Is it a bad adaptation of the source material? Yes. Was it the best decision Bryan Lee O’Malley could have possibly made? YES.
By Caleb Jackson
Caleb Jackson’s mouth falling agape at the sheer splendour that is Scott Pilgrim (Caleb Jackson/CanCulture)
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! GO WATCH THE ANIME BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER. I'M BEING SO SERIOUS RIGHT NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT ALREADY DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW. YOU WILL THANK ME LATER
Scott Pilgrim is a franchise that has always been a huge part of my life. Ever since Scott Pilgrim vs The World came out way back in 2010, I have been an avid fan. I’ve seen the movie countless times, played the game to completion and own both the black and white original releases and the collector’s edition colour copies of the original comic series (which I read regularly).
So, believe me when I say this anime ROCKED. MY. SHIT. It is simply phenomenal. From the gorgeous animation by Science SARU to the soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese and series staple Anamanaguchi. With the movie’s director Edgar Wright returning as an executive producer and the entire cast reprising their film roles, and the script written by none other than the creator of Scott Pilgrim himself, Bryan Lee O’Malley, it’s unsurprising that the show is as good as it is.
That being said, there’s an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed before I can go into any further detail about it. This anime lied to everyone through its teeth and it can barely be considered an adaptation of the source material.
The premise of this show can be boiled down to a relatively simple one: What if Scott (played by local Brampton-ite Michael Cera) were to… well, take off? What happens if we remove Scott Pilgrim from his own story? The entire first episode is almost a one-to-one recreation of the first book, with some things omitted for time constraints. It adds and changes stuff here and there like the replacement of the iconic Amazon.ca joke with a Netflix one, and the introduction to the League of Evil Exes immediately. But where it really goes off the rails is when Scott dies in his very first fight with Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha).
This move floored me. I was sitting on my couch with my jaw scraping the living room carpet. It was so abrupt, so sudden, and the show doesn’t give you any time to process what has just occurred by cutting to credits shortly after. The very next episode opens with Scott Pilgrim’s funeral. All of the promotional material led everyone to believe this was just another retelling of Scott’s battle against the League and his life but instead, we got something so much greater.
The real plot revolves around Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) going on a who-dun-it? mystery adventure investigating Scott’s death and figuring out if he could possibly be alive. Because of this, the show gives a lot of the limelight to Ramona and the rest of the cast, most notably the villains themselves. The Exes get so much more time to grow and develop, and it is spectacular.
Matthew Patel usurps Gideon Graves’ (Jason Schwartzman) job as the “G-Man” and leader of the League, and for the first time since Gideon was introduced back in 2004, we get a backstory for him. Apparently, his real name is Gordon Goose and he is some nobody from North Bay, Ontario. Go figure.
All of the Exes are confronted by Ramona as potential suspects for Scott’s kidnapping/death, and in the end, they are all innocent. Beyond that, Ramona even reconciles with most of them and the Exes put their lives in the League behind them and grow as people. Something that they never got a chance to do with Scott around.
The show takes this new premise and runs with it. Characters that have never previously interacted now have entire arcs together, and you get to see a lot more depth in Ramona than ever before. Due to Scott being an entirely unreliable narrator, Ramona remains a mystery for most of the entire book series and the movie. She certainly gets development and attention too, but with Scott in the picture, she never could truly flourish.
What about our titular protagonist though? Where is that lovable douche? Well as it turns out, he is the big villain. Kind of. Scott of the future, labelled Older Scott (Will Forte) has kidnapped Scott to make sure he never has a relationship with Ramona due to her breaking his heart later on in their life. He doesn’t succeed however, and in the grand finale, he attempts to kill everyone in the cast to ensure his romance never occurs to spare his heart. This is by far one of the most interesting moves of the show, as it allows our protagonist to truly see the extent of his own flaws, and reflect on his actions in a way he never could before.
It’s quite poetic really, the books and movie focus on Scott coming to terms with and owning up to his past mistakes. Now, Scott has to wrestle with what he could become. The show really pushes what the core of Scott Pilgrim’s story is about, flawed people confronting the worst parts of themselves to be better people towards others.
The anime doesn’t hesitate to show you that Scott and Ramona’s actions are objectionable, but that doesn’t make them any less as people. It completely makes sense that this version of the story is written by O’Malley in his 40s when the OG was made when he was just as much of a confused 20-something as Scott himself.
The show isn’t without some problems.With the relatively short runtime of 8 episodes, it tackles a lot of material that I feel could have benefitted from more time to explore. There are a lot of things missing here, like Stephen Stills’ (Mark Webber) coming-out arc and a few characters that are touched on loosely but not fully explored like the Katayanagi Twins (both voiced by Julian Cihi).
I also found the plot itself to move a bit too quickly, as Ramona’s “investigation” only really ends up as four of the eight episodes present. On top of all of this, I can see it being incredibly inaccessible to a new audience, as the entire plot and premise hinges on familiarity with the property to really engage with its themes and presentation.
Despite this, the anime is clearly a love letter for fans of Scott Pilgrim. Each episode is simply eye candy, with popping visuals and clean animation. The soundtrack is nothing but bangers, with the cast even lending vocals and instruments to all soundtrack versions of the songs Sex Bob-Omb plays just like in the original film. The voice cast has to be commended too, because everyone absolutely kills it. Especially Young Neil (Johnny Simmons), his whispery dream-like line delivery is consistently hilarious.
The writing is as witty and sharp as ever, and the quality on display is simply something to marvel at. If you’re a fan and can get behind the complete rug pull that is the first episode, it will take you on an unexpected and unforgettable journey that makes the world of Scott Pilgrim feel as if it has come full circle.
If you aren’t, then what are you waiting for? Go consume some of the best media you will probably ever experience in your lifetime.
9/10. Scott, you are the salt of the earth. Whoops, did I say salt? I meant scum. Slip of the tongue.