Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is my favorite movie of all time. Yeah, I don’t watch that many movies but I was just simply in love with the cast of asshole irredeemable characters and the whole unshameful nerdy fan service that felt like the most tasteful way to do it. Needless to say, I was hyped that we were getting an anime so my thoughts on this show are unabashedly biased. The short gist of it is simply that, if you loved the Edgar Wright movie, you’ll more or less like this one as it references very heavily on that and is basically written in the same tone and style. Honestly this barely functions as a review, this is really just my loose collection of thoughts as I’ll be referencing the movie a lot to highlight what this show does (Sorry for comic book readers but I haven’t read them so I can’t make much comparisons with them).

There isn’t much I’m actually able to tell about the story without going into major spoilers, but by the end of episode 1, it already establishes how it differentiates itself from past media of the same name with a unique twist in how it adapts the story. Fans who expected a faithful reimagining of the beloved story in anime-form might be disappointed, but there’s much to appreciate in the bold new direction it went with how original events and backstories and recontextualised in a different narrative perspective, especially with how characters are further elevated in this interpretation. There are some issues towards the end where a certain conflict goes unexplained and also the epilogue feels like it tries a little too hard in giving everyone a happy ending, but it still felt like a solid conclusion nonetheless.

Without spoiling much, this series essentially takes its time in really fleshing out the characters that originally didn’t have all that much screen time in the movie. Scott’s friends and Ramona’s evil exes were very fun in the Edgar Wright movie, but it was a shame that not many of the characters really got that much screen time and development which I’m glad this show really addresses with how many of the characters get their well deserved focus. My favorite particular standouts were Wallace and Lucas with how much of a gay gigachad Wallace was and how fun the anime presented Lucas as this goofball badass himbo just doing whatever he wants. Wish there was more for the twins Ramona dated and Knives really got the short end of the stick with how little she was focused compared to the movie. How this particular anime fleshes out its characters really drives home the message of even if people are nasty assholes, everyone is still trying to be better and it is a fruitful endeavor to do so.

The presentation for this series is amazingly immaculate. These character designs are the perfect translation of the original comics and I assumed the simple designs really let the animators go real hard on the action be it fights, general movement and even stationary scenes. Ramona’s rollerblading, Lucas’s skateboarding, and all other manners of badass 2000s era traveling just looked amazing to look at paired with exemplary sound design that really sells how cool the overall vibe is. A personal highlight for me has to be Ramona vs Roxy fight where it was its most inventive in using different framings to portray the fight which also happened to be incredibly resonant with the narrative of their past history together. All of this coupled with Anamaguchi and Joseph Trapenese’s godlike soundtrack that feels very reminiscent to the movie’s soundtrack while also being unique in its own with adding a twist in being for animation. I am listening to the soundtrack right now on spotify as I write this.

Scott Pilgrim: Takes Off is essentially the Eva Rebuilds/Final Fantasy VII Remake of its previous iterations. It disguises itself as what would otherwise be an updated version of a beloved classic and flips the script in turning into something that further elevates and exemplifies what makes the previous one so great by expanding on established ideas that were already done really well in the medium of animation that delivers what it can do most effectively in this format. Not everyone will be fond of this iteration in interpreting the Scott Pilgrim comics, but I very much welcome it as an interesting take of what is my favorite movie (I have only seen 27 movies).