This pilot exists in the gap between what Osamu Tezuka actually made and what TV stations thought they could sell. You're watching the closest thing to his uncompromised vision before the industry softened it for afternoon audiences. The raw bones of the story are here, a man stripped of his humanity, a child given purpose, before either character learned to smile for sponsors.

A boy thief named Dororo travels alongside Hyakkimaru, a cursed man, on a journey to destroy monsters. Hyakkimaru can only become a complete human once he has slain 48 devils, and the two roam a supernatural world fighting the creatures in their path. This one-episode special from 1968 is the pilot film made before the TV series, produced so that sponsors and broadcasters could get a feel for the work. Its characters stay closer to the original story than those of the later show, whose looks and personalities shifted over time. Unlike the monochrome series, the pilot was produced in color.