Scott Pilgrim Takes Off isn't quite the anime fans always dreamed of - it's something far more amazing! NOTE: THE MAIN CHANNEL VIDEO I MENTIONED HASN'T BEEN POSTED YET! WILL UPDATE THIS WHEN IT IS Edited By @jab50yen_
@@logicaloverdrive8197the music that really hit me like a truck was when they just dropped Sharp Dressed Man on us in the next episode. Though also loved to hear United States of Whatever, as it's a song that's lived rent free in my head for two decades but no-one else ever seems to have heard of it. Always good to get a reminder that song is real and not just a sum of auditory hallucinations and unreliable memory
He also gets Lucas Lee's stunt doubles gimmick from the movie, which I thought was hilarious 🤣 The fact he undoes this advantage with his cutting remarks is pretty funny too (fairly sure that's a reference to something, but I'm not sure what?).
My only complaint is we didn't get the best line in movie history: "You punched the highlights out of her hair..." "YOU PUNCHED THE HIGHLIGHTS OUT OF HER HAIR!"
And what makes it so great is that those pieces weren't just, like, missing lore bits or filling in gaps in continuity, but rather expanded on and commented upon the underlying themes of the original story.
I always loved how corny and self-serious Matthew Patel was as a character, although to be fair I've always had a soft spot for those types of characters. So the way the anime let him go full unhinged melodramatic theatre kid was a joy to me. I also like how him taking over Gideon's empire was basically him going through the same arch as Gideon originally did. Tired of feeling unappreciated and bullied, he grabbed for fame and power to try and feel fulfilled. But it ended up being hollow, and he willingly gave it up again when he found real fulfilment in getting to live out his acting dreams (and realising he didn't have the financial responsibility to be a CEO probably also helped)
I gotta be honest. I was expecting a straight adaptation of the comics. I was not expecting time travel, everyone getting development, and a whole new alternate storyline that both changed everything, but also cleared so much other story stuff up. It was the anime adaptation I never knew I needed
This isn't an adaptation. An adaptation would of been the retelling of the comic book. This is a spinoff at best, and I am amazed at how many people are ok with being lied to in the first episode. I signed up for Scott pilgrim takes off, not Ramona flowers vs the world. Oh well, C'est la vie. "What could of been" am i right?
The scene where Knives jams with Kim may already be my new favorite scene in any iteration of the series. As a musician, it perfectly captured that beautiful, soaring feeling of being perfectly locked in playing music with another person.
@@monbub If you'd told me before watching the anime that Niel doesn't get to join the band I'd be bummed, but knowing he doesn't because he's busy making a movie recreation of the actual movie while Knives passion for music translated into being the one to make Sex Babomb 'not suck' is perfect.
The shot of Roxy looking at ramona as she leaves is so sad. Also I think everyone did a pretty good job of voice acting but it’s clear Mae Whitman is in a league of her own lol.
I was pretty impressed with Michael Cera's performance, it was really good imo. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, on the other hand, I didn't like very much. She's absolutely amazing on the live action, though.
Course, Bryan Lee O'Malley has said that this was planned as a one-off. Not saying we can't have a sequel, but he wasn't planning on it. To be honest, the story about how all of this came about is really fascinating. (Science Saru contacted Edgar Wright about making a Scott Pilgrim series and he pointed them to O'Malley. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with this (outside of that he didn't want to do an adaption of the graphic novel) until he talked it over with BenDavid and came up with this idea. This was so off-the-cuff, but it turned out great.)
I still love how Edgar sent out emails to the original cast with simply “Scott Pilgrim Returns” or something to that degree… and all of them responded back in less than 3 hours
That's really sad to me actually. This is a great story in the universe that O'Malley created, but if what you're saying is true, it means that he has no interest in ever creating an animated adaptation of the comic. As much as I enjoyed this, it was still disappointing that this wasn't the faithful adaptation they marketed it as.
