Asmik Ace (Japan)

Background

Asmik Ace, Inc. (formerly known as Asmik Ace Entertainment, Inc.) is a Japanese film production and distribution company. In the past, the company has distributed video games. It was formed in 1997 through a merger between the Asmik Corporation and Ace Entertainment, both of Japan. The name Asmik comes from its three founding companies: Ask (formerly known as ASK-Kodansha), Sumitomo and Kodansha. The company is headquartered on the third floor of the Lapiross Roppongi building in Minato, Tokyo, and is a wholly owned division of Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM). Asmik Corporation was founded in 1985 as a subsidiary to the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan. Its focus was in the area of video games for the video game console market, specifically the NES. It quickly moved on to distribute motion pictures in Japan, and won several awards for doing so. It once had a North American subsidiary, Asmik Corporation of America. Ace Pictures Inc. was founded in 1981 as a division of Nippon Herald Films to produce Japanese films and distribute foreign art films. Several of its pictures earned awards and hold positions as some of the highest-grossing films in Japan. Asmik Ace Entertainment has produced games for Dreamcast, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PC Engine, Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube, and distributes high quality films for the Japanese movie market. Asmik Ace Entertainment also distributed a number of DreamWorks Pictures/Animation films to Japanese cinemas.

Ace Pictures

(Mid 1990s-1998)

Ace pictures

Logo: On a black background, we see three light lavender comets that make three musical notes. The first and the last one have respectively a red and a blue line. The pentagram lines wipe in and everything flashes. During this event, we see the company name "ACE PICTURES" written in Bodoni. The first word had the letters A and E handwritten in Capital, while the C is made by a curved filmstrip.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Appeared on movies like Ring (1998).

Asmik Ace

1st Logo (1998-2002)

Logo: On a white background, black and red squares zoom out and flip towards the surface, forming the shape of an "A" in black and red squares with another square on the top of the "A". The logo moves to the left as letters of "Asmik Ace" in serif spin and slide in from the right toward the logo. After that, it stops, the logo shines and "Entertainment Inc." wipes in from the left. It flips to its Japanese text "アスミック・エース エンタテインメント株式会社" that reads in English "Asmik Ace Entertainment Co., Ltd.".

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Appeared on early Asmik Ace movies like Fuyajo and After the Rain. A still version appeared on video games.

2nd Logo (December 7, 2000-2012)

Logo: On a black background, 2 3D gold bars slide in from the top as the camera pans and zooms out to reveal some more bars as the camera continues to pan, and reveals the Asmik Ace symbol from the previous logo in Z-slices which turns to its normal colors and 2D as the Z-slices disappear and the camera continues to zooms out, but this time, it's white and red. The letters of "Asmik Ace Entertainment Inc." from the last logo fade and flip towards and next to the "A" as the camera settles.

Variant: During 2005, a white rectangle with the text "20th ANNIVERSARY" fades below, over the logo.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy theme that ends in a majestic theme. Sometimes silent or having the opening theme play over.

Availability: Common. Appears on any Asmik Ace film or video game from the period.

3rd Logo (2012-)

Logo: On a black background, tridimensional red lines that slide in from the bottom zoom out to reveal the Asmik Ace logo from before in Z-slices as the lens flare shines. an letter "A" then zooms out to reveal the text "Asmik Ace" in Bold which zooms out and flips with a reflection in his fill, along with the byline "A J:COM COMPANY" below the logo as the lens flare appears on the "m". the logo turns 2D, the Z-slices disappear and turns to it's normal colors as a red rectangle fades over the byline as the lens flare dims out.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy theme that ends in a choir.

Availability: Current. Appears on all Asmik Ace films or video games released since 2012.