Toei Home Video

Background
Toei Video Co., Ltd is the home entertainment division of Toei that was formed in 1975 to distribute Betamax tapes, then VHS tapes. It was the oldest home video distributor ever in the world.

1st Logo (1975-1982)
Logo: On a blue background, we see the Toei logo from the era. Below it was the Japanese text "東映ビデオ株式会社" (which was "Toei Video Co., Ltd." in Japanese).

Variants:
 * In early years, the text "制作・作業" (which was in English for "Production・Work") was shown above the logo.
 * There is a version on a light blue background, with a red logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on the first VHS and Betamax tapes released by the company, from 1975 to 1982.

Legacy: Not really a strong start, but it was something. It also follows a trend that other Japanese home video logos were doing, mainly having a white logo chyroned onto a blue background.

2nd Logo (1982-1989)
Logo: On a cornflower blue background, the large white text "Video" is seen in a bubbly font, with a much larger "V" than the rest of the text. On the top right ledge of the text, "TOEI" sits there in a squashed looking font.

Variant: From 1983-1985, the "TOEI" font was completely different, having it look more abstract as well as the hole in the "O" being star-shaped. The background was also darker and the logo was closer to the screen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on Toei Video's releases from the era, from 1982 to 1989.

Legacy: Same as before.

3rd Logo (1984)


Logo: On a black background, the 1983-1985 logo in yellow flips and zooms inwards as we see smaller versions of the same logo accelerate and zoom out from the top and bottom of the screen. The main logo also has trails of itself flipping zooming in and briefly appear once the main logo flips into place before they disappear and everything fades out.

FX/SFX: The main logo flipping, the mini logos zooming out from the background, the trails of the main logo appearing and disappearing.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare.

Legacy: A nice step above the first logo.

4th Logo (1989-1990)
Nickname: “Prism In The Sky"

Logo: On a night sky, large dark purple clouds slowly move about, while light rays emerge from the center of the screen. What appears to be a land mass can also be seen on the bottom of the screen. A glass square then zooms out from nowhere, and the light rays intensify. The square then zooms out and rotates around to reveal itself as a triangular prism, while 3 light blue lasers shoot into it, producing a rainbow-colored ray of light. As the triangular prism forms into a normal triangle, the Toei logo in white zooms in from the center of the screen, and then overtakes the triangle, causing it to disappear and a ghostly copy of the Toei triangle to shoot towards the screen. The light rays then glow brighter as the background darkens, and the logo fades out as the light rays die down.

Variants:
 * A widescreen variant exists, where the black bars on the sides of the screen are removed.
 * Much like the next logo, there exists a variant for its V-Anime releases. After the logo is completed, a golden line draws in below the logo, and "Vアニメ" drops down from it, with the “V” in a Times New Roman font. The text then shines brightly.
 * A V-Cinema variant exist that is similar to the above variant, but with the text in the same style as the next logo.

FX/SFX: The light rays, the prism and lasers, the Toei logo zooming in.

Music/Sounds: Silence is first heard, followed by the sounds of shuffling metal. This then transitions to a bombastic orchestral fanfare, complete with choir, that ends with a violin solo. Twinkling sounds can also be heard near the end. The rest is silent.

Availability: Rare. Seen on releases during the period.

Legacy: This is a really well animated logo, especially considering the actual Toei logo didn't really focus on animation. It could work well as the movie logo at the time as well.

5th Logo (1990-2004)
Nickname: “The Gemstones”

Logo: On a black background, the camera dives deep into a pile of pink, purple, and yellow gemstones, all of which have light coming out of them. When we get to the bottom, the gemstones shatter, and a white light is left on the screen. When the light exits, what looks like dust begins to disappear as the Toei logo zooms in on a black and periwinkle gradient background. There also appears to be a cloud texture in the Toei logo that moves to the right before stopping.

Variants: On V-Cinema/Anime releases, the words “VCINEMA” fly in from behind like a Frisbee (or the disc in the Paramount DVD logo), colored yellow, “V” in Times New Roman font, and “CINEMA” in Haettenschweiler font. The V-Anime version has the same animation as the V-Cinema variant, but “CINEMA” is replaced by "ANIME" in a unknown font with smooth corners. Both have the same cloud texture as the Toei logo.

FX/SFX: The camera panning deep into the gemstones, and the logo zooming in.

Music/Sounds: An uplifting synth-orchestral theme that gets more dramatic towards the end.

Availability: Found on many Toei video releases of the era. It was also seen on DVD releases of their titles up until the mid-2000s. Also seen on a few U.S DVDs of titles licensed to anime distributors, such as the ADV releases of The New Cutey Honey (which use the same video masters as on the Toei releases).

Legacy: Once again, a well-animated logo that would substitute the Toei Company logo at some points, though the animation doesn't look quite as impressive as the previous logo.

6th Logo (2004-2009)


Nicknames: “The Disc”, "The Toei Disc"

Logo: On a black background, we slowly zoom out from a disc. As we zoom out, it starts to spin, becoming faster and faster as we zoom out. When it's spinning, it becomes brighter by an iris in effect in the middle, as if data is being written to it. As it continues to spin, it starts to shake, sparks and smoke comes out, and, as it starts to become fully bright, electricity hits the logo, creating a explosion. When the explosion clears out, we see the disc, now in the shape of a triangle, stop spinning and the sparks and smoke clear out. It fades to become the Toei logo and "T O E I V I D E O" fades in under the logo as it slowly zooms out.

Trivia: This is the company's first logo to be produced in a 16:9 aspect ratio, as well as the first one to have a wordmark.

FX/SFX: The disc spinning, sparks, electricity, explosion, and the disc fading to the logo.

Music/Sounds: A jet engine starting up as the disc starts spinning, weird whistle-y like sounds as sparks fly, electric sounds, a "clank" and jaguar-like vocalistic roars when the explosion is made, and an ominous horn tune when the Toei logo is formed.

Availability: Common. It can be seen on various DVDs and later VHSs of Toei material.

Legacy: A rather jarring logo with the crazy in-your-face animation and buzzing sounds. Interestingly, this is the 1st time since the 1st logo where the Toei Video marker is used.

7th Logo (2009- )


Logo: On a black background, a blue laser flies around a bit. It then carves into the background, producing a blue glow throughout the entire screen. The laser then draws a black triangle shape, before going downwards to wipe in the Toei kanji and disappearing. The logo then shines a bit before flashing white. The flash then dies down to fully materialize the logo in white, and reveals "TOEI VIDEO" in the same font/arrangement as before. The logo slowly zooms out as a lens flare is seen on the logo.

FX/SFX: The laser forming the logo, the flash.

Music/Sounds: A hollow chime tune can be heard through out, with the sounds of a laser being heard as well. A loud "clank" can also be heard when the logo is complete, and a phazer sound when the logo flashes.

Availability: Current. Seen on their current DVD releases. They might also appear on their Blu-Ray releases. Used in tandem with the next logo.

Legacy: A well-animated logo that isn't as chaotic, but isn't as exciting as the previous logo.

8th Logo (2013- )
Logo: On a white-gray background, we see some brushes drawing in, and triangles draw from the center, and the then more triangles zooms out, while a big wave crashes, revealing it was the Toei logo, alongside the text "TOEI VIDEO COMPANY, LTD." below the logo.

FX/SFX: The drawing, the wave crashing.

Music/Sounds: Writing sounds, followed by the sound of waves crashing.

Availability: Seen on Toei Video productions, like 009-1: The End of the Beginning.