Bonus Episode

The episode in question is "Partners", which first appeared on this DVD, then aired on Disney Channel three months later.

When a bonus episode is included with the DVD release of a series, beyond simple Bonus Material.

This is most common with anime, where many shows (especially 12-Episode Anime) will have a bonus OVA episode or two released as part of the home release. Thanks to the lack of broadcasting standards needed for these, you can expect them to be of a loosely canonical, fanservicey nature benefitting from not having to deal with broadcast standards. In effect, an intentional Missing Episode.

Outside of anime, the bonus episode is usually a case of Early-Bird Release, wherein the episode simply premiered on home media a few months ahead of its television debut, though situations where a program never got to complete its television run and thus has its unaired episodes only made available this way is also common.

A Banned Episode can also sometimes end up being released exclusively on DVD.

---

Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Angel Beats! has an additional episode included in the 7th Blu-ray release.
• Baccano! is another thirteen-episode series. It got three DVD-only episodes that, due to the nature of the series, retroactively fit into the story.
• Bungo Stray Dogs: After two seasons of twelve episodes each, the episode "Walking Alone" was released the following year as an OVA, bundled with the manga's 13th volume. Unusually for a Bonus Episode, it is officially counted as episode 25 of the series and is fully integrated into the story, with plot developments and new characters who reappear in later seasons.
• Cat Planet Cuties has a post-season episode where the main characters play a variety of "strip" party games.
• Not a 12-Episode Anime example, but the first season of CLANNAD gave us Tomoyo's OVA, her route in animated form.
  • ~After Story~ gave us Kyou's OVA.
• The Cowboy Bebop movie Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door could be considered to be a two-hour long bonus episode, as it takes place within the continuity of the series despite being made after the series had ended.
• The Hot Springs Episode of DearS. Labeled "Episode 9.5," it was an excuse for massive and gratuitous fanservice and Les Yay.
• The final three episodes of DNA² never actually aired on television; they have only been part of the full continuity since the original video release.
• The home video release of DRAMAtical Murder's anime adaptation includes a thirteenth episode titled "Data_xx_Transitory" adapting all the bad endings from the original visual novel. It's quite a bit more graphic than the TV anime.
• Durarara!! gets two extra chapters available only on DVD. One of them is episode 12.5, which features a wacky mix of red bags (and Mikado's group in a pretty ridiculous situation); while chapter 25 includes a full battle between Izaya and Shizuo. (Mikado and Anri end up in a pretty awkward situation, and Celty is chased once again by the cops.)
• The DVD edition of Elfen Lied features a 14th episode. In this episode, the viewer can see how Lucy was caught.
• Although it wasn't a 12-Episode Anime, the final episode of Excel♡Saga (Episode 26: "Going Too Far!") was submitted to air on TV. True to the parody nature of the preceding 25 episodes, #26 was a parody of gimmicky, shock-value final episodes; in addition to content that could have never aired in its timeslot, the episode also runs exactly one minute longer than normal. It was added to the Japanese and overseas DVD releases because it'd never get past the censors (which was the whole point).
• Free!: Eternal Summer, the second season of Free!, has a fourteenth episode OVA set after the main events of the season but before the finale's "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue. It's the first episode not to include any swimming at all, instead featuring the main characters having a competition with water guns at the School Festival.
• Galaxy Angel used them, causing a bit of confusion in season one because the previous episode had the Angels state that it was the last.
• Green Green had a 13th episode that upped the sexual content to straight-up hentai. This episode was not licensed for the dub.
• The .hack//SIGN platinum edition DVDs included additional episodes, including Recap Episodes, a skit that isn't Canon, an episode about Mimiru's past, and a crossover episode entitled "Unison" that takes place after the video games, where both anime and video game characters meet. When .hack aired in Canada, these were shown on television after the regular storyline concluded.
• The fourteenth episode of Hidamari Sketch X365 is a DVD-only release.
• Higurashi: When They Cry came with Nekogoroshi-hen (Cat Killing Chapter), a single episode scenario based on a light novel.
• The iDOLM@STER:
  • The episode "Any time, anywhere, with Cinderella." was used as the bonus episode for the Cinderella Girls adaptation.
  • The SideM anime included the bonus "Made In Passion!" OVA in its final Blu-ray.
• Day Break Illusion's bonus 14th episode serves as a prequel, showing more of the bond between Akari and Fuyuna, and how Luna got started as a magical girl.
• Jewelpet Twinkle☆'s 53rd episode is a 28 minute long OVA with new opening and ending sequences which are included in the Blu-ray box set release of the series. It's centered around the adaptation of a character, previously residing in Jewel Land, to the human world, and so it's less humorous and more of a character study than most other examples on this list.
• Kamichu! has four bonus episodes. Yes.
• Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl - bonus episode that completely turned the tables on the conclusion of the twelfth episode.
  • Although it is foreshadowed in the ending credits of episode 12.
• K-On! gave us episode 14 in the final Blu-ray. It followed the girls New Year's Eve, but with a new twist not in the manga; They performed at a local Live Show. After all that was done, the episode shifted back to following the Manga at the end.
• Midnight Occult Civil Servants has three bonus OVA episodes following its main 12-episode season. Unusually, episode 13 (bundled with a manga volume) was released after episodes 14 and 15 (a two-part story included with the Blu-ray).
• Nanaka 6/17 has a bonus episode that doubles as A Day in the Limelight for secondary character Amemiya, as it focuses almost entirely on Amemiya rather than either of the main characters.
• Otoboku - Maidens Are Falling For Me features a 13th episode in which the now-chibified cast act out the play 'Tsunderella'.
• The release of Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure has an extra episode tacked onto the end that partially undoes some of the events of the show's Grand Finale.
• Please Teacher!'s bonus episode references two characters' "new" physical relation, despite previous implication. Its Spin-Off Please Twins! also had a thirteenth episode OVA.
• Pilot Candidate has a thirteenth episode OVA which retells the events of the TV series from the perspective of the Goddess candidate Ernest Cuore. Unlike the rest of the series, it was not released in the West until Discotek Media's 2016 DVD release.
• Though it is a manga, rather than an anime, Pretty Face took this to extremes in its final bonus issue. The dramatic climax had come and gone, and even though this opened up one previously absent (but vital) character to the possibility of epilogue development, it still managed to locate the epilogue at a Hot Spring. This was used to display nude females in unprecedented numbers, whereas previously there had been very little uncensored nudity (despite plenty of other types of semi-harmless Fanservice).
• The DVD release of Saber Marionette J's Sequel Series has a 26th episode that focuses on the Marionettes new lives as humans. Notable in that it wasn't broadcast in Japan, but was broadcast in Latin America.
• Sasaki and Miyano has a thirteenth episode OVA set a few weeks before the end of the series.
• SHUFFLE! Memories came with an unrelated 13th episode that put the main cast in the World of Gods on a fishing trip.
• Sola was already thirteen episodes, but it still got two bonus episodes. Only one was fanservicey. The other was set before the first episode of the broadcast.
• Sound of the Sky has two episodes exclusive to the DVDs. One of them involves the underage cast being Unsuspectingly Soused.
• Spice and Wolf had the 7th episode as a DVD-only release, which explains where Holo got her second outfit seen throughout the rest of the series.
• Sunday Without God's bonus 13th episode is divided into three parts, with the first part taking place between episodes 9 and 10, and the second and third parts taking place before the series.
• Umi Monogatari got a bonus 13th episode when it was released on DVD, in which Marin and Kanon have a near-encounter after the series.
• The Uta∽Kata bonus episode gave some added conclusion to the end of the series, as well as ending on a Here We Go Again! note.