@@LeafMaltieze think it the other way, what made the comic special and what you remember of it will stay as is, sounds weird as someone who watches a lot of anime, but you also got to understand that, telling the same story again would not allowed for much or any variance, and the other pitfall that always appears with straight adaptations, cut content, by being its own separate but complementary work to the Scott Pilgrim series, the anime gets its own identity and our nostalgia, because thats what is talking through us when asking for a straight adaptation, lets be honest about that, should not cloud our eyes over what the show has to offer
@@LeafMaltieze By the time the final volume of his Scott Pilgrim series was released, Bryan Lee O'Malley wasn't really someone with a well established reputation as a seasoned or prolific cartoonist in the business other than another viral "comic superstar", to put it bluntly. His only major work ever as a full-time cartoonist is the Scott Pilgrim GN series and he never actually had such a big or ambitious expectation for his career when he was approached for a Hollywood adaptation to his series, stating he "didn't even care" and was only in it for the money. Even both the development and the production course of the movie adaptation went for as long as the release of **every** volume of the series itself. And the movie didn't initially achieve the theatrical success it was expected to be until it was getting a home release and gradually, achieving strong cult followings. But despite all that, it didn't catapult O'Malley's own career either with even bigger prospects as he actually went lowkey in the following years, esp. after his subsequent divorce with his wife in 2014 which was proven to be impactful to his life (and it becoming a basis for the anime adaptation's storyline). It was until around 2018 when there was a renewed interest in adapting the GN into an animated series. A production representative Jared LeBoff approached Edgar Wright first about the pitched idea by Universal of developing a new work under the Scott Pilgrim IP, to which Wright responded "Why didn't they consider an anime adaptation?". LeBoff later reached O'Malley to pitch the idea of a Netflix Scott Pilgrim anime in early 2019, and O'Malley gave a mixed response that neither confirmed his agreement nor denied his interest in the idea, stating that he "didn't feel like wanting a retelling of the same story because he felt he was done with it" But after a month of meeting, O'Malley's Mother was diagnosed with cancer and died later on in November that year, which prevented him from reaching a conclusion with Universal (through its UCP division) and Netflix. But later in February 2020, O'Malley reached an independent filmmaker and a close friend BenDavid Grabinski in a dinner to vent his frustration about the project and the two eventually began brainstorming ideas for the project and after a certain period, the two then reached back Universal and Netflix with a concept and finally sealed a deal to put the project into production, with O'Malley serving as the overall showrunner as well as the scriptwriter (alongside Grabinski) and the Japanese studio Science Saru helming the animation production.
He doesn't need to be involved for there to be a faithful adaptation, the work is literally already done. Idk why it's so difficult for people to just follow the script already made for them. JUST ANIMATE THE ALREADY MADE COMICS@@LeafMaltieze
Something that really put Old Scott and Ramona in perspective for me was remembering that Bryan Lee O’Malley and his wife Hope Larson (who inspired several aspects about Ramona) got divorced in 2014. So it becomes a perspective on how his own view of relationships has evolved since he wrote Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life along with giving Scott and Ramona new wisdom to find their own happy ending. Also, as someone who has spent over a decade calling Roxy Richter Ramona’s most important ex and counts Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together as one of my favorite graphic novels, the episode “Ramona Rents A Video” is literally everything I have ever wanted from a Scott Pilgrim story continuing from the original work. Finally, Brie Larson being absolutely hilarious as Envy as her relationship with Todd falls apart versus the emotional back and forth between her and Scott was something I didn’t realize I wanted, but so glad I got.
I was honestly surprised by this show even as a huge Scott Pilgrim fan. Not only did it go off the rails from the original story, I have to give credit to Netflix for keeping that a secret which is honestly a feat in itself.
As much as you and others like to give credit, and would deserve, to Netflix for keeping that secret, not everyone sees the same way sadly tho not without reason, based on what I've heard about the recent respective series about He-Man and Castlevania which also went off-rails for their stories but supposedly not done well and/or were disliked. I say supposedly since I've seen neither of those to share an opinion.
Give them credit? They obviously misled people into thinking it was a faithful adaptation because they obviously didn't have confidence people would flock to it if they knew Scott was going to be offed in the first episode. Just call it Ramona vs The World and move on, but no let's give everyone false advertisement for months. It was insulting
Usually I’m worried about live-action film actors doing voice acting since those are mostly different skill sets, but the original movie cast ended up killing it. Props to the actors as well as the voice director.
