Manga UK
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"FUCK AND PISS!!!!"
—Angel, Angel Cop
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"She'll thaw out if you stick a finger in her ass, That always works!"
—Sleepy, Mad Bull 34
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Manga Entertainment (AKA Manga UK, formerly known as Manga Video) is a controversial, yet influential, anime distribution/production company. Despite the name, the company mainly distributes anime rather than Manga. The company was originally founded in the United Kingdom in 1991 before expanding into the United States market in 1994.
Manga, like many other companies at the time, chose to concentrate on dubbed versions of its licences instead of subtitling. However, instead of bowdlerizing for mass appeal, Manga embraced the racier and gory aspects of anime. And their dubs gained a reputation to match, thanks to several infamously gratuitous examples of Cluster F Bombs being dropped (in order to get an "18" adults-only rating). Manga Entertainment wasn't above the occasional Macekre, either.
Despite this, Manga Entertainment did well, and was flush with investor cash -- which was used to co-produce ambitious projects like the original Ghost in the Shell movie.
Confusing matters, Manga Entertainment UK advertised its anime releases as "manga videos", and the term apparently took hold for a while.
Manga Entertainment UK also licences releases from other companies to release them in the UK market. For example, Manga UK has a licensing agreement with Viz Media that allows them to distribute popular titles such as Bleach, Naruto and Death Note. Manga UK is also the current British distributor for FUNimation titles. Many of their earlier releases were licensed from Streamline Pictures, e.g. Akira and the Fist of the North Star movie (the anime one).
They have a close relationship with Bandai Entertainment, with whom they've collaborated numerous times.
The two-hour Ani-Monday block on Syfy currently consists mostly of Manga Entertainment titles, both recent and old. It moved to Tuesdays in January 2011 before it was unceremoniously canceled in that July.
Manga Entertainment is owned by Starz Media, part of John Malone's cable empire.
The series Manga Entertainment released include:
- Akira (Their first UK release, Streamline dub and subtitled versions)
- Angel Cop
- Appleseed (1988 OVA with hilarious UK-produced dub)
- Black Magic M-66
- Blood: The Last Vampire
- Bubblegum Crisis and its follow-up, Bubblegum Crash! (AnimEigodub, Crash! later being redubbed by Manga)
- Dead Leaves (Funded and co-produced the film)
- Descendants of Darkness
- Devilman
- Dominion Tank Police (New Dominion Tank Police; they produced the English dub of the original.)
- Fist of the North Star (The first 36 episodes of the TV series, which were dubbed with a new soundtrack by Reinforced Records, and the Streamline dub of the 1986 film)
- Ghost in the Shell (Co-producers of the first movie; cooperated with Bandai Entertainment on the second film and Stand Alone Complex.)
- Giant Robo (Picked up from U.S. Renditions and dubbed to completion on VHS. Media Blasters redubbed and re-released the series on DVD.)
- Gunbuster (Picked up from U.S. Renditions, VHS only.)
- Gurren Lagann (Sublicensed television and digital distribution from Bandai Entertainment)
- Guyver (12-episode OVA)
- Lensman movie (Streamline dub)
- Lupin III movies The Castleof Cagliostro and Mystery Of Mamo (Streamline dubs, the former later got a Manga-produced dub, which may be the least profanity-based dub they made. Doesn't mean it's still safe for kids, tho'.)
- Macross II
- Macross Plus
- Mad Bull 34
- Neon Genesis Evangelion (Paid through the nose for the rights to Death and Rebirth and End of Evangelion, which they currently no longer have)
- Ninja Scroll
- Noein
- Orguss 02
- Patlabor (The first and second movies)
- Professor Layton and The Eternal Diva
- Read or Die (The original OVA)
- Street Fighter (The Animated Movie, Street Fighter II V, Alpha: The Movie, and Alpha: Generations, the last one being produced specifically for the international market with no Japanese release)
- Tactics
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Helped Bandai Entertainment negotiate the agreement to air the series on the Sci-Fi Channel.)
- Tokko
- Violence Jack
- Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (Re-released by Bandai Entertainment with the Manga dub)
- X 1999
- YuGiOh: Bonds Beyond Time (Released to UK fans. American fans, however, are waiting until the end of the year)