That would be the category labeled as OAD or Original Animation DVD. This next term is much less familiar because there are far fewer anime that fall under this category.
It is a cautionary tale, for anime studios, on how NOT to create an OVA. Mars of Destruction has one of the lowest rankings on the MyAnimeList site. It’s another anime from the same studio (Idea Factory). But, I will warn you to stay away from Skelter + Heaven. I won’t bore you with all the gruesome details. The story aside, the execution of scene transitions and animation are appalling. Mars of Destruction has none of those elements and even fails to tell a somewhat basic plot. It should definitely have great visuals, strong attention to detail, an engaging story (original or not), character development, and, at the very least, induce some laughs or emotions out of you. Hopefully, from my description of what an OVA is and the example up above you can determine what a good one should consist of. Longest Running OVA Legend of the Galactic Heroes (Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu) So, the anime industry quickly changed the acronym and the community backed the new version.
Audio/Video and Adult Video were commonly mixed up whenever OAV was brought up. However, AV (animation video) was a little too confusing because it was very similar to a couple of other terms. This usually manifests in beautifully animated, well-told stories that can make some regular anime pale in comparison.Īlso, the acronym used to look slightly different. So, studios can use the extra freedom to push for higher standards of quality. The allocated resources are usually higher than that of standard anime episodes.
But, it doesn’t have to tie in to a pre-existing anime or manga. It can be a prequel, sequel, alternate universe storyline, or any other kind of narrative that connects to a series. Usually they are related to an existing anime series. Of course, today the primary way people buy OVA are in the form of DVD’s or Blu-rays. It was created and then directly made available for consumers to purchase.
The most notable difference between OVA and a standard anime series is that the OVA never aired on television.