Unspoilers: If you like the Scott Pilgrim world and want to spend more time with the characters and setting, this will be a fun ride. Try not to parse the online discourse before you watch the...
Unspoilers: If you like the Scott Pilgrim world and want to spend more time with the characters and setting, this will be a fun ride. Try not to parse the online discourse before you watch the show for the intended experience.
Thoughts on adaptation differences (spoilers)
The show is extremely hard to talk about because it takes a hard left turn at the end of Episode 1 while Netflix is promoting it as a straight adaptation of the movie and the comics. Death of the promoter(?) aside, I personally think it's a good take on the "gaiden" or side story and it does a lot for modernizing Scott Pilgrim for a contemporary audience. The movie in particular has Scott suck up all the air in the room, and taking him off the board for half the show and keeping the exes in play let's a whole lot of people bounce off each other that never would have otherwise and you have some fun interactions that wouldn't have happened otherwise. Putting Ramona into focus does a lot for her, and actually talking it out with the exes instead of just them being punching baggage is an interesting frame, as well as this iterations take on Nega Scott. My deepest sympathies to those who wanted a one for one take and for Netflix to do it justice, but I think this show is justice in its own way.
The original comic is one my favorite comic series of all times, and I loved this "adaptation." As much as I was excited for a faithful reproduction, when the plot shifted and I realized this was...
The original comic is one my favorite comic series of all times, and I loved this "adaptation." As much as I was excited for a faithful reproduction, when the plot shifted and I realized this was going to be brand new material from the Scott Pilgrim world, that got me even more excited. I know some people were disappointed by the bait and switch, but I really think it aligned perfectly with the themes from the original comic.
The main thesis of the comics is that Scott is an immature asshole and needs to grow up if he wanted to be happy in life. It's driven home hard enough that the reader is even left to wonder if all the wacky video game elements of his life are even real, or if they're just a mental construct he's created to help him process the world around him. The show takes that same critical lens but turns it to the rest of the cast, primarily Ramona and the Exes. What's going on with Ramona that she's leaving so many broken hearts in her wake? Are the exes really evil or do they have more going on in their lives outside their connection to Ramona? It turns out there's a lot of growing up characters other than Scott can do, too.
For people who've only ever seen the movie, I don't know if the thematic connection is as clean. As good as the movie was, it had to fit a lot of plot into a small timeframe, and skipped some of the comic's meditations on immaturity. I encourage anyone who likes this world to give the comics a shot. But all the media, comics, movie, and now show, are great in their own right.
In all fairness, I've only seen the movie and run across bits from the comic. I've loved/been surprised by how it's gone. I would have been happy just doing an animated version of the comic but...
In all fairness, I've only seen the movie and run across bits from the comic. I've loved/been surprised by how it's gone. I would have been happy just doing an animated version of the comic but this has been a good turn. I happy that they got the cast back and that they're plumbing Ramona's character. The movie was one of the earlier movies to do the 'manic pixie dream girl' trope and were written by men (or, just a guy) so to see WHY Ramona would pursue this man child gives the story some missed depth, though I still think the movie is awesome as its own piece.
If I had to change one thing though, it would be Amy Millan's' Sarah Mclaughlin funeral song. The movie had the budget to hire big guns for original songs but this was just not great, unless the point was that the song was supposed to be cheesy and lame.
Amy Millan? Do you mean Emily Haines of Metric? She was the one who provided the singing voice I thought. I think one reason they did that was to get the Emily Haines cameo as a nod to Metric...
Amy Millan? Do you mean Emily Haines of Metric? She was the one who provided the singing voice I thought.
I think one reason they did that was to get the Emily Haines cameo as a nod to Metric providing the Clash at Demonhead music in the film. I would've liked an original song too but A) that probably wasn't in the budget and B) I think the song they chose fit the scene well. The fact that Envy sung something cheesy and over the top made sense with her character, that she wasn't there for Scott but for shallow self-promotion. I wasn't in love with that scene but I thought it was fine.
Yep, whoops. That's what I get for talking about it immediately after watching an episode instead of looking it up. I mixed up their names since they both released solo albums in the same year.
