Nippon Herald Films (Japan)

Background

Nippon Herald Films was a film division of a Japanese newspaper publisher, The Nippon Herald.

1st Logo (1960-1990)

Utamaro's World variant

10th Anniversary variant

Logo: On a black background, we see the old Nippon Herald logo with a company's name in Japanese on the bottom.

Variants:

• A 10th Anniversary variant exists.
• On Utamaro's World, the logo is on a beige relief background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Common.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd logo (1990-1997)

Logo: A gray background with a small red dot quickly fades in, as a backward lowercase h is drawn in black. The text HERALD (all capital letters) then slowly rises to the right of the "h". Then, the company names appear below in Japanese:

HERALD ACE INC.
NIPPON HERALD FILMS CO., LTD.

Trivia: Herald Ace, Inc. was an old incarnation of Asmik Ace's movie division.

Variant: On Videogram releases, the logo is centered in full screen, and the Japanese company names are absent.

FX/SFX: Simple, smooth 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: A calm, peaceful new age tune plays as the entire logo plays out.

Availability: Common. Seen on films from the period. Also used as a de-facto home video logo on Japanese releases such as the 1995 and 1997 LaserDiscs of True Lies.

Editor's Note: A good, simple logo helped by its relaxing music.

3rd Logo (1996-2005)

Prototype version

Widescreen version

Fullscreen version

Logo: On a very dull sky background, we see a red planet Earth rotating and zooming out of the camera as the curved "h" from the previous logo slowly spins around to line up with the globe. Then, the "HERALD" text zooms out of the camera and lines up next to the curved "h". The text "日本ヘラルド映画株式会社" (translation: Japan Herald Film Corporation) is then wiped onto the screen below the logo.

Variants:

• There's a prototype version seen on a special 40th-anniversary reel showing Nippon Herald's productions and releases from 1959 to 1997. The logo begins with the red Earth already on-screen, and the animation is slightly faster.
• On the Azumi duology (and maybe also on later Nippon Herald movies), it's still.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, though sometimes it is silent or has the opening theme of the film.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On some DVDs, a Japanese announcer says the company's name.
• Starting in 1998, the theme was remixed in stereo.

Availability: Common. Seen on the company's later films from the period, and like the previous logo, was also used as a de-facto home video logo on VHS, DVD and LaserDisc releases.

Editor's Note: A worthy successor to the previous logo.