Yep, Arcane Is Still Really Good And Really Pretty

[@JoeMWoodward]

The scene where jinx is bobbing in the alley and showing that ripped lady with the one arm how to work the new mechanical arm had more feeling in the animation than anything I've seen in years

[@olivarnogueira6231]

Her name is sevika :)

[@leanasa2915]

ikr, her motion so colorful i can't stop watching that bit of a scene

[@ghostlyerlkonig]

Im probably in the minority of "person who loves the LOL lore but does not play any of the game or mini games" and its so entertaining because I'll spend hours reading through lore but I've never dealt with the shitty side because im just reading lmao. Super SUPER excited for everything that is being brought in, especially wolfy and Viktor's evolution and how Jace will have to go with that without support from others.

[@julio1148]

I think theres more of us than you think 👀

[@ramy8207]

Right there with you. The lore is fun to learn, but I have no desire to play the game

[@CocoRoxas]

Exactly how I feel too!!

[@pasta1998]

I just hate that they want to make arcane canon😢

[@Pengguie]

Good to know my People exist. our King Necrit will be so proud.

[@loycos3648]

im a huge caitlyn girlie and i also feel like her dialog is stilted- but after watching it a few times, i realized it's been like this since season 1 (think of the way she spoke to ekko). which makes me think its 100% on purpose. the way she talks is like a person whos extremely educated, which she is, she articulates herself so poetically cause she has this cultural background. the point of her character is that she's hiding behind walls, and rarely lets herself be caught off guard. she doesnt cry, and the way she expresses emotions is so calculated and closed off. u see the mask slips just a tiny bit with vi at times, but then she immediately corrects herself. it's been like this in season 1 too, she just doesnt talk about her emotions in it at all, shes behind walls. it's hard to pick up on it in s1 cause she's such a sweet genuine person, but if pay close attention it's always been there. it's actually such a nuanced and uncommon way to show an emotionally reserved person, i'm super impressed with this portrayal. it's building up to something and im pretty sure the girl is gonna be completely broken down somewhere in act 3.

[@montybrewster7]

@loycos3648 I think you have it spot on. I think it's important to remember she's english too. We have a thing in this country we refer to as 'british reserve' which pertains to the fact we hide our emotions & have the stoic, 'stiff upper lip' which is another british phrase which similarly means just crack on & don’t let anything get on top of you. It's particularly something the upper class are famed for & caitlyn is very much from that type of family. She's reserved not cold & is very direct because that is a symptom of her posh upbringing. It's very much on point for the british upper class & perhaps isn't as obvious to non-brits but i think you describe it exactly right.

[@AtelaLafford]

in my opinion, the reason why vi becomes an enforcer IS for caitlyn. in the join up scene she looks wrong in her body, uncomfortable and rigid for obvious reasons. love makes you do crazy things, even betray your own ideals and become the thing you hate. in a lot of ways, vi is desperate for a touchstone, she's almost convinced herself she's lost powder, so she can't possibly turn against caitlyn when she needs her. rushing for time certainly didn't help this point come across any clearer, but i'm super focused in my sapphic girls, so who knows? maybe i'm just reading into it. thanks for the thoughts!

[@luisjauregui2197]

Yeah, Vi is against at heart, but seeing how bad the situation is she thinks it's best to go through it anyway. Especially since Caitlin is clearly is going through it, and right now she can't leave her alone

[@pasta1998]

Funny that in her lore she is a "brutal" cop per say

[@NoMustang273]

Don't forget that she's only stopped by the Enforcers at the memorial because she isn't in uniform. If she accepted Cait's offer earlier she might have been able to stop the attack. That entire event is what pushes her to accept Cait's offer.

[@captainziggy82]

⁠@@NoMustang273she also knows the their tactics better than anyone in the force at the moment, she knew the attack was just a show to make them see how vulnerable top side is (Ambessa’s doing) so she brings so much value…. It’s great man

[@FirstOfTheMagi]

Arcane sets the standard for me for anything animated. Any frame could be a wallpaper.