Yep, whoops. That's what I get for talking about it immediately after watching an episode instead of looking it up. I mixed up their names since they both released solo albums in the same year.
I don't know what to think of it. I like the premise and the overarching plot. The animation is fantastic. The voice actors are pretty good. I don't like... the dialog? Like, so many lines are...
I don't know what to think of it.
I like the premise and the overarching plot. The animation is fantastic. The voice actors are pretty good. I don't like... the dialog?
Like, so many lines are awkward and stilted and slow not for anything the voice actors are doing poorly: they're just awkwardly written? I think I'll have more to say after I finish it.
I've watched three episodes but I don't really like the animation? The art style is fantastic but the animation itself looks... budget conscious? Effects and everything around it are cool and all....
I've watched three episodes but I don't really like the animation? The art style is fantastic but the animation itself looks... budget conscious? Effects and everything around it are cool and all. I don't like the direction and how constrained every shot feels like. I guess they're fully going into the comic book vibe, which are of course full of close-ups etc but it didn't really work for me. Felt lifeless.
Also it feels a bit slowly paced like you said? Again that might come down to the direction but it's like they squeezed an extra 2 minutes per episode by characters... talking... slowly. Maybe they got everyone to the recording booth for like a half a day and cut everything that wasn't deemed crucial to the plot so they won't go over budget?
That being said I'm digging the actual character developments and whatnots, and will definitely finish it. It's cool they get to make this, I just hope my final conclusion isn't that they half-assed a good idea.
I saw the budget and dialogue pacing as mostly an artistic decision. This universe always felt like it embraced a rough-around-the-edges aesthetic, in all ways. The original comic art style was a...
I saw the budget and dialogue pacing as mostly an artistic decision. This universe always felt like it embraced a rough-around-the-edges aesthetic, in all ways. The original comic art style was a little sloppy, plot points would sometimes come out of nowhere instead of being fully foreshadowed and logical, and characters were often not that smart, making stupid decisions and sometimes paying narrative prices for that. Everything was always a little rough, but in a way that felt deliberate. If someone told me the animation thing was all budget-related I would believe it, but I thought the roughness kind of made sense thematically.
As for the dialogue, I think it's not helped by the way it contrasts the movie. The dialogue and pacing of the movie were lightning fast, for stylistic reasons but also somewhat as a consequence of all the plot points the movie needed to cram into just two hours. Now that they have a full season of television and can take their time with things, I think the slowness of conversation makes a lot of sense. Like I said earlier, most of these characters are not supposed to be that smart. They don't often whip out the pithy one-liner response to anything someone tells them. I think one of the reasons so many people connected to the Scott Pilgrim story is it's full of young people thrown into a crazy world they're not prepared for and with no idea how to navigate it successfully, very relatable for young people in our society. To that end, the slow pace of conversation and the pauses, to me, really felt like it was selling that angle. Characters took their time to think about what they were saying, and didn't always know how to respond to something or perfectly phrase something. It emphasized how these were just regular people trying to make their way through an absurd world.
That was my interpretation anyway. Art is subjective so I won't say I'm right or anyone else is wrong, but I wasn't particularly bothered by those issues. I wouldn't quite say I "liked" them either, but insofar as they helped build the overall feel of the show which I loved, I think they were fine.
Whether or not the execution was down to budget constraints or artistic direction, I will admit they executed it really well -- if it actually cost as little as it looks (in a good way). Like that...
Whether or not the execution was down to budget constraints or artistic direction, I will admit they executed it really well -- if it actually cost as little as it looks (in a good way). Like that shit should be taught in class for how to use your dollars wisely.(Maybe that art style just isn't as much my thing as I thought.)
As we know Science SARU are capable of insanely good animation, I wonder if it really is about budget. Maybe that's what they could do within time constraints and for what they were paid.
As we know Science SARU are capable of insanely good animation, I wonder if it really is about budget. Maybe that's what they could do within time constraints and for what they were paid.
I found it alright, some bits are fun. I've not watched the original movie nor read the comics, but more or less knew the premise of the original going in. I found it easy enough to follow even if...
