Under the Cover Chapter 1 Introduction 8 pages. OVA provides a rules light system that expertly handles the breadth of anime. Character creation takes very little time, the system flows fast, and there is little to no need to ever consult the book once a game is started. OVA can do what those others do, but it does it with speed. So my first question upon picking up OVA is “What can you do that they can’t?” Tinker’s Damn, GURPS Anime, and others have covered this ground as well. Random Anime provides an excellent overview of the genre. Big Eyes Small Mouth gave us a crazy flexible system that is a lot of fun, though requires close GM supervision. For the very reasonable price of $20, OVA is an example other small press games should strive to follow.Īnime is a broad genre and many other games have already covered this material. The book is smaller than a standard RPG, about the size of an oversized paperback novel, but this only makes it easier to work with. The art is of good quality, the formatting is excellent, a solid index and table of contents are provided, and the pages are labeled to clearly show where sections begin and end. This black and white 128 page softcover book showcases surprisingly high production standards. Nevertheless, the tales that can be told within the anime genre are endless and for such a small price OVA brings a lot of fun to the table. Unlike some past systems, such as Big Eyes Small Mouth, OVA does not lend itself as well to being a general system that could be used for a variety of games. With its strong anime flavor, however, OVA works best when replicating the events of mainstream anime. With a straight forward skill system, a simple but fun d6 based mechanic, and only a few additional mechanics OVA can handle an action packed anime western like Tri Gun as well as it can a humorous love story like Love Hina. OVA offers a rules light take on anime roleplaying, easily allowing a player to create any sort of character they can imagine.