Birth OVA(1984)-
So this is an OVA that pretty much nobody has ever heard of, let alone seen. I can't blame them as it seems all versions you can buy in the US are out of print. The OVA has gone under a bunch of English names like
Planet Busters,
Birth: A War of Two Worlds!, and
The World of the Talisman. It's not a well known title either critically or commercially and so has been left in the forgotten annals of history. However it's not only one of the first OVAs but also one of the most influential OVAs of all time. It's notably the 'masterpiece of Yoshinori Kanada, despite Kanada not actually directing the OVA(it was directed by Shinya Sadamitsu). Kanada is responsible for the aptly named Kanada School, a style of animation that is so pervasive in modern anime. The most famous example of a work done in this style would be
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
Gurren Lagann flat out wouldn't exist without Kanada. Imaishi is a huge fan of Kanda's animation style and this can be seen not only in the shows Imaishi directs but Imaishi's own animation style.
Dead Leaves is in many ways a successor, an inferior one I might add, to
Birth. Kanada's style certainly doesn't end with Imaishi and can be seen all over Gainax (and currently Trigger) and in other studios such as Bones with
Star Driver or Masahito Yamashita in
Urusei Yatsura. Here is a
great writeup on the Kanada School. Even in this particular OVA, you see people like Hideaki Anno getting their start as a key animator.
http://sakuga.yshi.org/data/8243238282e22d65cf074856c6e8c517.webm[...]
