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 the merger of four smaller film companies in 1912, making it Japan's oldest film company and one of the oldest film companies still in operation today. It was later bought by Namco in 1996, but with the company's merger with Bandai in 2005, it was sold off to Index Holdings. Nikkatsu gained fame in the 1960s when they produced big-budget films about the yakuza (Japanese organized crime), in addition to adult films such as the Roman Porn series. 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: The opening theme of the movie.

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 previous 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: Rare.

Editor's Note: none.

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: Possibly extinct to ultra rare. 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 (2007?- )

Nickname: "Majestic Filmreel NK", "The Calm NK", "The Folded NK"

Logo: We start near to the moving copper rods and move further to reveal the inner structure of film projector while the filmstrip running. Then we zoom out into the light, the folded and joined "NK" figure with the word "NIKKATSU" in black fly into the center, and the logo is surrounded by trembling light with a brown background.

Variants:

Sometimes, there will be a byline "AN INDEX GROUP COMPANY" in black fades in below the "NK" figure and the word "NIKKATSU" after they fly in.
Also, the logo sometimes has the word "SINCE 1912" in black do the same thing as the "AN INDEX GROUP COMPANY" byline variant (fades in below the "NK" figure and the word "NIKKATSU" after they fly in).
When NIKKATSU celebratred their 100th birthday in 2012, their logo appeared like this: At the beginning, we see a black background with the number "1O" stays on a blue line, and the number "O" in the left has legs and goes on a stair. Above the number "1O", there is a word "since1912" in white is on it. And below all of it, we see the word "新たなるステージへ------" ("To a new stage") in white sandwitched by a lot of white dots. Then, 1 second later, everything fade into a dawn over a forest, the forest begin to be more brighter, a lot of trees and a river start to appear, and the "NK" figure with word "NIKKATSU" in white, the small "SINCE 1912" word in white below, and the "belower" "100th Anniversary" in white word fade in at the center of the screen. And after that, they plays the normal "NIKKATSU" variant, with the word "SINCE 1912" fades in below the "NK" figure and the word "NIKKATSU" after they fly in.
There's a still variant which has the "NK" figure and the word "NIKKATSU" in white below on a black background.
There's a short variant which only has the part the logo is surrounded by trembling light with a brown background.

FX/SFX: The filmstrip running in the film projector, the zooming out to the light, the figure "NK" with the word "NIKKATSU" in black flying in, and the trembling light moving. Outstanding animation, which is a great improvement over past logos, and just good enough to be a competitor with some of the best logo of the 2000s.

Music/Sounds: At the beginning, we hear the sounds of a filmstrip. Then, a soft piano soundtrack plays over when we move further to the film projector, while at the same time still keep the filmstrip sounds. After that, when we zoom into the light, the piano sound "Tong tun" played over, and it keeps silence for 4 seconds before the logo fades out. A beautifully-made soundtrack.

Availability: Seen on new Nikkatsu films, including Yattaman.

Editor's Note: Thanks to the outstanding animation that still holds up after more than a decade, and the sad, but wonderful soundtrack that makes people listen to it over and over again, this is hands down, one of the greatest logo from Japan.