Manga Entertainment

Background: Manga Entertainment was established in 1991 by Andy Frain, the managing director of Island World Communications, then a subsidiary of Chris Blackwell and John Heyman's Island World Group. Their first release was Akira, which had been acquired from ICA Projects. They soon expanded into Australia and North America, the latter where they started with a mix of their own British titles and acquisitions from the then-recently defunct U.S. Renditions (the first of which, Appleseed and Macross Plus Part 1, were released on February 28, 1995). After PolyGram, which acquired Island World Group in December 1994,went defunct in 1998, Blackwell repurchased the company and incorporated it into his new venture, Palm Pictures. Manga was sold to IDT Entertainment in 2004, then to Liberty Media/Starz in 2006, Manga later became a sub label of Anchor Bay Entertainment (now part of Lionsgate since 2016), and Manga UK is it's own separate company after Anchor Bay Entertainment UK split up and re-branded as Platform Entertainment. The American branch stopped licensing new titles in 2011, after their release of Redline. In 2017, Manga Entertainment US and Anchor Bay were merged into Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

(1995)


Logo: On a white background, the Manga print logo fades in as it spins twice. When it settles, "MANGA ENTERTAINMENT, INC." fades in below.

FX/SFX: The rotation animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Very rare. Seen on Black Magic M-66 and Orguss 02.

Editor's Note: To be honest, the logo animation looks incredibly simple and even cheap ironically reminiscent as if it were videotaped on a home video camera... It's that bad.

(1995)


Logo: On a black background, the Manga print logo fades in as it tilts up. When it settles, "MANGA ENTERTAINMENT, INC." fades in below.

FX/SFX: The tilting animation.

Music/Sounds: A nice dreamy, Japanese-sounding synth flute tune, while a man shouts out "MANGAAAA!!" and echoes.

Availability: Very rare. Seen on The Wings of Honneamise and possibly on old VHS copies of Violence Jack.

Editor's Note: It may also surprise those expecting to see the next logo.

(1995-2011)
Logo: On a black background, we see the bottom of the Manga Entertainment logo, which consists of a black cross shape with "MANGA" written across and the kanji characters for "manga" (漫画) at the top and bottom, all on top of a red flower-like shape. It starts to tilt upwards so we can see the top of it and when it stops, flames start to rise from the logo. "ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS" fades in below.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, there is no text below.
 * There is a filmed version and a videotaped version. The filmed version features the tilting animation, while the videotaped version simply features the logo zooming in.
 * Early American tapes had "MANGA ENTERTAINMENT, INC." below the logo.
 * Sometimes, the logo has "FEATURE PRESENTATION" in place of "ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS". This variant is either has a deep Aerial sound or, it's silent.
 * On the short-lived series Eon Kid, the logo only has the word "ENTERTAINMENT" below the logo.
 * A special variant appears on the European DVD release of Street Fighter II: Movie (known as Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie in the U.S). At the point when the Manga logo fades out, the "INSERT COIN" text appears below for three seconds, then disappears.
 * There is a rare variant which starts out with the words "Distributed by" and it then fades to the logo, which has the byline "A Starz Company" underneath.

FX/SFX: The tilting and the flames.

Music/Sounds: A continuous synth drone. On the short-lived series Eon Kid, it's the end-title theme of the show. On the Street Fighter II: Movie variant, the sound of a coin being placed into an arcade cabinet, and the sound that you hear in the arcade versions of the Street Fighter II games when a coin is inserted.

Availability: Common. It's seen on all Manga releases from 1995 to 2011. The original variant can be seen on both Patlabor movies. The Street Fighter II: Movie variant was only seen on the European 2006 DVD release of the film.

Editor's Note: The tilting and the flames look incredibly cheap. The videotaped variant looks better than the regular logo, but not by much. Also the sound abruptly stops when the logo fades out.

(2006-2008, 2013?)


Logo: TBA.

FX/SFX: TBA.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Exclusively seen on the streaming version of Panty & Stocking with Gartarbelt either on Crunchyroll or on other anime streaming sites. It might have also appeared on other Manga Entertainment releases, but this is unknown.

Editor's Note: The blood splattering in this logo will likely terrify more than most people, especially if they were expecting the previous logo and ending up with this. The creepy horror soundtrack combined with this logo does not help matters either. But of all, this was strongly intentional due to the content of the Panty & Stocking series.

(2011-Present)
Logo: On a gray background, the Manga logo is seen, but it animates like a neon sign. It flashes for a few seconds and when it stops, it changes to another fashion, shines once.

Variants: There is a 20th Anniversary variant used for its first year. At the start, the words "Celebrating 20 Years of Anime" are underneath the logo, before flashing to the Starz byline.

Byline:
 * From 2011-2015, the byline "A Starz Company" appeared below.
 * In 2016, the logo was bylineless, after the split of Anchor Bay Entertainment UK from Starz and it’s rebranding into Platform Entertainment.
 * From 2017, with the purchase of Platform Entertainment by Kliderscope Film Distribution, Manga became independent, and so the bottom of the logo now reads "Manga Entertainment UK Limited" in a white font.

FX/SFX: The neon flashing.

Music/Sounds: A whooshing sound, neon flashing light sounds, a lightning effect and a switch plug out at the end.

Availability: Appears exclusively in the United Kingdom. It appears on newer Manga DVDs, including the British remastered releases of Dragon Ball Z and newer UK Pokemon DVD's. It might have appeared on the last remaining Manga US releases, but this is unknown.

Editor's Note: None.