I’m trying to organize some anime and I’m separating the OVAs from the seasons using the guide’s recommendation putting the folder with the name of the anime (without the date because the seasons are hardly in the same year) and inside it a folder with the name of the anime and also writing “season and season number” and another “special” folder where I put the OVAs but when I add it to the library it appears separated as if they were different animes, sometimes it works when I put the “special” folder inside the season folder but it doesn’t always work I use a NAS server QNAP
Anime gets tricky - particularly OVAs.
If you can provide some details we can help a little better because it’s all about how those files and titles match up with the metadata agents (TheMovieDB and TheTVDB).
Pick a couple specific titles and include some screenshots of the files\folders as you have them stored.
Include the Library settings and that’ll help too, particularly the ones highlighted here:
There’s a bunch of folks using Plex and collecting anime and with that information we can probably help you out.
I’m trying to send a print but it just keeps loading and doesn’t finish
If using a screenshot isn’t working for you, you can type it out. Some examples of the folders and filenames of titles you’re trying to organize, and just let us know those settings from the library (Scanner, Agent, Episode Ordering) and that’ll probably be fine too.
You can type out folder\filename like: \anime\Love Hina\Love.Hina.S01E05.mkv or whatever matches your filenames exactly.
It’ll help if you can explain how the files did or didn’t match or show in Plex too maybe.
I think this is the best way I can explain
example:
<animestrong text>
<Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism >
<Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism Season 01>
<Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism -s01e01->
<Special>
<Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism -s00e01->
Scanner: plex TV series
agent: plex TV series
episode ordering: the movie database
Make sure to stick with the naming schema.
<Busou Shoji Machiavellianism Season 01> is not ok as a season folder!
Files should be organized like this:
animes <- the folder linked to your tv-show library
Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism
Season 01
Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism - s01e01.ext
...
Specials <- don't forget the trailing "s"!!
Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism - s00e01.ext
I just did that and got the same problem and the settings are:
scanner: plex tv series
agent : plex TV series
episode ordering : the movie database
Plex uses an algorithm to avoid misplacing files it had already matched. This can occasionally backfire if you want to achieve exactly that (e.g. by fixing file names).
Can you try the Plex Dance procedure? This will force Plex to forget it already knew the files and will therefore do a proper match when you re-scan your library.
where did i find the option to scan in library?
From the sidebar:
⋮ > Scan library files
or from the server settings:
Settings > [Server Name] > Manage > Libraries → hover over the library in question and click ⋮ > Scan library files
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I already did the whole procedure but I noticed that the titles did not disappear from the library, is this normal?
No, it is not normal for the files to remain after you Plex dance.
The important steps of the dance are:
- 1: Remove the files from the folder where the library is looking. As said above, if your anime is called Trigun (1998), it SHOULD be here:
/Anime <–library points here
–/Trigun (1998)
----/Season 01
--------/S01E01.ext
--------/S01E02.ext
--------/etc etc
Remove the Trigun (1998) folder and all its contents. Move them elsewhere on the disk, but make sure it is not in /Anime or any subfolders within it. - 2: Scan Library. This will make Plex detect the absence of the file. If done right, there should now be a red trash can icon on each episode if you look at them. Playing the file should also fail.
- 3: Empty Trash. This tells Plex that any file that is missing (has the red trash icon) is ok to remove from the library. This clears out any references to the missing item, including watched status. It will be as if you never had the item in the first place.
Now, with those 3 steps done, move the folder back into the location. Using my example as above, again, it should look like:
/Anime <–library points here
–/Trigun (1998)
----/Season 01
--------/S01E01.ext
--------/S01E02.ext
--------/etc etc
----/Specials
--------/S00E01 - OVA 1.ext
--------/S00E02 - OVA 2.ext
--------/etc etc
In Trigun’s case, the only special it has is the movie, Badlands Rumble, but I hope you get the idea.
Once you place it in there - including with Season and Specials folders, tell the library to scan one more time so it can detect the new files.
NOTE: If the files are stored on the same machine as the server itself, it will likely AUTOMATICALLY scan a folder when any file is added or removed. This can be useful if you add files with the right name originally, but can cause some major issues if you move a file to a folder and THEN rename files. If you ever rename a file in a folder and rescan, Plex will notice that name change and WILL NOT attempt to “identify” the file based on its name. It is why it is ALWAYS best to remove a file from the library location, do whatever you need to do to it, then add it back in again.
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@Divideby0 and @tom80H have you well covered but one more thing to think about… since you’re using TheMovieDB for episode ordering, make sure your filenames line up with the episodes and OVAs as they are listed at TheMovieDB for that particular show.
If they don’t line up, updating your filenames to match TheMovieDB is easiest option. If you have episodes\specials that don’t line up at all with TheMovieDB listings there are some options but in those cases it’s best to take on a case by case basis.
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