The 90s Final Fantasy Anime That Fans Forgot Existed

gamerant.com:

Final Fantasy is one of the most popular video game series of all time. From the epic stories, memorable characters, and the constant reinventing of the gameplay, every installment is an event that is eagerly anticipated by fans. Originally a last ditch attempt to save a fledging company at one point, Final Fantasy became so successful it spawned multiple sequels, merchandise, manga, and even a major motion picture. One form of media that the franchise has always struggled with was anime. This is ironic since you would think the memorable storylines of the games would make for ideal anime adaptations, yet few of the series ever drew from the actual games or were successful. In fact, one of them – Final Fantasy: Unlimited – was even canceled midway through the first season even though it was intended to have multiple seasons and cater to a whole new audience who may have never played any of the games.

Although many believed that this was the first Final Fantasy anime production, the reality is there was one previous Final Fantasy anime that was put into production years before the infamous flop that was Final Fantasy: Unlimited. What’s more, it actually made its way to America and was (at the time) many Americans’ first introduction to the franchise. Yet the anime was a strange piece of the franchise and an even stranger one to wind up on American shores.

Why Final Fantasy Type-0 Would Be a Great Anime Adaptation

While much anime produced in Japan is for TV, there is a direct-to-video market that thrives. This market is filled with shows referred to as Original Video Animations (OVA). These productions usually wind up on the market as a test for a weekly show later on down the road or as a safe haven for quirky ideas that