I want to get this out of the way you've probably been hearing a lot of crazy rumors about Scott Pilgrim Takes Off that it's disrespectful to the source material or that it's some "woke" rewrite that kills off the main character in the first episode and replaces him with Ramona for no reason so I'd like to set the record straight. Yes Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is not the 1 to 1 adaptation of the beloved graphic novel series that people have been waiting years for so a lot of folks online are understandably pissed off and choosing to relentlessly trash on the show some without even finishing it, but from the perspective of someone who’s watched the movie, read the books, and played the game countless times let me tell you why this isn’t a bad thing.

I want to begin by expressing a heaping load of gratitude this is new Scott Pilgrim content in the year 2023 something I’d have thought was impossible a few years ago and yeah I feel really bad for those people who just wanted an exact recreation of the books because I was one of them but now that I’ve watched Scott Pilgrim Takes Off I can honestly say I’m more than happy with what we got here. Creator Bryan Lee O’Malley has stated in multiple interviews that he regrets not being able to dive deeper into the lives and struggles of Ramona and her Evil Exes because he was focused on writing Scott’s journey from Scott’s perspective so this fun little 8 episode AU (sorta sequel) gives the fans an opportunity to see Ramona and the Exes interact with a larger cast of characters that they previously had nothing to do with outside of maybe some one sentence interactions. While it may not have been what you wanted this was clearly made as a love letter to fans of this series and it's characters (example: Getting to see future Scott and Ramona, Character dynamics that only existed in the books like Knives and Steven being remixed for a new timeline, and most importantly seeing characters who were criminally under developed in the books like Matthew Patel take on massive new roles in the story) it's just pure fan service in the best of ways.

I know none of this will change the way many fans feel and I hope we can get that perfect adaptation some day but please don't let the hate this series is attracting prevent you from giving it a chance like I almost did. If you truly love Scott Pilgrim (the books) for more than just Scott Pilgrim (the character) then getting to see a new story from the characters and world you love written and produced by the names that made it big in the first place will never be a bad thing! This isn't some cash grab it's gift from Bryan to the fans so based on my first viewing I'll give it a 8.5/10