Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is Final Fantasy 7 Remake all over again

When I started Final Fantasy 7 Remake, it was a strange feeling; everything was different, but the same. Shinier, prettier perhaps, with some shots being a one-for-one of the original. There was something familiar about it, which was obviously the point. I’ve had that feeling again recently, with Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, an anime take on the classic comic series. I’ve watched the live action film more times than I can count (I’m bad at maths), so the first episode required a bit of an adjustment period. And then, much like with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, something new happened.

Spoilers ahead for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

Comic creator and co-writer on the anime Bryan Lee O’Malley had said in interviews leading up to the release of the anime that some changes had been made. After all, both the comic and film are dated in places, so it would make sense to modernise those elements. Except it turned out O’Malley lied. It wasn’t just a few things that changed, a discovery I made at the end of the first episode where Matthew Patel, the first evil ex Scott has to face off against… wins?