Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensee, and distributor of
Japanese animation in the United States and United Kingdom. It also co-produces several anime series, including
Ghost in the Shell,
Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, and
Eon Kid, usually through financial contributions toward production costs. It was established in 1991 by
Andy Frain, who was the Managing Director of Island World Communications; a subsidiary at the time of
Chris Blackwell and John Heyman's Island World Group. It is a division of
Starz Distribution, which is a unit of and a joint venture with
Starz Inc., which owns 75%, and
The Weinstein Company, which owns 25%. It has also played a part in
dubbing anime, when it is not sub-licensing a production that has already been licensed by another company (e.g.,
Akira, licensed and redubbed by
Geneon in 2001,
Bounty Dog, and
Lupin III: Bye Bye Liberty Crisis).