Are angry fans right about Scott Pilgrim Takes Off? 

Hear Emily's thoughts on the Scott Pilgrim Netflix anime: nebula.tv/videos/nerdsync-emilys-thoughts-on-scott-pilgrim-takes-off And hey, get your Nebula lifetime membership using my link: go.nebula.tv/NerdSync

I love how Old Scott is technically Ramona's eighth evil Ex

I love the fact that all forms of scott pilgrim media are markedly different from each other. It adds this beautiful transient feeling to enjoying the series.

Watching Lucas Lee do skateboard for a whole episode was worth it. This show's animation is top tier

When faced with the choice of whether to make a Scott Pilgrim prequel or a Scott Pilgrim sequel, Bryan Lee O'Malley somehow found a third option.

The “why is Ramona so obsessed with finding Scott” question people kept posing toward the show is so weird to me, specifically because of how hard the show hammers home that she feels guilty for this random dude’s death. Like, Ramona’s experience for the entire second episode is basically one long line of Scott’s friends going “hey you’re the reason this dude is dead”

One of my complaints about the movie was that I wanted more wallace so I thought it was hilarious when wallace said the same thing in the show and the show did give me more wallace 😌

What I love about this anime is that it feels like a retelling of the story by someone who has grown and matured since releasing the first version years ago. And as someone who's the perfect age to have experienced this same growth in my own life in parallel to them, it felt amazing and somewhat validating.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off feels like it was made by someone who watched the movie over and over and over again, and spent a lot of time thinking about the characters, and wished that the next time they watched it something different would happen. It's really cool.

Thanks for watching me gush about this show! Genuinely very interested to know what you think!

Something that gets left out a lot in these discussions is that in the books, Scott and Ramona split up for a year and worked on themselves after he defeated Gideon

I see the show as a sequel to the movie (or a "new game +" in terms of videogames) and I absolutely loved it, because it delved more into the characters and what exactly made the evil exes evil in the first place, and how they all were able to get closure. Much better than a remake of the movie or one-to-one adaptation of the comics.

I enjoyed how mature it was and the way the characters' perspectives were explored.

I absolutely adore it. I was frustrated and worried at first, but that only lasted for moments before I realized how awesome the concept is. Episode 4 is just... friggin' amazing.

I love Scott Pilgrim and the show was perfect. I loved the references to Edgar Wright, like Kevin McDonald's director character Edgar Wrong, and the security guards voiced by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost both eating Cornettos. One thing that's especially great about every version is they all perfectly capture both the cold and cozy feelings of a Canadian winter in the city.

I think they just were separated for awhile, not divorced. Scott overeacted and thought that meant they were divorced.

I loved the series, I feel it fleshed out and even improved on so much of the development of the characters, especially when compared to the film. I've always said that the film is so great, despite the role of Scott (Pilgrim, not Niswander) being miscast as too nerdy and likable. The rest of the cast and the story really do carry it, and I'm so glad that Michael Cera got the chance to redeem himself with this absolutely pitch-perfect performance of man-child Scott (again, Pilgrim, not Niswander)

The amount of people that hate on the anime surprised me. But then again people hating an anime because it’s not like the comic ain’t new. I loved this serious cause it gave a lot of new life into the characters. Also Cris as Lucas is my favourite part.

what I love about Scott Pilgrim is that I got it more on every re-read. when I was 12, it was whoa! fun comic book with fighting and cool girls. when I was 19 and fresh off a horrible breakup, forcing myself to face things and grow up a little... I really got the whole plot and it helped me a lot. now I'm 24 and this series was the perfect thing for me to see at this time at my life. I will never stop being a nerd for this series and I can honestly fully give credit to it for my life taking the direction it has

Old Scott is the creation of Ramona, he was better then a minor setback appeared and she asked for a break. Then never tried to contact Scott again and was expecting him to do it, after she started the break. Her nature of running away is what caused all the problems. The evil exes, Scott's kidnaping, etc.

My headcanon is that Old Scott is Scott from the game. He solved all his problems with punching and had none of the character growth of his other versions.

The only thing that could've made this better is if Evil Older Scott was themed around the number 8, showing how he's turned himself into an evil exe.

