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Great video 👏👏👏 I felt the same way.

I am addicted to it too

I only watched 3 episodes for now, but I lost interest for the show already. To me it's just a mess of pretty pictures and random ideas, underbuit connections and fights with random characters to show designs? I guess

I think the biggest flaw of this show is, it is essentially a show that has the primary goal to promote a video game with so much complex lore and world building. I imagine it can be a bit overwhelming for writers and producers to keep that in mind, and still commit to giving integrity to the grounded and down to earth story telling they did in S1. I think it can be possible to work around that, but with factors like budget, keeping up with the game fans and advertising the game's franchise, I'm not surprised this would happen. It's still impressive how it still turned out to be an incredible show to watch, though.

I'd say aomine mcgrady

I think one thing that may be hard to accept because season 1 was so good, is that the villain of season 2 doesn't need to fill Silco's shoes, because jinx already did (that is why when Vi is trying to get Jinx to fight again in the prison scene of episode 8, she says "If you come, help, use all that explosive potential of yours for good, maybe we could rewrite your story, LIKE YOU DID WITH ZAUN."). If you see in the montage of episode 4, the entirety of Zaun is looking up to Jinx, because of what happened in episode 3 (removed most of The Grey from Zaun and put it into Piltover). That is why the first time we see sunlight in Zaun is at Vander's statue in episode 4 , during Sevika's rally. Also, because of the finale in season 1, all of the bad things that happened get pinned on Jinx, and we see this in season 2, episodes 2, 3, and 4 (mainly the intro to 2). So instead of using Piltover and Zaun as characters like in season one, the writers use Jinx as a view of Zaun, and Caitlyn as a view of Piltover (Jinx and Caitlyn are opposites and parallels of each other, just like Piltover and Zaun). The only problem with this tactic in writing, is that some people want more of the Piltover-Zaun drama, (which I agree with), but that isn't the focus of season 2. The way season 2 was written is with the first and second episodes of acts 1 and 2 are about Jinx, and Vi respectively, and then in the final episode for all 3 acts are them fighting with or against each other (Episode 7 of both seasons is about Ekko, and episode 8 of both seasons is about Mel). I hope this comment helps make the fast pace of season 2 make a bit more sense, as I do think it is better than season 1. season 1 is a 10/10 for me, and season 2 is a 10/10.1 for me.

@AniEssays I wouln't call Ambessa and Viktor generic villains. Ambessa's whole goal in Piltover/Zaun is to get Hextech weaponry and to stop at nothing to get it. Viktors whole goal in Act 1 and 2 is to help others that are suffering (his same goal during season 1). It was only after Jayce blew him up that he "realized" that if there are those who fight against him, his idea of peace will never work, so he becomes god to control everyone. It may be hard to tell that Viktor is not trying to turn everyone into mindless drones in act 2, but in the scene when Singed meets Viktor in episode 6, we see that Viktor is not willing to sacrifice Vander/Warwick's humanity. "No. Evolution has a destination. Not to combat nature, but to supersede it. The final, glorious evolution. But he isn't a specimen. He's a man. And he needs my help. I will not sacrifice his humanity for your cause. You may leave." This 'Glorious Evolution' was a way for people not to fear death, as they can be healed, and live without pain. It was only after Jayce blew Viktor up when he realized what he originally planned had failed, and he would need to take it a step further. "I understand now. The message hidden within the pattern. The reason for our failures in the commune. The doctor was right. It's inescapable. Humanity. Our very essence. Our emotions... Rage. Compassion. Hate. Two sides of the same coin. Inextricably bound." This monologue shows us Viktor's thought process, and how he realizes that humans are imperfect, and he needs to fix them of that, and that is why when Ambessa asks him if he will evolve all of her soldiers, he responds with "I will evolve all those willing." This form of response doesn't directly answer Ambessa's question, but he also doesn't say no. In the final scene with Jayce and Viktor, Viktor explains what he thinks the world needs, and how he is planning to stop all conflict (conflict is the most important part of human nature because without it, we don't have opinions, and we will essentially have a hivemind; we will have no individuality), but Jayce responds with: "You've always wanted to cure what you thought were weaknesses. Your leg. Your disease. But you were never broken, Viktor. There is beauty in imperfections. They made you who you are." It was only after Jayce shows Viktor he was wrong (Jayce shows Viktor the future timeline), that Viktor curl up in pain (season 2, episode 9, at 36:45), as he thinks back to his original goal of helping people, and that he took it too far. This is why Viktor is my favorite character; no one in Arcane is necessarily a villain (besides Maddy, Ambessa, kinda Singed, and the Black Rose), they all want to help others. Silco wanted an independent nation, and his violent way of doing that is like a revolution (from the perspective of the US, gaining independence from Britain was not a villainous action. The US felt oppressed and wanted to be free). That is what Silco is fighting for -- a nation that isn't oppressed by a higher force, and his crimes against that higher force is his way of revolution. Vander stepped away from that path because he wasn't willing to lose the ones he loved (again). I say Singed in kinda a villain because he commited a couple war crimes and was the main reason Silco got into power -- he created shimmer -- and he also was the one of the main reasons that most of the criminals (and innocent people) escaped from Still Water in season 2 episode 4. But Singed had a goal in mind, which was to revive/save his daughter, so all of those crimes are just forgiven because it was for his daugher. Everyone in Arcane has done something bad, and something good (I could list them all but that would be a lot), except Ekko, and Sevika. Both Ekko and Sevika have always fought against the oppression of Piltover, but in different ways, but both have never done anything bad in both seasons.

