Anime distributors Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment will jointly distribute the new Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series.  Both Bandai and Manga Entertainment functioned as producers on the series along with the anime studio, Production I.G. (Kill Bill, Blood the Last Vampire, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade).  As is increasingly the case, these two American anime distributors participated in financing the series in Japan in return for, among other things, the right to distribute the property outside of Japan.  

The Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex TV series has been quite popular in Japan, where it has been renewed for a second 26-episode season (see 'Another Season for Stand Alone Complex').  The series, which mixes 'stand alone' episodes with thematically charged long form story arcs, is a cutting edge science fiction action series utilizing the latest in full computer-based animation.  The series is set to bow on the Cartoon Network in July, and judging from the performance of the original Ghost in the Shell movie, it stands to be one of the very top anime releases of the year.  Like the original Ghost in the Shell movie, the Stand Alone Complex TV series is based on the Ghost in the Shell manga by Masamune Shirow, which is published in the U.S. by Dark Horse Comics.

John Ledford, founder and President of ADV, told ICv2 that ADV was currently involved in financing more than a dozen anime projects, while Geneon USA has also helped fund a similar number of series including Burn Up Scramble, but Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex may mark the first time that two American anime distributors will share distribution on a project that they helped to finance.