There's a lot to love about "Still Here," but...
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:40 Tryndamere, Ashe and Kindred
24:21 Kayle, Morgana and Aatrox
42:46 Old Man Yasuo
1:09:28 Everything Wrong With "Still Here"
Royalty free music in my videos sourced from filmmusic.io, incompetech.com, and composed by Kevin Macleod. Used under a Creative Commons license ((creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)
Additional music by Stevia Sphere
steviasphere.bandcamp.com/
Used under a Creative Commons License - Ігри
Yasuo inting for the last kill instead of having any sense of self preservation is now in game and lore accurate
Lol!
he was pushing him out of the way of the arrows, no? he didn't actually kill anybody
@@Roman-fj9my Doesn't the wind cut? His bandages were being cut by his own wind power when he started to use it, I think it's more likely that Riot simply censors their cinematics by not showing blood, like they have done before on most of them.
Maybe the guy had a shutdown, maybe it was worth
windwall was still on cooldown though
📺I mostly agree with your criticism but I do think the realistic style did work for Trynda's segment specifically. The idea that every time he defies death he has to LITERALLY FIGHT DEATH is insanely cool to me, and going for a surreal, symbolic aesthetic would've undermined that interpretation
Also the realistic style sort of made him seem a lot more rugged and unhinged, which helped i think.
Also gives an idea as to why Olaf can't die. Olaf does not shun death, maybe Kindred has a soft spot.
@@ThulgoreYou’d think that Wolf would have the time of his life ending Olaf’s.
Agreed, Tryndamere's segment looked great, but without the blood and bruises, it wasn't able to use one of the main strengths of this highly rendered realistic style. They chose a style that they knew was neutered by censorship right out of the gate. Also, his ultimate defiance of death rage state is just his eyes getting red? Not like, bloodshot with rage and fury, but like color contact red?? Really? LoL That was silly. IMHO of course. =^)
@@washada but Olaf wants to die. His whole schtick is that he craves a glorious death in combat, it’s his sole motivation. The Wolf only kills those who don’t want to die
📺 Tryndameres rage leaving as soon as he sees Ashe made me tear up the first time i saw the cinematic, i have a soft spot for "Big tough angry guy who is also a huge wife guy who loves his wife very much"
Dude, me too, I've been programmed to love the whole "love wife" thing. I blame my wife
Literally too angry for the normal rules of life and death, but never too angry to be a cinnamon roll for his wife.
That's that good shit.
ME TOO!! THE POWER OF LOVE IS REAL 😭🩷🩷🩷
So basically Vegeta from DBZ
'Also gabimaru'
I kinda like the idea that Kayle and Morgana aren’t exactly in or out of sync, it’s kinda like they’re two extremely skilled dancers who can perfectly read their partners but they each are performing a different dance, thinking that they are doing the same one, so they get the next move wrong despite the skill
55:25: People liked it when Yasuo overcame the guilt and trauma from his tragic backstory. So either we can keep telling a story about what happens next, what Yasuo does when he learns to accept himself...or we can keep telling that story people like over and over, until Yasuo dies of old age.
📺
yasuo the unforgiven
Now to be fair
That method has worked wonderfully for Bruce Wayne and learning to accept help from others
He's learnt to open up like two dozen times and he still dies alone having pushed even his sons away from him
@@nidhogg8446 Yeah, but he's been in at least three dozen continuities over the decades.
@@nidhogg8446 Maybe people wouldn't go away if he spent less time thinking of ways to kill his own friends if they ever misstep
📺
Honestly, with the Old Man Yasuo Skin, I don't feel like it is a vision of him defying death and retaking the path. I think the skin is an alternative vision. The Cinematic shows him accepting death and allowing the path to end.
I think the skin is more... Akin to how Yasuo changes after seeing that vision. Because in the Foreseen Vision, he lacks the blade, or even its sheathe on his person. He appears more vibrant, and still, in that old age, full of life. His hair and expression are slightly wilder, and his outfit feels more well tended to. Might just be design choice differences in order to sell it better? But honestly, I think its at least indicating something interesting.
