Arcane: Not As Great As You Think

[@nik0208]

I'm rewatching season 1, and.. yeah I wholeheartedly agree. My first watch I adored it but now I'm stricken in the face with the cliche's, contrived plot elements, and just overall feeling of the story being much messier than I first though. Rest of the show is fantastic but I feel like the plots not quite as good as people say it is.

[@Augdawg55]

The moment that Caitlyn let Vi just run off into Zaun with parkor was where I got really confused. Even more so that Vi waited for her. VI’s parents were killed by enforcers, Vander died because of the situation brought on by enforcer oppression and Vi was put in prison for however long by enforcers. Why on earth would she wait around for Caitlyn? Why would she even begin to care where a Pilty enforcer is? More than anything, more so than her own sister Powder, why have any feelings of love? Am I crazy? Good grief, Charlie Brown.

[@Olivia-W]

Thank you. Thank you so much. I couldn't get into Arcane, and I didn't know how to articulate it. The characters simply didn't make sense to me... and episode 3 was where the contrivances piled up. The drama felt forced.

[@WhatThe40k]

No problemo! And thanks for commenting. Always happy to hear when my vids are enjoyed ☺️

[@lustrazor44]

thats fine, not everyone understands proper writing.

[@swiftumbra2748]

​@@lustrazor44No the characters are simply not that well developed or even really feel realistic.

[@solarwinds5114]

@@lustrazor44 the story makes no sense

[@jameslaker7066]

I just watched aracane for the first time and then watched your video. I thought your criticism and critiques were excellent. I think some viewers got so caught up in how expressive and passionate the characters were in pivotal moments that they didn't notice that the writers completely skipped setting up for the payoff or failed to establish meaningful stakes for the individual characters in those scenes. I would say that the show is, "Ok but could have been a masterpiece if the writers didn't cut so many corners to give viewers fan service and shocking revelations". Keep up the good work! 👍

[@Augdawg55]

All very funny and clear. I was watching this show and even asked a lot of things too. It feels like this series lacks humanity, despite what fans say otherwise. 1. The Enforcers are just faceless, voiceless, aimless drones who don’t question their orders or actions? Really? They don’t have a conscience? 2. Why is Caitlyn even good? She’s raised in riches, splendor and high society. Why does she even think of being different? Why does she want to be different? How does she know there’s another real “world” out there? 3. Jayce acts independent and pursues a dream for two seconds only to become a boy toy after moments of completing his work/success? There’s so much more that’s wrong and weird and crazy too. A whole list. Awesome video, WhatThe40K.

[@Manesson]

THANK YOU ! It's crazy that everyone seems to ignore the inconsistencies there.

[@BajaLaNavaja]

People dislike the video and leave because they don't share their opinion. I like Arcane, its animation is fantastic, but I can't say it's perfect, from making Caitlyn a total naive to the silly origin of Hextech.

[@Quaquadaqu]

@@BajaLaNavajathe animation is ugly af

[@boorn4858]

i didn't like arcane but i couldn't put my finger on it. thanks, you showed me i wasn't crazy xd

[@sclane9700]

Wow, what is this? A critical video of a popular show that is showered by nothing but praise that is conveyed respectfully and honestly? In this day and age? And it's 2 years old? And almost 2 hours? Don’t mind if I do Also, will you be making a season 2 video as well?

[@WhatThe40k]

A season 2 video isn't likely. This one was a heap of work.😅

[@cinnamon9032]

All pretty fair criticism, im too lazy to point out the things i might disagree with but its refreshing to see a different opinion

[@bonobono6468]

You gotta do this for season 2 as well! Amazing video!

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks, that is very much appreciated. As for tackling Season 2.... I don't know if I have it in me..😅 I haven't gotten around to watching yet but I take it to mean from your comment it has similar issues?

[@محمدمهدیکیقبادیمقدم]

​@@WhatThe40k I'd say season 2 is even worse tbh. I'd like to see what you'd have to say about season 2 too, liked this video a lot

[@alisamerd6230]

I would love to hear your opinion, because I found so many plot holes in season 2 and I just skimmed the surface. You did a great review of the first season, I'll be looking forward to the review of the second. ​@WhatThe40k

[@NadwornyBlazen]

For people who did not watch past first two minutes, here are the strongest points made in this review: - Vi's relationship with Caitlyn is forced and stupid. Vi treats Caitlyn like garbage, leaves her at brothel, lies about Jinx being her sister, demands information about Caitlyn's investigation, acting like Cait owes her something, breaks into Jayce's place and when he threatens to call the cops she starts playing the victim. - Catlyn does not call Vi out for her being an ass. She is framed as smart and insightful, yet her decision to release Vi from prison is dumb as hell. She has no evidence that Silco is behind all of this, gemstone ain't provin' shit, even tho script tries to convince everybody otherwise. - Both Vi and Caitlyn are not are not facing their responsibility in regards to their actions. I mentioned how it is with Vi, but Caitlyn is just as guilty of it. After she forges signature of Jayce (WhatThe40k assumed Jayce released Vi on his own, but I disagree with him on that one - I am pretty sure she forged it) she does not face reprecussions whatsoever, neither for this nor for impersonating enforcer. This is bollocks. Also plot armour of these two - Caitlyn surviving two different explosions in one piece, Vi kicking ass of every criminal was hella cartoonish, just like surviving being stabbed in her core, then falling from the big height right after. - No restraints put on Vi when Caitlyn released her to help with investigation. Like, why Caitlyn did not assume she would try to run from her on first occasion? It was so fucking stupid I felt like the show was not even trying to be serious. I think those were biggest problems with this show pointed out by the review, showing how immature is the level of its writing.

[@minnelcandelario6893]

Now give me a few more reasons why the show is bad because those can be condensed to "in my opinion" . Like is the story coherent? Are there too much plothole? Does the world reflect the creators vision? Etc.. you know the important stuffs?

[@NadwornyBlazen]

@@minnelcandelario6893 no, its not just my opinion. Those stuff I wrote about are serious incosistancies - the important stuff, as you called it.

[@NadwornyBlazen]

@@minnelcandelario6893 you can also watch the review, all is pointed out in it.

[@minnelcandelario6893]

@@NadwornyBlazen I did and I'll still say the same since this is not the first time I watch a critical review have you watched schnee? Go watch his videos he has over 60 arcane videos and he goes more in depth on what this guys reviewed ,I mean IN DEPTH not just focusing more on negatives but being neutral about it.

[@minnelcandelario6893]

@@NadwornyBlazen If your focus is only inconsistency I wonder what's a good show for you I'll even give the time of my day to break it down just to show you how nitpicky it is to go and criticize inconsistency because those things,some of those can even be explained at future seasons(breaking bad did this, same with GoT), are either used to further the plot or keep things going,if you look things in bigger picture those didn't really detract the main story and if you kept , it's an issue you pointing out but the easiest one to fix ,remember this is a show not a movie this will go to multiple seasons not one and done.

[@arcangel1172]

I was never expecting an hour long league video on this channel. This is a welcome change, I would like your criticism of more 40k series too.

[@WhatThe40k]

Hehe, I tried out a 'thing'. But your comment is something I've long thought about tackling. Though I'm not sure what to take on.🤔 I do find particular stories in the Horus heresy to be worthy of criticisms but I wonder if being a non visual medium would make such a video a slog to watch. 😅

[@garroshhellscream594]

I've watched the show the last week. I'm almost embarrassed to see how high praise Arcane get when at the same time I'm just like "this is good, not very good, not average, just good". The story is full of clichés, a lot are subvert but the worst of them, like how Ekko can't finish the work with Jinx, are just infuriating, especially when it's followed by another shitty cliché to solve a situation you can't solve by normal circumstances. I find all of the action scenes overrated. They are not bad, but I have the feeling they are kinda cheap considering how good the animation is. The Ekko / Jinx fight is like five seconds of Ekko going full Ultra instinct, dodging bullets at short range, striking Jinx, it's over. The emotional scene before don't work because you never seen those characters interact in whatever way. Cheap tools to create emotion. It really lacks the "woh" effect you can do with animation by simply going crazy on everything. Also, with this detail, the show could really use more pain / blood in it's visual to make fights a lot more impactful. Music is often a miss for me. I don't remember any music except those from Imagine Dragon, which I found incredibly annoying because they are always misplaced in my mind. I've got thrown a lot outside of a scene just because they were in the need of their emo music. Which I don't find especially good to begin with. It turns every scene they used them into a clip show, by that I means a scene that you would not give a coin if the music wasn't here. You are describing well how I feel about characters, except for Sevika. This woman is garbage. It's the evil buff girl who lose everytime she appears. She try so much to be a badass just for getting her ass kicked like four times in the show. God, why I would be interested to see her after the second time? The build up to her final fight is trash, she has been already kicked off three times, what does she except, what does the writter expect from me at this point? Being interested? I'm not, she is as dumb as a plank of wood, and as usefull as a sponge washed in poop. There is also the four barons, introduced from nowhere, going nowhere, who took usefull times in the last episodes, times that could be used to make a better plot. Jink madness is really basic. A more realistic and disturbing way to portray it would have been to let her do exactly everything she does, but without showing us the visions. Imagine the exact same scenes with her alone talking to the void. Again, that would have been just more impactfull. I want to insist on how Caitlyn and Violet's romance is garbage. They didn't even try to make anything good about it. They don't know each others for more than one day one that crap start, they have nothing in common, they are using each other for nothing except egoistical interests, they don't have the same opinion about their worst problem Jinx who is the core part of Violet character, what the hell I'm supposed to buy from those two? The pink haired punk with the blue hair cop? Please. Respect my intelligence. The worldbuilding is praised but... why? It's one of the worst I've seen from a long time, and when I say that, I mean that here is almost none worldbuilding at all. Why Piltover and Zaun are in this situation? Why an accelerationist can lead Zaun? Why the Council seems to have power under the rule of one leader but none during the rule of another? How Silco rules everyone? Why the last war happens? What exactly happens to Violet and Powder parents? What is magic? How rare are mages? Why do they think you can't use magic by technology? What can magic do and can't do? Do they know what magic can do or not? Do they even know what magic is except blue lights? What does the furry gnome refers when he talks about big problems in the past? Why no one seems to give a shit about Shimmel when it turns people into berserker monsters? Why no one seems to know what Zaun looks like when you can see it from a four hundred metters bridge? Everytime something happens in the world, I can't really measure it's importance because this was never introduced properly. What is the level of medicine, for example? It seems to be unable to heal Viktor, but why does he believe magic can? Why there is a vendor that sells a miracle healing potion for just a rifle and people of Piltover can't cure Viktor? Is that magic? Is that medicine? Because it thats one or the other, it completly change my perspective about the world, one means magic is more common than you think but well hidden for reasons, the other means Piltover is far from being that good at science outside of mechanico-magico-engineering. There is different races but nothing about them, there is major advance in tech without hextech but nothing is explain again, a big part of the plot is about the fight between the two part of the cities but because they never explained how it started, why, and why no one seems to give a shit about solving the conflict, everything fells flat when you try to tell me "Oh we can just give them indepandance". Dude, what the fuck? You mean in what, five years, Silco has never done anything to make anyone know his objective? If you can reason with him, why he was preparing for a gigantic war without any way to talk to anyone? If the council don't care that much about letting Zaun go outside of their first reaction, why no one have think a one tiny time of this idea? It's the biggest fall of the show for me. It's trying so hard to hold thematics, characters arcs, revolving about a lore situation, but it never do anything to actually explain the lore to me.

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for the beefy comment! To be completely honest, I haven't watched the show in quite a while, 😅 but I think we agree on most things. Though what you mentioned about world building does get me thinking.. In any case thanks again for checking out the video and taking the time to share your write up.🍻

[@garroshhellscream594]

@@WhatThe40k My pleasure. I will just add that I found Jayce and Viktor arc quite enjoyable, as much as the first episodes, too. Silco is truly a good antagonist and he saves pretty much the whole story of Jinx/Violet just by existing. And even if I find the show lacking imagination about action scenes, it still is really magnificent overall. But yes, the worldbuilding is the worst part for me. And I find people falling very too easily in the trap "They show and don't tell" when they show nothing except beautiful art direction.

