Felt some real love there, and it was made even better considering ekko is my favorite character. Their bond in this episode really hit me harder than any other pairing in the show. Shit man I’m still obsessin over em
@@SecretMagician I started from season 1 last weekend and binged the whole show, but I don't regret not doing it sooner because A) I didnt have to wait for season 2, and B) I had all these analysis videos I could immediately watch
With Arcane, The Wild Robot, Transformers One, Look Back, Inside Out 2, Ultraman Rising, Smiling Friends and X-Men 97, animation has been on a generational run this year
The scene with Ekko and Powder dancing is such a perfectly crafted "never want this moment to end" scene that it almost feels dangerous and irresponsible to produce. My heart aches every time that french hip-hop beat echos in my head.
I think the reason Sky’s death was underplayed was because viktor didn’t have any strong feelings for her. It plays into Viktors psyche. He didn’t have the same feelings for her but he cared about everyone and didn’t want to bring harm. That’s why he spent most of season 2 with her, to make amends for killing her. Despite him feeling bad about killing her she wasn’t as important as others like Jace.
this is how i see it too. he didn't really have any kind of bond with her, but when he was responsible for her death (especially after reading her letter) he was consumed by guilt and that's why he kept her "spirit" around. the "no, you won't" moment pretty much solidified that imo.
Arcane is just phenomenal. Season 2 was amazing, not quite the perfect masterpiece season 1 was, but still just beautiful. I genuinely cried when Vi desperately reached for Vander in the finale. At the end of the day, Vi and Jinx are two traumatized kids forced to grow up too fast and had to watch the ones they love ripped away from them. Season 1 is actually perfect. There are literally no faults and the characters, the story, the complexity, is beyond anything else coming out today. Silco soon became my favorite character because of how complex of a villain he is. Jinx’s end in the finale was depressing but satisfying for her arc. I believe people who say she’s alive. I think she finally accepted who she was and knew Silco was right. She had to walk away. She truly is a Jinx and she knows she is too mentally far gone to maintain any relationships without something awful happening. Piltover/Zaun is a reminder of everything and everyone she lost. And she finally wants to let Vi move on and be happy. It would be too hard for her to be torn between Jinx and Caitlyn. Isha was the final straw that really forced Jinx to grow into her adult self as she was always a kid at heart. Episode 7 with Ekko and Powder was beautiful yet heartbreaking. Genuinely my favorite episode of the season. It really hit Ekko hard to know Jinx wasn’t a monster. She had just gone through so, so much trauma it destroyed her. It’s insane for us to know that the perceived abandonment from Vi hurt Powder on an unimaginable level. AHHH amazing show I can’t believe it’s over. I really hope this a turning point for media and we’ll see art and passion return to shows/movies.
I watched the finale in a call with four of my friends. I got into the show just as season 2 was dropping after three years of sitting around postponing it and I’m so glad I didn’t wait longer. Once in a lifetime experience watching something so incredible and artistic.
Same. I watched the entire show the week before season 2 Act 3, and was completely hooked. It’s been a long time since a piece of media made me cry, but this show did it several times. It’s become probably my favorite show ever
Same here, I started watching when S2 Act 1 dropped. My favorite show to date. Glad I was able to witness the last acts with everyone else, truly a once in a lifetime experience.
Hope this version of the video does better in the algorithm this time, always youtube fucking up something man lmao. Anyways the description is so damn real, I thought about Arcane a LOT over the past 3 years, I really hoped it would last for like 5 seasons, one cus after watching S2 it feels like it really easily could've, and 2 because I would've been totally fine obsessing over it for another 10 years 💀
I got pretty much everything i wanted from S2. yeah, the pacing was fast and each episode needed an additional 10-15 minutes but the story and all plotlines are pretty clear. the ending worked well for all characters too imo. I think it's pretty obvious Jinx is alive based on all the hints and I see no reason to not believe Viktor and Jayce are together in some magic/cosmic realm considering arcane and that rune with multidimensional qualities. Heimerdinger is a question but he's a yordle so idk. It feels like the creators left some things ambiguous to bring certain characters back in the future shows if they want to (even as cameo only). I also fully expect Black rose/Mel's plotline to be continued in the show about Noxus. my personal favorite plotline was Viktor and Jayce's one. it's just so beautifully executed with such a satisfying resolution. the cosmic soulmate bond across all universes which became so essential on such a scale. their last scenes were just pure art.
Agreed, I thought it was too fast originally but after watching s1 again I’m changing my mind. They did so much setup. There’s really only a couple of scenes I might add but overall, best show in years
When animation is treated with respect, you get Arcane, Hilda, and the Spiderverse dulogy. When animation is treated with disrespect, you get Spongebob seasons 6-8, Big Mouth and Boss Baby.
Boss baby (the first movie) had an amazing animation style!!! The second movie was shit and the series even worse. But the first one?? I might even say it revolutionized the way babies are animated now, all squishy with a visible "weight" to them. I haven't seen such realistically animated babies since Disney's renaissance
I’m honestly not surprised that Arcane is the masterpiece it is. Riot has always been amazing at cinematic projects, even their music videos are a marvel to watch. If only that applied to League-
True true. Even the old cinematic videos are really good. I think the only other cinematic videos as good as these are the ones from Blizzard on WoW and SC
Arcane is the only show I can think of that actually would have benefited from filler. A filler episode about the bond between Heimerdinger and Ekko or an episode dedicated to the reunion or Jinx, Vi, and Vander would have been great.
That's my thoughts on Season 2. I know some people would have wanted the plots of Season 2 (Piltover vs. Zaun, and Messiah Viktor and Ambessa) to be split into two seasons, but this just needed better streamlining that could have been done with one extra episode.
the entirety of watching season 2 i was thinking "theres no way they top this scene it looks way too good" then they show me the coolest thing iv ever seen less than a min later
takes several years for the animation alone but its the story and characters that keep you watching if that fucks up then all that time will be for nothing
cmon putting gravity falls in teh same league as avatar and and arcane is alittle generous. Like I love gravity falls but the story it tells doens't have teh weight that arcane have and even atla is a step below that.
I absolutely love Arcane, and I think this video goes a great job at explaining why. The one place I disagree is that I believe the music video segments in season 2 are even better than season 1. Because the show has limited time, they're able to convey the emotions out main characters are feeling, the status of both sides of the city, and set up plot points all at once.
I think season 2 maybe had too much of them (I think season 1 had less but I might be wrong it's been a while) that being said, those from the third acts are all fantastic. Best in the serie by far.
i knew she was alive as well as heimerdinger because they are playable characters, heimdingers made me most shocked as it made me question whether he was playable or not
Maddie is such a hilarious character. She shows up, sleeps with Cait, and then just disappears for the majority of the show, is revealed to be a traitor in the finale, dies, and then no one acknowledges her. Even during the CaitVi scene, they just brush her off.
Was so confused about what happened about the original video. Until I saw your tweet. Glad it seems like the video is doing well than before. I guess the algorithm was messed up yesterday
I can see where the criticisms of the second season being rushed, I wouldn’t complain if there was at least another season before the show ended. However, I don’t regret watching as each act came out and seeing the community’s reaction to the episodes, especially the parts with Jinx, Ekko Vi and Jayce.
Even the show runner said the first draft of the finale was over an hour and they were forced to prune it pretty aggressively. Still, given the limitations I think they landed it as best as possible
Honestly it says a lot about the current industry. They just don't make good shows like that we tend just to see the safer option of making sequels to existing Ip's.
This is totally the best adaptation that outshines the source material since GoT. Truly a one of a kind thing! I especially adore the artstyle of Arcane
@@seankent7282 game of thrones peak even arcane cant match now tbf its like 80% there, aracne IS the better adpatation ssince it became the official canon or something meanwhile the show never really beat the books and from 5 onwards especially changed from the books which is why you have euron greyjoy in the show being shite compared to him in the books
I didn't mind waiting 2 to 3 years for Season 2. If that is what we got, I say more shows should do that instead of waiting 1 year as fast as possible ❤
I think Vi was done really dirty by Season 2. She feels like a background character for everyone else’s stories. She did exactly one thing with any impact on the plot, convincing Caitlyn to turn on Ambessa, and even that scene should have had way more time to be convincing.
