Nikkatsu Corporation

Background

Nikkatsu is one of the "big five" Japanese film studios (the others are Kadokawa Daiei, Shochiku, Toho, and Toei). Nikkatsu was formed by four film companies merger in 1912, making it Japan's oldest film company and one of the oldest film companies today. It was later bought by the game company Namco in 1996, but with the merger of Namco and Bandai in 2005, it was sold off to Index Holdings. Nikkatsu gained fame in the 1960s when they produced big-budget films about yakuza, and they gained even more fame in Japan when they released adult films such as the Roman Porn series of films. Today Nikkatsu releases films from all sorts of genres. In September 2012, Nikkatsu celebrated its 100th anniversary.

1st Logo (1925)

2nd Logo (1928)

Logo: On a black background, we see a white circle with a bird inside. The company's name is around the circle.

FX/SFX: None. The logo is very shaky.

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

Availability: Extremely rare/possibly extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1935-1937)

Logo: The bunched-up "NK" inside the white circle outline (the Nikkatsu emblem) is on a gray background with the company's name under it.

FX/SFX: None.

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

Availability: Extremely Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1937-1940)

Logo: Same as before, only the background now has vertical stripes.

FX/SFX: None.

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

Availability: Extremely Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1940 - 1955)

Logo: Same as before, but now the emblem looks as if it was hewn out of rock. The emblem is smooth, while the background is rough.

FX/SFX: None.

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

Availability: Extremely Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1950s - Late 60s)

Logo: Same as the last logo, but on a white wood-like background and with the addition of the kanji "製作".

Variants:

On color movies, the emblem is red.
There is a distributors variant with the "Production" replaced with "Distributed by".

FX/SFX: None.

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

Availability: Rare. Seen on yakuza films of the time period, as well as Nikkatsu's first films, like Buta to Gunkan. The "Distribution" variant is rare and was spotted on some films, like Fuji sancho and Shirotori (Taking the Castle), and the color variant is seen on many movies by the company since 50s.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (Late '60s-Late '70s?)

Nicknames: "NK with Spikes", "NK Star"

Logo: On a background with different colored moving spikes, we see the Nikkatsu "NK" and the kanji 日活株式会社製作 , which means "A Nikkatsu Corporation Production".

Variants:

In some cases, the "NK" is in metallic gold.
The trailer of Eagle and Hawk has the inverted moving spikes in the logo.

FX/SFX: The different colored moving spikes. Pretty good animation.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: Uncommon, bordering on rare.

Among other things, it's available on the Roman Porn films.
The 1957 variant is found on a trailer of The Eagle and the Hawk.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Logo (1979-1982)

Logo: Essentially an updated version of the 6th logo. On a background with blue moving spikes, the abstract N in red and orange colors appears turning up, and Japanese text appears below.

FX/SFX: This is what you call a logo update! The same concept of the 6th logo, redone in good-looking live action and brighter colors.

Music/Sounds: A portion of "Danse des cygnes" from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: TBA

9th Logo (1982-1985)

Logo: On a sunset backdrop with some waves, we see the red Nikkatsu logo fading in.

FX/SFX: The water rippling, the logo fading in.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo (1985-1988)

Logo: Essentially an updated version of before, but we start in a side view of the same backdrop as before, and we see a gold variant of the logo zooming in (a la the V Of Doom). The water then changes to grass, and that changes to snow. The Japanese text then fades in.

FX/SFX: The zooming in, the surface changing.

Music/Sounds: A calm synth tune combined with bass.

Availability: Extremely rare. Might be seen on some Japanese VHS tapes.

Editor's Note: This is a great update to the previous logo, and the scanimation is what proves it.

11th Logo (1992)

Logo: In the clouds, we see the Nikkatsu logo in CGI in red. The translation is also seen below.

FX/SFX: Presumably CGI.

Music/Sounds: Possibly silent.

Availability: Seems it was seen in the Japanese print of The Setting Sun.

Editor's Note: It's a shame we don't have any footage of this logo. It looks rather nice.

12th Logo (2000)

Nickname: "The Chain", "The Magnets"

Logo: On a beige background, we see an odd, curved shape rotating; it's some sort of chain of several spike-like metal/aluminum pieces. The text "NIKKATSU CORPORATION", in a fancy font with its Japanese translation at the top, fades in.

FX/SFX: The shape spinning.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Ultra rare. Was seen on Freeze Me.

Editor's Note: The shape could get to some people, but other than that, it's an alright logo.

13th (known) Logo (2009- )

Nickname: "Majestic Filmreel NK"

Logo: We start near to the moving copper rods and move further to reveal the inner structure of film projector with filmstrip running. Then we zoom out into light and folded joined NK figure flies to the center, surrounded by trembling light. The name appears below, in later releases with the addition reading "SINCE 1912".

FX/SFX: Outstanding animation, a great improvement over past logos.

Music/Sounds: A soft soundtrack.

Availability: Seen on new Nikkatsu films, including Yattaman.

Editor's Note: None.