Spoilers Ahead: Scott Pilgrim Vs The World was the infamous cult classic film about horrible people being horrible together. It fixates on the titular Scott Pilgrim fighting for the constantly objectified woman, Ramona Flowers. Scott has to fight through all seven of Ramona’s “evil exes”, a long run of past lovers who Ramona had wronged in a variety of ways. Only one of Ramona’s seven exes was evil, and he was the main villain. The movie was praised for its constant references to media and the comic book-esque filmography and fight scenes.
To fans of Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and the comic book run it’s based on, an animated T.V. Show felt like the natural next step, so when Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was announced for a release date on November 17, 2023 fans went wild. Alongside Japanese animation studio Science Saru, the original cast of Scott Pilgrim Vs The World signed on to create the show.
Nobody knew for certain which plot the show would follow; the movie’s plot, the comic’s plot, or entirely it’s own thing. But on the morning of November 17th fans across the world turned on their T.V.’s to Netflix ready for anything. But no fan was ready for what Scott Pilgrim Takes Off had in store.
The first episode opens as a loose yet familiar interpretation of the movie, repeating some iconic jokes and movie moments while putting its own unique spin on it. Soon enough the plot carried our “hero” Scott Pilgrim from his band Sex Bob-Omb to a crowded party he wasn’t invited to. This is where he meets the infamous Ramona Flowers, the one and only Manic Pixie Dream Girl. In the original movie, Ramona Flowers puts the dream into the manic pixie dream girl. Ramona changes her hair every day that passes in the movie, she doesn’t have a house, just a door that appears whenever Scott wants to have sex with her, and she quite literally roller skates into his dreams. She is an object for Scott to chase and win, Ramona is a fantasy, a girl that can never truly exist because she was always fiction. She appears when Scott needs her and out of sight when he doesn’t, she changes colors to keep herself interesting, and is always ready for sex when he wants it but never asking for it.
Scott does not win his first fight in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. Instead Scott turns into a poof of smoke on the first hit and bursts into a pile of coins. The rest of the show is spent reacting to Scott’s death as Ramona chases after and confronts all seven of her exes in order to discover what happened to Scott.
Ramona confronts all of her evil exes and realizes how badly she had wronged all of her exes. She one by one makes peace with all of her exes and while some of them choose to move on from Ramona, others decide to continue with a platonic relationship. By episode 6 of the 8 episode run, Ramona has run out of leads and has made up with all of her exes. She apologizes and cries and laughs and smiles, she spends time at home and invites others to her house. Her house itself is no longer a magical door that appears whenever it is needed, it’s a place where characters live and interact with one another. It is then revealed that Scott Pilgrim was not killed but pulled into a portal through time by his future self.
Future Scott Pilgrim is revealed to be the Scott Pilgrim from the Movie. Future Scott has a failing marriage with Ramona due to his inability to grow as a person. Future Scott tells the other Scott to not pursue Ramona, that she is not worth the pain or struggle. Our Scott Pilgrim disagrees and through time travel shenanigans Scott finds his way back to the present.
Back in the present Scott discovers that a pseudo-magical barrier is keeping Ramona and him from touching. Ramona and Scott follow up every lead they can to discover why, until an even older version of future Scott decides he must destroy Scott so that he can never have his heart broken by Ramona. So as to showcase the growth of Ramona and her character, all of Ramonas now-not-evil-exes join together along with her and Scott to defeat himself.
But at the end, a future version of Ramona who has been searching for her future version of Scott finds them. In a strange but incredibly important scene, future Ramona and current Ramona combine into a super entity that sends each Scott back to their time before separating and going with their Scotts. The super entity Ramona is a goddess and the viewer is shown that Ramona, and every other girl (manic pixie dream or otherwise) is a goddess in their own right, they can choose who is and who isn’t in their world, that they are more than objects for the men in their lives.
