As a result, many series were produced with an intent to go directly to video. While "direct-to-video" became a pejorative in America for works that could not make it onto TV or movie screens, in Japan the demand was so great that direct-to-video became a necessity. Many popular and influential series such as Bubblegum Crisis and Tenchi Muyo were released directly to video as "OVAs."
Although direct-to-video anime had appeared as early as the late 1970s, the first actual OVA series (that was billed as such) was 1983's Dallos[?], released by Bandai[?]. Other companies were quick to pick up on the idea, and the mid-to-late 1980s saw the market flooded with OVAs. As the Japanese economy worsened in the 1990s, the flood of OVAs drained to a trickle. A few OVAs are still made, but they are now far less common.
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