Honestly I see it as the show just becoming bigger than vi. It kinda reminds me of mcu with the multiverse. The original characters were seen as some of the strongest characters in the movies but with the multiverse it kinda just threw them to the side.
@@Kyjack1556 there comes a day where you encounter problems no longer solvable with HULK SMASH (and in fact, make the problem worse… like hitting Powder and calling her Jinx after the monkey bomb accident)
I kinda agree that Vi's story is one of the weaker ones of the bunch, especially considering she's like the main character of season 1, but I disagree that she isn't important to the plot. You can't write episode 3, 5, 6, 8, or 9 without her in it. I'd say Cait and Jinx are in the spotlight for alot of the season, and those character's arcs are tied directly to Vi. Plus, there's nothing wrong with not having the spotlight or taking a more "supportive" role in the story. Mel in season 1 does very little besides tell Jayce to do stuff and be related to someone else, and she's great; Ekko has like 2 episodes and a couple scenes worth of screentime, and he's fantastic.
@@Kyjack1556that's a really good point. The scale of the story just began to outpace her. She's just a girl who wants to protect her family, not deal with interdimensional magic, empires invading and time travel
It's honestly crazy how amazing Arcane is. You'd think a show based on such a memed and disgraced game wouldn't be any good, but it absolutely blows you away with it's phenomenal writing, pacing and animation. It proves itself as one the best animated shows, hell one of the best animated pieces of media in general, in the past decade. I came to the show late (I'm a crazy procrastinatinator), but I'm so glad I was able to catch this show and have the lightning in a bottle experience that was waiting for and watching the conclusion. So glad this show exists, I absolutely adore it. Can't wait to see what else is done with this exciting world.
League of Legends is very irritating but league lore world building animation and music has always been on point. So I get why arcane was so amazing Riot for their faults does so many things well. Team fight tactics is very fun and even legends of Runterra has no right being as good as it is. Like go check out some of riots other cinematics they all are extremely high quality some id recommend are Warrior, Still Here, Kin of the stained blade, Awaken.
I'm so much agree with the fact that season 2 need more time and actually the final episode were normally way longer than it is, they just had no time to finish like they wanted. But i personaly think that the music scenes of season 2 are incredible for showing us what's happening without telling it. Geat video and sorry if my english is bad i'm french x)
I totally agree with the pacing issues in season 2. I think that’s why me and so many others love Episode 7 as much as we do. Episode 7 felt like the best paced episode of the second season to me. It felt like a season one episode in many ways. It allowed the scenes to have the time needed to breathe without breaking out into a music video every 5 minutes, and when they finally do break out into a music video it’s the most earned moment of the entire season to me. Wonderful show, easily the best show to come out in a long time to me
I love Episode 7, especially the Ekko-Powder-Heimrdinger plot. But I also thinks the contrast in peace and relaxation of the alternate universe compared to the rushing chaos and destruction makes it all the greater. The original timeline is set after a terrorist attack by Jinx followed by the green lady just when they were mourning the deaths of their councilors. Then you have mass riots as Cait and Vi DESPERATELY try to catch Jinx. The fact the rest of the show is so rushing is a perfect fit for how the characters would feel. The scenes in Episode 7 and in Viktor's sanctuary are the only scenes where characters get to truly breathe out and relax. At all other times the world is rushing around them, war, revolution and terrorism are on the horizon and the characters are thrown into it. Ekko is really the only character who gets a in the story. All the others are in near constant turmoil.
This video…completely sums up my thoughts about the show as a whole. Season 1 being a masterpiece and season 2 also being a masterpiece, but flawed with bad pacing. If only we had like two more episodes. Or even a few more minutes in each episode. Then this show would be the peakest of peak fiction.
Not sure if you’ve seen the people mentioning how jinx is alive. The end credit scene with cait looking at the map of the tower while holding a piece of jinx’s grenade. Also the airship at the end. They really set this up for a spin off series or 200
I have watched a few vids critiquing Season 2, but I liked it just as much as Season 1. I never thought the pacing was off, as I have heard many complain and all the characters still made perfectly reasonable decisions. With reasonable, I don't necessarily mean best, or logically reasonable, but rather they make sense with the characters and emotion. The tension between Vi and Cait in the first act was wonderful, as they clearly had too much going on in their heads and were lashing out and blaming each other. I think the "rushed feeling" of their relationship is exactly that. They don't have time to grieve for their loses and are under extreme stress. Cait thrust into the position of her mother after a devastating loss and Vi just failed to get her sister back and saw the destruction she can bring. They are completely emotionally overloaded and in over their heads, but the world around them doesn't slow. I think I was in Cait's shoes, I'd feel just as overwhelmed as the show conveys. So much going on and happening with little time for breaks and time to juts process your emotions. Jinx and Vi with Vander in act 2 were also amazing. Some may say the Vander arc felt rushed, but I think if it were longer and Vander was "back" for a long enough time to truly talk with Vi and Jinx it would make his season 1 death less impactful and give Jinx and Vi too much time to reconciliate and mentally stabilise and reset. Jinx blamed herself for what happened to Vander and her family. When she sees Vander in the beast, she is shown a glimpse of the man that was her father. He was the cornerstone of their life and if he was back, all would be good with both her and Vi, at least in her mind. She is clearly desperate for this, which is why she seek out Vi, as she probably imagines bringing Vander back together with her will undo the rift between them and mend the scars. The fact they got their father "back" only for him to be torn away and Jinx also losing Isha, sending her into depression was wonderfully done. A glimpse of hope, of peace in Viktor's sanctuary, shattered by Jayce and the Noxians. Tearing their father away again and throwing them back into the lives they had just escaped. With all the misery and conflict and loss. Episode 7 is an absolute banger imo. No words (or rather if I get started, way too many). Episode 8, exploring the aftermath of Jayce actions, the battle and how Cait, Vi and Jinx deal with the loss fits well imo. Even the talk between Ekko and Jinx at the beginning of Episode 9 works perfectly in my eyes. Jinx is extremely unstable mentally and, from my experience, when someone is that unstable it doesn't always take much for them to 180° mentally. So I think its reasonable that an old friend turned enemy suddenly turning up and "forgiving" you for your past mistakes would shake her up and potentially out of her suicidal trance. I think on one hand she realises that Ekko might be tampering somehow with reality, as he starts smoking, bleeding, seems to have burns and is carrying a Hextech device. He also refers to her as an old friend. Lastly, when he talks to her it's like this "I learned from someone special. That no matter what happened in the past, it's never too late to build something new. [Cut from Jinx face looking at Ekko's Z-drive to the Z-drive that contains monkey used by Powder/Jinx and then to Ekko also looking at them, basically acknowledging what she is looking at] .... Someone worth building it for." In my eyes that clearly communicates to Jinx that she is the special someone or at the very least the "someone worth building it for". If I was in her position, that would definitely get me rattled. As for the final fight including Viktor and Jayce I also really enjoyed this. Sure, Viktor's power and the Arcane are not entirely explained, but if it were, it would be boring, at least imo. The mystery to how exactly it works is intriguing and in my eyes, the point was not Viktor's power, no whether he could turn everything into one soulless expanse, but whether he should. If we can accept that Vander can be turned into Warwick, Viktor can create these evolved robots or creature using the anomaly, without any in depth explanation, to me it is also fine that he can "undo"what he has previously wrought. Thanks for reading my essay.
I read somewhere that apparently in an interview with sb from Riot it was said that the episodes of season 2 (at least all the ones from act 3) were supposed to be around 1 hours and 30 minutes each, but they were denied by Netflix. That explains the rushed feeling I got in this season at many points and I will never understand why these polishers can't just let the creators do their thing and let greatness shine.
This is easily the best review of arcane season 2. Giving it the respect it deserves while respecting giving constructive criticism to it. A lot of ppl will see reviewers and think the season is like a 7/10 cuz they bash it for most of their review lol.
(Spoilers for Season 2) I was rewatching the whole show and realized that Mel’s back was glowing gold, which I found as a weird choice the first watch through but rewatching after they explained she shielded her and Jayce since she’s a mage it just shows the attention to detail and the fact that they had foreshadowed it from there was great!
I don't think Maddie's turn is out of nowhere at all. We see her spying on Cait/Vi in episode 8. She's the first of the Enforcers to start beating her chest in episode 3. She also introduces herself to Vi as "junior officer", likely meaning she's fairly knew to the force. She was an Ambessa plant from the start.
