This is How you Start a Season! - Arcane Season 2 Eps 1 Reaction

[@shibernyan2009]

No mocap, fully animated. They do use real life references though, which is how they get the motions and expressions to look so realistic and smooth, while still being stylized and exaggerated in a way only animation can.

[@Drakoni23]

Because the way you do art is by observing real life. Shooting or finding good reference is so important to do good key animation.

[@shibernyan2009]

@@Drakoni23 Absolutely.

[@KaylaHigbeeVO]

Which makes it THAT MUCH MORE impressive. THIS is the kind of art we can get when projects are made out of passion instead of cash-grabs, and when the animators are given TIME. and MONEY. and TIIIMMME.

[@robertgronewold3326]

I mean, technically animators use the old school motion capture, because a lot of times they'll have actors or themselves make performative videos to get the motion right.

[@shibernyan2009]

@@robertgronewold3326 That's what I meant by references. Not sure mocap ever had the same definition as 'using references' back in the day, but safe to say mocap's modern definition (which is several decades old by now) is something else entirely and the technology + method behind it is also completely different.

[@dragonicdoom3772]

The Enforcer with the blue skin is a Vastaya, basically animal people. Jericho, the fish man who Vi got food from in season 1, is also a Vastaya.

[@thegamingwubba]

The butcher guy!

[@jasonmarbach]

I am pleased to report that, through 3 eps, it is once again *🤌🏻PEAK🤌🏻*

[@DavidGonzalez-zl3dz]

This shit has no right having this consistently phenomenal television and storytelling

[@Vizible21]

Story telling wise-yes. But animation? It's even better than season 1.

[@angelrolon3682]

AGREED!!

[@procrastinator547]

They’ve redefined the term. This stands alone. My jaw was dropped for 3 episodes in a row!

[@blurredmirrors]

It’s overwhelmingly masterful, like just WOW?????

[@wtimmins]

I appreciate that they subverted the 'eyes opening at the end' trope to just a face twitch. slow clap

[@shibernyan2009]

Same. I wouldn't have had a problem with Viktor just opening his eyes at the end, but it definitely would have made it more generic. Prefer the face twitch for sure.

[@DavidGonzalez-zl3dz]

I had my fingers crossed, and should've trusted that they'd know not to give too much of a reveal.

[@wtimmins]

@ it shows a great confidence in the writing and story

[@mcanta2898]

they kinda seperated the first two episodes by city, piltover i ep 1 and zaun in ep 2, so Victor only coming ino play in episode 2 was smart i thought, to show where his loyalties or priorities lie (altought we haven't gotten much of a read on him yet)

[@shibernyan2009]

@mcanta2898 Viktor also serves as the perfect bridge between Piltover and Zaun (and therefore also between eps 1 and 2), as he quite literally leaves Piltover and enters Zaun.

[@briansmithbeta]

Guys! React to “Bridging the Rift”, the behind the scenes of how Arcane season one was created. As a documentary, it was created with about the same level of quality as Arcane itself. Very good. It’s not your usual kind of reaction content, so maybe it could be a Patreon exclusive or something if you don’t want to put it on the main channel. And no… there’s NO MOCAP. Every micro expression is hand crafted. 3:53

[@DraustTrollbaneUS]

I second this. Bridging the Rift is incredibly well made.

[@Tabnito]

12:44 in case people extra didn't remember, this woman literally replaces the space of another mother in the shot. She steps in front of the stature of Cait's mom.

[@crimsonghoul8983]

😮😮 Man, it feels like there is a reason behind how every shot or drawing is framed. It's gorgeous.

[@dezm0n679]

@@crimsonghoul8983 It really is :) Wanna cool stuff? Rewatch scene where Mel says "But i draw the line on Hextech" (approx 8 min in the episode), and look at the ground, and few scenes later (when rain starts, there is last top-down shot of the room). You will see something incredible, i promise. Also how wind changes with emotions when Cait talks to Jayce about her mom and Jinx, incredible. Also scenes with black envelopes and badges with black ribbons, Cait recieves one, i guess most of others who attends ceremony, and also Chainsaw Mom (Reni is her name if i remember correctly) has it, later revealed from where. Also scenes on Cait's 'computer' that foreshadow her future tactics. A lot of great hidden details, amazing.