Either way, I do love the video. Another damn good analysis.
the vibe i get from the old yasuo on the cinematic is that he had put aside his sword and decided to live peacefully in the village, picking up the sword again to defend it. The skin yasuo feels like he has never stopped practicing his swordsmanship and wind techniques, to the point where he can conjure lighting and flames from it (that's what the vfx suggest). Basically, in terms of power, cinematic yasuo is at his lowest, and skin yasuo is at his peak
It reminds me of Ezio’s journey in AC. Old man at the end of his journey - a journey we got to take with him, so we too are ready for rest. So satisfying
We can't be sure a character is dead until We clearly saw it
What I mean by that is : you can imagine he draws his windwall juste after the cut and then fights Wolf. In the same cinematic, firstly, he accepts death but then cuts the arrow. Maybe he does the same with kindred's arrow
@@Art51151 what the other guy said is more possible now that we see his recall, where he dies to wolf
I disagree with all of your feedback until the last like 3 minutes
📺
30:48 Isn't it easy? It's like "Oh, they are perfectly coordinated, they must fight together a lot, they are really close", BUT then they are also crossing each other paths multiple times, Morgana ducks so Kayle has to parry Aatrox's sword etc. There is a slight dissonance in that coordination, not enough to really impair their fighting capability, but enough to foreshadow that there is some conflict, some difference in oppinions between them. It might be a hidded bonus thing for all the "lore hounds", how you called them.
The reason that I have for the way Kayle and Morgana fight in sync, but also cross their ways from time to time. Is because they have a strong connection due to their mother's, but they choose to perceive the world in different ways. Until those decisions ultimately disconnects them form one another. 📺
I also made the connection that Morgana, a Demacian is removing her armor to become full power, which i thought kinda played into the whole future of Demacia with Petricite in a cool way.
Good idea.
I really like this idea! Kayle kinda does the same!
📺 I understand the criticisms you point out, and I agree with some of them, but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives for this cinematic. I just love the attention to detail here, even in the little touches of animation. My favourite part is seeing how Kindred is present throughout the entire cinematic. The first viewing gave me hype, the second viewing picked my curiosity about the storytelling and lore details. And I think that's perfect for a season start cinematic. Give hype to first time viewers, while giving plenty to analyse for lore nerds. With all of that I still believe this is one of the best cinematics they have done
Agreed! All criticisms are valid and yet I’m still hyped each time I watch Still Here 😊
Totally agree! We love to nitpick things we are pationate about, but I appretiated this cinemetics concept, music, characters. It made me tear up multiple times, specially after following these characters for so long
But i think that's the entire point of the video. It works, it's a great cinematic, it got people hyped, but clearly some of the artistic and pacing decisions were made without thinking about the quality of the production, instead trying to make it feel big budget and all and, like Skyen said, after last year's cinematic, this seems even more like a "hey forget about last year's video".
That's why the criticism section is only 1/3 of the video. It's really good, just there're things that could be better. Like the storytelling being compressed to fit the song length and the AAA realistic design. I think this video isn't trying to make the positives irrelevant.
@@skycharts7054 That's actually the thing I disagree the most about the criticism. I don't think it feels like a "hey forget about last year", as they have said, this cinematic took only slightly longer to make than the others. I believe the choice of artsyle was made BECAUSE its a seasonal start cinematic. Because the have always been like that, because its whats marketed to the general public. Riot experiments with a lot of different animation styles for other cinematics, like champion cinematics, skinlines, tft. But when it comes to seasonal cinematics like Awaken, all of the ones I remember, at least the last 4, have this hyper-realistic style. Which comes with limitations. And yeah I agree with those limitations' criticism, but saying they chose this artstyle just to show how muich money they are flexing this year feels just like a weird way to look at things when its been like this for half a decade. i also dont agree that we need context for some stuff, like Skyen said, this is primarily made for the hype. And for a cinematic made for that, the amount of good storytelling here is really good. Like I think even people who dont get the lore can pickup on whats happening based on the little touches of animation and direction
📺 I think a good shorthand to emphasize the sword would be:
Close-up of Kayle's eye, reflect the sword on her eye, purple power surges - contrasting with the swords silhouette -, Kayle glares
📺 would have loved it if you mentioned that trynd’s body language shows that it’s not his first time fighting kindred, the moment he saw the lamb he expected the wolf to jump him from behind. Other than than fantastic video as always and on point criticisms, around this day and age most people should know that stylized animation DOES look expensive and better than just realism in most cases especially in a world where arcane exists, it’s weird how the company itself hasn’t realized that.
I think also the song itself enhances the 📺cinematic really well, especially the synchronization with the Trynd vs Wolf fight, that hit hard. But yeah I would've loved to see a more in-depth Morgana and Kayle fight, and the censorship is kinda sad.
