Demon Lizardman
Banned
Can anyone recommend some?
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Looking for good anime OVA's
- Thread starter Demon Lizardman
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My vote is for the Hellsing Ultimate OVAs - 10 in total - the first 8 are dubbed and for once have very decent dubbing. YouTube has them all - great overall Gothic action/horror. There is quite a lot gore, however it does fit with the setting. Still something to note if you're not into that.
John Kowalski
Banned
Alien Nine goddamnit.
LumpOfCole
Member
The Haruhi Suzumiya movie was okay in my book.
Make sure to watch the sub and not the dub of this. I'm usually a dub guy, but the dub totally changes a monologue at the end into some cliche, eye-roll inducing bullshit that really takes away from the OVA. The sub monologue is much better from what I remember.
FO-totality
Poet Centuriate
Golden Boy
Gunsmith Cats
Inferno Cop
Pale Cocoon
Norageki!
Coicent
Tales of Symphonia (Series of OVAs, adaption of the Namco game)
Gunsmith Cats
Inferno Cop
Pale Cocoon
Norageki!
Coicent
Tales of Symphonia (Series of OVAs, adaption of the Namco game)
Most of the Gundam UC ova's are actually pretty good, even if you aren't into the whole mecha deal.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
They're all stories outside of the main war and all done very well IMO.
Tonari no Seki is a recent one that's an adaptation of a hilarious manga.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou if you want something very laid back.
Denpa Teki na Kanojo for some Juuzawa goodness.
Plenty more out there, they're the ones that just come to mind.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
They're all stories outside of the main war and all done very well IMO.
Tonari no Seki is a recent one that's an adaptation of a hilarious manga.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou if you want something very laid back.
Denpa Teki na Kanojo for some Juuzawa goodness.
Plenty more out there, they're the ones that just come to mind.
Most of the Gundam UC ova's are actually pretty good, even if you aren't into the whole mecha deal.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
They're all stories outside of the main war and all done very well IMO.
Tonari no Seki is a recent one that's an adaptation of a hilarious manga.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou if you want something very laid back.
Denpa Teki na Kanojo for some Juuzawa goodness.
Plenty more out there, they're the ones that just come to mind.
08th MS Team is the only Gundam I ever watched and I wasn't really into it. I loved the art for the Gundam suits and the first episode was pretty cool (probably because it reminded me of the Digital Love music video by Daft Punk), but eventually it got to be pretty boring and I ended up not caring how everything was going to turn out.
Excellent Choice. I enjoyed watching this series.
Is the Ultimate series done now?
Also, watch Little Witch Academia. 30-40 minutes of pure bliss.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Angel's Egg. Plus, if you like sakuga and strange everything, Birth. Try for some VOTOMs OVAs!
sixteen-bit
Member
Patlabor
Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
Most of the Gundam UC ova's are actually pretty good, even if you aren't into the whole mecha deal.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
They're all stories outside of the main war and all done very well IMO.
Tonari no Seki is a recent one that's an adaptation of a hilarious manga.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou if you want something very laid back.
Denpa Teki na Kanojo for some Juuzawa goodness.
Plenty more out there, they're the ones that just come to mind.
lol where is that gift from?
First off, the OVA holy trinity:
Prefectural Earth Defense Force - The Phone Pole Team, a nefarious organization determined to conquer the world decides that they need to start small and begin by taking over their local prefecture. The local prefecture decides to budget enough money to hire three local high school students to counter the bad guys. Cue zany hijinx of the highest order. This had a brief, nigh impossible to find DVD release in the US, but hey, the whole thing is up on YouTube. If nothing else, watch the awesome opening theme.
Assemble Insert - Demon Seed, a nefarious organization that uses power armor to steal everything that isn't nailed down, is roundly defeating the cops, who have resorted to a talent contest to find someone to pilot their own power armor design. Then a super strong teenage girl wins the contest, at which point the zany hijinx really kick into gear, especially once her idol singer career takes off. This OVA is the pure incarnation of Masami "Patlabor" Yuki's aesthetic and is a hoot and a half. The US DVD release is readily available dirt cheap.
