So I watched Arcane...

[@svgftw351]

nobody was fooled by that opening

[@amare2014]

im still watching im scared

[@amare2014]

oh thank god its ex arm

[@KaNoMikoProductions]

Absolutely nobody

[@MDK2k]

I don't know. I started to doubt a bit since it took so long for the punchline to come.

[@whatsinaname7289]

NGL for the first 20 seconds, I was genuinely scared.

[@iSmartMan1]

Important detail about Arcane: Riot Games has retained full creative and financial control over the series's production, so they can veto anything Netflix tries to push into the narrative, and they have no reliance on Netflix's money. If Netflix tries to make them do something they don't want to do, there's nothing stopping Riot from taking the entire show elsewhere.

[@emmad.8815]

perfect

[@no2party]

in other words they were smart about it.

[@nick1wasd]

Yeah, Riot is not beholden to the foolish decisions of Netflix execs and they're in complete control of the path the story goes in. If they want to move the story to Ionia for the second season (like a certain week old skin leak suggests), they can, if they want to stay in Piltover, they can. Riot knows how to craft a good story, so I have complete faith that Arcane season 2 will be just as good as the first, worst case for different reasons.

[@animealpha4795]

I swear to god, even though most Netflix series are rated like 8/10 and above. When talking All seasons combined as a whole, literally every series is a clusterfuck. There is not a single show whose last season even remotely ties in with the first. Dark, money heist, peaky blinders, stranger things, any and god forbid squid games, literally every show they make has no conception of an overarching plot line. It's such a relief to see the Riot has autonomy over Arcane.

[@amare2014]

thank god for all the lux skin funds! riot can probably start their own streaming service at this point.

[@Danhec95]

I was 99% sure this was a joke but that 1% didn't let me sleep.

[@MistyKathrine]

23:00 Vi hit Powder in that scene, realized what she did, and gave herself some space to cool off a bit. She was standing where she could still see Powder, and when she saw Silco she started to go back towards Powder but Marcus grabs her while telling her: "If he hears you, he'll kill you". She didn't actually abandon Powder, but Powder sees it that way.

[@isultansultangaliev5852]

She fucking decked a child at the most vulnerable moment of that child's life lol.

[@MigliLovania]

@@isultansultangaliev5852 they're both children

[@KaregoAt]

@@MigliLovania right? As if siblings don't sometimes fight for no reason, let alone after one has pretty directly albeit misguidedly caused the deaths of their family and friends...

[@MigliLovania]

@@KaregoAt exactly I've been hit by my sister before over shit that definitely isn't any way near as bad as what happens vi and powder, it was an emotional impulse

[@Dell-ol6hb]

@@isultansultangaliev5852 they were both literally children, and she had just literally killed everyone she loved in an instant it would be perfectly normal to be furious and act out violently like that in such a situation. Also it's very common for siblings to hit each other, I've been hit by my siblings and have hit them before too for far less

[@damobeck1]

“It’s as good as Squid Games, but because it’s animated people won’t watch it.” I think that is actually the perfect line I can use to get one of my friends to watch it.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

this isnt even really true, there's tons of people who are watching it obviously not as many as Squid Game, but Squid Game was an anomaly in that regard it hit mainstream popularity so it got an unmatched audience

[@severedproxy]

The only flaw with "not enough people will watch it" was that more people have watched arcane than squid game. But yes, a lot of people do not watch it because it's animated, or because it's a "video game" adaptation. edit: oh and have a great new year.

[@myself2noone]

I hated what I saw of Squid Game. It's an ultimately lazy criticism of capitalism that amounts to "ignoring positive sum gains capitalism is bad." Yes and ignoring his voice Bruce Dickinson is just a airline pilot. Maybe there's good drama in it's contrived setup, but the political grandstanding makes it pride porn in the end. It's really unpleasant to watch if you're not into that.

[@alexs29]

In it's own way, Squid Game was an anomaly because it was Korean and most people had to watch it with subtitles to get the best experience. And sadly, most people don't bother with subtitles all that much.

[@violetbitch9492]

@@myself2noone oh no the capitalists have arrived

[@nanaasmah938]

He had me in the first half, I’m not gonna lie 😂😂😂

[@kankanarock3443]

Was about to to comment the same thing Damnnittt 🥵

[@leahtheanimationfan40]

I was super confused because I've seen his Anime rap and then came to this one so I thought he liked Arcane 😅

[@Outsider0x1]

Same dude. I was about to say.

[@TyCollage]

Broke my heart for a sec too 😅😅

[@toddwilliams8128]

more trolling than your jungler locking in Yuumi

[@14s0cc3r14]

*”It’s not Anime, it’s just sparkling animation.”* I don’t know if this is a common joke I’ve just missed, but I’m definitely going to start using it.

[@hujimix]

It's not anime. It's better.

[@TheSeraphimArtist]

In lieu of how anime used to be called Japanimation back in the day, would this be considered Euromation? Just a thought.

[@waszner]

Ok, here I go explaining the joke, because I thought it was good: He started by saying "Because Arcane is not anime. It did not come from the champagne region of france so it's not anime(/champagne) , it's just sparkling animation(/wine)" If someone needs further explanation, he's comparing Arcane "not being an anime" to a champagne only being allowed to be referred to as sparkling wine because it didn't come from the champagne region of France

[@pougetguillaume4632]

@@waszner and the funniest thing about that joke is that the animation team is french. The circle is complete Edit: btw the thing about wine is that it's extremely difficult to recreate one elsewhere because of the soil or protected production traditions, calling something champagne when it doesn't come from that specific region is a scam used to artificially raise prices of the product. A name like champagne is more a brand than it is a type of alcohol, the closer comparison would be calling a shoe nike when it hasn't been produced by nike. So arkada's comparison isn't the best but it's funny none the less. Names of alcoholic beverages is a big deal believe or not. Similar thing with cheese, if you buy mozzarela di buffala that doesn't come from that specific region in italy, you're not actually buying the genuine article. Tldr names are really important and it is what allows productors to differentiate themselves from the rest. because most customers don't differentiate which is which, a brand makes sure they don't die off to some cheap knock off.

[@kruppecauthon3475]

He most likely was using a Wayne's World reference to illustrate the difference in similarities. Though I'm not sure if they have Wayne's World in Canada.

[@samlt5]

Everyone's been begging riot to make an anime for years. The madlads actually did it AND used the same animation studio who's been knocking it out the park for years. Fortiche did a great job. Also yes, League anthology or Cinimatic Universe has so much potential for great stories.

[@slipper1889]

And they spend the equivalent cost of into the spiderverse to make 9 episodes.

[@rumfordc]

i definitely was _not_ begging riot to make an anime

[@Lazarus3737]

The day Azir shows up is the day I ascend.

[@ANDELE3025]

@@slipper1889 And they did a massively better job. Spiderverse only did animation well and the best parts were in sections unrelated to the designated protagonist (even if the real protagonist of the story once you think about it is still real-alt-spidy being a jaded mentor with all the crux of key actions and obstacles of the narrative on him rather than kid arachnid). Arcane did animation, audio and visual storytelling (despite quick pace and probably to a large degree riots requirements leading to numerous holes in cause and effect of the world influencing the overall plot, but thats mostly just for those cursed with years of league lore instead of just the latest series of retcons and no knowledge of prior events and/or ignorance of how opioids or partial political crackdowns typically end up in real life history).

