority control databases |

* VIAF

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