But regardless of all of that, the first time I saw the cinematic (and the 15th time) I still love it. It just sparks joy for reasons I can't fully explain. It's amazing, and I think, personally, that matters more, to me, than the flaws it may have.
I forgot there was a song. It was so forgettable and boring that I was only reminded of it at the end.
Riot can make some amazing music too, Pentakill's Smite and Ignite is still an album I listen to regularly so you can't excuse the shitty music on the fact that they are a video game company.
@@L3FT2BURN I will respectfully disagree that the song is boring. Generic? Yeah there's a debate to say this, but forgettable and boring? Nah, I don't see it that way. While it's not a very groundbreaking song, it is very fititng with the story that it's trying to tell, the lyrics fit, and it's well in sync with the visual storytelling going on. Again, it is fair to find the song "more of the same". Play that one next to awaken, or the other one that sylas appears on can't recall the name atm, they are all awfully similar. I too wish that Riot would be a bit more daring when making these cinematics, maybe try to switch to a different style aside from the ultra realism and high rendering, since all of Riot's 2d animation mostly looks cool as fuck.
I really liked someone's reaction to the cinematic saying the music isn't actually something you'd hear on the radio because it's specifically designed to match the cinematic. It only works as well as it does when you're watching the visuals playing with it. Currently, the only riot song I've heard on the actual radio is Star Walkin by lil nas x.
@@bradleymoore2797I've heard Enemy and Warriors once or twice, but that's probably because it's Imagine Dragons. I'm still waiting for the day the general public discovers What Could Have Been.
@@L3FT2BURN i could say the song sounds forgettable/boring at first listen, especially cause it sounds very similar to many of their cinematic songs (had similar sentiment with their other song breathe). but bad? nope. the song hits hard, and after listening to it for a few more times, the song just gets in my brain and can't help but want to replay again.
The other thing about the scar being missed by lot of people is not just like an aesthetic thing in my mind, but it's also like a technical thing.
I'm watching the video right now compressed through UA-cam probably twice, at minimum once (no idea if you've got direct feed video footage or not).
I can barely even notice the scar's presence in the compression. Like it kinda just blends into the shading on his hat more than anything.
I certainly missed it. just assumed it was a character I didn't know until he did the wind wall.
which I don't think is an issue really...
@@alicepbg2042 i honestly thought it was master yi lol then he did wind and was confused if that's like someone related to yasuo or something
I have such high expectations for the video on why Arcane becoming Arcanon is bad. Because every time I think of Piltover and Zaun, I see a retcon happening and I also noticed that there are some big retcons related to other regions as well, which already makes everything kinda fucked up. I can't imagine how many things you've found if the script is taking so long, and that's not to mention the fact that they're doing this for brand recognition, basically...
like the fact that every bit of lore related to hextech will need to be retconned there will be changes in how piltover and zaun interact with other nations since they are doing the political plot with noxus and many other things
@@ruviknoproblemseraphine riding the green goblin glider powered by tortured pacifists should never be forgotten. Riot Tencent erased them for Seraphine.
As a whole it just feels… counterintuitive.
Arcane was good partly because it didn’t have to be shackled to an expanded universe. It could pick and choose whatever bits it needed to tell the story it wanted to tell.
It took the Ferros family’s role as the inventor of Hextech and gave it to Jayce because that fit the story it was telling much better.
It didn’t acknowledge the brackern being hextech because that wasn’t relevant to the story and would have just dragged it down.
It doesn’t make room for characters like Twitch, or Dr Mundo, or Zac, because those characters aren’t needed for the story.
But now you’re telling me they HAVE to somehow make room for all these characters, all these plot threads? It would lead to a worse story.
And if the Arcane team ISN’T limited in that way then… what? Is the rest of the Riot going to be limited by what Arcane does? Do we have to wait years upon years to see what Arcane does with Noxus before we ever touch Noxus in the lore again?
@@cartoonishidealism582 here is my hot take. There should be no canon for league.
Runeterra is a world created to provide cont4dt to a hypercompetitive moba where most of the playerbase probably doesnt acrually care about it.
And i understand there is a diehard lore community, but imo eith how the lore is presented snd told a xohedive and well put together narrative is fruitless.
Instead riot should focus on makong templates for regiom/characters and let artists kinda do whatever they want with those regions without tbe need for canon.
