Clear folders are like normal clear folders, only that they have pictures printed on them. I know at least 2 different variants exist. Many Anime/Manga/Game series sell these as well, either separately or as extras for preordering.

There are 90 trading cards. Like mosting trading cards, there are 2 types - the "normal" ones and the "prism" ones, which have a reflecting layer under the front layer that makes the card look "flashy".

The cards are further separated into character cards, story cards and "special box" cards (which you place next to each other to form a larger picture). You can see a nearly complete list of the trading cards here.

There are 2 soundtracks, 1 vocal album and 1 single released for the OVA series. All the CDs were released in 1997 so you will need to buy 2nd hand copies now.

Besides the original series, bootleg companies like Son May and Ever Anime have also released their own versions.

Before DVDs were around, all 3 episodes of the OVA were released on LD and VHS from July 25, 1997 to December 10, 1997.

There was an extensive gift campaign for the original LD/CD release:
1. Preorder of limited edition LDs - different poster for each LD
2. Buying all 3 LDs or tapes - original desk calender
3. Buying all CD albumns - Mokona button character set
4. Buying all LDs/tapes and CDs - original telephone card
5. Limited edition of first LD - box to hold all 3 LDs

There was also a director's cut version titled "Wings of Hope" released in 1998 that stringed all 3 episodes into 1 long movie with about 5 minutes of new footage that further explained Eagle's character.

Bootleg VCDs were also released shortly after the original Japanese release.

After the original VHS/LD release, Kodansha re-released the OVA series as a single DVD boxset in November 27, 2002.

The English version was released by Manga Entertainment on July 28, 2003 in 1 DVD that contains all 3 episodes. Manga didn't accquire the rights for the "Wings of Hope" director's cut edition, so that remains Japanese only.

While there is no Manga or illustration books released for the OVA, the first news of the OVA existing was mentioned in the 4th and last script book released for the TV series in Feburary 1996. They even went as far as mentioning the story and character settings will be completely different to the original Manga and TV series.

Fansubs are basically Anime with subtitles done by fans for those who don't understand Japanese. Fansubs are meant to be distributed freely, and if you do find yourself paying for fansubs, the only thing you should pay for are the shipping and cost of the tapes themselves. With the evolution to digital fansubs, it is has truely become "completely free".

At least 1 group released fansubs for the OVA, but as far as I know, it was not released until after 2001, making it miss all the hype. With Manga Entertainment's offical English release, all fan releases were ceased as it's a rule of fansubs. If you find any episodes of the OVA online, they're either the old fansubs or rips from the offical DVD, both of which are illegal.

In the recent years, as internet connections became faster and faster, a lot of people have completely skipped even buying bootlegs and download Anime directly online. Much like the downloading pirated computer programs, movies and music, this is in violation of copyright. It is sad however that people tend to take this for granted - you'll be surprised how many "fans" will boast about how much Anime they "own" but have never bought even a single legit DVD.

This is the gray area of the Anime market. Since Anime goods then to be expensive (most of it is imported), some people would be unable and/or unwilling to pay. However, some companies (Son May, Ever Anime, etc) found ways to avoid the high prices by taking loopholes in copyright laws or just plain ignoring it. Most of these companies are based in Taiwan since Taiwan wasn't bounded by copyright laws before joining WTO in 2001. Their business was legal, as long as they are only sold in Taiwan. Of course, a lot of people started selling them abroad and/or online as well.

After Taiwan joined WTO, Son May and Ever Anime (as shown in the comparison photo below, top is a legit Polygram label, the bottom is a bootleg Ever Anime label) have ceased to exist (although there are still many stores selling their stockpile of bootlegs). There are still some companies that lived on though. One such company was known as "Smile Records", there might be more, but I haven't been keeping up with news on bootlegs anymore.

Besides CDs, there's also companies that do the video. They take the LD or TV captured footage, chunk in subtitles (usually Chinese and poorly translated English), then burn them onto VCDs and/or DVDs. Of course, these are copyright violations and customs officers love to confiscate these.

Do keep in mind that just because a VCD/DVD have Chinese subtitles doesn't automatically make it a bootleg. There are some companies in Asia that sell legit Anime VCDs/DVDs and have readable English subtitles.

Usually it is hard to determine just by the packaging as bootlegs tend to use the same packaging as the originals. Instead, the easiest way to tell the difference is by price and episode count per disk. Bootlegs are much cheaper than originals (usually at a fraction of the original's price), tend to cramp as much episodes as they can per disk and rarely come with extras.

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