Scott Pilgrim EX – the newest video game from the Scott Pilgrim franchise, co-written by series creator Bryan Lee O’Malley and developed by Tribute Games – is out now with an all new original soundtrack from Anamanaguchi. The sprawling 71-track soundtrack, recorded at Valve Studios in Dallas, TX with Casey di Iorio (Andre 3000, Slayer, Marvel Studios), synthesizes the band's legendary electronic origins with their fuzzed out garage rock present, while maintaining their unmistakable punchy style. Known for resonant world building across past projects, the depth of emotion and the range of styles displayed on Scott Pilgrim EX are uniquely Anamanaguchi, delivering a host of melodically anthemic and new energetic hooks that are sure to pack a punch for both newcomers and old school fans alike. 

Anamanaguchi's collaborative relationship with the Scott Pilgrim universe goes back to the early days of the band. After cutting their teeth programming music with playable Nintendo cartridges and helping to bring a wider audience to a largely internet based 8-bit chiptune scene, the band was brought in to score the fan-favorite soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. The success of this game soundtrack would help them to launch an early crowdfunding success story with their campaign for their debut album, 2013's Endless Fantasy. From there, the band would go on to collaborate with virtual pop star Hatsune Miku (resulting in the perpetually viral, Fortnite-featured hit, “Miku”), and later develop the intricately soundscaped compositions displayed across their second album, [USA], but throughout it all the connection between the band and the Scott Pilgrim universe would remain a pivotal source of inspiration.

After being brought in to score the animated Netflix series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, in 2023, band members Peter Berkman and Luke Silas would credit the live kinetic energy they channeled when writing songs for the in-universe garage band Sex Bob-Omb with helping them get back in touch with the roots of how they learned to play music even before Anamanaguchi's earliest releases. This process would eventually lead to Peter and Luke–alongside guitarist Ary Warnaar and bassist James DeVito–flipping their typically meticulous digital writing process for the more collaborative, straight to tape, distorted angst that can be found on 2025's acclaimed Anyway. That album marked another significant evolutionary turn for the band to come out of their relationship with Scott Pilgrim.    

A shift towards a more organic songwriting process would not be the only significant development crucial to the band’s involvement in the new soundtrack, however. While Anamanaguchi have always viewed video game scores as a unique medium that is just as influential or important as any other, gaming culture has now developed to a point that many game soundtracks are being looked at with the same degree of reverence as a film or a tv score within the cultural zeitgeist. As exciting a development as that might be, the band have found that it has become increasingly important for them to hold onto the aspects of video game music that made it a unique compositional medium in the first place. Accordingly, most of the band’s compositions for Scott Pilgrim EX were completed with minimal gear while on their bus touring in support of Anyway, which led them to lean into software designed for older gaming systems. This process would allow the band to write together while continuing to uphold the legacy of classic trackers in video game music and chiptune, helping to preserve a compositional artform intrinsically loved by the band’s members that, due to the widespread availability of modern DAWs, could be at risk of being lost to time.

As Anamanaguchi’s work has continued to develop since their initial collaboration within the Scott Pilgrim universe, the cultural footprint of Scott Pilgrim has evolved as well. Moving from something akin to a cult classic niche comic into a widespread coming of age story for multiple generations across movies, anime, TV, and video games, the story rides the line of being crucially important to its core fanbase while simultaneously existing as a widespread franchise known to the masses.  

Now fresh off the heels of a nationwide tour in support of Anyway, Anamanaguchi have committed themselves to maintaining a similarly tense throughline within their own work by returning to the 8-bit beat em up world of Scott Pilgrim with a relentlessly high energy and genre defying original soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim EX. Just as a new generation might be coming online to discover the joys of cloud rock, laptop twee, and lofi electronic indie, Anamanaguchi are here to provide a return to form with a depth of knowledge and innovation that has consistently allowed them to evolve and grow alongside the characters in the Scott Pilgrim universe and the multi-generational fanbase that continues to follow them.

Importer: Black Screen Records

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