Ekko has always been my favorite League character as someone who doesn't play League and although only a side character I am so glad how much love they put into him. LIKE THAT FINAL ACTION SCENE OH MY GOD THAT'S MY GOAT THAT'S MY GOAT RIGH THERE.
Honestly, thank you for making this. It gave me a greater appreciation for season 2 than I already had, and also helped me process the more conflicting parts of it. I ADORE what you said about how Jinx is basically dead inside and how Isha gives her life again. I was surprised with how blatantly they portrayed her suicide ideation which later went into outright attempts, but it really hit me.
I find it funny the biggest issue everyone has with Arcane is that there's not enough of it and we need more. That should be a clear sign the show is goated.
they really knew how to hurt us. they gave us a glimpse into a perfect world, we along with Ekko got to see things be better, we got to see things that were perfect. they gave us the perfect, and I mean perfect "what could have been and what will not be" episode. that dance with Eko and Powder... god that hurt. seeing them actually be happy together, seeing them in a world where neither experienced the hurt they did in the main world, it was beautiful. and they took it away, they needed to take it but it didn't hurt any less. this show was a masterpiece
i decided to finally watch it on a whim last week after discovering that an artist i really like had a song in season 2. i watched the entire first season in one night, binged the rest the following day. it's been all i can think about for about a week straight. season 2 has it's flaws but even those couldn't bring down it's overall ranking for me. hell, i'm trying to get my own mother to watch it.
Honestly despite Netflix being.. well Netflix.. The animations that they make are pretty good quality. Like Arcane is peak, Cyberpunk is peak, Castlevania is peak, LD&R is pretty good, so yeah, in the animation department they do quite a good job.
Honestly I’m impressed that Arcane is capable of getting me engaged and interested in the lore of League of Legends, a series I was never interested in.🐱
I think season 1 is a masterpiece, but season 2 stumbled the ball around act 2 as I agree that they felt rushed and could use 3 more episodes to fix the pacing. I fell the final battle was over stuffed and we didn't have the character interaction to the degree where use to, in order to ground/invest us. I mean the gaurd who looks like Vander felt like it had a lot of unused scene to make vi/the audience care for him. Not to mention that some long running side characters got shafted like Sevika who didn't even get a line in the last episode despite being their since the start of zhan vs Piltover plot that drove most of the story.
I initially didn’t really like the ending, but upon rewatch it’s much better Tbh I think if we just had a bit more of Sevika and Zaun it would’ve been peak
I want to mention that the Studio that draw Arcane deserves recognition. Fortiche has given soul to Arcane. I m not sure if i will get the same feeling about the serie if the it was produced by the like of Disney or Pixar.
I think people miss 1 thing about Heimerdinger's sacrifice. He waited 3 years in this universe waiting for Ekko. And while being there he took to heart every moment he had with Ekko previously and, at least, helped to shape this reality. So for him those 3 years were spent with the lessons that he learned from Ekko, thus making his sacrifice logical in his eyes. Though I would have loved couple of more scenes between then.
The only thing I really needed in addition to what was there was a 10 minute sequence of Ekko pulling Jinx out of her depression, the rallying of Zaun and the launching of the airship.
I watched S2 in one day. It was very good. But it was also a lot. Like after finishing it I had to just sit and think. There were some parts that I just “missed” because so many things were happening at the same time. Like the whole “happy family” part with Jinx, Vi, WW, and Isha. It happened in the middle of a lot of other stuff and it ended so fast that I didn’t even have time to fully realize what was happening. Therefore at that time, that scene wasn’t as impactful. Now as I had more time to think about it I appreciate it a lot more. This is why for me s2e7 is really peak. It is a bit slower paced and has more or less a concrete focus on Ekko/Jinx and Jayce and it is not bouncing between 10 characters each minute. But yeah these are some small complaints, other than that absolute cinema.
Thanks for a great video. Yes, I agree that season 2 feels to crammed and some of the most epic moments like Maddie's betrayal felt very small for how much impact they could have made if gotten more time to build up. Still the last episode managed to feel more epic in 40 minutes than the entire last season of GoT (Not mention all its other multitude of failures) did in 6 hours.
Arcane consumed me after I watched it and would not let me go for months. Even now after Season Two the brainrot continues to strangle my focus and productivity in everything else. I am in general agreement that Season Two principly suffered from the problem of being a bit overstuffed. Despite that it was a fantastic season worthy of of the highest praise. What I found remarkable about Arcane is how efficient, concise yet effective its storytelling is. Every scene adds to the story and is connected to the central themes and threads. Via microexpressions, short but sharp dialogue, music and cinematic framing it tells what it needs the audience to know in a few seconds. It never has to use more scenes to explain and flesh out every little thing cause that is not what the story needs. It is lean yet full and powerful. Yet considering how much more dense Season Two is with how many themes, plots and arcs it had to carry over and wrap up from S1 and what was introduced, it was inevitable they had to lean very hard into the efficiency of editing and storytelling in order to wrap things up in nine episodes. It needed at 2 - 3 more episodes total. In order to give the plot and arcs time to breathe. To allow us watchers to digest such powerful stuff, to at least better explore some of the subplots and themes like Zaun's failed uprisings and Pitfighter Vi or Dictator Cait's struggles. Ultimately I feel this season was a tad overstuffed without the runtime to accommodate it. It left it feeling more plot-driven as a result even when the characters are the ones driving things. The scope and focus for Season One worked perfectly with the 9 episode and three act structure, Season Two should have been a bit bigger to accommodate the greater scope and stakes involved. Let things be as big as the story requires, within reason of course. Ultimately however given their self-imposed limit of keeping this show within a two seasons of eighteen episode, they did a masterful job.
Originally, Act 1 *was* an entire season. They wrote it, they animated it, looked at the result. And decided that while it was good, it wasn't good enough. So they started over, completely rethought season 1, turned it into just the first act, and ended up creating a masterpiece. That's one of the reasons it took 6 years, and I'm so happy they did. Because it's perfect.
Act 3 made Act 2 better. You can see why the story had to be told in this order, especially the story of Jayce. Also Mel becomes relevant, at the right time for the story. Yes, her liberation from those magical bonds is kind of deus ex machina, but the point of the story is her conflict with her mother. And of course ep7 is necessary for Ekko, to be able to crucially change the outcome. Even More mentally than technologically.
definitely agree that S2 could have used 1-2 more episodes to really give everything more breathing room and to wrap up all the different plot points much better
The only bad thing about Arcane is how they going to retcon some of the characters featured in mainline LOL, like jinx for example to be where they are at the end of the show. Like how they handled Deadshot in Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League.
I can kinda see where people are coming from when they say season 2 was obviously rushed cause of the other three shows. I saw a tweet about some guys who rushed their passion project movie cause they were offered a hand at star wars. On one hand this show or movie is everything to you and you want it to be perfect, even if it means more creative baking and oven time, but on the other hand: its fucking star wars, who wouldn't rush their plans just to get it out of the way for THAT?
