Scott Pilgrim Takes Off hits the ground running as a fresh reimagining of the Scott Pilgrim canon, but falters for the remaining stretch where it dons the mask of a detective who’s clearly never been a detective before. Like Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion rebuild film series, Takes Off starts off like all other Scott Pilgrim entries. Scott’s in a band and he’s dating Knives, a high schooler. He dreams of the rollerblading Ramona Flowers, meets her in real life and they go out on a date. Then at his band’s gig both Knives and Ramona are there for him, but before any awkward drama can get underway Scott is suddenly attacked by Ramona’s first evil ex Matthew Patel. Now here is where the story diverts from norm and charts new territory. The League of Evil Exes has an executive reshuffle and Ramona assumes the main character role. She goes on a manhunt, investigating all her evil exes, most of whom obviously lack the intelligence to pull off what she’s suspecting. There’s some flashy ridiculousness, especially with Lucas Lee (whatever*) taking on an army of paparazzi ninjas with his skateboard. It was a diversion from the story at hand. There were no stakes as it doesn’t matter if he lives or dies and it doesn’t bring us any closer to solving the mystery. Likewise Wallace Wells’ on-set affair doesn’t add anything. These arduous kinds of nothings take up the bulk of most episodes. Ramona flounders as a detective (not surprising, considering she isn't one) and her final solution doesn’t at all feel earned. I like that along the way she comes to an understanding with her exes and the show humanises them in classic anime flashback form, but besides this there isn’t much to digest. A whole lot of bubblegum and not enough meat, albeit, it’s better than your average chew. The last couple episodes feel like a total cop-out with time travel to explain everything and the final fight with Oldboy Scott misses the mark. It's not dynamic at all playing out like a Pokémon battle where everyone waits for their turn to punch and get punched. I was pumped for the new directions Takes Off was heading for, but that excitement was buried by the time credits rolled. A faux-procedural wrapped in sparkling paper, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is a better gift to look at, wonder and weigh than to rip open. I’m glad it exists and Science SARU can expand their horizons by it, but I sure hope it leads only to better things.

*I loved whenever Lucas Lee said “Whatever.” It so perfectly encapsulates the character, his carefree attitude, and even some of his more heartfelt moments. It’s his “Fuhgeddaboutit!” like Al Pacino in Donnie Brasco.