[@zorb_thedufus]

But you forgot they literally interacted in enemy where it established their friendship, in the game he admits he had a crush on her.

[@garroshhellscream594]

@@zorb_thedufus I'm late to the party, but what specifically are you answering? I've seen the show six months ago so I'm not sure to remember everything at this point.

[@tamas9554]

Just because Sevika loses 4 times overall in the show (firelight scene incapacitated, Vi&Cait, Jinx with sleep gas, Vi with gauntlets) doesn't discredit her character. Out of those 4 losses, 3 times she is ambushed out of nowhere, and in her first fight with Vi she is even chased away by Caitlyn, after being attacked from Vi when she didn't expect it. Even in their last fight, she is an equal to Vi, so I don't get it why are you downplaying her this much, as she actually was a formidable opponent Vi *had* to overcome :D Jinx's madness is basic, how so? It would have been missing out on the animation part with her insanity scenes, her talking to nothing would have been lackluster and kind of hilarious. The series shows us what she sees, instead of nothing. Or if it was the way you suggest, you would be dissapointed that we've got nothing I'm sure. NO worldbuilding? Oh please, thats heavily underplaying it. Its undeniable that we get to know nothing about Arcane's larger world besides Noxus, but the show gives everything that is necessary to understand it. Zaun's and Piltover's origin story is just not necessary to know, only the consequences, and those are believable in my opinion. The focus is on the *now* , its about the problems the cities and characters are currently facing, and even though it doesn't make a lot of sense why its not hinted at (since the reason is perfectly clear in the original story), it still doesn't make the events less believable. Do we HAVE to know where the hexcrystals come from? No, but it would be nice. Do we HAVE to know about the other nations? Again, not really, it would be just a little extra. If you don't understand why Silco became the ruler of the Undercity, I'm afraid thats on you. It didn't even had to be explained, yet the show still did when the Yordle woman told about the situation to Vi. He's got the money, and the power, just like how it works in real life. You also not knowing what happened to the sibling's parents is also on you for not paying attention. Not only does Vander adress it to Vi in the 2nd episode, its also told us visually at the very beginning. Same about the last uprising of the Undercity, its hinted at why it actually happened. You see, a lot of problems come from you wanting either too much, or just straight up missing crucial information. If you truly want answers to some of these questions, then I recommend you watch the show again. Some of them unfortunately have no explanation in the show, but even then I'd argue those are minor mistakes, and recommend you read LoL's universe webpage if you are interested in its world. Though just because that webpage exists doesn't justify some of the unanswered questions in the series. But then again, you proving that you can't put together basic pieces of the puzzle just proves to me that you don't actually know how the real world works, which makes deciphering this show much easier.

[@unitron2005]

I also find it sus, that a lot of people, who CONSTANTLY compain about : - characters having plot armour simply for being main characters, - characters being too OP at fighting (despite being kids, women, or both), - characters surviving injuries that should be fatal because they have plot armour - characters knowing things they can't possibly know, and so forth, are just heads over heals in love with this show and are suddenly turning a blind eye to the very same problems they ALWAYS bang on about. (Amongst them many, whom I consider extremely logical individuals on almost any other subject they talked about....) Now, dear Arcane fans, please, no de*th thre*ts after 11 PM, please, I'll be asleep.

[@Ov1raptor-7464]

You make many points without explaining any of them or using examples, Arcane writes gender perfectly - I hate the masculine female character in every single piece of cinema except this Arcane manages to write every character as characters. Not men or women just people, yeah Vi was crazy good at fighting but you do realise how here win to loss ratio is near 50/50 she’s by no means perfect which is why her being OP sometimes works. I *strongly, strongly* recommend you check out schnee’s videos if you aren’t already too bias, he explains everything I can’t right now in vastly more detail then I could ever.

[@unitron2005]

@@Ov1raptor-7464 This video already gave several examples to what I mentioned, so I have a feeling you don't WANT to understand. *yeah Vi was crazy good at fighting* So crazy good that as a KID, she can beat up a dozen trained adult figthers, most of them men. Get out of here mate.Looks like you're the one who's too biased.

[@Ov1raptor-7464]

@@unitron2005 Brutha it’s a Fantasy Steampunk show with magic and all manner of otherworldly creatures yet you don’t like it because a young girl (girl being irrelevant in the setting of a story as realism isn’t necessary, her being a girl would be important irl but it’s not real life) who is wearing iron gloves beat up a few *goons* (you are assuming they are trained). Besides it’s not important to the story either, she loses to the monster anyway. Unlike typical Mary Sue’s like Rey in Star Wars, where her being op has real consequences to liked characters (Kylo and Snoke).

[@unitron2005]

@@Ov1raptor-7464 Yes, realism IS nescessary. Just because magic exists, does not excuse bad writing. Humans are regular humans, unless otherwise stated. If normal humans are magical, than the rest of the magic makes no difference. Just because Superman exists in Metropolis, it does not make it normal for Jimmy Olsen or Lois Lane to be bulletproof or fly. *you are assuming they are trained)* Well yeah, it's kinda sensible to assume that a crime lord is employing muscle that can actually... you know... FIGHT. Or at least fight well enough to ovepower a ittle girl. (Who shouldn't even be able to lift those iron gloves) *Besides it’s not important to the story either, she loses to the monster anyway.* Yes it is important. If impossible things can happen in a show, than nothing matters and you don't have a story. If a regular human can survive things that are absolutely impossible to survive, then why should anybody care about anything that happens?

[@Ov1raptor-7464]

@ Why, why is realism necessary, its art, it’s a product of imagination, it’s purpose is entertainment through escapism, who cares if the teenage girl can lift the gloves - it was a well choreographed badass fight scene. And yet that was still just the one scene from episode 3. Get over it and look at the bigger picture. It is incredibly rare for a show to come out like Arcane and be received so incredibly positively by a range of all kinds of people. You could race or gender swap any character and the story would remain the same. If Vi was a slightly older man would that satisfy you? Because I frankly, don’t care, I care about the story.

[@thee_pyro3590]

Damn, I hate when KZbinrs just try to push the ten minute mark( regarding the show, I think the main 3 characters to be meh. While Victor seems to be one of the better characters with his loses, I really want to see where his character heads).

[@coco4wii193]

Are you gonna make a video on S2? I remember loving this video when I first watched it, and S2 has similar issues I’ve noticed.

[@WhatThe40k]

I currently have no plans to do so. This video was a ton of work. Aaaaaaand, I'm in the middle of watch Demon Slayer, so I have no desire to switch gears to resume Arcane S2.😅

[@coco4wii193]

@@WhatThe40kdude that’s so fair, I’ve made videos like this before and it can be so draining. Have fun with Demon Slayer!!!

[@ernestogutierrez7877]

This is a breadth of fresh air! a very well done critical review. I enjoyed the show a lot but had to forgive the bad writing too many times for it to work. Was surprised to find out it is being touted as a masterpiece XD

[@emperorpalpatine6239]

Well, you see, according to the rule of internet, TV shows, movies and video games are divided into two categories: masterpieces and the worst things ever. There is no middle ground.

[@squidgamersquidgamer5273]

All of your points were really spot on!

[@WhatThe40k]

Thank you, I appreciate that!

[@andytheshark2102]

arguments begin at 3:23

[@NorthernWind_Vlll]

Great breakdown, thank you for pointing out what felt wrong for me, I liked s1, but i felt the first few episodes were waaay better than the rest. Also, Jinx's speed is coming from the purple substance, shimmer, whihc has been shown to give speed boosts on the beast that killed benzo and the lackeys which fought Vi and Jayce.

[@TheMrMister34]

I'm pretty sure we are meant to believe that Caitlyn somehow used Jayce's offer to be part of his staff as the document pertaining to Vi's release, although that is also strange because: that would mean she reforged it moments before or long before going to Stillwater prison, the Warden did not doubt that Jayce only just that day became a councilman, and also did not check her for a badge or identification, since Vi is a prisoner that has caused a fair bit of ruckus during her time there (implied).

[@tnyachot]

The part at 1:13:55 that was funny throwing in Dave Chappelle to answer Vi stupid request to assault her town. Great animation the story was off the first season there definitely was a lot of questionable things, but the second season the writing goes in so many directions. I only scratched my head at a few things in season one and I was fine just ending it not expecting season two.

[@algebraicfeline2188]

I can't really take these criticisms seriously when some of them are just "a character made a bad decision". Like yeah? Characters making mistakes isn't bad writing? Characters having flaws is actually good writing?

[@WhatThe40k]

Well thanks for checking out the video anyways☺️. I don't disagree with your point in principle, but I do find the context matters.

[@Gapis321]

It's more of "a character made an illogical decision that served to push the plot forward and went against who that character was previously established as" than flat out making bad choices.

[@valmiro4164]

@@Gapis321 Can you point those decisions out? I'm not gonna watch a 2 hr video of what can be condensed into a few sentences.

[@Christobanistan]

@@valmiro4164 Pretty sure he literally did.

[@valmiro4164]

@@Christobanistan He literally didn't

[@unitron2005]

It was an okay show. But I can't think of anything in it that was out of the ordinary or even new, other than the animation style itself. And yet, here were are, the masses getting 0rgasms at the mere mention of the show and attacking anyone with foaming mouths who rates it as anything less than a 10/10 masterpiece. You make a LOT of good points that I did not even remember anymore, but yeah, very valid problems. And yet, looking at most of the comments, it seems that valid criticism for most fans of this show is just white noise or "hating".

[@mikeshinwa3398]

And there you have it, another comment section that still finds diehard fans expressing their anger against this review of their beloved show. Herd mentality and toxic positivity is in full display nowadays. It really speaks volume about the maturity and wisdom of these types of people, because it is immature to think that something is objectively perfect. Because there is never 100% objectivity in Art - there will always remain a subjective element, and as long as subjectivity remains, nothing will ever truly be "perfect". But that's also the beauty of Art, it can embody millions of ideas of what 'perfect' is. But nevertheless, NOTHING is immune to criticism. I agree with a lot of what you said in the video. And while I thoroughly enjoyed Arcane, it certainly isn't "perfect" like its fans claim it is. It's an "all-rounder" show, like Better Call Saul, it excels greatly in all the areas that make a good story. The problem is, these 'all-rounder' shows are infrequent and the mainstream audience is subject to "decent" to "good" shows that excel in some areas, but fall behind in others, when all of a sudden, something like 'Arcane' comes along and its like a breath of fresh air. Good review man.

[@akisatsuki8444]

I think when a lot of people really like something (completely disregarding the herd mentality thing), they tend to idealize the hell out of it. I know I do. If something does enough things well, or does something well that’s important to me, it automatically becomes perfect in my eyes. I cannot fathom how anything can be wrong with it, how anyone can think it’s anything less than a masterpiece, how I’m supposed to listen to any criticism without some part of me thinking that whoever’s making it really ought to get their head examined. And beneath all that is the tendency to view any criticism of something I like as a personal attack; if there’s something wrong with something I love so much, is there something wrong with me for liking it? Consciously I know that art is subjective and two people can see the exact same thing and come away with two completely different impressions, but my subconscious holds fast to the idea of the one objective reality. What’s there in the art is there and that’s all there is to it-character development, worldbuilding, tone, etc. Combine that with the fact that my personality and psyche are almost entirely composed by self-doubt (to put it mildly) and we get the belief that a review like this is proof that Arcane is objectively bad and that my having any modicum of respect for means I’m shallow, stupid, part of the herd mentality, indifferent to quality storytelling, all the worst things a person could consider me as. And this guy isn’t saying Arcane is bad or even mid, just that it’s not THE highest of high art! Sorry for the essay, I’m just trying to conceive of reasons as to why people who love something like Arcane would react in such a way. The show is praised endlessly for its nuance, its depth, the way it lets you figure things out on your own and doesn’t tell you what to feel about the characters, etc.-you’d think people who enjoy that kind of thing would be open to hearing different viewpoints, if only because a large portion of Arcane is BUILT upon characters’ bajillion different viewpoints! You’re completely right-the lack of wisdom and maturity in some of these comments is appalling.