The anime is definitely my favorite Scott Pilgrim thing so far, I read the comics as a kid and saw the movie for the first time like a year or two ago, and I just adore animation in general it's probably my favorite form of media so I was extremely excited when this anime was announced and I absolutely adored it.

The transgender experience is watching/reading Scott Pilgrim in 2012 looking like Scott only to watch Scott Pilgrim Takes off in 2023 looking like Ramona Flowers instead.

"brie larson AND kieran culkin? obviously" scott really summed up the bi experience in one sentence

When even older Scott introduces himself the music briefly plays the NegaScott theme from the video game. That's a little callback I loved.

This is such a silly detail but Matthew Patel singing "Agony" from Into the Woods is such a good bit and I eat it like cheese

Some people don't know what to think about a main character that isn't a good guy, but not blatantly evil. Sometimes a person kind of sucks, and it's satisfying when they're able to grow even a little.

The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy film got a bunch of hate for being different from the books, which was pretty weird since the books had differences from the original radio plays, and then the tv series (and a stage show?!). Each medium is going to have its own requirements and strengths for telling a story, and it's also just fun to explore different stories or perspectives in the same universe. I also loved both Dirk Gently tv series adaptations for different reasons, and that they each have a different tone from the books.

As someone who loves the movie, comic and game I adore that the show is diffrent from expected sure I was scared of where it could go but in the Ned it turned out to be great and I love that we did new stuff with the characters I love. Without this new premise I don’t think the cast would return and especially not Bryan Lee O’Malley since he didn’t want to remake Scott Pilgrim in the first place

7:50 thank you for this...in a world where people have a need to hate a problematic person, you can show us the grey.

I went into it expecting just a beat for beat adaptation of the comic with the film’s cast. I was expecting it to be the perfectly distilled adaptation that took elements of both and combined them into something good. While that sounded fun, it’s a story I’ve seen before. How wrong I was. When Scott seemingly died in the first episode, my jaw was on the floor. By going in the new direction, it became a much more captivating watch for me than it would have otherwise. I absolutely loved the show.

I will say aside from the bait & switch, this is an amazing series! Not only do we get the music from the video game, Konya Hurracaine, and the original actors back (by the way I 100% agree with you that Wallace was awesome and did not phone in his performance!) they gave a lot of depth and time for Ramona and other characters to shine! Whether it be the evil ex's, Gideon with his girlfriend, or hell, even Scott's sister, we got a chance to see more characters come alive than we ever did from other Scott Pilgrim media! I think this is part of a quadilogy, where you have the manga, the movie, the video game, and now the series to complete everything in one wholesome experience!❤

Takes off is very much the story of Ramona learning about Scott, where Vs The World was about Scott learning about Ramona. And very much agree that Scott is NOT a good person. This is what makes him a great character.

Yes! Jason Schwartzman, what a year! I somehow forgot he also did Across the Spiderverse this year too. AND he's great in the Hunger Games prequel

Headcanon: Adult Scott (specifically much older Scott) is what happens when Scott doesnt embrace Nega Scott like he did in the books

I like the idea of every medium having a Scott Pilgrim adaptation

I enjoyed! That being said, I am incredibly boring so I would have preferred another direct adaptation of the comics. Personally, I LOVE consuming the same story in different media formats. It really helps you see and appreciate what goes into the storytelling you can achieve in a specific format

I loved the series! But... I just wished that instead of everyone being coy about whether it was an adaptation of the comic, they would've told us it was a new story, sequel spinoff whichever way you interpret the series instead of marketing being deceitful. I was disappointed to learn that was not the case as I was watching through the show and only at the last episodes really grasping the intention of the show. And again, I love the show! it truly was special and I loved everything scott says throughout the video but if we had been told from the beginning that it was Ramona Flowers show I would've been incredibly excited anyway and would've watched the show with the right amount of expectations

I put off watching this show because I thought it is just an adaptation, but damn, I regret not watching it as soon as it dropped, seems like a story they could continue and I hope they will, loved the premise.

I love these kinds of videos! Keep doing what makes you happy!