Blazing Transfer Student - Our hot blooded hero has just transferred to a school where all disputes between students are settled by sports or combat, plus the occasional savage logic attack. When a cute waif is being fought over by a pair of hulking thugs, said hot blooded hero jumps into the boxing ring to fight for her love. Cue zany hijinx and a hysterical parody of over the top 70s manly anime aesthetics. This Gainax production has inexplicably never received a US release (hell, it never got a DVD release anywhere), but thankfully both episodes are readily available on YouTube.
There, that's three hours of OVA goodness no one could possibly regret. Also:
MADOX-01 - The story of a young man who absolutely has to make it to his date that night, whether or not he's trapped in a mysterious suit of power armor. Cue mildly zany mecha action. This was in print in the US for ages courtesy of AnimEigo, but it looks like it's finally OOP and increasingly stupidly expensive to track down so, yet again, YouTube saves the day. Here's hoping the R2 Blu-ray release will appear in the US one of these days. Bonus trivia: This was the first subtitled anime release in the US.
Bubblegum Crisis - This is what you get when you take the Jim Steinman aesthetic of Streets of Fire and combine it with Blade Runner. If that doesn't mean much to you, it's about 80s hair metal, women in power armor, and android killing machines run amok. BGC is totally awesome and is readily available on DVD in the US. However, hold out a bit longer and AnimEigo's Blu-ray release will be available. Can't wait!
Please Save My Earth - A wonderful, atmospheric adaptation of a shoujo SF manga about aliens observers who have been reincarnated as teenagers on Earth, with plenty of added complications, star crossed romance, psychic powers, and more to provide suitable levels of melodrama. The only real caveat here is that the series stops rather than ends, with the expectation that you were probably going to go read the manga when it was done. The US DVD release is OOP but available used for fairly reasonable prices.
Here is Greenwood - Finally, another shoujo title, this one a moderately zany campus comedy about high school students working in an offbeat campus dorm. Our hero has to suffer through weird roommates, meddling upperclassmen, and all manner of shoujo romantic comedy. The execution is top notch and the US DVD release is readily available.
Without rambling on further, I also second recommendations for Patlabor (particularly the original OVA series, but ideally that'll be enough to get anyone to watch the TV show and then the follow-up P-Series OVAs), Giant Robo, Otaku no Video, FLCL, Gundam 0083, Riding Bean, Read or Die, and the original Gunbuster series.
FnordChan
Prefectural Earth Defense Force - The Phone Pole Team, a nefarious organization determined to conquer the world decides that they need to start small and begin by taking over their local prefecture. The local prefecture decides to budget enough money to hire three local high school students to counter the bad guys. Cue zany hijinx of the highest order. This had a brief, nigh impossible to find DVD release in the US, but hey, the whole thing is up on YouTube. If nothing else, watch the awesome opening theme.
Assemble Insert - Demon Seed, a nefarious organization that uses power armor to steal everything that isn't nailed down, is roundly defeating the cops, who have resorted to a talent contest to find someone to pilot their own power armor design. Then a super strong teenage girl wins the contest, at which point the zany hijinx really kick into gear, especially once her idol singer career takes off. This OVA is the pure incarnation of Masami "Patlabor" Yuki's aesthetic and is a hoot and a half. The US DVD release is readily available dirt cheap.
Blazing Transfer Student - Our hot blooded hero has just transferred to a school where all disputes between students are settled by sports or combat, plus the occasional savage logic attack. When a cute waif is being fought over by a pair of hulking thugs, said hot blooded hero jumps into the boxing ring to fight for her love. Cue zany hijinx and a hysterical parody of over the top 70s manly anime aesthetics. This Gainax production has inexplicably never received a US release (hell, it never got a DVD release anywhere), but thankfully both episodes are readily available on YouTube.