[@風雪-d7i]

Regarding the Oil and Cringe segement. Yeah, no tthis is unfortunately a very surface level view analysis here. If you ask why Vi doesn't openly say "thank you" to an enforcer for breaking her out (to solve a case btw ) after the enforcers put her into prison for years without a trial then you are missing the obvious. It's only after Vi realizes that Caitlin is a person who does genuinly caresthat she opens up to her. But what's there from the beginning is the attraction that Vi feels towards Caitlin. Because there is no reason to doubt that her "you are hot, cupcake" isn't meant sincerely. In the same way Caitlin does act surprised by Vi's move but not startled at all. By the time the council scene comes up they have already saved each others life's a few times which reinforces her bond further. Your view on Vi after the council meeting is just a massive misreading of the character which is honestly a bit disappointing. Like what is Vi's main motivation throughout the whole season? Protecting the people she cares about. When the council rejects her proposal she still wants to go ahead to save her sister. She also wants to protect Caitlin. She knows how Jinx reacts to Caitlin already and that's why she feels that she needs to leave Caitlin behind. Is it stupid and does it hurt Caitlin unnessecarily? Absolutely but it's also perfectly in line with Vi's character. In short: A physical attraction between Vi and Cait is shown right from the start. Cait at least feels sorry for Vi right from the start. Vi is shown to change her mind on Cait from the brothel scene onwards. They have saved each others life. Just because their relationship is only a few days old at this point doesn't mean they can't have genuine feelings. In the end there's a red line through most of your analysis where you are missing key elements because the show is using show don't tell. Another example: Jinx powers in the last scene. The show already has established the following: Shimmer gives superhuman abilities. Can also be used for healing. Different variants exist. The doc basically tells Silco that saving Jinx will change her. We literally see Jinx get pumped full of shimmer. We even see her eyes turn purple as a result. And all you have to say is: "This comes out of nowhere" Like really?

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for checking out the video and for the comment!😊 I will try to further explain my rationale. I don't deny that a connection could develop between 2 individuals over the course of a few days. But given the amount of time they had together, and the additional challenges caused by Vi's actions, coupled with Vi's repeated bad faith accusations towards Caitlyn, I find it difficult to be sold on it. But perhaps Caitlyn is just *that* much more open and kind so she can overcome what I find to be frustrating or unattractive - which is fine enough. The problem I have with the Oil and Water scene, is how this all comes to together. You're right that Vi's M.O. is to protect those she cares about, of which Jinx is primary. However I am not even sure post council meeting, its fair to concede that Vi knows Jinx is alive. I believe Vi only saw Silco collect Jinx's unresponsive body after her point blank bomb went off. (plz correct if I am misremembering here). Back to my point on the oil and water scene..😅 in response to the council's decree, for Vi to give up on Caitlyn, and her connections in Piltover, and to project it personally to Caitlyn's veiw of their relationship comes across as petty and even a bit flip-floppy seeing as how Vi effectively chose Caitlyn over Jinx on the bridge. As for Vi 'breaking Caitlyn's heart' to protect her, I would much rather that be the case. Though I didn't find Vi shows anything to communicate this. You're right that the show does a lot of 'Show don't tell', a point of praise I make in the video. But the Oil and Water scene is one played from drama, as the scene itself and Vi's scenes post it, don't communicate that Vi was trying to keep Caitlyn from getting in the way. (At least as far as I can tell, again feel free to point out if otherwise.) Regarding the Jinx creepy lurch - as mentioned I do praise the show for its use of 'show don't tell', but Perhaps I miscommunicated my creepy lurch point. The issue I take with that beat isn't that the effects of shimmer weren't explicitly communicated, as you laid out, various instances of shimmer and its effects were made clear.(though I find the magic system of Shimmer could benefit from some structure, but its not a massive issue). My point in the creepy lurch section of the video is that it is dissatisfying to have main characters use surprise abilities or knowledge to get out of problems which we have never seen before, in a climax no less. And it does so to serve a plot beat which I find to be one of the weaker ones within the show. Again, thanks for the comment/watch. Hopefully this wasn't too much to read and the digress'in wasn't too severe.😅

[@artnull13]

We must have been watching a different show, or you are just suffering from bias confirmation. I didn’t see much to be convinced that there was a developing romantic relationship there.

[@風雪-d7i]

​@@artnull13 It might just be you...

[@artnull13]

@@風雪-d7i well I doubt it given the creator of this review has pointed this out - so there goes your poor argument. Sounds like you’re the kind of person who thinks they’re in a relationship if someone gives you a look 😂

[@aspieanarchist5439]

Jinx has purple pink eyes and ghostly pale skin in the Games, her species is listed as "Chemically-mutated human" on the Universe of League of Legends website. Also, we see on multiple occasions that as weird and borderline incestuous as Vi and Caitlyn`s relationship may seem to us the reason Vi loves Caitlyn so much is because she reminds her of both her dead mother and pre-Jinx Powder. In essence, Caitlyn is symbolic of Powder if she still had all her firearms training but never was separated from Vi and became Jinx. It`s not a coincidence that Caitlyn, Powder/Jinx and Vi and Powder`s deceased mother are the only three blue haired characters in the series! As for Vi`s "Oil and water" repetition, recall Sevika`s "You never learned patience" quote to her earlier. Whilst Vi is not as explosively hateful of the Topsiders as Jinx and Silco are, she does resent them in the way Vander did even post-change of heart! As logical and streetsmart as Vi may be compared to her baby sis and the other younger Lanes like Mylo and Claggor, she`s still not formally educated like most Topsiders including Caitlyn are and grew up in a world where weakness and hesitation literally meant death or ostracism and the bureaucratic debates of the Council would be synonymous with weakness in the eyes of a young Zaunite like Vi! Adding to Vi`s perception that she and Caitlyn are more irreconcilably different than they really are, remember her experience with Topsiders has primarily come up to that point in the form of faceless Enforcers burning down her family home whilst her parents were inside, opportunistic, corrupt, hypocritical and bigoted cops like Marcus calling her people(Including her adoptive father and role model,Vander) "Trencher trash" to their faces on the regular and wealthy aristocrats paying off shady Zaunite traders to heckle weaker Zaunites for coins!

[@da_dang_dog]

There’s a several points you’ve made I disagreed with but you pointed out several contrivances and legitimate issues. I’d need to sit on this for a while until I can better articulate what I agree and disagree with. Although but you 100% wrong about a minigun needing to spin up before shooting. Although the motor on an actual minigun can take a second to spin up to the target rpm, if there are rounds being feed to the gun it will shoot. Also in Arcane, Jynx’s minigun is never shown to need to spin up (I check both Episode 4 and 6), making it consistent in the show. Not an important point but it was one I have a clear counterpoint for.

[@larsen7249]

haven't watched the video yet, but here's some of my complaints >world building doesn't make sense, the poor vs rich districts gimmick was so much better in something like kill la kill, where it actually makes sense and is thematically relevant (although it's been a good minute since i watched klk) >magic system is half-assed and barely explained >the sisters dynamic is really jarring, because would you want to reunite with your sister after she killed not only 2 of your friends, but the person who rescued both of you AFTER YOUR PARENTS DIED? makes no sense, even if powder is the only family vi had left >some of the side characters are just there for the sake of it, medarda, for example, could've been a good worldbuilding tool, could've shown the viewer how it's like in other cities/governments, but instead she doesn't do anything and is just there >some of the plotlines feel unfinished, marcus's daughter, for example (although they might expand on this in s2, who knows), or vander's death, which felt very rushed, as it's barely shown to the audience what he's doing in zaun and how he treats his people >they don't even explain to us what happened in the beginning, why were the enforcers there? i believe it's some feud, as was shown by silco and vander, but this event is still so half-assed and lacking in information, AND IT'S THE THING THAT SET OFF THE WHOLE PLOT IN MOTION! >highly subjective, but the music is so ass, LET'S PLAY SOME RAP WHEN THE BLACK GUY'S ON SCREEN, BECAUSE HE'S BLACK! not only that, but the generic hipster stuff like imagine dragons was highly out of place in my opinion i kind of enjoyed the show, the animation, the choreography and the cinematography were admittedly stunning and creative, and i loved the ending, because jinx straight up NUKED the most boring plotline of the show, but arcane in general seems like a very good example of style over substance i'd give it about a 5/10, not great but not terrible either watching the video, i gotta say, i didn't catch so many bad stuff and inconsistencies in the show, like deckard not immediately killing vi, or at least knocking her out like he did vander though, i think vi lashing out on powder for killing her friends and vander is perfectly rational, what happens after the timeskip, however, is NOT imagine if, in dmc3, for example, when vergil and arkham raised temen-ni-gru, dante wanted to "reunite" with vergil, soap opera hugs and tears included, instead of RIGHTFULLY trying to beat the absolute crap out of him the forced drama really blinds you to the mistakes of this show, it's so in your face

[@ScottishGremlin]

Okay so, >you didn’t give a reason as to why the worldbuilding doesn’t make sense >fair enough, but I think the lack of knowledge people have on the magic makes the magic seem more scary and dangerous >they are sisters who had one BIG falling out. The whole friend and dad killing was clearly an accident and Powder was like 9 or younger. Vi could forgive her for that. >Merdarda was introduced so late in the season that it’s clear she’s gonna be important in season 2. >Vander makes peace with the enforcers but does compromise and try to get independence some other way, making the people of the undercity angry and take action themselves. That’s how he treats his people. Also how is it rushed? >I don’t know what scene you’re talking about so it could either be the first uprising (enforcers are obviously gonna be there) or the enforcers looking for the culprits of the explosion at Jayces house in the Undercity. I think I’ve explained that.

[@larsen7249]

@@ScottishGremlin >worldbuilding it’s not that it doesn’t make sense, it’s just there’s no clear reason as to why zaun even exists, we’re shown differences between zaun and piltover, but not how these differences came to be, unless i’m not remembering something >magic it just makes it poorly written in my opinion >was clearly an accident sure, but i don’t think vi should want to see this retard near her either way, and if she could forgive her, we should’ve been shown her something like her thought process at least, because such a deed is not easily forgivable >medarda so she’s just sequelbait, that doesn’t make it much better >enforcers i’m talking about the very first scene in the show why are enforcers there? what happened there? why are they just casually killing people, including vi and pow’s parents? it’s a trigger for vi and pow’s whole characters, but it’s not even established well

[@larsen7249]

​@@ScottishGremlin i'm not sure if youtube just erased my comment for no reason, so i'll type it out again, i really hate this website >worldbuilding it's not that it doesn't make sense, it's just not established well sure, the viewer is shown the differences between zaun and piltover, but not how these differences came to be >magic is scary and dangerous in my opinion it's just poorly written, you can have scary and dangerous magic and explain what a magic user can do compared to a normal person at the same time >BIG falling out the more i think about it, the less sense it makes it was a BIG accident, like you said, and even if vi were to forgive powder, which is absolutely nonsensical in the first place in my opinion, the narrative should've at least shown us vi's thought process of forgiving powder, because you'd have to do some really messed up mental gymnastics to get to that point >first uprising yes, i'm talking about this, the very first scene in the series WHY are enforcers there? WHAT did the people there do to trigger enforcers to the point of them going around and killing everyone, INCLUDING the main characters' parents, WHICH WAS THE TRIGGER FOR THEIR ENTIRE CHARACTERIZATION? it's really not good to leave plot points like these "up to interpretation", it's a lazy, half-assed way to make the characters seem more sympathetic, because we doesn't know what went down so we automatically side with vi and powder just because

[@ScottishGremlin]

@@larsen7249 while I do think the show could’ve done a better job of explaining how exactly Zaun became that crap, it’s not like it doesn’t give us any clues. The mines and sewers (that Viktor grew up by) produced toxic waste, and while Piltover was producing more and more technology, the waste went to Zaun, hence the crappy living conditions. Fair enough point about the magic actually. I mean considering that Vi thought Powder was dead for the entire time skip, it’s more so that she couldn’t forgive herself for abandoning Powder, who was young and only wanted to help Vander. Vi was pissed off for sure, but it’s not unreasonable that she wanted to make sure her sister was safe after the accident. You saw how she freaked out when she saw Silco approaching Powder, and how she immediately regretted punching Powder after she looked at the blood on her hands (symbolising that Vanders and their friends deaths wasn’t just Powders fault; there’s blood on her hands too for trying to save Vander in the first place). Powder is the only family she has left, of course she wants to make sure she’s safe. As for the enforcers being there during the first uprising, wouldn’t it be obvious that they were there to stop the violent uprising? Vi and Powders parents were probably part of the rebellion, which is why they got killed.

