I think we’re all familiar with what a TV special is but I’ve noticed that there’s little discussion when it comes to TV specials with regards to anime. I have my own theory on that that I’ll share later but I thought that the topic of TV specials with regards to anime is worth exploring, particularly since I’ve noted that there’s some mild confusion that some people have with these.
To start off with that mild confusion, it seems that some people are unsure of the difference between an anime TV special and an OVA. Basically, an OVA is an anime that was initially released on a home video format such as VHS, DVD or Blu-ray while an anime TV special is produced for television and, while it may be associated with a franchise or TV series, typically tells a standalone story that can be consumed by itself.
The first time that I actively took note of the existence of these specials was when I was learning about the Lupin the Third franchise. After the first three TV series, Lupin the Third ended up having television specials every year from 1989 to 2013 and has since produced three more. For most intents and purposes, these are TV films that were released regularly and typically told original stories.
Besides that, I’ve noticed a lot of other long running anime get these specials such as Detective Conan, Pokémon, One Piece etc. These specials also tend to be original stories although I also noticed that a decent few are compilations. Notably, I recently saw that Demon Slayer had released some TV specials that served as compilations and recapped the first season.
As for why anime TV specials aren’t covered or discussed much in the West, I have my own theory although it’s important to state that this is my personal opinion and should not be taken as fact. While the confusion of the difference between OVAs and TV specials is certainly a factor, in my research I noticed that many websites often lumped each category together with little to distinguish them from each other, I also think that a factor may be the type of anime that get specials. From what I can tell, it’s primarily anime that airs during the day or in primetime that get these specials while a lot of late night anime get OVAs instead. This makes sense since advertising revenue is important for these daytime anime while late night anime loses money when it airs on television and makes money through home video sales and merchandising.
It’s interesting to me that anime TV specials aren’t discussed more and are often lumped in with OVAs when the two are quite different from each other. Let me know your thoughts on anime TV specials, which you’ve seen, what you think of them compared to OVAs and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!