Anime created specifically for distribution on video is known as OVA (Original Video Animation) or OAV (Original Animated Video). This format played an important role in the evolution and maturity of the industry. Here is a run down of how and why this format came into existence and what it did to change the industry.
Since the inception of anime made to be broadcast on TV the productions have been aimed at youthful audiences. Tezuka Osamu established the reliance on partnering an anime production with unrelated products to help cover the costs to make the show. At times this 'curse' lead to the direction of a show to be noticeably controlled by the partner companies. TV anime from the start has been plagued with a devalued worth because of Tezuka underselling Tetsuwan Atom. In order to prevent rejection the amount he asked the TV studio he was pitching the show to was around half of what it would take to make.
In the 1960's a group of manga artists had begun to publish stories aimed at adults instead of children. By the 1970's there was a healthy, if still minor, industry based around adult manga. For artists who wanted to see their stories animated their only option was to receive a theatrical treatment, which was difficult to accomplish. In some cases, as with the historical manga Lone Wolf and Cub (子連れ狼), live action treatments were the best way to see their works in motion. But feature length animation took a lot of time and money to produce and needed some serious financial and distribution backing. It would be hard to find the resources for a manga that had a small market audience let alone an entirely original piece to be made this way.
By the early 80's video tape machines became wide spread in Japanese homes. With it came the video rental industry that proved to be quite profitable. Some animators saw this as an opportunity for creative freedom. By this point TV anime had 30 years under its belt and had become a deeply ingrained part of Japanese society. The industry was strong but had to answer to the demands of it's financial backers. Many of these backers wanted the productions they financed to repay them through the sale of peripheral goods. When the video rental market took off animators saw an opportunity for less intrusive funding by partnering with video distribution companies, companies who only cared about how well a video sold and were less concerned with the contents of that video. So was born the OVA.
Dallos (ダロス) by Oshii Mamoru, who later went on to direct the acclaimed first Ghost in the Shell movie, is recognized as the very first OVA in 1983. This sci-fi story may have broke the seal for direct to video anime but a major contributor to the mediums success was charted in 1984 by the two hentai titles, Cream Lemon (くりいむレモン) and Lolita Anime (ロリータアニメ). The industry quickly began to use the OVA market to release peripheral stories for existing TV series as well. By 1985 there was already a healthy amount of releases.
The domain of the OVA was largely occupied with mature sci-fi and hentai material, stories that through content restrictions and a lack of mechanizing opportunities, would have been impossible to create in other ways. While many were based on preexisting manga, the OVA market allowed for original creations as well, to varying degree's of success. By the mid 1980's the Japanese boom economy was in full swing and financing was becoming easier to acquire, for better or worse. One project that was plagued with production and quality issues is the viscerally violent MD Geist (装鬼兵MDガイスト).
OVA's also lead to more attention to production than TV anime, allowing for more frames per second and more detailed backgrounds and character designs. 1987's mecha anime Metal Skin Panic Madox 01 (メタルスキンパニック MADOX-01) paired Aramaki Shinji as director with Anno Hideaki as animator for some of the best mechanical designs ever. That same year saw Shiro Masume's entry into the anime world with Black Magic M-66 (ブラックマジック).
By the beginning of the 90's the OVA market, and anime in general, was well established and financially sound. While still primarily the domain of mature sci-fi/action and hentai stories, more TV series were being supplemented with OVA releases. By this time distribution in North America had begun to truly establish its self and began to license OVA's for the majority of their releases. The American distribution companies preferred OVA's over TV series's due to the lower episode counts (which would mean lower licensing and production costs), higher quality artwork and the desire to market to adults more than children.
Soon though the industry would be hit with financial constraints following the collapse of the financial bubble. Investors, no longer confident in consumer spending and leery of past flops, began to restrict what projects they would fund. The anime industry really didn't begin to feel the stress of the financial recession until the middle of the decade and was beginning to see some inroads through distribution licensing to foreign markets, but no where near the gains they made in the 80's. By the end of the 90's though the OVA market had begun to shrink considerably. While financial stress was a large factor another was the changing TV anime landscape.