@@Neoxon619 I mean, you probably shouldn't underestimate Hollywood billed live-action movie actors. Script reading remains a fundamental skill for them and there are many instances where actors have to dub their lines separately in the studio. Have you watched the footage of Hugh Jackman overdubbing his voice lines to his own action sequences in X-Men Origin: Wolverine? Edit: It seems that I got the movie in question wrong, silly me😅. It wasn't for X-Men Origins, but Logan instead.
It solves the biggest problem of the franchise: Ramona never really got her own character arc. In the future, things get rough, which causes her to leave, which causes Scott to spiral and become the 8th evil ex
That's just a total lie. Maybe you could say this for the movie, but the comic book was the ultimate rendition of Scott's and Ramona's story. Ramona SO had her story arc if not multiple.
@@georgeuferov1497 Yes, but that was the beauty of the comics, Ramona and Scott were in this together. They both had their face-offs with reality and both changed for the better. The anime is as one sided to Ramona as the movie was to Scott. It's not really the improvement of character dynamics as everyone claims it is.
@@user-gj6ft2kc5d the thing is, the anime gives us insight into ramona side of thing, much like a mirror to Scott version on hte comics, just take a look for example to Ramona and Roxie here and the time when she appears, when Roxie appears in the comics, we dont really get to explore much about her, as we explore Scott getting kicked out and pick himself even if a bit up together and dealing with Knives obsession, the anime instead gives us the look at just how horrible ramona was and doesnt sugarcoat her terrible actions either, which is what differentiates it a lot from shows that try to switch the pov into others, and shows us the closure she is giving to her exes, or most of them, through it, and lets be honest too, Scott has always been a ticking and not great person, the comics go to huge lenghts to ilustrate and hammer down that fact, but also that he is able to change, which he also does in the show, he goes through his own realizations by observing the effort ramona was putting which was much like from the memories older scott showed him, and so on
The thing I enjoyed the most about this is that this take acknowledges that the end of the GN/movie isn't necessarily a happy-ever-after ending for Scott and Ramona. My take after finishing the GN was that while they were aware of their issues, there was no guarantee they would fix their issues to have a healthy relationship. This alternate future gives us that. Ramona runs away from her problems yet again, and Scott is too self absorbed to see any issues with himself.
Totally agree! I feel like a lot of fans mistake the open-ended conclusion to the film/comic as a pure happy ending. While it certainly pays off the arcs for both Scott and Ramona in a satisfying way, and is very much a hopeful ending, the whole point is that the two characters have matured enough to be willing to take the plunge on their relationship despite not knowing how it will turn out. Which means that it could end badly! (BTW, this is why I disagree with the idea that Old Scott is supposed to be "the" Scott from the comics or movie. He's certainly a *version* of those Scotts, but he represents just one possible outcome from that open-ended ending. He's not the one and only "canonical" Scott, any more than a Scott who stayed married to Ramona for the rest of his life would be, because the whole point is that there isn't One True Scott.)
@@peteryang5056 I agree with this take as well because yes Old Scott and Even Older Scott are certainly OUTCOMES of their relationship. In the anime Scott even tells him that he doesn't KNOW that he'll end up just like him if he dates Ramona. Ramona even comes to terms to this that even the future self is just one of many forms of herself. But it's all still her and both her and Scott can work to be the best couple they can be. They were literally made for each other and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's obvious Bryan Lee O'Malley agrees with this sentiment!
I really love Even Older Scott as the final boss of this because he felt like a combo of First Timeline-Gideon and Nega Scott. Gideon's obssesiveness and insecurity mixed with Scott's lack of adapting to change and tendency to only ever solve his problems with his fists. He's a perfect foil to the both of them and that last fight was so fucking fun.
He also sets contrasts interestingly with. Gideon, because his problem wasn’t trying to control Ramona, it was literally giving her *too much space* and being too scared to pull her close again
@@BasementLifePodcast Also really liked the idea that as far as the twins were concerned, Robot 01 fucked off for like a week, came back, explained that they're chill with Scott in the future, and they just collectively went "Yeah, ok. Guess we're cool now."