is season 2, act 1 episode 3 a joke to you

What an excellent analysis dude. Personally & think a surprise 10th hour long finale would have allowed all of the pacing problems i had with character development to be resolved. Instead the whole black rose thing, as intriguing as it was seemed like nothing but a set up for what comes next & took up so much time that would have been better spent on other story threads. And i will not be convinced, no matter how insistent christian linke & alex yee are that all these plot lines were intended to be crammed into 9 episodes as it was. They & the other writers & creators demonstrated how meticulously well thought out every aspect of the story was intended to be explored in season 1. So to expect us to believe it was always their intention to have for example caitlyn flip flop from a compassionate peacemaker, to ruthless dictator & back again with so little exposition is nuts. I totally agree with you, arcane was on the cusp of being for me the greatest piece of media i had ever seen. And don’t get me wrong, i still loved the heck out of season 2. But as the finale ended i found myself with the words that brought the curtain down on season one running through my head.....what could have been! Thanks for a great vid dude.

You think Nagi’s parents are confused asf seeing Nagi do something especially something athletic?

thank God. I thought i was the only one. Like, i was super hyped for season 2 because it was marketed as a civil war between Piltover and Zaun, and when i watched the third episode, i was at the edge of my seat by Jinx vs Vi's fight at the sound of "To Ashes And Blood", and when the episode ended with Caitlyn becoming commander, i thought to myself "there's no turning back now, it's war". My expectations were still high when Act 2 came out, we saw Warwick and Jinx becoming the symbol of resistence. I loved episode 7 and Ekko experiencing how things could have been. The problem began at episode 8, when Jayce easily convinced everyone of Piltover and Zaun that there was going to be an attack by the noxians and the herald of the arcane, using as evidence a destroyed robot at the counsoul room. Like, what? And the final episode is a battle between the Enforcers and Noxus at Piltover. Like, i came here to see the civil war between Piltover and Zaun, but what we got was a final battle used to end a story arc that no one was interested. And it was so rushed. Like, in the final episode i was completely lost. I had no idea why the noxians were invading Piltover in the first place.

Although season 2 has some issues and forgets about some stuff from season 1, i still think Arcane is the Greatest show of all time

Love ur take But I think you miss there is more irony there As he lost the most meaningful person and his only real friend in geto His very flawed need to have someone on his level someone who understands and sees him As geto says the one thing that could hurt saturo the most Basically all you are and all anyone can see is your strength Do u even know if you're anything but that??? This tells Gojo the one person that could see him only sees his strength like everyone else We learn later this didn't change how Gojo felt as he was always his one true friend But A lot of raising up strong allies is his need for family and friends ❤ It's not just this altruistic goal to protect

I feel the series didn't meet the expectations I had for it.