I found it alright, some bits are fun. I've not watched the original movie nor read the comics, but more or less knew the premise of the original going in. I found it easy enough to follow even if you don't know the original story fully. As someone who watches a lot of western animation, this was entertaining enough but not exactly memorable.
I loved every moment of it. I kept thinking I'd worked out where it was going, only for it to take a different direction. Avoiding spoilers, I would mention it's worth reading the original comic...
I loved every moment of it. I kept thinking I'd worked out where it was going, only for it to take a different direction. Avoiding spoilers, I would mention it's worth reading the original comic or watching the original film first.
Spoilers
I was really excited when I realised that it was treating the events of the film/comic as canonical, but in a different timeline. I'm much happier with that than ignoring the original events entirely, or just retelling them. In the latter case, I kept expecting the show to hit a lot of the same punchlines as the film, and I think it was better for (mostly) not doing that.
Unspoilers: If you like the Scott Pilgrim world and want to spend more time with the characters and setting, this will be a fun ride. Try not to parse the online discourse before you watch the show for the intended experience.
Thoughts on adaptation differences (spoilers)
The show is extremely hard to talk about because it takes a hard left turn at the end of Episode 1 while Netflix is promoting it as a straight adaptation of the movie and the comics. Death of the promoter(?) aside, I personally think it's a good take on the "gaiden" or side story and it does a lot for modernizing Scott Pilgrim for a contemporary audience. The movie in particular has Scott suck up all the air in the room, and taking him off the board for half the show and keeping the exes in play let's a whole lot of people bounce off each other that never would have otherwise and you have some fun interactions that wouldn't have happened otherwise. Putting Ramona into focus does a lot for her, and actually talking it out with the exes instead of just them being punching baggage is an interesting frame, as well as this iterations take on Nega Scott. My deepest sympathies to those who wanted a one for one take and for Netflix to do it justice, but I think this show is justice in its own way.
The original comic is one my favorite comic series of all times, and I loved this "adaptation." As much as I was excited for a faithful reproduction, when the plot shifted and I realized this was going to be brand new material from the Scott Pilgrim world, that got me even more excited. I know some people were disappointed by the bait and switch, but I really think it aligned perfectly with the themes from the original comic.
The main thesis of the comics is that Scott is an immature asshole and needs to grow up if he wanted to be happy in life. It's driven home hard enough that the reader is even left to wonder if all the wacky video game elements of his life are even real, or if they're just a mental construct he's created to help him process the world around him. The show takes that same critical lens but turns it to the rest of the cast, primarily Ramona and the Exes. What's going on with Ramona that she's leaving so many broken hearts in her wake? Are the exes really evil or do they have more going on in their lives outside their connection to Ramona? It turns out there's a lot of growing up characters other than Scott can do, too.
For people who've only ever seen the movie, I don't know if the thematic connection is as clean. As good as the movie was, it had to fit a lot of plot into a small timeframe, and skipped some of the comic's meditations on immaturity. I encourage anyone who likes this world to give the comics a shot. But all the media, comics, movie, and now show, are great in their own right.
In all fairness, I've only seen the movie and run across bits from the comic. I've loved/been surprised by how it's gone. I would have been happy just doing an animated version of the comic but this has been a good turn. I happy that they got the cast back and that they're plumbing Ramona's character. The movie was one of the earlier movies to do the 'manic pixie dream girl' trope and were written by men (or, just a guy) so to see WHY Ramona would pursue this man child gives the story some missed depth, though I still think the movie is awesome as its own piece.
If I had to change one thing though, it would be Amy Millan's' Sarah Mclaughlin funeral song. The movie had the budget to hire big guns for original songs but this was just not great, unless the point was that the song was supposed to be cheesy and lame.
Amy Millan? Do you mean Emily Haines of Metric? She was the one who provided the singing voice I thought.
I think one reason they did that was to get the Emily Haines cameo as a nod to Metric providing the Clash at Demonhead music in the film. I would've liked an original song too but A) that probably wasn't in the budget and B) I think the song they chose fit the scene well. The fact that Envy sung something cheesy and over the top made sense with her character, that she wasn't there for Scott but for shallow self-promotion. I wasn't in love with that scene but I thought it was fine.
