Scott Pilgrim is currently my favorite graphic novel AND film, so is Scott Pilgrim Takes Off a bad enough dude to become my favorite anime as well? No, it never stood a chance against Evangelion. Putting that aside, I had a lot of expectations from this series and it still managed to blow them out of the water. I unfortunately wasn’t able to watch this right when it dropped and had the first big twist spoiled for me. Despite that, I still managed to enjoy every detail of the show as if that hadn’t happened, and that’s the sign of a good twist. I really don’t want to say much here because it’s best to go in blind. I just want to say this is proof that you don’t need to follow source material to a tee to make a stellar adaptation. This makes the series, books, and film all stand out in their own way, and there’s no definitive version. You just have to experience them all. The animation is gorgeous, I wasn’t familiar with Science Saru until now but they did an impressive job with everything especially considering the lip sync was for a different language. The fight with Lucas Lee was my favorite, it’s so stylish and the choice to use Dead Kennedys’ Police Truck really put it over the top for me. Such a great song that fit the animation while serving as a nice double reference to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. The music in general is really good, both with the original soundtrack and licensed songs. I love that they brought on Anamanaguchi from Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game, nice way to pay tribute to all aspects of the franchise. The only real complaint I had was the voice acting in the first episode or two. Bringing back the cast from the film was a great choice (and the only reason this project exists in the first place) but it’s obvious not all of them are experienced in voiceover work. They all really find themselves by the end though, and I really didn’t notice it expect for a few line reads in the later episodes. Mary Elizabeth Winsted does a surprisingly good job throughout, given that she does really do much voice acting. Overall, I’d highly recommend the series, but I’d really urge people to at least watch the film if not read the books first. I really think the story is enhanced by knowing the source material, and I believe the film is also on Netflix so it’s just as accessible as the show at the moment. I’m still blown away.