ADV Films

Note: ADV stands for "Animation Dubbing Vision."

1st Logo (1992-1995)
Nicknames: "Early A.D. Vision", "A.D. Vision Star Grid"

Logo: On a black background, we see stars and at the bottom a rainbow-colored grid, a CGI rendition of the A.D. Vision print logo of the time, which is the geometric letters "AD" in blue and "Vision" in a script font and having large green dots also serving the dots for "A.D.", zooms out and shines three times, each time followed by a star shining.

FX/SFX: The zoom-out and the shining, which is primitive even for the time period.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: A pretty tough find. Your best bet is to find titles packaged in black Amaray cases with the A.D. Vision logo on the artwork. A hint: it appeared on the very first subtitled releases of the early volumes of The New Cutey Honey and Devil Hunter Yohko OVA's. This logo has also appeared in an ADV logo montage on the DVD collection of the latter.

Editor's Note: Very cheap computer animation. The final result has been made on a Amiga computer. This should not be surprising, as the early tapes they made looked strange for the time. Some may even like the animation for those who are Amiga fans.

2nd Logo (1995-1998)
Nicknames: "A.D.V.", "Liquid Spheres", "Rainbow Spheres"

Logo: On a gray background, three spheres rise up from a pool of liquid and start spinning as the background tilts and spins, revealing a yellow/black background. The gray base turns into a rectangle and the spheres start to form the letters "A D V" and 3 smaller spheres take place next to each letter. A multi-coloured "A.D. VISION" wipes across the screen and turns white as it settles under the shapes. The logo shines.

FX/SFX: All the CGI is great for the time.

Music/Sounds: A synthesizer fanfare with a few drumbeats and a "whoosh" as "A.D. VISION" wipes across the screen.

Availability: Seen on most early ADV tapes, like the early Neon Genesis Evangelion and Blue Seed tapes as well as the first releases of Dragon Half and 801 T.T.S. Airbats. The logo is printed on the cover of all VHS tapes that have it. Also appears on the Devil Hunter Yohko DVD as part of a logo montage.

Editor's Note: This logo is a favorite of many.

1st Logo (1998-1999)
Nickname: "Laser ADV"

Logo: On a black background, we see lasers forming white lines. The camera gradually pans over the white lines, which eventually end up forming the new ADV logo. When the logo is finally finished, it turns blue, and a comet shoots by, making the word "FILMS" fade in.

FX/SFX: The lasers forming the white lines, the logo turning blue, and the comet.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 2nd A.D. Vision logo, but shorter and with additional laser sound effects.

Availability: Seen on ADV tapes of the era, including Sakura Wars, Burn-Up: EXCESS and Delinquent in Drag. The only DVD this was on was Tekken: The Motion Picture. Also appears on the logo montage at the beginning of Devil Hunter Yohko on DVD.

Editor's Note: Standard and basic computer animation makes this logo pretty much OK.

2nd Logo (1999-2002)
Nicknames: "ADV Circle", "Astrological Symbols"

Logo: A stylized sun flashes into a bright orange-red burst of light in the middle of the screen. This creates a blue background with various astrological symbols in an arrangement from left to right. The symbols start to flash to arrange it to look like this: "☉☿♀⊕♂♃♄♅♆♇", while on the last flash of the fourth symbol (Earth), the symbols glow and swirl around, forming the stylized letters "ADV". A white oval forms around the letters and a mass of tiny squares appear in the blurry transition below, forming the world "FILMS".

FX/SFX: Very good animation!

Music/Sounds: Futuristic sound effects throughout; no music apart from a slight synth drone at the very end.

Availability: Seen on all ADV tapes and DVDs from the era, most notably Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie. Also on the Devil Hunter Yohko ADV logo montage.

Editor's Note: The sounds may be unexpecting when you least expect. Otherwise, it is harmless. The CGI may also startle some people.

3rd Logo (2002-2009)
Nicknames: "ADV Circle II", "Distorted ADV", "Glitchy ADV"

Logo: On a black background, a silver oval quickly passes through us, as the background rotates to reveal several stars in the distance. The ring then spins and revolves the background twice in a row, before passing through it and flying around the area. The camera then goes up close to the ADV Films logo, but with darker letters and clips playing inside those letters, scrolling along it as the background fades back again. The logo then falls into the background, where it and the ring play around, quickly zooming in with distorted copies 3 times. The logo and ring then go to their normal positions and zoom back in as the stars fade back in. The ring slowly moves to the upper left, shining as it does, before suddenly spinning to be lower, and quickly zooms to the side, wiping away the stars.

Variant: There's a 10th Anniversary variant that was used for the logo's first year. After the logo goes out, it spins back in and flies to a spot near the back as a blue nebula fades in. An even bigger oval, colored golden and with "10TH ANNIVERSARY" engraved on it in a font similar to the corporate font, then flies into view. The logo and ring slowly turn until the camera goes under and over it, ending the logo. DVD releases have the variant start just after the logo's 3rd distort.

FX/SFX: Everything.

Music/Sounds: Like the previous logo; just some sound effects, consisting of "wobble"-type sounds, an ethereal choir, screeching static noises, followed by those sounds, depending on these variants:


 * Regular: Crystallic sparkling sound, one more final screeching static noise when the logo quickly spins around, followed by another "wobble"-type sound.
 * 10th Anniversary: An electricity zapping sound followed by a hollow reactor sound, which is held for the longer time followed by the same "wobble"-type sound from regular variant when the logo zooms quickly.

Availability: Uncommon. Appeared on their later releases including Chrono Crusade, Azumanga Daioh, and Elfen Lied. Appears to be the logo that appears as the key logo on the Devil Hunter Yohko ADV logo montage.

Editor's Note: Slightly worse than the other. The CGI and distorted sound effects could be very unnerving for those who haven't seen it before. It may even remind some of the later Media Blasters logos.

4th Logo (2007?-2009?)
Nickname: "ADV Circle III"

Logo: On a black background, a sketchy drawing of the ADV letters rotates up with the lines wiggling. The lines disappear and a ring in the same lined fashion rotates around with the rotating letters as the middle of the background becomes purple. The letters and ring fill with color and they transform from 2D to 3D as they flip, zoom, and rotate around more until the letters fly off-screen. The ring flips another time and shines as it gets filled in with black. The letters with "FILMS" turn and settle on the ring, forming the logo. The logo shines and the purple disappears. The logo becomes lined again and fades away.

Variant: In 2007, the text "15TH ANNIVERSARY" was below it.

FX/SFX: The spinning and flipping as well as the transformation from 2D to 3D.

Music/Sounds: A couple of scratches, whooshes and shining sounds throughout with a little ditty near the end (15th Anniversary Variant only). The latter has a short laser sound.

Availability: Rare. Seen on some releases co-released from Central Park Media. Used in tandem with the 3rd logo.

Editor's Note: None.