What is OVA anime? What is ONA anime?
In most anime series, once you finish watching the canon episodes, you come across OVA and ONA terms. Sure, you might not have a good idea on these and probably watched them expecting some actual plot.
So, what exactly are these OVAs and ONAs? They sure aren’t much related to the story. Then, should you watch them? Let’s cover all the related topics to OVA and ONA in the below article.
Meanings of OVA and ONA!
What is OVA Anime?
OVA stands for Original Video Animation. Before you can understand this meaning, you need to know how anime series are released and distributed in Japan.
- Anime Series: These consist of canon episodes and are released on TV channels like regular dramas and movies. In other words, these mainly consist of the storyline.
- Anime Movies: Since these are movies, they’re released in Theatres like other ones.
- Specials: These are the adaptations of One-Shots where it features the additional storyline that isn’t related to the central premise. These are naturally longer than the original ones ranging from around 30 min to even hours.
- OVA: OVAs are a smaller version of specials except that they’re available on DVD instead of broadcasting. As a bonus, these are uncensored and comes without any deleted scenes.
From the above info, you can pretty much gather the answer to your question. Well, if you didn’t, here’s the simpler version for it.
- OVAs are available on DVDs and are not broadcasted on TV channels since they might have nudity and gore scenes.
- Most of the themes in the OVA are Otaku friendly and comes without any censorship.
These are basically additional stories that present you more moments with the characters you’ve loved in the original anime series. And most of these are worth watching while some aren’t.
10 Best OVA Series According to MyAnimeList!
1. Legend of the Galactic Heroes
- Episodes: 110
- Aired: 1988
2. Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence
- Episodes: 4
- Aired: 1999
3. Gintama°: Love Incense Arc
- Episodes: 2
- Aired: 2016
4. Hellsing Ultimate
- Episodes: 10
- Aired: 2006
5. Kamisama Kiss: Past Arc
- Episodes: 4
- Aired: 2015
6. Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato
- Episodes: 26
- Aired: 2012
7. Attack on Titan: No Regrets
- Episodes: 2
- Aired: 2014
8. Major: World Series
- Episodes: 2
- Aired: 2011
9. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin
- Episodes: 6
- Aired: 2015
10. Natsume’s Book of Friends: Natsume on One Snowy Day
- Episodes: 1
- Aired: 2014
What is ONA Anime?
Since you’ve already had an idea of how anime is released in Japan, we won’t brag any further.
ONA stands for Original Net Animation, and these are directly released onto the internet. You’ve heard it right! Some ONAs have also been aired on television, but only after being released on the internet.
So, do ONA episodes contain any canon plot? No, like OVAs, ONAs are side stories to an already existing franchise. Some of these are also created for promotions and to celebrate anniversaries.
These also run only a few minutes, and some are even smaller than OVA episodes. After 2010, these ONA episodes began streaming on platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix!
10 Best ONA Series According to MyAnimeList!
1. Tian Guan Ci Fu
- Episodes: 11
- Aired: 2020
2. Mo Dao Zu Shi
- Episodes: 15
- Aired: 2018
3. Great Pretender
- Episodes: 23
- Aired: 2020
4. Douluo Dalu: Xiaowu Juebie
- Episodes: 41
- Aired: 2020
5. Scissor Seven
- Episodes: 10
- Aired: 2018
6. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K: Reawakened
- Episodes: 6
- Aired: 2019
7. The King’s Avatar 2
- Episodes: 12
- Aired: 2020
8. Time of Eve
- Episodes: 6
- Aired: 2008
9. Wu Shan Wu Xing
- Episodes: 3
- Aired: 2020
10. Aggressive Retsuko
- Episodes: 10
- Aired: 2018
A Word from Us!
In the above list of popular ONA series, most of them are Chinese anime. These Chinese anime are pretty amazing and underrated too. If you haven’t watched them yet, you can refer to our Best Chinese Anime List!
So, have you got a clear picture of what is OVA anime and what is ONA anime? If you have any queries regarding our post, feel free to let us know them through the comment section below.
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