Original net animation

An original net animation or ONA is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. In some cases, they are released near simultaneously to the Internet and distributed by other means (TV broadcast or theatrical release) The name mirrors original video animation (OVA), a term that has been used in the anime industry for straight-to-video animation since the early 1980s. The Internet is a newer outlet for animation distribution compared to previous tradional methods that has been made viable by the ubiquity of the Internet and increasing amount of streaming media websites in Japan and around the world.

The term ONA was first coined by the creators of Lingerie Fighter Papillon Rose and Anime News Network decided to adopt it for use in the encyclpedia since:
 * 1) There was no other word to describe this new format of anime and...
 * 2) They felt "ONA" was an original and appropriate denomination.

Initially, almost all ONAs were fan works or independent releases, however AIC became the first major studio to release an ONA when it released Magical Play (2001) directly onto the internet before allowing it to be shown on TV much later.

A growing number of trailers and preview episodes of new anime have been released as ONA. For example,Pokémon: The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon (42 min runtime; which was available through the Japanese official website from October 13–30, 2006) and the anime movie of Megumi (2008) can be considered ONAs.

Many ONAs tend to be shorter than traditional anime titles, sometimes lasting only a few minutes. There are many examples of an original net animation (ONA), such as Hetalia: Axis Powers, which only last a few minutes per episode.

Primary streaming websites that release ONAs

 * Amazon Prime Video
 * Crunchyroll
 * Disney+
 * HIDIVE
 * Hulu
 * Netflix
 * YouTube

Many anime distributors like Aniplex and Sentai Filmworks release ONAs as well, but mostly in teaser or trailer form. Other production committee members also sometimes release ONAs.