Live-Action Television

• The DVD of Firefly included 3 episodes that were not aired, making the grand total 14.
• Several Disney Channel sitcoms have episodes that premiered on DVD, then aired on TV at least a few weeks later.
• Doctor Who: Since 2010, DVD and Blu-ray "complete season" releases of the series have included at least two direct-to-video "mini-episodes" or "minisodes" in addition to any that might have been broadcast or circulated online.
• The first season of Dollhouse was originally signed to thirteen episodes for the broadcast run as well as the DVD set. However, this included the pilot episode, which FOX decided was too confusing and didn't get into the action quickly enough, and so they didn't run it. Therefore, the episode count for the broadcast run was reduced to 12. However, delivering just twelve episodes would violate the contract they had with the company putting out the DVDs, so a stand-alone thirteenth episode was created strictly for the DVD. As a result, the DVD set has fourteen episodes: the twelve episodes broadcast, the stand-alone thirteenth, and the original unaired pilot.
• Both the Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared DVD sets contained unaired episodes.
• Two of Greg the Bunny's 13 episodes did not air before the show was cancelled, but appear in the DVD set.
• Kamen Rider:
  • Starting in the early 2000s, certain issues of Televi-Kun would feature special exclusively packaged Kamen Rider DVDs such as the Hyper Battle Videos which would feature a special movie and a promotional item only for subscribers.
  • Kamen Rider Kuuga got a "Special Chapter" Director's Cut compilation of the first two episodes which also included some scenes not on the original broadcast. As this was released on DVD months after its final episode, this special is the first and only kind to use the original component masters, which means improved image quality over its broadcast version.

