This is a masterpiece!

Brotherly Love Always Wins!!!

Absolutely amazing work! I truly hope this becomes a series, it’s really a sight to behold with such amazing creativity!

I really liked this pilot! The sound engineering was definitely the best part objectively. Great props to the audio engineer (who is probably Maz or someone else) for making the rooms feel like what they're for! To test this I closed my eyes and rewatched each scene and tried to picture a similar room in my head and the position I'm in from sounds alone. It's a really fun measuring tool to check for accessibilty and good audio mixing.

Unrelated, but my little brother's birthday is the same day as Axel's, maybe I should consider getting him a special gift this year.

I am beyond impressed by this film. I can only imagine the amount of time and effort sunk in to make it what it is.
It has a very graphic, video game-esque style that I haven't seen in films before. The half toned background has to be my favorite choice. Not only does it make the setting more visually interesting, it also adds to the overall vibe this film gave.
The characters felt very real and have pleasing designs that don't contract with the loud backgrounds. The compositing is fantastic. The UI of Zander's computer and the particle effects helped give off this futuristic feel the setting had. The fight scene was well choreographed not only due to the techniques each fighter showed, but the camera orientation giving a greater sense of intensity. It was also beautiful to show it as an instrument of resolution between the brothers, showing how their bond grew between the two as they synchronized their attacks, all the while still showing the distinctions they have as siblings. The Lo-Fi music was chill and ethereal with all the wind chimes and piano boosting said vibe.

My only critique is not an animation one, but more of a storyboard related note; Personally, I found the slideshow at the beginning something that took me out and didn't properly articulate who these brothers are as a characters. If I had to change it, I would have had it a much shorter montage of photos of the brothers (like them hanging out or at a party or what have you; more unique than just classic school photos) with the montage revealing itself to be Zander scrolling through his phone gallery, only being taken out of his trance by the man he was playing cards with. It would have been a much smoother transition, but that's just me personally.
I would have inserted some scenes of Axel using and bonding with the AI so, it's distain for Zander is a result of hearing Axel complaining about his brother than just a short scene. However, I do understand why it ended up being with way. You already had to deal with thirty minutes of animation so, that critique is not a practical one, just something to keep in mind for the future.

Overall, I can't wait to see future installments to Mr. Vessel!