well supposed to sell the idea in a very literal "appeal to the people with money/networks/distributors" sense. there is also the caveat of yes selling to new/old fans in a merch to prove "hey look this is popular and sells" way so they do want to it to appeal to a decently wide group... but that being said with the exception of the examples given where they do a pilot-as-episode 1 type deal i cant really think of any animation indie or otherwise that doesnt have SOME kind of tweaking of characters (in either design or voice direction or both) between initial pilot and the actual series.

that being SAID

i get why people dont like how jade is portrayed and to some degree I do think toning things down a bit to get more of the Weird future knowing just-vague-enough-about-things-to-sound-normalish mystery about early acts jade across, i personally think in terms of conveying the "voice" of that style of typing in 2009 into animation it works really well ESPECIALLY from the "is a furry but denying it to not seem too weird/save face" pocket of anthro fan spaces that could be found on like neopets or deviantart or wherever. not that id know about that from experience i was always p clear that i was a furry and chill about it XP