In 1995 and 1996 Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン) and Those Who Hunt Elves (エルフを狩るモノたち) showed that anime could be successful when broadcast on late night TV. Late night TV allowed for less restrictions on content and material, allowing for more mature stories to be produced for television. The incredible success of Evangelion and it's related merchandising showed that anime not marketed at children, or based on preexisting manga could see success, even if aired late at night. Though not everything was capable of being aired on TV, either through story length or content restrictions. OAV's continued to be the domain of hentai and one shot or small mini series type stories.
The 90's also saw OVA's as a testing ground for stories that could receive full blown TV anime treatments. Two series that saw some success in this process were 1996's slice of life comedy Magic Users Club (魔法使い) and 2001's action series Read or Die (リード・オア・ダイ). Though, sometimes the story is better off left as just a mini series OVA instead of being stretched out to a 13 or 26 episode TV series, a number of successful TV series' saw their birth as an OVA.
In the 2000's the OVA market began to shift again as it was used frequently as a compliment to TV series's or special productions for manga series'. By the mid aughts, as TV anime reached its biggest historical height, the demand for weekly productions could plague some projects. If an episode fell behind schedule filler recap episodes were cobbled together. TV broadcast schedules in Japan are incredibly tight, with no room for error. Many series are designed with a specific number of episodes for their run, typically 12 or 13 at a time. When production falls behind and they are unable to deliver the proper episode in time for broadcast, it or some later episode will have to be cut from the series. They wouldn't normally be able to stretch out the series another episode as that would cause broadcast issues with the next anime that is set to occupy that broadcast time slot. Instead many times these 'lost' episodes are released as OVA's and/or bonus content on later DVD releases. In the case of an anime based on a current manga, these episodes can find themselves bundled with a tankoubon release as a way to boost sales of the manga.
The OVA has existed for over 30 years now and has seen it's ups and downs. While in the beginning it was a vehicle for expression, innovation and creative freedom it has now mostly been relegated to being just another part of the larger marketing force behind the anime production machine. It is still the only real venue for hentai though and small time animators are using it as a way to self promote and distribute their works. The best example of this is with Shinkai Makoto and his early self produced works. Now though, many OVA's exist as throw away bonus episodes to boost manga and DVD sales for existing titles.
Since the inception of anime made to be broadcast on TV the productions have been aimed at youthful audiences. Tezuka Osamu established the reliance on partnering an anime production with unrelated products to help cover the costs to make the show. At times this 'curse' lead to the direction of a show to be noticeably controlled by the partner companies. TV anime from the start has been plagued with a devalued worth because of Tezuka underselling Tetsuwan Atom. In order to prevent rejection the amount he asked the TV studio he was pitching the show to was around half of what it would take to make.
In the 1960's a group of manga artists had begun to publish stories aimed at adults instead of children. By the 1970's there was a healthy, if still minor, industry based around adult manga. For artists who wanted to see their stories animated their only option was to receive a theatrical treatment, which was difficult to accomplish. In some cases, as with the historical manga Lone Wolf and Cub (子連れ狼), live action treatments were the best way to see their works in motion. But feature length animation took a lot of time and money to produce and needed some serious financial and distribution backing. It would be hard to find the resources for a manga that had a small market audience let alone an entirely original piece to be made this way.
By the early 80's video tape machines became wide spread in Japanese homes. With it came the video rental industry that proved to be quite profitable. Some animators saw this as an opportunity for creative freedom. By this point TV anime had 30 years under its belt and had become a deeply ingrained part of Japanese society. The industry was strong but had to answer to the demands of it's financial backers. Many of these backers wanted the productions they financed to repay them through the sale of peripheral goods. When the video rental market took off animators saw an opportunity for less intrusive funding by partnering with video distribution companies, companies who only cared about how well a video sold and were less concerned with the contents of that video. So was born the OVA.
Dallos (ダロス) by Oshii Mamoru, who later went on to direct the acclaimed first Ghost in the Shell movie, is recognized as the very first OVA in 1983. This sci-fi story may have broke the seal for direct to video anime but a major contributor to the mediums success was charted in 1984 by the two hentai titles, Cream Lemon (くりいむレモン) and Lolita Anime (ロリータアニメ). The industry quickly began to use the OVA market to release peripheral stories for existing TV series as well. By 1985 there was already a healthy amount of releases.