Season 1 was a masterpiece. Season 2 was a masterpiece with flaws. The biggest ones being: 1) it leaned very heavily on the established lore of the characters only to then make a complete u-turn into something else. Prime example is Viktor and his "Glorious evolution". In the lore, he also went to Zaun to heal those aflicted by the toxins. But instead of a magical cure, he augmented them mechanically. Now: This twist works in Arcane, but what does not is how it proceeds. (SPOILER FOR SEASON 2) As he wrestled with tragedy after tragedy and betrail, he started looking for solutions, ending up with the conclusion that humanity is the cause of so many problems, mechanically removing his own humanity without turning back. That also does happen in Season 2, but the ending, which reverses the entire struggle comes out of nowhere and goes contrary to the established character. Meaning Arcane both banks on Viktors backstory and lore, only to then suddenly revert it. It is jaring. Same with Warwick (Vander). Which would be fine if there wasn't the second flaw: 2) Pacing. Arcane Season 2 is rushed. As Cartoonshi correctly pointed out: Certain plot points would have required 1-2 additional episodes each. And the changes in the outcomes for each of the established characters (Jinx, Jayce, Heimerdinger, Viktor, Vander etc.) could have been justified in these episodes. Heimerdingers sacrifice. Jayce going from "Lets Season-1-Energy-Blast Viktor" to "I can not give up on him". Viktor bouncing from "Harmony in union" to "Glorious evolution" to "I was wrong". The flaw which I lined out in 1) would not be a flaw, if Arcane Season 2 focused on the pre-time-skip story. That way we would have Season 2 be centered around the fallout of jinx rocket, viktor merging with the hextech core and comming to terms with his loss of humanity, vi and caitlyns hunt for jinx and caits slow descend into a stone cold general, Jinx bounding with Isha, Ekko and Heimerdinger developing solutions for strange phenomena throughout piltover and Zaun, ending with the Vander reveal, The Isha intervention and Caits / Vi's fallout, the pseudo takeover of Piltover by noxus. With the final episode focusing on the Arcane waking up and new factions being introduced. The black rose, Viktor establishing himself in Zaun, Jayce, Ekko and Heimerdinger discovering the source of the strange phenomena, with the Hexgate transporting them through time and space. A sort of "Everything everywhere goes wrong ... See you in season 3". And season 3 could then focus on the Arcane fully awakening. Fleshing out Viktor establishing the cult. Jayce interaction with the apocalyptic world, Ekko and NiceJinx, Heimerdinger helping Ekko cope with the temporal shift, Vi and Jinx finding Vander, the near-humanization of Vander, Vi and Cait mending their relationship, Viktors slow descend into madness and finally the Glorious evolution, establishing him as the BBEG of the final season, as Jayce returns and (not going solo-mode) tries to gather support to storm Zaun, not to dismantel the Chembarons, but rather to eliminate his friend, After that, I would actually keep the ending the same. Jayce fails, Viktor allies with Ambessa, Invasion of Piltover etc. There was just way too much for a single season and too little time. Overall: If my biggest criticism of Season 2 is that there should have been more of it, then that is hardly a negative. But the pacing unfortunately turned a 10/10 show into a 9.5/10 show. And as negative as I was throughout this comment: It comes from a place of frustration and DEEP digging. That there was something wrong with season 2, but in order to lay my finger on it, I had to really REALLY look into what gave me that feeling. However, in the end: Arcane in total is a 9.5/10. Must watch. Absolutely amazing and just THAT CLOSE to perfection, if only we had one more season. ... That ofcourse wont mean we do not get to see more of Runeterra. I mean we saw two factions allready. Leblanc and the Black Rose, aswell as a certain 6 eyed crow ... Swain and Noxus. That will likely be the new conflict. (Also: Jinx is likely not dead. I believe neither is Warwick / Vander. Heimerdinger is a tossup, likely making a return once we get to the Yordles. As for Jayce and Viktor: I can see Jayce returning. Viktor? Maybe in his fully robotic form, but not as Arcane-Viktor) EDIT: For those interested in why I think so. A: You can see a pink shimmer streak out of the explosion, which would be Jinx. She likely escaped to give Vi and Cait the possibility of being together. To walk away from the cycle of conflict. This also explains the Cait scene where she looks at the old ventilation system, smiling as she notices a route through which Jinx could have escaped. B: Vander surviving is more of a ... hunch. Warwicks story is not finished, so we would likely see more of him. C: Same with Heimerdinger. Yordles do not tend to really ... pass away. And since we did not see the ... graphic end of the donger, I think he managed to fix that flaw in the timeloop generator. D: Jayce and Viktor returning is a similar hunch to the Donger. Since Arcane does not shy away from showing corpses and we did not see theirs: I think these two will make a return. Or at least: The possibility is being left open. Especially since Viktors story is not over yet.
The little episodes in avatar that capture the humanity of the characters removed from the plot is what makes the show elite. Arcanes episodes weren’t set up that way so I don’t know they could’ve done that
Some fans theorize that Heimerdinger is still alive somewhere. He is, after all, a Yordle, and they seem to hold onto his final line, "Be back in a wink." as a kind of copium. But hey, they may be right! As for pacing, yes, I agree that season two ramps up the pacing considerably. But if you take the two seasons together as a continuous viewing experience, I think you'll find that the pacing accelerates at a pretty constant pace, giving the pace curve for the whole thing a relatively smooth parabolic shape rather than a jagged, uneven one. Most of us are, quite naturally, judging season two against season one as if they were two separate products competing against each other. But while I too hold season one in higher regard (it's impact on me emotionally makes it special to me in ways I still can't articulate fully to this day), I think that season two--along with its pacing--will become appreciated more and more as fans process and judge the two seasons together as a single entity. Much like how I feel it is improper to judge each "volume" of The Lord of the Rings independently, as if it was a trilogy of separate novels (which it isn't) rather than as a single novel artificially and imprudently split up into three pieces by an impatient publisher (which it is).
Dude that Ekko scene when he danced with powder made me feel emotions I haven’t felt ever truly a masterpiece of a scene
Like what? Love?😂
@@orbboom6119 something you clearly have no idea what it is.
Felt some real love there, and it was made even better considering ekko is my favorite character. Their bond in this episode really hit me harder than any other pairing in the show. Shit man I’m still obsessin over em
I really wish we saw more Ekko this season
Md pfp ‼️‼️‼️
“Arcane has consumed my life for the past 3 years.”
He’s just like me fr
Genuinely
This happened to me too.
Better late than never. I started watching last weekend and REGRET not doing so sooner, but I enjoyed watching the entire show from beginning to end.
I watched it and I regret nothing.
@@SecretMagician I started from season 1 last weekend and binged the whole show, but I don't regret not doing it sooner because A) I didnt have to wait for season 2, and B) I had all these analysis videos I could immediately watch
With Arcane, The Wild Robot, Transformers One, Look Back, Inside Out 2, Ultraman Rising, Smiling Friends and X-Men 97, animation has been on a generational run this year
True, I like how 2024 started rough, though the last 4-3 months were peak
Until Disney cancelled Moon Girl
it's awesome. so many new ideas and shows. still hoping for a Transformers Two.
THE WILD ROBOT HAS A MOVIE ADAPTATION?????? THOSE BOOKS WERE MY CHILDHOOD
@@julialungan4722 yeah! it came out back in September apparently.
The scene with Ekko and Powder dancing is such a perfectly crafted "never want this moment to end" scene that it almost feels dangerous and irresponsible to produce. My heart aches every time that french hip-hop beat echos in my head.
same and even though the emotions in this moment are real, AU Powder is a lie and her whole world an illusion.
I think the reason Sky’s death was underplayed was because viktor didn’t have any strong feelings for her. It plays into Viktors psyche. He didn’t have the same feelings for her but he cared about everyone and didn’t want to bring harm. That’s why he spent most of season 2 with her, to make amends for killing her. Despite him feeling bad about killing her she wasn’t as important as others like Jace.
this is how i see it too. he didn't really have any kind of bond with her, but when he was responsible for her death (especially after reading her letter) he was consumed by guilt and that's why he kept her "spirit" around. the "no, you won't" moment pretty much solidified that imo.
I haven't loved an animated show this much with Arcane since Attack on Titan. Masterpiece.
My brother was a diehard fan of that one
same but naruto and bojack horseman
@@AdaminTranzit Naruto is actually my favorite anime. It means a lot to me.
@@manuelinacio4038 same, especially since i got a comfort character I heavily relate to (if not identify as) can you quess?? xDDD
Attack on Titan was fantastic, but Cowboy Bebop and Dandadan are two of my favorite anime.
Arcane is just phenomenal. Season 2 was amazing, not quite the perfect masterpiece season 1 was, but still just beautiful. I genuinely cried when Vi desperately reached for Vander in the finale. At the end of the day, Vi and Jinx are two traumatized kids forced to grow up too fast and had to watch the ones they love ripped away from them.
Season 1 is actually perfect. There are literally no faults and the characters, the story, the complexity, is beyond anything else coming out today. Silco soon became my favorite character because of how complex of a villain he is.
Jinx’s end in the finale was depressing but satisfying for her arc. I believe people who say she’s alive. I think she finally accepted who she was and knew Silco was right. She had to walk away. She truly is a Jinx and she knows she is too mentally far gone to maintain any relationships without something awful happening. Piltover/Zaun is a reminder of everything and everyone she lost. And she finally wants to let Vi move on and be happy. It would be too hard for her to be torn between Jinx and Caitlyn. Isha was the final straw that really forced Jinx to grow into her adult self as she was always a kid at heart.
