Viz Video

1st Logo (1993-1998)


Logo: On a black background, we see red objects coming in on all sides of the screen. They collide to from a stylized "V", which zooms out to the top-right corner as a golden yellow background with the words “VIZ VIDEO” in a segmented font appears by alternating lines coming in from both sides of the screen. A shine appears on the background, and a star comes from the top of the screen, making the V flash, and resting on top of the “V” in “VIZ VIDEO”.

Variant: Earlier in its existence, the "V" was animated slightly differently, and was brighter.

Trivia: The logo was animated by one person, Allen Hastings.

Technique: The red objects forming the "V", the zooming out of the "V", the black background transitioning to the golden background, the shine appearing, and the star.

Music/Sounds: A synth-rock tune with a “ding” as the "V" flashes. Sometimes it is silent.

Availability: Can be seen on all Ranma 1/2 videocassettes from 1993-1998. Also appears on the original VHS releases of Fatal Fury and Fatal Fury 2.

2nd Logo (1998-2003)
Logo: On a space background, we see a gold cube in the direct center of the screen zooming and rotating, moving closer to us. As the rotating progresses, we see that the cube keeps dividing into smaller and smaller cubes. As soon as the cube is all the way zoomed toward the viewer, the cube breaks into several small pieces, filling the screen with gold. The camera pans to the right of the space background as the gold pieces form the words "VIZ VIDEO", segmented, in italics, and in gold. The stylized "V" shape from the last logo lies right next to the words.

Technique: The golden cube rotating, and the pan and scan effects.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized theme that ranges from ominous and choir-like to more electric at the end, with metallic noises including the stock sound effects of metal crashing.

Availability: Appears on many Viz releases from the era.
 * Appears on the original VHS/DVD volume sets of Pokémon: Indigo League and Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, as well as the first volume of Adventures of the Orange Islands and the first two of Johto League Champions.
 * Also appears on many Hamtaro VHS and DVD releases (which use this logo at the beginning and end) from the era.
 * Also seen on some other properties from the company, like later Ranma 1/2 VHS and DVD releases. Also found on a few 2007 reprints of the latter.

3rd Logo (2002-2005)


Logo: On a white (or black) background, a still picture of the Viz print logo is seen in black and white, with no video indicator whatsoever. The print logo consists of a stylized eye with devil horns or ears, positioned over a book-like shape reading "VIZ".

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on all Viz Video releases from the period. After 2005, the Viz Media logo introduced that year became the de-facto home video logo.
 * Appears on the original VHS and DVD volumes of these Pokémon seasons - Johto League Champions (the first two volumes use the previous logo), Adventures on the Orange Islands (although the first volume contains the previous logo), Master Quest, Advanced and Advanced Challenge.