@@logicaloverdrive8197 Robot 1 is like Jobu Tupaki in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once in the sense that it perceives and remembers everything in all timelines that it’s present in.
Honestly while trippy, it’s a good show. I learned to accept and appreciate it for being it’s own thing. Like I loved seeing more of the Evil Exes personalities explored (Roxy fight/end of it being a great example) It’s really fun and I’d give it a solid 8 out of 10. Also I’m hyped we might get a season 2 of the series. The Sonic References were very much appreciated
The sonic references were *_VERY_* much appreciated as well. I knew of the game and was hoping to buy it one day because of a RU-vidr's influence, but then I slowly forgot about it. Then, one of my best friend's showed me the sonic party scene clip, and I was sold on watching this, and then the movie shortly after.
Scott. Pilgrim takes off is a semi-sequel really. The fact that it expands and deepens the evil exes, gives Ramona a character arc that makes her face her own failings, before then returning to Scott and giving him some life lessons to boot. Excellent all around. And. ANIIMATION! Dear god ANIMATION!!! Killed it. THEY KILLED IT!!!
If it's another universe and changes the original does it really expand on it? Or does it create an entirely new lore for the exes unrelated to the original Scott Pilgrim universe?
@@brettknoss486 it can't be considers canon as the comic books canon though. Plus since BenDavid Grabinski also wrote the script it can't be considered a legitimate continuation as it wasn't just written by the original creator.
Agreed on all points. My best summary of this new Scott Pilgrim series is: Rebuild of Scott Pilgrim 4.0: You Can (Not) Re-do, But You Can Always Do Something (Different)
I didn't get that on first watching, but when you call Knives a musical genius, followed by her taking a few seconds to count from 12 to 4 to come up with a conclusion that she's been practicing for 4 hours was an absolutely hilarious juxtaposition.
I genuinely can’t imagine being upset that we got something entirely new from the franchise rather than just another retread of the same story, the bait and switch really did make for a pretty great unexpected surprise.
Just because it's new doesn't mean it's good or it's gonna appeal to everyone. I'm not saying it's bad but there's people that didn't like it . And I definitely can understand being upset about fake marketing because that was the case here, even If it was intentional, but I think they knew it will divide people
They did He-man plot line again and created false advertisements intentionally. People are upset because most people don't read the comic book and will never see Scott Pilgrim for what it is. Think about it, they are upset now which means there will never be an adaption to the comic and most people don't know crap about scott pilgrim. If you compare it to manga many great series will never get a chance to be animated or if they do they will take away what makes those manga's great. To sum it up, if you buy legend of Zelda and you never play as link but always as Zelda you will be pissed.
I also used to say Scott Pilgrim was my favorite movie but just this year I rewatched it with a new partner and felt a little embarrassed like "oh wow I've gone through a lot in the last 10 years and I've outgrown this movie that I used to really love" but the anime is such a refreshing take with a redeeming message that It really fucking hits. And don't get me started on the OP 💕
This was a Evangelion Rebuild story for everyone. Ramona being fleshed out, Scott becoming a good guy, and Knives getting her happy ending more or less was so nice. Even the villains all had a great story arc and development. The eastr eggs too were amazing.
I have to say, this show has to be my favorite rug pull I've ever seen, so much so, I wasn't even mad. I was actually suddenly really excited about the fact I would have no idea what happened next and I didnt expect that coming into it. It was bonkers, it was funny, some of the characters I loved so much more here, the music was exceptional. I'll be rewatching this for sure!
I felt the same way! I sort of knew going into it that it'd at least be somewhat different from the movie and comics, but when I saw the ending of that first episode, I was so pleasantly surprised with the new direction! It's so great!
This anime is so good I dont care if we never get a straight comic adaptation in the future because the series is able to stand as its own thing like the movie and game were able to.