[@datzfatz2368]

@@crimsonghoul8983 it doesnt just feel like that, it is like that. Thats the thing about animation. Since you have to craft every single frame by hand, you have to think about every single frame extensively and plan them. Everything is on purpose, everything is deliberate.

[@gaara_of_the_desert1118]

Nope, no mocap, that's just 3 years worth of top tier animation.

[@ranniwolves]

the thing is, jinx also feels that she’s getting vengeance. topside is literally the entire reason that the undercity is suffering. so caitlyn and jinx have the same exact motives. they are extremely similar so far in this season. i love the way they’re writing it

[@mcanta2898]

not counting the remarks made in season 1 "wow, and I thought my sister could obsess over things" or something.

[@elviscocho440]

except for the fact that Vi, Jinx and everyone else in Zaun had suffered even more, so not the same completely

[@TheFlyingBookworm]

The way the show introduced Maddie with a death flag on her just to give everyone anxiety with every fight scene she's in was incredibly sneaky.

[@EternalDensity]

I hadn't been thinking about voice actors but when you mentioned Gwen in Spider-verse you reminded me that we're again being blessed with more Hailee Steinfeld (And Ella Purnell)

[@corporealghoul]

The way cait has this anger in her eyes as she watches her moms casket close. Then that very subtle look of "wait i need more time with you" the second before the casket closes fully broke me.

[@Spaceisprettybig]

Mom said it was my turn to post the fact that no Mocap was used!

[@harrygoad329]

Man, first Legend of Vox Machina, now Arcane, that's two shows now with funeral scenes that just bring me to tears.

[@KerriCanary20]

"I want to tear that laugh from her throat" Katie Leung delivers that line so chillingly. I'm not trying to lessen Caitlyn's grief but I don't think she realizes just how much Vi struggled and had to grow up without both of her parents with Powder/Jynx and struggle in the under city just to survive. Caitlyn is still young but a lot older then Vi was. It is different

[@morlock2012]

Agreed, though it's understandable. Not right, but understandable. You can't know what that feels like until it happens to you, and when you're in the middle of processing it, objectivity is a long way away.

[@jmjackson2041]

The reason it looks/feels so real is the animators look at actual footage of people in those situations and animate based on that. Even the best mocap is still acting. Best one imo is little Ekko from season 1 was the animator filming his son running around then using that footage for the bridge fight.

[@thedeep6570]

Thats just reference footage and its nothing new. Its basicly as old as animation

[@jmjackson2041]

ok

[@rainyprac]

@@thedeep6570 yes, everyone here agrees. thank you for correcting... the ghost in the corner?

[@AntonAdelson]

As someone who lived through Oct7 and still living through the events, this episode started hitting REALLY close to home......

[@Drakoni23]

WE'RE BACK! Such a beautiful show, every frame is truly a painting. So much work from a lot of artists went into this in every department. The way you get these sort of micro expressions is by being really good animators who know what to pay attention to, what to put in there and the time to refine and polish every shot, recording good reference (usually yourself, sometimes from the voice actors). Mocap data is way less detailed than you think and even if used, needs a lot of hand animation on top to look good.

[@SeanBoyce-gp]

All hand animated, dawg. You actually have it backwards - micro expressions are almost never captured by anything but the most sophisticated capture tech, which is insanely expensive. An insanely common misconception is thst mo cap is somehow better or more realistic than traditional animation. It's not, it's just faster and cheaper to get a passable result. You'll always get better results from real animators. In fact, standard mo cap data often has to be "massaged" by animators because when translated into the 3d space, it looks super floaty and weird. That's a function of how the tech works. It captures hundreds, even thousands of samples from a few seconds of motion, but most of that data is "noise," tiny adjustments or misreads, that is eventually interpolated out by smoothing functions and algorithms, which almost always winds up "pulling" the poses, essentially making motion more conservative. Back in the day, when mo cap was first gaining popularity, "us" animators actually hated it because the data was such garbage that we mostly had to reanimated it all by hand anyway. Plus, the limits of the rigs and safety of the performers created a lot of middle space where we were forced to basically do the janitorial work of animating. These days, the algorithms and functions are much more refined and cleaner, but the demands of digital performers even more insane and over the top, so there's much more of a balance between capture and what you might think of as "CGI" or animation. And certainly, capture performers own a lot of the credit of literally performing the motion. When animators are cleaning up those scans and data, they'll often use those performances as references, basically honoring the original performance as much as they can. Unless it's shit, in which case they'll record themselves doing it and use that as reference. A classic thing our teachers used to say was Animators are Actors. You do so many self tapes of scenes and dialogue. Trying to find the angles and the poses and the pacing. Stuff like Arcane, that's just the animators and directors *performing* their asses off in their art. And typically you don't have like, a single lead in Vi or Jinx or whatever. Everyone in the studio has to know . every character and every aspect of how they perform.

