The anime industry continues to thrive and influence animation in many prolific ways. There are countless anime series that run for hundreds of episodes and exhaust all storytelling possibilities, but there are just as many anime experiments that are forced to take the opposite approach.
OVAs, otherwise known as Original Video Animations, are forms of anime that are typically condensed to only a few episodes, with some even functioning as a standalone extended pilot. There is some excellent OVA material out there, some of which would thrive with the luxury of dozens of episodes to expand its story into a proper anime series.
10 Gunbuster Highlights The Way In Which War Changes Its Fighters
Gunbuster is a six-episode OVA from the late 1980s that comes from Hideaki Anno and the animation studio Gainax, and it feels very much like a prototype for ideas and themes that would dominate their later mecha series, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Gunbuster focuses on the rigorous training that’s necessary to fly into space and defend the planet against evil alien forces. Gunbuster elegantly examines the emotional drain of such a lifestyle, and it says a lot in six episodes (as well as a sequel OVA, Diebuster), but it could be even more poignant when spread across a full series and given greater nuance.
9 Golden Boy Is A Juvenile Misadventure That Deserves Greater Depth
Some of the more popular OVA endeavors from the 1980s and '90s revolve around more lascivious content, which is certainly mature, but not strictly out of bounds for mainstream audiences. Golden Boy is a six-episode OVA from the mid-'90s that's full of awkward situations as Kintaro, a young boy, gets exposed to hormonal misunderstandings. There's a comfortable energy in the OVA, and Kintaro is easy to get behind, which makes it such a shame that there are only six entries, rather than a full series that allows Kintaro to mature into a competent ladies' man.
8 The Curse of Kazuo Umezu Only Scratches The Surface Of Its Supernatural Dread
Anime OVAs are perfect for horror content, especially when it adopts an anthology structure. The Curse of Kazuo Umezu is a single-episode OVA that’s divided into two creepy stories, one of which shares many similarities with the disturbing works of Junji Ito.
The Curse of Kazuo Umezu deserves a whole series’ worth of Twilight Zone-esque anthology horror content, but the same is also true for Twilight Q and Pet Shop of Horrors, two incredibly similar horror anthologies that don’t get to realize their full potential.
7 Electromagnetic Girlfriend’s Rich Ideas And Gripping Mystery Are Cut Short
Electromagnetic Girlfriend is a fascinating two-episode OVA that chronicles the explosion of mild-mannered Juu's life after a string of murders begins and a strange girl, who claims to be his "knight," vows to help him solve these crimes. The chemistry between Juu and Ame is instantly compelling, and it's surprising to see how quickly things spiral out of control for the lead. Unfortunately, at only two episodes, Electromagnetic Girlfriend can't resolve its mysteries in a satisfying manner, and it just leaves the viewer hungry for a more substantial version of this story.
6 The Rich World In Blue Submarine No. 6 Is Forced To Wrap Things Up Early
Blue Submarine No. 6 crafts a prescient story across four episodes. Blue Submarine No. 6 is a triumph of lore and world-building. It's set in a futuristic dystopia where the Earth's oceans have risen to catastrophic levels and a war wages on between those of the land and the sea. So much is accomplished across these four episodes that it's a true shame that Blue Submarine No. 6 doesn't get copious time to fully explore its environmentally charged story. It accomplishes a lot, but it could say even more with a multiple-season story.
5 Shinesman Is A Delirious Parody That Doesn’t Get Enough Time For Its Punchlines
The Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman, better known as just Shinesman, is a two-episode OVA parody from the mid-1990s that brilliantly pokes fun at Tokosatsu's various Super Sentai series and the excess of the genre.
This subject matter has only become ripe for satire in more recent years, but Shinesman could have easily blazed a trail in this department through the luxury of a full series. Puni Puni Poemy is a similar OVA experiment that lampoons the magical girl genre, but it has ties to Excel Saga, whereas Shinesman is wholly original.
4 Dragon Half Squashes An Exciting Fantasy World Into A Pair Of Stories
Dragon Half explores the journey of Mink, a human-dragon hybrid who traverses through a dangerous fantasy world to procure a magical potion that will turn her fully into a human. Dragon Half is only two episodes, but it flies through an impressive amount of gags and covers lots of ground in its brief time. Mink's journey is a success, but a quest of this nature is at its best when it plays out across dozens of episodes. The parodies in Dragon Half connect, but they'd also grow even stronger with more material to pull from and a longer story.
3 The Ultimate Role Reversal In Murder Princess Can’t Fully Realize Its Potential
Role reversals can trigger some rewarding storytelling, and Murder Princess creatively subverts the "body swap" trope with a touch of the Prince and the Pauper thrown in for good measure. A princess and a vicious bounty hunter inadvertently switch souls and roles with the new changes that are expected of them. The new sense of empowerment that drives the characters forward is magnetic, but Murder Princess barely gets a chance to do anything with the idea in only two episodes. It's a clear proof of concept that could accomplish a lot more with a larger scope.
2 Pale Cocoon Is A Thoughtful Examination Of Humanity
Pale Cocoon only has a sole 23-minute installment, and it succeeds as a contemplative and melancholic piece of storytelling, but it could use this poignancy to explore even more powerful ideas. Pale Cocoon is set in a ravaged future dystopia where most of the Earth's history has been lost to time. Ura and Riko work to retrieve the world's lost history to help fill in the gaps, but the information that they learn is frequently depressing. Ura and Riko experience a satisfying arc across this tight narrative, but a full series that adopts this bleak perspective would be a heavy experience, but a highly rewarding one.
1 Alien Nine Establishes A Rich Formula For A Full Series
Some of the most popular anime series are the ones that bestow unexpected figures with incredible responsibility as they’re suddenly expected to ward off monsters, aliens, or some sort of deadly threat. Alien Nine lovingly embraces this trope as a trio of girls must protect their school from a slew of extraterrestrial threats. Alien Nine feels like it’s only just finding its footing by the time it wraps up after four episodes. It’s appreciated that Alien Nine doesn’t overstay its welcome, but the OVA develops such an effective formula that it could easily sustain hundreds of episodes.