NHK Video

Background

NHK Video is the home video publishing subsidiary of the Japanese broadcaster and media company NHK.

1st Logo (1980s-1989)

Logo: Over a black/blue gradient background, a green apple and a rotating, tilted square are shown spinning. Mirror pieces come out from the sides and form a prism around the items. The text "NHKビデオ" comes out zooming from the top of the screen, with the dot sections of the Japanese text in green. Once the whole logo is settled, the prism containing the apple changes into a plain gray triangle design.

Variant: There exists a still version.

FX/SFX: Late '80s CGI.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic piano theme.

Availability: Uncommon in Japan. Mostly seen on VHS tapes and laserdiscs published by the NHK starting in the mid-'80s.

2nd Logo (1990-1995)

Logo: We see a black background. An orange sphere containing floating particles fades in, with the particles moving upwards with a mirror-like vertical effect shown on the lower half; other darker particles are also shown at the sides. The particles move away as a trail of red smoke emerges moving from the left. The smoke reveals an infinity-like symbol that's warped on the right side and tilted a bit on the left. Red dust appears in the center and the shiny text "NHKビデオ" in a bronze color flips in. The same goes at the bottom as "NHK SOFTWARE,INC." appears.

Variant: There exists a still version.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A bleeping synthesizer is heard at the beginning, with another long, atmospheric lower note heard. An echoing percussive sound when the symbol is revealed. Since 1992, the latter has been changed into a pinging synth note.

Availability: Uncommon. Mostly seen on VHS tapes and laserdiscs published by the NHK during the early-to-mid '90s.

3rd Logo (1990?-1995)

Logo: Just the "NHKビデオ" text in white over a black background.

Variant: There exists a version where the background is light blue and the text is in orange.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Used in tandem with the previous logo. Mostly seen on videotapes during the era.

4th Logo (1996-2002)

Logo: Three lights emerge on a black background, and turn into spotlights respectively initially in the colors orange, blue and green. These move around as the hue of the colors change. The spotlights grow larger until these pan into the center, turning into the NHK "eggs" logo design. The spotlights are seen facing the screen as the light rays move around. The background changes to white, as the logo flashes into the NHK eggs logo, with the red text and the rainbow outline. The logo pans up as the rounded "ビデオ" appears below it. Below is also the red symbol from the 2nd logo, with the text "NHK SOFTWARE, INC." next to it.

Variants: There exists two still variants, one with the complete logo and another without the NHK Software, Inc. symbol and text.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A cymbal which brings up an arpeggiating, chiming synthesizer. A note is then heard, with a crystallized sound effect when the spotlights face the screen. It changes to a 3-note dramatic string theme when the background changes.

Availability: Uncommon in Japan. Seen on VHS tapes from NHK during the era.

5th Logo (NHK DVD) (1997-2002)

Logo: We see a blue sky with clouds. Three cut-outs of the NHK eggs logo fly in, containing multiple video footages. One includes people crossing the street, another one features a shot of the Egyptian desert and pyramids with two camel riders, and another has a blossoming flower. Then the NHK logo, with a gray outline, white fill and red text flies in with the black "DVD" tied by several strings shown below the logo. The footage changes to a shot of the ocean,a shot of plants and trees and multiple black ducks passing by. The logo flies to the center while the background turns white, a shadow is also briefly seen behind.

Variant: Another version exists which just has the sky background without the logo cut-outs and footage.

FX/SFX: 2D animation, with live action shots.

Music/Sounds: A 3-note mallet theme, followed by a 3-note flute with the last note extended. None for the variant.

Availability: Uncommon. It was seen on early DVD releases published by the NHK during that era.

Logo history containing the other logos is shown below.