Episode 7 with Ekko and Powder was beautiful yet heartbreaking. Genuinely my favorite episode of the season. It really hit Ekko hard to know Jinx wasn’t a monster. She had just gone through so, so much trauma it destroyed her. It’s insane for us to know that the perceived abandonment from Vi hurt Powder on an unimaginable level.
AHHH amazing show I can’t believe it’s over. I really hope this a turning point for media and we’ll see art and passion return to shows/movies.
Jinx is probably alive
If you think S1 is better than S2 then you are blind.
@@thatgermanview5721100. Season 1 was amazing but 2 WAS EVEN BETTER
Vi didn’t abandon Powder(not intentionally though) but i love your analysis 😔
@@Cinn4_bun That’s why I said “perceived” abandonment. Perceived means Jinx thought she abandoned her even though she didn’t.
I watched the finale in a call with four of my friends. I got into the show just as season 2 was dropping after three years of sitting around postponing it and I’m so glad I didn’t wait longer. Once in a lifetime experience watching something so incredible and artistic.
I was the same (I'm an absolutely crazy procrastinatinator), so glad I caught the second season as it came out.
Same here, I just caught up with everything a day before act 3 of Season 2 released
Blew me away, what an incredible show
Same. I watched the entire show the week before season 2 Act 3, and was completely hooked. It’s been a long time since a piece of media made me cry, but this show did it several times. It’s become probably my favorite show ever
Same here, I started watching when S2 Act 1 dropped. My favorite show to date. Glad I was able to witness the last acts with everyone else, truly a once in a lifetime experience.
Hope this version of the video does better in the algorithm this time, always youtube fucking up something man lmao.
Anyways the description is so damn real, I thought about Arcane a LOT over the past 3 years, I really hoped it would last for like 5 seasons, one cus after watching S2 it feels like it really easily could've, and 2 because I would've been totally fine obsessing over it for another 10 years 💀
There will be more. I dont know how people dont see how much was teased in Season 2
You know a show is peak when one of the few critiques is that it'll benefit with more episodes
I think it’s a fine line, and personally I’d rather have it be too fast than drag on. The rewatchability of arcane is very high
tbf that is a major criticism that it was rushed, doesnt make the show bad though
Real fans know this was a re-upload.
Yep was confused there for a moment
Yep. I knew it at the moment it dropped...
I saw it thought it was new then realized it was the same one
Yep!
yep yep
I got pretty much everything i wanted from S2. yeah, the pacing was fast and each episode needed an additional 10-15 minutes but the story and all plotlines are pretty clear. the ending worked well for all characters too imo.
I think it's pretty obvious Jinx is alive based on all the hints and I see no reason to not believe Viktor and Jayce are together in some magic/cosmic realm considering arcane and that rune with multidimensional qualities. Heimerdinger is a question but he's a yordle so idk. It feels like the creators left some things ambiguous to bring certain characters back in the future shows if they want to (even as cameo only). I also fully expect Black rose/Mel's plotline to be continued in the show about Noxus.
my personal favorite plotline was Viktor and Jayce's one. it's just so beautifully executed with such a satisfying resolution. the cosmic soulmate bond across all universes which became so essential on such a scale. their last scenes were just pure art.
Agreed, I thought it was too fast originally but after watching s1 again I’m changing my mind. They did so much setup. There’s really only a couple of scenes I might add but overall, best show in years
Apparently, each episode was supposed to be around 1 hr 40 mins long, but Netflix forced them to cut them short.
you would be surprised to know that MOST viewers missed her being alive entirely...
Lmao, it was very bad and you can't convince me otherwise.
When animation is treated with respect, you get Arcane, Hilda, and the Spiderverse dulogy.
When animation is treated with disrespect, you get Spongebob seasons 6-8, Big Mouth and Boss Baby.
Boss baby (the first movie) had an amazing animation style!!! The second movie was shit and the series even worse. But the first one?? I might even say it revolutionized the way babies are animated now, all squishy with a visible "weight" to them. I haven't seen such realistically animated babies since Disney's renaissance
oh the spidervese animators weren't treated with any type of respect though..
After everything, Singed got to settle down with his daughter after committing countless war crimes and making everyone’s lives worse 😂
I’m honestly not surprised that Arcane is the masterpiece it is. Riot has always been amazing at cinematic projects, even their music videos are a marvel to watch. If only that applied to League-
True true. Even the old cinematic videos are really good. I think the only other cinematic videos as good as these are the ones from Blizzard on WoW and SC
I think the credit has to go to Fortiche. The Studio that gives soul to that serie.
Arcane is the only show I can think of that actually would have benefited from filler. A filler episode about the bond between Heimerdinger and Ekko or an episode dedicated to the reunion or Jinx, Vi, and Vander would have been great.
That's my thoughts on Season 2. I know some people would have wanted the plots of Season 2 (Piltover vs. Zaun, and Messiah Viktor and Ambessa) to be split into two seasons, but this just needed better streamlining that could have been done with one extra episode.
the entirety of watching season 2 i was thinking "theres no way they top this scene it looks way too good" then they show me the coolest thing iv ever seen less than a min later
I hope they make more of these types of shows, like Arcane’s animation looks great.
takes several years for the animation alone but its the story and characters that keep you watching if that fucks up then all that time will be for nothing
I put Arcane right up there with Gravity Falls and Avatar as one of the absolute best cartoon shows ever made.
I put it right up there with Gravity Falls, Avatar, The Owl House and Adventure Time
cmon putting gravity falls in teh same league as avatar and and arcane is alittle generous. Like I love gravity falls but the story it tells doens't have teh weight that arcane have and even atla is a step below that.
I absolutely love Arcane, and I think this video goes a great job at explaining why. The one place I disagree is that I believe the music video segments in season 2 are even better than season 1. Because the show has limited time, they're able to convey the emotions out main characters are feeling, the status of both sides of the city, and set up plot points all at once.
I think season 2 maybe had too much of them (I think season 1 had less but I might be wrong it's been a while) that being said, those from the third acts are all fantastic. Best in the serie by far.
same! those are my absolute favorite scenes!
I will forever argue that if season 2 just had 10-20 more minutes per episode it would've about as close to perfect as you can get
yeah i think the last two episodes should’ve been over 1 hour
Fun fact, Jinx is still alive, a pink streak is seen escaping the explosion
And Catlin looking at the vents
And the final shot of Season 2 is of an airship, which Powder wanted to ride in as a kid.
I honestly can't believe I missed those little details. Granted, I was suffering from post finale PTSD, but still...
And it says The End in her writing!
i knew she was alive as well as heimerdinger because they are playable characters, heimdingers made me most shocked as it made me question whether he was playable or not
Maddie is such a hilarious character. She shows up, sleeps with Cait, and then just disappears for the majority of the show, is revealed to be a traitor in the finale, dies, and then no one acknowledges her. Even during the CaitVi scene, they just brush her off.
Completely unnecessary in the grand scheme of things
thats what happens when its rushed out now tbf had it been 3 seasons its possible it would have been dragged out so its a gamble
I broke down just by getting reminded of this show, it’s so good and sad 😭😭😭
Yeah I do agree, i noticed since act 2 how really fast paced it was, its amazing but jesus its speed
Was so confused about what happened about the original video. Until I saw your tweet.
Glad it seems like the video is doing well than before. I guess the algorithm was messed up yesterday
I can see where the criticisms of the second season being rushed, I wouldn’t complain if there was at least another season before the show ended.
However, I don’t regret watching as each act came out and seeing the community’s reaction to the episodes, especially the parts with Jinx, Ekko Vi and Jayce.
Even the show runner said the first draft of the finale was over an hour and they were forced to prune it pretty aggressively.
Still, given the limitations I think they landed it as best as possible
Honestly it says a lot about the current industry. They just don't make good shows like that we tend just to see the safer option of making sequels to existing Ip's.