After watching the movie back then I was like: Jesus Christ, Ramona and Scott are awful people.. Scott being slimy and slipping through every conversation while doing bare minimum. Ramona for running away from relationships and the consequences of her actions. I love it how Ramona got to fave her past because she kinda needed it. Scott being the dumbass he is creating a time machine instead of growing up is also perfect

Hey man just wanted to let you know we really do enjoy these videos when you do sit down and share your love and passion Behind These shows or media you enjoy! It helps us relate with you too because if we have a passion for it it's good to share. Also congratulations with your beautiful wife Emily and may you two have a wonderful future together and keep posting more!❤

Edgar wrong 😂 I loved the meta joke about Knives's actress being 30 in real life

I'm very very conflicted over the movie. I feel like it never really had scott confront his flaws the way the comic did. I think that was mostly because the books were still being written at the same time the movie was being made. I enjoy the film because it's an edgar wright thing, but I just can't enjoy the movie knowing scott never really learns anything in the end.... the anime was great, but yeah people really have to watch/read the others first for the best experience when watching the show.

I really love the series, and the scene where Knives jams with Kim made me cry. I used to play bass, and it reminded me of the 1st time I played with drummer friend back in college

I really liked the cartoon!! I had only watched the movie before, and I loved how different and fresh it felt! edit: BTW I also love that Ramona is also presented as very flawed. She was a horrible ex for most of her evil exes, and seeing her recognize that and take steps to make amends with them is really satisfying!

Wow. I was not going to watch this new version until you made this video. Now I’m going to both watch the new show and also re-watch the movie because I think I missed some subtleties not having read/seen the source material.

I really wanted to like this. Spending way more time with Ramona Flowers, brilliantly voiced by Mary Elizabeth Winstead? Awesome. An entire episode devoted to Lucas Lee, brilliantly voice by Chris Evans? Excellent! But... none of the humor worked for me. I might have laughed once or twice during the entire run of the series, and added to that, the action is a nearly as dynamic or entertaining as in the film. There were some great moments, but it mostly feel flat for me. However, I'm glad people are liking it! It's a really interesting take on the character and the universe and I'm glad this is the way they chose to add to the Scott Pilgrim saga rather than just another adaptation, or even a sequel.

I don't *love* time travel stuff meant to retcon or reboot franchises, but it keeps happening. I was also super disappointed in the lack of Michael Cera. I wish they'd done more flashbacks to contrast Ramona's relationships with Scott's, and Michael Cera is the only actor who didn't play his future self. I did love all the new character interactions but felt that Todd and Wallace's relationship was played as a joke that went on for way too long.

I got nebula yesterday just to watch this video early, now i will watch it again to support my favorite scott

Will the Emily video be available on patreon?

I first read Scott Pilgrim as a teenager when i wasnt really mature enough to get it, and its been fun and eye-opening to reexamine it as a 30 year old

I'm not angry, I'm just a little disappointed. I was immediately uninterested once the story diverged. I don't care for an "alternate universe" Scott Pilgrim. I understand not wanting to just redo the entire thing for a third time over, but they definitely could have just changed a few things and kept the story. Only thing I'm glad at is that the fact that it's only one season and Bryan O'Malley didn't sell out. He just wanted to do this one and done thing. Which I respect a lot. He doesn't want to just be known as the dude that created Scott Pilgrim, he wants to be known as a writer.

I just watched this over on nebula the other day and now I get to watch it again! It's like a reward for good behavior.

I get what you are saying, and I completely agree with you. To anyone familiar with Dragonlance, Raistlin Majere is a power hungry ass. he continuously betrays his "friends" to gain power. Yet somehow he is still my favorite character, that can be a thing.

My gf watched the anime not only without having seen Scott Pilgrim, but not having seen ANY anime before. She said it was actually fantastic on its own. Then I, who had seen the movie, watched the anime and died of laughter at the thought of her watching it without any context. I love her, she’s so goofy.

