Top Ten Movies + OVAs

Aion

Aion

Time-Traveller
Earlier on, when sorting my DVDs into an order the allows for easier accessibility, I realized something: I've never seen a top ten thread where TV series aren't allowed to be included. And, so, here we are!

Movies:
1: Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning
:: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
:: Sword of the Stranger
:: Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (DC)
:: Junkers Come Here
:: Millennium Actress
:: Princess Mononoke
:: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
:: Ocean Waves
:: Windaria

OVAs:
:: Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen
:: Macross Plus
:: Macross Zero
:: Please Save My Earth
:: Wolf's Rain OVA
:: Black Jack
:: I''s Pure
:: Video Girl Ai
:: Area 88
:: Hellsing Ultimate

^ I'd need to re-watch everything in order to put the titles in any real order. I've only watched the vast majority once, so my memories are too fuzzy for precise 1-10 rankings.
 
Ocean Waves isn't a movie.

Should combine the two lists surely and just do a top ten without series.
Far too many things are OVA/TV special but released in English as a movie, saves the confusion if you don't distinguish them.
 
Reaper gI said:
Ocean Waves isn't a movie.
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It wasn't a theatrical production, sure, but it is essentially the same thing as a made-for-TV movie in the West, so I don't see the problem with terming it as such.

I also prefer the idea of not trying to do an "OVA vs Movie" distinction, though, but not for the same reasons. I would rather either separate out original content from franchise/series continuations, or separate out longer-form releases (ie. multi-part OVAs) from one-shot productions.
 
I think this is probably as close to a final list as I can get.

AKIRA
ROYAL SPACE FORCE: WINGS OF HONNEAMISE
CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO
GHOST IN THE SHELL
PERFECT BLUE
PORCO ROSSO
PATLABOR THE MOVIE
PRINCESS MONONOKE
GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES
METROPOLIS

GUNBUSTER
GIANT ROBO
DRAGON HALF
DOMINION TANK POLICE
ARMITAGE III
MACROSS PLUS
EL HAZARD: THE MAGNIFICENT WORLD
VIDEO GIRL AI
READ OR DIE
GUNSMITH CATS

Switched out Cowboy Bebop Movie for Metropolis (the problem with doing lists like this at work is you are likely to forget something).
 
ilmaestro said:
I would rather either separate out original content from franchise/series continuations, or separate out longer-form releases (ie. multi-part OVAs) from one-shot productions.
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I quite like the idea of having separate movie and OAV lists (I like a challenge), but I think maes has hit the nail on the head.

Personally, I was going to suggest limiting both films and OAVs to those that stand alone from any source material (i.e. you could watch it without having seen anything prior), but I think you'd still need to keep longer releases separate from the one-shots. It's hardly fair to group something like LoGH, which is technically an OAV despite having 110+ episodes, in with one-shots like Black Magic or mini-series like Cyber City Oedo.

Perhaps it might be worth limiting multi-part OAVs to those under 10 episodes. Offhand, I can't think of any tv series with fewer than 11, although someone could probably prove me wrong...
 
My choices are as follows and in no particular order...

Movies from a shortlist of around 25...

Akira
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Ghost In The Shell
Kiki's Delivery Service
Millennium Actress
Perfect Blue
Tenchi Muyo: Movie 3: Tenchi Forever
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Tokyo Godfathers
Wings of Honneamise, The

OVAs... haven't seen as many, and as has been said, the definition can be fluid.

Cyber City Oedo 808
Gunsmith Cats: Bulletproof
Le Portrait De Petite Cossette
Love Hina Christmas Special: Silent Eve
Oh My Goddess
R.O.D Read Or Die
Tenchi Muyo
You're Under Arrest: The Complete OVAs
FLCL
Hellsing Ultimate

Yeah, I know, but it's only 6 episodes, so FLCL feels like an OVA
 
Professor Irony said:
ilmaestro said:
I would rather either separate out original content from franchise/series continuations, or separate out longer-form releases (ie. multi-part OVAs) from one-shot productions.
Click to expand...


I quite like the idea of having separate movie and OAV lists (I like a challenge), but I think maes has hit the nail on the head.

Personally, I was going to suggest limiting both films and OAVs to those that stand alone from any source material (i.e. you could watch it without having seen anything prior), but I think you'd still need to keep longer releases separate from the one-shots. It's hardly fair to group something like LoGH, which is technically an OAV despite having 110+ episodes, in with one-shots like Black Magic or mini-series like Cyber City Oedo.