[@kaenopi]

if you wanna know more about the animation, the behind the scenes of the first season are on youtube, it's called "Bridging the Rift". Spoilers: there's no mocap.

[@KaylaHigbeeVO]

8:50 "That has Fartbuckle written all over it" STOP. I THOUGHT THE SAME THING.

[@AmazingChi]

Jay, S1: "At least your character is still alive. Didn't get crushed and burned to death." Arcane, S2: "So, about that..."

[@templeofdoom8629]

"I've got a beret and I know how to use it!" - I am soooo gonna get that out on a Caitlyn t-shirt 🤣

[@Shax22132]

I want to echo the praise for the writing; just like in last season, there are so many times where characters in the show are arguing/fighting, and I can't say that either one is wrong or right.

[@DMbyChoice]

Arcane is legit one of my favorite shows ever!

[@Grahamathan]

People assume that Mel's gold back thing is sign of a power or something, but that seems like a bold assumption to me in a show that's full of abstract, non-literal visual choices. Personally I took that to represent a stylized chill running up her back as she senses something behind her.

[@stancinatti8198]

Right but still doesn’t explain her surviving when she was the closest to the blast

[@DavidGonzalez-zl3dz]

I figured it was the exhaust from the rocket lighting up her jewelery

[@Grahamathan]

@@stancinatti8198 They explained that in the episode: there's no rhyme or reason for who survives random violence.

[@Fyre11]

After the music video recently covering her mother's death during her pregnancy, and subsequent resurrection at the hands of the Noxian Kindred, I feel like Mel has some anti-death magic on her. Like, instead of Ambessa giving it to herself, she gave it to her child, and maybe Mel doesn't know all the details to that.

[@zacharybartolo5111]

I don't know, they've drawn attention to it a few times in the show. I really feel like it's enchanted to protect her from major damage. The fact Jayce was near her and was relatively okay too says something.

[@JonathanMartinez-ei4up]

This animation is so good. I would love to see ReBoot done in either this style or the Spiderverse style. It’s just a visual feast.

[@SakuraPixie]

Currently hospitalized for surgery on my elbow and hello comfort buddies as I re binge this first drop of episodes before going under

[@warrendufour9290]

In case you guys were wondering if shit rocks, shit does indeed rock. 🤘

[@donovanmartin7946]

You two aren’t ready for ep 3

[@crimsonghoul8983]

Ehhh...they can handle it at this point. But yeah, it's really good.

[@northwind2538]

Funny that you'd mention Spiderverse and Gwen because she, like Vi, is voiced by Hailee Steinfeld.

[@layniebear1237]

always love the reaction guys thank you1~

[@thbrightshore]

Only cupcait and vi are league champions, but I love all of them sm already 😭

[@nimrod_norm9763]

I gotta say I'm glad I got shown season 1 last month so glad I had one month and not three years

[@VBane]

I dont believe any of the other enforcers on Vi and Caits team are League characters....yet. There is a huge burly shield guy in League but hes completelty different.

[@darthvexus2443]

I have a theory that the big guy is a take on Braum.

[@VBane]

@darthvexus2443 I get that, but at most I'd say he's a reference and not actually supposed to be Braum. Braum is a wandering do-gooder from Freljord with a huge mustache weilding a magic vault door as a shield. A bit too far afield I think.

[@darthvexus2443]

@@VBane I didn’t say it was a good theory, just a very strong hunch. Totally not biased to want him to be my favorite champ or anything

[@crimsonghoul8983]

​@@darthvexus2443 He's a similar mentor figure like Vander. Maybe not exactly, but that's why he is in the story. For moral support to Vi.

[@thatepicwizardguy]

Man... if anything happens to Maddie I'm gonna be so upset, she's DELIGHTFUL

[@elviscocho440]

bet youre not going to like her in future episodes. Let me know if you still do

[@Avrilandosanders]

We're so back, baby!