Yep, whoops. That's what I get for talking about it immediately after watching an episode instead of looking it up. I mixed up their names since they both released solo albums in the same year.
I don't know what to think of it.
I like the premise and the overarching plot. The animation is fantastic. The voice actors are pretty good. I don't like... the dialog?
Like, so many lines are awkward and stilted and slow not for anything the voice actors are doing poorly: they're just awkwardly written? I think I'll have more to say after I finish it.
I've watched three episodes but I don't really like the animation? The art style is fantastic but the animation itself looks... budget conscious? Effects and everything around it are cool and all. I don't like the direction and how constrained every shot feels like. I guess they're fully going into the comic book vibe, which are of course full of close-ups etc but it didn't really work for me. Felt lifeless.
Also it feels a bit slowly paced like you said? Again that might come down to the direction but it's like they squeezed an extra 2 minutes per episode by characters... talking... slowly. Maybe they got everyone to the recording booth for like a half a day and cut everything that wasn't deemed crucial to the plot so they won't go over budget?
That being said I'm digging the actual character developments and whatnots, and will definitely finish it. It's cool they get to make this, I just hope my final conclusion isn't that they half-assed a good idea.
I saw the budget and dialogue pacing as mostly an artistic decision. This universe always felt like it embraced a rough-around-the-edges aesthetic, in all ways. The original comic art style was a little sloppy, plot points would sometimes come out of nowhere instead of being fully foreshadowed and logical, and characters were often not that smart, making stupid decisions and sometimes paying narrative prices for that. Everything was always a little rough, but in a way that felt deliberate. If someone told me the animation thing was all budget-related I would believe it, but I thought the roughness kind of made sense thematically.
As for the dialogue, I think it's not helped by the way it contrasts the movie. The dialogue and pacing of the movie were lightning fast, for stylistic reasons but also somewhat as a consequence of all the plot points the movie needed to cram into just two hours. Now that they have a full season of television and can take their time with things, I think the slowness of conversation makes a lot of sense. Like I said earlier, most of these characters are not supposed to be that smart. They don't often whip out the pithy one-liner response to anything someone tells them. I think one of the reasons so many people connected to the Scott Pilgrim story is it's full of young people thrown into a crazy world they're not prepared for and with no idea how to navigate it successfully, very relatable for young people in our society. To that end, the slow pace of conversation and the pauses, to me, really felt like it was selling that angle. Characters took their time to think about what they were saying, and didn't always know how to respond to something or perfectly phrase something. It emphasized how these were just regular people trying to make their way through an absurd world.
That was my interpretation anyway. Art is subjective so I won't say I'm right or anyone else is wrong, but I wasn't particularly bothered by those issues. I wouldn't quite say I "liked" them either, but insofar as they helped build the overall feel of the show which I loved, I think they were fine.
Whether or not the execution was down to budget constraints or artistic direction, I will admit they executed it really well -- if it actually cost as little as it looks (in a good way). Like that shit should be taught in class for how to use your dollars wisely.(Maybe that art style just isn't as much my thing as I thought.)
This is spot on, and it's especially obvious during dialogue. In some scenes it doesn't even look like their mouths are moving.
As we know Science SARU are capable of insanely good animation, I wonder if it really is about budget. Maybe that's what they could do within time constraints and for what they were paid.
I found it alright, some bits are fun. I've not watched the original movie nor read the comics, but more or less knew the premise of the original going in. I found it easy enough to follow even if you don't know the original story fully. As someone who watches a lot of western animation, this was entertaining enough but not exactly memorable.
I loved every moment of it. I kept thinking I'd worked out where it was going, only for it to take a different direction. Avoiding spoilers, I would mention it's worth reading the original comic or watching the original film first.
Spoilers
I was really excited when I realised that it was treating the events of the film/comic as canonical, but in a different timeline. I'm much happier with that than ignoring the original events entirely, or just retelling them. In the latter case, I kept expecting the show to hit a lot of the same punchlines as the film, and I think it was better for (mostly) not doing that.