Perhaps it might be worth limiting multi-part OAVs to those under 10 episodes. Offhand, I can't think of any tv series with fewer than 11, although someone could probably prove me wrong...
Click to expand...
Shortest TV anime I can think of is Pet Shop of Horrors which is 4 eps long. There's as many TV anime under 10 eps as OVAs over it.
Fine discounting those that aren't standalone. Would prefer to include all the longer ones, they're more likely to be stand alone than the short stuff.
Discount the 1-2 ep specials stuck on the end of TV series, but that's it.
Discounting Patlabour, LotGH, Master Keaton, Detroit Metal City, etc. seems like an insult.

@Just Passing Through
FLCL is an OVA
 
Reaper gI said:
@Just Passing Through
FLCL is an OVA
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So why does the director talk about missing the broadcast deadline for the final episode in the audio commentary?

Note: Been a couple of years since I read the commentary so I may be mistaken...
 
I was only suggesting leaving out longer OAV series as a means of separating them from tv series - there's no need to take it personally.

My point being that once you have an OAV which has enough episodes to fill a tv season, is it really worth keeping that separate from top ten lists which include regular tv anime?
 
...Guys, you can do what you want, providing you post an actual list of some sort. List ten, listen twenty, be anal - do what you will. But it ruins the thread when people only see fit to argue over he validity of the titles listed under each category, rather than contributing meaningfully.

FYI, I posted the thread on MAL, then here. On MAL each entry is categorized as an OVA, ONA, movie, TV series, etc etc. It's more than possible for the MAL entries to be incorrect but I'm not willing to concern myself too greatly over one or two mistakes.

And telling people only to include original titles, rather than continuations or spin-offs, will only serve to kill the thread - most not having watched enough to be selective when making top ten lists. Just sayin'...
 
13 ep TV series are a thing from the 2000's.
Most of the longer ones don't have enough to fill a TV season, as seasons weren't that short back then.
The 13-ish ep ones are mostly from the 90s before the shorter seasons got introduced, and died off with them.
So why does the director talk about missing the broadcast deadline for the final episode in the audio commentary?
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Was that the English director, as it was TV in the US.
Japanese is definately OVA, why else would it be 1 ep per disk and released bi-monthly.

should probly do the damn list:
Rurouni Kenshin Tsuiokuhen
Gundam 0083: a Stardust Memory
5cm per second
Gekijouban Cardcaptor Sakura: Fuuin Sareta Card
Summer Wars
Ah My Godddess!!
Karas
Cat soup
Macross zero
Laputa
 
Just Passing Through said:
My choices are as follows and in no particular order...

Movies from a shortlist of around 25...

Akira
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Ghost In The Shell
Kiki's Delivery Service
Millennium Actress
Perfect Blue
Tenchi Muyo: Movie 3: Tenchi Forever
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Tokyo Godfathers
Wings of Honneamise, The

OVAs... haven't seen as many, and as has been said, the definition can be fluid.

Cyber City Oedo 808
Gunsmith Cats: Bulletproof
Time of Eve
Love Hina Christmas Special: Silent Eve
Oh My Goddess
R.O.D Read Or Die
Tenchi Muyo
You're Under Arrest: The Complete OVAs
FLCL
Hellsing Ultimate

Yeah, I know, but it's only 6 episodes, so FLCL feels like an OVA
Click to expand...

Deleted Petite Cossette from my list, and added Time of Eve instead. That was too awesome for words.
 
In no particular order:

Movies

Perfect Blue
Ninja Scroll
Vampire Hunter D
Summer Wars
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
Nausicaa of the Valley of The Wind
Kara no Kyoukai (they're all equally good movies so I'm listing them as one entity)
Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society
My Neighbour Totoro
Only Yesterday

OVAs

Devilman: The Birth/The Demon Bird
Cyber City Oedo 808
Golden Boy
Bubblegum Crisis
Gunbuster/Diebuster
Gunsmith Cats
CB Chara Go Nagai World
Kekko Kamen
Violence Jack
GaoGaiGar FINAL
 
Reaper gI said:
13 ep TV series are a thing from the 2000's.
Most of the longer ones don't have enough to fill a TV season, as seasons weren't that short back then.
The 13-ish ep ones are mostly from the 90s before the shorter seasons got introduced, and died off with them.
Click to expand...

Meh. I think it's kind of a sweeping generalisation to lump the OAVs together based on the way things were then as opposed to now, but Aion's right – this isn't productive and it's hardly worth going to the mattresses over.

