Chicago, IL, March 2, 2006 - Manga Entertainment announced today that Hollywood actors, Jay Hernandez, Matthew Lillard and Piper Perabo will be the cast of the new Japanese animated DVD production “Karas.”

Karas will be released in two volumes, with both English and Japanese tracks. Karas: The Prophecy arriving on April 25th and Karas: The Revelation releasing later in 2006. Karas is the 40th Anniversary animation production by the renowned Japanese animation studio Tatsunoko Productions, who produced the original Speed Racer television shows and anime favorite Gatchaman. Karas is an innovative hybrid production of 2D/3D animation and has the 6.1 Surround Sound and soundtrack from the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Karas, (The Crow) is best described as Batman with a Samurai Sword or a Cyber-punk version of The Crow. Karas takes place in Tokyo, a city populated by both humans and ghostly beings. They exist in two dimensions; seen and unseen- spirits, apparitions and demons. Karas is the city’s guardian, and Tokyo is thrown into disarray as a former Karas named Eko attempts to seize power and bring order to the streets through force. An entity named Yurine, who represents the will of the people, stands in Eko’s way with her newly risen Karas. Now two Karas emerge to destroy either all of the demons or destroy all humanity. Which Karas will prevail?

Jay Hernandez will voice the role of Nue, a mystical creature in human form sent to Shinjuku, Japan to defeat Eko. A rising young talent, Hernandez appears in Quentin Tarantino’s newly presented horror film, Hostel portraying the role of Paxton. Jay will appear in the upcoming Oliver Stone feature “World Trade Center” this August co-starring with Nicolas Cage. Hernandez also appeared as Brian Chavez in Friday Night Lights, and also co-starred with Kirsten Dunst in the teen romance Crazy/Beautiful as Carlos Nunez.

Matthew Lillard is the voice of Eko, the man who was chosen as a KARAS in the past. Eko realized how to seize power in this world by upsetting the balance between the evil spirits and humans, and has resurfaced to destroy all of humanity. Lillard appeared as the creepy Stuart in Scream, co-starred with Angelina Jolie as the computer genius named “Cereal Killer” in Hackers, and most recently the role of Shaggy in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed also starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.

Piper Perabo is cast as the voice of Yurine, a young priestess who fired Eko as the Karas during the Edo period and is the one who chooses all the Karas.’ Perabo starred as Nora Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen (1 & 2), Violet Sanford in Coyote Ugly and has just signed on with director Christopher Nolan (Memento and Batman Begins) for an upcoming film Prestige, co-starring Scarlett Johansson, Michael Cain, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and David Bowie.

Manga Entertainment, known for being the first anime distributor in America to release Japanese anime into major movie theatres across the country has successfully influenced Hollywood filmmakers with their high-quality Japanese animated releases. Now, for the first time, the company is working with Hollywood actors to bring amazing anime to a new generation of fans and to new audiences.

Several of Manga’s acclaimed releases, such as "Ghost in the Shell," "Perfect Blue" and "Blood: The Last Vampire" have become embedded in American pop-culture.

Manga Entertainment Inc. specializes in the production and distribution of Japanese animation for theatrical, DVD and home video release worldwide. Manga’s cutting-edge film collection also features Asian live-action, cult, pop-culture and international animation. The Manga film library is marketed and distributed in the U.S. through Anchor Bay Entertainment, a subsidiary of IDT Entertainment. Manga is headquartered in Chicago and has offices in London and Tokyo. www.manga.com

Manga Entertainment is an IDT Entertainment Company. IDT Entertainment is a vertically integrated entertainment company that develops, produces, and distributes proprietary and licensed entertainment content.