I’m not angry about it…but I won’t lie, I would have preferred an adaptation. I just think the anime isn’t all that strong. It’s good, but it’s not great. Scott Pilgrim imo is so great because it still follows characters that feel real making realistic mistakes, and I don’t think that’s followed through with the anime. A lot of it just feels like fluffy fanfiction, like Gideon having some silly backstory to conveniently tie him to Julie, him and Lucas having a silly bro day, and all the exes getting happy endings. The most interesting stuff is when it gets back to Scott and Ramona, because we get back to these realistic characters making realistic mistakes, but it’s not really explored in a meaningful way. The fact we don’t even get to know why the two broke up in the first place imo highlights how little interest the story has in tackling these issues. To me, the best version of Scott Pilgrim’s story is still the comics, but even those I feel like have flaws that would’ve been great to have ironed out here. The art is pretty wonky in the first half, some of the heavier stuff feels like it’s glossed over, and the final book feels really rushed. This is why I was so excited for an adaptation. It felt like it was the best chance to allow the Scott Pilgrim story to reach its full potential, but that isn’t what we got. We got what is in my opinion, the least interesting story in the Scott Pilgrim universe aside from the obviously bare bones game. It’s still good, but not great. And, I think I would have enjoyed this for what it was more if I knew going in that it was going to be a fluffy, fanfic-y what-if story than an adaptation that would have a chance to make a great story even better. I was expecting something better because my expectations were set for it to be this story I respect so much, only with the benefit of hindsight to iron out some flaws and with this absolutely stunning animation.

Before I watch the video, just from the title and knowing not all that much about "The Discourse": No After: Agreed, loved the changes. Loved digging more into Ramona's past. Loved getting to know Knives and everyone else. Also just put together that Mae voiced Amity in The Owl House, I love The Owl House too.

I loved the movie and that got me into the comics/graphic novels- and I LOVED this series. I was afraid at first that they were leaving Scott out, but like you said, his story feels complete and I loved what they did with it. Although Michael Cera kind of didn't sound like himself for his portions- literally my own gripe. Also , I read somewhere that the reason the comics/graphic novels have different ending than the movie is that the graphic novels weren't finished yet.

Just started watching your videos, literally an hour ago as the topics seemed interesting, and I love Scooby Doo as well, and now you mention you're bi as well. Awesome! Nice to see some bi guy rep and someone else who's content I'm enjoying. Great video. To get back on topic. I also really enjoyed how this show took a turn away from what icthought it was going to be, as did my husband. And I was excited to see Todd discovering he's bi! It was great! And everyone getting more story to them was neat to see.

I loved the show, and I loved how all the actors came back. I did think that old Scott was his future Nega Version since he had the same red eyes. And I loved the inclusion that all the evil exs respawned not died.

I love the fact that Takes Off is more or less not just about Ramona but the entire world around Scott

If there is one thing I've learned to be true on the internet is that angry fans are almost never right

several more examples of being a good character but a bad person: Any popular villain. They are popular because they are good characters and villains because they are absolutely awful people. No matter how complex or simple, no matter how deep or shallow, no matter how sympathetic or unsympathetic they are...they are bad people. But we still like them as characters because a bad person can still be an interesting or funny or sympathetic or cool or whatever other adjective you wanna throw at whoever your favorite villain(s) is.

Really interesting to hear your reading of the Nega Scott moment from the movie. I always interpreted it as Nega Scott being an exact reflection of Scott but with his internal ugliness on full display. So when Scott himself remarks that Nega Scott is actually a really guy, I took it to mean he was so lacking in personal reflection that he hadn't learnt anything from a very thinly veiled allegory. It amounts to the same inference as your reading, that Scott fails to perform any self-analysis, but fascinating to see two completely different paths to that final conclusion. Fantastic video, as always!

I was really looking forward to the show from the moment it was announced, and I'm really glad people like it. I had a decent time with it, and I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, so this is just me, in good faith, asking if anyone else felt that the craftsmanship here was really... inconsistent, to say the least. Personally, I was seriously underwhelmed by the voice acting. I was really happy about the cast returning, but something's really off for me. It feels like the animation department and the voice direction were separate from each other. There are so many places where the characters expressions or way of moving are just not working well together - you mentioned it with Wallace, but I found it to be true with most of the characters. People spoke very "non-cartoony" most of the time, while the animation went all out. And then, there are times where I felt the spaces in-between the flashy scenes fell between the cracks during the finishing period. There are wide shots using poorly executed 3D-techniques, some very barren backgrounds and strange inconsistencies in line thickness in some shots that had nothing to do with the style, and the lip syncing is off 90% of the time... I loved that they did something new with the show, and I loved a lot of the visuals on their own, the selection of music and the original soundtrack... But overall, the watching experience sadly wasn't nearly as engaging to me as the sum of the parts were promising.