[@FirstOfTheMagi]

Also love the way they use little music videos for storytelling

[@adrianli7559]

I gotta disagree on this - if we made Arcane the standard for what animation should look like, we'd be disappointed with everything, and there are some incredible shows out there.

[@SoySauce9]

@@adrianli7559 yeah not everyone can recreate the magic that is Arcane The writing, passion and BUDGET

[@N23214dds]

"league has terrible community" every single LoL player: we agree

[@Alacaelum]

A community united on the fact that we know we suck... such a beautiful thing.

[@novachromatic]

Caitlyn's dialogue may feel stinted to you, but remember she also's immensely grieving her mother.

[@captainziggy82]

Her dialogue is perfectly fine to me lol bro is tripping

[@Alacaelum]

Yeah, i think that if Cait was articulated the way she during the first season would take away from the situation. She lost her mother, the killer is the sister of the woman she is starting to love, and a lot of other things... this dialogue is what the character should be.

[@gg_sam7847]

Eh I don't really think grief makes you talk stiff and stilted, I feel like you might just be on auto defense for one of your favourite characters. Which is fine I do it all the time to, it's just hand waving away the slightest critique with an excuse that may or may not be pointed towards by the narrative itself is relying a bit too much on blinding yourself with headcanon for my tastes

[@torri776]

Caitlyn's dialogue being stilted makes perfect sense in the context of the story. Her whole arc is driven by revenge and pure spite for an understandable cause, so she can't even talk normally to Vi. Hitting Vi with her rifle spoke more than everything Caitlyn said up to that point.

[@shamanahaboolist]

Vi's decision to become and enforcer had loads of motivation. Cait's pressure, the fact that Vi couldn't stop the attack because she didn't have authority and access at the memorial and then a Junior officer coming up to her and explaining the way Cait was representing her to the enforcers and how Maddie and all her co-workers respected her and felt she was a better officer than most.

[@thunderheadcinema6743]

And even with all that, she still can hardly bear to wear the badge. Caitlyn physically abusing her 20 minutes after becoming a couple reminded her that there's no such thing as good cops.

[@TaylorReedHudson]

I’m honestly so glad I first went into this show knowing nothing about League of Legends. Because let me tell you, watching that first season not knowing Powder was gonna go crazy was the coolest twist ever.

[@DwarfInTheFlask99-mr8rm]

I'm really excited about where they seem to be taking Jinx's character. She's going from psycho more to just plain badass.

[@AnotherCrazyClown]

One thing that i admire from this show is handling so many characters, factions while expanding the horizon of how much these events are going to influence the decisions of the characters, awesome stuff

[@JoeMWoodward]

I'm just gonna say before I watch that I thought, so far, this might even be better than the first season. I feel like that's something that doesn't happen as often anymore, and I love it. I have never played a LoL game, and that has not hindered my ability to enjoy the show at all, so I really think they're nailing this.

[@mechamochi9627]

Say what you want about riot, but they care about league. The game is updated CONSTANTLY. It’s even hard to keep up with the massive amounts of buffs/nerfs each patch. For having over 150 champions league is also surprising balanced. Every champion can be played with success, if the player is good enough. Not only that but it was recently revealed that league is getting a new engine. I know hating on league is fun, but people really be forgetting that there’s a reason it’s been thriving for over 10 years now. And also, just because arcane is doing good doesn’t mean riot will care less about the game, in fact it’s means the opposite. Because of arcane we get the bridge of progress aram map, a rework for viktor, and tons of new skins.

[@MegaShinobi2011]

I was iffy during the first episode, but the 2nd and especially the 3rd truly blew me away. I don't know league, but Victor's archetype is sooooo freaking cool compared to how he was first season. He's easily my favorite character to think about

[@alpal4245]

Yep, i love the jesus viktor arc

[@chrishaven1489]

Vi joins the enforcers to help Caitlyn. She explicitly told Caitlyn that they should call off the invasion. If the Zaunites can cause this much mess topside, imagine what they would be able to do in the undercity. Vi talks down the invasion in favour of a small strike force. Not only does Vi want to help Caitlyn get justice for her mother, something Vi feels guilty for because it's her sister that did it, but she's also there to mitigate the Piltovan heavy-handed response. Also, I don't have that much issue with Caitlyn's dialogue, but to each their own

[@evaiscoolest]

I am generally a gamer but I've never touched League or know anything about it, I just started watching Arcane because it was gaming related and I thought it would be cool, I didn't think I would actually resonate with the characters and be very deeply emotionally touched by it.

