Media Blasters

Background: Media Blasters is a video company that distributes anime, Japanese cinema, grindhouse films, and hentai, among other genres. Its most well-known subsidiaries are AnimeWorks (anime), Kitty Media (hentai; this has since spun off into its own company), Shriek Show (grindhouse/B-movies), Tokyo Shock (Japanese cinema) and Guilty Pleasures (B-movies and "so-bad-it's-good" cinema).

1st Logo

(1997?-2000) Nickname: "Cheap Rollercoaster Ride"

Logo: In a rollercoaster, we see a deserted land with a tunnel with "media Blasters" ("media" is colored fern and is in the bold sans-serif font, while "Blasters" is colored blue-gray and is in the grungy typewriter font). The rollercoaster goes down and enters that tunnel. We see the logos for AnimeWorks, Kitty Media and Tokyo Shock on the walls. After that, the rollercoaster stops on a land with grass and a brick wall. The camera goes up, and the wall "bursts" so we can see the Media Blasters logo from before. The letters of "Blasters" move up and down.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: All the CGI, which looks cheap, especially at the beginning of the logo.

Music/Sounds: A crumbling-like sound during the rollercoaster ride, then a deep explosion sound.

Availability: Very rare. Seen on the first Media Blasters releases.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The darkness of the logo, sudden burst and creepy sounds can be scary for some, but it's nothing compared to the follow-up...

2nd Logo

(2000-2012) Nicknames: "Videos in Space", "VHS and DVD in Space!", "VHS and DVD Of Doom", "The PS2 RSOD Rip-Off"

Logo: We see a pink-orange space background of the Milky Way galaxy for a few seconds; giant DVDs and VHS tapes slowly fly at us in a horizontal direction. We see the respective logos on the reflections of the DVDs: the first one has Tokyo Shock, the second: AnimeWorks, the third: Kitty Media, and the fourth: Media Blasters. The camera turns around and goes inside one of the VHS tapes. A flash, and then a pink-orange star reveals the words "MEDIA BLASTERS" in a font that resembles the font of the logo for the Animorphs series and the Spider-Man movie series. The star gradually fades away, and the black background with some stars, fades in. A few seconds later, the text zooms in at lightning speed.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Everything. An improvement over the previous logo, but it still goes off the charts for a logo made in 2000! The second space background looks like something done on Windows 95, the giant tapes and DVDs look a smidgen realistic, and the text quickly zooming in is not necessary.

Music/Sounds: A droning, yet triumphant synth theme reminiscent of the 1994 Republic Pictures theme, with whooshes and ending with high-pitched descending chimes as the light shimmers.

Availability: Common. It appears on Media Blasters' DVD releases from the era like, Rurouni Kenshin, Zombi 2, Samurai Deeper Kyo, and namely Invader Zim among others.

Scare Factor: Medium to nightmare. First-time viewers will be shocked by the text zooming in extremely fast and loud, ethereal music. The red space background at the beginning may remind some of the PlayStation 2 Red Screen Of Death. However, it might be a little less scary for those who are used to seeing it.

3rd Logo

(2012-) Nickname(s): "Blasting Through Space"

Logo: On a zooming space background, a red flash appears and the Media Blasters logo from before, but now in a red color, zooms in towards us and a flash turns blue and stretches out and disappears. The space background disappears, and the logo shines for a few seconds, before zooming in at lightning speed.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The company name zooming in. Better animation than the previous logo, but the logo looks slightly rushed and it looks like a logo made in Final Cut Pro. Also, the text zooming in is, again, not necessary.

Music/Sounds: Starts out with a loud whoosh sound, then a quiet synth note, followed by yet another whoosh.

Availability: Current. Appears on newer Media Blasters releases.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. This logo is less scary than before, but the sudden appearance of the logo and the whooshes at the start and the end and the text zooming in (like the previous logo above) might catch a few off guard.