I’m pretty sure you have heard of different abbreviations while coming across the anime and manga culture. I’m assuming some of those might be OVA, P.V., O.S.T., O.A.D., and ONA. These are all acronyms given for special episodes or videos regarding the anime which does not interfere with the storyline or the original episodes. However, they all have different meanings. But today, we will primarily be learning about the importance of the term ONA. It might be a tad bit confusing for you. However, you don’t have to worry at all. I will be explaining the meaning of ONA to you in detail.
Meaning Of The Term ONA
The complete form of the term ONA is Original Net Animation. Simply put, it refers to the anime series directly released to the internet for streaming rather than broadcasting on television. As you already know, mainly all anime shows are aired on specific channels in Japan. However, sometimes they are directly released to the streaming market. Such anime are called ONAs. Dont get me wrong, OVAs and ONAs are incredibly different. OVAs are released in home video formats or DVDs. Whereas ONAs are directly released on the internet or streaming services.
ONAs have not precisely been famous or this prevalent. However, in the past few years, the amount of ONA anime has been increasing. Many people think that this situation is due to the increase in streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. For example, Netflix provides a collection of thousands of fantastic anime. Moreover, you can watch the show at your speed. You must know that anime shows are aired weekly. So after watching the current episode, you have to wait a whole week to get to the next one. Sometimes that can be not very pleasant since the recent episode might end with a cliffhanger. However, when it comes to ONAs, you don’t have to worry about all this at all. You can watch the show at your speed.
Famous ONA Shows
Here is a list of some of the favorite ONA shows loved by all anime watchers.
- Aggretsuko
- Fog Hill of Five Elements
- The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K.: Reawakened
- The King’s Avatar 2
- Time Of Eve
- Grandmaster Of Demonic Cultivation
- Aru Zombie Shoujo no Sainan
- Isekai Izakaya: Japanese Food from Another World
- B: The Beginning
- A.I.C.O. Incarnation
- Sword Gai: The Animation
- Armor Shop for Ladies & Gentlemen
- Devilman: Cry Baby
Conclusion
ONAs are a new and massive part of the anime world. Since almost everything is available on Netflix these days, it would be a shame if we didn’t get to watch anime there. ONAs are more practical if you think about it. I mean, why would one wait for a single episode for a whole week when you can grab a bucket of popcorn and binge-watch the entire series in one night!