[@larsen7249]

@@ScottishGremlin >clues about zaun fair point, but yes, i agree that the show should've done a better job of establishing zaun in general >vi and powder sure, powder is the only family vi has left, i brought that up above, but still, i really disagree with the writers' vision here honestly, it's not necessarily wrong, it's just poorly implemented again, i'd like to see vi actually thinking whether or not she wants to meet powder after what happened between them, because, just like the violent uprising, it is an important plot point for her characterization and i'd like to see the reasoning behind it >violent uprising like, that's what i'm talking about, i want to know why this rebellion happened, i want to know how it got to that point, because it's such an important plot point for BOTH the main characters, it's literally what sets the plot in motion and it kinda just feels like they said "whatever" and left it as just some arbitrary violent uprising that happened just because

[@Krikario]

I cannot tell how relieved I am to see my problems reflected on a video. The "drama" bombing and the random decisions the characters had to make so that the plot could move to the writer's liking ( attention, I'm not saying the characters are acting according to actual cause and effect. It is very visible to the keen eyed watcher when the writer just swoops in at the crucial point of a scene and interjects to change the course of action of a character so they can just get over with it in the most blatant way possible. And at times, it just makes the characters appear very stupid. ) was so annoying. Also, I'm an artist/ animator myself and I can appreciate the amount of quality every scene has, but after a while the amount of unusual angles and overtly acted scenes just began to give me headaches. It was as if the show tried to suck out every possible emotional reaction that I could generate in between eye blinking. Not to mention I also have major problems with the dialogue. The amount of edgy/ life lesson giving dialogue we had to endure throughout this series was mind boggling. Every character is super competent, yes we get it. But all in all it felt as if I was watching the same character in different bodysuits. My fav characters usually aren't the comic reliefs, but this show proved to me how the lack of them is a major mistake. All in all, this show was shouting " LOOK HOW AMAZING WE ARE AT EVERYTHING " and just went on blasting nonstop. I wish I didn't watch the entire series and stuck with only watching snippets on KZbin. I'm sure I could have enjoyed it much better.

[@Decimus78]

I realize it's anecdotal, but this is the first time I've watched ANY season of a show multiple times. The writing, music, animation and timing are pretty much perfect. If I had to compare it to anything, I would say it's like watching a really awesome cutscene in a video game but it just keeps going. And contrary to another person's comment here, I'm not a League fan and you don't have to be one to enjoy Arcane. To me, it's the best video game adaptation there is. Better than Castlevania by far, which is the only recent adaptation that even comes close.

[@WhatThe40k]

Well said! I am pretty much in agreement with you. Similarly, Castlevania would be the one which I would look to before Arcane. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season, but it got a little weird as the seasons went on. Though I wasn't really watching it with a critical eye 😅

[@astrahcat1212]

You should watch some 90s animated movies, Prince of Egypt for example. There's also a lot of anime, for example FMA or Death Note. I do wish the show had a better soundtrack something more like Death Note to be honest.

[@astrahcat1212]

Also, there are some DC animated films particularly Batman that were very brilliantly written and underrated that would remind you a bit of Arcane. In particular Batman Year One I thought had better writing than Arcane overall.

[@darksteelyurius]

I respectfully disagree with you (and apparently the masses) in your assertion that Castlevania is lesser than Arcane. It's different, but that doesn't make it better. The subject matter in Arcane for me personally fell flat. The animation style was interesting, the voice acting was just fine...as was their use of effects. However, the writing for me personally never clicked. Perhaps it was over hyped and that ruined the experience. Or maybe I prefer Dark Fantasy over Steampunk fantasy.

[@Steven9567]

@@darksteelyurius nah the writing is just not that good it was fine during the child part but after that though

[@servus_incognitus]

This is really thorough and well done. Very good job!

[@WhatThe40k]

Glad you liked it!!

[@dabi410]

I actually really agree with a lot of your points! I'm glad I'm not alone in my view of this show. Another criticism I would like to point out (a few actually, and at the time of typing this, haven't watched the whole video so i dont know if youve already made some of these points) is that there are too many characters with names. Ekko has really interesting lore in league (which I know because I watch a lot of T B Skyen) with his whole time thing, which I thought the show was gonna do something with, the pacing of the show is absolutely terrible. It's so fast that none of the relationships develop, my biggest qualms being with Caitlyn and Vi's relationship and Jace and Viktor's relationship. Speaking of Viktor, I feel that he could have been a very good villain, he is both from Zaun and in his original lore, he works to end human suffering by turning everyone into robots. Maybe he could have had his eyes on getting hextech on his hands to maybe help his plan to make everyone robotic move further along(?). Another thing I had a problem with was Hex Tech, I usually forgot about its entire existence. I felt it was just... there. If it was so important shouldn't it be brought up more? That and if there was going to be a place vs place conflict, couldn't they have gone with Noxus and Ionia's conflict? Or Demacia and the mage rebellion? Or hell, even Viego as a villain! That, and I felt the show has a lot of its conflict conveyed through talking. I found a lot of it so fucking boring because the piltover sections of the story felt like a political science major wrote them. I also feel that it should have chosen which group to focus on. Piltover or Zaun? Overall I think that the story should have been different. I'm sorry if this was a long comment, I just have a lot of frustrations with this show. I think you make a lot of good criticisms with the show and the story it chooses to present, so, cheers! :D

[@WhatThe40k]

No need to apologize for the long comment. In fact, I truly appreciate you enjoyed the video enough to share a comment of such length.☺

[@dabi410]

@@WhatThe40k OMG you responded! Thank you so much! I sorta just blurted out my frustration because I didn't really have anyone to talk to about it lol

[@schnek8927]

I'm a bit surprised you didn't go into full detail of what Vi does around 1:25:05. Jayce has just gone through the shock of *accidentally murdering a child,* then rightfully orders Vi to take off *HIS* gauntlets... Which are not only built using *the very technology* he's there to retrieve (if i'm not mistaken), but that he also practically GAVE to her without resistance! (all because of what you correctly stated from 1:22:37 to 1:23:15, because nowadays wAmen can't be submissive to men no matter what...) Vis response...? *"GuESs YoU'rE gOnnA hAvE to MUrDeR aNotHeR OnE!"* I mean... :|

[@matthewweatherford6566]

I wish Jayce cried as hard as Powder did. It's frustrating to me that females get all the most emotional crying scenes in media. I would often hear my dad watching TV downstairs and there's a lot of screaming and crying and it's too often a female. Jayce having a meltdown, screaming and crying uncontrollably like Powder over accidentally killing someone could've been an opportunity to break the stereotype of boys and men being tough. I hope future season has a man who cries as hard as Powder so that we can teach audiences that big boys and men can cry as hard as women and if the audience gets just as emotional, then I'll know they're not being sexist towards males.

[@BVRDMUSIC]

Thank you so much. I made it to episode 3 the other day and had to stop watching the show. Episodes 1 and 2 were fine, but 3 had so many unearned character progression points and plot contrivances I couldn't believe how fans of this show couldn't see them. You explained it all perfectly. It's almost as if when your story has themes of trauma, loss, grief, and is "deep", nothing else about the storytelling and writing should matter because it's so "emotional". It's a get-out-of-jail free card for poor writing.

[@NadwornyBlazen]

Fantastic video

[@akisatsuki8444]

There are multiple videos (*cough* schnee *cough*) covering why the writing is so phenomenal. Not saying this video is wrong, just that those others might help clear up some confusion as to why people like it so much. It’s insane how two people can watch literally the exact same show but see two completely different things.

[@SkittleBombs]

yeah would love to see people like this enjoy other narrative content lol, if arcane is overrate then what deserves priase ?

[@terrencemoldern2756]

Absolutely love the video. Well done and I agree with pretty much everything. Just great job

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks! Happy to hear the content is appreciated!☺️

[@flannelmann]

Thought this was a Dragonspears 40k channel. I guess it just woke up.

[@justagoose7741]

I was told this show was great, yet I couldn't finish S1 despite forcing myself to watch most of it. It feels good to be vindicated with the same criticisms I had (and more) being put out there so eloquently. Other reviews online only ever glaze the show to no end, or provide genuinely terrible and shallow criticism. Thanks for this video, wish you made more like it!

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks! I appreciate the sentiment immensely. I enjoy media criticism vids like this, but this one took so much effort and tbf, didn't yield all that well. Though that could be because it's off brand for the channel. 😅

[@artnull13]

Vi knows this because she spent the last 8, 15, 22, 23, 42 years in prison. Brilliant 😂

[@DeepEnd2019]

Why the fuck did Jinx even have the gemstone when she lit the flare? Why take it? Leave it with Silco or in your lab where it's safe

[@akisatsuki8444]

Silco left the gemstone with her so she could develop the weapon. It’s established that she’s pretty paranoid, even as Powder, so maybe she was afraid someone would break in and steal it. Or if she gave the gemstone back to Silco, it would be telling him somehow that she’s not responsible enough to hold onto it (in her mind, anyway). Or she wanted that constant reminder of her achievement in cracking Hextech-Jinx is selfish, childish, and she rarely thinks of the big picture outside of herself and maybe sometimes Vi and Silco, so I wouldn’t be super shocked if she put that tiny piece of validation over the good of literally everything she stole the gemstone for in the first place. Or maybe a lot of things were happening and she didn’t have the time/thought to put it away.

[@guesta9822]

Season 2 is worse 😔

[@torri776]

Perfection. Nitpicking every little detail in making your ideas flourish logically is an overhated approach to criticism that this fellow got right. I don't hate Arcane. In fact, I kinda like it, but I'm not going to pretend it's perfect. This video however, is. There are few things I *hate* more in storytelling and script writing than forcing characters to betray their characterization in favor of the plot, and seeing 40K unearth these moments in Arcane Season 1 was so satisfying.

[@WhatThe40k]

I don't know about perfect, but I 100% appreciate** hearing you found the video satisfying. 🍻

[@jogonra956]

Havent seen the whole video but i have cheked the comments and some of then arent specially friendly. After i watched arcane i thought the series was a 9.75/10. After some months ive settled on the idea that arcane is very good but not the masterpiece that some say. Some of the character work is amazing (p.e. viktor) but the series has some flaws (p.e. caytlin being a device for the plot). So overall, arcane is probably a 8.75 or 9 out of ten. I would have preferred to not overthink about arcane because i did really enjoy the series the first time Also, People have to chill while doing a coment. Respect first

[@TheNSJaws]

so you would prefer not to think too hard on it because it might worsen the way you see it? Doesn't that imply that it's already not as good as you think it is, and you're still refusing to face it, even after the initial knock down of the score?