I think you nailed it with the idea that Silco felt 'connected' to the core conflicts of the story. Thing is, the writers were 'surprised' by the popularity of Silco, and didn't seem to understand what about him resonated with so many viewers in the first place. I fear he might have been something of a happy accident in s1, since the writers were unable to recreate the same effect with any villains in s2. Caitlyn could have filled those shoes, but the show never lets her go full tilt villain. Treating her jagged edges with kid gloves instead, maybe for the ship, or fan-service? I don't know. I love Ambessa, but she would have been a stronger villain for a spin-off. Viktor has tons of potential as a villain, but his s2 arc is sooo rushed. I was confused half the time about why he was doing what he was doing or how his motivations were changing or why? It is all under cooked.

Yamahuchi

For real, I feel like they forgot Piltover and Zaun was supposed to be the main conflict of season 2 but they put in so many plot lines and they just rushed everything and they just made decisions that were just constantly hurting the show. It's like they didn't even want to do season 2 or put any effort to it. I was really confident in their work with act one but after act three watchiny just made me realize that the show was just off the wheels and I can't forgive the decisions they made and I really can't look the show the same way after season 2.

My disappointments with season 2 reminded me of an important fact to consider: Arcane is a glorified League of Legends advertisement. The primary goal wasn't telling a great story, it was being cool enough to draw people towards the game. And that's a damn shame.

Season one was great but after episode 3 the zaun and piltover storyine takes a huge backseat for the silbling relationship and jayce storyline. In season one we dont even learn in what ways piltover opressee zaun. Vi's character goes from hating piltover to wanting to have sex with caitlyn within less than 20 minute.

I disagree that Ambessa and Viktor are generic villains. Yes, Ambessa is hungry for power and willing to do anything to get it, but she does this because she wanted to protect her family from the Black Rose, and she genuinely cares for her Mel. Viktor wants to toke over everybody’s mind, but that’s because he thinks that’s the only way for the world to be perfect, is if there was no conflict or emotion. He has good intentions but his plan to get there is flawed. Both characters are complex and therefore have nuance. I agree that Silco is a much better villain, but it’s not like Ambessa and Viktor are bad to be bad.

I think that season 2’s plot points were generally perfect, but that there wasn’t enough time to flesh them all out.

I still think it is the greatest show of all time, despite some of season 2’s flaws.

1 Ushijima 2 Bokuto 3 Sakusa 4 Kiryu 5 Aran

I understood this the moment I've saw the first episode and the mourning of Cassandra Kiramann is just a song with a shitty animation background. The introduction of new characters like Steb and others is extremely forced and that flags them out, to anyone who has a little bit of culture, as "fodder characters" Furthermore, the extensive usage of tragedy makes the constructed drama dull and predictable. When I saw the "Jesus Viktor" I immediately knew "He's going to end up dying in a cross" and he in fact did it, except it wasn't a cross but his levitating machine thing. And he then comes back as a God. So predictable. Arcane seems to be faltered as series. It seems there was different people pulling the story elsewhere during writing, so the losing side had to compromise. This is most obvious on the character deaths. Viktor and Jayce are pulled out of existence, but the people connected to the chaos storm are not. Heimerdinger has the same fate, he is just written off.(and in his particular case it is implied that he knew Ekko would be in that timeline at some point, and he was the one who finished building the same device he forgot to plug the power in?). And Ambessa has the most ridiculous ending ever, she just perishes out of nowhere. Go back and look at Vander, Benzo or Sky's deaths in Season 1. And how meaningful they were to the plot. Season 2 was the classical "We were not prepared to this kind of success" and instead of showing valor, they've dropped the ball

1 Oikawa 2 Bokuto 3 Nishinoya 4 Kenma 5 Tsukishima

I love Ambessa as a character too much to say I'd want her less involved in the plot lol, but i agree that I wish she eother remained more as a secondary antagonist or if she found a way to be more personally involved in the conflict between the two cities.

I think if they focused on bringing Zaun and Piltover together for season2, then went into ambessa and Noxus and how they had to beat her in a season3, a lot of the plot points would have hit harder.

I've really struggled fitting Victor into the overall story of a civil war and i have a theory. Victors cult only makes sence in the overall story if piltover and zaun as a poorly executed cult of religious extremism? I don't know though because it really does just seem like he went crazy with magic? 3 more seasons and a foreign power manipulating the situation and terroristic zellots ariseung in the wake of the power vacuum left by Silco? That story would make sense.