[@danielwhyatt3278]

Again, I wouldn’t call it an anime, but it’s definitely equal to it in animation.

[@leviticus311]

Beginning of rant: "He's clearly joking." Half way through the rant: "I'm not falling for it, he's 100% joking." 90% through rant: "Okay he's not stopping, I guess he's serious then? Is he just a contrarian? A troll? His points don't even make sense!" End of rant: "God damnit."

[@stevenquast2841]

At first I was confused like you, but then I realized he never says the name Arcane during that rant at all. He was always vague enough that you could assume he was talking about the show (especially considering the title of the video has Arcane in it) and saying things like "this show" or "this animation".

[@Nanobuscus]

He's just a terrible reviewer at this point who is incredibly jaded and should stop reviewing shows. Hang up his hat and find something new to do.

[@Direk091]

@@NanobuscusHe was talking about ex-arm in that beginning rant. You got baited and it shows you didn't even watch the video.

[@malenejensen02]

I was the exact same! I was so convinced he wasn't gonna get me, but he kept going... And so I fell...

[@grizzy-thekiwi1144]

@@Nanobuscus fell for it

[@BalikTrollbane]

To be fair, VI was a teen at the point where she "left" powder. she just lost everything and left to clear her head. She was going to come right back but the worst case scenario with Marcus happened.

[@djcooper1061]

Without Marcus stopping Vi, Silco would have killed Powder and Vi, he had his goons behind him as well, and Vi wouldn't be able to beat them without Vander's glove, plus her low on energy same as them, and outnumbered.

[@nickmilo932]

I'm just like.... Powder was completely capable of following vi. Instead she just sat there crying and screaming.

[@Unholy_Triforce]

@@nickmilo932 cause she's a child who was just responsible for the death of her family:/ and her sister's reaction made it seem like she abandoned her too. You wouldn't follow her either. You'd cry cause you were at fault

[@nickmilo932]

@@Unholy_Triforce I'm just saying. She truly is a "jinx"

[@strings491]

Marcus saved Vi and Powders life but also ruined their life at the same time.

[@Blackmark52]

"there isn't a sing'e character I dislike" I found myself continually changing my opinions of the characters to the point of favouring almost everyone at some point. Don't remember that happening before.

[@slipper1889]

I think Jayce was my least favorite it and I still liked him. The reason for that was because how easily he felt influenced in the show and how he kept on going back and forth between his decisions. The last episode kind of fixed that with his whole speech of not giving a shit what other counselors think about him.

[@danielleparr345]

Z

[@danielleparr345]

..

[@kronksstronkstonks6360]

@@slipper1889 Yeah Jayce was my least favourite but not because he was badly written. He had that whole easily influenced, privileged pretty boy thang going on. It wasnt that he was a bad character he was just outshone by others, especially Viktor, in almost every scene imho.

[@slipper1889]

@@kronksstronkstonks6360 I think that was one of the reasons why I liked Victor so much more than Jayce. And as favorites goes, honestly I like the characters way too much to pick the best one. Even characters that didn't had a lot of screen view still left an impression for me. I would say as far as dialogues gone, Victor had quite a few deep and meaningful conversations during the show.

[@pielova305]

Season 2 was written and planned at the same time as season 1, so you could definitely expect the same level of quality with the writing for season 2. It's created by people who love the content a LOT, so it'll get the respect it deserves.

[@keiichi8191]

You definitely don't end a season where they chose to end this one without intending from the beginning to pick back up where you left off, so I'm not terribly concerned that S2 will be slapped together.

[@rrteppo]

They also released the information about a season 2 the moment the last 3 episodes came out because they KNEW we would be begging for more roughly 40x3 minutes after they dropped those episodes.

[@hansolsson874]

27:40 he was hoping it wouldn't be out before mid to late 2023 to get good quality; and now it is planned for late 2024.

[@waszner]

-They- He had us in the first half not gonna lie. Also, if you haven't seen the Season 2 announcement trailer, that pretty much confirms that we're staying in Piltover for at least the next season. The stories are far from done there. Maybe they will start to bring in Noxus more significantly, but the main story should stay in Piltover for now.

[@slipper1889]

Oh they definitely gonna involve Noxus more just by the build up. We have two sides of Noxus, Mel's family and the one her brother offended.

[@lockekappa500]

@@slipper1889 I assumed the person he pissed off was in a different region, would seem odd they'd go to war within their own region? But I guess considering it's Noxus, that would make sense.

[@mareviq]

Thank you for this comment. It's what kept me watching past the first 2 minutes.

[@impalacrush2439]

The only problem that i can found on arcane, even on this point it is pretty much nitpicking is why they chose imagine dragon for the opening? Sheesh they still do the same thing from their breakout hit (radioactive) till their newest track, while great tracks from pusha t and denzel curry get the background song, i get that opening song needs the pull but come on imagine dragon need to innovate a bit

[@mezo4197]

@@impalacrush2439 it's cause Imagine Dragons has a lot of history with league. Plus a lot of people like the opening.

[@yoloalchemist]

To your point about Vi leaving Powder behind at the end of the prologue, it’s exactly *because* Vi back then was so family oriented yet still pissed off at Powder that she had to get away from her _temporarily_ . She never meant to completely abandon her, but to just compose her mind so that should could handle Powder in a calmer and more rational way. Just offering a different perspective. The show’s so f-ing amazing that way because it makes you think of different points of view.

[@Napstablooky]

I think this is important because before Vander dies he says “take care of Powder” and when Vi hits her and looks at her hand she realizes at that at that moment she can’t. If she didn’t leave she’s scared of what she’d do to her.

[@hasniichasnii7671]

@@Napstablooky though I think they did captured that beautifully, I think they could have gone a one step further for few seconds to highlight this dichotomy of emotions Vi was feeling. That would have further smoothen that scene

[@RaGiAn87]

People tend to forget that its not like Vi knew she was going to be kidnapped lmao she just wanted to get away from Powder for a while and then come back probably a week later after she finished mourning.

[@HazelAmarie]

@@RaGiAn87 I wouldn’t say a week later lol maybe a few hours at most … she immediately tries to go back for her when she sees Silco approaching.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

@@hasniichasnii7671 she literally turned around to go back to Powder before Marcus grabbed her and knocked her out, so I think they communicated it pretty clearly

[@CHEFPKR]

All in all, Arcane blew me away. I play LoL very often and I can say the little nods to the players was awesome. It didn't take away from the show at all and that is what was great about it. My wife, who has never played League, loved Arcane. That's a win.

[@DrahcirWolf]

Make the tentacle noodles, cooking man

[@emeraldspark101]

What's your main?

[@Stormcat1997]

Woah, hey there chef!

[@rustygear447]

LoL players like me are a little spoiled coz we all know how people are gonna become. I knew things won't work out well between Vi and Jinx. I kinda expected the bomb to go wrong in Ep3 coz you know... she has to become Jinx. Viktor too. We know Viktor and his glorious evolution. So people who doesn't play the game would get more suspense and surprises. But league players also catch on to a lot of easter eggs so that's fair.

[@Tenkurel]

As someone deep into the LoL lore and knowing who and what is potentially coming in Season 2, Piltover/Zaun has so much more story for all our Season 1 characters.

