I was skeptical when this first got announced because I thought it was going to just be a cash grab retelling. But, after I heard complaints online about the story being new I instantly was hooked. And after I watched it, it just boosts my love for Scott Pilgrim as a brand even more.
Can we talk about the title of the show too. Scott Pilgrim takes off, he literally took off (not but choice Ik) it’s a simple yet genius way of foreshadowing the theme and story of the show
Great review dude! The show was a ton of fun, and that ending... holy crap, that ending! Can't wait to see what you've got in store next on the channel. As for me... well, please excuse me while I gush about one of my favorite stories. (SPOILERS FOR MOST SCOTT PILGRIM MEDIA BELOW, ESPECIALLY THE COMICS) On a personal level, Scott Pilgrim, at least to me, is a story about a pair of shitty, damaged people falling in love and gradually becoming better for it. Both for each other, and eventually for themselves as well. It's why, even after I've seen the show, the movie, and even played some of the game, the comic is still my favorite version of the story, flaws and all. Scott gets a bad rap (rather deservedly so, especially at the start) for being kind of a shit person, but that's partly because he's a central focus of most versions of the story, and even in Takes Off he's still arguably the second most important character in the show, right after Ramona, despite the fact that he's only really in 3 episodes. And because of that emphasis on the guy in those previous versions of the story, we get a more detailed exploration of his issues and fuck-ups. But just because Scott's issues are more obvious doesn't mean that the other's problems are nonexistent, even in the comic. Ramona's so terrified of change and heartbreak that she would rather be the one who enacts the change and does the heartbreaking. She always has a reason to leave her exes, whether they were petty and stupid or entirely valid, but she's still the one who broke off all of her romantic relationships without ever really fighting for them. Though in some cases that was probably for the best. If Scott is the kind of character who's more comfortable with things being simple and predictable, then Ramona's the kind of character who's scared that predictability might be taken away from her at a moment's notice. At their core, Scott and Ramona at the start of the story are characters who are both terrified of being vulnerable. The major difference is in how they handle it, where Scott prefers to try to keep things as simple as possible to the point that he ends up semi-dating Knives at the start (which is SUPER not okay), and Ramona races so far ahead so fast that she doesn't really give herself the space to be vulnerable (also not okay, but more in an internal sense than a moral one). Neither of these approaches is healthy in the long term, or even in the short term. They're really just methods of avoiding pain. And their friends certainly aren't free of their own flaws either. Steven Stills is a great singer and songwriter, arguably being the most talented person in the band (sans Knives in Takes Off), but he's also a workaholic and a perfectionist to the point that it's kind of a hazard to his health and most people's good fun. If Sex Bob-Bomb hadn't broken up by the end of Book 5, the dissonance between how seriously he took the band and how much Scott and Kim treated it like a hobby was going to come to a head in one way or another. And the fact that his attempts record their full album coincided with his struggle with his sexuality probably wouldn't have helped. Kim's apathetic sarcasm, while very funny and immensely relatable, is also an incredibly unhealthy coping mechanism. Given all the shit she's gone through before the story starts and continues to go through as the comic goes on, I can't really blame her, but that doesn't change the fact that apathy does not a well-adjusted adult make. Knives doesn't really have a whole lot of problems, but when Scott breaks up with her in the comic (rather heartlessly I might add), she goes full obsessive-stalker on Scott and co and actively tries to hurt Ramona when she runs into her in public. It's more forgivable since she's a teenager who doesn't really know how to process her emotions in a healthy way yet, but that doesn't make the stalking or the assault okay. Young Neil... I don't really have a lot to say about Young Neil as related to the comic. Except that it was a little weird how willingly he accepted being Knives' rebound boyfriend after Scott dumped her when the guy's, like, twenty and she's still seventeen. Less weird than when she was dating Scott, but still enough to feel kinda creepy. As for other characters in the cast... I mean, they've got their own subsection of drama in the comic. Julie's been a bitch since their college days, all of Kim's roommates are fucking awful to live with, Envy was either always an incredibly toxic person or grew into that persona as she gained