Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

• 1. Introduction

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  Scott Pilgrim Takes Off begins by getting rid of its own hero. In the first episode of this Netflix anime miniseries, Scott Pilgrim vanishes, and the show carrying his name has to keep going without him.

  The series was developed by Bryan Lee O'Malley, the creator of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. It brings back the voice cast of the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

  Three questions run through the story of how it was made. Why would a creator return to his own comics by removing their lead? How did a film cast from years earlier end up back in the recording booth? And did audiences and critics welcome the gamble?

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• 2. A Missing Bassist

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  In Toronto, a bassist in an indie band falls for Ramona Flowers, a mysterious delivery girl. Her seven evil exes then set out to deal with him, just as they did in the original graphic novels and the film.

  The anime presents itself as an alternate retelling, and then it breaks the pattern. Scott faces Ramona's first evil ex, Matthew Patel, and loses. He is seemingly killed.

  The fallout reaches everyone nearby, including the remaining exes, whose lives change drastically. Ramona hears that Scott may still be alive, and she starts investigating how and why he disappeared.

  Meanwhile, other characters are busy with a project of their own. They are working on a fictional adaptation of Scott's life, so the show watches people turn a missing man into a story while Ramona searches for the real one.

  That unusual structure came from a pitch made years before the series reached screens.

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• 3. The Reluctant Creator

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  In 2018, a producer named Jared LeBoff contacted the film director Edgar Wright to ask whether he would like to work on a new Scott Pilgrim project. Early in 2019, LeBoff took a different idea to O'Malley himself. It was an anime to be made with the studio Science Saru.

  O'Malley was not interested. He did not want to simply retell the graphic novels, and he has said he had "no story or motivation".

  The answer changed in 2020. O'Malley and BenDavid Grabinski pitched a story that starts out familiar and then swerves away at one early battle. Universal Content Productions and Netflix approved the idea.

  In January 2022, news broke that Netflix and Universal Content Productions were developing the anime. Netflix had ordered several other anime and animated projects based on popular properties around the same time. O'Malley was named showrunner, writer and executive producer, joined by Grabinski. The animator Abel Góngora would direct.

  Wright and Michael Bacall, who had directed and written the 2010 live-action film, signed on as executive producers. Science Saru handled the animation.

  In March 2023, the series was officially greenlit, and Wright remarked that it expanded the Scott Pilgrim universe. The next question was who would speak the lines.

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• 4. The Old Gang

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  On the 30th of March 2023, Netflix released a cast announcement video. It confirmed that the actors from the 2010 film would return to voice their characters.

  Wright had assembled those actors for the film in the first place, and he helped convince every one of them to come back. He described casting and working on the film as "one of the proudest and most enjoyable achievements of his career".

  The group already had practice reuniting. They had gathered for events marking the film's 10th anniversary, and the team was reportedly excited to have another Scott Pilgrim project to make together.

  Wright also posted on social media that day that the release was "imminent".

  One casting detail needed fixing. Shota and Keita Saito had played the Katayanagi twins in non-speaking roles in the film, and they were left out of the announcement. Julian Cihi was subsequently named as the voice of both twins, while the production promised more cast news later.

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• 5. Updating the Comics

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  Nearly two decades separate the original comic's publication from the anime, and O'Malley and Grabinski wanted the new version to feel current. Their stated aim was to capture the spirit of the comics and the movie while still refreshing details.

  Ramona's job shows the change most clearly. In the source material she delivers for Amazon. In the anime she delivers DVDs for Netflix.

  The writers also gave more room to the evil exes, expanding on their backstories. Characters who once served mostly as obstacles in Scott's path now arrived with histories of their own.

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• 6. Sound and Needle Drops

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  The score was composed by Joseph Trapanese and Anamanaguchi. The latter had already written music for the video game adaptation of the film.

  The opening theme, "Bloom", was performed by the Japanese rock band Necry Talkie.

  The licensed songs range widely. They include "What's a Girl to Do?" by Cristina, "Breathless" by X, and "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend. "You Wouldn't Like Me" by Tegan & Sara and "United States of Whatever" by Liam Lynch also appear.

  Older country and rock tracks sit alongside them, such as "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and "Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top. "If You Could Read My Mind" is heard in a version by Stars on 54. Further choices are "Kidnapped by Neptune" by Scout Niblett, "Police Truck" by Dead Kennedys and "Scott Pilgrim" by Plumtree.

  The series also features covers. These are "I Will Remember You", originally by Sarah McLachlan, "Konya Wa Hurricane", originally by Kinuko Oomori, and "Techno Syndrome", originally by The Immortals.

  Lakeshore Records released a soundtrack album to coincide with the series.

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• 7. Release and Reception

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  In August 2023, Netflix announced that the series would arrive on the 17th of November and run for eight episodes. A Blu-ray edition followed on the 24th of March 2026.

  On Rotten Tomatoes, 96 percent of 50 critics' reviews were positive, with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. The site's consensus praised the show for "Retaining the heart and wit of the original movie" while "carving out a fresh path for itself". On Metacritic, it holds a score of 82 out of 100 from 20 reviews, which the site labels "universal acclaim".

  Rendy Jones of RogerEbert.com wrote that the show "shatters expectations". Jones added that it "cleverly reexamines its entire story with a profound twist without sacrificing any pieces of its identity."

  Alison Herman of Variety said the series "successfully combines the innovative style and comic charm of its predecessors with a new spin". She wrote that the spin "corrects for the tropes we can now see with hindsight". In her view, the show is not for children but "is meant for former kids revisiting an old favorite through more grown-up eyes."

  Maya Phillips of The New York Times was not won over. She called the storylines "bland" and the jokes "lackluster".

  Awards bodies took notice. At the Critics' Choice Awards on the 14th of January 2024, the series was in the Best Animated Series category. It was noted as the first anime series to be nominated for that award, and the first to win it.

  The ACE Eddie Awards on the 3rd of March 2024 listed Keisuke Yanagi in the Best Edited Animated Series category for the episode "Ramona Rents a Video". The Astra TV Awards on the 8th of December 2024 listed the show for Best Anime Series. It also appears in the awards table for a GLAAD Media Award in 2024, in the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series category.

  Its last listing is the Crunchyroll Anime Awards on the 25th of May 2025, in the Best Romance category.

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• 8. Beyond Season One

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  In an interview with Rolling Stone, O'Malley was cautious about a second season. He said he never says never, but that another season would take "about 50 different miracles simultaneously". In November 2024, he confirmed that the series would not continue on Netflix.

  The cast sounded more hopeful. In February 2024, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ellen Wong told CBR they would be happy to return to their characters in any future Scott Pilgrim adaptation, including a sequel to Takes Off. Winstead added, "if that creative spark is back, I think we would all be ready to tackle it again."

  O'Malley turned to another medium. He began developing a sequel video game to Takes Off, titled Scott Pilgrim EX, which was released on the 3rd of March 2026.

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