[@faboi4372]

id love to see von yiff or the brothers

[@kimoota-kun]

Nice Pomu pfp.

[@meru8348]

@@kimoota-kun I agree good pfp

[@skdeathxlife]

Camille, Urgot and so much more. Jhin could also tie in with Camille and Jhin ties in with ionia and ionia ties in with varus who is a darkin and darkin ties in with shurima and targon also Noxus (Swain draven darius and mystery of who killed kats father (is it actually her?)) Demacia (Mage revolution I could see them go into that direction not to mention there was a theory about Leblanc taking on the form of J4) GODDAMN I swear they are sitting on a goldmine of lore and characters.

[@ifonlyicouldstop]

Warwick...its Warwick/Vander, isnt it.

[@EvilAngel4116]

The .00000001% of people who fell for that opening, let me tell you about this land I have for sale.

[@pougetguillaume4632]

Galaxy brain move

[@goofius121]

Also, if you’re interested, I have a bridge to sell to you.

[@pougetguillaume4632]

@@goofius121 if that's the kara no kyoukai bridge i'm gonna pass lmao MAGAREEEEEEEEEE

[@Nyo_Fight]

Just to clarify that netflix didn't make arcane, Riot did it all alone with fortiche and netflix delivered

[@rrteppo]

Riot games are a bunch of monsters. I beg for 10 years for them to come out with all this kind of stuff and the moment I start making real money they literally do it. Rpg, anime, 2d tag fighting game, they even added pve content to their card game and made me want to play that again (I have pacing issues with pvp in that game, no opponents turn to think for me)

[@suparcamel5852]

@@rrteppo it takes time to create these things

[@Khearts530]

A good friend of mine was an animator on Arcane so seeing all this great response to it makes me so fucking happy

[@bushidotestu1997]

Honestly the closest thing I would compare arcane’s animation too is “enter the spider-verse” where if you watch it regularly it looks like it’s 3D but if you pause it looks like a comic book page, though in case more like a lol splash art page

[@glowtz]

The style also reminds me of The Witness animation short from Love, Death & Robots. Iirc someone from Spiderverse was involved in it, might explain the similar-ish art direction.

[@JohnSmith0137]

My favourite parts was where it was very similar to into the spiderverse when jinx would have those random psychotic moments whenever remembering her past, the comic book visuals were phenomenal

[@maxmustsleep]

about the Vi leaving powder thing: I'm pretty sure she wasn't trying to abandon her but it was just too much in that moment. She actually kinda did the right thing when she noticed what she just had done (hit powder) she had to remove herself from the scene to cool off and be the big sister again. When she hit powder she was completely lost in the horrifying stuff that had just happened and she just snapped. staying there would have meant hurting powder even more which wasn't what she wanted so she had to go. NOT leave, just a few feet away to calm herself and think for a moment. you can even see how she wants to go back once she had a few seconds to deal with all the crap and regain her focus when Marcus stepped in to screw her over

[@ealberty610]

As someone who's never played League; I was shocked at how good Arcane was. The animation, writing, characters, and dialog are just incredible and I expect the show to get multiple Emmy nominations. Arcane is the new standard for video game adaptations and animated stories in general.

[@alya9205]

ineteresting to watch it more than two years later when its been confirmed season 2 will be the last one we spend with vi and jinx, and that they will actually go with an anthology kinda thing in other parts of runterra. they really made all the right choices huh

[@KeitieKalopsia]

Considering the very first words we hear in Arcane are “Dear friend across the river,” a line hyper-specific to the twin cities, there is no way in hell that the story is going to move its focus. I do look forward to the possibility of new shows being produced for other League regions and characters, though. It’d be neat to see some of our Arcane characters pop up in other series, too.

[@Cattle_Snacks]

I truly hope “Arcane” creators nail the quality aspect of future seasons. There are too many series that come out with a bang in season 1 and create lesser seasons after that. “True Detective”, “Westworld”, “LOST” “The Walking Dead”, and “Stranger Things” come to mind as examples. So many more you can bring up. Imagine if “ Arcane” is like “Breaking Bad” or “Succession” and gets better every season 😳. Certainly hope so. Quality > Quantity.

[@danzansandeev6033]

I do believe that they wrote the story for both seasons at the same time. Otherwise they wouldn’t leave season 1 on such big cliffhanger. So I’m feeling confident in that regard. And I bet season 2 will come out at riot 15 year anniversary, that being 2024. I wish it would come sooner but I’m willing to wait for the same quality as season 1

[@Orapac4142]

Thankfully, IIRC they said that while they were writing season 1, they ALSO did season 2 at the same time so the story was already worked on to naturally continue instead of "oh wow this got popular, guess we need to slap a script together super fast". I wouldnt be surprised if theyre already working on S3 or a spinoff project or something since they already a season ahead in regards to writing. That and since its Riot writing they arent beholden to hollywood or netflix execs, and Fortiche is owned by artists so they dont have some suits telling them how to make art.

[@meru8348]

What I find even more amazing and tragic about Vi and Jinx meeting when Jinx pulled the flare is that Jinx asks if Vi is real meaning she doesn’t know if she’s imagining her sister or not and when both Caitlyn and Vi get kid napped by the fire lights and the end of that episode you can really understand the pain in Jinx’s scream especially when you realize she isn’t certain that Vi and Caitlyn were actually real or not.

[@deenuk125]

Nearly flipped my desktop in the first 2 minutes

[@WanderingWisp]

I don't think Vi was leaving Powder at the end of episode 3. After she hit Powder, I felt like she thought that she needed to step away for a second and cool off before talking to Powder again. Perhaps it was exaggerated a bit so that the timing with Silco worked, but I don't think Vi's intention was to leave Powder at all.

[@slipper1889]

That is the general opinion about that scene, considering how she stayed not far away and even could see powder. Silco finding powder however did felt a bit too convenient, considering that Silco at that time didn't knew that Vander was "dead".

[@Attya-y2y]

The reviewer of the video isn't saying she was actually planning to leave her for good, we all know she tried to come back after she saw Silco, but just the fact that she walks away even for a moment in that situation is kind of a major fuck-up for someone that's supposed to take care of her sister no matter what. That was also Vander's dying wish. Obviously the bad guys were still around, and if Silco hears a kid crying in the middle of the street he is going to come see what's up. She didn't just walk away, she also hides in the shadows of the tunnel, after screaming at her sister basically telling her everything is her fault and she's a jinx. How can she not see how that feels like from Powder's perspective, since she knows her sister very well? I'm not hating on Vi, it's one of my favourite character in the show and I root for her, but you have to admit that she could have done better there and put her sister's safety before her own emotional management.

[@Folfire]

I think it makes sense that she couldn't handle her feelings for Powder at that particular moment. Vi had defended her from all her screw-ups, and did that to the very family she just had lost due to the latest screw-up of Powder. Vi was still young there, and even adults would possibly falter under such heavy scenario. Consider that she partly always feels responsible for powder messing up, including here. She told her not to come, yet she did and now her family is gone. Leaving her in rage and disappointment, even if she will come back for her, is normal. If anything is forced in that scene is her calling Powder "Jinx" because that is such a minor "insult" following the catastrophe that just happened.

[@kerricaine]

@@Attya-y2y i think the point was that vi had always done everything for powder, always stood up for her, and that this was finally her breaking point. that one moment of anger and weakness (literally losing her father and best friends). i think the forced aspect of that moment was when she got grabbed by the guard. like, if he hadn't gotten her, she would've gone turned around and gone back.