[@reno9821]

Hope you do these videos for future acts too. It's so incredibly rare to find this combination of someone who is both highly passionate about writing *and* has at least a basic understanding of league of legends and some of the characters therein. I love the lore and despite being very worried about some potential changes the show might do (mainly regarding Singed) this show feels like such a miracle, not only to finally get to see the lore I see so much potential in go somewhere, but to also expose it to so many more people and show how good it can be. Most people I can find either love the show but know nothing about league or are fans of the original lore to the point they hate the show for changes it applies.

[@HereBeDragonsYT]

Honestly, I don't know anything about LoL, but this show is probably the best thing I've seen in 10+ years. Every department turned in an A+. Animation, sound design, writing, voice acting, compositing, music, character design... everyone.

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

I myself am a sucker for visual, audio, and rhythmic spectacle. The scene with the chest thumping was definitely a fun watch for me.

[@reno9821]

Interesting. This is the first time I see a gripe I have semi-reflected by someone else about the show. To me, I did not feel the issue was necessarily with Caitlyn's lines as much as it was with the VI and Cait relationship-focused lines. Basically the scenes from season 1 where they break up in the rainfall with the oil and water speech, then their first talk where Cait tries to recruit Vi for the enforcers and then later ones in episode 3. I think to me it's because it feels like I'm more so hearing the writers' bullet list of things they need to convey rather than hearing the characters say it. I think i'd place the blame on a side effect of the hyper-efficient writing style the story has. Whenever their relationship is not the focus of the dialogue, I find Cait to be pretty great. I'd even say despite it all she is my favourite of this first act in season 2.

[@blorbdestroyer]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed some of the stilted dialogue. After watching your video, I came to realise most of that dialogue came from Caitlyn. I think her dialogue *technically* works. One of the writers mentioned before that dialogue is put through a filter of beliefs, and Caitlyn had been a prime example. Caitlyn's dialogue is filtered through grief, veiled hatred, feigned composure and a delusion of justice. It makes sense that her dialogue feels a bit ham fisted and clinical. I think what is missing is a single moment where that filter slips, and it should've been with Vi in a moment of vulnerability; Their kiss scene would have been perfect moment to bring back some humanity and passion to Caitlyn. The current version of that scene is subtle foreshadowing for the end of the episode, but a scene where we glimpsed some of the old or hurting Caitlyn would've made the gut punch (no pun intended) near the end hit so much harder

[@blorbdestroyer]

In the end, my critique boils down to "they could've changed one line since they already had enough foreshadowing" and that's honestly nothing major. Great shows just make weaker elements stand out more, and make you wish the show you love could be perfect

[@AnotherCrazyClown]

It's so good that i fear the ending will be bad lmao

[@riceontopstew]

what's funny is that no matter how bad the game is, the show truly rewards us players 😂

[@TheMattyNation]

A note on the diversity, it obviously knocks this out of the park and it’s for a very simple reason. No matter the race, gender, creed, disability, all of the characters are competent. None are brought down, none are portrayed as dumb (make mistakes, sure but never dumb).

[@torri776]

One of the funniest yet harshest realities is that Riot Games markets League as "the most played video game in the entire world." That is true when you go by the numbers. South Korea and China's League players number in the Millions, the latter hundreds of Millions and with 27 servers dedicated to specific regions. However, the second I ask a single person without slant eyes and yellowish skin, what is League, they have no clue, because League has such a toxic reputation in the United States, the country of League's ORIGIN, that people just don't recommend it. It appeared in ads in 2016 which is ironically how I got to know it (been playing since 2017), but these ads have since disappeared from the average person's feed. Not to mention most League quitters are from America, in addition to the fact League does not appeal to the American palate. RPGs and RTS games used to be popular but have since fallen out of favor in the US. FPS and Open World Simulations are the most popular. This is why Call of Duty 6 is getting so much attention while Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition only retains its core audience and barely anyone knows what it is.

