Ecole Software Corporation

Background

Ecole Software Corp. (エコールソフトウェア) is a Japanese video game developer, founded in 1989 by Kenyuki Manabe and headquartered in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. The company's known for the infamous Death Crimson series and the Arcade & PS2 ports of Melty Blood games.

1st Logo (November 22, 1995)

Visuals: On a black background, the letters "EC" and "LE" appear rotating quickly, place themselves one-by-one and leaving a gap. Then an "O" drops down into the gap, forming "ECOLE". The white "Software Corporation" in serif then zooms in below.

Technique: Sprite animation.

Audio: 4 notes of an acoustic guitar-like synth, followed by a dark, ascending chime arpeggio.

Availability: Only seen on Pappara Paoon for the Saturn.

2nd Logo (August 9, 1996)

Visuals: On a watery red/orange/yellow gradient background, two broken stone-like face masks are shown, one placed diagonally and the other one near the bottom-right. The letters of "ECOLE" are shown spinning in and dropping down from the top to the left, and then place themselves close to the center-right. The logo stays still for a few seconds before fading out.

Technique: Sprite animation.

Audio: A desert-like synth theme.

Availability: Only seen on Death Crimson for the Saturn.

3rd Logo (November 25, 1999, May 10, 2001)

Visuals: On a black background, we see two gothic-style masks fade in, one at the left being white and the other one placed near the bottom-right and colored purple. The masks then fade out into the word "ECOLE", in white, at the center.

Technique: Simple effects.

Audio: Four drumbeats, with a synth note at the beginning.

Availability: Seen on Death Crimson 2 and Death Crimson OX, both for the Dreamcast.

4th Logo (December 26, 2002-September 20, 2012)

Musapey's Choco Marker (Dreamcast)
Guncom 2 (PS2)
Melty Blood Act Cadenza (Arcade)
Under Night In-Birth trailer
Melty Blood: Actress Again (Arcade & PS2)

Visuals: On a white background, we see the word "ECOLE" at the left, with the O usually being in a different color. At the right, we see the stacked text "ECOLE SOFTWARE CORPORATION" with the O's being in a different color.

Variants:

On the Dreamcast version of Musapey's Choco Marker, the design is different: "ECOLE" is in a light yellow color with a blue-tinted shadow behind it, and the full name is in orange-red and in a thinner font.
On Guncom 2 for the PS2, the word "ECOLE" is mostly in black with the O in red, and the full name is in orange-red.
On commercial Arcade and PS2 versions of Melty Blood Act Cadenza and on the Arcade release of Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late, the new color scheme of the logo was introduced. The logo is now stylized as "ECOLE", with the full text being "ECOLE SOFTWARE CORPORATION".
On Arcade and PS2 versions of Melty Blood: Actress Again, only the "ECOLE" logo is shown with the Type-Moon logo above.

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Audio Variant: On the trailer for Under Night In-Birth, the trailer's music can be heard with the logo.

Availability: Seen on the Dreamcast version of Musapey's Choco Marker, Guncom 2 for the PS2, the Arcade/PS2 and PC versions of Melty Blood Act Cadenza and Melty Blood: Actress Again, and the Arcade release of Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late.