[@Attya-y2y]

@@kerricaine Agreed. Marcus is the most forced scenaristic trick here. Vi would have definitely gone back she was actually springing towards there, and the most probable outcome was Vi and Powder would both have been killed by Silco (which was his plan from the start, kill Vander's children so that it appears that Vander fled town with his kids). But overall, that scene still is believable and well done, we're on the realm of nitpicks here hehe

[@TomasGonzalez235]

Hey, man. What a great video, I really enjoyed it. However, in my opinion, it wasn’t a convenience of the script that Vi left Powder. I believe she simply wanted to get away from Powder so that she could calm down and not continue hitting the person she loves most in her life in an outburst of anger. Even so, I agree with the rest of the video and I admit that you trolled me in the introduction.

[@WhyIsYoutubeSoTerrible]

Arcane is anime. Proof: A tier waifus and husbandos

[@aneonfoxtribute]

Yeah, I don't think you were seeing the scene at the end of episode 3 correctly. Vi was NOT abandoning Powder. She was stepping away to cool her head because she just punched her kid sister, and she realized that she had to step away for her sake. She immediately TRIED going back the MOMENT she saw Silco

[@hsihdbssbcjtzksk7426]

Not to mention, even while going to cool off, she purposely stayed close enough to keep an eye on Vander and Powder. She probably thought they were safe, that the bad guys probably also died.

[@FlamingZander]

There's so much League lore that would make fantastic shows: Swains Coup, Azir's Shurima and the Void, anything in the Freljord or Bilgewater. The whole world is rich with opportunity, and I hope that even if Arcane stays on Piltover/Zaun, there should be separate shows that cover the rest.

[@slipper1889]

I think they will slowly expand, I mean we already have a worried mother from Noxus. I wonder who Mel's brother crossed, considering it was someone that even Mel's mother is worried about, it must be someone in a very high position, maybe even someone as Swain.

[@regalvas]

It feels like that's what they will do, have Arcane as it's own thing while using it to launch other series since in that way they can have serveral series at once. Riot is a long time planner an it has shown it know how to expand.

[@Goudlock]

YES SWAIN MY MAN!

[@kimofrosty]

Lore wise Swain and Noxus has the deepest lore.

[@phoenixflamegames1]

Graves and TF in bilgewater around the time of Gangplank’s reign! We could learn about TF’s people, more about Bilgewater, maybe pre-drowned pyke and more!

[@Darkholow]

This is what happens when you take your time to make a series (it took them 6 years..funnily enough around the same time Jinx and VI released in LoL they started working on this show) and have good writers...Hollywood/Netflix should take some notes.

[@jcnot9712]

Real quick, Jinx is almost 9 years old as a champion and Vi is even older just for people to have a reference for how long they’ve been working on the characters themselves.

[@pielova305]

Fun fact: It didn't take a full 6 years. 6 years ago was when they just started and finished episode 1 to pitch the project, and then it took about 2 years for them to get funding/support to do the rest. We'll have next seasons a lot faster c:

[@dericmederos1514]

Hollywood: Ok we are going to buy the PI and then see whats trending and add those elements to be hip with the youth

[@Timformers]

Hollywood and Netflix have a problem Riot does not have. Riot is not a show making company. Riot doesn't need to earn money with that show and judging by that quality, they propably didn't. Their goal is to make a banging show to increase the number of LoL players and sell show-inspired ingame shit. Hollywood and Netflix cann't do this

[@GeneralGrizzy]

All in house as well

[@thatll-do7606]

I think Vi leaving Powder was more of a "I need to cool off" type moment tbh. She was mad, pissed, in grief, and hearing all of this came from her sister who only wanted to help, I'd need a hot minute to calm down too

[@lolbuster01]

One if my favorite details is that Silco's desk is littered with things Jinx drew on. He didn't throw then away or clean them off, he kept them.

[@seanadomilli]

Crazy that Wish tried to do a very similar art-style but clearly fell flat when compared to Arcane

[@liz7]

1:26 I almost flipped my table! 😂

[@olioxen]

All I can say is Arcane is special, it came out of nowhere and it actually landed the ending, the emotions it evoked was gut punching. I loved it 😍 10/10

[@Joenah5]

I think instead of an anthology model, with each season exploring a different area/aspect of the world, a better idea would be for them to just do different shows for each area of the world, with Arcane following this cast of characters, and another show exploring a different cast and part of the world.

[@danzansandeev6033]

I think that’s the idea. And don’t forget riot forge where we get some stories in game format, like ruined king and song of nunu

[@Joenah5]

@@danzansandeev6033 yeah, those are words.

[@thedistur6edguy189]

22:25 - Honestly, I didn't interpret it as "Vi abandoning Powder", I saw it as Vi doing what we are always taught to do when we're losing control of our emotions: Walk away from what is causing you stress (Powder), for a moment to regain control of your thoughts and emotions; the issue is, that Powder was in such an emotionally distraught state (an unstable mental moment), that she interpreted it as Vi "abandoning" her, and when Silco showed up, launched herself at the nearest object/person who showed her even a miniscule amount of sympathy in that moment. So, for me personally, I don't think Vi INTENDED to abandon Powder, it's just what wound up happening because of circumstances beyond her control

[@Goomsies]

I don't think anybody that watched the show thinks Vi intended to leave Powder. 🤔

[@AHylianWarrior]

I knew you were talking about Ex-Arm in that beginning rant because god damn, do we not share the same feeling across the board

[@ThinkBeyondOrdinary]

God, I watched the trailer and... Don't do that. Please, if anyone else didn't know about that show, don't do it to yourself.

[@Carmai7]

It's interesting to see how critics get frustrated when they encounter a show or a movie that is close to perfection. It's always really easy to critique bad or mediocre work, but when something is really good, critics find it hard to talk about it, because, by definition a critic is "a person who expresses an unfavorable opinion of something". Even though a critic job is to evaluate, analyze and judge, faultfinding is at their core. So, when they are confronted with an almost perfect material, I always sense a feeling of critics being let down by the lack of faultfinding... Sometimes you have to accept the fact that there are rare occasions were there is a piece of media that is just almost perfect, and that rejoice is the only way to feel about it.

[@vivvy_0]

then you should praise it

[@fiszu86]

At this point a critic has to accept the if he was a part of the creative team of the show they would not contribute in any way (best case scenario). It is hard to admit.

[@yukiamerica]

As for doing a "Stranger Things", I think Arcane can be more like the Game of Thrones of animation in the sense that it can have those worlds/cities, introduce different characters and stories while still developing the characters we saw. Still seeing Piltover but they can easily introduce another city, then they could be intertwined with the passing of the seasons, just like GoT. Also Arcane does seem to be planned for a long time. They are in production for the second season and it seems the story was already written before the first even came out

[@suparcamel5852]

They will most certainly create separate shows for each place and show overlap between some of them within each series, so it won't all be in one show.

[@michaels9595]

I think Vi leaving powder alone for that scene is completely justified. Silko finding powder during that time they were separated was probably the more "forced" moment.

