Why did Wolf's Rain end on DVD instead of TV?

When episode 26 aired on July 29, 2003, Wolf's Rain just stopped. The villain Jaguara dies, her keep collapses, and the story ends mid-breath, with Paradise unopened and the pack scattered. Viewers who had followed the show for six months had no conclusion, because the production crisis that produced the recap episodes had consumed the room the ending needed.

Bones finished the story as an original video animation: four episodes released directly to DVD, the first two on January 23, 2004 and the last two on February 25, 2004. They pick up exactly where the broadcast left off and run, without pause, to the end of the world. On every collected release since, they are simply episodes 27 to 30, and the recap episodes are the ones treated as optional.

It is worth being precise about what the OVAs are not. They are not a sequel, a side story, or an alternate ending. They are the ending, delivered six months late by the only route left open. Any release or stream that stops at 26 has not shown you the end of Wolf's Rain.