Now of course there needs to be some consistency, but i preach for flexibility over rigidity
I mean but retcon isn't always a bad thing. Arcane's retconed Jayce is galaxies better than the canon version is and hopefully same can be said for Viktor. Lets not treat lore written years ago as sacred for the love of christ. LOR's version of Kindred is better, later takes on Seraphine are better, etc.
The way I took old man Yasuo having those bandages is not him hiding those parts of himself, but rather protecting himself. After all, the purpose of a bandage is to protect a wound, not hide it. So in losing the bandages, he is making himself vulnerable again, rather than running away and seeking safety in everything. He has been protecting himself from his responsibility and guilt by running, now the old wounds are laid bare and he has to deal with them again.
oh that makes much sense! 👍
📺One thing, Aatrox is still responsible for Tryndamere's Undying Rage, the red is from the blood magic kicking in, its actually easier to see in his LoR card as they give him a red blood aura. I wish we got some Ashe x Tryndamere stories, there is a lot of potential that can get played around with there, but that would require actual lore updates. Tryndamere, Ashe, Kindred part is easily my favorite part of the cinematic though, I'd go so far as to argue that this is the best section we've ever gotten in any of the cinematics.
I agree they've basically been repeating the same Yasuo story over and over again. I think the best way to handle Yasuo's story going forward is to help someone else (Riven) find their redemption. Which they did set up at the end of the Ruined King, but thanks to the mess known as SoL who knows what is gonna happen with that plot point. But hey they don't tell stories anymore so maybe we'll see something in 5 years if we're lucky.
After watching a wide range of reactions I'm fine that the cinematics cater a bit towards the lore community. It creates engagement in the community, but also if you watch reactions from some streamers you realize they just wont get it even if they dumb it down and I don't think riot should cripple what little storytelling they actually do now a days by catering to those who don't care about the lore to begin with. That said, I agree, story telling issues with the cinematic are part of the bigger issue of Riot handling the lore by no longer doing short stories and doing stupid stuff like making Arcane canon. And yea the censorship made Yasuo slashing through people look goofy as heck, its really the main flaw of this style.
📺
My favorite part of the whole cinematic was honestly lamb's head tilt. Chills everywhere.
I was excited at the idea of arcane being brought into cannon originally. But the more I've heard you briefly touch on it, the more I've thought on it and what will all have to get changed? I'd say I hope riot knows what they're doing but I'm more willing to bet they don't
📺 I was anticipating this video greatly. Not only for the details I missed, but also because I learn so much about visual storytelling. Thank you for this analysis.
📺In regards to the censorship, I believe there is one, as in ONE, established way to get across the visuals of Violence and gore in a censored way. And that is through the visual language of a pre-established Riot Character, actually: Jhin, and Abstraction of meaning through symbolism. Having flashes of stylized flowers or branches in places of blood splatters, having something that visually RESEMBLES the impacts yet has a completely dissonant meaning - it is the only real way to have your cake and eat it too.
Im not saying that Jhin needed to BE in this cinematic, I am simply trying to express that the ideas they use for him as a character - how they visualize his violence and show what he does - would be a brilliant way to translate that into a censored form so you can have that intense feeling of impact without breaking any censorship rules.
📺 Great video as always, Skyen.
Listening to you lecturing us about the arts of animation and storytelling for an entire hour is always a delight!
Only Tbskyen is able to talk about a 5 minute video for 1 hours and 32 minutes. And we love him for it.
Rivaled only by necrit
This Tryn vs Kindred scene is me running late looking for my keys and my wife shows up out of nowhere and finds them.
I think it's cool that it's a different short for people based on their familiarity with the lore. Little things like the significance of kayle/morgana's swords and the point that yasuo's identity is revealed. Also made this video really valuable for me to hear a more experienced perspective. Appreciate ya!
11:00 marriage out of political convenience then ends up actually emotionally beneficial to both people in the marriage is one of the best tropes, and I hope it *is* what whoever in Riot might be working on these two is doing with that storyline.
edit: finally finished the video since I had a lot of work today, but. MWAH. always a good breakdown from Skyen. 📺
Thank you for your work 📺
I am always deeply mesmerized by your videos. Thank you for all the amazing content! 📺
I would love for Wolf with a full wolf-body to actually be Kindred's ultimate in-game, where maybe Lamb unleashes him and he violently chases low-health champions.
Them being a shapeshifter, with Lamb being a duelist and Wolf being the clean up would be so much more fitting than the incarnation of the process of death... stopping death?