[@ashcanicall5297]

Yeah I found it jarring that Powder so readily accepted Silco into her life as if he wasn't responsible for the mess her family was in in the first place lol. Like I get she's a child...but come on. There should have been at least *some* apprehension. 🤔

[@Goomsies]

@@ashcanicall5297 I think most people don't realize that Powder didn't really have a clear picture of who Silco was. The people around her barely talked about him with her and she'd never seen him before the moment that she hugged him. She never had the experiences that Vi did with him. All she knew was that her family were going to get Vander back from some bad guy. She knew who he probably was, intellectually, but she had no emotional resentment toward him. And she didn't blame him for the deaths of her family members, either. She blamed herself for that. This probably also pushed her to punish herself, subconsciously, by joining the guy she was trying to defend them from in a misguided effort to repent. The last part is just guessing, but it kinda makes sense to me. Most likely, it was just her desperately reaching out for whoever was around her. She had very extreme abandonment issues. That was the point of showing her having a full-blown panic attack before she rushed off to blow up her family. She couldn't even handle being left completely alone for a couple hours. When the last person she had a connection with "abandoned" her in the alley, she attached herself to the first person she saw. She wanted a family, and one walked right up to her when she was at her most vulnerable.

[@minutemansam1214]

@@ashcanicall5297 It's not jarring when you understand the psychology of children with attachments disorders. Powder is clearly emotionally dependent, and for a long time she was emotionally dependent on Vi. When Vi slapped her and 'left' her, her attachment was shattered, and she was an emotional wreck. Assuming Vi didn't go back, it would be out of character for her to be apprehensive at the possibility of receiving affection. She leapt at the possibility for a new emotional attachment because she is dependent, and who she is dependent on is not as important as the dependency itself. Silco offered that affection by talking to her nicely. "Where's your sister?". He says this in a way that, on the surface, seems concerned, even though at that moment he likely planned to kill her, or use her to get Vi. But when she unexpectedly leaps on him, and says she was abandoned, Silco sympathizes with her, seeing himself within her, and so he takes her in out of pity. What I like about this show is the fact that everyone makes decisions that are in character, and their decisions have consequences.

[@ldvl2782]

As long as Riot and Fortiche prod are involved in the production, I’m not worried about the quality of the future seasons. Alex Yee and Christian Linke are great writers, and Fortiche created a masterpiece in terms of animation quality. The only thing that could impact the quality is if the white collars at Riot decide to reduce the budget.

[@DavidMadrigalHernandez]

Fortiche Prod has done LoL animations for years, so I don't think they're separating from Riot anytime soon. As for the budget... I seriously doubt they'll try to tank it given they make that money back extremely quickly

[@ANDELE3025]

CLink aint really a writer (unless you mean song writer) and Yee is one of the people that kept making mistakes about lore of champs they were helping work on in posts. However French are hard carrying to the point where it could be called a 4v6 (hue hue hue) with 3 glass 0cc supports yet still winning.

[@Jeetaruey]

I don't think Vi ever planned to actually leave Powder. She was not in the right mind space and had hit her sister. She needed to calm down, so she stepped away to cry and reign in her emotions. Powder was still within her eyesight and she could still hear her voice. If she wanted to leave herm she would have gone further until she could no longer hear Powder. She was still watching over her while trying to control her emotions because they were in a dangerous place and if it hadn't been for Marcus kidnapping her, she would have gone back to Powder when she saw Silco was with her.

[@DaltonKevinM]

15:00 I don't think the netflix business model puts itself at risk of overbearing cooperate control on creativity. There is no risk to netflix in adding content that takes creative risks: their users will just watch something else, and only the content creator takes the blow. Riot and Fortiche themselves might lose sight of themselves, but that's not on netflix.

[@nerdywayfinder1827]

"If you have watched Arcane, RIGHT?!" XD I literally said it out loud with you

[@captainwolfbane3707]

I feel like Vi leaving Powder had more to do with Vi realizing she might hurt Powder more if she stayed (She already punched her) and descided to step away and calm down. I think Vi was always planning to come back and disn't really go very far but she didn't get the chance. (Thanks Marcus)

[@hsihdbssbcjtzksk7426]

Right? She stayed far enough to keep an eye on Vander's body and Powder. She probably thought Silco and the others were also too hurt/occupied by the explosion to come back so soon.

[@Mostacs]

Arcane really hit different. First time in a long time I've enjoyed any animation

[@xandersalamander3757]

So my dad is a camera man and only likes live action, and after I forced him to watch Arcane season 1 with me. He tells me "It would be better in live action". I basically flipped out on him saying something along the lines of "Who in their right mind would think they could even pull off 10% of what they do in Arcane just the world building alone would be practically impossible unless it was 100% CGI. Let alone effects, fight scenes, character emotions, details, and overall look." It was the equivelant of hearing someone who can only draw a barely passable stick figure say "I could paint the Mona Lisa easy, why didn't they just take a picture though" I swear, I am living with a modern caveman. The most intelligent thing he does is when he grunts to have someone pass the milk.

[@petrusjnaude7279]

The intro to this had me so worried. I legit thought those were your actual thoughts regarding Arcane. SO glad you seemed to enjoy this. 18:20, I actually think this is a great idea, because then they could maybe switch to Noxus and some of the other champions that reside there. I do think the creators are now kind of obligated to continue the story of Jinx and Vi.

[@SeaCow1g]

Look I know people don’t wanna get into the “is it anime or not” debate and I get it but, as someone who loves anime a lot I really just wanna ask the question: Who cares? Arcane is a great animated series and if I’m being completely honest I get everything from it that I get from the very best “real anime” that I’ve ever seen. It scratches that itch, it fills that void, it satisfies that hunger. In a world where every country world wide treats animation with the same love and respect that France’s Studio Fortiche poured into Arcane, the distinction between “anime” and “everything animated but not anime” would no longer be necessary. And if this series is any indication, I think we’d all stand to benefit immensely from that.

[@kitelagell4362]

I don't care about the anime distinction and anime is ultimately so vast in what it does that Arcane can fit in the mix just fine. But honestly, for me, it doesn't scratch that itch, it doesn't fill the void, it doesn't satisfy the hunger. Arcane, Castlevania, Avatar, RWBY are all shows that give me a more western vibe of storytelling though more modernized and with influences from japan. These fill a different void for me that frankly I just care a lot less about. I'll admit that I can't say for sure that I'm not biased in some way, but I think it's the episode structure, characters, jokes, and action that give me this impression (I don't think I can elaborate, I'm arguing from feeling not facts).

[@danzansandeev6033]

I can make that stretch of it being an anime. It was made but French animation studio, funded by American game company, owned by Chinese corporation. Which makes it anime (as in eastern animation)

[@krismarshall3803]

Like I really hate putting the bastardization of a foreign word card out on people....but I have to lol. I never get why people outside of Asia have such a freaking line of distinction for this crap. When if you asked someone from Japan, everything animated is anime to them. Sure, they separate it in artstyles like Western Anime or Eastern Anime (this is gone over in actual animation museums there. They refer to Family Guy as an anime). Like I really hate it when a bunch of weebs just take a literal word that was created in japan and just tweak it to a whole other meaning. Plus people get into a hissy fit over it because they always think anime is on the upper echelon of quality while other animated media is just gutter-trash. BOI, are they not aware of all the $1 Wank-off Power Fantasy Isekai's out there XD? Hell, even 2 of my Japanese professors went over this with us at MSU. They themselves didn't get why people over in the west cared so much. In Japan anime literally was just any type of animation. Its just that in Japan they kind of go for a specific drawing style a majority of the time.

