I was not exactly the biggest fan of live-action Scott Pilgrim vs. The World film. Oh, I thought it was a fun film but, thanks to a lot of fans proclaiming this was the one of the best movies ever made, my own expectations were admittedly impossible to reach. I do know objectively that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a pretty cool movie but not the second coming as fans were exaggerating.

Still, I was pretty stoked at the prospect of Netflix making an animated series based on the franchise. Not only did they manage to get the entire cast of the live-action film to do the voices of their prospective characters, Netflix also made the cool decision to utilize Bryan Lee O’Malley’s distinct blend of Western and anime artstyle. And the trailer did make the animation for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off look really cool.

So, Netflix just made all episodes of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off available for the world to see. Well, I would say, for me, it’s almost like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Super high impossible to meet expectations, leading me to feel a little let down.

Oh, I do have to mention that this will be a SPOILER FREE review for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. I’m saying this right off the bat because, if you think this is just an anime retelling of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World or even the original comic/manga, boy, are you in for a shock! In fact, I’m not even going to give a summary of the basic premise of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off because even leaking out just a dribble of information would be kind of like revealing something big. I will say you will have some more appreciation for this Netflix series if you watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World before, though. So, yeah, no plot summary for this SPOILER FREE review.

Despite this being SPOILER FREE, I will have to give my overall thoughts on the story of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. For me, this was the definition of “mixed bag” for me as my expectations of what it was going to be about was drastically different from what I got. But in a good way… sorta. It certainly isn’t predictable, especially if you were expecting it to be a copy of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. By the end of the first episode, I was like “What the heck just happened?” I was honestly stunned and I kind of started to hate the show as I felt as if Netflix tricked me as there is a huge bait and switch of the story by this point.

But I still pushed on throughout the subsequent episodes and I started to warm up to the show and the new premise. Once again, I’m sorry for being vague but, once again, SPOILER FREE review here. I can see people just tuning out as they aren’t getting exactly what they thought but, as I’m the type of viewer who does like it when my expectations are subverted, I did like it but I had to push past my hate for the old switcheroo. In the end, however, I did not really like the big reveal of who’s the mastermind of everything as it does come out of nowhere. So, yeah, I guess the entire middle part was great but bookended by some really meh stuff.

I will say this change in the expected plot does allow you more time to get to know the other characters other than Scott Pilgrim a lot more. A lot of time is now actually focused on Ramona Flowers and how she got involved with her exes who eventually form the League of Evil Exes. Heck, in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, each one of the League of Evil Exes just felt like boss characters Scott Pilgrim had to fight one by one and, as such, they aren’t given much personality than just surface level “evil ex” vibes. In Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, each one is given some kind of backstory so you do kind of understand their motivations and, in turn, they get fleshed out a little more. This also means more time is given to all of the secondary characters, like Wallace Wells, Young Neil, Knives Chau and even the potty mouth Kim Powers, which is really nice as they don’t seem like background characters anymore and are now more integral to the plot.

Sadly, as there is more time devoted to the secondary characters, some cracks do form in their characterization thanks to some awkward voice acting and animation syncing. This is very evident with Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s very deadpan delivery of her lines and they don’t exactly sync up well with whatever her character, Ramona Flowers, with how she’s behaving on screen. There are times when the animated character is displaying frustration but her voice is still pretty monotone. I do believe this is more of a directorial issue as she was probably prompted to say her lines in that way but the animation studio, Science Saru, didn’t get the note.

Besides this the rather flat delivery of Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Ramona Flowers, the rest of the cast do a respectable job, however, for some odd reason, some voices do not match their animated counterpart. Chris Evans’ Lucas Lee is fun but Brandon Routh’s Todd Ingram doesn’t sound quite right. Mae Whitman’s Roxie Richter sounds like she’s trying a little too hard. Aubrey Plaza’s Julie Powers sounds just right but Brie Larson’s Envy Adams sounds just wrong. I guess the standout would have to be Ellen Wong’s Knives Chau as she gives a perfect anime vocal performance of youthful exuberance and breathy delivery hits every time.

When it comes to the more aesthetic aspects of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, I will say the animation is pretty gorgeous. While the characters aren’t the most details, animation company Science Saru made up for it using some really creative visuals and movement. Like with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, there are a lot of really fun action scenes and fights in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. However, as this is an animated feature, they can go all out with the action and they really did a good job by just going over the top as much as possible with some really dramatic angles, zoom ins and outs and the like. They’re a lot of fun to watch.

The music of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is also top notch and actually more diverse than the one found in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and a part of me does miss the music from the live-action film. But that doesn’t mean the animated songs aren’t good. In fact, this is one of the Netflix shows where I’ve never skipped the intro because the opening song is just a great anime bop. The music selection does fit the scenario and a lot of the background songs, created by 8-bit band Anamanaguchi, does give it the lighthearted feel it needs.

Overall, I can’t really give a hearty recommendation for Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. It’s a great show but I don’t really think it’ll appeal to a contingent of viewers because of the swerve they pull in the first episode. People who do like something different, especially anime lovers, will have a generally good time with it, though. I say watch the first two or three episodes and, if that gets you sufficiently hooked regarding where the story it taking you, then go ahead and watch the entire thing.

Have you seen Scott Pilgrim Takes Off? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!