The Animatrix
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This direct-to-video anthology film came out in June 2003, a couple weeks or so after The Matrix Reloaded hit theaters. It consists of 9 short films, one of which, "Final Flight of the Osiris", apparently was released theatrically in March, a couple of months before "Reloaded". Wikipedia also says that four of the films were released online before the complete film was released, though I'm not sure when and I have no idea which of the four it was. (It's possible I could have seen them online at the time, but I don't remember.) "The Animatrix" was also shown on Adult Swim in 2004, and I probably saw it at that time, but I don't remember anything about any of the short films from that time. (I also have a vague feeling I could have seen some of the shorts on TV sometime before it was on Adult Swim, on some channel like Sci-Fi or maybe MTV, but I'm probably wrong.) Anyway, it all means that I could break up my review and put one film in my theatrical section, four under OVA, and four under ONA (if I knew which were which). But it's simplest just to review all 9 shorts in one place. I don't remember what I thought about them the first time I watched them, but when I watched on DVD in 2021, I'm afraid I was greatly underwhelmed. Some of the shorts I felt kind of "meh" about, while others I liked a little better.
Final Flight of the Osiris (dir. Andrew R. Jones, produced by Square Pictures)
This takes place shortly before the events of "The Matrix Reloaded." It starts with two members of the Osiris crew, Captain Thadeus (Kevin Michael Richardson) and Jue (Pamela Adlon) having a virtual reality sword sparring match, in a scene that gets a bit too fanservice-y for my taste. But then they return to duty as the Osiris is chased by some Sentinels. They discover that the machines are preparing to drill down to Zion, and Jue enters the Matrix to deliver a warning about it. It was an okay short, I guess.
The Second Renaissance Parts I and II (dir. Mahiro Maeda, produced by Studio 4°C)
These shorts tell the story of the fall of mankind and the rise of the machines. These two shorts were probably the ones I found the most "meh". And they were long.
Kid's Story (dir. Shinichiro Watanabe, produced by Studio 4°C)
This tells the story of how a teenage boy that appears in "The Matrix Reloaded" escaped from the Matrix without any help. It was okay, I guess. Oh yeah, and Neo appears briefly in the short (voiced by Keanu Reeves, who plays him in the movies). The Kid is also voiced by the actor who played him in the movie.
Program (dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri, produced by Madhouse)
Someone called Cis is engaging in a training program set in feudal Japan, and she's joined by someone named Duo (Phil LaMarr). He wants to return to the Matrix permanently, and give up fighting the machines. He wants Cis to join him, but she refuses. It was perhaps a little better than okay, but still not one of my favorite shorts.
World Record (dir. Takeshi Koike, produced by Madhouse)
A disgraced track star tries to make a comeback, but pushes his body past its physical limits. This wakes him up outside the Matrix, only briefly. It was a bit better than okay, but still not a favorite.)
Beyond (dir. Kouji Morimoto, produced by Studio 4°C)
A teenage girl named Yoko searches for her cat, and finds her at what some local kids refer to as a haunted house. Strange things happen there because of glitches in the Matrix. This was one of my better-liked shorts.
A Detective Story (dir. Shinichiro Watanabe, produced by Studio 4°C)
This is done in a noir style. An Agent contacts a detective named Ash by phone, and hires him to search for a hacker named Trinity. He eventually finds her (voiced by Carrie-Anne Moss, who plays her in the movies), and decides to help her instead of turning her over to the Agents. This was probably my favorite of the shorts.
Matriculated (dir. Peter Chung, produced by DNA Productions)
This was the only one of the shorts whose animation I found easily recognizable, because it looks like a couple other shows Chung has made, Aeon Flux and Reign. It involves some people trying to convince a machine to convert to humanity's side by plugging it into a Matrix of their own design. What happens in there is pretty trippy, and I didn't understand any of it, let alone how it was meant to make the machine change sides. It was an okay short, I guess.
So, that's the whole movie. I don't know what else to tell you, except that I'm disappointed in myself for not enjoying it all more than I did.