Genki

Background
Genki (元気) was founded on October 16, 1990 by Hiroshi Hamagaki and Tomo Kimura who left Sega to form the company. They are best known for making the Shutokou Battle series, more commonly known in the west as Tokyo Xtreme Racer (or Tokyo Highway Challenge).

1st Logo (June 25, 1994, August 11, 1995)
Logo: On a black background, we see a crudely drawn representation of a smiling face. Below the face, there's the word "GeNKi", stylized by paper cuts.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on Burning Soldier and Scramble Cobra for the 3DO.

2nd Logo (January 27-December 19, 1995)
Logo: On a black background, we see a diamond zoom out from the left. The diamond then expands into an rhombus outline, and turns into a bevel while another rhombus shape zooms out with the text "GENKI" engraved into it. "GENKI" turns yellow once the piece settles, and a trail comes out of it. It briefly turns gray before going back to yellow again, as the bevel shines. The logo then fades out.

Variant: There is a still version.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: Descending and ascending synthesizer sound effects and a chime when the trail appears.

Availability: Seen on Kileak: The DNA Imperative for the PS1. The still variant appears on Epidemic for the same console.

3rd Logo (December 15, 1995)


Logo: Over a black background, we see the face from the 1st logo zoom in, with its eyes and its mouth, then "Genki" in the style of magazine cut-outs flips in from the center.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A soft piano/synth theme.

Availability: Seen on Wangan Dead Heat for the Saturn.

4th Logo (November 15, 1996-October 1, 1998)


Logo: Over a black background, we see the outline of the face (with the mouth) in golden flip out into perspective. The five hair pieces then come out from above and connect to the outline, and then the text "Genki" in golden comes jumping from below. It collides with the face, as the two crude eyes appear moving. The logo then settles, and the background turns yellow, with the logo turning black.

Variant: There is a still version of this logo.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A whoosh when the outline appears, metallic sounds when the pieces appear, a "womp!" coupled with a descending whistle, and a low, stuttering synth.

Availability: Rare.
 * Seen on the PS1 titles Brahma Force: The Assault on Beltlogger 9, Shutokou Battle R, and Kattobi Tune.
 * The still version is seen on Efficus, also for the PS1.

5th Logo (December 20, 1996-March 19, 1999)


Logo: Over a black background, we see part of the face with the eyes flipping out into perspective. The five hair pieces and mouth then appear moving into position, while the letters of "Genki" rotate and zoom out below the logo. Everything is in yellow.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: An airy synth, followed by an arpeggio.

Availability: Seen on their games for the Nintendo 64, including Chou-Kuukan Night Pro Yakyuu King and its sequel, MRC: Multi-Racing Championship, Fighters Destiny, and SimCity 2000.

6th Logo (February 28, 1997-January 26, 2017)
Logo: On a black background, we see a yellow square. Inside this square, we see the face from the previous logos. Below the face is the word "Genki" in an Arial font. The copyright date is shown below.

Variants:
 * There's a variant with white background, without the copyright and the square having a black outline.
 * Some games like Jade Cocoon 2 feature the URL below the copyright date.
 * There is a copyright-less variant.
 * Wangan Midnight for the PS2 had the face over a yellow background, with the text in black, having the date stylized as "2002 Genki Co.,Ltd." with the URL below.
 * Later games feature just the URL without the copyright date. On Shutokou Battle Xtreme (2017) for Android and iOS, there is no URL.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Uncommon.
 * Seen on most Genki games made since the late 90s, including the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series.
 * The variant with the white background appears on Drift King: Shutokou Battle '97 for the Saturn (the first game to feature this logo) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the PS2.
 * The variant without the copyright appears on XBOX games by the company, including Kabuki Warriors and Phantom Crash.

7th Logo (Jade Cocoon custom variant) (December 3, 1998-November 1999)


Logo: On a black background, we see random Japanese characters and English words appearing and shaking while the faint Genki logo is shown shaking behind. Those words include "Ku", "So", "imagine", "dream", "jitsu", "Gen", and "come true", in different fonts. Then the Genki square logo appears with the copyright info and URL of the company below.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: Warbling radio static and a two-note synth theme.

Availability: Seen on Jade Cocoon for the PS1.