popularity even all the way back in college (and the fact that it was all but confirmed that she was cheating on Scott before their breakup at New Year's), and Lisa tried to proposition Scott for sex when she knew he was already in a relationship with Ramona. … huh. That was a lot of the female cast I just threw under the bus. That feels... wrong. Hold on, lemme grab my copies of the comics... nope. The only other relevant characters with any obvious flaws are the Exes themselves. Let's explore them then, shall we? Matthew Patel isn't super flawed in the comic beyond the obvious evil thing, and we didn't see a whole lot of his character in the comic outside the inciting battle against Scott and Ramona's story-time flashback, though with Takes Off it's pretty clear the man's ego can swell up pretty damn fast. Understandably so, given what he can do with that kind of confidence boost, but it still goes to his head pretty fast. Lucas Lee is pretty egotistical in his own right, what with the fact that he simultaneously has a general disregard for other people's opinions and how eager he is to defend his pride in the comics and movie via rail-grinding to his death. Todd Ingram is basically a cooler version of Scott with his problems dialed up to eleven. Still something of an idiot with more power to back up his sense of arrogance, actively cheating on someone who clearly loves him more than he loves her, and actually knows how to play base. Clearly, one of the most evil exes on the last point alone (this is a joke). Roxy Richter is probably the ex with the least personal beef with Ramona in the comics, but it seems to be more in the sense that she's unable to move past their relationship and actively wants to rekindle it, which is super unhealthy for her personally, and also for Ramona and Scott emotionally. Girl needs therapy. Ken and Kyle Katayanagi were more catalysts for various problems in Scott and Ramona's relationship to be brought to the surface, but at the same time they also demonstrate exactly the kind of attitude that is antithetical to the series ethos: they believe that people are either unwilling or unable to change for the better. Also, they kidnapped Kim and are generally kind of just a pair of dickheads. It's entertaining, but I certainly wouldn't get along with them IRL. And Gideon... oh boy, how the hell do we even talk about Gideon Graves in the comics? Rich, smart, incredibly successful: the perfect man, at face value. He's also an emotionally abusive, manipulative piece of shit who's so deluded and narcissistic that he cryogenically froze all of his previous exes sans Ramona in the creepiest show of 'if I can't have you, no one can' I've ever seen. He is just... the worst. The perfect asshole. Someone evil in both an objective and personal sense. He is THE toxic ex-boyfriend. He's also the ultimate foil to Scott, a demonstration of exactly the kind of person he will become if he doesn't address and acknowledge his own hand in fucking up his relationships and the flaws and faults that contributed to those relationships falling apart. Not all of them were his fault - especially Envy, there was plenty of blame to go around there - but he was a major factor in all of them falling apart. Do I love what they do with Gideon in the show? Absolutely. Him and Julie being evil lovebirds together wasn't something I knew I needed until I got it. But at the same time, I also love his depiction in the comics as the embodiment of everything the series is against: an unwillingness to be better for any reason, even for yourself. My point with all of this isn't to try and convince anyone that every character in Scott Pilgrim is actively evil. Other than comic-Gideon, anyway. My point is that everyone's got baggage, everyone's got problems, and everyone's got flaws. And that, over the course of the whole story, they all either cope, learn to manage themselves, deal with their flaws, or fuck off to parts unknown. Life goes on, and so do they. Except Wallace Wells. Wallace Wells is the perfect man and the perfect friend. This fact cannot be argued. All hail Wallace Wells. If you want a more detailed exploration of Scott's flaws... watch the movie or read the comic. Actually, especially the latter. READ THE FUCKING COMIC! It is so good. Scott might be the most flawed character in the whole story other than Gideon, Envy and Todd, but that's kind of the point. That's where he starts. It's his eventual willingness to be better in spite of those flaws and his own eventual regression that makes him my favorite character, tied with Ramona and Wallace. Would I like him IRL? Definitely not. But I'd be lying if I said his story was anything less than interesting, introspective, and just plain fun.
I was skeptical when this first got announced because I thought it was going to just be a cash grab retelling. But, after I heard complaints online about the story being new I instantly was hooked. And after I watched it, it just boosts my love for Scott Pilgrim as a brand even more.
