Kadokawa Pictures

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat, Thisisanswer, MegaAveron25, Nameless_Guy, Unnepad

Captures by
EnormousRat, Logoarto, Unnepad, Eric S. and RSX-798

Editions by
DatuDimatablan, Henrynguye5, MizukiAccent48

Video captures courtesy of
ultimatemegax, Digital media resources, 4R Geo, 猫鯖, Katarzyna Olczyk, Moe Szyslak, Logo Archive, The AVTB Archives

Background

In 1945, the Kadokawa Shoten Publishing company was established. In 1975, Haruki Kadokawa launched a film division, which presented its first production the year after. Kadokawa made a lot of well-acclaimed films in Japan, having also acquired Daiei Film Co. and renamed it Kadokawa-Daiei in 2002, and in 2005, they purchased Herald Pictures. In 2011, all subsidiaries were rebranded under the label of Kadokawa Group.

1st Logo (October 16, 1976-1985?)

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Visuals: The sequence starts on a slowly moving starfield with the earth and a red comet appears flying towards the camera. The comet becomes a flaming firebird, which moves and envelopes the earth. Then the earth explodes into a bright, fluorescent blue splash and suddenly, the early Kadokawa bird pops up, with the name in Japanese ("角川春樹事務所作品", lit. "A work from Haruki Kadokawa Corporation") or English ("HARUKI KADOKAWA presents") zooming in below.

Variants:

• This logo may appear in a 4:3 format, or a widescreen format.
• On some foreign prints of G.I. Samurai (1979), the logo plays out normally but after the bright splash, a custom-made title card for the movie appears instead (The card refers to whatever the movie is titled in their respective country).
• A still version of the logo appears on Virus (1980), Legend of Eight Samurai (1983), & The Dagger of Kamui (1985).

Technique: Hand-drawn animation.

Audio: A raising warbling sound, and the warbling-like explosion sound that becomes a majestic synth.

Availability: First appeared on Kon Ichikawa's The Inugami Family (1976), the original, animated version of the logo was presumably retired starting with the release of The Aimed School (1981), although a still version of this logo has appeared on movies throughout the 80s. This logo may or may not be plastered by the Kadokawa Shoten logo (or no logo may even appear at all) on some newer prints of the films this logo originally appeared on, contributing to its rather limited availability. This logo is retained on the Ultra 4K Blu-ray of The Beast to Die (1980) & The Inugami Family (1976).

2nd Logo (1993-1996)

Visuals: Over a black background, there is the pre-1996 Kadokawa bird with the stacked text "KADOKAWA SHOTEN PRESENTS" below.

Technique: A still digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on early Kadokawa releases, like the ADV VHS release of Slayers.

3rd Logo (August 3, 1996-2002)

Visuals: On a black background, the screen zooms out from a glass orb with blue flames bursting inside, which they burst out and the screen zooms out through a dark tunnel until the screen zooms out of the mouth of a red dragon, who's breathing out blue fire and carrying the glass orb flying around a dark blue cloudy sky. A giant book zooms from the bottom of the screen and a fiery comet flies around from the bottom-left corner, causing the dragon to fly away to the top-right, and the comet hits the book, letting out 2 shock waves and the flash of light, dissipating it into pieces in the process to reveal a gold CD inside, while the same dragon flies in from the bottom and transforms into a fiery firebird, resulting from the destruction of the book. The firebird then briefly halts at the bottom-left and circles the CD, turning it into a gold medallion with the famous Kadokawa bird embossed on it, and enveloping it in flames. Then the medallion explodes, causing the same bird, but made out of silver, to appear instantaneously. The bird zooms out and the crystal shards forming "KADOKAWA SHOTEN" and "PRESENTS" and multicolored streaks shooting outwards from behind.

Trivia: The firebird enveloping the CD/bird medallion and exploding is the call-back to the 1st Kadokawa Pictures logo.

Variants:

• A short version of it exists, starting with the bird medallion burning and exploding.
  • See the 3rd Kadokawa Video logo for more info.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The sequence starts out with computer beeps backed by a whoosh, then it segues into a dramatic orchestral theme similar to the film counterpart's second logo coupled with sound effects (windchimes for the shine of the glass orb, the dragon's roar, whooshes for the comet's impact and the firebird setting the medallion on fire, hisses for the destruction of the book).

Availability: Seen on Kadokawa's films released between 1996 and 2002, like the Slayers sequels and the Ring films.

4th Logo (January 17, 2004-June 23, 2007)

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Visuals: At a ocean at moonlight, a strange object flies under the water and then emerges. It forms the Kadokawa bird as the screen zooms into it and the background turns black. The name appears below in either English or Japanese and shines.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic soundtrack.

Availability: Seen on One Missed Call (2003), One Missed Call 2 (2004), The Great Yokai War (2005), One Missed Call: Final (2006), and Battery (2007). Also seen on the Masters of Horror episode "Imprint" (2006).

5th Logo (2005-2008)

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Visuals: The bird forms with the name in a circle forming as well. It slowly zooms in and fills in with a lavender color.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

Availability: Rather common on anime releases from Funimation, such as Deadman Wonderland (2011).

6th Logo (June 14, 2008-2013)

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Visuals: In a blue environment, rings are seen moving around and one lands on there, making lines. They move around and the background changes color. The background turns back to blue and a white gradient expands like a water drop hitting water, with a different Kadokawa bird opening up. Then, the Japanese text "角川映画" (Kadokawa Pictures) or its English translation appears below.

Technique: CGI by Tetsuro Tsuji.

Audio: An ambient soundtrack composed by Takahisa (Mergrim) Mitsumori.

Availability: Seen on certain releases like Dive!! (2008) and RoboGeisha (2009).

7th Logo (August 30, 2014-)

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Visuals: Over a lake surrounded by mountains and a cloudy sky, two sapphire-colored chevrons flip and move around. The camera then cuts to several shots of the chevrons spinning, as well as other letters moving about. The camera then cuts to the chevrons flipping about, with then and the letters forming the current Kadokawa logo, with the bird on the side and shown with a reflection on the water, all before the background becomes white and the logo becomes 2D. On DVD releases, the chevrons quickly flip into place before the final result is formed.

Variants: The trailer for Isekai Shokkaku (2024) has the logo in black, white and red.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A synth soundtrack.

Availability: Seen on movies like Lupin the 3rd (2014). Since then, the short version of this logo replaced the Kadokawa Pictures logo on Funimation releases. This was also used on commercials made for the company's products.

◄ Daiei Film Nippon Herald Films

Kadokawa Pictures