Benesse Corporation
Background
Benesse Corporation (ベネッセコーポレーション, Benesse Kōporēshon) is a Japanese company which focuses on publishing educative materials, like the famous Kodomo Challenge, Shinkenzemi, and Shimajiro franchises. It was founded by Tetsuhiko Fukutake in 1955 as Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd. (株式会社福武書店), and then renamed to its current name in April 1995. No on-screen logo outside of the company's name in kanji was seen before the name change so far.
1st Logo (April 1995-2000s)
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Visuals: Over a white background, the black text "Benesse Corporation" is seen in the upper right corner of the screen, zooming in slowly throughout most of the logo. As this happens, a green stick figure design of an angular look zooms out, assuming a "walking" pose with its arms to one side. A orange stick figure then appears, appearing in a casual-looking pose before it morphs into a more neutral stance as it zooms out. Finally, a blue stick figure appears and jumps in celebration before it assumes a still victory pose.
Variants:
- Earlier commercials have the text centered while the stick figures are very different. The blue stick figure is first seen assuming a walking pose before it changes to a similar "walking" pose, but facing forwards while the orange and green figures appear on the left and right sides of the blue figure respectively, both donning more dynamic posing. All 3 then morph into more neutral poses.
- A variant of this has the background in dark blue, the text in white, and the figures (from left to right) in grey, yellow, and red.
- On video tapes, the logo starts by fading in from a white background and then hangs for a few more seconds.
Technique: Computer animation.
Audio: A 4-note ascending string theme, with a group of people saying "Benesse".
Availability: Was mostly seen on commercials by the company during the time. However, an extended version also appeared on home video releases of Shimajiro and Kodomo Challenge they've distributed.
