Gonna be a bit harsh, but I mean it with a good heart.
This pilot was all style, and no substance.
I really wanted to like this pilot because I adore all the character designs, the music, and the whole thing being an excuse for endless fight scenes for almost no reason. It's practically a formula every good stick fight animation has...but god, there's just nothing that's sticking here.
Firstly, it's impressive you got the Caine VA, Pelo, and the legendary Tomar, but part of me feels like these actors are just a tad bit overused. Almost reminds me of the Chris Pratt situation that's affecting Hollywood at the moment, but ok, I'll give a pass on that. It's a very minor complaint anyway.
My main complaints are how dull the pre-fight story is, how the fight scenes are too "stop & go" just to tell drawn-out jokes, and how the end feels too drawn-out for it's own good. Or in other words: there's too much fluff...it's too fluffy!
To clarify: barely anything happens in almost the first 5 min. I'm pretty sure you could have cut the entire start down to 1.5 min tops, and you wouldn't lose a thing. Next the fight itself was just plain too slow. I could keep track of it just fine, but with how frequently it pauses, my eyes were just getting bored and started wandering off of the action ironically making it harder to follow. Lastly, the end of the fight where they end-up in jail has the same problem as the beginning: too much fluff that could be heavily trimmed-down. The ending sequence could have just started at 8:18. It's quicker, to the point, and it would have given you more money to dump into those action sequences.
For me, I think you should study a few stick fights to get that combat flow just right (anime fights work too). Creators like Endo, Gildedguy, NotSoProish Noob, MicCool, and JH are practically master stick fighters that could really help you improve these fight scenes, and keep the pace up with the story (since most stick fighters barely focus on the story). I know that stick fights take a shorter time to animate compared to regular animations, but I tell ya the hard work pays off, and it doesn't have to be the smoothest thing in the world either. Just save the budget for the cool fatalities (you know, Sakuga shots and stuff).
To re-iterate: I really, REALLY want to like this show, but the over-abundance of gags, the "star-power flashing", and the slow fights are just killing me!
I still wish you the best with this show regardless of my ranting and critiquing. Don't let me stop you from fulfilling your dream project, you're the one with the money in the end, and you can do whatever you please.