[@EmrysMerlin8807]

Ahh so this is what became of our "League of Legends is the worst thing about League of Legends" conversation. I was wondering! Lol. Glad to see you're enjoying Arcane season 2 bud.

[@monostar7]

Arcane is a feast for the eyes unlike anything the world has ever seen so you'd think the game is gorgeous as well and similar in aesthetics but the League of Legends just looks.....like that.

[@AnotherCrazyClown]

Either the diversity part is done well enough or the story is so good that people ignore, also i think the relationship between vi and cait could have been avoided cuz it feels more like vi replacing her own sister with another or just founding a sister in battle since both have that assertive personality to get involved in situations, cait is the brains and vi is the muscles kind of thing but sure, the plot keeps getting even greater so i allowed myself to ignore it

[@Keyatzin]

I wish there were more episodes! I hate the streaming standard, low episode count that they have to structure stories around instead of the story deciding the episode structure. We could have gotten at least 1 episode with Vi and Caitlyn's team before they broke up. And then to have Vi and Cait's 1st kiss 12 minutes before they break up seemed a bit rushed . .

[@DoggoCatto-xz2jg]

“Season 2 of arcane, I just finished it” 3/9 = finished?

[@carlocastillo6437]

i think he meant act 1

[@spacejasontodd]

Some YT personalities were allowed to watch the entire season early, they can make a video on their experiences but not include any spoilers. Either that or he badly misspoke.

[@pasta1998]

​@@spacejasontoddwho i haven't seen anyone say that

[@FrostFall0261]

Finished what’s come out so far

[@chrishaven1489]

You know what he meant, don't be silly

[@Serena-m9p]

Another thing about representation: they are not afraid to make characters who are not white and cishet complex. How many times we've seen creators adding characters only to make them as bland and boring, oh, I mean, as unoffensive as possible. But Arcane? Oh no, everyone is flawed, including their more diverse cast. Loving it.

[@clumsyninja925]

*inoffensive.

[@Hi-fm1xg]

I like it so far but Victor eehh....it was a bit like bye Jayce, the plot demands I go now.

[@GiulianaBruna]

It was slightly frustrating. I interpreted as Viktor not fully controlling his actions anymore, lacking any grab on reality. And in the next scenes he is really erratic, so I blame the corrupt messiah delirium for that conversation.

[@laioren]

Arcane is the most well written show since the Expanse.

[@ehkoin]

All of episode 1 for me just felt off. Something about the directing and/or editing just ruined the pacing for me. Episodes 2 and 3 did not have this problem. Idk what happened.

[@leonardopaz1137]

Was this the final season?

[@titoleon3101]

Maybe its because I dont know anything about LoL but Ive felt these first episodes kinda unfocused and rushed due to the new elements and characters they just introduced becoming all-important in minutes like they were always there. Also, Im getting tired of the musical montages.

[@mattsterling2970]

I love how the people who sink the most hours/money into league hate it the most. 😂😂😂 Gimme that toxic league fun lmao.

[@VertexCarver]

It's a stunning show. Only critique I have is that act 1felt lopsided towards Caitlyn & Vi? I hope it's not a spoiler but I think Caitlyn was set up as a real psyko with what she unleashed... ( I mean grief is no excuse & there is no forgiveness or going back as more innocent people suffer & die horribly ) Jayce, Ekko & Heimerdinger did fuck all tbh... Wished for some more screen time of my boi Victor & singed. Got like 5 minutes & singed got even less. Latter one had really solid set up so it may not need more than that.

