Titles have appeared in the form of multiple television series and OVAs, movies, manga, novels and video games, among other modes.

Most producers of OVAs release them direct-to-video, without prior showings on television or in theatres ; however, there may be very rare occasions where, for example, the first part of an OVA series is broadcast for promotional purposes.

Like anime made for television broadcast, OVAs sub-divide into episodes.

Some OVAs based on television series ( and especially those based on manga ) may provide closure to the plot – closure not present in the original series.

The television series, OVAs, and five of the films have been released in North America with English subtitles by AnimEigo, who provided extensive notes on the series to allow people to understand the many cultural references and jokes in the series that would normally be impenetrable for non-Japanese.

The Pretty Sammy OVAs have been dubbed into English by Pioneer USA ( before it became Geneon ), while the television series ( which is also known as Magical Project S ) is only available subtitled.

There have been two OVAs and three animated television series based upon the Digital Devil Story novels and Megami Tensei software, particularly Devil Children, which spawned 50 and 52 episode anime in 2000 and 2002, and Persona whose 2008 anime was 26 episodes.

They have also recently worked with Clamp, producing the xxxHolic anime television series, which aired in 2006, as well as its theatrical film adaptation, xxxHolic-A Midsummer Night's Dream, the OVAs Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations and Tsubasa Shunraiki, and theatrical film adaptation Tsubasa Chronicle-The Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom.

Due to fans ' unsatisfied reactions to the conclusion of the television series, three subsequent OVAs were produced by Nippon Animation.

The OVAs were edited and cut in length to make the episodes fit in a normal television timeslot.

It went on to become an extremely popular and successful media franchise, spawning numerous manga, four animated television series, five animated feature films, a live-action film, three OVAs, yearly television specials since 1989, music CDs, video games, and a musical.

Although founded in 1981 Kyoto Animation has only produced seven anime series as of 2007 on their own, five of them being television series adaptations, and two self-produced OVAs ( Munto series ), and have been involved in the production of Kiddy Grade, InuYasha, Nurse Witch Komugi, Tenchi Universe, and Generator Gawl.

Gundam Wing was among the first series in the Gundam franchise ( not including OVAs ) to be dubbed in English and was aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in the U. S. and the U. K.

After the series ended, two OVAs, compiling various scenes from the series along with a few minutes of new footage, were released in 1996 as Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor I, II and III.

It was later adapted into several manga titles, five televised anime series, two three-episode original video animations ( OVAs ), and five movies.

Both sub-shows have since become actual series in their own right, though three episodes of Kujibiki Unbalance were created as OVAs to coincide with the release of Genshiken.

The Rurouni Kenshin OVAs, to name one series, exemplified numerous aspects of OVAs ; they were slightly based on chapters of the author Nobuhiro Watsuki's manga that had not been adapted into the anime TV series, had higher-quality animation, were much more violent, and were executed in a far more dark and realistic style than the TV episodes or the manga.

Typically, such an OVA provides a side-story to a popular TV series ( Detective Conan OVAs ).

When these one-shot OVAs prove popular enough, a network can use the OVA as a pilot to an anime series, such as with Bleach.

Therefore many violent, risque, and fanservice series became regular TV series when previously those titles would have been OVAs.

Three of the four mecha designers credited on Char's Counterattack went on to direct their own anime series: Hideaki Anno ( Neon Genesis Evangelion ), Yutaka Izubuchi ( RahXephon ) and Koichi Ohata ( Burst Angel along with several other OVAs ).

Both the OVAs and the TV series are notable for the quality of the musical tracks.

The other major characters of Tenchi Muyo! Tenchi, Washu, Tsunami, Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, and Kiyonealso appear in different roles in the Pretty Sammy OVAs and Magical Project S series.

The OVAs are similar in content to independent stories taking place in the middle of the manga series.

The storyline of the anime series is different from that of the manga and of the OVAs.

Rabby, Patty, and Rumy were the only main Solnoid characters featured, and they were equipped with different uniforms, weapons, and vehicles than those shown in the regular Gall Force OVAs.

In an interview with Miki Fujitani, who is the seiyū for Kaoru, comments that in the OVAs series Kaoru is a brave woman totally different from her original version.

The OVAs of Strawberry 100 % were all released at different times compared to the TV series.

The themes were noted to be more mature both brutally and mentally ; although the number of changes presented throughout them has been praised, another series of OVAs that would conclude the storyline built in the last episode from Spring Thunder Chronicles has been requested by reviewers.

The two OVAs are also the only Devilman anime to have been commercially released in the United States ( by Manga Entertainment ), although the DVD release includes only the English-dubbed version ( the original Japanese version was previously released on VHS ).

The original Ring ni Kakero was adapted to anime, 27 years after its manga debut, and as mentioned before, the Saint Seiya anime adaptation was resumed in 2003 and an attempt to start the Zeus Chapter was made with the release of the Saint Seiya Tenkai-Hen Josō ~ Overture ~ movie in 2004, which was planned to continue the story with the subsequent release of OVAs, but due to discrepancies between Kurumada and Toei Animation, the project failed and was abandoned, although Kurumada still plans to publish the Zeus Chapter, written and drawn by him, in manga form in the near future, by 2012, a considerable amount of elements from it have already been revealed by Kurumada in Saint Seiya Next Dimension.

Retcon redesigns were featured in the OVAs Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, although these redesigns have since been designated as separate models.

The original Getter Robo series, however, has yet to appear in the US ( although the Shin Getter Robo OVAs have appeared ).

Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment considered the OVAs to have better quality than the TV series, mainly because they were developed by Production I. G instead of Bee Train and because they have a darker storyline.

With the advent of the 13 episode season format, OVAs are less common now.

The majority of OVAs released in today's market are usually continuations or reworkings of recently completed TV show.

Young voice actors are used in both the anime and OVAs.

Besides a few minor alterations, the OVAs are faithful to the original manga.

The OVAs are distributed by U. S. Manga Corps and Manga Entertainment for Australia, UK and France.

The three Kujibiki Unbalance episodes are provided as bonus OVAs with the purchase of the Genshiken DVDs.

The original anime series and its original video animations ( OVAs ) are set in a Gamers store.