[@bertalol8726]

Hello mr. @WhatThe40k : I wanted to go open minded into this video but your first point just shows me what kind of review this is. you want to find plotholes and logic mistakes so badly that you fabricate them. and sorry for my grammar....english isnt ym first language and i am trying my best ! its no hate, just my take on your way to see things.. 1.) i am talking about the vandor conclusion about vi turning in. your point: How can powder be depressed, when recieving a gift from her older sister. she should be happy right? to that point.. she is happy. the oment she got the gift you can see how happy she is about that. but her mood turn instandly as vi left her. vi gave her some kind of a life lesson and then left her. but powder cant handle beeing left alone. even thos she has now friends and vander, vi is always the one person powder is attached to. 2 episodes long you get the clear picture that powder wants to be like vi. wants to be accepted like vi..wants to be as strong as vi. now she gets the * jea you are different but this is good talk * and got left alone. she feels instandly lonly again because she cant be without her. and for that is even more important...she got told she will never be like her older sister....her idol. after all that its plausible for me that she isnt in a happy mood. but okey for the benefit of the doubt i give you that point. 2.) you say that its not logical that vi didnt get the teddy earlier in her life back. for that pls just look up episode 1. vi explains to powder that she and her 2 friends all hat shitty days ina past. that this just can happen. when she was little she couldnt get the teddy back but now after yeas she got stronger and could have gooten it but refused to do so because of a life lesson she learned from that. that made her stronger. this actually might not be common but even i heard from people who did refuse to change something in her life ( like a scar on their body , a tattoo, something in their household) because it was a lesson for those people. so her NOT picking up this teddy is not illogical. its understandable. 3.) how could vander understand the meaning of the teddy. that actually amazes me how you could intentionally ignore the most plain fact in this part. vander is literally the father of this 2 girls. he may not be the rue father but for those 2 he got to be there father. is it so unresonable to expect vander to know about this teddy and its meaning for vi? always when film and serien do the fucking tellinng of EVERY aspect the show is crap. you can and SHOULD expect the audience to think for their own with the movie/series and not expect every bit of detail showed into the brain of the viewer. thatswhy its called : show dont tell. yes they could have vi written a letter to make it so plain obvious what happend. but for me this is really fucking boring storytelling. i dont want the show to hold me a letter in the face where i can read what vi is doing. i want to learn how close the bond between vi and vander is in the first 2 episodes to expect vander to know about the teddy. this is good writing! i understand, where your point is comming from but for me are stories that you want... stories that explain everything for me are just boring. with vander gettng the clue about vi helped showing the bond between them and the amound of love he has for the girls to know them that well. and if you use the same way of critecism on the rest of your points, i just know that i have a problem with all of them because the way you want the show to be TOLD is a different way of my favourite way the story to be SHOWN :) have a good day :)

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for checking out the video and for leaving a lengthy and polite comment. I appreciate it. :) Before I address your points, I'll note that I place greater weight in my criticisms as the video goes on. I find the first 3 episodes to be the strongest of the seasons run, where things begin to get a bit janky is in episode 3, and admittedly my points on episode 3 are weaker than what comes later ( though I stand by them all the same). And when it comes to the adage 'show don't tell' I am definitely for it. But we need to keep in mind that there ought to be a clear line between: show don't tell and filling in the gaps or leaps in logic. Though I'll grant, that where this line is drawn is up for debate and probably differs person to person. In response to your comments: On points 1) and 2) I agree with your assessment of Powder and Vi's characterization. I think there is enough there to make take such a position. Though with Powders sadness, I feel there is plenty going on in world which would also keep powder from being sad, but i'll concede it, she is made sad by the event. And for Vi's stuffed toy, I do understand what it means to her, it has significance to Vi for the reasons you stated. I just can't parse out why she would then choose to go back on that, and retrieve it. That was the point I was striving to make, which may have become lost in translation. That being, Vi retreived the toy even though it being stuck had symbolic significance for her. But she did retreive it, and I guess she justfelt like it, so I guess I'll concede on that position too. Point 3) of yours, is what I qualify as a leap. Sure Vander is their father and he knows them well enough through their exchanges we have seen up to this point. I have no doubt around Vander's understanding of his daughters character, but I do doubt that Vander has an intuitive understanding of the personal baggage of his teenage daughter. We can also consider that Powder, the person who Vi is most close to and certainly most concerned with only learned of this the previous day. And sure maybe Vi and Vander had a heart to heart in the past about this stuffed toy, but the whole construction feels like a smoke-show. What I mean by this is: working backwards we can see what the desired pay off is. A bait and switch with Vi's fate hanging in the balance, one that is teased and setup over a montage cut of events over an emotional piece of music. As far as artistry goes its a beautiful sequence, but as I listed in the video there is so much contrived into the sequence, so much we needs to get conceded in order to get the payoff for Vi's rescue, and added secondary payoff for Vander being there for silco to capture. Essentially when we are given gaps in logic or contrivances strung together for a payoff, I just can't rate it as good writing as you put it. I will say there is a lot to like about Arcane, as I address in the video's conclusion. Including areas I identify to be good writing with lots of show don't tell. Much of the Piltover events with character like Medarda, Heimerdinger and Viktor come to mind. Again thanks for leaving the lengthy comment, hopefully this response clarified my position a bit better. Have a great day 👍

[@ryanmatthews3609]

@@WhatThe40k and the fact that it was based on league of legends the worst game ever to come out

[@akisatsuki8444]

@@WhatThe40kI wouldn’t call the third point a leap in logic. Vi never got that bunny down because of how much it meant to her, so the fact that she went up and got it out of the blue for the express purpose of giving it to Powder was definitely strange. It wouldn’t have been too hard for her father to put the pieces together.

[@chrishaven1489]

Yeah, I've watched the first thirty minutes of this. While I agree with a few points, most of it is nitpicking and whooshes over the head

[@WhatThe40k]

I personally feel stronger about some of the criticisms made later in the video, than of those made over the first 30 mins. But thanks for checking out the video anyways 👍

[@HiranoMagu]

I love that whenever kids are involved in any media, people immediately assume and hold them to a high standards for behaviour. I can definitely see why you’d think that the kids need to plan this out better but these are just orphans. Their father is an acting leader for the underground and all they’ve been influenced by are the actions of other adults who are in this position. Their surroundings are littered with poor desperate people who will do anything to make it through the next day. They have zero concept of how to approach this in a reasonable manner and passivity has never been a favourable approach for anyone in the lanes. (I mean look at how the people reacted when Vander didn’t want to confront the enforcers) Also, Powder being insane didn’t come out of nowhere - her broken personality was already evident in episode 1, where all the other kids were fighting, she didn’t have it in her to fight like they did or how she only felt sad for her parents dying because Vi reacted first - showing how she doesn’t understand what is happening around her, only using Vi as a visual cue for how she should feel.

[@HiranoMagu]

I do agree that her mental breakdown scene might’ve been too much. 😅

[@Dada85200]

You have some good points but some things could be solved with headcannon which shouldn be disregarded since it is quite a show dont tell. Like Deckard(hulk monster) doesnt snap Vi neck because he have a beef with her from earlier and want humiliate her or Silco give his some different orders (big leap). Btw on topic of episode 1 perfect, how did the hex stones didnt explode when Powder had them inside a pocket while running and sliding, jumping, falling.

[@za-ir5ni]

Because dropping something and it gaining momentum as it hits a wall is different than having it in your pocket. Also an even easier explanation for why Deckard didn't immediately kill Vi is that he just transformed and isn't thinking straight and therefore made an error.

[@akisatsuki8444]

@@za-ir5nithey are jostling together quite a bit, though. And Powder’s monkey bomb didn’t involve the crystals gaining momentum and hitting a wall, but it worked anyway.

[@richard_n]

Nothing is ever going to be perfect due to restrictions of the medium and being made by humans. However, Arcane come closer to perfection than any of it's predecessors. So, yes, it did live up to the hype and more.

[@WhatThe40k]

Good point, I suppose 'living up to the hype' is relative after all.😊

[@schnek8927]

"... come closer to perfection than any of it's predecessors" really doesn't say anything at all though... That's not to say it isn't true (it is true), but it's still barely decent at best and that's an objective statement. Also, your first sentence is nonsense... Like yeah, sure, absolute perfection is technically an impossibility, but that doesn't excuse blatant flaws and lacking execution...

[@garroshhellscream594]

What predecessors?

[@NadwornyBlazen]

Ok, third comment, hope I'll rest my case with it. Arcane is neat idea, beautiful animation, has distinguishable characters. You can tell there was a lot of money and effort put in all of this. Nevertheless, there are lots of cheap writing tricks, and the writing overall is not mature. There's a dissonaince between what this show pretends to be and what it acctually is. It is stealing ideas from all popular fantasy/sci-fi brands, offering very little originality. About half of the things you mentioned are minor issues to me (the other half is on point), and I really wouldn't care for Vander deducing what Vi's up to, Marcus not arresting Silco, Powder turning into werewolf if Arcane showed more stregth where it supposed to show it. What I believe it should have been about is hextech vs shimmer. It should explore qualities of those two technologies, which could result in something interesting. Instead it jerks off it's fans with fanservice. It really hurts me that this show is so praised by not only general audience but also all those reviewers who don't seem to notice this major flaws you presented. It's okay to enjoy flawed pieces of media. I enjoyed Arcane just like I enjoyed Twilight movies, or Split and Glass from M. Night Shyamalan. But if yuo present flawed and enjoyable media as masterpiece - this is the test of your credibility as a critic for me. In my opinion, a good example of weak storytelling put to this show is Jayce becoming councelor, then firing Hermendinger, then leading raid on the shimmerplant and fighting in the field. I have great beef with that character journey and I'm frustrated with how obnoxiously Arcane want me to feel certain way. To me, this movement of Jayce's character from status A to status B is such a corner cutting bullshit that its forgivable only in low-effort stories, equivalent to fast-travel in later GoT episodes. There was not enough build up to those changes that are very significant to the world structure. I acctually started watching Arcane expecting to hate it and prove myself, that most people have shit taste. I was pleasently surprised on one hand, because I enjoyed it. At the same time my idea of people not being very attentive culture consumers has been reinforced. Personally, I had to relax and not being too attentive myself, and this show is made for that. But I will never consider it great story. I'm not Warhammer fan, but I subscribed to your channel because of this video, hoping maybe you'll do another analysis/review, simmilar to this one of some other thing I know. Or maybe In the future, when I'll be finally ready to become WH fan I will revisit this channel.

[@WhatThe40k]

Whoa thanks for the awesome write ups!! I am greatly pleased to know my video could illicit such a string of beefy comments☺️. I totally agree with your points on Arcane. Not being a Warhammer fan your subscription is that much more. Thank you ✊🍻

[@NadwornyBlazen]

@@WhatThe40k So maybe you'd have some tips how to get into the universe? I don't expect playing games in the future, but the premise of the lore and WH estetics are appealing to me.

[@WhatThe40k]

I honestly wouldn't recommend getting into the game wholesale, but if you enjoy creative endeavors, painting a few models of a faction you like is good fun. To that end I'd suggest the novels or video games are a great way to engage with Warhammer 40k.

[@NadwornyBlazen]

@@WhatThe40k Thanks! I will try getting into video games some time! And once again, I have to address this: before watching your video I felt with my opinion on Arcane as if I was some crazy conspiracy theorist. I was DESPERATE to find a conclusive opinion, so I could sleep well without thinking I'm crazy for those thoughts. Now I can argue about this show on the Internet without being scared of being cornered in an argument.🙏📿

[@za-ir5ni]

All of this and you didn't say anything. You assert that it has cheap writing and isn't mature but don't back it up. This is amatuer. Just watch EFAP's coverage.

[@za-ir5ni]

It's actually better and more complex than even most of the people who praise it think. It's only gotten better on each rewatch as I catch more details. I would recommend doing the same so you see why your arguments are bad.

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for the comment☺️ I'll be honest, I did watch Arcane more than once over the course of making this video. And it's more than possible that I've missed some key components. So if you would like to share any or all of those points I would be more than happy to hear them.

[@azmarocz314]

@@WhatThe40k my guy, you missed all of them

[@WhatThe40k]

@@azmarocz314 Like I mentioned, if you want to share those points or better yet, address the the arguments I made in the video, I'd definitely appreciate it😊

[@DVFHAFYT]

@@azmarocz314 you have nothing to say, fanboy.

