Manga Entertainment

Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the United States, and Australia. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, also currently known as Crunchyroll Ltd. since 2022,[1][2][3] while its U.S. branch was absorbed into Starz Inc. (now owned by Lionsgate Studios)[4] and its Australian branch was also absorbed into Madman Entertainment.[5] Despite its name, the company's principal business was the distribution of anime rather than manga, although they published some manga (such as Crying Freeman) under the Manga Books imprint.[6]

History

Manga Entertainment (formerly Island World Communications) was founded in London in 1991 by Chris Blackwell and Andy Frain,[7] with Laurence Guinness in a key role,[8][9][10] 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.[11][12][13][14]

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.[2][15]

On May 13, 2004, IDT Entertainment, a division of IDT Corporation announced they would purchase Manga U.S., becoming a subsidiary of IDT Entertainment.[16][17][18] In 2005, Manga UK and Manga U.S. began to operate independently from each other, but still remain under the same ownership.[12] Liberty Media would then purchase IDT Entertainment in 2006, which would be renamed Starz Media.[19]

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.[20] The spin-off of Starz Inc. was completed on January 15, 2013, which included all subsidiaries.[21]

See also

• Manga Force: The Ultimate Collection

External links