They really needed a 4th act, the fact they didnt flesh out more, made it feel to me that covid and business decisions forced a disconnected story to be released. Personally Id like to see more normal warwick running the streets hunting criminals with an intro scene to Vander being dragged from the wreckage of s1. Caitlyn needed a scene of being forced to see Grayson's memorial and reconciling her behavior with Graysons moral teaching Blisters and Bedrock could have been teased in season 1 when Vander and Silco speak or when Silco pours his drink out. The fact it didnt, felt like many ideas were introduced without s1 in mind

To be honest, i had mixed feelings about season two as well, after my first watch. And while it's can't be the premise of any show, it got so much better on my second watch. I prefer season two over season one now. I honestly think that quite a few people just didn't get what they expected with season two and that's where the struggle to like it stems from. Not to say that it hasn't any flaws (or at least subjective faults and misses), but i don't feel like it completely forgets to tell any one story to its end. Yes, they might have needed a bit more time for certain things to stick the landing, but i don't feel like they forgot something.

I think Arcane season 2 would've benefitted with 12 episodes, whether it be 4 episodes per act or 4 acts. These three extra episodes could theoretically help with filling in events that weren't shown to us or are needed to be shown, such as the events in between the first two acts (Paint the town blue montage is barely enough and Caitlyn suddenly got pushed aside after getting so much focus in act 1), Mel and whatever she has (Her final scenes in act 3 with the other characters left so many questions, with her final talk with both Jayce and Ambessa confuses me a lot), and more focus with Vi (Vi is in need of whatever Mel's arc is with being controlled by others and taking control once again, and her being stuck in the past needs to be shown more beforehand since she does seem open to move on and forgive and forget both Jinx and Caitlyn until the moment she just breaks after seeing vander die for the third time, and her agency being taken away by Jinx twice in the final act is tragic yet not satisfying, she got thrown to prison to be forcefully with Caitlyn and then got saved by a sacrifice from Jinx to force her to be free from the past)

I love the video but your voice is hard to understand

Sometimes i feel like there is an outside party interfering with haikyuu animated series, cause if the series ever done properly it would top everything and leaves the rest in the dust.

the change isnt inorganic. its just faster than in the real world wich is ok because the core messages still get out there

I do agree with all of your points. And I do think every issue in season 2 could had been resolved with more time. But imo Arcane is still the greatest show I've watched and I look forward to whatever the writers bring us next.

Bro is an OG like me 😭

I hope they do justice to the school banner panel in the animated series, or film.

Arcane definitely doesn’t have the best TV show plot of all time, but you are talking out your ass if you think any show can beat its visuals. literally name one because I would love to go watch it😂

Astumus serves would destroy Shiratorizawa because they aren’t good at recieving jump floaters or really good spike serves but at the same time. Ushijima would get 1 or 2 aces every 2nd time he serves

I agree with the main point of this essay but disagree with some of the analysis. I think a lot of what was done this season could have been done well but the ideas were ultimately failed by the writers. Ambessa was actually set up as a great villain but the writers failed her. She was someone interested in Piltover not because of any personal attachment to the city but because of the technology it offered. While her transition to Zaun at the end of S2 makes physical sense, it does not make thematic sense. Before, she seemed a character that thrived off of the class conflict, showing the external interests that just won't let the oppression end. Furthermore, I think Vander being Warwick could have worked. Those into League lore already suspected that he was Warwick, but the way he was used in this season was just as a means to get Vi and Jinx back together. If Warwick was more developed, it would have been great (thematically) to see Piltover ignoring the threat of Warwick rampaging the undercity. We could have even kept the arc where Singed seeks to exploit Warwick, disregarding the individuality of the person inside. Finally, episode 7 could have also worked. Ekko and Heimerdinger's side of the story shows an optimistic view of Zaun and Piltover, which can give them hope of a better world. Meanwhile, Jayce sees a ruined Piltover presumably from Viktor (but as a viewer I didn't think episode 7 gave conclusive evidence that it was Viktor's fault). I would have loved to see a version of Arcane where Jayce's anxiety around the vision ended up leading to a terrible decision for the undercity while the lessons Ekko learns allow him to expand his part of the undercity (maybe by taking in refugees or something) offering hope for a better future. And the funny thing is these changes would have been more in line with League's previous lore.

I'm sorry but the return of vander was always hinted in season 1. Many fans of league of legends knew that vander is actually Warwick.in all honesty i think they didn't fumbled that much.i still love arcane both season 1 and 2.maybe it's just my taste but the only problem it had was time.i can't see any other problem with it. for me the characters were still enjoyable and the story and emotions was strong.

