Nippon Herald Films

Background
Nippon Herald Films was a film division of a Japanese newspaper publisher, The Nippon Herald.

1st Logo (1960-1990)
Logo: On a black background, we see the old Nippon Herald logo with a company's name in Japanese on the bottom.

Technique: None.

Variants:
 * A 10th Anniversary variant exists.
 * On Utamaro's World, the logo is on a beige relief background.

Music/Sounds: None or opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Unknown.

2nd logo (1990-1997)


Logo: A gray background with a small red dot quickly fades in, as a backwards lowercase h is drawn in black. The text HERALD (all capital letters) then slowly rises out of the middle of the screen and rests below the dot. Then, the names in Japanese:

HERALD ACE INC. NIPPON HERALD FILMS CO., LTD.

Trivia: Herald Ace, Inc. was an old incarnation of Asmik Ace's movie division.

Technique: Simple smooth animation.

Music/Sounds: A calm, peaceful little tune plays as the entire logo plays out.

Availability: Unknown.

3rd Logo (1996-2005)
Logo: On a very dull sky background, we see a red planet Earth rotating and zooming out of the camera as the curved "h" from the previous logo slowly spins around to line up with the globe. Then, the "HERALD" text zooms out of the camera and lines up next to the curved "h". The text "日本ヘラルド映画株式会社" (translation: Japan Herald Film Corporation) is then wiped onto the screen below the logo.

Variants:
 * There's a prototype version seen on a special 40th anniversary reel showing Nippon Herald's productions and releases from 1959 to 1997. The logo begins with the red Earth already on-screen, and the animation is slightly faster.
 * On the Azumi duology (and maybe also on latter Nippon Herald movies), it's still.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, or none.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On some DVDs, a Japanese announcer says the company's name.
 * Starting in 1998, the theme was remixed in stereo.

Availability: Unknown.