[@azmarocz314]

@@DVFHAFYT cringe

[@gabbalaba.g7762]

This is an incredibly thorough and flushed out analysis of Arcane, I'm quite amazed at all of the hard work you put into each intricate plot point and detail! While I'm of the mind that my first impression of Arcane has colored my perception of its quality (I freely admit that after learning abt its flaws/acknowledging them, I still can't help but love the show and it's mesmerizing visuals/score) you were spot on abt the writing inconsistencies the majority of the time! 🙌🏼 There are some small key points for characters that I think may have been misunderstood, for example, Marcus' involvement w/ Silco - I think because he'd made a deal w/ a criminal Zaunite as a means of getting his way and that lead to the direct cause of death to the chief of police (RIP Grayson my beloved!😢💔💐), he was complicit to a scheme that would've had him severely punished by law. In my mind this is the reason why Marcus truly doesn't go to the council or next head of police, and why he can be manipulated by Silco. (Silco marks his descent into criminality through connections, and while it's all technically within his power to expose and put an end to it, he puts self preservation and his social standing first before what's morally correct [which impo tracks with his character development, I've always viewed him as an egotistically driven enforcer who believes in incarceration over protection as he enjoyed the power trips he had over others, and when things got out of control his self perceived righteousness was brought to an ugly head; He realized his motivations for becoming involved in law enforcement was never altruistic to begin with, and he finally acknowledged the kind of person he actually is, a morally grey and selfish one]) Additionally, I don't think Jayce was ever privvy to or on board w/ Caitlyn releasing Vi, I think she forged his signature along w/ impersonating an active officer and figured he'd understand she was working for the greater good. Unfortunately this seems to be the case as when he's grilling Marcus abt the corruption within their system and Marcus retorts w/ throwing the prisoner release Caitlyn enacted back at him, he covers for her to maintain his credibility as a newly appointed councilor and to protect her legally. (which in itself has some plotholes, right?? Wasn't the whole scene where he breaks the news to Caitlyn contradictory to this string of events? I guess technically what Jayce decides automatically overules the jurisdiction of what Marcus does, but Ms.Kirraman should overpower Jayce too, so it's a strange confrontation altogether 😭😭) I think in the very least they should've had Jayce readdress this since he was so hellbent on rooting out corruption within the council for his arc, but excuses it when it comes to his childhood apprentice - oh well 😮‍💨 On an unrelated side note, I've been confronted w/ Vi's horrible characterization twice and each time hurt like hell- but it hurt for a reason, and I must admit I got swept away in her framing and completely disassociated her from her flaws. Since she was initially presented as a selfless older sister who was always there for her loved ones in the first 2 episodes, I think the audience tends to fall into a sense of security that she is a true and good protagonist, especially since her intentions always seem to be for defending or protecting; regardless of the intention though, she does act rather negligent and haneously towards certain characters, especially when she abandons Caitlyn in the brothel to fend for herself on the understanding that she never consented to sex-work in the first place (even as a cover it's incredibly inappropriate and violating imo). I was excited for wlw representation and failed to realize how dismissive and detrimental Vi's involvement w/ Cait could be at times, and now coming out of a wlw relationship myself I can draw some parallels for my tendency to overlook negligence as a complicated response to overcoming interpersonal goals, which is neither the case nor an excuse. Thank you for pointing it out to me, I may have not considered otherwise w/o your perspective. Once again thank you for taking the time to do all this, it was quite an insightful journey to embark! Keep working hard, your effort shines through!☺️✨️

[@matthewweatherford6566]

I like the way you said you still enjoy the show despite its flaws. Pointing out problems with a show doesn't change the minds of those who enjoy it. It just proves that the show isn't perfect. Thomas the tank engine was my favorite franchise for years despite some things going over my head. Then again, the show taught me some new words (including British slang) and about how real trains work.

[@schnek8927]

*Based* review! This is the kind of video i'd love to like ten times over. (especially since you've been a victim of the raging fans) Especially enjoyed the merciless deconstruction of Vi. She really is horrible, my goodness...

[@myself2noone]

Yeah. Terrible people making horrible decisions with crappy outcomes.

[@za-ir5ni]

Considering that all his criticisms are objectively false, you're a dupe for thinking this was a good review.

[@NadwornyBlazen]

bUt shE'S trAUMatIzEd

[@akisatsuki8444]

@@za-ir5nithey’re not objectively false. This is art-the polar opposite of anything “objective.”

[@dustymingus2599]

Brave video

[@Ironforce7701]

wait is 0:00 the Ape Escape 3 hub music? edit: it is!

[@Caerulean]

I'm glad to see another Arcane critique, though I'm a year late. It's been too long since I watched this show but I find myself agreeing with many points here, especially E3's Powder and her rather sudden and extreme emotional breakdown in her room and later hugging SIlco whom I thought she should have recognized as the villain in their lives, and VI disowning/abandoning her there, and then Vi and Caitlyn's romance later in the series, which I found too rushed. In hindsight, I can imagine the show was crippled by the limited runtime or something, though it's rather hard to believe given the production value we can see. Anyway: 15:30 - Isn't that a very offensive word there? 👀

[@akisatsuki8444]

Powder’s tantrum did disturb me (as it’s supposed to) and I was shocked, but I personally thought it made perfect sense within the larger context of the story. Powder is cute, but…she still becomes Jinx. The myriad of mental health issues that she has aren’t the kind that just appear over a time skip. And as for hugging Silco-she was a traumatized child who’d just been abandoned by her one surviving family member after accidentally killing all the others, and it’s established that she has several issues around abandonment and disappointing those around her. With all that in mind, her jumping onto Silco didn’t surprise me either. Vi didn’t mean to abandon Powder. She left because she was scared by how she’d hurt Powder and left because she didn’t want it to happen again. She tried to come back literally two seconds after leaving her, but she was kidnapped before she could. I’m so sorry if this comes off as angry/combative, I just wanted to offer a couple explanations.

[@Caerulean]

Not combative at all; no worries. I still disagree, though, but at this point I'm just waiting for season 2 and hoping that I'll like it more. @@akisatsuki8444

[@cavycorp9136]

This was not the place i was expecting to find Arcane criticizm, but im glad to have seen it here. Like you mentioned the show is covered in inconsistencies and errors in its own internal logic. I enjoyed the show on face value cus like it was pretty and i am a succer for hype, but the writing was like english 101 bad. I think league fans enjoyted it because their level for acceptable content is lower than what i think should be acceptable.

[@za-ir5ni]

"covered in inconsistencies and errors in its own internal logic" Except that is objectively false.

[@emperorpalpatine6239]

@@za-ir5niOr more likely you are just blindly following the herd, instead of accepting the flaws of something you enjoy.

[@za-ir5ni]

@emperorpalpatine6239 The "flaws" have been debunked every time. You guys just suck at media literacy.

[@akisatsuki8444]

@@emperorpalpatine6239I don’t think za-ir5ni is in the right here, but someone finding logic in places you don’t doesn’t mean they’re blindly following the herd.

[@MrXperx]

This explainer video was able to hold my attention much better than the show itself. Garbage writing, unlikeable characters (except Silco maybe) and forced drama. I literally put it on 1.5x and zoomed through the season just to know what the ending was. And the ending cliffhanger didn't make any sense to me either.

[@harrywhodeeknee4899]

15 minutes in and I'm becoming physically ill at these critiques. So far you've established that any character choice that effects the plot is a convenience, that any character choice that isn't perfectly logical is a plot hole, that introducing character traits/motivations/fears creates incongruity (with what?), that a story's thematic subtext should be completely divorced from any other element of the story (heaven forbid it be anything more than shallow entertainment), and that any story that doesn't hold the audience by the face and drool every superfluous drop of information into their mouth is inherently broken. I am genuinely impressed you managed to squeeze almost 2 hours of critique into this video considering I couldn't fill even a 2 minute video if I tried, but when attempting to criticize a revolutionary work of art like Arcane, please at least try not to be lazy with it.

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for taking the time to see the vid through and share a lengthy comment. If you watched the whole video and don't see any merit to the points made then I suppose we just have a disagreement of opinions. All the same, 🍻.

[@harrywhodeeknee4899]

@@WhatThe40kThanks bro, I get really defensive of Arcane lol. But seriously you're super chill and I shouldn't call you lazy considering most people that criticize the show just call it woke and say no more.

[@emperorpalpatine6239]

@@harrywhodeeknee4899Maybe you should grow a thicker skin then, if you can’t fathom that there are people who don’t think that this show is a “10/10 masterpiece”?

[@akisatsuki8444]

@@emperorpalpatine6239sometimes people can’t fathom that something they thought was the best thing ever can be considered anything less by others. I’m working on that myself.

[@agentbuckshot4697]

Dropped the series as soon as I heard the Imagine Dragons intro

[@NadwornyBlazen]

Man, I cannot express with words how much I love this video. Since my first comment i watched it like 4 times. It really helped me with organizing my thoughts about this show. Just like you, I enjoyed it. Just like you, I thought it didn't meet the hype. Intuitively, I felt something was very off about this show, but struggled to express what it precisely was. Everything wrong with this show really boils down to script not adressing that Vi is an asshole, Caitlyn is a dumbass and Jayce is a p*ssy.

[@astrahcat1212]

If they showed Vi working out and struggling in prison it'd be a lot better I think. For me Vis feminism Mary Sue girl Bossness really dragged it down. Silco was my favorite character and yeah, you know the ending. 😐

[@NadwornyBlazen]

@@astrahcat1212 Yup, it would be a lot better if they showed it. It would be a lot better also, if they showed how Powder's transition to Jinx and how she developed relationship with Silco. Or if they showed more how Heimendinger's place in Piltover's council influenced the city. or if they showed aftermath of firing Heimendinger as city councelor. Or if they fleshed out Jayces struggle better. Or if they fleshed out relationship between Silco and Vander better. Or if they explained the Vander's uprising and its aftermath better. Or if they fleshed out why Marcus did not arrest Silco better. Or if they gave Greyson's character more screentime and fleshed out her reasoning better. They could do lots of things better. But Arcane was made to be entertaining, not good.

[@matthewweatherford6566]

​@@NadwornyBlazen It would also be better if they had a scene where a preteen boy/man cried as hard as Powder did and the scene got just as much acclaim (if not, more for breaking the stereotype against men crying). I feel like the females get all the most emotional crying scenes in media and it makes me uncomfortable that I seem to be the only one who has an issue with that. I actually haven't watched a full episode yet but I've learned enough to know that this isn't how I would've done my show. I'm not criticizing the way they portrayed child trauma. I'm just worried that all the praise it's getting might further the big boys and men are tough stereotype. It may be rare but I'm pretty sure there are big boys and even men in real life who cry like Powder and I'm still waiting for them to be represented in Arcane or another piece of media. That's what I'll do in mine. I also won't have any swearing in the show. It might mention that swearing exists but you'll never actually hear a character swear because my family doesn't believe in it and doesn't wanna encourage the audience to do it.

[@Steven9567]

​@@NadwornyBlazen yeah the show sufferd to many main characters not enough eps and the only reason people like it cause of the animation everything else is sub bar and Silco was the strongest but its hard to side with him when made the place hes ruling worst and they don't show the so call oppressions

[@NadwornyBlazen]

@@Steven9567 The show had a lot of things going on, so this is main reason I enjoyed it, so I don't necessarily agree that animation is the only reason. There are many problems of this show that cannot be excused by the amount of episodes.

[@evangedeon2194]

Oh, consistency! I can't disagree with this nitpicking 😖 Spare my disbelief 🤚 Everybody wants to see Inerrancy 😇

[@unclear6055]

I feel like Vi's character had a lot of potential to change over the course of the show in places where the writers missed their opportunities. In the first 3 episodes she is shown to be dominant but still reliant on Vander, who pretty much is the only character capable of standing up to Vi. His speech about not getting to be reckless when people depend on you could have been developed on to make her more considerate in her leadership/dominant role towards the end of the show. Instead, she is still throwing fits when the government doesn't do what she wants, and can't take a no for an answer. Also, when we're reintroduced to Vi in ep 4 we are made to believe that she is a hardened convict type (take the scene where she punches the wall, the tattoos, the assault on the other inmate) and has changed due to being in stillwater for years. They give up on this like five minutes afterwards though with her (claiming) to know that everyone works for silco, the shimmer factories, etc. I suppose you could assume that she has learned stuff about the new undercity from other inmates but it still feels weird to see her mostly revert to her pre-ep3 self considering her reintroduction, except this time there is no character like Vander that forces her otherwise pretty simple character archetype to stop and reconsider her actions.

