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.

1st Logo (Spring 1995)


Nicknames: "The Manga Cross", "Spinning Cross"

Logo: 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 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.

FX/SFX: The rotation animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Very rare. 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.

Editor's Note: The logo animation looks incredibly simple and even reminiscent as if it were videotaped on a home video camera.

2nd Logo (1995)


Nicknames: "The Manga Cross II", "Tilting Cross"

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.

3rd Logo (1995-2011)


Nicknames: "The Manga Cross III", "Tilting Cross II", "Flaming Cross"

Logo: On a black background, we see the bottom of the Manga Entertainment logo. 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 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 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 Eon Kid, it's the end-title theme of the show.

Availability: Common. It's seen on all Manga releases from 1995 to 2011. The original variant can be seen on both Patlabor movies.

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.

4th Logo (2006-2008, 2013?)


Nicknames: "The Manga Cross IV", "Bloody Cross"

Logo: On a black background with a spotlight, 3  sword slashes appear for a split second one by one, revealing the Manga Entertainment logo, but glowing in  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.

FX/SFX: The slashes, the blood.

Music/Sounds: 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: Exclusively seen on the streaming version of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt 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: TBA

5th Logo (2011-2021?)


Nicknames: "The Manga Cross V", "Neon Cross", "Flashing Cross"

Logo: On a 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.

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, 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.

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: Common in the United Kingdom, but rare in the United States. It appears on newer Manga DVDs, including the British remastered releases of Dragon Ball Z 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.

Editor's Note: None.