Arcane-both season 1 and 2-is an absolute masterpiece. Definitely in my top ten shows of all time, maybe top 5
This is totally the best adaptation that outshines the source material since GoT. Truly a one of a kind thing! I especially adore the artstyle of Arcane
Arcane blows GoT out of the water
@@seankent7282 game of thrones peak even arcane cant match now tbf its like 80% there, aracne IS the better adpatation ssince it became the official canon or something meanwhile the show never really beat the books and from 5 onwards especially changed from the books which is why you have euron greyjoy in the show being shite compared to him in the books
League world building and lore has always been fantastic
I didn't mind waiting 2 to 3 years for Season 2. If that is what we got, I say more shows should do that instead of waiting 1 year as fast as possible ❤
27:54 [ AND EVERYONE CHEERED ]
I think Vi was done really dirty by Season 2. She feels like a background character for everyone else’s stories. She did exactly one thing with any impact on the plot, convincing Caitlyn to turn on Ambessa, and even that scene should have had way more time to be convincing.
Honestly I see it as the show just becoming bigger than vi. It kinda reminds me of mcu with the multiverse. The original characters were seen as some of the strongest characters in the movies but with the multiverse it kinda just threw them to the side.
@@Kyjack1556 there comes a day where you encounter problems no longer solvable with HULK SMASH (and in fact, make the problem worse… like hitting Powder and calling her Jinx after the monkey bomb accident)
I kinda agree that Vi's story is one of the weaker ones of the bunch, especially considering she's like the main character of season 1, but I disagree that she isn't important to the plot. You can't write episode 3, 5, 6, 8, or 9 without her in it. I'd say Cait and Jinx are in the spotlight for alot of the season, and those character's arcs are tied directly to Vi. Plus, there's nothing wrong with not having the spotlight or taking a more "supportive" role in the story. Mel in season 1 does very little besides tell Jayce to do stuff and be related to someone else, and she's great; Ekko has like 2 episodes and a couple scenes worth of screentime, and he's fantastic.
@@Kyjack1556that's a really good point. The scale of the story just began to outpace her. She's just a girl who wants to protect her family, not deal with interdimensional magic, empires invading and time travel
It's honestly crazy how amazing Arcane is. You'd think a show based on such a memed and disgraced game wouldn't be any good, but it absolutely blows you away with it's phenomenal writing, pacing and animation. It proves itself as one the best animated shows, hell one of the best animated pieces of media in general, in the past decade. I came to the show late (I'm a crazy procrastinatinator), but I'm so glad I was able to catch this show and have the lightning in a bottle experience that was waiting for and watching the conclusion. So glad this show exists, I absolutely adore it. Can't wait to see what else is done with this exciting world.
Whoa, who said the game is a disgrace?
@olleselin By disgraced I meant so many people clown on it, not that people consider it a disgrace.
League of Legends is very irritating but league lore world building animation and music has always been on point. So I get why arcane was so amazing Riot for their faults does so many things well. Team fight tactics is very fun and even legends of Runterra has no right being as good as it is. Like go check out some of riots other cinematics they all are extremely high quality some id recommend are Warrior, Still Here, Kin of the stained blade, Awaken.
Another tv show that was perfect in only 2 seasons
I'm so much agree with the fact that season 2 need more time and actually the final episode were normally way longer than it is, they just had no time to finish like they wanted. But i personaly think that the music scenes of season 2 are incredible for showing us what's happening without telling it. Geat video and sorry if my english is bad i'm french x)
I totally agree with the pacing issues in season 2. I think that’s why me and so many others love Episode 7 as much as we do. Episode 7 felt like the best paced episode of the second season to me. It felt like a season one episode in many ways. It allowed the scenes to have the time needed to breathe without breaking out into a music video every 5 minutes, and when they finally do break out into a music video it’s the most earned moment of the entire season to me. Wonderful show, easily the best show to come out in a long time to me
I love Episode 7, especially the Ekko-Powder-Heimrdinger plot. But I also thinks the contrast in peace and relaxation of the alternate universe compared to the rushing chaos and destruction makes it all the greater. The original timeline is set after a terrorist attack by Jinx followed by the green lady just when they were mourning the deaths of their councilors. Then you have mass riots as Cait and Vi DESPERATELY try to catch Jinx.
The fact the rest of the show is so rushing is a perfect fit for how the characters would feel. The scenes in Episode 7 and in Viktor's sanctuary are the only scenes where characters get to truly breathe out and relax. At all other times the world is rushing around them, war, revolution and terrorism are on the horizon and the characters are thrown into it.
Ekko is really the only character who gets a in the story. All the others are in near constant turmoil.
arcane is the best show I've seen in the past 5 years!
This video…completely sums up my thoughts about the show as a whole. Season 1 being a masterpiece and season 2 also being a masterpiece, but flawed with bad pacing. If only we had like two more episodes. Or even a few more minutes in each episode. Then this show would be the peakest of peak fiction.
Cartoonshi's outro song has grows on me everytime i hear it i am getting scared
I still cant believe the only character that got what he wanted without buts and ifs is singed the war criminal
did the last video get Thanos snapped by TH-cam or something? 😭😭
Not sure if you’ve seen the people mentioning how jinx is alive. The end credit scene with cait looking at the map of the tower while holding a piece of jinx’s grenade. Also the airship at the end. They really set this up for a spin off series or 200
I have watched a few vids critiquing Season 2, but I liked it just as much as Season 1. I never thought the pacing was off, as I have heard many complain and all the characters still made perfectly reasonable decisions. With reasonable, I don't necessarily mean best, or logically reasonable, but rather they make sense with the characters and emotion. The tension between Vi and Cait in the first act was wonderful, as they clearly had too much going on in their heads and were lashing out and blaming each other. I think the "rushed feeling" of their relationship is exactly that. They don't have time to grieve for their loses and are under extreme stress. Cait thrust into the position of her mother after a devastating loss and Vi just failed to get her sister back and saw the destruction she can bring. They are completely emotionally overloaded and in over their heads, but the world around them doesn't slow. I think I was in Cait's shoes, I'd feel just as overwhelmed as the show conveys. So much going on and happening with little time for breaks and time to juts process your emotions.
Jinx and Vi with Vander in act 2 were also amazing. Some may say the Vander arc felt rushed, but I think if it were longer and Vander was "back" for a long enough time to truly talk with Vi and Jinx it would make his season 1 death less impactful and give Jinx and Vi too much time to reconciliate and mentally stabilise and reset. Jinx blamed herself for what happened to Vander and her family. When she sees Vander in the beast, she is shown a glimpse of the man that was her father. He was the cornerstone of their life and if he was back, all would be good with both her and Vi, at least in her mind. She is clearly desperate for this, which is why she seek out Vi, as she probably imagines bringing Vander back together with her will undo the rift between them and mend the scars. The fact they got their father "back" only for him to be torn away and Jinx also losing Isha, sending her into depression was wonderfully done. A glimpse of hope, of peace in Viktor's sanctuary, shattered by Jayce and the Noxians. Tearing their father away again and throwing them back into the lives they had just escaped. With all the misery and conflict and loss.
Episode 7 is an absolute banger imo. No words (or rather if I get started, way too many).
Episode 8, exploring the aftermath of Jayce actions, the battle and how Cait, Vi and Jinx deal with the loss fits well imo. Even the talk between Ekko and Jinx at the beginning of Episode 9 works perfectly in my eyes. Jinx is extremely unstable mentally and, from my experience, when someone is that unstable it doesn't always take much for them to 180° mentally. So I think its reasonable that an old friend turned enemy suddenly turning up and "forgiving" you for your past mistakes would shake her up and potentially out of her suicidal trance. I think on one hand she realises that Ekko might be tampering somehow with reality, as he starts smoking, bleeding, seems to have burns and is carrying a Hextech device. He also refers to her as an old friend.
Lastly, when he talks to her it's like this "I learned from someone special. That no matter what happened in the past, it's never too late to build something new. [Cut from Jinx face looking at Ekko's Z-drive to the Z-drive that contains monkey used by Powder/Jinx and then to Ekko also looking at them, basically acknowledging what she is looking at] .... Someone worth building it for." In my eyes that clearly communicates to Jinx that she is the special someone or at the very least the "someone worth building it for". If I was in her position, that would definitely get me rattled.
As for the final fight including Viktor and Jayce I also really enjoyed this. Sure, Viktor's power and the Arcane are not entirely explained, but if it were, it would be boring, at least imo. The mystery to how exactly it works is intriguing and in my eyes, the point was not Viktor's power, no whether he could turn everything into one soulless expanse, but whether he should. If we can accept that Vander can be turned into Warwick, Viktor can create these evolved robots or creature using the anomaly, without any in depth explanation, to me it is also fine that he can "undo"what he has previously wrought.