When they appear before someone, the person is one choice away from death(like the theater troup lady, who if she ran from death she would have went back to her troup... who were being murdered at the time.) They don't control whether someone dies(Trynd, Shadow Isles, so on), they are just the enforcers.
And neither of them are about life, one is about accepting death, the other about running and dying anyway. If Kindred's ult would ensure all within the circle would take the stored damage rather than healing them, that would make sense... but it doesn't.
For sure, if you run from death (by not accepting lamb killing you) you should be hunted by wolf. But unfortunately, like lots of lore things the game doesn’t do a good job.
@@the_last_ballad the shapeshift idea is kind of funny that you bring up because that was literally how Quinn was like on her release, which apparently didn't work out in the long run, considering that they reworked her. But yeah, as an idea it fits Kindred.
Got my eyes stuck to my 📺 while watching this masterpiece! Thank you!
📺
Thanks for the content as always! I already wrote a novella in the comments on your initial reaction so I'll hold off on rambling here, but it's always lovely to hear the breakdown of animation from someone with a fundamentally different perspective when looking at animation. It helps me pick up details I missed but also overarching concepts I lose because I'm so deep in my feels when watching these things.
I am of two minds about Arcane becoming canon and everything else being shoehorned into it. I agree with you that it is going to cause a way bigger mess than Riot want to admit when they actually try to reconcile all the different plot threads, but as my group's resident lorehead I'm also really excited for it because it means they will actually pay attention to their lore and let their writers do their damn job for once. It'll be an absolute clusterf*** but it'll definitely be interesting and I look forward to your future analyses on it. My only hope is that they keep it weird and don't just sand off all the sharp edges for lowest-common-denominator across the board. I know it'll happen because that's just how media is anymore, but I hope it doesn't happen to absolutely everything.
Have a great day man! And from one ADHD-haver to another, may your brain chemicals treat you with mercy.
On the one hand, self improvement isn't necessarily a straight line and all, forward motion, but on the other, when it's not framed as a relapse, but just a repeat, "This is starting to sound like a bad comic book plot."
this is super interesting. i always appreciate your perspective, thanks for doing what you do!! 📺
19:20 Well, the lamb is the one that takes the souls of those accept their destiny in death so the lamb is the representation of the gentle "painless" death while the wolf is the one that hunts the ones that refuse the lamb's call into the afterlife. So the lamb being all cute and harmless looking is part of the duality of them, while the wolf is a reminder that if you want to beat/cheat death you need to prove you can keep youself in the world of the living.
📺
Thank you for long videos, I just adore these video essays, I got so much new from this!
Also, i want to mention, that in Morgana and Kayle segment after the first defeat, Morgana is the one who steps forward to protect people, not to just complete her duty. Trynda and Ashe as Kindred is just brilliant, never could think about them like that
Thank you again for your work, I wish more people could see and appreciate it
📺 love your videos, honestly didnt notice how time stops when the Kindred are in the frame. This eye for detail is why i enjoy watching your content.
Please keep up the fantastic work.
I like that even with the fights being super anime, it doesnt have anything super flashy like unnecessary spins or weird movements just to make it look fancier. Every move the characters make are planned and necessary, and it makes the fight feel way more real and pressing
Also, I feel like the choice to use hyper-realistic animation style limits what champions they can choose to feature. The style wants you to take the cinematic very seriously and some champions simply aren't meant to be taken so seriously, like for example, probably every single yordle.
I heard one take that I really like that yasuo wasn’t actually killing anyone, he was just using the wind to knock the shit out of them, see how they emphasize that his sword isn’t hitting anyone, and that instead of creating a wall to save himself, he knocks the other guy away from where the arrows are falling, this is from Necrits video btw and I like that take on it.
Kind of ironic when you think about the fact that ashe's arrows in which made of ice, an element that represent coldness bring light, an element of life into the scene
If you want to expand on that irony, the most emotionally cold character in the cinematic is fire-wielding Kayle as she tries to end a life (failing only due to Aatrox's immortality).
📺 Really cool analysis, I allways fell that I take so much from your talking about storytelling and framings, and scenes, and even animation, to just write a good story, to be able to make de reader see things inside his head in a cool way such as the videos and things you analysis. I really wish to have more comitment to writing and things, but I find hard to start it and go to the end without droping, so I really find amazing how you go trough every single little detail and post so much amazing things! Thanks for beeing an amazing creator!
