Takara

Credits

Descriptions by
2K-tan and RSX-798

Background

Takara Co, Ltd. was a Japanese toy and entertainment company founded in 1955. Originally the company was settled in the toy manufacturing business and its first successful franchises were Microman and Diaclone; in 1984, American company Hasbro rebranded these toys as Transformers with Takara retaining the Japanese rights to the franchise. Other famous franchises by Takara include Battle Beasts, Choro-Q (internationally known as Penny Racers) and Beyblade. Since the early 1990s, Takara branched out to the video game business working with different publishers such as Tamsoft, then soon in the 2000s purchased publishing stakes in Atlus. In 2005, the company merged with rival company Tomy, forming Takara Tomy.

1st Logo (November 27, 1992)

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Visuals: Over a blue background is the text "TAKARA AMUSEMENT CO., LTD." in a stylized font.

Technique: A still, sprite-based graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Only seen on the Garou Densetsu for Super Famicom.

2nd Logo (December 11, 1992-June 25, 1998)

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Visuals: There is an oval with the text "TAKARA" inside the oval.

Variant: There are several animated variants.

Technique: Depends on the variant.

Audio: Depends on the variant.

Availability: Seen on any Takara game from the era.

3rd Logo (Still variants) (February 1993-September 22, 2004)

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Visuals: There is the text "TAKARA" in an interconnected font with circles forming the inside part of the A's, along with the registered mark.

Variant: The logo is normally seen over a white background, while a black background variant is often less used.

Technique: A still, sprite-based graphic.

Audio: None.

Audio Variant: On Special Jinsei Game and EX Jinsei Game II, a group of girls say "Ta, ka, ra!".

Availability: Seen on multiple video games from Takara's licensed franchises including Choro-Q and Metal Fighter Beyblade, many of which were only released in Japan.

4th Logo (Animated variants) (October 5, 2000-December 18, 2003)

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Visuals: On a black background, red lights appear and reveal the letters of the Takara logo, one by one and colored silver. The camera pans across the letters, and once they're all revealed, the red lights merge into them, giving them a shiny red color with a white gradient. A light moves across the logo, and then it turns solid red while the "R" copyright symbol appears, followed by the background turning white.

Variants:

• On Popira, three dots fall into the center, followed by the full Takara logo fading in afterwards.
• On Road Trip Adventure and Gadget Racers (2002), the Takara logo zooms out on a white background, tilted at a right angle, before straightening to its usual position. A synth note followed by a chime is heard.
• On Road Trip: The Arcade Edition, the letters of the Takara logo fly by like racing cars, then "crash" into the center one-by-one. Like the standard logo, the background is black, but then turns white at the end (though this time, the "R" symbol appears as the white background fades in). This also appears on Beyblade V-Force: Super Tournament Battle, but the logo fades to white after it's done.

Technique: Depends on the variant.

Audio: A calm synthesized fanfare.

Audio Variants:

• Popira has three ascending dings, then a whoosh.
• The Road Trip Adventure variant has a synth note followed by a chime.
• The Road Trip: The Arcade Edition variant has cars revving followed by several banging sounds. However, it's silent on Beyblade V-Force: Super Tournament Battle.

Availability: Seen on many Takara games from the period, such as Seek and Destroy.

Takara Tomy

Takara Tomy ►