Ask John: Which TV Anime Series Have Pilot Episodes?

Question:
I know that the pilots for the Kimagure Orange Road, Kodocha, and Sky Girls TV series were released as one-shot OAVs. What other TV series also followed that format?

Answer:
Regrettably, I won’t be able to provide an answer that’s as thorough as I’d like it to be because my knowledge is incomplete. While I know of numerous anime pilot or prototype productions, I’m less familiar with which of them were officially released for commercial sale. Furthermore, the technical classification of exactly what constitutes a “pilot” makes answering this question especially difficult. In a proper sense, a “pilot” is an animation sample produced in order to convince producers to invest in a bigger budget commercial production. By that definition, the 1985 Kimagure Orange Road Shonen Jump Magazine Special, the 1995 Kodomo no Omocha OVA, and the 2006 Sky Girls OVA are technically not pilot films because, as far as I’m aware, none of these three productions were specifically created as demonstration samples for producer approval. All three of these OVAs were originally produced for commercial distribution, similar to productions like the 1998 “One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak!” movie, the 2004 Eyeshield 21 Jump Festa movie, and the 1995 Shadow Skill episode 2.5 OVA that’s often incorrectly called the “Shadow Skill pilot” by American fans. TV anime productions of Orange Road, Kodomo no Omocha, and Sky Girls did eventually follow the release of these three series’ original anime productions, but these original anime productions were not created specifically to convince sponsors to invest in the production of the later TV series.

In fact, I only know of two genuine production samples that have released on self-contained Japanese commercial home video. The 40 minute long “Lupin the Third: Secret Files” home video, originally released in 1989, contained the Lupin III pilot anime and a previously unreleased remake of the pilot episode. The 1979 Unico pilot animation was released on commercial home video in 1998. A number of other pilot episodes have been released on Japanese commercial home video, but not as independent releases. At least the original pilot animation for Wings of Honneamise, the 1968 prototype episode of the Dororo television series, the 1993 Popolocrois Monogatari pilot film, and the Haré Nochi Guu pilot animation have been formally released on Japanese home video as DVD supplemental features.

Japanese produced animation pilot films for American comic book adaptations of Satanika and Warrior Nun Areala have been released on American commercial home video.

Pilot anime productions for a number of Osamu Tezuka created anime exist, including pilots for the Tetsuwan Atom, Goku no Daibouken, and Ribbon no Kishi television series. Other notable known pilot anime exist for Gainax’s Route 20 Galactic Airport; Production IG’s Vampiyan Kids; Hayao Miyazaki’s first solo directorial production, Yuki no Taiyo; and TCJ Animation Center’s 1967 Alps no Shoujo Heidi pilot, produced 7 years before Isao Takahata and Nippon Animation’s Heidi television series. As far as I know, none of these prototype productions have ever been released as independent commercial releases.

Please note that I’m distinguishing a difference between pilot films made for internal studio use and promotional videos created specifically for public advertising, and actual movies and OVAs mistakenly classified as pilot films. Works like the Kiddy Grade promotional videos, the commercially released Disgaea anime trailer, the original Binchoutan short, and the trailer for Gonzo’s upcoming series Five Killers are not technically pilot films because these productions were not specifically created as tentative test footage.

I’m sure that there are many other existing anime pilot films, including possibly others that have been commercially released as OVAs. I’m probably either unfamiliar with other examples, or I’ve temporarily forgotten about them. However, I do hope that I’ve still managed to provide a reasonably informative answer.