OVA. Only Videos not Anime. Official Video of Anime? Outrageous Video of Anime? What the fuck, I don’t even know what OVA stands for. Ah, original video animation. Thanks Google. You know, I was hyped as fuck for that new anime Burn the Witch from Tite Kubo (the bleach guy). Then when I learned it was just a film, I was a bit less hype as I’m not too much of a movie guy but I was down. Then I found out someone fucked up and it’s actually a three episode OVA, and now I’m really sitting with my expectations low. I don’t know why but I realized I never really watched OVA content before.
For starters, I barely even comprehend the entire premise of what OVA covers. At first I thought it simply meant a special episode that was not really part of the main series, however it was still animated. For example, if they want to have a Christmas special in Fairy Tail, (which they did) they just make some episodes and call it an OVA so that it’s not associated with the main plotline. Sort of like a spin-off series. That definition held weight in my experience until I learned The Legend of The Galactic Heroes anime is considered an OVA and that bitch is like 110 episodes and covers the main plot. So I hunkered down and went to Wikipedia. Apparently, it’s any video animation that’s made with the intent to directly release it to home video and isn’t previously shown in theatres or on air. However, sometimes a bit of it is shown on air to attract attention. So there you go.
OVA? Bitch, we're longer than most anime these days.
Regardless of the proper definition I’ve developed a stigma against OVA due to all the spin-offs and Christmas specials that I couldn’t care less about and it made me wonder if this is a popular opinion or if I’m alone on this hill. Everytime I think about “here’s three episodes of this series, that’s it, see ya!” I’m like damn by the time I decide if I like it or not it’s gonna be fucking over. And in many cases it might not hold any bearing whatsoever to the main series and could portray characters in a lighter tone that I don’t like. Listen I’m all for seeing the bros gather around and tell jokes for the Thanksgiving dinner, but if they were about to take down Zaku the Forbidden Evil two episodes ago, it will completely fuck up my pacing groove. Burn The Witch will be an exception as I do plan to check it out, however my general opinion on OVAs will probably remain unchanged unless it’s an absolute banger.
Y'all are lucky you're cute enough I'll make an exception.
If I am alone on this hill, I don’t necessarily plan to die on it. If you have some amazing OVA counterpoints, it’s time to voice them. Are you going to watch Burn The Witch? Are there some quality OVA out there? Are most OVA trash? Release a holiday special and let me know below!