Eloquently put!!! I agree it wasnt what i was expecting and its better for it!!! Great video! :3
Rock on!
Can we talk about the title of the show too. Scott Pilgrim takes off, he literally took off (not but choice Ik) it’s a simple yet genius way of foreshadowing the theme and story of the show
Great review dude! The show was a ton of fun, and that ending... holy crap, that ending! Can't wait to see what you've got in store next on the channel. As for me... well, please excuse me while I gush about one of my favorite stories.
(SPOILERS FOR MOST SCOTT PILGRIM MEDIA BELOW, ESPECIALLY THE COMICS)
On a personal level, Scott Pilgrim, at least to me, is a story about a pair of shitty, damaged people falling in love and gradually becoming better for it. Both for each other, and eventually for themselves as well. It's why, even after I've seen the show, the movie, and even played some of the game, the comic is still my favorite version of the story, flaws and all. Scott gets a bad rap (rather deservedly so, especially at the start) for being kind of a shit person, but that's partly because he's a central focus of most versions of the story, and even in Takes Off he's still arguably the second most important character in the show, right after Ramona, despite the fact that he's only really in 3 episodes. And because of that emphasis on the guy in those previous versions of the story, we get a more detailed exploration of his issues and fuck-ups.
But just because Scott's issues are more obvious doesn't mean that the other's problems are nonexistent, even in the comic. Ramona's so terrified of change and heartbreak that she would rather be the one who enacts the change and does the heartbreaking. She always has a reason to leave her exes, whether they were petty and stupid or entirely valid, but she's still the one who broke off all of her romantic relationships without ever really fighting for them. Though in some cases that was probably for the best. If Scott is the kind of character who's more comfortable with things being simple and predictable, then Ramona's the kind of character who's scared that predictability might be taken away from her at a moment's notice. At their core, Scott and Ramona at the start of the story are characters who are both terrified of being vulnerable. The major difference is in how they handle it, where Scott prefers to try to keep things as simple as possible to the point that he ends up semi-dating Knives at the start (which is SUPER not okay), and Ramona races so far ahead so fast that she doesn't really give herself the space to be vulnerable (also not okay, but more in an internal sense than a moral one). Neither of these approaches is healthy in the long term, or even in the short term. They're really just methods of avoiding pain. And their friends certainly aren't free of their own flaws either.
Steven Stills is a great singer and songwriter, arguably being the most talented person in the band (sans Knives in Takes Off), but he's also a workaholic and a perfectionist to the point that it's kind of a hazard to his health and most people's good fun. If Sex Bob-Bomb hadn't broken up by the end of Book 5, the dissonance between how seriously he took the band and how much Scott and Kim treated it like a hobby was going to come to a head in one way or another. And the fact that his attempts record their full album coincided with his struggle with his sexuality probably wouldn't have helped. Kim's apathetic sarcasm, while very funny and immensely relatable, is also an incredibly unhealthy coping mechanism. Given all the shit she's gone through before the story starts and continues to go through as the comic goes on, I can't really blame her, but that doesn't change the fact that apathy does not a well-adjusted adult make. Knives doesn't really have a whole lot of problems, but when Scott breaks up with her in the comic (rather heartlessly I might add), she goes full obsessive-stalker on Scott and co and actively tries to hurt Ramona when she runs into her in public. It's more forgivable since she's a teenager who doesn't really know how to process her emotions in a healthy way yet, but that doesn't make the stalking or the assault okay. Young Neil... I don't really have a lot to say about Young Neil as related to the comic. Except that it was a little weird how willingly he accepted being Knives' rebound boyfriend after Scott dumped her when the guy's, like, twenty and she's still seventeen. Less weird than when she was dating Scott, but still enough to feel kinda creepy.
As for other characters in the cast... I mean, they've got their own subsection of drama in the comic. Julie's been a bitch since their college days, all of Kim's roommates are fucking awful to live with, Envy was either always an incredibly toxic person or grew into that persona as she gained popularity even all the way back in college (and the fact that it was all but confirmed that she was cheating on Scott before their breakup at New Year's), and Lisa tried to proposition Scott for sex when she knew he was already in a relationship with Ramona. … huh. That was a lot of the female cast I just threw under the bus. That feels... wrong. Hold on, lemme grab my copies of the comics... nope. The only other relevant characters with any obvious flaws are the Exes themselves. Let's explore them then, shall we?