• Due to being Cut Short, Ultraman Nexus got some on its DVD release. The first is a two-parter centered on Shiori called "Lost Memories" (officially it's Episode 31.5), and the second was a Director's Cut of Episode 29 "Calling", turning the singular episode into a two-parter.
• The DVD of Wonderfalls mostly consisted of unaired episodes as the series was cancelled after only four broadcasts. Most of the remaining episodes were still in various stages of post-production and the SFX hadn't been completed when the series was scrapped. Workprints and versions or unaired episodes with incomplete SFX (low-resolution renders or wireframe-only) leaked onto the Internet where enough demand for a DVD release finally got someone to cough up the money to finish the post-production.
• The 1st season set of Zoey 101 contained the season 3 episode "Quarantine" as a bonus over a month before it aired on TV.
• Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger also got its own bonus episode, This is Brave! Battle Frontier (marked as Episode 33.5), produced and released four years following its conclusion, which served as a collaboration with the mobile game Brave Frontier 2.

Video Games

• The iDOLM@STER:
  • The Live For You OVA came bundled with the Live For You version of the game.
  • The Shiny Festa games came with an anime episode for each game ("Music of Love" for Groovy Tune, "Music is a Friend" for Funky Note, and "Music in the World" for Honey Sound), depicting how different groups of idols prepared for the same concert.
• The Collector's Edition Blu-Ray bonus disc for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain includes a "special episode" — Mission 51, a.k.a. "Kingdom of the Flies". The "episode" in question addresses what happened to Eli after he flew off with Sahelanthropus — he recruits a cabal of child soldiers and takes up residence on a private island, and Snake destroys the mech once again before leaving Eli to die before napalming the island. Eli is rescued by Tretij Rebenok/Mantis and pledges to fight Snake in the future. Interestingly, the episode wasn't completed — it was unfinished due to its Troubled Production, and exists in a state of incomplete animatics, concept art and voiceovers.
• When Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was originally released in Japan on the Game Boy Advance, it only had four cases. Two games later, the trilogy was ported to the Nintendo DS then localized, and the first game received an extra case titled Rise from the Ashes. Because it was written after the first three games were released, it contains several hidden references to the later games.

Web Original

• Doug Walker, alongside him as the Nostalgia Critic, has several of all of his series/skits on his DVD's.
  • Likewise his Channel Awesome Colleagues The Cinema Snob and Linkara. For Linkara it even provides with an Origins Episode in regards to his Magic Gun.
• Several episodes of Greeny Phatom claim to be bonus episodes. As with most information about the series, this is far from the truth.
• Homestar Runner frequently does this in their DVDs.
• Within the Wires': As an advance incentive, patrons who donated $50 or more toward the production of the second season were promised an exclusive prologue episode. Cassette #0 debuted two weeks prior to Season 2 proper, while a painting detailed in the episode, "Child and Damselfly" was Defictionalized as official merchandise two months later.

Western Animation

• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes has an episode, "Powerless!", that came directly to DVD in America and Canada. Netflix also made it available to stream.
• Beware the Batman had the last two episodes of season one available on the Season 1 DVD which came out months before the two aired in the U.S.
• The sole season of the animated cult series Downtown was eventually released on a two-disc set by the creators. The DVD included the "bonus" Halloween episode, which never got aired during the original run - but was shown in various non-US countries when it ran in syndication.
• The complete set of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist gives us three episodes that were unaired in the U.S.
• The Dragon Tales DVD and VHS release "Whenever I'm Afraid..." contained the episode "Cowboy Max", which would only see an airing in most of the United States a few months after its release.
• Family Guy: Volume Nine contained a bonus episode of its spin-off The Cleveland Show, "The Way the Cookie Crumbles".
  • The standalone DVD of "It's a Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" also featured the American Dad! episode "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever".
  • The standalone DVD of "Road to the North Pole" also featured The Cleveland Show episode "Murray Christmas".
• The last episode of Generator Rex aired was "Rock My World", which doesn't really have anything to do with the overall plot and just happened to be aired out of order. However, it seems that the producers realized it would be the very last episode instead of "End Game" and threw in an Animation Bump, Awesome Music original to that episode, some light Fanservice by bringing back Holiday's little sister, and crafted the plot to be just 22 minutes of Rex being awesome to let the series end on a high note.
• The VHS/DVD release of A Goofy Movie contained the Goof Troop episode "Calling All Goofs". The DVD edition also included the Disneyland special "The Goofy Success Story".