Thanks for reading my essay.
I read somewhere that apparently in an interview with sb from Riot it was said that the episodes of season 2 (at least all the ones from act 3) were supposed to be around 1 hours and 30 minutes each, but they were denied by Netflix. That explains the rushed feeling I got in this season at many points and I will never understand why these polishers can't just let the creators do their thing and let greatness shine.
This is easily the best review of arcane season 2. Giving it the respect it deserves while respecting giving constructive criticism to it. A lot of ppl will see reviewers and think the season is like a 7/10 cuz they bash it for most of their review lol.
Great Video !
(Spoilers for Season 2) I was rewatching the whole show and realized that Mel’s back was glowing gold, which I found as a weird choice the first watch through but rewatching after they explained she shielded her and Jayce since she’s a mage it just shows the attention to detail and the fact that they had foreshadowed it from there was great!
I don't think Maddie's turn is out of nowhere at all. We see her spying on Cait/Vi in episode 8. She's the first of the Enforcers to start beating her chest in episode 3. She also introduces herself to Vi as "junior officer", likely meaning she's fairly knew to the force. She was an Ambessa plant from the start.
Plus Ambessa says to Vi "You captured Caitlyn's heart and left a vacuum. I was able to fill that vacuum" SHE LITERALLY SAYS IT
real og's know that this is a reupload
i binged it and ended up sobbing
it made me feel alive yet broke so many emotional blocks
it was borderline masochism to let that shit flow
Ekko has always been my favorite League character as someone who doesn't play League and although only a side character I am so glad how much love they put into him. LIKE THAT FINAL ACTION SCENE OH MY GOD THAT'S MY GOAT THAT'S MY GOAT RIGH THERE.
0:36 that’s not about being impressive that’s a Cannon event Cartoonshi
At some point in everyone’s life you realize Shadow the hedgehog Is awesome.
Honestly, thank you for making this. It gave me a greater appreciation for season 2 than I already had, and also helped me process the more conflicting parts of it. I ADORE what you said about how Jinx is basically dead inside and how Isha gives her life again. I was surprised with how blatantly they portrayed her suicide ideation which later went into outright attempts, but it really hit me.
i just realized is your censor guitar sting buddy holly
Yes! I’m happy someone talked about the pacing? I wish that season 2 was just slightly longer
Alright this already looks good so i'm gonna watch this later and watch arcane first.
Well said man, I’ve never played the game but watched the show and I love it
I was locked in to the finale, I didn't find it rushed.
I find it funny the biggest issue everyone has with Arcane is that there's not enough of it and we need more. That should be a clear sign the show is goated.
they really knew how to hurt us. they gave us a glimpse into a perfect world, we along with Ekko got to see things be better, we got to see things that were perfect. they gave us the perfect, and I mean perfect "what could have been and what will not be" episode. that dance with Eko and Powder... god that hurt. seeing them actually be happy together, seeing them in a world where neither experienced the hurt they did in the main world, it was beautiful. and they took it away, they needed to take it but it didn't hurt any less. this show was a masterpiece
i decided to finally watch it on a whim last week after discovering that an artist i really like had a song in season 2. i watched the entire first season in one night, binged the rest the following day. it's been all i can think about for about a week straight. season 2 has it's flaws but even those couldn't bring down it's overall ranking for me. hell, i'm trying to get my own mother to watch it.
Animation is on a hot streak this year.
Everybody fell in love with arcane
Masterpiece of a show
I like that you had scenes from Stien's Gate in there when talking about how rare exceptional shows come along. That was a good one.
I think another great animated series on Netflix is "Love + Death + Robots"
LD&R has some hits and misses, but when one of their shorts is good, it's *_REALLY_* good. Still waiting for the next volume of shorts.
Honestly despite Netflix being.. well Netflix.. The animations that they make are pretty good quality. Like Arcane is peak, Cyberpunk is peak, Castlevania is peak, LD&R is pretty good, so yeah, in the animation department they do quite a good job.
@@kalmansandor572 Don't forget BoJack Horseman and Blue Eye Samurai.
Honestly I’m impressed that Arcane is capable of getting me engaged and interested in the lore of League of Legends, a series I was never interested in.🐱
I think season 1 is a masterpiece, but season 2 stumbled the ball around act 2 as I agree that they felt rushed and could use 3 more episodes to fix the pacing. I fell the final battle was over stuffed and we didn't have the character interaction to the degree where use to, in order to ground/invest us. I mean the gaurd who looks like Vander felt like it had a lot of unused scene to make vi/the audience care for him. Not to mention that some long running side characters got shafted like Sevika who didn't even get a line in the last episode despite being their since the start of zhan vs Piltover plot that drove most of the story.
arcane is genuine perfection
I initially didn’t really like the ending, but upon rewatch it’s much better
Tbh I think if we just had a bit more of Sevika and Zaun it would’ve been peak
I want to mention that the Studio that draw Arcane deserves recognition. Fortiche has given soul to Arcane. I m not sure if i will get the same feeling about the serie if the it was produced by the like of Disney or Pixar.
I love Arcane, and am so happy you did too!
I think people miss 1 thing about Heimerdinger's sacrifice. He waited 3 years in this universe waiting for Ekko. And while being there he took to heart every moment he had with Ekko previously and, at least, helped to shape this reality. So for him those 3 years were spent with the lessons that he learned from Ekko, thus making his sacrifice logical in his eyes. Though I would have loved couple of more scenes between then.
i wish i could erase every moment from this show from my memory so i could experience it for the first time again. thanks for your thoughts.
arcane more like arcade
Ha ha ha
wow, so funny :[
I never get your videos recommended to me anymore.. AND i have the bell notifs on
Lol you're writing is awesome coz the way you set it up, we both said "does" at the same time 1:20
Pixar: look at these beautiful lights.
Arcane: how about you look at this Glorious God.
(Also this show is peak).
The only thing I really needed in addition to what was there was a 10 minute sequence of Ekko pulling Jinx out of her depression, the rallying of Zaun and the launching of the airship.
I watched S2 in one day. It was very good. But it was also a lot. Like after finishing it I had to just sit and think. There were some parts that I just “missed” because so many things were happening at the same time. Like the whole “happy family” part with Jinx, Vi, WW, and Isha. It happened in the middle of a lot of other stuff and it ended so fast that I didn’t even have time to fully realize what was happening. Therefore at that time, that scene wasn’t as impactful. Now as I had more time to think about it I appreciate it a lot more.
This is why for me s2e7 is really peak. It is a bit slower paced and has more or less a concrete focus on Ekko/Jinx and Jayce and it is not bouncing between 10 characters each minute.
But yeah these are some small complaints, other than that absolute cinema.
Thanks for a great video. Yes, I agree that season 2 feels to crammed and some of the most epic moments like Maddie's betrayal felt very small for how much impact they could have made if gotten more time to build up.
Still the last episode managed to feel more epic in 40 minutes than the entire last season of GoT (Not mention all its other multitude of failures) did in 6 hours.
The age old Hollywood troop must apply, unless you see a body the character is not dead Heimerdinger and Jinx is not dead unlike Ambessa
Arcane consumed me after I watched it and would not let me go for months. Even now after Season Two the brainrot continues to strangle my focus and productivity in everything else.
I am in general agreement that Season Two principly suffered from the problem of being a bit overstuffed. Despite that it was a fantastic season worthy of of the highest praise.
What I found remarkable about Arcane is how efficient, concise yet effective its storytelling is. Every scene adds to the story and is connected to the central themes and threads. Via microexpressions, short but sharp dialogue, music and cinematic framing it tells what it needs the audience to know in a few seconds. It never has to use more scenes to explain and flesh out every little thing cause that is not what the story needs.
It is lean yet full and powerful.
Yet considering how much more dense Season Two is with how many themes, plots and arcs it had to carry over and wrap up from S1 and what was introduced, it was inevitable they had to lean very hard into the efficiency of editing and storytelling in order to wrap things up in nine episodes.
It needed at 2 - 3 more episodes total. In order to give the plot and arcs time to breathe. To allow us watchers to digest such powerful stuff, to at least better explore some of the subplots and themes like Zaun's failed uprisings and Pitfighter Vi or Dictator Cait's struggles. Ultimately I feel this season was a tad overstuffed without the runtime to accommodate it. It left it feeling more plot-driven as a result even when the characters are the ones driving things. The scope and focus for Season One worked perfectly with the 9 episode and three act structure, Season Two should have been a bit bigger to accommodate the greater scope and stakes involved. Let things be as big as the story requires, within reason of course.