This really was a beautiful culmination of everything Scott Pilgrim. Scott Pilgrim is a multimedia behemoth and Takes Off uses ALL of it. From the beat-em-up, to the movie, so many references that often are INTEGRAL to the plot! I thought Takes Off was gonna be a straight adaptation of the comic so boy was I surprised. You can tell O’Malley and co ~really~ understood not only the brand, but making a new iteration that works for a 2023 audience TLDR: I genuinely want a Scott Pilgrim Musical on off-Broadway musical now
And from an interview I just saw with Chirs Evans, despite how big they are now, no one needed convincing to come back. When they were told, they all jumped at the chance, because they had so much fun the first time
As someone who loves the comic and really didn't like the movie, I _adored_ this anime. It slows down and lets us introspect on characters other than Scott, building the world beyond him and, through his absence, showing the impact he _has_ on that world. I especially liked how Ramona was thrust into the protagonist role and allowed to grow as a person the way she had to in the comics. (Also, I think M.E. Winstead did a way better job as her here than in the movie, she has this wonderfully dry sense of humour that really works here.)
Scott Pilgrim as a series has always been deeply metatextual, so once I got over my initial shock at the big twist, it made perfect sense that the anime would be written as a direct commentary on (and conversation with) its own predecessors.
The fact that it is actually a sequel is so smart. We KNOW the stoey and now we get to explore characters we didn't get to. It's all about Ramona coming to terms with her exes, seeing things from their perspective, and how everyone moves on without Scott. It's so good!!
just to add to ellen wong being one of the standout vas in the series, she actually showcases this during the live table read as well. it's so cool how much emotion she puts on delivering her lines so you just gotta keep your eyes on screen whenever its her turn to speak. mae whitman still goat tho of course
I never knew I wanted to see more of the Evil Exes and Julie Powers until this anime came out. It's the best iteration of all those characters... and pretty much everyone else in the Scott Pilgrim universe. Lucas Lee being a skateboarding bro is one of the highlights of the entire year.
More Ramona and her exs character growth was all that was missing from the comic and movie. The sad part is we didn't get much of Scott and his exs growth in the anime
That's the point they wanted, I would rather then just side line all of Scott friends, and exes just so more screen time can go to the exes and Ramona.
i stand by the belief that they took the best approach possible. fleshing out the amazing, but one-note characters in the comic/film made me appreciate them so much more. the redemption arc the exes go through is just great to watch. favorite adaptation from any piece of ficion, ever. it's a perfect 10/10 for me
5:29 that was EXACT my thoughts once I finished the first episode. "Holy shit they're pulling a _Rebuild of Evangelion_ with Scott Pilgrim." I know a lot of the diehard fans hated / will hate it, but I personally loved that route, as someone who read the original comics and watched the film on launch. This show gave the team the chance to flesh out other characters, mostly the League of Exes. Matthew Patel now actually getting more screentime is amazing; you can truly see Satya Bhabha had a LOT of fun voicing him because he goes HARD. And not only that, by taking Scott out of the picture for 80% of the show it gave the support cast more time to develop and grow, since, well, Scott is kind of a scumbag (which is important to his arc, as you said). Him getting his own development while interacting with his future self was a breath of fresh air. Also, can we also just appreciate the Smash Bros. moment of "EVERYONE IS HERE!!!" this show pulls off? From Brian, to Wright, to the voice cast, to the composers. This ensemble is quite the miracle itself. The Dream Team reunited.
I think that my favourite change definitely was Ramona being the focus of the story and basically her being the protagonist of the story for all intents and purposes, since it really does help show her point of view. It also makes their relationship more than just Scott going after her, and it really shows that there is a much more mutual affection and desire to be together, I also really like how it shows how she did do bad things to all her exes and how it was on her that things ended with her exes much more so than anything else, her own flaws caused so much pain to others and I really like that she patched up things with pretty much all of her exes in one way or another. My favourite of the exes was Lucas Lee and realising that he didn't need to be this super famous movie star to be happy, he definitely developed his complex about wanting to be famous from when Ramona left him, it was really sweet to see Ramona tell him that she chose to be with him when he was a nobody and I could immediately tell that it was the answer that Lucas always wanted to hear because the next time we see him he seems happier even if he is flat broke and when we see him working at the coffee shop he is definitely enjoying life. The fact that our Scott is able to see how much Old Scott messed up and how hard Ramona worked to find him makes me feel like they really are meant to be, the fact that Ramona changed jobs by the end giving up her skates was a nice way to show that she is no longer giving herself a way to run away or to find a way out and that she wants to make things work with Scott, she learned the lessons she should have learned in the past and is working towards a better future.
