Scott Pilgrim Takes Off- Series Review

I have a lot love for Scott Pilgrim as I got I to it during my formative years. I used to go London monthly in my teens and spend the day there, going to the Gosh Comics (When it was opposite the British Museum), Forbidden Planet, Rathbone Place CEX,  Virgin Megastore and the HMV flagship store.

Looking through the graphic novel aisles I used to pick stuff that looked cool to me, and because it was pre-internet, it was a crap shoot. Sometimes I'd get the known classic like Maus, The Sandman, Hellblazer and Alan Moore’s ouvre etc but sometimes I'd branch out and go with my gut. That's why my graphic novel collection is vast but also very eclectic. I found some genuinely bonafide amazing stuff by luck: Blankets, Persepolis and Demo come to mind.

One of the graphic novels I stumbled across was Scott Pilgrim. I liked its slacker vibe but also the pop culture references that didn't try to be too hip or cool. If you knew you knew and if you didn't that was fine, the main story was interesting enough without having to 'get' every reference or nod.

I got all the graphic novels as they came out, loving them all until it's conclusion with the 6th and final novel. Years later I enjoyed watching the underappreciated movie at the cinema and playing the brilliant retro-style belt scrolled beat'em up videogame on my Xbox 360. That banging Anamanaguchi soundtrack blew my mind and I saw them play in Heaven, London all the while risking being stuck when a rail strike was declared. I had to see them though and risked it: I couldn't have missed it.

So, it was with a lot of excitement that I sat to watch the animated series for which I had avoided all reviews and trailer breakdowns. What I can say is that, having watched the series Bryan Lee O’Malley has worked alongside co-writer BenDavid Grabinski, director Abel Góngora, and the Science SARU animation studio to create something different- a remix of his work of sorts.

First off, the animation is on point and faithful to the graphic novels however, the story goes places the graphic novels did not. The new narrative created sort of makes sense in this world: it turns what was a kind of boss rush into a story of loss, growth, rebirth and redemption. It's a modern take on the coming of age story but this time the problematic trope of the woman being the prize is subverted so Ramona becomes the most intriguing character out of the lot. She mentions in episode 1 that she is a Colombo fan and this turns into a procedural with clues as to Scott's whereabouts making up the spine of the show.
The series also gives other characters a chance to shine and expands the lore, eliciting a lot more empathy and understanding, even for the seven evil exes. For some viewers, this will be great news but for others their perspective may be similar to the old bait and switch which angered many Masters of the Universe: Revelations viewers.

I loved the boldness of the direction and, as well as the epically choreographed fights, it is the small moments that really shone; Kim and Knives just vibing and jamming away together, the Roxy and Ramona fight when they go through various movie genres, the meta episode where Edgar Wrong tries to direct the movie but it all goes disastrously, well, wrong and the final epic battle that isn't what you expect it to be.

This is all supported by a stunning soundtrack and great voice acting, which is no surprise considering that they got everyone back to reprise their roles from the movie- this is a definite get.

Overall, the series does diverge quite a lot and quickly from the graphic novel from the first episode and, even though it's a bit of a tangent, I do like that it didn't just slavishly follow the books as we have the movie and the graphic novels for that. I welcome our remixing overlords and hope that many other adaptations, where there are problematic elements such as a 23 year old dating a 17 year old high schooler, do this to make them relevant and appropriate. The series gets a high recommend from me