Ultimately however given their self-imposed limit of keeping this show within a two seasons of eighteen episode, they did a masterful job.
Originally, Act 1 *was* an entire season. They wrote it, they animated it, looked at the result. And decided that while it was good, it wasn't good enough. So they started over, completely rethought season 1, turned it into just the first act, and ended up creating a masterpiece. That's one of the reasons it took 6 years, and I'm so happy they did. Because it's perfect.
I don’t care what anyone says Jinx isn’t dead, she escaped through an air vent
Act 3 made Act 2 better. You can see why the story had to be told in this order, especially the story of Jayce. Also Mel becomes relevant, at the right time for the story. Yes, her liberation from those magical bonds is kind of deus ex machina, but the point of the story is her conflict with her mother. And of course ep7 is necessary for Ekko, to be able to crucially change the outcome. Even More mentally than technologically.
definitely agree that S2 could have used 1-2 more episodes to really give everything more breathing room and to wrap up all the different plot points much better
The only bad thing about Arcane is how they going to retcon some of the characters featured in mainline LOL, like jinx for example to be where they are at the end of the show. Like how they handled Deadshot in Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League.
That’s not really Arcane’s fault, Riot is just being stupid by trying to integrate it with League canon
I can kinda see where people are coming from when they say season 2 was obviously rushed cause of the other three shows. I saw a tweet about some guys who rushed their passion project movie cause they were offered a hand at star wars. On one hand this show or movie is everything to you and you want it to be perfect, even if it means more creative baking and oven time, but on the other hand: its fucking star wars, who wouldn't rush their plans just to get it out of the way for THAT?
Season 1 was a masterpiece.
Season 2 was a masterpiece with flaws. The biggest ones being:
1) it leaned very heavily on the established lore of the characters only to then make a complete u-turn into something else. Prime example is Viktor and his "Glorious evolution". In the lore, he also went to Zaun to heal those aflicted by the toxins. But instead of a magical cure, he augmented them mechanically. Now: This twist works in Arcane, but what does not is how it proceeds.
(SPOILER FOR SEASON 2)
As he wrestled with tragedy after tragedy and betrail, he started looking for solutions, ending up with the conclusion that humanity is the cause of so many problems, mechanically removing his own humanity without turning back. That also does happen in Season 2, but the ending, which reverses the entire struggle comes out of nowhere and goes contrary to the established character. Meaning Arcane both banks on Viktors backstory and lore, only to then suddenly revert it. It is jaring. Same with Warwick (Vander). Which would be fine if there wasn't the second flaw:
2) Pacing. Arcane Season 2 is rushed.
As Cartoonshi correctly pointed out: Certain plot points would have required 1-2 additional episodes each. And the changes in the outcomes for each of the established characters (Jinx, Jayce, Heimerdinger, Viktor, Vander etc.) could have been justified in these episodes. Heimerdingers sacrifice. Jayce going from "Lets Season-1-Energy-Blast Viktor" to "I can not give up on him". Viktor bouncing from "Harmony in union" to "Glorious evolution" to "I was wrong". The flaw which I lined out in 1) would not be a flaw, if Arcane Season 2 focused on the pre-time-skip story.
That way we would have Season 2 be centered around the fallout of jinx rocket, viktor merging with the hextech core and comming to terms with his loss of humanity, vi and caitlyns hunt for jinx and caits slow descend into a stone cold general, Jinx bounding with Isha, Ekko and Heimerdinger developing solutions for strange phenomena throughout piltover and Zaun, ending with the Vander reveal, The Isha intervention and Caits / Vi's fallout, the pseudo takeover of Piltover by noxus. With the final episode focusing on the Arcane waking up and new factions being introduced. The black rose, Viktor establishing himself in Zaun, Jayce, Ekko and Heimerdinger discovering the source of the strange phenomena, with the Hexgate transporting them through time and space. A sort of "Everything everywhere goes wrong ... See you in season 3".
And season 3 could then focus on the Arcane fully awakening. Fleshing out Viktor establishing the cult. Jayce interaction with the apocalyptic world, Ekko and NiceJinx, Heimerdinger helping Ekko cope with the temporal shift, Vi and Jinx finding Vander, the near-humanization of Vander, Vi and Cait mending their relationship, Viktors slow descend into madness and finally the Glorious evolution, establishing him as the BBEG of the final season, as Jayce returns and (not going solo-mode) tries to gather support to storm Zaun, not to dismantel the Chembarons, but rather to eliminate his friend, After that, I would actually keep the ending the same. Jayce fails, Viktor allies with Ambessa, Invasion of Piltover etc.
There was just way too much for a single season and too little time.
Overall: If my biggest criticism of Season 2 is that there should have been more of it, then that is hardly a negative. But the pacing unfortunately turned a 10/10 show into a 9.5/10 show.
And as negative as I was throughout this comment: It comes from a place of frustration and DEEP digging. That there was something wrong with season 2, but in order to lay my finger on it, I had to really REALLY look into what gave me that feeling.
However, in the end: Arcane in total is a 9.5/10. Must watch. Absolutely amazing and just THAT CLOSE to perfection, if only we had one more season.
...
That ofcourse wont mean we do not get to see more of Runeterra.
I mean we saw two factions allready. Leblanc and the Black Rose, aswell as a certain 6 eyed crow ... Swain and Noxus. That will likely be the new conflict.
(Also: Jinx is likely not dead. I believe neither is Warwick / Vander. Heimerdinger is a tossup, likely making a return once we get to the Yordles. As for Jayce and Viktor: I can see Jayce returning. Viktor? Maybe in his fully robotic form, but not as Arcane-Viktor)
EDIT: For those interested in why I think so.
A: You can see a pink shimmer streak out of the explosion, which would be Jinx. She likely escaped to give Vi and Cait the possibility of being together. To walk away from the cycle of conflict. This also explains the Cait scene where she looks at the old ventilation system, smiling as she notices a route through which Jinx could have escaped.
B: Vander surviving is more of a ... hunch. Warwicks story is not finished, so we would likely see more of him.
C: Same with Heimerdinger. Yordles do not tend to really ... pass away. And since we did not see the ... graphic end of the donger, I think he managed to fix that flaw in the timeloop generator.
D: Jayce and Viktor returning is a similar hunch to the Donger. Since Arcane does not shy away from showing corpses and we did not see theirs: I think these two will make a return. Or at least: The possibility is being left open. Especially since Viktors story is not over yet.
I'd say the fact that the biggest criticism that the show has generally received is that there wasn't enough of it speaks volumes as to it's quality.
Cartoonshi: RESTRAINING THE PEACE !!!!!
TH-cam: lucky, we almost got you
Seeing cartoonshi being so positive has the same chances of my father coming back with the milk
The little episodes in avatar that capture the humanity of the characters removed from the plot is what makes the show elite. Arcanes episodes weren’t set up that way so I don’t know they could’ve done that
Some fans theorize that Heimerdinger is still alive somewhere. He is, after all, a Yordle, and they seem to hold onto his final line, "Be back in a wink." as a kind of copium. But hey, they may be right! As for pacing, yes, I agree that season two ramps up the pacing considerably. But if you take the two seasons together as a continuous viewing experience, I think you'll find that the pacing accelerates at a pretty constant pace, giving the pace curve for the whole thing a relatively smooth parabolic shape rather than a jagged, uneven one. Most of us are, quite naturally, judging season two against season one as if they were two separate products competing against each other. But while I too hold season one in higher regard (it's impact on me emotionally makes it special to me in ways I still can't articulate fully to this day), I think that season two--along with its pacing--will become appreciated more and more as fans process and judge the two seasons together as a single entity. Much like how I feel it is improper to judge each "volume" of The Lord of the Rings independently, as if it was a trilogy of separate novels (which it isn't) rather than as a single novel artificially and imprudently split up into three pieces by an impatient publisher (which it is).
0:37 Shadow:
I’m the coolest!
Is this a reupload?
Yes
yup
Yes it is
Arcane gives me motivation to draw more and more and more, to keep doing animation as my career bc this show is a love letter to art itself