What I like most about Scott in this is that he gets a boost in character growth because he's his own antagonist. And since Scott is really bad at introspection, him being his literal worst enemy means he gets to tackle his hang ups in Old Scott.
This show is BRILLIANT! The bait and switch of episode one caught me off guard. During episode 2 I thought Scott was going to show up sooner than later and by the end I knew I didn't need him. Watching Ramona interact with her exes was so incredibly charming, specially with Roxy and Lucas. Those were great fight scenes that also had a lot of heart in them. Knives jamming with Kim was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and to be honest I wanted more of that. This is indeed one of the best anime of the year. Scott Pilgrim might be one of those rare cases where a story is present in three different mediums and they're all great.
I was taken aback at first at the sudden bait and switch of the end of ep 1 and then ep 2 starting off with a whole different plot. I was expecting to watch an proper adaptation of the comic but as I continued into the episodes I start to really appreciate and understand the purpose of this new plotline and ended loving it.
honestly, I love the way Scott and Ramona were handled here... like... a LOT. in the original story, it felt like Scott was pathetic, and incentivized to keep being pathetic, because he knew how to work that. like, whenever he was out of money, he'd just look pathetic in front of his more employed friends to get by. his persona was that of a harmless idiot who simply didn't know what he was doing. and I think in the beginning, that's what drew in Ramona. more than just being a flight risk in all of her relationships, Ramona also seems to have a lot of evil exes because she chooses to date sketchy people. not always horrible, as this anime shows, but definitely people who make her look good, by standing next to her and being comparatively worse. it fits right in with her insecurity about rejection... she chooses people who think she's out of their league, and who tend to glorify her and put her on a pedestal. they'd fight wars over her, punch a hole in the moon for her... it flatters her ego, and reassures her that if anyone's going to be doing the leaving, it'll be her. and always before they get the chance to notice any flaws that she might have. when Julie first heard that Scott might be interested in Ramona, part of Julie telling him not to date her was just her being a bitch... but part of it might've also been the knowledge that Scott's victim complex + this aspect of Ramona's personality would be, like, a totally obnoxious combination. so this anime does everything right for them. it forces Scott to confront the fact that he is actually the source of a lot of his own problems, but it also forces Ramona to put in a lot of effort to be with Scott... it forces her to choose him in a way that matters. it forces her to want him to be the best version of himself. she doesn't need the Scott that is pathetic and makes her feel more valuable as a person by comparison... for once, she needs to choose a partner that is actually good. also, this is why I was never like... horribly bugged by Scott dating Knives for that brief moment in time. it wasn't serious, he didn't stick with it, but also... in the beginning, it was a sign that Scott himself was immature. and weirdly, it was something that he sort of had in common with Ramona, thematically speaking. Scott was dating someone who looked at him like he hung the moon in the sky. Knives, being a teenager, didn't require much from Scott in order for him to seem impressive, and that suited Scott, because he doesn't really have much to offer, nor is he willing to work on himself, in the beginning. Scott needed to stop dating Knives for both their sakes... and when he exits the relationship with her, that's where his growth as a person begins. even if it's rocky, and sometimes it really sucks and doesn't go well. and I think all versions of the story do a good job of showing how this growth took place, and the tangible positive things that resulted from that growth. this was an excellent adaptation, and I would really love to see more.
@@mangoberri3000 thank you! I'm so glad we got an adaptation that kept things fresh but still emphasized these things about their characters even harder... it's so cool!
I'm in the same boat, I absolutely loved this show. My only potential issue with it isn't even in the show itself; it's in the marketing. Sure, O'Malley's interviews made it clear that something about it was different, but Netflix's advertising implied it was a full adaptation of the graphic novel. While it did make the twist hit harder, it does feel kinda dishonest on Netflix's end. It doesn't affect the end product, I was up for a what-if story anyway, but I also don't think I can recommend it as a starting point since it does require some understanding of the original story for the twist to have any impact.
Big Spoiler discussed below You know, Scott being killed/kidnapped right at the start of the series certainly explains why nobody on Tumblr is talking about him. I thought he was just a bland protagonist.
