As part of Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment was founded in 1996 by Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard as a mail order business specialising in imported anime titles, after following the success of
Manga Entertainment in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally selling titles on
VHS, the company became the second Australian distributor to author
DVDs in-house, with the 1995 film
Ghost in the Shell being their first DVD release. In 1998, Madman began airing anime on television, with
Neon Genesis Evangelion airing on
SBS TV. On 23 February 2008, Madman Entertainment announced that it had reached a distribution deal with
Viz Media to distribute its manga titles in Australia and New Zealand. The distribution deal ended in April 2016, with
Simon & Schuster taking over distribution of Viz's catalogue, and Madman Entertainment ceasing distribution of all manga titles. At the 2008
Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Madman Entertainment announced plans to explore new distribution methods. Madman Entertainment launched the Madman Screening Room, a video on demand streaming service, with
School Rumble being the first title on the platform. Madman Entertainment also began releasing
Blu-ray Disc titles, starting with
The Transformers: The Movie in June 2009. On 1 June 2009, Madman Entertainment produced an English adaption of
Tamagotchi: The Movie, a 2007 film based on the
Tamagotchi digital pets from
Bandai and WiZ. Madman also intended to dub the film's sequel,
Tamagotchi: Happiest Story in the Universe!, but the dub was cancelled for unknown reasons. In early 2016, Madman Entertainment announced
Madman Anime Festival, an annual anime convention to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The convention was held in Melbourne on 3–4 September of that year.
As Madman Anime Group Pty. Ltd. On 12 October 2016, Madman Anime Group Pty. Ltd. was incorporated as a separate company, being a wholly owned subsidiary of Madman Entertainment. On 17 February 2018, Madman co-founder & CEO Tim Anderson confirmed that on 15 November 2017,
Sony Music Entertainment Japan subsidiary
Aniplex had acquired a minority interest in Madman Anime Group, and was issued an undisclosed number of shares. In late 2018, Madman Anime confirmed that they had reached a distribution deal with
Funimation, with Madman Anime becoming the local distributors for select Funimation titles in Australia and New Zealand, and Funimation handling licensing and localisation for titles. On 6 February 2019, Madman Entertainment's owners Five V Capital sold Madman Anime Group to Aniplex for . On 24 September 2019,
Aniplex and
Sony Pictures Television announced that they were consolidating their international anime streaming services under a new joint venture comprising Funimation, Madman Anime Group and
Wakanim. The consolidation reorganised AnimeLab as a direct subsidiary of Funimation. The company changed its name to Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd. on 23 March 2022, following the rebranding of its parent company Funimation to Crunchyroll, LLC. ==Notable titles==