Talk:Manga Entertainment

Company History
For those who are interested to know, here are the facts: Andy Frain was a managing director of Island World Communications Ltd, which was part of the Island World Group, owned by Chris Blackwell. In 1992, which followed the release of several anime titles, including AKIRA (released on Island World) followed on the Manga Video label by Fist of the North Star, Venus Wars and Project AKO, the company's name was changed to Manga Entertainment Ltd. (same company, different name) Manga Entertainment then became a divison of Blackwell's Island International Group. Prior to starting Island World Communications, Frain was the managing director of Island Visual Arts, a small division of Island Records, which became part of PolyGram in late 1989. Laurence Guinness worked for Frain at IVA and came with him to Island World / Manga at the inception of the company. Guinness was a founder member of Island World Communications and was responsible for that companies launch of Manga Entertainment. Manga Entertainment Inc, the North American division was established by Frain in 1994 via the purchase of LA Hero, the US subsidiary of Hero Communications. In November 1995 Marvin Gleicher replaced Frain, and took over all worldwide operations until its sale in 2005. Mike Preece then became managing director of the UK / European division and Guinness was promoted to Director of Acquisitions, Production and Development. There were many reasons for Frain leaving Manga in November 1995, but it was an amicable agreement with the parent company's owner Chris Blackwell, and Frain retained a minority share in the company.

92.3.138.134 (talk) 11:54, 11 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Andyfrain (talk • contribs) 02:41, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Ghost in the Shell is rated as a 15 in the uk NOT PG


 * I just edited a vandalism to the USA current licenses section, a vandal was saying that both Evangelion movies were TV-MA and therefore Restricted. That's not right! Starz aired them as TV-14 programs, and more than a single use of the "F" word doesn't mean an automatic R rating. --Ryanasaurus007 23:35, 7 October 2006 (UTC)


 * *I reverted this page,  because the "background" was blanked,  and seems to  be a  victim of  warring in  the  past. Matthew Glennon (talk) 07:26, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

First Release
I am pretty sure that Akira wasn't actually the first thing that Manga Video released. Fist of the North Start actually has the earliest catalogue number (1001). A subtitled version of Akira was released by ICA in a double-video set, which may have been earlier than that, I don't think this counts as a Manga Video release because Island World Communications had an agreement with ICA to distribute Akira using the ICA Projects brand name. The dubbed version was released on Manga Video but it was a bit later on, I think it may have been the third or fourth thing Manga released.

Akira was the first anime release but it was released on the Island World Communications label (with the IWC catalogue prefix). Fist of the North Star was the second release but the first on the Manga Video label (both titles in 1991). Island World also released other video genres including comedy, childrens, educational etc but following the success of Akira, Fist of the North Star, Project AKO, Venus Wars etc, the company changed its name (in 1992) to Manga Entertainment Ltd (same company but different name) and pretty much focused its efforts on anime. I hope that helps explain the confusion! User talk:andyfrain 22:24, 16 February 2008

Aside from that, the intro of this article is pretty shoddy and could do with a rewrite.Liquidcow (talk) 15:43, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I've tagged, cleaned up, and otherwise reworded a the intro. Also created a new section called Company history and moved several full paragraph from the lead there. Still needs some work, lots of statements aren't verified. AtaruMoroboshi (talk) 16:15, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Ratings listed
Just curious, I don't know why all the series/movies/ovas here have their ratings behind them. I don't see why that is relevent in a list of licences. Its already on thier respective pages. Corvato (talk) 15:54, 7 February 2008 (UTC)Corvato
 * Looking at some other articles, it seems to be inconsistent. Take Bandai Visual for example, there are no ratings. AnimEigo on the other hand has some ratings listed. Ratings are also subject to individual regions, whether or not they've aired on television, and in some cases, are imposed by the distributor themselves. I'd say it adds little to the article by listing a rating, anyone who wants to learn more about any particular show, can follow the wiki-link.AtaruMoroboshi (talk) 16:12, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
 * They and the list have been removed. They are not appropriate for company articles, and the ratings were definately not appropriate as they are only relevant to a small portion of the English speaking world.

Headquarters
As a former Chicago Manga employee, I can say for certain the company is no longer based in Chicago. The office was closed when Starz purchased the company. I believe some workload was taken over by Anchor Bay. Others was relocated to Starz somewhere on the west coast. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.135.134.248 (talk) 21:29, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Current Status?
Is anyone able to verify if this company is still doing business in the United States? A quick Google finds that they haven't distributed anything new since 2008, three blu-ray's and a DVD boxset in 2009 , and nothing at all to date in 2010. My personal intuition would be to try to send them an e-mail and ask, but I am vaguely aware of Wikipedia's no-original-research policy... -65.121.141.34 (talk) 20:36, 19 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Manga US still exists as a brand within Starz/Anchor Bay, but their main business now is in online distribution of their own and other companies content (mostly that of Right Stuf Inc.). They have active YouTube and Twitter accounts, the former posting original content alongside anime episodes. I think all the releases highlighted by the above user are actually UK and Australian releases; the last titles licensed by Manga US, which admittedly took place after the above post, were Redline and First Squad in 2012, and their last (re-)release was Ghost in the Shell (25th Anniversary Edition) in 2014.
 * There is a new complication in that, as of earlier this year, Manga UK (and its parent Platform Entertainment, formerly Anchor Bay UK) is no longer part of Starz and is now an independent entity with a license to the Manga brand and titles (within the UK and Ireland). Shiroi Hane (talk) 18:33, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

With regards to recent edits (edit summary "UK branch isn't owned by Starz, and hasn't been since 2015"): it hasn't been a UK branch of anything since the buyout from Starz (they license the Manga brand and some catalogue titles from Anchor Bay/Starz/Lion's Gate) and is no longer part of Platform Entertainment either; late CEO of Manga Colin Lomax sold that part of the business to Kaleidoscope Shiroi Hane (talk) 19:38, 17 January 2018 (UTC)

Updated
Since this article hasn't been properly updated since 2017, I took the liberty of completely revamping it and removing all uncited material and original research.MarcoPolo250 (talk) 17:01, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

Malibu Pictures
Malibu Pictures is a Company.--2600:1702:4B28:F760:219:E3FF:FEE0:BE2B (talk) 21:55, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Split proposal to Funimation UK
I propose that elements pertaining to the UK-based Manga Entertainment Ltd. be split out into a separate article titled Funimation UK, due to their impending rebranding from Manga Entertainment to Funimation on April 19, 2021. This is because it would be less appropriate to rename this article itself to Funimation UK, as it contains information about the US-based Manga Entertainment LLC (owned by Lionsgate), a separate business unaffiliated with Funimation.

I suggest that content related to Manga Entertainment UK from 2014 onwards (including information about Animatsu Entertainment) be split from this article, with this article focussing on Manga Entertainment US, as well as Manga Entertainment US and UK's shared history pre-2014 (ie: information about Manga Entertainment before the UK sale to Colin Lomax in 2015), as the shared history is about Manga Entertainment as a whole. tenshibeat (talk&#124;contribs) 10:23, 15 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Strong Support per nom. For awhile I've always felt this article needed to be split, now that the rebranding is happening, we have an excuse to push for it. Link20XX (talk) 21:33, 16 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Support per nom. Sarcataclysmal (talk) 22:10, 16 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Support, as both Manga companies aren't even related anymore. Luigitehplumber (talk) 01:22, 22 April 2021 (UTC)