Leave it to Scott (Niswander) to echo the exact takes of Scott (me) on Scott (Pilgrim) 😆 To dust off an old NerdSync chestnut; "we are all Scott"

Jason was also in hunger games film that released this year

The second i saw that they removed scott and focused on Ramona, i knew the worst people on the internet would turn their ire towards it Sure, we were kinda lead to believe that it would be a "faithful" adaptation through some of the pre-release marketing, but i dont care. I fucking loved the show. I think it does a lot to both inject the heart of the comics that the movie kinda lacked into a more streamlined conematic experience, but also works to address some of the missteps of both prior versions I still think the comics are the ideal way to experience this story. The much longer run time allows for the smaller moments both adaptations didnt get the time to explore, especially regarding Knives' journey. Sure, i would love to see the more 1 to 1, multi season adaptation in this style that some people expected, but the comics are still there. And they're WONDERFUL. And Takes Off is a beautifully animated and honestly hilarious version of the story that adds SO MUCH to the characters that exist mainly in the background of the origional. So neadles to say i am more than happy with this show, and am completely content if we dont get any more to this story. Because I love every interpretation of this story for its own reasons

Idk if anyone else has thought of your remarks involving Nega-Scott (4:19-5:50) this way, but (as an armchair psychologist) couldn’t it be said his “talking” to his “dark self” and coming to the “conclusion” that “he’s a nice guy” is his own way of “justifying” everything up to that point in his life? It’s not like he ever take thinks/feels bad for dating Knives (her being 17 (?!) and him being 23, but only that he “cheated” (because, again,! She can’t give consent), as if that’s the problem. Going from that to his future selfs character it would explain why he still falls into those habits, him never maturing emotionally past 17-23. (Sorry for the rant 😅😂

I've watched the last episode of Scott Pilgrim and The Giggle back to back, I've never cried so much in my life. I'm so glad for this reimagining of Scott Pilgrim, I liked the movie and started the comics (1-3) but never finished them and I'm glad to revisit it and have this lovely ending for all the characters.

i binged the show just now to watch this video and I'm glad i did, for the most part I loved it and how it expanded on the movie (i haven't read the comic). the only thing I'm not a fan of is that while they expanded on Knive's character more, I feel like they left out more of her arc, with her just summarizing her growth at the end.

Thanks for the Nebula Holiday Promo Reminder. Recall when I supported the Kickstarter for the Veronica Mars Movie... Just like then, a one time donation toward a good cause seems worth it. I think I'll like the content, so will crunch the numbers and see... Thanks Happy 2024!

I loved Scott Pilgrim especially as one of the comics I’ve read when I first moved to Canada. Getting deeply into the movie and the anime was fantastic in their own ways. I’m just glad the movie cast came back to voice their roles and we had a taste of it during a script reading charity stream around the time of the pandemic. Regardless if there’s another season or not, the anime is a wonderful addition to the series.

i'm sure i'm not the only one, let alone the first, but i: literally paused the video at the spoiler warning (last night), gobbled up the series (which is pretty big for me, as i rarely binge watch) & came back to hear yer thoughts in our beloved franchise i think the writing of the show was sloppy, not regarding the changes to the story, but the way the lines were written... plus, the story could've used some more time to breathe. That being said, there were quite a few artistic decisions that i found very satisfying & changing the focus of most characters from literal fights that must be won to facing one's shortcomings & striving for reconciliation was enough for me to pull through. now, if only i could get my hands on a shirt with multiple panels showing all of Ramona's hairstyles in this series... :)

I do love this Scott Pilgrim series!❤ Immensely! They did a great job! That said, the marketing was a Bait and Switch. It was underhanded to not include it's NOT the adaptation fans were expecting. Its almost as if the showrunners had no faith in this different adaptation of Scott Pilgrim. Another similar, yet notorious, situation is with Kevin Smith's He-man Revelations; which was advertised as a continuation to the original 80s series, but wasn't.

Love your take on Scott Pilgrim, glad you finally made a video about it

I can't believe i lived to see Rebuild of Scott Pilgrim! The future we see in the later episodes is the timeline from the movie/comics!

