Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is an anime television series developed by Bryan Lee O'Malley and BenDavid Grabinski for Netflix. The series is based on the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels written and drawn by O'Malley, with the entire main cast from the 2010 film adaptation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, reprising their roles for the English voice cast. The series was released on November 17, 2023, to critical acclaim.

Unlike the film, which is a largely faithful adaptation of the comics, Takes Off features a different plot, wherein the titular Scott Pilgrim disappears in the first episode; the remainder of the series follows his love interest Ramona Flowers as she tries to find out who was responsible for his disappearance, all whilst other characters within the story work on a fictional adaptation of Scott's life.

Premise
The series, set in Toronto, Canada, serves as an alternate retelling of the original Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series and movie. Like in the original series, Scott Pilgrim, a bassist in an indie band, falls in love with Ramona Flowers, a mysterious delivery girl, attracting the attention of Ramona's seven evil exes. Things take an unexpected turn when Scott loses his battle against Ramona's first evil ex Matthew Patel and is seemingly killed. As the trajectory of everyone's lives, including those of Ramona's evil exes, changes drastically as a result, Ramona learns that Scott may still be alive and investigates his disappearance.

Voice cast
All of the main English-language cast reprise their roles from the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

English

Japanese

Development
In 2018, Jared LeBoff had reached out to Edgar Wright asking if he would be interested in working on a new Scott Pilgrim project. Then, in early 2019, LeBoff approached O'Malley about doing a Scott Pilgrim anime with Science Saru. O'Malley was uninterested at the time, as he didn't want to do a straight retelling of the graphic novels and had "no story or motivation". In 2020, O'Malley and Grabinski pitched a story which starts as the same story, but deviates at the fight with Patel. Universal Content Productions and Netflix greenlit the idea. In January 2022, it was reported that Netflix and UCP were developing an anime series based on the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley; at the time, Netflix had ordered several other anime and animated projects based on popular properties. O'Malley was announced as showrunner, writer, and executive producer alongside BenDavid Grabinski, with animator Abel Góngora directing. Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall, who directed and wrote the 2010 live-action film adaptation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, were also involved with the anime and serve as executive producers. The animation production is provided by Science Saru. In March 2023, it was announced that the series had officially been green-lit, with Wright noting that it expanded the Scott Pilgrim universe.

Casting
On March 30, 2023, Netflix released a cast announcement video, confirming that the cast of the 2010 film would reprise their roles. Wright had assembled the actors for the film and helped convince them all to return for the anime. He reflected that casting and working on the film was "one of the proudest and most enjoyable achievements of [his] career". They had previously reunited for 10th anniversary events, with the team reportedly excited to have another project in the Scott Pilgrim universe to create. Shota and Keita Saito, the actors who portrayed the Katayanagi twins in non-speaking roles in the film, were not mentioned in the cast announcement; it was subsequently announced that Julian Cihi would voice both twins. The production confirmed that further cast members would be announced later.

Writing
When O'Malley and Grabinski began writing the series, they wanted to capture the spirit of the comics and movie, but still update things in the near two-decades since the comic's original publication. Some of these changes include changing Ramona's job from a delivery girl for Amazon to delivering DVDs for Netflix and also expanding on the backstories of the evil exes.

Music
The series' music is composed by Joseph Trapanese and Anamanaguchi, the latter having previously composed for the film's video game adaptation. The show's opening theme, "Bloom" is performed by Japanese rock band Necry Talkie. "What's a Girl to Do?" by Cristina, "Breathless" by X, "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend, "You Wouldn't Like Me" by Tegan & Sara, "United States of Whatever" by Liam Lynch, "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, "If You Could Read My Mind" by Stars on 54, "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top, "Kidnapped by Neptune" by Scout Niblett, "Scott Pilgrim" by Plumtree, "Police Truck" by Dead Kennedys, as well as covers of "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan, "Konya Wa Hurricane" by Kinuko Oomori and "Techno Syndrome" by The Immortals, are also in the show. The soundtrack album was released on November 17, 2023, by Lakeshore Records.

Release
Wright posted on social media that its release was "imminent" on March 30, 2023, while discussing the cast. Netflix announced in August of that same year that the series would be released on November 17 and would consist of eight episodes.

Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Retaining the heart and wit of the original movie while also carving out a fresh path for itself, Scott Pilgrim takes off in the animated medium and soars." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 82 out of 100, based on 20 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Rendy Jones of RogerEbert.com praised the show saying it "shatters expectations" and "cleverly reexamines its entire story with a profound twist without sacrificing any pieces of its identity." Alison Herman of Variety magazine said it "successfully combines the innovative style and comic charm of its predecessors with a new spin that corrects for the tropes we can now see with hindsight" and notes that the show is not for children but "is meant for former kids revisiting an old favorite through more grown-up eyes."

Maya Phillips from The New York Times expressed dissatisfaction with the work, specifically targeting its narrative and humor. Phillips described the storylines as "bland" and the jokes as "lackluster".

Future
In an interview with Rolling Stone, O'Malley said of the series' future that there are no current plans for a second season, stating "I never say never, but right now, it seems like it would take about 50 different miracles simultaneously for another season to happen. So we'll see."