At a glance: Fantastic art! Simple, easy-to-learn system. Very engaging, friendly and encouraging to new players and anime fans. Well-written GM section. And again, I need to mention- AMAZING ART!
I would totally buy this as a print product, even in black and white.
I originally bought this to supplement two other anime games. I love the way this game goes about character creation and encourages free form development. Basically, if you want to recreate your favorite character from any given anime series, this is probably the best game for it. This game has a very un-complicated way of doing things.
I think this rpg suffers from the same flaw a lot of other core system, non-genre specific games have always had. It tends to be more centered on the fantasy elements of gaming. I acknowledge that even now, most gamers had their first exposure to the hobby from D&D and that does tend to influence game design. OVA leans toward a lot of the non-mecha, no-firearms, no-spacecraft type anime. While it does allow for emulation of the mecha genre, a lot of brain sweat is needed on the GM's part to get there as opposed to say, the standard sword and sorcery game. If you want to make a character based on Inu Yasha, Record of the Lodoss Wars, Full Metal Alchemist, Ikki Tousen, or Sailor Moon, or something similar, this game is ideal. If you're wanting something more involving giant robot combat, massive starships, cyborgs with huge guns, or gritty cyberpunk drama, I think you're probably better off going with a different game and using OVA as a way to develop characters before the system is applied. I also didn't get a good horror anime vibe from this, but that's a very narrow genre and is probably better treated elsewhere. (It could be done, but again there would be a bit of strain on the GM.)
I can totally see myself running a game based on Slayers, Ikki Tousen, Freezing, and maybe even Chrome-Shelled Regios using this system. I also think it might be a bit more kid-friendly, but I'll have to test that theory first. I also think, like so many other anime rpg's, a separate sourcebook would help in dealing with various sub-genres within anime gaming (Mecha and cyberpunk in particular.) I hope the folks at Wise Turtle can keep up the good work.
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