[@kitelagell4362]

​@@krismarshall3803 Kevin Bell was making a similar argument in the comments and I made some replies on the subject there as well. Honestly, I don't see why we would care at all what Japanese people think. We're English speakers using a word in an English context so it's defined for that context and through time that seems to have changed the colloquial meaning to be something like "cartoons from Japan". I'm pretty sure plenty of Japanese words are just bastardized versions of English words as well and that doesn't seem to be a problem to me either. Also a bunch of English words end up with bastardized meanings in different regions as well and again it doesn't really seem to me to be a problem. We mostly just want people to understand each other. No matter how you define "anime", I think it ends up referring to an extremely broad category of cartoons anyway, so personally, I don't really care what definition people use and I'd just read the room to figure out how to use the word in that room. But I still don't think it does any good to refer to all cartoons with "anime" since we already have the word "cartoon" or "animation" for that and I think it would only really confuse people. Meanwhile, I do find there is use in the term if it means something along the lines of "Japanese cartoons" because then searching "anime" gives me roughly what I expect and when I say "anime" in conversation people seem to roughly understand me.

[@NoidoDev]

"Embrace. Extend. Extinguish." - That's why.

[@epicurusstan3223]

When Vi leaves Powder, to me, she seemed like she was just walking away. She just needed to take a breath before going back and giving Powder a hug. As a parent I know how it is. Sometimes your kid does something stupid and you just need to walk away for a bit.

[@Last_Orbit]

LMAO you got me on that intro. Not gonna lie if you didnt like it and made some valid points I was gonna have to rethink my whole opinion on the show. But alast you were just joking. Now I shall go back to watching the video.

[@Attya-y2y]

Good point about starting season 2 in a totally different region with new characters and storylines. I feel like season 1 can very well stand on its own for now, and going back right away to the whole Vi vs Jinx, Zaun vs Piltover thematics might make things a bit repetitive. However, I do trust the writers to bring many new and interesting plots for season 2 even though it stays in Piltover/Zaun, since there are characters and storylines in the lore that are pretty cool and not yet developped upon in Arcane. Think Camille, Warwick, Urgot, Glorious Evolution, Janna, etc... I just hope they won't focus too much on the Jinx-Vi relationship in s2. Repititiveness can be the hype killer for Arcane. In my opinion, it really should be the last season we get in this region, they need to move to new regions starting season 3

[@erigor11]

Pretty on point. Although I differ about the only awkward moment in the series. I thought you were going to say the same, but it wasn't like that. Vi didn't abandon Powder. She was just cooling off, as she understood she was getting violent and she shouldn't be as harsh... she was kinda confused in any case, so she got some space for herself. What was truly awkward for me was how quickly Powder changed, how prone she was to change - even enough to stop considering Vi her sister - and, specially, how she threw herself to hug Silco, which is sincerely absurd. She wouldn't even do that with someone she knew, as she clearly was more of an introvert. That was the weirdest part of it all, the most poorly constructed. Asided from that, this was an incredibly well done show. I don't get why you hesitate to say it was the best thing this year. Heck, this is probably the best animated show that has been made overall. Incredible high quality.

[@Ushionai]

You had me on the 1st half 💀

[@KeroKaminaX]

The opening bit really had me going there for a minute

[@nanopix5305]

Arcane 2 will be a continuation of the show, but im sure they will be making more shows and movies set in other parts of the world with other characters. The world of Runeterra is massive, as it is now they have material to release content for the next 100 years and they are still expanding it, there are still places to discover on the map, etc...

[@1950RetroMan]

I haven't watched you in years (not intended as an insult) and I was like, "I wonder if he still does reviews or if it's a dead channel now?" Pleasantly surprised you still have an active channel after all these years but your red coat is gone. Good ole fashioned Shinji, style Congratulations for staying an active channel for so long! That is all.

[@MegaShinobi2011]

Based on how much of an emphasis they put on the councilwoman and her mother, I have strong hopes that it'll end up being an anthology series. Like maybe they do a little but more work in Piltover, but since the mom was just itching for war and Jinx essentially handed a justification on a silver platter, I can see the idea of that international conflict being explored more broadly. At least I hope so.

[@slipper1889]

I think we will have more Noxian characters next season, either from Mel's family or the person Mel's brother offended coming to finish the job. Oh and also the whole civil war between Piltover and Zaun since the undercity won't be given up peacefully now.

[@aldrensiscar3988]

Finger's cross the person Ambessa talking about it is Swain.

[@noneofyourbusiness3288]

I am also wondering if they are related to Rell in some way. The councilwoman did wear this weird gold plating and she is from Noxus... coincidence? maybe.

[@aldrensiscar3988]

@@noneofyourbusiness3288 Mel's likely a Solari. Look at her dress.

[@WhatTheHell116]

I think season 2 will take place in piltover and zaun still but introduce Jarvin the 4th from demacia and some of the noxian leaders as the attack on the council will bring noxus into picture. Demacia will then try to keep the peace and prevent noxus from taking over, since demacia is heavily anti-magic a fight over Hextech only makes sense.

[@NMWVID]

With the introduction of Noxious near the end of the show Arcane can avoid falling into the Stranger Thing pitfall. The second season should wrap things up in Piltover and then allow them to move the show to any continent and story they want.

[@lelianashamrock2616]

I don't know if someone has commented this yet or not, but the reason Vi walked away from Powder at the dock was because she is so family oriented. She got so angry she struck her, then when she saw the blood from the hit on her hands she knew her mind was too far gone in that moment and she had to take a second to collect herself before she said something or did something worse than she already had. That's why later at the flare scene she says she never meant to abandon her. As a parent, I know what it's like to be so mad you just have to step away. Perhaps as a gamer you know those moments where a game has pissed you off so much you had to set down the controler or let go of the mouse or keyboard or you might actually break it? It's like that. She just didn't want to hurt her worse, which is why they show her noticing the blood on her hand and her face suddenly softening- she was so horrified by the fact that she hit her she just had to get away somewhere nearby to breathe.

[@severedproxy]

The one thing about arcane (for me) is that they did emotions and camerawork so well that I kept forgetting I was watching an animated show, I seriously thought I was watching a live action series a couple of times...then the fight scenes happen and I remember, oh sheeit this is animated.

[@xandersalamander3757]

At first I thought he was fooling around, but then he kept going on and on, and I was like maybe its just rage bait. But it went on long enough to trick me and get ready to blow up the comments with my rage tactics.... but then he said, "by contrast" and I cooled my head

[@Reveri247]

What I'm hoping for is that season 2 continues the stories of the characters they set up (with some new additions of course) and continues to focus on the Zaun vs Piltover element of the show and take it to a logical and satisfying conclusion - perhaps after 3-4 seasons - then start something new. Take the audience to a brand new location with new characters, call it something else ("Title: League of Legends") and start fresh. I don't want to see Arcane's characters kept around forever for the sake of having them around nor do I want to see them just get cycled out of the story in favor of new things to the point of becoming unrecognizable from where it started. With a world as big as League of Legends, this show could literally continue forever and it shouldn't. Essentially, instead of having one big show, I hope they break it into multiple, separate (but somewhat interconnected) shows to explore the lore to its fullest while also allowing each individual series' story and set of characters to shine.