I love how creative all the fights were in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, but the one that I loved the most was Ramona vs Roxy, as they zoop their way through various films inside the video store, and the ultimate conclusion to the fight being a serious discussion about how badly Ramona hurt Roxy when she walked away.
i absolutely loved the anime, and it convinced me to started reading the comics, which then convinced me to play the game until i realized wallace wasn't the best character to start a playthrough with. it got me to do all this in the span of several days, and i might watch the movie soon lol
I've been watching this series on repeat since it came out and have been singing it's praises to anyone who will listen. I absolutely love the Scott Pilgrim series as a whole and knew that I'd love the anime too upon release, but the lengths this show went to exceed my expectations is absolutely mind boggling! This is easily my anime of the year and has made my shortlist of personal favorite anime of all time. This show is a combination of several tiny miracles just because shows like this simply don't get made anymore, especially in this day and age. Yet despite all odds here it is, and the world is better for it. Here's to truly great art!
Watching this with an avid Scott Pilgrim fan was a treat. After that first episode, she had chills like never before (in a good way!), and we just couldn't stop ourselves from binging the entire thing at once. That ending, tho'. The fucking combination Metal Gear/Eva reference with the NANOMACHINES!-induced AK field had me absolutely ROLLING.
honestly, the thing i was the most impressed by was the amount of emotional nuance in the ending. the idea that people sometimes backslide into old habits and romantic relationships with seemingly happy endings don't work out is REALLY HARD to get right in fiction, where audiences expect clean character arcs and narrative resolutions. yet this series still pulled it off AND managed to be extremely fun, creative, and entertaining. the part where ramona's past and present selves fuse and reflect on the past and present scott is a really clever visual metaphor for how people in relationships think about their partners over the years. also i LOVE how all the evil exes just become part of scott's friendgroup and hang out. it's such a nice way to express how people that you otherwise didn't know or kinda dislike drift into your lives and become really good friends. this anime is just great.
Totally worth it just to hear Will Forte perform the Bubblegum Crisis theme song. To be honest though, I just started watching Pluto and unless it drops off sharply at the end, that's probably going to be my anime of the year.
I went into the anime blind with cautious optimism and was absolutely blown away. So happy with the new plot. The pacing was excellent, sound and design was fantastic, I would be hard pressed to find any major criticisms. It was a series no one was asking for, but I am so glad someone got high and said "what if Scott Pilgrim, but anime?"
Right after ep 1 finished i was a little skeptical, but as the episodes went they just kept getting better and better while filling in spots i didnt realize were kinda just backstories we had never really heard.
It's a shame they marketed they way they did. I feel like more people would have given it a chance if they had been a little more transparent about what the show was about.
Legitimately one of my favorite anime of all time. I’ve done a lot of research into the art of adaption, and this is possibly one of the best I’ve ever seen.
It's awesome how I saw this title of this video, then watched the whole series, then watched this video--all because your videos and recommendations are so consistently good. Thanks!
Knives really was the improvement in this retelling, also im a bit biased because I really like her being voiced by Aoi Koga in the Japanese version, she sounds so cute.
As an avid Scott Pilgrim enjoyer this has become my favorite piece of Scott Pilgrim media. It really fleshed out a lot of characters and helped them grow. It's really great and I'm glad I watched it. Also (spoilers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Future Ramona and Even Futurer Ramona are MEGA babes.
You are one of the few people who really appreciates everything in anime. I'm glad you see the big change they made to it and you enjoyed it. Most people hate it at once... well... Lisa and the movie and the comic but the idea You see what would happen if you changed it a little and managed to make a more original material than your old work and you can see how incredible it turned out. They gave it a lot of effort and love. I loved your review.😊
I was really surprised the direction that this anime took but I loved EVERY last second of it. Easily my favorite show to be released this year cause it goes so hard.
I was so thrilled to watch this anime and even convinced my friend, who had never knew who Scott Pilgrim was, to watch with me. That first episode left me floored and my friend genuinely confused. After we finished the series, he actually said how much he enjoyed it, even when he didn't have any reference back to the original movie or comics. So I can say first hand that this series is perfectly great for first time watchers at just how enjoyable this series actually is.