[@jalcome4201]

5 ppl going into the lanes, i cant xD

[@Toby1kenobi100]

I'm so freaking excited for this!

[@Lilone0106]

This season is 🔥🔥🤯 makes me have to watch 1 all over again and catch details you possibly missed

[@IAmHavok]

Cait and Vi's situations aren't the same here. Vi watched enforcers kill her parents who were fighting to liberate their people while Cait lost her mom due to a broken childs anger that honesty all is rooted in that very loss Vi still holds inside. Vi isn't asking Cait to now side with Jinx and fight hand in hand with her. This isn't as cut and dry as it seems.

[@Obosii]

1:50 THANK YOU!!! It seems like nobody has noticed this. #zhonyas

[@artloveranimation]

they made a mini-series documentary of the making of season 1 and revealed that no they didn't use motion-capture. The animators just filmed themselves in a room to use for references

[@lop90ful1]

Cait was my fav first season and this season is shaping up to be even better in terms of getting more of her so im happy, honestly im more on Piltover side of things for the whole series they have been holding back just to get blown up twice, so its kind of fun to see them respond. Powder and Silco were the ones to always poke them because they felt wronged.

[@ranniwolves]

they were wronged, they ARE wronged. piltover literally oppresses and treats zaun like a dump. they LITERALLY throw their trash down there and let the water and air become toxic bc of runoff from trash and the mines (that they forced the people of the undercity to work in) until silco cleaned the air and water. enforcers literally killed vi and jinx’s parents, lol

[@elviscocho440]

holding back? The reason this all is happening is because they never gave a flying f about zaun and mistreated them as shown is season one. If anything Zaunites are and have been the ones holding back lol did you even watch the same thing?

[@chrishw44]

Finally someone rememebered the back glowing thing

[@stancinatti8198]

You know the show is good when I don’t know whose side to be on and yea I hope they explain that back glow

[@17thknight]

This is what you asked for.... Fire in the sunrise Ashes in the rain Heavy is the crown

[@TheWyldKarde]

Funnily enough, I wasn't worried for Maddy. Introducing such a likeable character just to kill her off quickly is too cheap for this production crew. They already made us feel all the feels with Mama Kirriman's funeral. That's not to say Maddy's invulnerable, just that she's here to more than just die and make us feel bad that she died.

[@DavidGonzalez-zl3dz]

I'm down for our badass Irish rookie cop

[@Dilligff]

*cough* *cough* Skye *cough* *cough*

[@HazardForge]

Realizing Mel saved Jayce like a Support clutch save an ADC.

[@Makhiel]

I don't know what's going on but I'm pretty sure the Kirammans found a way to summon Orthax.

[@kevinwheeler7427]

In case you forgot that shit rocks.

[@burnt-croissants]

PEAK BEGINS

[@zacharybartolo5111]

Maddie was one of those characters that had such a red death flag over her that I'm now going to be nervous for her every time she's on screen. I hope she's a character in the game because that's the only way I'll know she'll be safe!

[@misteryman526]

I'm pretty sure that Mama Medarda is their enemy and has aided and abetted the undercity terrorists, but she sure is a badass.

[@D_Ella1269]

WTG w/the Fishbone reference Jay!!! 💜✊🏾

[@Wildlife_in_North_Africa]

The only characters in the game from the Squad are Vi and Cait

[@crimsonghoul8983]

I wouldn't mind an episode with just the Enforcer squad.

[@LiquidSan]

*SPOILER* Braum is the one with the shield, it looks like. The 'Random Vagrant'.

[@Wildlife_in_North_Africa]

@@LiquidSan he looks nothing like Braum

[@LiquidSan]

@Wildlife_in_North_Africa apparently the characters name is Loris, but I'm open to anything at this point with Lore.

[@Heavensrun]

The thing Jayce was working on was the weapons for Cait and her squad.

[@Uhhnyhny]

Singed was out there stealing the jungle

[@bubbageisha2578]

This show is true ART!

[@SVPSkins]

1:05 killed me lmaoo!!! XD

[@mynameisbob333]

Yay been waiting for this

[@EternalDensity]

Yeah this ep went way harder than I anticipated

[@orioninfernal7269]

"I understand they took care of the problem but I don't trust 'em dude." "Yeah." That's Noxus for ya

[@No1fan15]

HERE WE GO!!!