There, that's three hours of OVA goodness no one could possibly regret. Also:
MADOX-01 - The story of a young man who absolutely has to make it to his date that night, whether or not he's trapped in a mysterious suit of power armor. Cue mildly zany mecha action. This was in print in the US for ages courtesy of AnimEigo, but it looks like it's finally OOP and increasingly stupidly expensive to track down so, yet again, YouTube saves the day. Here's hoping the R2 Blu-ray release will appear in the US one of these days. Bonus trivia: This was the first subtitled anime release in the US.
Bubblegum Crisis - This is what you get when you take the Jim Steinman aesthetic of Streets of Fire and combine it with Blade Runner. If that doesn't mean much to you, it's about 80s hair metal, women in power armor, and android killing machines run amok. BGC is totally awesome and is readily available on DVD in the US. However, hold out a bit longer and AnimEigo's Blu-ray release will be available. Can't wait!
Please Save My Earth - A wonderful, atmospheric adaptation of a shoujo SF manga about aliens observers who have been reincarnated as teenagers on Earth, with plenty of added complications, star crossed romance, psychic powers, and more to provide suitable levels of melodrama. The only real caveat here is that the series stops rather than ends, with the expectation that you were probably going to go read the manga when it was done. The US DVD release is OOP but available used for fairly reasonable prices.
Here is Greenwood - Finally, another shoujo title, this one a moderately zany campus comedy about high school students working in an offbeat campus dorm. Our hero has to suffer through weird roommates, meddling upperclassmen, and all manner of shoujo romantic comedy. The execution is top notch and the US DVD release is readily available.
Without rambling on further, I also second recommendations for Patlabor (particularly the original OVA series, but ideally that'll be enough to get anyone to watch the TV show and then the follow-up P-Series OVAs), Giant Robo, Otaku no Video, FLCL, Gundam 0083, Riding Bean, Read or Die, and the original Gunbuster series.
FnordChan
maquiladora
Member
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br0ken_shad0w
Member
Legend of the Galactic Heroes - the god-tier of OVAs and space operas. It also happens to be longer than most TV anime.
Thinking of getting this on blu-ray for a while now. Never seen it before but always wanted to.
Technosteve
Banned
thumbs up just for the music
pauloshinobi
Member
This.
Mistake
Member
And don't forget about AD Police. You can watch it without knowing anything about Crisis, and it's only three episodes.
Professor Renegade
Banned
Gunbuster
Diebuster
FLCL
Hellsing Ultimate
EDIT: Little Witch Academia, seriously, that shot was uploaded directly to YouTube, get on that son.
Diebuster
FLCL
Hellsing Ultimate
EDIT: Little Witch Academia, seriously, that shot was uploaded directly to YouTube, get on that son.
If you enjoy this, make sure you check out the manga. The OVA really only barely scratches the surface of what makes this series so great.
To be fair, the only reason it took so long to get 4-8 done was because Geneon closed down.
AD Police is definitely a solid pick and is more of a serious, straight forward cyberpunk story than BGC is. It's also available dirt cheap in the US from AnimEigo.
Is anyone else here a fan of Ushio and Tora? It's the heartwarming story of a boy and his demon who is trying to kill him. Cue badass supernatural shounen action with an awesome butt rock soundtrack. It's out of print in the US but still readily available.
Also, does anyone else here remember when anime was stereotyped as being nothing but hyper violent porn cartoons? For a show that goes out of it's way to earn that stereotype, I highly recommend the wildly gratuitous brilliance of Mad Bull 34. It's an early 90s OVA series adapting the manga written by Kazuo "Lone Wolf and Cub" Koike, a man who has some very interesting ideas of what a 1980s cop series set in New York City should be like. If you're ready to wallow in the tastelessness of it all, the series is absolutely hysterical, in a wildly offense sort of way. Inexplicably, a nicely restored DVD edition was just released in the US.
FnordChan
Hot damn, I'll need to make some time to finish up those OVAs then.
plasmawave
Banned
The 90's Guyver OVA is pretty good.
I'd also recommend Ushio to Tora OVA too.
I'd also recommend Ushio to Tora OVA too.
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