My absolutely favourite trio of episodes are 3-5. Roxie’s was the most straight forward change, and the change I feel a lot of people were waiting for. An honest to god DIALOGUE between Ramona and Roxie, the meta textual jokes about Roxie being a test, the relationship “not counting”, hurt Roxie in a way the others weren’t. Mad Whitman also knocked it out of the park in terms of voice acting the climax of the battle, easy standout for the season. Lucas had the biggest glow up (asides from obviously Matthew), his conversations with Ramona were the most heartwarming to me, simple stuff, but it colours his career choice well. Him ending up as a barista was such a sweet change, choosing a fulfilling job rather than one made out of insecurity means he could more genuinely dedicate himself to his new friends and new life. Todd’s episode is the most on the nose played for comedy, but when you examine it, it’s actually a very clever combining of two plot points from the comic. That being Wallace’s tendency to steal boyfriends (making them realise something about themselves in the process), and Todd, who was already cheating on Envy in the comics with their drummer. Just a simple change of who Todd was cheating on Envy with completely changes the course of his character. It’s clear with all three women, Ramona included, he has little emotional attachment to speak of. He’s always moving on to the next thing. Even his subplot about cheating on Envy was the drummer’s idea. “He liked to live in the moment” is something Ramona says about him when they were still teens, so Wallace is the first time he’s stayed loyal to one person, even after “breaking up”. Todd actually falling in love and getting rejected is the wake up call he needed in my eyes, it just so happened that this was the shows funniest episode. Gideon could definitely make room for a season 2, and with how many hanging threads are left, Lisa, Joseph, etc. there’s a lot that could be done with the series. A great watch. 🫶🏽☺️
I never heard anything about Scott Pilgrim before and you convinced me to watch anime. After watching it I can say that it was AMAZING! Would recommend it to anyone.
The fact that Envy's singing voice is the singer of Metric, who wrote Black Sheep, the song that Envy sung in the movie, and Brie Larson covered in the movie, is such and amazing inclusion. Like Metric is tied to Scott Pilgrim, and they weren't left out of this amazing love letter to the franchise.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World is one of my fav movies, and I loved the anime. It was so incredible to get a new Scott Pilgrim story for the first time in over a decade. ♥ Thanks for the review!
I also can't get over the JP dub for Knives, Roxy, Young Neil, and Julie. Julie especially, cause hearing someone be that rude to customers in japanese is something I don't see often
I can't unhear this: Peter Grill and the 8th Evil Ex Ramona's Bizarre Adventure Bruno Bucelatti/Satoru Gojo being accused of grooming Satania not being a punching bag Gilgamesh and his journey of humbleness(?) with Enkidu Even Older Scott zigzagging between Gendo and Madao Oh, and Knives doing Paimon noises.
i think its missing something. i think that something is when ramona merges with old future ramona, narrator should have said "ramona flowers has unlocked the power of self respect." i think it would come full circle with the movie and really demonstrate that the two timelines aim to let scott and ramona come into their own by fixing themselves, so they can be the best version of themselves for eachother.
So entering the end of episode 1, I was REALLY REALLY excited to see what Patel's fire magic was going to be about. Instead, Scott disappeared. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Ramona become a main character the way she did. It was great to see the other characters get fleshed out too, like Knives with her musical abilities realized.
The second I saw Scott turn into coins I found myself grinning like a child, we dont deserve to be spoiled like this. The animation in the action shots is really floaty and hard to follow imo but everything else about the presentation and preformances is stunning Easily one of the best animated shows in the last few years.
Having done the "knew nothing about Scott Pilgrim, binged the anime and the movie immediately after" -I agree, it's a fantastic route. And, if Fionna and Cake (a gem made specifically with me in mind) hadn't come out this year, I'd award it my "best show of 2023" ribbon without a moment's hesitation.
I didn't think this show would make Lucas, Matthew, and the twins my new favorite characters from the franchise yet here we are. Even Gideon just seems like a total bro that would be fun to hang out and play games with. It was nice seeing the exes bond with each other instead of just bonding over their obsessions with Ramona. Still kind of wish we got to see Knives' dad being a ninja though like in the comics but oh well, this show as great.
