Space Cobra Pilot

Note: I've only seen the English version of this pilot that came as a bonus feature in Region 1 Nozomi Entertainment release of Space Adventure Cobra Part 1.

If a Japanese version to this pilot exists, I'd like to see it as I'm curious if this pilot was meant for U.S. audiences only or for its Japanese market. The reason I say this, is that the plot is very different from the Cobra we know & the American market could've have received an edited version of Space Cobra if it was ever licensed.

The story starts off similar to the 1st episode where Johnson has no recollection ... of his past life until his boss calls him to do an investigation of some sort where he then discovers his past identity as the space pirate Cobra. The key difference in the story is Cobra being portrayed as a hero, more specifically a rebel leader to defeat the Guild. It got to the point where Cobra apparently had a group of followers waiting for his return to lead them in battle. Oddly enough, this pilot comes off very "Star Wars" in terms of story structure which is somewhat understandable as the universe in Space Cobra does seem to be inspired by the Star Wars franchise. (The 2nd half of the pilot also features a small cameo of R2D2, although its from the waist down.)

Most of the animation are from episodes 1 & 13, yet there are some animation only found in this episode pilot. The last scene has the best piece of original animation as it presents a more "enchanting" way of Lady to make her debut out of destroyed rubble. This pilot's story may have been changed due to its English dub or perhaps the Japanese version kept the same storyline without the whole rebel leader thing.

Regardless, there's not much to see aside from a few bits of animation not found anywhere else. I'm just glad North America didn't get a series what should've been Space Pirate Cobra into an edited version on what I speculate may have been titled Space Hero Cobra.