[@angeliquemenoptra6701]

I don't think the Arcane writers are going to look to the game lore and storyline for source material, but maybe develop charters they find interesting and mailable enough to further their own natives. I don't think it would be a good thing to represent everyone favorite characters from the game, it would just over stuff the plot. For that matter I think the writer have been coming out with characters of their own that worked out just fine.

[@sorenrising5880]

To explain the canon thing, League of Legends has been effectively de-coupled from its lore for about 5 years. After a major retcon, they have spent years slowly rewriting the universe, which has picked up substantially in the past few years. While they've updated lore aspects within LoL the game a bit, most of it remains unimportant. Lore comes primarily from extra material, mainly the Universe website, Legends of Runeterra, and the occasional book. When LoL conflicts with lore from the card game or the website, the later is canon. By my interpretation, Arcane is pretty much canon lore, and any future lore released around Piltover and Zaun will be built to comply with Arcane.

[@slipper1889]

Well technically its still not Canon until the creators says it. Currently Arcane is cannon only in Legends of Runterra since both of these projects were developed based on the same lore around the same time. If they do declare Arcane cannon for league of legends then they would need to rewrite a lot of lore and I think the reason why they haven't done so yet was to give themselves enough time to prepare for it.

[@Yourlocalasian536]

Well, addressing your concern about the success thing… arcane is going to be 2 seasons of Piltover/Zaun then it’ll introduce more characters and a different setting. There’s going to be an estimated 10 seasons so we’ll follow 5 different settings hopefully. Also, I don’t think Fortiche and Riot are going to do anything Netflix tries to push them to do, hope this helps!

[@flappinshad6973]

I was so against watching Arcane in the beginning, solely because I didn't (at the time) like the animation style...and man, I am so happy I decided to give it a shot! It is easily my favorite animated series of the last 2-5 years.

[@julio1148]

16:00 Netflix didn’t produce it, only distributed it

[@kerricaine]

i think arcane is my favourite example of "subverting expectations" now, because at every turn, characters behave RATIONALLY. especially jayce. he's constantly given choices where he could be selfish, or could ignore advice and do what he wants, but most of the time...he thinks things through and makes what he thinks is the best decision.

[@keona5560]

18:11 funnily enough I agree, it'd be interesting if the series had new mcs whose lives happen parallel to the og cast so they are affected by the goings on in S1 and it culminates into specific events majorly changing shit for others. Kinda like how act 1 was with Jace and Piltover vs The kid gang and Zaun! God I hope this makes sense😭

[@herewegoagain7403]

When u watch arcane and rewatch the jinx music vid, it hits different 💀

[@ryanmatthews3609]

0:19 i don't mind if the characters (in general) are 2d as possibly be.

[@Negari0]

"The best for the last.... Really long time!" just made me lose it

[@ChiriConCarne]

11:33 Lux was based on Marisa Kirisame from Touhou Project. For those who are wondering.

[@Ichithix]

I was shocked that "Arcane" was not only good, but great. When I heard there was going to be a LoL animation I just assumed it would be some throwaway trash. I knew nothing about LoL going in, personally I suspect that's the ideal way to watch "Arcane", if I'd known more it would have robbed certain moments of a lot of impact.

[@ANDELE3025]

Correct. And beyond surface level knowledge of established lore not only robs weight from (around 1/3rd) of scenes, but also pulls attention to not only direct contradictions in lore, but also plot holes skipped over with the fast pace of the show. One ends up with a "not only look for whats off, but notice what isnt present yet should be" perspective ruining bits of what would have probably been a far more entertaining time.

[@suparcamel5852]

Yep, it's a completely different experience watching as a LOL player. Idk how motivated you are to read up on lore, but highly suggest it.

[@ieDestiny]

18:01 well I've got good news for you

[@danielmugisha3725]

This show is just so good. What a triumph when it comes to storytelling.

[@cryostasis3525]

Honestly agree wholeheartedly with everything you said, and I would love to see a season two the way you said set in a new area and slowly bring all the stories together.

[@shadowreaver752]

Arcane is just beautiful. I could see them going full Disney covering multiple regions back to back leading to an avengers like moment. As long as the animation and story/character quality doesn't diminish then it will be something to stand amongst the ages. This season was a wonderful step forward but my god it has so far to fall.

[@MistyKathrine]

5:36 It's 24FPS or as many people say: 24 wallpapers per second.

[@krisbiturku4187]

The argument about cannon or not does not make sense because Arcane is a prequel, not outside of cannon. Riot has intentionaly lest large gaps/vague stories about the universe.

[@MefoWho]

being its own skin is pretty much confirmed its not "canon" imo. Every skinline exist in their own pocket universe, the most connected "canon" is usually when they do it with default skins, like how freljord sylas is "canon" because its just sylas wearing some winter clothes and interact with default lux + garen in the warrior MV.

[@avrilk]

As someone who works in the animation industry, I'm always so grateful to anitubers recognising the animator's work. So many times I'll hear that the acting is only good because they have good voice actors which is kind of ignoring the entire 9/10 of the production process that goes into it. Animation is only as good as it is because of all the many other individuals who made the decisions they did along the way. So, thank you, Arkada, for always recognizing the hard work it takes to make an animated work. Love your reviews and I hope to see more stuff from you in the future!

[@arthurchen6464]

Your concerns for the popularity of Arcane "forcing" the creators to focus on Piltover/Zaun as opposed to branching out to other parts of the world is very valid. I too felt like ST S1 was brilliant, and S2 and S3 just tried to recapture that initial magic while tiredly retreading the same plotpoints except with slight variations. However, I don't think we have to worry too much about the popularity of Arcane. The creators of the show were the original character/lore designers of some of the central characters of Arcane, namedly Vi/Jinx/Jayce/Viktor (iirc), so it was most likely their plan from day one to keep the focus on P+Z and not do an anthology type show with a different focus every season. Also, the Jayce/Viktor storyline were of secondary importance in S1, so I imagine it'll take center stage in S2. Doesn't guarantee that S2 will be as good as S1, but whatever happens, it wouldn't be because the popularity of S1 ruined future seasons. The creators have their vision and that seems to been set already before S1 even released. Also, like many others probably already said, Netflix has fuckall to do with Arcane beyond putting it on their platform.

[@iLLya_]

As someone who has dealt with anger management issues I can tell u the thing at 22:00 is not forced at all in my eyes if vi is the same way she was doing the right thing removing herself from the situation to cool off a bit before doing something she might regret and she still stayed within line of sight with powder

[@crabby6617]

Actually Riot confirmed that they're making more shows and even live-action movies.

[@Harmsyx]

Nooooo God no, please no live action!

[@nanopix5305]

pretty sure they arent doing live-action, you have a source?

[@chloez8504]

This style as well just feels so FRESH. It feels almost new.. also really love the idea of having it become an anthology series that overarcs and connects in a final season. causes for a slowburn start to a season, quick and snappy ends to those seasons and creates insane hype for those final seasons to come.

[@x511100x]

You can't adequately describe the skill that the animators of Arcane characters' facial expressions and body language have because the words haven't been invented yet

[@XDarkEcho]

I mean, I won't say it's revolutionary or anything, but I'll definitely say it's masterfully done. Though, it wouldn't be as good without the great vocals and delivery of the VAs. Truly, both go hand in hand, enhancing each other to bring out the fullest of emotion, immersion, and believability.

