The series takes place in the distant future, where human beings live among space colonies and a single, inhabitable planet called Zion.

The anime series, entitled Pilot Candidate for its North American release, was broadcast briefly on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in 2002.

An original video animation (OVA), serving as a thirteenth episode, was released in Japan in 2002, though it was not localized for North America until 2016, when Discotek Media acquired the license to the series.

[2][3] Now in Star Year 5030, Zion is under constant threat of invasion by extraterrestrial life forms dubbed "Victim" (犠牲者, Giseisha).

In order to combat their alien foes, humans have developed a quintet of giant, mechanized weapons called "Ingrids", or "Goddesses" due to their female, humanoid resemblance.

[2][3] The plot of The Candidate for Goddess primarily focuses on Zero Enna, a brash trainee who has recently left colony homelife with his mother in order to pursue his dream of becoming an Ingrid pilot.

[3] Shortly after arriving at the G.O.A., Zero becomes lost and is subconsciously called to a hangar by a mysterious voice, suddenly finding himself within the cockpit of one of the Ingrids just before a Victim attack.

Shingo Takeba and Junya Ishigaki acted as its main mecha designers, respectively credited for the anime series Gasaraki and the video game Xenogears.

[5] The musical score for The Candidate for Goddess was created by Tomoyuki Asakawa, who previously composed for the television series The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion and the film The Five Star Stories.

[5][22] A DVD box set titled Emotion the Best: The Candidate for Goddess was released by Bandai Visual in Japan on April 22, 2011 and includes all 12 episodes of the broadcast plus the OVA.

[25] By early 2001, Bandai Entertainment acquired the North American distribution rights to The Candidate for Goddess with plans to air the series on Cartoon Network.

[30] Despite being broadcast on the more mature list of programming, Pilot Candidate was censored, including the removal of nudity, violence, tobacco use, and religious references.

[42] Bandai produced a single action figure set of Pilot Candidate as part of a toy line for its licensed properties.

Protoculture Addicts staff contributor Miyako Matsuda enjoyed both the traditional cel animation and the 3D CGI, stating that the two styles blended nicely together.

Wright summarized, "Zero's trials and tribulations, his friendships and rivalries, and the mysteries of the G.O.A., the Ingrids, EX, and Zero's own past all worm their way into the viewer's mind and heart.

[45] Liann Cooper of ANN similarly found the manga version of The Candidate for Goddess to suffer from "a bad case of the 'been there done that' syndrome" with regard to its plot and characters.

[46] Cooper additionally noted sloppy artwork, messy action scenes, and confusion when the narrative switches between the past and present.

[2][4][22][45] Wright and DeLorme were anxious for more of the television series after the build-up of several intriguing and unresolved plot elements and a "to be continued" message at its conclusion.

AnimeNation journalist John Oppliger has attributed the deficient interest in continuing the anime, beyond its delayed OVA, to the mediocre ratings it received during its original Japanese broadcast.