[@popcorn_showers]

You must do this for the second season. Ten times as hyped yet ten times worse

[@artnull13]

Really excellent review, far more entertaining than actual show itself. I have to say I struggled to be interested in the story at all due to all the plot contrivances. Considering the ad-hominem attacks from ‘fans’ without addressing any of your points - it seems you were spot on. This is the review I was expecting from someone like the Drinker - instead of a cop out. Your effort and time is much appreciated. Subbed. Edit: the hype and reviews around this series really reminds me of TLJ - looks great, lauded as a masterpiece but poor internal logic and poor key characters.

[@kongoulan]

I agree with almost everything and hated the story writing in Arcane. I think as well, that all the weak conflicts involved Vi and Caitlin, but for me I actually liked Caitlin. I didn't even notice the romance plot until your video and like EVERY Character in Arcane Cait doesn't get any story payoff at all, but I thought she was straight on and reasonable and skillful, but the plot was just written to throw her under the bus by drama and conflict a lot. Most of the jinx and other conflict scenes made no sense, because people come to wrong conclusions all the time and never tell everyone all they need to know. In the end her "investigation" had no payoff and she didn't convience anyone in the council. But I think on almost every scene Vi was the problem and I disliked her most of the show. One side fact, I think she was never grounded from police and was just doing her own investigation as legitimate enforcer.

[@onlybigraffs]

A giant AD for league and TFT

[@DVFHAFYT]

Really good work, it's real easy to forget all the things that made me roll my eyes or made me tell myself to just forget about it for now, by the end I was watching the show like a zombie because that was the only way to finish it, turning your brain on leaves you with too many questions and no answer, not questions about the show's story, but rather what the hell were the writers thinking with this.

[@OreoOreoCookie234]

No one cares

[@emperorpalpatine6239]

@@OreoOreoCookie234You cared enough to reply

[@colpul2103]

Edit again: I retract that, no shade. Apologies for my assumption. Sigh, there is a reason this is a hot take (for clicks?) which takes something I'd guess around 97% of viewers find as one of the show's strengths and is presented as a weakness. Arcane is not a show that holds your hand, doesn't treat the audience as too stupid not to get the hint, and does not rely on exposition. For example your first complaint. There does not have to be an off screen scene where Vi tells Powder she's leaving for Powder to be sad. In fact the scene you suggest should have been there or must have happened off screen would be insulting to the viewer's intelligence. Powder was sad sitting alone on her bed and Vi came to give her the doll and a hug. Powder is a sad child, she has been depressed through the whole first arch. One try hard to belong and impress failure after another. She is shown to have deep abandonment issues and Vi is off doing something without her. She has been told over and over again that she is the weak link in the group, that she isn't just weak but a detriment, that she is a weight, and albatross around her siblings' neck. Vi doesn't have to say something to make feel melancholy because we are shown why Powder is melancholy and depressed. Diddo the rest of your points. In the context of the show I had no issue understanding the characters reasoning, actions, and motives. Vi and Kate's relationship seems to be strong physical attraction combined with a magnetic draw that grows as each see's the other under stress and starts to understand the other's motives and intentions. If you do think that is realistic you need to get out amongst other humans and touch a little grass. Vi and Kate do not have a 'romantic relationship', they have a potential romantic relationship, which each have signaled to the other they are interested in perusing. At no point does their relationship or interactions say true love forever. On Kate's bed they don't start snogging, no Vi opens up and Kate as the empathetic person she's shown herself to be is supportive. There is no sizzle, there is only smolder at this point. Considering what they've just been through together and what each has shown and done for the other the rain goodbye was less some breakup and more on Vi's part 'I knew this wouldn't work out' and on Kate's 'what might have been'. Rather than too quick I found it realistic and fitting to the characters, story, and situation. If at any point Vi and Kate had been 'I love you so much' or 'Vi+Kate=TLF' but they don't even so much as kiss. There is sexual tension for sure but no 'romantic partnership'. I mean art is subjective and obviously this show is not for you, the art style you liked aside. I found the show the best written piece of media since maybe Breaking Bad or the Sopranos. I am assuming from your complaints that you didn't like either of those shows because they didn't hold your hand and spell everything out. I love shows with nuisance that shows rather than tells, and where subtext and subtlety allows for not meaning but an understanding of meaning in characters actions and motivations.

[@WhatThe40k]

Firstly, your comment will not be removed, as the only comments which I have ever removed on my channel are those from spam/bots which post links. Aaaaand I've not used multiple accounts to praise this video....😂Though, you concluding that must be the case because you've noticed others agree with my opinions which are in opposition to yours, is what is truly funny. Quite the self report. But beyond that, I do appreciate you've taken the time to watch a lengthy video and taken the time to share a lengthy comment. And for what its worth, I like Breaking Bad and I like Arcane as well, something IIRC, I state explicitly in my video, there are just certain aspects of it which I didn't.

[@Goodlesmilan]

thanks i like your comment, it really helps me to organise my thoughts about why the writing is so good, or about inconsistencies or plot armour etc aren't really good arguements. after a fourth rewatch of the series, i'm now only struggling with 'is this art?' or incredibly keen and competent 'writing to please', does the show take risks, yeah! but maybe they were safe risks. I have gone from obsessed to enamoured. It's still a 10/10 fo me though.

[@jadegecko]

The "oil and cringe" segment- 'character acts in a believable, but frustrating, way, showing that she's flawed and imperfect' is not the same thing as 'this character is badly written.' It's starting to feel like 'I found myself personally frustrated by this character, but didn't realize the show was making a point about who she is, and just went on tilt and raged at the show itself'

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for taking the time to check out my video and to leave a comment. To be perfectly honest, I can't recall all the points I made in this video😅, but I'll try to address the point you've raised. My issue with the Oil and Cringe segment (IIRC😅), is that the Vi and Caitlyn relationship doesn't have the time to develop to a sufficient level that it could plausibly serve as a mechanism to wedge Vi and Powder. And while it is possible for relationships/feelings to grow rapidly, I don't believe the actions taken by either Vi or Caitlyn serve that narrative. However the characters act as such it is, all so the plot can more emotional weight. But what sets up that payoff and what follows is all weak for it. I hope that clarifies my position a bit better. 🍻

[@jadegecko]

​@@WhatThe40k I mean, if your fix would be even more character development and a deeper Cait / Vi relationship, I certainly wouldn't say no to that.

[@tamas9554]

@@WhatThe40k So you believe Caitlyn saving Vi's life twice, them succeeding and Vi sharing a personal story with her isn't enough establishment? Even though they've only known each other for two days, it doesn't feel forced, the writers were aware they had to give it a reasonable foundation. I don't think there was a better way of doing it in a limited timeframe such as we have in the show (2 days in-universe)

[@WhatThe40k]

​@@tamas9554 I suppose we simply just don't agree in that regard. Though I do agree that there probably isn't a better way to have the events of the show take place over 2 days As it is that precise constraint which I find makes the reasonable foundation the show presents a much harder sell.

[@akisatsuki8444]

@@WhatThe40kI love Arcane, know entire scenes by heart, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see most criticisms (in general) as missing the mark. However, although there are much much worse-done romances than the Caitlyn/Vi relationship, there are…several better, let’s just say. I didn’t see any reason for them to develop anything more than a grudging respect for one another in the first season. As an aspiring writer, I was somewhat intimidated by Arcane since it was so well-done and literally everyone seemed to love it. Learning that there are people who DON’T think this is the greatest thing ever, although I disagree with most of their points, was like a breath of fresh air. Turns out there IS no such thing as a perfect show/story. Who knew, right? 😂

[@GeneralTantzu]

This show was very meh, it is like steampunk California where I'm supposed to emphasize with dummies making everything worse with their actions.

[@zorb_thedufus]

what? the council are the people you're supposed to disagree with

[@retrod8bit158]

Arcane is good and entertaining... but idk why ppl lost their shit with it.

[@naldothadeus6310]

Idk why ppl get overhyped about this shlt, it's average, nothing special at all. None of the detail is out of expectation.

[@Ov1raptor-7464]

Rewatch it and pay attention then, you will see why your so vastly outnumbered

[@stunningbrave5819]

@@Ov1raptor-7464 The number of people liking it is completely irrelevant when judging it's quality. Especially, if it's defenders can't tell "your" and "you're" apart.

[@Ov1raptor-7464]

@@stunningbrave5819 reread the comment or can you not understand it because I didn’t use perfect grammar in a *youtube comment* , because I never said that how well liked it is is why it’s good.

[@Zoom03352]

yeah yeah when you dont paticularly like a show you find fault in the smallest of things. wow this was pathetic criticism

[@CertainlyCynical]

Really pathetic indeed.

[@WhatThe40k]

For the record, I do like arcane quite a bit. That aside, sorry to hear you feel that way and thanks for checking out the video.

[@Christobanistan]

It's an excellent criticism. One of my favorite "wtf" moments was early on when the guy proposes using magic to the city counsel, who are incredibly opposed to it and shut him down hard. Then a scene later, they've completely reversed course. Without showing or even saying why.

[@Zoom03352]

@@Christobanistan first of all that was 2 episodes later, not a scene later and the them not opposing it anymore was to show how greedy the counsel is and how they dont actually care about the peoples well being as we can see first and foremost with how they treat the undercity people but also now with how dangerous hextech is but profit being more important to them

[@Christobanistan]

@@Zoom03352 No it was the next scene. Go watch again. And if they were so greedy, they'd have been receptive up front, not huffed and puffed and threatened to end the guy's career.

[@NneonNTJ]

I wonder what the thing is with people who really like to find problems with things that are good/popular, and try to point out flaws that... most of the time aren't even flaws to begin with and are just things you missed or didn't understand. The show doesn't spoon feed you information and content like most hollywood shows do, so it's totally ok to miss things or not understand some things. Makes it all the more fun rewatching it though.

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for the comment. 😊I don't disagree with your points, content made with as much 'passion as Arcane has does make rewatching them all the more rewarding. To answer your question (speaking for myself), I think such videos are often made because the creator genuinely liked the content or is a fan of the IP, and the criticisms they levy are too from a place of passion.

[@NneonNTJ]

@@WhatThe40k Oh there's plenty of flaws to nitpick at, but they don't take away anything about the actual show. There are no obvious plotholes like most series on Netflix have so kudos to Riot and Fortiche on this

[@SoloAdvocate]

I don't know if you can categorize this video's argument comes from a place of missing or not understanding. Something not making sense doesn't mean you don't understand it or even missed anything. Simply that given all of the known factors it doesn't make sense and is simply forcing through a plot versus being character driven.

[@matthewweatherford6566]

Some of them might have a project they wanna do in the future and so they try to find flaws in shows like this to see if there's anything they can do to make their content better than Arcane. That's certainly me. I have a couple big issues with Arcane and I wanna fix those issues with my own content and at some point, I might even watch Arcane and ask for my family's opinion on it to see how many things my project can do that Arcane didn't. I sure as heck hope audiences don't reject my show just because there's no real animation (it's an audio series) or that it's more kid friendly and Christian friendly (you'll never hear a character swear in my show). I hope future shows don't need to be at the level of Arcane in order to attract an enormous fan base.

[@tamas9554]

Well, from what I've seen about most people criticising the show, many of them in fact proved they didn't understand basic things. Like, one for example asked what happened to Vi's and Powder's parents, while its adressed twice in the first act. It just kinda proves it that some people genuenly have problems remembering what happened, and they are too lazy to rewatch it.