After much deliberating:

Movies
The Castle of Cagliostro
SDF Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Redline
Akira
Perfect Blue
LoGH: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars
Ninja Scroll
Robot Carnival
Galaxy Express 999
Metropolis

OAVs
Dominion Tank Police
Cyber City Oedo
Bubblegum Crisis
FLCL
Patlabor (first series)
Scramble Wars
Armored Trooper Votoms: Roots of Ambition
Battle Angel Alita
California Crisis
Prefectural Earth Defence Force

And I'll stake my reputation as a hopeless social misfit on the promise that they can all be watched on their own with no prior knowledge of their sources.
 
Movies:

10. Street Fighter II: the animated movie
9. Howls Moving Castle
8. Wicked City
7. Ninja Scroll
6. Paprika
5. Akira
4. Grave of the Fireflies
3. Perfect Blue
2. The Girl Who Leapt through Time.
1. Nausicaa

Ovas:

7. Battle Angel Alita 1&2
6. Mezzo Forte (the version sans the sex, just the violence)
5. Blood: the last vampire
4. Cyber City Oedo 808
3. Initial D Extra Stage
2. Devil man (if they had made the 3rd where Ryo shows Akira his true form, that would've been great)
1. Gunsmith Cats/Riding bean
 
Professor Irony said:
but Aion's always right
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Quite.

It saddens me somewhat to see the old timers blinded, to a certain extent, by nostalgia. And Ghibli are almost inevitably winning the movie battle. Age and inexperience...

/smugly smiles over only listing two Ghibli titles


This is a touch off-topic but, since it wouldn't be worth its own thread: I often use OVAs to test the waters before jumping into manga. PSME's wonderful adaptation of the opening eight or so volumes was what made it so tempting, and only the other day I had started the Alita manga after finding myself deeply impressed by the OVA's premise of living underneath the ******** of the world.

In the past, when looking for short OVA adaptations of manga, I came across the following near enough unknown (according to MAL's stats) titles, and I thought they may be of interest to internet anime hunters or the Wapanese:

Nozomi Witches
Blue Flames
Nineteen 19
Madonna (had a R1 release)

^ I made chunky recommendations for all but 19, if you glance down to MAL's rec section on each page.

'Tis a pity; seeing such gems ignored and rated lowly. What makes it worse is the fact all four aren't translated on the net in manga form - I don't even think the RAWs are available...
 
Stuart-says-yes said:
Movies
OVA's

1. Read Or Die
2. Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha Gaiden
3. Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
4. Nurse Witch Komugi
5. Lucky ☆ Star
6. Haruhi-chan
7. Toriko OVA
8. Naruto : Protect the hidden waterfall village
9. K-ON! Special: Live House!
10. Negima: spring and summer OVA

Talk about making it tough, I haven't watched many OVA's so I couldn't think of them off the top of my head
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Haruhi-chan isn't an OVA, it's an ONA like Axis Powers Hetalia or Time of Eve.
 
I believe FLCL aired at some point on a premium channel in Japan, though I cannot remember the commentary off hand. I know it is definitely an OAV though, because I was collecting each disc as it came out.

Although I was raised on OAVs and movies like many a British anime fan, I like TV series much more. Here's my attempt at a list with the rose-tinted goggles of nostalgia hopefully not too much in evidence.

Movies

Shoujo Kakumei Utena Adolescence Mokushiroku
Millennium Actress
Dog of Flanders
Tokikake
Tokyo Godfathers
Paprika
Sword of the Stranger
5 Centimetres per Second
Rebuild of Evangelion (to avoid filling up slots)
Slayers Great

OAVs/Misc

FLCL
Mahou Tsukai Tai
Gunbuster
Bakuretsu Hunter (OAV version)
Tenchi Muyou Ryououki
Macross Plus
Giant Robo
Dragon Half
Record of Lodoss War
ROD

R
 
Reaper gI said:
13 ep TV series are a thing from the 2000's.
Most of the longer ones don't have enough to fill a TV season, as seasons weren't that short back then.
The 13-ish ep ones are mostly from the 90s before the shorter seasons got introduced, and died off with them.
Click to expand...
I think you can safely assume, though, that people mean 13-ish eps when they use the term "season" now. It has adapted to that meaning. There is, of course, a significant difference between a long-term OVA and a TV series of similar length (budget allocation, planning time, whatever else you can think of) but I think in general terms people are more concerned with things like "is this only about three hours long" "is this something I can watch in one sitting" "does this have the 'feel' of a TV serial" than any actual technical definitions. Like trying to make the distinction on Haruhi-chan - the relevant issue isn't that it was originally put up on the net (I would most certainly include EVE no Jikan in my OVA list), it's that it's not a "standard" TV series.
 
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