Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
The future is encroaching from over the horizon, but Scott Pilgrim still doesnt care.
After all, hes still dating a high-schooler when he meets the girl of his dreams.
Along the way, he learns to see beyond himself, or at least in that general direction.
Defeated antagonists explode into a mist of video game coins.
Ramona is a rollerblading courier who uses Scotts subconscious as an extradimensional superhighway to cut down on delivery times.
Broadly popular during its run, theScott Pilgrimbook series ended up being adapted multiple times in one giant swoop.
This new anime series, though, operates on a whole new wavelength.
But lets say youve decided to stick around this review.
What you should know is that the anime turns on a sleight of hand.
(Also, Ramona is now a courier for Netflix, not Amazon, natch.
But again, nothing is as it seems.
Did I mention the whole thing looks gorgeous?Scott Pilgrimtakes to the anime form well.
How do I know which notes to play?
Knives asks, having just picked up a bass guitar for the first time.
Its up to you, Kim replies.
Thats why they call it play.
Stars emerge, the universe ripples, a giant heart forms.
Scott Pilgrimis fundamentally an artifact of love.
Of the highs and lows of figuring out who youre supposed to become.
Part of whats striking aboutTakes Offis how that angst no longer feels present.
All three are also conscious meditations on the legacy of their original texts.
BefittingScott Pilgrims already strong predilection toward the meta, theres an elegance to the animes self-reflexive adaptation.
Its nothing so simple as a work thats trying to fix problems with the source material.
But something feels different now.
The future hinted at inTakes Offcomes off more ambiguous, uncertain, challenging.
Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