Matthew Patel isn't super flawed in the comic beyond the obvious evil thing, and we didn't see a whole lot of his character in the comic outside the inciting battle against Scott and Ramona's story-time flashback, though with Takes Off it's pretty clear the man's ego can swell up pretty damn fast. Understandably so, given what he can do with that kind of confidence boost, but it still goes to his head pretty fast. Lucas Lee is pretty egotistical in his own right, what with the fact that he simultaneously has a general disregard for other people's opinions and how eager he is to defend his pride in the comics and movie via rail-grinding to his death. Todd Ingram is basically a cooler version of Scott with his problems dialed up to eleven. Still something of an idiot with more power to back up his sense of arrogance, actively cheating on someone who clearly loves him more than he loves her, and actually knows how to play base. Clearly, one of the most evil exes on the last point alone (this is a joke). Roxy Richter is probably the ex with the least personal beef with Ramona in the comics, but it seems to be more in the sense that she's unable to move past their relationship and actively wants to rekindle it, which is super unhealthy for her personally, and also for Ramona and Scott emotionally. Girl needs therapy. Ken and Kyle Katayanagi were more catalysts for various problems in Scott and Ramona's relationship to be brought to the surface, but at the same time they also demonstrate exactly the kind of attitude that is antithetical to the series ethos: they believe that people are either unwilling or unable to change for the better. Also, they kidnapped Kim and are generally kind of just a pair of dickheads. It's entertaining, but I certainly wouldn't get along with them IRL.
And Gideon... oh boy, how the hell do we even talk about Gideon Graves in the comics? Rich, smart, incredibly successful: the perfect man, at face value. He's also an emotionally abusive, manipulative piece of shit who's so deluded and narcissistic that he cryogenically froze all of his previous exes sans Ramona in the creepiest show of 'if I can't have you, no one can' I've ever seen. He is just... the worst. The perfect asshole. Someone evil in both an objective and personal sense. He is THE toxic ex-boyfriend. He's also the ultimate foil to Scott, a demonstration of exactly the kind of person he will become if he doesn't address and acknowledge his own hand in fucking up his relationships and the flaws and faults that contributed to those relationships falling apart. Not all of them were his fault - especially Envy, there was plenty of blame to go around there - but he was a major factor in all of them falling apart. Do I love what they do with Gideon in the show? Absolutely. Him and Julie being evil lovebirds together wasn't something I knew I needed until I got it. But at the same time, I also love his depiction in the comics as the embodiment of everything the series is against: an unwillingness to be better for any reason, even for yourself.
My point with all of this isn't to try and convince anyone that every character in Scott Pilgrim is actively evil. Other than comic-Gideon, anyway. My point is that everyone's got baggage, everyone's got problems, and everyone's got flaws. And that, over the course of the whole story, they all either cope, learn to manage themselves, deal with their flaws, or fuck off to parts unknown. Life goes on, and so do they.
Except Wallace Wells. Wallace Wells is the perfect man and the perfect friend. This fact cannot be argued. All hail Wallace Wells.
If you want a more detailed exploration of Scott's flaws... watch the movie or read the comic. Actually, especially the latter. READ THE FUCKING COMIC! It is so good. Scott might be the most flawed character in the whole story other than Gideon, Envy and Todd, but that's kind of the point. That's where he starts. It's his eventual willingness to be better in spite of those flaws and his own eventual regression that makes him my favorite character, tied with Ramona and Wallace. Would I like him IRL? Definitely not. But I'd be lying if I said his story was anything less than interesting, introspective, and just plain fun.
Seamus Patrick Versus the Anime?
w show
scott pilgrim is a gr00mer
Ur acting as if he doesn’t get better at the end of the series
@@edd4010 nah he doesn't
Why would anyone go support and watch the show when they can just watch a short that explains the entire thing beat by beat?
Bro let people like and watch what they want