First published in the early 2000’s, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim hit the unique target niche in the market of indie comics. Detailing the life and bizarre adventures of Scott Pilgrim (age 23), a slacker from Toronto who must navigate the hurdles of relationship drama and 7 Evil Exes if he hopes to date the mysterious and alluring Ramona Flowers. Easy enough, after all Scott is the best fighter in the province. But the real battle between Scott and Ramona’s personal demons, a self-serving memory, and his whole feelings of inadequacy complicates things to an insane degree.

Like I said, it hit a unique target. The comic’s distinct humor, absurd premise, and anime and video game influences made it a surprisingly popular series and engrained itself into the Millennial geek zeitgeist. So much so that a movie adaptation helmed by the equally popular comedy director Edgar Wright was made before the comic was even finished. And while not the most faithful of adaptations it has remained a cult classic even as hipster tastes and Michael Cera’s usual schtick have faded away.

So how does the second adaptation fare?

Warning: Spoilers Are to Follow

Read more: Season Review: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off begins as a relatively basic adaptation, boy meets girl, boy is already kinda dating another girl, girl is revealed to have seven exes who all want to kill boy for dating girl, and boy must defeat them in order to date girl.

So when our main hero seemingly dies in the very first boss fight things go wildly off the rails.

The series, as created by Bryan Lee O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski, acts as sort of a middle ground between the original comic and the film adaptation while still acting as its own original story. It’s frankly amazing that nearly all the cast from the film was here to reprise their roles in voice over (even getting the band Metric back), especially since so many of them have had major boosts to their career since then. Also impressive is the animation from Science Saru which not only perfectly captures O’Malley’s distinctive style (with several moments from the first episode looking like the jumped right from the panel) but the excellent switches from more traditional anime style and 16 bit video games.

But most impressively of all is the decision to make this so very un-Scott Pilgrim like. It should come to no surprise that many things and story elements became dated. Whether it was the original intention or not, the comic series shows that the “nice guy” character type more often than not, wasn’t quite as nice they appear. The quest for dating a girl he barely knows comes off as stalker-ish and doing so while kinda seeing a high schooler makes him come off as a creep. Ramona’s number of exes and how she broke things off with them is examined and demonstrates how destructive her past has been with other people. And with Scott out of the picture the critical lens is turned on the Seven Evil Exes, their flaws reflected upon themselves and how they fell from grace. How many of them are committed to their evil image when there isn’t a hero for them to challenge and how many of them can keep up the self-destructive personality traits that drove them to this point in the first place. By the end of the series when Scott has returned and the villains are no longer proper villains the only thing left is to confront the possible future he has. One where he’s long since given up on growing up, where everyone has moved past him, someone who never took off and still tries to drag everyone down.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off isn’t a faithful adaptation of the comic and despite its early bait-and-switch really isn’t trying to be one. While some may take umbrage with that, I’m actually rather pleased. Not just in the technical side of how well done the animation is, nor the chance to see actors like Chris Evans, Brandon Routh or Mae Whitman go even further ham than they did in live-action. But that it takes a certain level of maturity for creators and artists to look back and recognize the flaws of their work. And it takes a certain amount of skill to stay true to the great elements of that work even as it’s reinvented. While I certainly would’ve liked a true adaptation something about this series warms my heart. Knowing that in the end lovers, friends, acquaintances and exes are better people than they were yesterday.