I was really scrambling around while searching for something to cover for the between season mini-review. Not that I have to review anything, but after doing the pilot and The Wand, it’d only make sense if I kept up the tradition and gave myself a little bit of a breather as well. Unfortunately, there’s no new shorts until we get past season six. So, I was considering the games, books, or even comics (which I’m also considering covering through a series of reviews once this blog is complete, though that’s years down the line), but again, not a ton of these correspond with the appropriate season, and I think they should. So, that’s when I stumbled upon The Legend of Lucky Pie, and checked out all of the available episodes. Though I had seen the intro before, I had absolutely no knowledge of this webseries aside from the fact that it was labeled as a knock-off of Adventure Time.
As a bit of background for the series, The Lucky of Lucky Pie was originally released in 2015 on Cartoon Brew’s YouTube by Yimumu and Tim Chan. The series itself is completely funded through Patreon as of its latest episode, and has three episodes to date. It stars Lucky (who I guess is like a combination between an owl and a human boy?? I dunno) and his shapeshifting horse friend Pie, two cool bros who love to go on adventures and visit distant lands. Where have I heard this before? Basically, all of the claims that it’s a rip-off are slightly correct, but I don’t know, after watching three episodes, it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. There’s actually a decent amount of good stuff. Let’s check out the first couple episodes a bit more in detail.
Who Makes That Voice?
Original Airdate: January, 2015
This one is probably the weakest out of all the ones I’ve seen. This series is a lot more slow paced and leisurely than Adventure Time, which can be nice, but Who Makes That Voice? just sorta drags for me. Lucky and Pie meet a mermaid and hang out with her on the beach, and then defeat a sea monster before the mermaid leaves. Pretty thin when it comes to plot, but it’s actually just kind of… pleasant. A lot of these episodes just feel nice to watch: the colors, the selections of classical music, and the atmosphere do make for a really soothing experience. I do think that the character interactions are pretty weak and the mermaid character herself is largely undeveloped, but there is a genuine good feeling you get from watching it. It’s also really fucking weird how different customs are since it’s a non-American series. There’s a scene where Lucky straight-up accuses Pie of acting like a pedophile. Imagine Finn saying something like that to Jake.
The Zodiac Maze
Original Airdate: October 19, 2015
This one is actually pretty cool. Lucky and Pie enter a maze based on zodiac signs, and you can only open certain treasure chests based on your designated sign. That’s a pretty dope concept that shows that there is a good amount of creativity behind the series, and that it’s not ripping off actual plots from AT. There’s some other cool moments as well, like this scene where Pie puts a cow’s teardrop in his eye and starts to trip balls for some reason. I do like how this series adds its own little bit of bizarreness as well, and doesn’t really hold back in that regard. The artwork’s also a lot smoother and cleaned up in this episode, which makes sense because each episode is released roughly a year apart from each other. It’s also the introduction to a PB-like character named Sourrie, who’s kind of just a giant bitch. She’s actually more like LSP, in that regard. There’s also her friend Plum Butler, who’s like Peppermint Butler except he looks like a giant creepy weirdo. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was an actual pedophile instead of a morally ambiguous ambassador for the dark arts.
If It’s The Last Thing I Poo
Original Airdate: May 26, 2016
This is actually the most enjoyable episode of the series. It’s not great, but it at least finally explores the relationship between the two main characters when Lucky calls Pie weak. There’s also a fly named Hyperneat that this episode introduces, a really cute side character that even has a backstory and his own character motivations. This is somewhat of a dungeon type episode, where the three characters are on a quest to grab treasure from a dragon named Nightmare. Again, the animation and colors are a step up from previous episodes, and it all just looks real sharp. There’s a nice montage sequence as well, which showcases some really cool artwork that looks as though it would fit as one of the title cards for the series. When they finally get to the dragon’s lair, there’s some decent suspense when Hyperneat is constantly hit with Nightmare’s flames, but finally gets what he’s wanted all along: the cleanest piece of pink poop in all the land! This really was a weird one, you guys. But besides that, Lucky also gets what he came for as well: a stellar new sword crafted from the dragon’s flames. There’s a surprisingly good amount of continuity in this series; Lucky’s sword was partially eaten in the first episode, and remains broken throughout the next two episodes. There’s also a callback to how Lucky and Pie defeated the sea monster in the first episode, and do so the same way during the montage.
So yeah, this webseries isn’t anything great, but you know what, it certainly has a good deal of effort put into it. It’s not particularly funny, but the color palette in general is great; the backgrounds and settings almost look like they’re filled in with water colors, it just looks really nice. The animation looks pretty damn fluid most of the time, considering it’s only a webseries. Lucky and Pie aren’t the most interesting main characters, but there’s hints of Finn and Jake there that make them likable and fun to watch. As I also mentioned, it’s just really calming to watch. It’s very atmospheric in it’s tone, and just makes you feel very at ease even when situations get more hyperactive. And despite its label as AT’s knock-off, it really does have a good amount of new elements and originality to work as its own thing. Probably not something I’d rewatch in the future, but I’m glad I checked it out at least once. You can check out all episodes of The Legend of Lucky Pie on their official YouTube channel, or subscribe to their Patreon here!
Adventure Time Reviewed 