Oh yay, now let's see if I was right and Skyen will giggle uncontrollably with Kindred's little head tilt.
Hasn’t every seasonal cinematic been in the expensive hyper realistic style? It seems like a must for them which is a shame because I love the experimental animation styles that they try with other cinematics.
My thoughts 📺:
The look was decent, it worked great in some places and not as great in others but I imagine that changing between visual styles in the middle of the same video would me jarring so I get why they didn’t do tht.
Personal favorite touch other than the somehow both adorable and chilling head-tilt from Kindred is the introduction of color to Tryn. You touched on it a bit but my focus was on his skin. In the unsaturated tone he quite literally looks like a corpse, all grey with no blood flowing through it. Only after Ashe’s shots does his skin warm up and look lively again, emphasizing the idea of being “brought back to life.”
Biggest gripe has got to be the censorship. This is not to say that I don’t understand why they chose to do it this way, only that I do not like how it makes everything weaker. Every piece of this cinematic would benefit from showing injury, give me a broken or bloody nose, some bruises, actual cuts with blood spraying out of them unrealistically as they typically do in media. It plays out the dramatics and makes everything land harder, I get if you don’t want to amputate the guy but you can’t tell me that having the goons not even get their clothes cut works to the cinemática favor.
Basically, what was done well did great, but the misses really throttled the potential imo. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk see y’all next week
I love your work, its so chill to watch you speak smart things
So hype for another classic breakdown! Nice to see again
📺 Tryndamere and Ash relationship being a parallel to the Kindred relationship…. You could say they’re Kindred Spirits 😄😅
📺 i love your animation breakdowns and telling your take on the cinematic video
it's always a good day when skyen uploads. these videos are keeping me afloat this winter
I don't think it's so bad that there is a lot of subtle lore for lore goblins cause league has a ton of lore yes but I think riot can safely trust that there is a dedicated community of creators that can explain the deeper lore to those are interested. And because of that they can place a lot of different levels of references so that those who know can make connections and those who are interested have an entry point like necrits vid explaining the cinematic to see that there is a whole universe of previous lore for them to consume hence drawing them in to the lore community.
Well if Riot was smart at the end of the cinematic they would have put links to the lore of the characters in the cinematics to Railroad the curious into investigating the lore of Runeterra further. You know instead of relying on Necrit to do it for them.
Leave it to TBskyen to poke all the problems that I could not see in my first 10 watches of the cinematoc. Love it 📺
My headcanon for the figure at the end of Trynd and Ashe section is that Lamb just enjoys watching the two of them fight together, and gets to hang out with them a lot because of Trynd’s power, and she just lurks in the background for a bit.
📺 I'll never tire if your mind, Skyen. Thank you for this extended treat!
I Think They Stylized The Cinematic That Way To Soft Introduce Us To The MMO And How The MMO Will Present Itself.
Tbskyen being very professional while explaining every little detail in the animatiln for an hour straight.
Also tbskyen one second later: "I love big butts" 😂
I love you skyen
📺 couldn't watch it all in one go because of job debuff but appreciated the hard work that went into this.
Kindred is my favorite character, and I really loved your analysis of them. It was great to see Kindred actually be scary and not kinda goofy! (although I love both sides of them)
Finally watch the full thing 📺 Great analysis as usual skyen! Thank you for pointing out the things I missed from the cinematics and I understand the criticism you put out, I agree with most of them.
📺 I love these breakdowns. Keep up the great work skyen!
📺 Great video as always Skyen. It was really nice to see another animation breakdown.
📺Thank you for helping explain what all happened in this cinematic. As someone new to LoL I was incredibly confused by a lot of what happened. I could guess at the symbolism and that but it still left me mildly confused
📺
Hey, Skyen. Enjoyed this video a lot and hearing your thoughts on the cinematic. I am really excited for the "Why Arcane being made canon is a bad idea" video. Honestly can't wait to hear what you have to say on it, because for the most part, me and my friends are in the opposite camp of being fine with Arcane being made canon, albeit outside of a few glaring outliers with some characters lore and how they were portrayed in Arcane, but otherwise, we don't really see harm in Arcane being made canon, unless something drastic happens like another property or t.v. show gets made by Riot that ends up becoming more popular than Arcane and then that's what becomes canon next, over Arcane which is apparently the current canon, rather than them just sticking to the universe they originally made, etc. etc. so I'm looking forward to seeing if you potentially have even more detailed and in depth feelings and opinions about that, even with me and many other people looking equally as forward to the second season of Arcane coming out this year.
