Leeko: The Beginning

**Leeko: The Beginning**, int. ***TB***, is the first installment of Leeko: The Series, which begins the adventures of the title character Leeko and his friends, Milly and Manny.

## Overall plot

The main story of *Leeko: The Beginning* revolves around the intergalactic struggle between the Star Warriors and Nebula and his army of monsters. Despite a valiant effort from the Star Warriors which saw the defeat of many monsters and the securing of the sacred blade Dark Slash from Nebula's clutches, they were ultimately routed and most of their numbers were either killed or brainwashed into being evil by Nebula. Among the surviving veterans was Moonlight Man, who personally held Dark Slash and found himself a new home in Usapia (where one of the Star Warriors' sanctuaries in the form of Mr. Mage is located) with his newfound apprentices Twilight Man and Aurora Man. In doing so, they pledged themselves (albeit begrudgingly) to King Leonardo in order to buy some cover and defend the kingdom from the monster the king ordered while they worked out a plan to exact revenge on Nebula and liberate the universe from his clutches.

For the longest time, Moonlight Man and his allies worked secretly while waiting for the next generation of Star Warriors to be dispersed throughout the cosmos and continue the fight. Eventually, one of the new generations comes crashing into Usapia, and reveals himself to be the small and childlike but powerful Leeko. Despite his abilities, Leeko is immature and displays behaviors of a very young child, so he needs constant supervision from the child characters Milly and Manny, who live at court in Castle Leonardo and also work to stop Leonardo and his assistant Tommy from harming the Usapians. With Leeko's help, they are able to repel the monsters that King Leonardo sends their way and later convince the people of Puffy Town to accept Leeko as one of theirs and build him a home in the countryside.

Over the course of *The Beginning* series, King Leonardo frequently attempts to drive Leeko out of Usapia using various schemes, but is consistently thwarted due to the efforts of Leeko and his friends, as well as his own careless and impulsive nature. Meanwhile, Leeko uses his experience fighting the monsters sent to him by Nebula Enterprises to improve his skills as a fighter, while Milly and Manny in turn become more adept as assisting him under the guidance of Moonlight Man and Mr. Mage. Leeko in particular forms a close bond with Milly, which allows the latter to summon the Shooting Star to help Leeko whenever he is in trouble. In addition, the people of Puffy Town - usually clueless and hapless when it comes to King Leonardo - gradually learn to stand up for themselves with the help of Leeko and Milly.

In the series finale, Nebula decides to launch an all-out attack on Usapia in order to finally dispose of Leeko and his friends, sending a squadron of giant flying saucers to carpet-bomb the kingdom, wrecking every man-made structure in the process. To counter this attack, Moonlight Man and his apprentices reveal the secret weapon they had been working on all this time in the form of a space-faring battleship called the Flying Saucer and recruit Leeko, his friends, and a handful of the bravest Puffy villagers to engage in a direct attack on Nebula’s fortress. Despite the fortress’s considerable defenses, the invaders manage to get in and destroy the fortress from the inside while Leeko faces Nebula and personally defeats him, finally liberating the universe from Nebula’s clutches.

## Focus and details

Although the overall story of *Leeko: The Beginning* series revolves around Leeko’s struggle to defeat Nebula, the majority of the episodes have a separate focus on more mundane events which take place in Usapia, and the show takes a largely comedic and silly tone most of the time. In particular, the dynamic between King Leonardo, his subjects, and the surrounding countryside offer room for a great deal of social commentary relating to the real world. The most notable examples of this are the environmental messages often tied in to the stories of particular episodes, with a prime example being Leonardo’s repeated attempts to cut down the Vinebush Forest (a sentient forest near Puffy Town) in order to build a country club. Many of King Leonardo’s other schemes also end up damaging the local environment, such as causing severe acid rain from factory pollution in the episode Labor Days, shifting the climate to an unnatural winter in the episode Snowed!, and creating a hole in the planet’s ozone layer in the episode A Sun-sational Puzzle.

In addition, the people of Puffy Town act as an analogue to human civilization, and commentary on wider societal issues are often expressed through their collective behavior and attitudes. Notable examples of this are the effects of mass media propaganda in the episode The Dangers Of Television, tendencies toward superstition and mob mentality as shown in the episode It’s Only Fortune Telling, and lack of accountability toward the common good as seen in the episodes Trashed! and Cleaning Up Your Act. Individual characters also have a chance in these episodes to gain character development as they struggle with the problems the episodes throw at them, as well as relating to each other. Even the wicked King Leonardo and Tommy have opportunities to gain sympathy through certain redeeming actions, though the formula that keeps them as Leeko’s enemies is never interrupted by such moments.

Lastly, many episodes in *Leeko: The Beginning* series revolves heavily on food and cuisine, which ties in to Leeko’s love for food and eating. A large handful of episodes focus almost exclusively on food culture, which makes the supporting character Chef Peppermint the most prominent supporting character. In addition, several episodes are directly inspired by other media, such as the episode A Dash Of Fiction being based on the *Harry Potter* franchise.

## Seasons

* The Beginning, Part 1 (Season 1)
* The Beginning, Part 2 (Season 2)
* The Beginning, Part 3 (Season 3)