Manga Entertainment

Background

Manga Entertainment was established in 1991 by Chris Blackwell and 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 in 1993 as "Manga Entertainment Australia Pty. Ltd.", and then in the United States the same year after purchasing L.A. Hero from U.S. Renditions. After PolyGram, which acquired the Island World Group in December 1994, went defunct in 1998, Blackwell repurchased the company and incorporated it into his new venture, Palm Pictures. Manga Entertainment, Inc. was sold to IDT Entertainment in 2004, then became part of Starz Media (now Starz Distribution) in 2006, and later became a sub label of Anchor Bay Entertainment (now part of Lionsgate since 2016). The American branch stopped licensing new titles in 2011, after their release of Redline; while Lionsgate relaunched the company's social media in 2016 and continues to operate them, they have yet to release any new titles. The UK branch spun itself off from Anchor Bay in 2015. On May 29, 2019, Funimation acquired the UK branch, and in April 2021 rebranded them as "Funimation UK & Ireland", with the Manga name remaining on only a few releases in the region. Manga Entertainment also releases Cartoon Network material in the UK.

Contents

1st Logo (1992-Spring 1995)	2nd Logo (1994-1995)	3rd Logo (July 25, 1995-2011)	4th Logo (October 26, 2009-2013)	5th Logo (2011-2021)

1st Logo (1992-Spring 1995)

Visuals: On a white background, the Manga print 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/sun-like shape) fades in as it spins twice. When it settles, "MANGA ENTERTAINMENT, INC." fades in below.

Variant: A still version exists on the VHS release of Ninja Scroll.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Macross Plus, Appleseed, Black Magic M-66, and Orguss 02. Also seen on the VHS release of Ninja Scroll before the start of the trailer for other Manga releases.

2nd Logo (1994-1995)

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

Variant: A variant exists where it starts with the "COMING ATTRACTIONS FROM" word sliding in, followed by the final position of the logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A serene, Japanese-sounding synth flute tune, while a man shouts out "MANGAAAA!!" and echoes, followed by a gong.

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

3rd Logo (July 25, 1995-2011)

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
Ghost in the Shell: Special Edition

Visuals: On a black background, the bottom of the Manga Entertainment logo is shown, as said logo starts to tilt upwards so the top of it can be seen. Once the logo stops, flames start to rise from the logo. The white text "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 either has a deep aerial sound or it's silent.
On Eon Kid, the logo only has the word "ENTERTAINMENT" below the logo.
There is a variant which starts out with the words "Distributed by" and it then fades to the logo, which has the byline "A Starz Company" underneath.
Another rare variant exists on the European and Australian 2006 DVD of Street Fighter II: Movie (known as Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie in the U.S.). While the logo fades out, the "INSERT COIN." text used in the Street Fighter II arcade games' attract demos appears below and blinks in and out for three seconds, then disappears.
On the Special Edition DVD release of Ghost in the Shell, a special variant was made where the logo was designed in the similar style and animation to the film's opening title card. After a few seconds, the logo pans right as it transitions to the main menu. Also, the "ENTERTAINMENT" text is in the same size as the logo itself.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A continuous synth drone.

Audio Variants:

For Eon Kid, it's the end-title theme of the show.
For the Street Fighter II: Movie variant, after the synth drone, a coin being placed into an arcade cabinet, and the sound heard in Street Fighter II when a coin is inserted.
The Special Edition DVD release of Ghost in the Shell has sound effects of whooshing and droning as the logo forms. As the logo pans right, the film's track, "謡Ⅰ-Making of Cyborg", plays.

Availability: It's seen in all Manga releases from 1995 to 2011.

The original variant can be seen in both Patlabor movies.
The Street Fighter II: Movie variant is seen only in the European and Australian 2006 DVD of the film.
The filmed variant appears as a de-facto home video logo on UK Blu-ray releases such as Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone.
It made an appearance at the beginning of the production report to Ghost in the Shell on the 2014 UK Blu-ray release of said film.
It does not appear on the German DVD release of Gunnm (or Battle Angel Alita as it was known there) though.

4th Logo (October 26, 2009-2013)

Visuals: On a black background with a grey spotlight, 3 gold sword slashes appear for a split second one by one, revealing the Manga Entertainment logo, but glowing in orange and the sun replaced with blood splatters. The blood drips all over the screen, but mostly focusing on the cross. 2 more slashes then appear in a X-formation, revealing the full logo and the Starz byline. The logo shines and slowly zooms in.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Slashing sounds are heard for each of the slashes, while a ominous synth drone plays throughout. Dripping can also be heard and a whoosh plays when the logo shines.

Availability: It first appeared only on the UK/AU Blu-ray release of Ghost in the Shell 2.0, then it would be exclusively seen on the streaming version of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt either on Crunchyroll or on other anime streaming sites. It also appears on a company promo called "Manga now available for XBOX 360!" releases on Manga's YouTube Channel in 2012.

5th Logo (2011-2021)

UHD variant

Visuals: On a grey background, the Manga logo is seen, but it looks like a neon sign. It flashes for a few seconds, eventually changing into the normal logo, and when it stops, it 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.
On the UK Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Ghost in the Shell, the red sun-like shape is in blue, due to a poor conversion from the Dolby Vision color space to BT.709, according to the raw M2TS stream file containing this logo on the disc.

Bylines:

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 its re-branding into Platform Entertainment.
From 2017-2021, with the purchase of Platform Entertainment by Kaleidoscope Film Distribution, Manga became independent, and so the bottom of the logo now reads "Manga Entertainment UK Limited" in a white font.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A whooshing sound, neon flashing light sounds, a lightning effect and a switch plug out at the end. Post-2012 variants has additional electric sounds.

Availability: It appears on newer Manga DVDs until 2021, including the British remastered releases of Dragon Ball Z, the 2020 release of Wicked City/Demon City Shinjuku and newer UK Pokemon DVDs. Also found on Manga US' YouTube Channel as part of Hot Clips. It also appears on some of the company's last few releases in the United States such as Redline and the 2014 Blu-ray release of Ghost in the Shell.