[@KillerOrca]

I mean, inconsistencies and weirdness are kind of a given considering its LEAGUE OF LEGENDS... The toxicity of that games mere existence leech into everything it touches.

[@ryanmatthews3609]

ikr and some of the lore in it makes no sense (minus the freljord), correction the entire name of the games make no sense and i don't think i'm the only one who is bringing this up

[@onezerotwo]

That's gonna be a Yikes from me. Yikes.

[@DVFHAFYT]

the voice of a generation everyone, yikes.

[@OreoOreoCookie234]

@@DVFHAFYT wooow what a smart comeback😐

[@bolomono89]

Althou I enjoy the series, I Agree that is not as great as many says. It has a lot of social commentary but yet this is more as an setting more than a reflection of our reality. As for the part of the Writting, yeah, something were intentionally made to look "implied", yet again, just because is intentional, doesnt mean it work. BTW, love the detail to put some actions and effects as Traits and/or Stratagems.

[@qyle3387]

Interesting title

[@agonizingstarbutterfly1184]

Just like castlevania, the writing,storytelling and character-work are the best ive seen from a video game adaptation and a animation series. But this video made alot of good points. Tho I dont agree with everything. Some critiques seem like nitpicks and times where the series wasnt spoon-feeding you. Big chungus (as you refer to him as ) was left behind because they cause a scene. Inforcer were about to show up if they brought him along, He would have slowed them down due to his size. But despite that,the video does prove the series didnt live up to the hype. Its sad however The fanboys wants to defend sloppy writing.

[@Tvoya_mama_neploxa]

Vi is a hypocrite because she resigned from the Council when they wanted to give her home to the man responsible for the death of her family and the chaos in the Underground. Because Vander didn't want war... A very logical argument, i guess. Oh, and why should she thank Jayce if it was Caytlin who forged the document so... Vi should thank her(and she did) Lmao. I just love hate on Vi in this Fandom, its so funny sometimes. P. S. And you just call her a Mary Sue, bruh, just bruh...

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for commenting! I more so categorize Vi as a hypocrite because she levies accusations at Caitlyn which she herself is guilty of where Caitlyn is not. Whether or not Caitlyn forged Jayce's signature is inconsequential to Vi being grateful to Jayce (though it does have problems regardless of which way it goes). Regardless, Jayce faciliates Vi towards her goals through his authority and technology. Both of which come after Vi's low point. I was actually quite careful to state that Vi, isn't a Mary Sue, that she does have flaws. Ultimately, I do like certain aspects of Vi's representation, I just find certain actions to be frustrating.

[@schnek8927]

Vi *IS* a mary sue, what are you on about...? Her being a slightly better character than most mary sues does not change the fact that she still is one. An improvement compared to the average, absolutely. Still an overpowered mary sue, also absolutely.

[@Tvoya_mama_neploxa]

@@schnek8927 learn who is mary sue pls

[@testacals]

@@schnek8927 how is she a mary sue ?

[@bullshitfood9204]

​@@schnek8927 a mery sue is a character that does no wrong. Vi punched her sister in her face in a moment of rage calling her a problem. She acted rashly with jace to take out silcos operation which killed a kid. She went into that knowing it was a possibility. She jumps into fights no thinking and usually gets her ass beat. In what type of way is she a Mary sue?

[@ryanmatthews3609]

i agree with you vi really is the worst is even more worst then jinx p.s i really don't like vi p.p.s and truly is the manipulative, self righteous and petty type p.p.p.s vi should be a hate sink

[@lucianocruz3383]

Yeah l remember watching this show for the first time and l thought that some decisions were weird. cool video l hope season 2 will have more consistency nothing is perfect still love this show😊

[@myself2noone]

Troy yelling "my emotions!" Is basically my thoughts on this series in a nutshell. Edit to be clear I mean the artificially of it.

[@trevorryder9732]

Yea, this video ain’t it Chief.

[@jpf338]

Histerical reaction from kids? Out of nowhere? That sound totally plausible

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for the comment😊 While I don't entirely disagree with this notion, in my experience Powder seems too old for the 0-100 emotional fit young children are prone to. Though that doesn't mean Powder can't have one..I just find the 'were powder' scene to be under-substantiated for a scene presented as a dramatic emotional payoff.

[@jpf338]

@@WhatThe40k it definitely could have been a more progressive thing instead of all out in one scene

[@brittvaughn9447]

@@WhatThe40k 0-100? She's a kid whose parents were murdered when she was 5 and her current family is leaving on a dangerous mission where they may not come back. She has severe separation anxiety and PTSD symptoms that have cropped up during times of stress, like the fight in Ep 1, and you can clearly see the way she clings to Vi during every scene. If you think it's 0-100, I think it shows a lack of perspective on where the character really is in her mind. She's absolutely panicked that she's about to lose her family *again* and there's nothing she can do to help.

[@matthewweatherford6566]

​​@@brittvaughn9447 What frustrates me is that I feel like the females get all the most traumatic and emotional scenes in the media. I hope a future season (or another piece of media in general) has a preteen boy or man voiced by a preteen boy or man who goes through a similar hardship and cries the same way Powder did and the scene gets just as much praise (if not, more for breaking the stereotype against men crying). That's the one man stereotype that insults me. Also as a lady's man, I would love to see a girl comfort that man. I'm not criticizing the way they portrayed child trauma. I'm criticizing the lack of males getting that same treatment.

[@brittvaughn9447]

@@matthewweatherford6566 I'd really love to see that too! People who are assigned male at birth should be portrayed more often in this way, and their emotions should be taken seriously (emotions other than anger, that is).

[@astrahcat1212]

It's not the best show ever created or anything, has many flaws, it's a good show though.

[@za-ir5ni]

It barely has any flaws

[@emperorpalpatine6239]

@@za-ir5niIt has MANY flaws

[@za-ir5ni]

@@emperorpalpatine6239 It objectively doesn't, actually. And I would destroy you on this.

[@emperorpalpatine6239]

@@za-ir5ni Lmao, this is something only a twelve year old would say

[@za-ir5ni]

@emperorpalpatine6239 Guy literally just named Emperor Palpatine is calling someone 12? Lol

[@tramico96]

LETS GOOOO! WOOOOOOO!

[@RevanR]

Well this is quite diversion, but It's OK

[@Bottle_O_Glue]

Your criticisms of Powder's behavior (crying, being sad because her sister gave her a gift) in Episode 3 can be easily explained with abandonment issues. It is very reasonable for Powder to have those abandonment issues because she lost her parents in the opening of Episode 1. Vi goes directly to the factory almost without thought is because she isn't thinking; she is rash and compulsive, that is a defining character flaw of her's. I think Vi taking down all off those criminals works because it was given setup in Episode 2 with the punching robot. Everything going nearly perfect in the fight with Deckard is a small piece of irony: everything goes incredibly and unexpectedly well, until it suddenly goes unexpectedly wrong. I have no defense for Vander and the rabbit. It is just a plot device, which is not inherently bad, but that is what that is, yes. I would address more of your criticisms, but I simply do not feel like it and I am tired. I wouldn't be surprised if my ramblings make no sense, so I'd be happy to try to clarify things if I am asked. (And if those who ask aren't rude)

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for checking out the video and leaving a comment. Its been a while since I've made this critique but I wanted to reply because I appreciate the substantive comment you've made. Largely IIRC I feel the arguments I raise in this video are stronger as the show goes on, where I felt, eps 1 and 2 were 👍, ep 3 began to lose me as I couldn't buy what the show was selling and onwards I found various character choices to be... forced (IIRC).

[@Bottle_O_Glue]

@@WhatThe40k Thanks for replying, even after 2 years. I totally get your issues, not everything is for everyone. Besides, I think Arcane is more plot driven than character driven. The thing is, it does a damn good job of making characters go where they need to, in my opinion. Thanks again for replying, and even more thanks for being very respectful! I really appreciate it!

[@Booringe]

God I hope this gets EFAP'd

[@WhatThe40k]

EFAP is great 😩👌

[@za-ir5ni]

Unfortunately he made it so long that it's not going to happen. It would have been fun to see them rip it apart after their videos on it already.

[@aldecotan]

@@za-ir5ni Are u talking about Arcane or Mauler reaction to it?

[@za-ir5ni]

@@aldecotan Their reaction to this video.

[@sophial7261]

why do you spend 90% of the video just summarizing what happens in the episodes instead of saying your critique

[@WhatThe40k]

Thanks for checking out the video. The reason I review the context surrounding my claims is to leave less room for strawman counterpoints. It's been a while since I made this so I can't recall exactly, but I believe some of the points build on earlier plot points as well.

[@unitron2005]

"Little girl effortlessly beats 20 adult, battle-hardened men" and "woman survives leathal wound because she is the main character" are both what happens in the episode and a valid ciritque, maybe that's why.

[@matthewweatherford6566]

I'm sorry if I got too aggressive.

[@ryanmatthews3609]

17:51

[@lustrazor44]

No, it is. Which is why its praised by top writers in the industry. Everything has a throughline.

[@tylerthorson2610]

This becomes the problem with the show overall. Is that it should have had a few more episodes and better writers to get the story back in proper alignment.

[@za-ir5ni]

No, because more episodes would have resulted in padding and would mess up the pacing. Also, the writers were brilliant with this.

[@k.sedits8056]

There is more to come out, it’s not done so I think it unfair to say it’s bad cause it doesn’t have enough

[@tylerthorson2610]

@@k.sedits8056 far from it I'm not saying it's bad but like it was pinted out there were moments that felt rushed or out of place that could have been expanded upon in the first season

[@k.sedits8056]

@@tylerthorson2610 the first season is usually rushed they only have a certain amount of time and it’s usually about laying a foundation down. It didn’t feel rushed to me

[@tylerthorson2610]

@@k.sedits8056 I can get that but when look others shows like castlevania for example while short on the first season gave breathing room to establish their perspectives easily but arcane does suffer with the characters not lining up in certain ways at key points. Again far from a bad show, but it could have been better

[@Gorrilazzzz]

Wow that was hard to watch. I found myself disagreeing with you at every step of the way, but i don't want to be writing a wall of text right now. Every argument of "It's hard to believe they would do that" is solved by putting yourself in character's place and asking yourself could you have done that. Sometimes events are a little contrived, but that's just how drama works. Without them it would be boring instead which would be a bigger sin for show in my opinion. What i find hard to belive is the abscence of comments defending the show, perhaps they just clicked away which is understandable, but still. I catch myself at wanting to write something more meaner here, but that just from a more passionate part of me, so i won't.

[@WhatThe40k]

Hey thanks for taking the time to watch the video and to share a comment. I certainly appreciate that you've decided to keep the discourse kind☺️

[@ryanmatthews3609]

1:40:42

[@bolomono89]

HAHA, that title of Oil and Cringe is exactly what their relationship makes me feel at all.

[@SkittleBombs]

Lol the main character he says isn't fleshed out is a subplot villain marcus that is the heel the audience is meant to hate and dies to joyous applause... Hes not the main crew and hes meant to reflect how the previous officer held the peace and wan't corrupt

[@DocKrazy]

Tell me you don't understand character and motivations without telling me you don't understand character and motivation. I don't even know where to start deconstructing this "criticism". I was hoenstly thrilled to see someone break down the weaker aspects of Arcane, because nothing that was ever written is perfect and highlighting mistakes in writing is valuable. Learning from the mistakes of others if you like. What I take issue with is you presenting your "analysis" as objective, when you misunderstanding pretty much all the character dynamics is as subjective as it can be. And that's your prerogative. [deleted uncalled for part of this] I don't want to discourage you from making videos. I realise this isn't my cup of tea. But interactions and shit. Perhaps this'll help the video along to find its intended audience. Adios

[@artnull13]

Tell me you don’t understand how to deconstruct this criticism because you’re unable to do it by telling us exactly that 😂 Great argument buddy. 👍

[@akisatsuki8444]

Yeah, that was my problem too. It’s all well and good to share an opinion, but it’s another thing to come up with “theories” about how anyone can possibly have a different perspective than you on a piece of art.