2023, Netflix (8 episodes)
created by Bryan Lee O'Malley and BenDavid Grabinski
Oh, it's so nice to be surprised.
The film was optioned and written before the six-issue comic series was even halfway complete, so the film and the comic are very much the same for nearly half the story, but then diverge pretty wildly. When a new anime series was announced coming from Netflix, with O'Malley adapting his own work, with Wright on as producer, and with pretty much the entire film cast coming back and reprising their roles, I thought this was going to be the literal adaptation of the comics, going verbatim. Strangely, though, the trailer seemed to be mirroring only the beats of the film. Still, I love the film so much it was hard not to get excited.
November 17 was a hotly anticipated date. So when it hit, the first surprise was the seemingly unavoidable critical fanfare warning of MAJOR SPOILERS. I mean, I've seen the movie, I've read the comic...what could be so spoilery.
Episode one with only little nuanced variations is 20 minutes of an animated repeat of the film's first 20 minutes in O'Malley's illustrated style.
Scott is introduced, an unemployed slacker hipster in mid-aughts Toronto, plays in a band with his ex girlfriend and lives in his cool gay roommate's tiny bachelor basement apartment. He's sort-but-not dating Knives Chau, a 17-year-old high schooler absolutely infatuated with him, but he becomes instantaneously smitten with Ramona Flowers, the two-tone dyed-hair retro-fashioned uber-cool Netflix DVD delivery girl that uses his mind as a subspace highway, and thus is the literal girl of his dreams. In attempting to date Ramona, this sets off alarm bells from the League of Evil Exes, an organization of Ramona's ex-romantic interests who are still interested. Evil ex #1 Matthew Patel crashes Scott's band's gig, where he and Scott fight.
If you're a fan of the film, do not read any further. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then yeah, read on.
In the film, this is Scott's first victory against Ramona's evil exes, on his way to winning her heart. Yeah, I agree, it's a little... regressive, and robs Ramona of agency. As much as I love the film, I'm absolutely critical of the fact that Ramona has very little agency in her own romance with Scott. In the comics, ultimately, Scott learns that all the fighting was for an ideal, an obsession, that he doesn't even really know or love Ramona. He winds up with Knives in the end...which, in itself, is a little problematic given him being 23 and her 17.
In Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, well, Scott is defeated by Matthew Patel in that first fight. Like, killed. Turned into coins (as people who are defeated in Scott Pilgrim are want to do). And things literally take off from there.
Another spoiler: Ramona discovers Scott isn't dead, but was teleported out of the fight and made to appear dead. The series then becomes Ramona's investigation into Scott's disappearance, which results in her confronting her "evil" exes.
In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the world literally revolves around Scott Pilgrim. Here, Scott is the vehicle for showing that there's a world that exists outside of him. Each of the characters of the Scott Pilgrim universe gets elaborated upon in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. They become full blown, complicated characters. Each of the exes isn't reduced to being someone's love interest, they have their own wants and desires explored. Scott's band mates, Wallace Wells, Julie Powers, Young Neil, Knives, they all get their own journeys in this series that don't fixate on their involvement with Scott. We see how the world of Scott Pilgrim looks when we're not looking at the world through Scott Pilgrim, and it's a lot less binary, a lot less simplified. The show is lovingly critical of the film, with Edgar Wrights full approval.
When the comic gives Scott his redemptive arc, to show his personal growth, it's a longer and more involved journey than what the Scott of the film has time for. Scott's journey of self discovery in the film is pretty shallow. Scott has a much different journey of self-discovery in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and it's even more rewarding than the comics version. It offers Scott no easy answers or easy victories, and it also involves seeing Ramona as more than just a reward to be won. It present not Ramona, but love, as what the reward is, and understands that love is shared and requires respect for self and others, it requires conscientiousness and dedication, and isn't just earned once, but has to continue to be earned.
It's a delightfully surprising show that delivers a very different, and very welcome third narrative to the world of Scott Pilgrim. It ties itself pretty tightly to Wright's film (there are a lot of meta jokes about the film, but also, the film gets made within the show) but I don't think it's mandatory to know the film to understand the show. It's its own journey.
I'm not an anime guy and this is most definitely anime, but anime taken from O'Malley's style, which itself is a sort of manga-adjacent. There's a pacing to anime, where dialogue scenes can feel pretty stilted as the animators have a micro-pause for a facial reaction or whatever, but the action sequences are frenetic. This holds true here, though I should say, the timing of the dialogue comes and goes. The fight sequences are pretty incredible, super creative, and paired with expecting the unexpected, super duper fun. And is the music of Sex Bob-omb by Broken Social Scene (or a subset thereof) this time ( Joseph Trapanese and Anamanaguchi is the series composer)? I saw that Emily Haines and Metric were back as the voice of Envy Adams and the Clash at Demonhead.
I thought I would like this a lot, anime or no, but turns out I loved it a lot. It's everything the world of Scott Pilgrim was missing, and it's so, so satisfying.
*ok, I have to admit, I wasn't sold on Cera until I saw the film. I didn't think he would be able to play cocky enough, but Cera managed to be his own special version of a dick.
Its weird, we are just not getting into it. I admit, I am more aware of the movie than the comic books, but I am totally down for the art style and the anime/manga nods, but its leaving us both flat. the voice acting seems stilted and I am not sure if its because they are trying (badly) to recreate the rhythm of anime speak but they all sound.. really flat, kind of just phoning it in.
ReplyDeletegonna give it a few more eps to see if we warm up.
I think the stilted voice acting is a bit of the anime thing (it's an actual anime studio making the show)... it bothered me in the trailer, and in the first episode or two but it does pick up and get punchier.
DeleteI would not accuse anyone of phoning it in. Everyone involved loves being involved...All these people have gotten together for live table reads at least twice and they've had a single email thread going amongst all them since 2009. Ok, maybe Anna Kendrick phoned it in, because Stacey only has, like, 4 lines.