I love the movie (one of my favs), I read the comics after the movie and loved them. My partner and I own about 3 or 4 copies of the game. The movie is one of the first thing me and my partner bonded over. When this was announced we were so here for it. when we watched the trailer, we were still here for it. We watched it... we loved it. I never thought Scott was the good guy, he's a trash person who grows to not be as trash. The Anime I thought did a great job fleshing out every other character, and I love that it wasn't fighting that solved the problem. That way of solving movie problems is cool when you're younger, but as I've grown, I find it cooler when the shows solve problems without violence being the first course of action. I loved that Remona resolved her issues with her ex's and that she wasn't just an object for everyone to fight over. I wonder if Todd was always meant to be a closeted Bi guy, the Half-and-half might have been a hint at it. Although I wonder if Anime Todd also cheated on Envy with the drummer, who yet again got the short end of the stick.

To be honest, I really didn’t care for the first episode of the show. As good as the animation was, it just kinda felt like a worse paced version of the movie, so when the twist came, I was ecstatic. This is probably the closest thing we’ll ever get to a sequel to that original comic and movie, and I’m so glad it caught me off guard

Finished watching it yesterday!😎👍

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is actually my first forway into the franchise and I really enjoyed the experience alongside with my sister. We initially really disliked Scott so much we were gonna *stop* watching after the first episode! But partly because we appreciated the animation, and because his _"death"_ went against the norm of most protagonist arcs in storytelling? We marched onward, and boy was the rest of the show a wild ride! It actually can hold up on its own without the movie and we throughly loved how the focus was on Ramona and the Exs instead. Not that we didn't eventually warm up to Scott? But knowing the journey Ramona went through before meeting him, and now trying to find him? It was inspired in getting us to actually care about the stakes of their relationship. We'll probably watch the film sometime soon, but seeing the show first is a really unique way to experience Scott Pilgrim.

While we do love your more heavily produced videos, we have really been enjoying these more laid-back ones, and it seems (as someone who doesn't know you outside of your online persona) to be easier on you too

didn't even know there was a movie

Bryan Lee O’Malley himself got divorced about 10 years ago. I feel like the Future Scott being able to move on is how Bryan also felt at one point.

From what I understand Bryan Lee O'Malley had no interest in there being another direct adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs the World. That he only agreed to do this if it was a different story. I can respect that. He thought that story was already told and wanted to do something different. These are his characters.

Los fans enojados nunca tienen razón, sólo no quieren dejarnos disfrutar cosas nuevas en un universo que conocemos y amamos.

I absolutely loved the series. More Mary Elizabeth Winstead is always a win in my book

My biggest complaint about spto is it barrows themes from O'Malleys seconds and thats my favorite of O'Malleys works

Love that this time travel concept actually effected the characters of the story, unlike other reboots using time travel (FF7 remake). This leads to not only great vibes with ensemble matchups that weren’t present. Makes it easier to appreciate the strengths of the character in absence of the protagonist. It makes for a more dynamic story than any other adaptation I’ve seen. I really hope this inspires adaptations to push the envelope on character relationships.

this was such a wonderful video to watch!

I watched the anime first, and after watching the beginning of this video I had to read the comics, so now I'm back. Yeah, it's certainly quite different. I'll rewatch the series soon because all the differences were quite interesting, and I think I liked the show more than the comics

I've been saving this video for a special occasion, I watched this series with my husband and we adored it.