Fantastic essay! 😊 This pretty much sums up my disappointments with season 2. The Piltover/Zaun conflict was crucial to season 1 and it's unsatisfactory to see it swept aside. Of course, it's a difficult conflict to resolve, especially with how dire the situation was, but I feel like there was a more nuanced way to do it other than 'let's team up to stop the 3rd impact'. 😅 How do we right the wrongs of a systemically unequal society? There's still plenty to be explored on that note.

Why is it that every critical review of Arcane oversimplifies the plot to make false points? Instead of going in detail on the elements the story was missing and reaching a conclusion as to its problems (and there are quite a few in this season) we see some smug essayist shadow boxing a strawman of it. No in depth analysis, no focus, objectively wrong conclusions and parroting of vague points that are going around since November with barely any thought behind them. You said nothing of value buddy.

I agree with mostly everything you said. Despite my absolute love for the show, season 2 is objectively worse than season 1, but a lot of online discourse I've seen around season 2 and especially for the people who did not like it is WAY to harsh. As someone who was in some ways disappointed with this season, I cannot tell how appreciated it is to see someone critiquing season 2 in a respectful, clam, and well-thought-out manner. Their are way too many videos calling season 2 'complete garbage' and then nitpicking every little thing they think is wrong with the show. I like how you focus on the themes and setting built in season 1 and how it all ties into season 2 and the overall narrative. I also like how you acknowledged everything that season 2 did well. This video is such a breath of fresh air with season 2 critique.

I feel like another silco or cait vs jinx would've defeated the most attractive thing in this show... The fact it writes people not characters. Ambessa didn't overshadow mel, she gave her dimention beyond the femme fatale politics lady. Arcane was, yes, greatly a class centred commentary but not fully. it shows how our greatest passions blind us (viktor, achieving perfection specifically through the arcane, silco, zaun, jayce, generally searching for something while trying his best to be useful, vi, people she considers home, etc) it show us that life is complex, focusing only on the classism factor like maybe the hunger games and others did would've made it a bit boring, not all issues are completely solved that quickly. Noxus and ambessa showed how some nations pray on the weak in times of dire conflict (Ahem, america AHEM) while also giving us an amazing mother daughter dynamic. Vander's initial return was honestly one of the few if not the only way to give the sisters a chance to rekindle, giving them a common goal returning him. Isha's death pushes jinx to care about more than just herself and her infinitely small circle as well as shows us us how war doesn't discriminate Vander's second return felt like pushing it with the very same plot device but it also lines up perfectly with many things, vander a pacifist now used as a weapon by 2 different people for 2 very different goals fully out of his own control after having largely controlled the narrative of his own story at least in comparison to other characters. Viktor was a bit much? but his connection to the professor and signed individually and their similar yet different goals kinda wrapped it up nicely. Jinx' sacrifice was the final piece of her character development, letting go of her past fully and utterly while showing this alturism isha taught her The inconsistency with character development is also so very human Vi specifically, she's basically a time capsule thurst into a new world where my girl knows NOTHING so ofcourse she's gonna circle back and forth, try to isolate, then circle again Sevika's entrance is puahed aside because it's no solution, it's the beginning of one, no one accepts her, she's still an outsider, a diversity hire if you will, the conflict is far from over and waiting till it's done to end the show would've made it lose the show don't tell value. The diversity of the plot shows the complexity of real life, it just needed more time because it was honestly so rushed and atp WHAT IS THE BLACK ROSE

Crazy how even at its worst, Arcane is still a top tier show

It was good but could have been better

Agree with this. They set season one up as a class struggle with incredibly interesting characters. Season two had so many character assassinations and contrivances, random characters that make no sense. Personally I find Isha to be a non character that only serves as a plot device. When she died I felt nothing. The writers were telling me I should care, but did no work to make me care.

They didn’t forget about Piltover and Zaun. If you were under the impression that the series called ARCANE was a booth class struggles, you were fooling yourself. Also, the show begins with faceless stormtrooper soldiers committing an act of violence on a population, and ends with faceless robotic soldiers committing an act of violence on a population.

Unfortunately, Arcane is League of Legends… Arcane is clearly a part of a bigger picture or whatever cinematic universe they’re trying to do. It affected season 2.