Crunchyroll Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, is a producer, licensee, and distributor of

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1987 as Island World Communications, the company operated as

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

Ltd. until 2021. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...

and

Aniplex is a Japanese anime, music production and anime licensee company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Established in September 1995, Aniplex has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime series, such as both '' Fullm ...

's joint-venture

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...

, both owned by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

History

Original history

Golden Square Music was founded in London in 1987 by Chris Blackwell and Andy Frain as a subsidiary of

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

' Island World Group. Golden Square Music changed its name to Island World Communications in 1991, and to Manga Entertainment in 1993. Manga Entertainment expanded into North America in 1993 with the purchase of L.A. Hero, renamed to Manga U.S.. Over time, Manga Entertainment changed ownership from IDT Entertainment, Liberty Media, and Starz Media. In November 2014, it was revealed that Manga UK's Director of Marketing and Acquisitions Jerome Mazandarani, and product manager Andrew Hewson had left Manga Entertainment to form Animatsu Entertainment, a new anime licensing company. The company was registered on 11 September 2014, with Mazandarani becoming COO and Hewson becoming marketing manager. On 13 January 2015, Animatsu announced that it had reached a licensing deal with

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

to distribute titles in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company would also enter into a sales and marketing partnership with Manga UK. With the partnership, Animatsu was responsible for licensing, marketing, and brand management, whilst Manga UK was responsible for distribution and sales. On 26 February 2015, the UK branch was acquired from Starz Media, alongside its parent Anchor Bay UK, by managing director Colin Lomax. Anchor Bay UK was renamed to Platform Entertainment and went on to have exclusive rights to the Manga Entertainment branding and catalog in the UK and Ireland. In September of that year, Mazandarani revealed that Animatsu and Manga UK were in the process of merging operations. The Animatsu brand would ultimately be phased out, with its final release being '' Hello! KINMOZA'', released on 2 July 2018. Animatsu Entertainment was dissolved on 31 December 2019. On 17 June 2016, it was announced that Animatsu had acquired the global rights to the film '' In This Corner of the World'', with Mazandarani credited as "Overseas Manager" for the film. Animatsu later announced that it had reached a distribution deal with

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

to distribute the film in North America. In the same month, Kaleidoscope Film Distribution announced they had purchased Platform Entertainment and confirmed that they would split Manga UK off to become separately operated. Prior to 2016,

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

sublicensed its properties for the UK and Ireland market through companies

Revelation Films Revelation Films is a British film and television production and distribution company delivering visual entertainment via cinema, television and digital platforms. Tony Carne founded Revelation Films in 1992 as a video and television production ...

, MVM Entertainment, then-independent Manga Entertainment, and Anime Limited. In 2016, Funimation began directly releasing its titles in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with Funimation handling licensing, localization and branding, and Anime Limited handling distribution and classification. Funimation later distributed ''My Hero Academia'' through

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

UK in 2017, and later through

UK, along with other select titles, in 2018. Funimation later began sub-licensing titles to Manga Entertainment's UK branch in late 2018, before acquiring the company on 29 May 2019.

Funimation acquisition

On 29 May 2019, American anime distributor

announced that they had acquired Manga UK, and was merging its UK and Ireland operations into Manga UK. Manga UK managing director Jerome Mazandarani stated that the acquisition would secure more content for Manga Entertainment, whilst being able to pursue licenses outside of Funimation. On 30 May 2019, Manga UK announced that they were co-producing the anime television series '' Cannon Busters'' with

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. On 12 April 2021, Funimation announced that Manga Entertainment would officially rebrand to Funimation in the UK and Ireland on 19 April 2021, with the Manga Entertainment brand name remaining on select releases within the region. They stated in a press release that the distribution of digital, physical and theatrical anime would continue "without interruption". ''

Blue Exorcist is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Kazue Kato. The story revolves around Rin Okumura, a teenager who discovers he and his twin brother Yukio are the sons of Satan, born from a human woman, and he is the i ...

'' and '' Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga'' joined the Funimation catalog in the UK and Ireland the same day, to celebrate the merger. On 28 March 2022, the company changed its legal name to Crunchyroll Manga Ltd. and again on 21 July 2022 to Crunchyroll Ltd.

References

External links

Archive of the mangauk.com Web site
(index) * * {{Sony Music 1987 establishments in England 2019 mergers and acquisitions Anime companies Aniplex British companies established in 1987 British subsidiaries of foreign companies Crunchyroll Entertainment companies of the United Kingdom Former Liberty Media subsidiaries Manga Entertainment Mass media companies based in London Mass media companies established in 1987