Kara Dennison
November 17, 2023 
Today’s the day: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is on Netflix! This most recent adaptation of the beloved graphic novel series brings back lots of big players from the original film. Combined with Science SARU—the studio behind Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! and DEVILMAN crybaby—that’s a massively impressive roster. But it doesn’t stop there. Lots of the names you might not know, or might not know are involved, have shown their chops as well!
Here are a few of the people on the Japan side of things who are bringing their talent to this long-awaited show.
Director Abel Góngora Made Magic in Star Wars
Long before taking the director’s chair for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Abel Góngora has been making gorgeous art for all sorts of Science SARU projects. The Barcelona-born animator directed the opening for Yurei Deco, as well as serving as Flash animation chief for Lu over the wall, Ride Your Wave, and others.
But this new series isn’t his first full-fledged directorial stint. Viewers of Star Wars: Visions will have seen his work in “T0-B1,” an installment about a little droid who dreams of being a Jedi. The short, one of two from Science SARU in the anthology series, was directed by Góngora. The episode has been widely praised, and even got adapted into a Little Golden Book for young readers.
One of the Character Designers Did the Seven-Page MUDA
Character designers Masamichi Ishiyama had a deceptively tricky job ahead of him: take the familiar Scott Pilgrim art and tweak it so it moves just right. This is tougher than it looks; just ask anyone who worked on Sailor Moon Crystal. But Ishiyama (who also drew the show’s shiny new poster) has plenty of experience with bringing comic pages to life in big ways.
Beyond his abundant work with Science SARU, Ishiyama served as key animator for a massively memorable scene: the “seven-page MUDA” in episode 31 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind. The scene, so named because it was seven pages long in the manga, features Giorno Giovanna absolutely wrecking Cioccolata for nearly a minute of screen time. Suffice to say, this is someone who knows how to handle big action.
The Japanese Dub Cast Is Impressive, Too
Understandably, everyone’s talking about the return of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World‘s Hollywood cast for the anime. (Ever think you’d hear Chris Evans in a Science SARU series?) But the Japanese cast is top-tier, too! Hiro Shimono (Zenitsu in Demon Slayer) plays our title character, with Fairouz Ai (Power in Chainsaw Man) as his dream girl Ramona.
That’s not all. Knives Chau is voiced by Aoi Koga (Kaguya of KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR). Shunsuke Takeuchi (Jigen in Lupin ZERO) plays both the Katayanagi twins. And more well-known names populate the cast. No matter what language you watch in, you’re likely to recognize several voices!
Watch Scott Pilgrim Takes Off now on Netflix!