• Kim Possible and Phineas and Ferb each have some episodes that premiered on DVD, then aired on TV at least a few weeks later. Notably, Disney seemed to consider the unaired episode included on the first Kim Possible DVD ("Partners") the main feature, and the already-aired episodes extras.

• The DVD release of Lilo & Stitch: The Series's finale film Leroy & Stitch contains the then unaired episode "Link" as a bonus feature. It aired as the final episode of the show the following month. This instance is also notable as this episode is one of only five episodes that were legally released for home video in the United States, and it is also the only one that is still available to purchase in the franchise's home country to this day, although this is now negated by the whole show being available on Disney+.

• The Powerpuff Girls (1998) complete series DVD set has the never-seen-in-the-United-States episode "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey".

• Many Rugrats VHS releases from the mid-90s and early 2000s included episodes months (and in the case of "Dil We Meet Again", two years) before they would debut on TV (some of the VHS promos even had tiny legalese referring to how the exclusive episodes would only air on TV after the video had been released). Dr. Tommy Pickles contained "Hiccups", "Autumn Leaves" and "Grandpa's Bad Bug", Angelica Knows Best contained "Word of the Day", and Make Room For Dil contained "Dil We Meet Again" and "Big Babies".
  • Other tapes would include (at the time) unaired episodes as the main feature and the previously aired episodes as bonuses. A Rugrats Vacation included "Vacation", A Rugrats Thanksgiving included "The Turkey Who Came To Dinner". Runway Reptar included the titular special, I Think I Like You included "Be My Valentine", Discover America included the titular episode, Kwanzaa included "A Rugrats Kwanzaa", Easter contained "Bow Wow Wedding Vows", Halloween contained "Curse Of The Werewuff", Christmas contained "Babies In Toyland", and Mysteries contained "Murmur On The Ornery Express".

• The Simpsons had its first seventeen seasons and its twentieth season made available on home media before production of further season boxsets ceased in order to focus on making the show available on streaming services. However, two episodes that aren't part of those seasons escaped this fate due to the virtue of this trope — Season 23's "Holidays of Future Passed" can be found on the Season 16 Blu-Ray, while Season 25's "The Man Who Grew Too Much" can be found on the Season 17 Blu-Ray.
• Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam and the DC Showcase shorts include these episodes: "Chill of the Night!" (Batman: The Brave and the Bold), "Showdown" (Batman: The Animated Series), "Initiation" and "Clash" (Justice League Unlimited).
• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • The show's first home release, Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies contained "Graveyard Shift" and "Club SpongeBob" before their TV premieres.
  • The VHS/DVD compilation The Seascape Capers contained the episodes "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler" and "Pranks a Lot" months before they premiered on TV.
  • The DVD release SpongeBob's Frozen Face-Off contained two episodes each of Fanboy and Chum Chum ("The Last Strawberry Fun Finger" and "Power Out") and T.U.F.F. Puppy ("Snappy Campers" and "Lucky Duck").

• Teen Titans has a 15-minute "lost episode" that could be viewed on Postopia.com by entering a code from boxes of Post cereals. It was later included as an extra on the DVD release of Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) had a DVD release whose main attraction was the final arc with the Shredder and the third season finale. It was released at least a month before the beginning of the fourth season, and included three episodes from the next season well before their network premiere. Later the entire second half of the Fast Forward season was released on DVD, two months before its premiere. Finally, the infamous "Insane in the Membrane" was never aired, but was included in a DVD that contained the bulk of the fourth season.
• Tom and Jerry:
  • The laserdisc release The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II also featured the two Spike and Tyke spin-off shorts, as well as the non-Tom and Jerry shorts Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera directed at MGM.
  • The DVD release Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3 contained the 2005 short The Karateguard as a bonus feature.
• The makers of Tom Goes to the Mayor consider the 30th episode to be like a bonus episode, as both episode 29, which ends with Tom curled into the fetal position on the Mayor's floor, and episode 30, which ends with Tom and the Mayor soaring off into the skies on a motor scooter, are both fitting ends to the series in their own way.

---

Hey, buy the TV Tropes DVD now! You'll get 25 new, never before seen tropes! Available in stores now!

---