[@Drstrange3000]

The level of small details and how well they do their facial animations is sorcery. It looks so life-like. So many subtle details and shifts in body language. Hot damn!

[@TheOutsider1115]

Even the opening sequence the faces were so detailed!

[@gamensch2629]

As far as I'm informed Arcane was layed out for multiple seasons or rather as one entity and they only split that into seasons. Meaning they did the scipt and then started working on anything else, so I hope the next possible seasons are as well-written as the first ^^ Maybe they will switch to Noxus for the first half of the second season maybe even before they reveal what happened after the explosion Spoiler-Warning... As far the drama goes: Warwick will absolutely play a part in season 2, who originally was Vander which could spice things up (for Jinx' and Vi's relationship too) As duo to anything new in Piltover and Zaun, Noxus is being invented more and more, as for that maybe Urgot who originally came from there but has been seen fighting against Ekko, Vi and Caitlyn in cinematics Camille could play an important part aswell Also Zaun is now out of control Viktor and Jayce could part their ways Singed's drama has not really been explored yet (with his daughter and so on) ...and so on, there is still sooo much (enough) to explore, even in Piltover and Zaun

[@ratiuvictor9533]

I would love a season in Ionia. I feel like the season 3 will be about Noxus vs Damacia but the characters in Ionia are so good, The Ruined King storyline is amazing and all about Frojlord is so good. The conflict within the clans. The Ascension of Tryndamere and Ash. Everything in north is great

[@Raxiums]

18:00 I agree that I'd like Arcane to cover the broader world of Runeterra, but I believe they planned season 1 around a season 2 being released, so it's inevitable that season 2 will focus on the continuation of the stories from season 1. After season 2, however, I really think (and hope) that this is the direction they will take the series.

[@TheStormWolf10]

I’m not gonna lie you had me going in the first few min genuinely thought you didn’t like Arcana. Well played good sir, your acting skills are impeccable!

[@stevenquast2841]

Here are my thoughts about what you were discussing in this video: They were already planning on doing season 2 in Piltover. A few hints that point to the next season being a continuation are the voices of the characters in the season 2 trailer as well as an iconic sound associated with another character that originates from Piltover/Zaun. In terms of where to go for season 2 (in terms of location/nation in the world of Runeterra), there are pros and cons for changing and pros and cons for staying in Piltover: changing things up vs maintaining the status quo. If Riot were to change things up for Season 2, it could have the positive effect of getting the "creative juices" flowing for the other settings and produce a stellar show in an anthology as you put it. Since the writers and animators don't have anything old to fall back on, they'll have to resort to actually thinking about new characters: what their motivations are, their goals, their personalities. If the characters are the same for season 2, then you obviously risk flanderization of the characters As you were saying at the end of the video about the second season not taking as much time, having a second season take place in a location that the animation studio already has assets made for will speed up the production of the season. That's not to insinuate that the quality of the production would drop. The animation studio has been working with Riot for a long time. Most of the more popular animations (the Jinx music video, the KDA K-pop videos) were all done by Studio Fortiche: the animators for Arcane. They have a good working relationship with Riot and will likely produce quality animation for Season 2 without cutting corners. But this is from an animation perspective. Thinking about it from a writing perspective, if the show remains in Piltover, the writers can remain in the mindset of the characters they're writing for. It makes it easier to write a more "authentic" reaction a character will have if you are still in that head space. If the writers went 3 seasons (what would that be, 7-8 years?) before thinking about how a character would react to certain situations, then there's the risk of them not being written as optimally as if they were written season after season. Sure, characters run the risk of becoming caricatures of themselves if they are written about repeatedly, especially if one aspect of their personality is more well received over other aspects, but I am optimistic the writers are competent enough to ensure that doesn't happen. Regarding mocap being a "better" method of animation, I think it is in fact a worse method of animation. Case in point, this show. Arcane was animated using reference shots instead of motion capture. This allowed for an idealized character animation that is much truer to how people would act than motion capture. Hear me out. I've been watching a lot of people reviewing Arcane. One of the reviews talked about the authenticity of the character actions when it came to weapon handling. Specifically, the scene of Caitlyn holding the butt of the rifle up to her shoulder and having to readjust it to get it into the optimal position so that she could look down the sights. In games, the focus is less on realism, so as long as the action can look "right enough" then that's how the action will look in the final product. If they did that scene in motion capture, they might get the same action of having to take extra time to adjust the gun to look down the sights, but only if the actor portraying that scene knows to add that bit of movement into the motion capture. The actor probably won't know the idealized way to move in every single scene the way an expert of that particular action would. As another example used in the review, the reviewer talks about how in the hand-to-hand fighting, the characters move with experience. Vi makes as few body adjustments as possible when dodging out of the way of an incoming strike the way an experienced fighter would. If a motion capture person were to do the same, they may not know how to act in that scene. And I suppose the motion capture developers could bring in masters of particular actions to promote the authenticity of the actions, but that would bloat the cost of the production when having to hire an inordinately large number of actors just to play one character. All this when the animators could just use reference shots of professionals performing the same actions as, well, the reference for these scenes. Sure it may take more individual work on these scenes because everything has to be animated manually, but it produces a more idealized version (and likely more authentic) of the animated character. In short, I think that, while the show runs the risk of being stale and caricaturish and that the animation has the possibility of cutting corners since they are working with something they have already used, I am hopeful and optimistic that there is enough creativity and drive to produce a good show among both the writers and animators that this shouldn't be an issue. But as you said, success can go to peoples' heads, so who knows?

[@joaoffmoraes]

I don't have a problem with Vi, after having her parent figure die AGAIN and her siblings dying, all in a brutal way AGAIN, and knowing that her own sister was the cause of it, and seeing she was totally out of control near Powder where she was hitting her and saying terrible things to her (but understandable so due to the situation), want to distance herself to cool off a bit. She could explode even more on Powder in that moment. I agree it is needed for the plot to go where it went, but I do think it's totally justified and undesrtandable. To me the only thing that is odd in the entire season is for Marcus to have chloroform with him to drag Vi in that moment. Does he walks with chloroform everywhere he goes?

[@danzansandeev6033]

This. I dunno where Marcus get that. It would’ve been more logical for him to smack her over the head with something, like a bag of sand (not his baton, cause that would make noise)

[@joaoffmoraes]

@@danzansandeev6033 maybe a bag of blood money? (Maybe it would make too much noise)

[@danzansandeev6033]

@@joaoffmoraes yeah I guess they simply wanted to incapacitate her in quiet way, not to mention that if Marcus hit her at that point it would make him less sympathetic character. So I get why chlorophorm

[@joaoffmoraes]

@@danzansandeev6033 I get why, just don't think it was justifiable for him to have chloroform there. And the series basically sets up everything to pay off later and almost every action has a good reason to happen, just this one they don't.

[@zerefiel]

You had me there at the beginning. Very well played GR!! :D

[@reanimefilms]

The first 2 minutes triggered me hahhahaha

[@wpelfeta]

Riot could come out with different series focusing on different regions but have them set in the same universe and have crossover events/cameos between the series. That would be cool without forcing arcane to move away from Piltover and Zaun.

[@RichWilco]

Actually I'd love to see how they would handle Valorant as an animated series. That lore has some potential to it as well.