JOTX-DTV (TV Tokyo)

Background

JOTX-TV is the main callsign of national TV station TV Tokyo. TV Tokyo is one of the main stations in Japan, mostly due to specializing in anime shows (with the most popular shows being aired on the network). JOTX-TV existed since 1951, the TV Tokyo Corporation then started to emerge 17 years later. Its early years were mostly for general-purpose programming but now mostly airs programs for various demographics.

Station IDs

1st Logo (1979-1981)

Logo: There are 12 boxes on the screen containing the logo. One of the boxes disappeared, showing a person with a costume. The other boxes randomly keep appearing/disappearing, also showing a person with a costume. This continued for a few seconds until the boxes began making patterns synced with the music. After a few seconds, red boxes appeared in the middle row with their slogan at that time, "楽しち12ガ月" (12 months of fun). The red boxes later disappeared one by one, showing all the people with costumes. They greet the viewer, then it cuts to the logo in the white background with "JOTX-TV" on the top, the channel 12 logo in the middle, and the phrase "東京12チャンネル" (Tokyo Channel 12 or Tokyo 12 Network).

FX/SFX: The boxes appearing and disappearing.

Music/Sounds: A ticking (almost similar to a ticking clock) sound plays every time the boxes appear/disappear, which later accompanies a short jingle played in a flute.

Availability: Extinct. Seen on startups and closedowns from the channel at the time.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (October 1, 1981-1998)

Logo: On a white background, the station logo is seen in the middle of the screen, consisting of a 2-striped green "12" with "テレビ東京" below, in a very angular font. Above it is a message in Japanese, which is also green. The logo then becomes black as bars appear one by one in various shades of green, which turns the logo white as well. The logo moves to the left as multiple copies of the callsign "JOTX-TV" slide in a diagonal pattern, with the camera stopping on a larger copy in the middle of the screen. The callsigns then disappear and the background shrinks to a cube shape, which turns to an angle. Multiple copies then appear and panels start flipping onto them, changing through many different colors before cutting to a pattern of diamonds that flap and change into birds. The rest of the logo then shifts through many different color combinations and patterns of shapes and animals. The final pattern than turns yellow and converts back into the cubes at the beginning. It continues like in the beginning, but every cube except for the middle one fades out when it finishes. The cube then rotates to the screen and zooms in, revealing the same call signs as before, all before cutting to the same logo zooming out save for a different message on top.

Variant: Starting in 1985, the station's logo was replaced with a shot of the station's then-current headquarters with the name of the callsign being shown on the bottom. After the logo begins to end the same shot appears with the company's slogan shown in the center.

FX/SFX: Relatively concise two-dimensional animation. The later variant used Scanimation for the transitions.

Music/Sounds: A repetitive synth score. An announcer is heard starting in 1985.

Availability: Same as the last logo, though it was used for a longer lifespan.

Editor's Note: The animation was good for when it was first used, not so much when the new millennium was approaching. Nevertheless, it is a cool logo that is sadly only used on startups.

3rd Logo (1996-1998)

TBA.

4th Logo (1998-2003)

Logo: On a brown background, 3 bubbles zoom out on a rippling surface. Each pop 1 by 1 and send a ripple throughout the background, before blooming into flowers. The background then turns green, then black, as more flowers bloom and, as the background turns black, fireworks start going off. Several of them go on as the callsign and voltage start zooming up and the background becomes blue and filled with bubbles. These bubbles may have pictures of children on them. The background then fades to black again as one of the bubbles becomes Earth, complete with the Moon, swirling around. When the last piece of information disappears, several words appear and scroll in the background as the Earth becomes a blue sphere with 2 lines, 1 red and the other blue, revolving around as it zooms out. The sphere then shrinks to reveal the current TV Tokyo logo, which is "TVTOKYO" in their respective colors and having 2 arcs over the middle of the logo. The logo then flashes and rests into the middle of the screen, glowing white with a white afterimage in the middle, as the words stop moving.

Variant: There is an in-credit variant of the final product on the intros and/or endings to TV Tokyo-produced shows. Some shows retain the colors, others don't.

FX/SFX: Some neat CGI work on here.

Music/Sounds: A calming tune, made with strings, keyboards, and a woodwind. An announcer can be heard near the end as the theme goes into a final flourish. Several sounds can also be heard throughout.

Availability: Same reasons as the 1st logo.

Editor's Note: Something about the peaceful-looking animation turning into the dark reveal of the logo can be trance-inducing. Some of the sounds also won't help with the existing surreal atmosphere of the animation.

5th Logo (2003- )

Logo: In a strange room, we zoom up to a floating white sphere that opens up and starts shooting out projections through spotlights. These then erratically move about, revealing the landscape of a flower garden. The camera then rotates around the newly made flowers and flies off, all before fading to a fly-over shot of a forest, with mountains in the back and birds flying about. The sphere then flies back into the shot and shoots out more spotlights, transforming the shot into a desert landscape. The sphere flies up into the sky as the background fades to white, then to an overhead shot of an ocean. Dolphins can be seen leaping out of the water as the sphere returns to the screen and heads towards the clouds, fading back to white. It then fades into a shot of space, with the Earth and Moon in frame and "JOTX-TV" zooming in slowly, before giving a pulse and shining away, as the sphere floats silently about. The sphere then closes up as 2 streaks, 1 red and 1 blue, orbit around the sphere as the background fades out. The sphere and streaks then zoom out and disappear, with the TV Tokyo logo fading into place, as well as a thick white outline.

Variants:

Like the previous logo, an in-credit text version exists, details are seen.
The digital version of the ident, also debuted in 2003, had the logo is a 16:9 aspect ratio. The logo plays the same but the when transitioning to space, the text "JOTX-TV" is replaced with "JOTX-DTV".

FX/SFX: More great CGI, at least from when it originally debuted.

Music/Sounds: Several clicks can be heard at the beginning, with a shifting synth tune playing in place. It then leads to a music box-like tune with woodwind intervals. Then, a calm piano tune plays twice, with the same interval in the middle. The piano tune becomes much more dramatic as we reach space. A drumroll finishes it off, before ending with a different music box tune.

Availability: The original version is extinct, it was used on startups until the channel ceased analog transmissions. It was replaced with the digital version afterward, which is currently used on startups from the channel.

Editor's Note: The transition from the sphere rising to the sky to the name on the space background feels awkward. Also, it is starting to become a little dated thanks to the long usage, as well as the keyboard-esque music.

Main logos

1st Logo (July 19, 1997)

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: Nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: A dreamy tune.

Availability: Seen on The End of Evangelion.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (2008-)

Logo: TBA

Variant: There is a short version of the logo when it just only the ending part of the logo.

FX/SFX: Nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: Seen on TV Tokyo-produced anime and movies.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2014, 2019-)

Logo: TBA

Variant: Since 2019, the TV Tokyo logo is larger, the 60th anniversary wordmark is absent and Nanana is fading out, only leaving the logo intact.

FX/SFX: Nice animation.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: Seen on Yo-Kai Watch: The Movie and TV Tokyo-produced anime and movies.

Editor's Note: None.