Spoilers ahead.
I’m going to preface this by saying that this adaptation of the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is very good, but I do have some issues with it.
The good things range from deliberately spelling out that it was not OK that Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) was dating a high schooler in the film. The animation style was also amazing and it was refreshing to see the different style of episodes. I also loved that we were able to dive deeper into the backstories of the seven evil exes and why they might’ve become evil. Also the fact that Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) apologized to the people she hurt.
Now all of that is well and good, but my biggest issue with the anime (yes, it is an anime and I will fight you about it) is that it makes Scott Pilgrim the victim. Scott Pilgrim, in both the original graphic novel and Scott Pilgrim vs The World, is a terrible person, as is Ramona Flowers. They’re both extremely toxic, and that was the point. The live-action movie screwed this up a bit by having Michael Cera play him, and the target audience (a crowd of Scott Pilgrims) emphasized with him because of how he was cast. The point is that Scott Pilgrim is terrible, but the anime, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, makes it seem like he is a victim–until he goes crazy over Future Ramona wanting some space.
When people like Scott Pilgrim are victimized, it convinces people like him that they are victims, when in truth, they’re cheating, they’re dating high schoolers, they’re squatting in their friends’ homes. I am glad that Scott did have some character development in the alternate universe; I just feel like it wasn’t true to who Scott Pilgrim is. He wises up very quickly after being kidnapped by his future self, while the original universe Pilgrim had to die to realize what he was fighting for. Once we meet Future Scott, he does become the villain, but that’s his future self. His past self is a victim.
It seems like I’m complaining a lot about this issue, and I am. I loved this anime, but they took away what Scott Pilgrim was at his core: a bad person. Just because he’s the protagonist, he doesn’t need to be good, but this new show makes him good. He’s not who he is in the future: he’s a victim. And Scott Pilgrim should not be a victim.
Nevertheless, I loved this show. It was so much fun to see this alternate reality, and I ate up every episode, which dove into the aspects of who the exes were. I loved the meta jokes that have been a part of this entity, forever. “Straight Wallace” was a personal favorite joke of mine. I do suggest you watch this show, but maybe watch the movie afterwards. Both are currently on Netflix.