this video is really interesting to me because I come at this from a very different angle than you do. I don't like the movie. I felt that way when I watched it when I was 12 and I rewatched it after watching the anime and I still feel that way. The production is fantastic but i feel like it misses the point. When Scott says nega Scott is a nice guy I never saw it as Scott being bad because he's the opposite of nega Scott. I saw it as movie Scott having really poor judgment that he would see someone who embodies his bad parts and get along with him. Which is probably true that Scott's judgement is so bad but removing the conflict between Scott and the worst version of himself feels like the movie not putting the attention where it should on Scott. there's a bunch of little things that drag the movie down for me that I won't get into in this comment. My second Scott Pilgrim take is that I kind of look up to Scott? Which makes me seem like a straight guy in his 30s from 2011 but let me explain. I first read the comic when I was 12 and I reread it a couple weeks before I turned 23 when the trailer for the anime came out and reading it I have this feeling about Scott that's like. Yeah he's the kind of person I can see myself knowing and being friends with. He isn't bad like Walter White or the characters in succession where the point is you want to see him fail. He's a really average guy and one I see a lot of myself in. And because of that seeing him learn and get better is oddly comforting and encouraging. Book 4 is my favorite because it has Roxie but also so much of it is just about Scott's struggles to get his life together and recognize what he wants and that he wants to get his life together. When he gets the power of love at the end of the book and wins the fight easily showing that what he needed to defeat Roxie was the willingness to fight and to fight for Ramona? That's really strong magical realism that only works because you want to see Scott succeed to get better. Or well I do at least. But also obviously Scott sucks! the whole start of the book is about that clearly with Knives and he consistently gets things wrong throughout the series. But I still want to root for him because I believe he can get better. Scott as a character is complex and I understand the urge to flat out say he's a bad person because whoof some people do not get it but I see him with a lot of depth. He is not immune from our scorn as an audience but he is also not undeservering of our pity. There's a really good line in book 5 where Stephen Stills is talking to Knives about how Scott cheated on her and Stephen Stills says "he's my friend but come on" and that's honestly where I land with Scott after all this time. He's someone I could see as a friend but like. Jesus man. So with all that said what I thought of the anime? Oh I adored it. The more I think on it the more I like it. I'm always going to be sad no Scott Pilgrim adaptation can take place over a full year like the books did but this version really worked. The phrase I've been using is that Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is "in conversation" with the other versions. it literally is in its meta subtext but I also mean that thematically To me it worked because I found it much more in touch with the themes of the comic than the movie was. The fight that matters the most is the one against the worst version of yourself. That goes for both Ramona fighting against some of the things she did in her past to make it better but also for Scott having to literally fight the version of himself who didn't grow. I also love how old Scott in the show was playing off an established vulnerability of Scott from the other versions which is that he's really bad at taking rejection and heartbreak. You see it with Envy and also when Ramona is gone at the end of book 5-start of book 6. It's not just playing on a Scott who was unable to grow and change enough but was also playing on his specific problem of being unable to handle a moving on. I totally believe Scott is the kind of guy who thinks him getting a divorce would be painful enough to undo the happiness he had in the marriage (just like my dad). I also know some people are saying Scott and Ramona being divorced in the future cheapens the original ending of the story but I think it really works with how I see the ending. I've also heard people who read the comic and say the ending is bad because Scott and Ramona don't deserve to be happy with each other. To me though the happy ending for Scott and Ramona is not that they get together forever and have a perfect romance. It's that they get to try again. So the fact that the show says "They tried again and it didn't work perfectly forever but it was a love worth having and getting to try and try again is the point." Is honestly so important to me and works so well as the core message. if the only measure of success is forever then why would you do anything ya know? Goodness I'm sorry for this being so long but I have a lot of thoughts on this series and I think the show is helping more people understand how I see the characters and I love that about it. (also it just feels like a relief to have something from when I was a preteen come back into my life and for it to still be so genuinely good and even more impactful. Like the fact that Wallace Wells is as good as he is as a gay comic character from 04? Insane).

I will fund an off broadway Scott Pilgrim musical JUST to make it a Ted talk that repeatedly and plainly tells the audience that Scott Pilgrim as a character is a terrible person and if you feel you are either Scott Pilgrim or look up to him, seek help and here’s a licensed therapist to help you. Congrats, you are now in group therapy. The doors and windows are locked. You are in sub space now. There is no escape. This anime was genetically modified to make fans like me smile from beginning to end with every single frame! I’ve watched it twice now and plan to watch it a bunch more. Gonna read one of my 4 and a half copies for like the 10th or so time again. Edit: also, thank you for the different perspective on the nega Scott character and scene in the movie. All I remembered was it was treated as a joke but your perspective refreshed my take on it so thanks for getting me to give the movie another fair shot.

I had been thinking for 13 years that Scott choosing Ramona was a bad decision, so many red flags, and yeah Old Scott agreed with me, so I'm happy Romana got better

Schwartzman is also in the new Hunger Games and he is brilliant in it

It was so much better than anything I expected. We got NEW STORY about Scott and his friends/enemies? How can a fan complain about it

Why is it that *I* always end up with fuzzy warm feelings watching NerdSync videos?