The domain of the OVA was largely occupied with mature sci-fi and hentai material, stories that through content restrictions and a lack of mechanizing opportunities, would have been impossible to create in other ways. While many were based on preexisting manga, the OVA market allowed for original creations as well, to varying degree's of success. By the mid 1980's the Japanese boom economy was in full swing and financing was becoming easier to acquire, for better or worse. One project that was plagued with production and quality issues is the viscerally violent MD Geist (装鬼兵MDガイスト).
OVA's also lead to more attention to production than TV anime, allowing for more frames per second and more detailed backgrounds and character designs. 1987's mecha anime Metal Skin Panic Madox 01 (メタルスキンパニック MADOX-01) paired Aramaki Shinji as director with Anno Hideaki as animator for some of the best mechanical designs ever. That same year saw Shiro Masume's entry into the anime world with Black Magic M-66 (ブラックマジック).
By the beginning of the 90's the OVA market, and anime in general, was well established and financially sound. While still primarily the domain of mature sci-fi/action and hentai stories, more TV series were being supplemented with OVA releases. By this time distribution in North America had begun to truly establish its self and began to license OVA's for the majority of their releases. The American distribution companies preferred OVA's over TV series's due to the lower episode counts (which would mean lower licensing and production costs), higher quality artwork and the desire to market to adults more than children.
Soon though the industry would be hit with financial constraints following the collapse of the financial bubble. Investors, no longer confident in consumer spending and leery of past flops, began to restrict what projects they would fund. The anime industry really didn't begin to feel the stress of the financial recession until the middle of the decade and was beginning to see some inroads through distribution licensing to foreign markets, but no where near the gains they made in the 80's. By the end of the 90's though the OVA market had begun to shrink considerably. While financial stress was a large factor another was the changing TV anime landscape.
In 1995 and 1996 Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン) and Those Who Hunt Elves (エルフを狩るモノたち) showed that anime could be successful when broadcast on late night TV. Late night TV allowed for less restrictions on content and material, allowing for more mature stories to be produced for television. The incredible success of Evangelion and it's related merchandising showed that anime not marketed at children, or based on preexisting manga could see success, even if aired late at night. Though not everything was capable of being aired on TV, either through story length or content restrictions. OAV's continued to be the domain of hentai and one shot or small mini series type stories.
The 90's also saw OVA's as a testing ground for stories that could receive full blown TV anime treatments. Two series that saw some success in this process were 1996's slice of life comedy Magic Users Club (魔法使い) and 2001's action series Read or Die (リード・オア・ダイ). Though, sometimes the story is better off left as just a mini series OVA instead of being stretched out to a 13 or 26 episode TV series, a number of successful TV series' saw their birth as an OVA.
In the 2000's the OVA market began to shift again as it was used frequently as a compliment to TV series's or special productions for manga series'. By the mid aughts, as TV anime reached its biggest historical height, the demand for weekly productions could plague some projects. If an episode fell behind schedule filler recap episodes were cobbled together. TV broadcast schedules in Japan are incredibly tight, with no room for error. Many series are designed with a specific number of episodes for their run, typically 12 or 13 at a time. When production falls behind and they are unable to deliver the proper episode in time for broadcast, it or some later episode will have to be cut from the series. They wouldn't normally be able to stretch out the series another episode as that would cause broadcast issues with the next anime that is set to occupy that broadcast time slot. Instead many times these 'lost' episodes are released as OVA's and/or bonus content on later DVD releases. In the case of an anime based on a current manga, these episodes can find themselves bundled with a tankoubon release as a way to boost sales of the manga.
The OVA has existed for over 30 years now and has seen it's ups and downs. While in the beginning it was a vehicle for expression, innovation and creative freedom it has now mostly been relegated to being just another part of the larger marketing force behind the anime production machine. It is still the only real venue for hentai though and small time animators are using it as a way to self promote and distribute their works. The best example of this is with Shinkai Makoto and his early self produced works. Now though, many OVA's exist as throw away bonus episodes to boost manga and DVD sales for existing titles.
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