[@IchiroAnimeEdits]

The sunk cost fallacy on League players. I keep leaving it and coming back ugh

[@joelando9485]

I though noxian lady was predictable

[@mudshrooze]

I do not know when KZbin unsubbed me from you but that pisses me off. I followed your channel f or years only to not see updates from you for the last year and a half. Come to find out I'm I'm unsubbed. Fk youtube algorithm and its constant screwing with channels. I'm so sorry man I'm glad I found ya again

[@marcarribaslopez8910]

I see the 1312 time loool

[@eduardoserpa1682]

It's one of my few nitpicks, but most of the songs have broken my immersion so hard, mostly from pure cringe. Specially at the start of the first episode, when it feels like they decided to follow Imagine Dragons with an immediate Evanescence AMV to summarize the events after Season 1. The others are marginally better, but they're all so on-the-nose and specific that I'd rather have the Joker 2 approach and make them all diegetic instead of this weird middle-ground. I love almost everything else.

[@MutantThallid]

Glad I’m not the only one. I love the show but they are really laying it on heavy with the music numbers in every episode

[@mackielunkey2205]

I don’t mind the music itself, but I do agree that the music is constantly used for montages in the beginning. Who knows, though it might get better in the later acts. But yeah, I agree with everything else, it’s been great so far.

[@kabubagachugu7729]

Its subjective thing i guess. IMO, i love the music, if anything it adds onto my immersion experience. Like in the Jinx-Vi fight. They're laying it on heavy, yes, but to me it adds to rather than subtracts from the experience.

[@artemiss4432]

At the same time, they can't waste 10-15 min showing how the chem barons are at war or Cait's team using the Grey in their ops all over Zaun each episode. It's way more entertaining to condense those events into music videos and interesting visuals than just telling it happened.

[@warcheddar4163]

personally ive been loving the music of the show so far, the only thing i was a bit hesitant about is that part of the chembarons one with them all sitting at the table, but while i still dont think its perfect after rewatching it a couple times i think it does a pretty decent job of what it needs to.

[@guicaldo7164]

That thumbnail spoiled Jayce's survival for me. I know it's a given he was probably gonna survive, but the trailers hid it for a reason. Please be more careful next time!

[@michaeleggimann106]

Just finished it? Or just finished act 1?

[@GhostEmblem]

bro youtube unsubbed me.

[@veila0924]

I thought that too until I realized this is a 2nd channel. I was subbed to Savage Books but not Savage Speaks.

[@sarab89hj]

He said he has finished it - can someone let me know if he means act 1 ? I dont want any vibe spoilers for the future even if its *spolier free*

[@pasta1998]

I doubt a 13k KZbinr got early access to the full season or that if he is from the community as he claims he would risk talking about spoilers for this show

[@GiulianaBruna]

2:35 I think he mentions he watched just those three episodes

[@germainthompson3244]

I prefer legends of runeterra

[@dwwdaddadwad9859]

dude you should get some sleep you look tired

[@kardrasa]

Nah Arcane s2 is way less well written and constructed than season 1. The impeccable writing of season 1 is gone it's just silly to compare the writing between the two seasons. S2 is just slop without the brilliant mind of whoever was carrying the writing of s1.

[@andrijabulicic2207]

Disagree

[@rincaimo812]

Bruh. 3 episodes are out. 3. Think you may be jumping the gun.

[@kardrasa]

@@rincaimo812 2 hours, 1/3 of the season. Time to call a spade a spade. It's still enjoyable to watch, somewhat, but the writing is just nowhere near the same level as s1.

[@rincaimo812]

@kardrasa what are your issues with the current episodes writing? I will say, I have SOME issues with the pacing so far but nothing that can't be undone when looking at the whole thing when it's out.

[@kardrasa]

@@rincaimo812 Everything is just a lot more shallow. The most obvious example of this is Heimerdinger. In season 1 he was a fully fleshed out character with depth, history and wisdom. In season 2 he has been reduced to a comic relief character, a caricature. Sure he is not on screen for a long time, but what they did show of him completely muredered the character form season 1. But yeah everything just lacks the same level of sophistication and care season 1 had.

[@sisyphean0]

Looking forward to the Arcane content lets gooooooo!