[@celestinebuendia]

Still struggling to understand these guy’s IRL media bias, because I see the insane microexpression animation in Arcane and think “That looks incredible, there’s no way to replicate this detailed animation so succinctly through a human actor.” and they think, “This animation is so expressive, it has to be mocapped.” 😭

[@anoven7008]

Surprisingly only vi and cait from the enforcer troupe are in the game lolll

[@aleckelly755]

Never clicked so fast. Hell yeah!

[@mx9226]

Welcome back to the playground!

[@ArcherWillows]

drunkbro is either gonna be the MVP this season or the villain

[@boubafett]

Jay doesn't know how spot on his Lord Zedd comment is

[@z34567890123456]

If Maddie dies I’m gonna cry. She’s so sweet and I love her.

[@Tallenn]

Maddie is definitely going to die by the end, and I am definitely going to ugly cry.

[@elviscocho440]

youre not going to love her as much as you do in future episodes

[@burnt-croissants]

there’s no mocap involved in the animation, all hand drawn and the animators film themselves acting out the scene for the 3d models but no mocap

[@donovanmartin7946]

CINEMA

[@penguin_yay1]

Absolutely zero motion capture in Arcane

[@joffarex]

It is 5v5. And no character other than Vi and Cait from that scene are characters in the game (so far)

[@RailMango]

PEAK MAN ITS JUST SO PEAK

[@z34567890123456]

For anyone maybe concerned about “Plot armor” know that Riot has killed a champion canonically before and disabled them in game for a while. It is entirely possible we see a significant character death by the end of the season, even if they are a playable champion in the game.

[@Persephone_Personified]

I wish that was Silco... ...but it’s Mr doctor guy.

[@charlie53echo]

Singed. Silco's mad scientist who created Shimmer.

[@Atrop1ne]

I always forget if either of you know the game lore or not

[@arjaegonz]

Let's go! 🔥🔥

[@jed70]

Aww crap - now I need to mod my cpap.

[@Zminator2007]

Yeah, Singed at the end...

[@r2bot]

yooo im 50 secs in after upload

[@donovanmartin7946]

ALREADY GREATEST Show

[@BernardManansala]

NO MOCAP All grinding in front of the computer.

[@KubtasticMe]

Yes!!!

[@kocibear1533]

adam where is the beard

[@Hunter-863]

Is it maybe possible for you guys to watch "Helluva Boss" since it takes place in the same Hell as the Hazbin Hotel. P.S pls and thank you and keep up with the great work

[@michellejackson8259]

Hey, can yall react to Tyler Perry films, please?

[@ZJMiller488]

YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS

[@anoven7008]

Hey man, those 3 years were not wasted. Animation is costly

[@Shugoshin9720]

What you don’t trust the third party militant group that clearly stated in season 1 their interest in hextech weapons to fight a entirely different war it caused, meanwhile sewing chaos in a civil war to destabilize a government in order to extract resources for their own personal gain? Wonder why😂

[@blackshard641]

12:57 Vi is worthy

[@darthvexus2443]

I have a theory that the big drunk guy might be Braum. A huge wanderer whose signature weapon is a shield. I’m waiting for him to go shirtless to see his markings to confirm. That and a haircut

[@mocha2717]

Watch *THE WILD ROBOT*

[@kanra9692]

There is no Mo-Cap in season 1, There is no Mo-Cap in season 2. There is no Mo-Cap in the music videos they made.

[@JeremiahNotABullfrog]

15:18 no, just Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, and Jayce

[@rygornspectre7142]

15:20 They are not characters in the game. They didn't even exist until this episode.

[@csk7769]

Some very baffling comments None of what happened justifies a full-scale invasion from a larger, more populous, and exploitatively rich nation that is guaranteed to target innocents Maddie was so clearly spouting indoctrinated copaganda, she's endearing in a tragic way if at all Similarly the ending is pessimistic as hell in both content, with Vi and Jayce forced to abandon all their morals and principles out of guilt and personal obligations, and presentation, with the heavy negative feel of the song

[@Ov1raptor-7464]

Bruh why you make so short all other reactors make it like 25-30mins

[@アキコ2003]

Yes it was.."the doctor guy" 🙄