Wonderfully done as usual, and longer than expected 📺
📺 Not a league player, but your analysis vids are always interesting to watch. Look forward to seeing more.
As a game animator wannabe, always so interesting to hear all the things I missed. Thank you Skyen
📺 always appreciate these videos!
📺Never played League but I enjoy your thoughtful analysis of the videos and the lore dumps that come along with them.
📺 Honeslty, I believe finding your channel and engaging in your content was one of the healthiest things for my little artistic brain. Two years ago I would have been FLOORED by this animation, but now, with the time I've spent watching you and learning that just because something looks good doesn't mean it's inherently good, I didn't fall for the corporate bait!! I will be clean another year.
Great video, really well articulated.
MOAR PLZ DADDY SKYEN 📺
The weight of everything feels really weird. Like some things behave in a way that makes me think gravity is set to 150%, yet other times the characters move as if they're trying to run in a dream.
📺my fav detail from this cinematic has to be the way Aatrox's sword pulses, even if you don't know the sword is him you can see the weapon is alive in some way
Not me stopping watching the finale of fantasy high sophomore year to watch this video
📺 Even if we seperate "Still Here" from us wanting stories to be good, the general confusion the video has elicited from viewers can not be on purpose. The overarching themes seem weirdly obfuscated, like kindred being hidden in the first and second part is neat, but them being hidden also hides a connection these three stories have to one another. Then, the past, present and future motif becomes hindered by shying away from the traditional "past, then present, then future" order (likely because the tryndamere story is the best one, so it was kept as the finale), prompting numerous comments of "why yasuo old", followed by "read the video description" because the video can't speak for itself.
Not to mention that this, as the first lore video we get since Riot's "all things we release from now on will be canon", prominently features a "what-if" version of a popular character, which is in fact not canon but an alternate universe, got you again. Then again, dealing with Yasuo canonically living to an old age is it's own can of worms, so I understand not wanting to deal with that.
Overall I had a very good, time, please more Riot.
Well to be fair, people tend to also just have horrible media litteracy now a days. For me it was very clear it was a present, past, future thing. Kindred is also barely hidden if you bother to actually pay attention to what you're watching. The one thing i'll give you is rito giving us a what-if scenario right after they stated "everything we make from now on is canon" but i suspect that just stems from this cinematic likely being started work on before they made that decision
Well, the realism criticism is valid, but at that point EVERY season cinematic (The Climb, Awaken, Warriors, The Call, Still Here) is in realism, so it's not about artistic style choice, but about tradition. And I feel that, while I would adore some experiments, but it would also leave me somewhat hanging. And if it's about traditions then realism is the best choice, while it's obviously not the best in every given situation.
And about time compression: I'm happy that they at least decided to make three full scenes. While I absolutely love Awaken and The Call, having an uninterrupted «arc» for every character/set of characters with it's own lowest point and everything feels so much more involving.
📺i just want to say that im learning soooo much for your videos and just want to say thank you for this.
23:40 thats such a good insight! i didnt even realize it until you mentioned it!
📺 Your final point about crumbs actually gave me chills. Thank you for the insight
📺1:17:35 One think I really love is how you are able to weave your arguments for "why this dosen't work" with your metaphores in such a well articulated maner.
It's very impreasive how you are able to think of them. Deci bravo!❤
📺 I feel like a large part of the issue with yasuos characterization is that they never let him actually have a personality beyond guilt, every instance of character interaction revolves around his guilt but they never let it settle. A wandering ronin helping the people of Ionia wherever he sees people in need has alot of potential for some fantastic stories but they have never given him any more character development past emo edge lord angsting over killing his brother. He is never shown resolving himself to anything. Characters like xayah and rakan having both being lovebirds but also fighting for the magic of Ionia, ashes desire to unite the warring clans of the freljord. Most other characters are given ambitions even if unobtainable in order to push them forward narratively speaking but since no story has ever settled he has never stopped running from his past and given an actual goal which poses an issue in stories going forward. He doesn't have thoughts or feelings or ambitions. They don't have voicelines of opinions on characters for him really. It's all about his guilt and with no personality otherwise it's hard to believe the desire to help is there.
Tldr he is too pigeonholed at this point in guilt at brothers death to be believable in any other story unless riot let's something stick.
it does seem like Ruined King set up a character arc for him along with allowing him to process his guilt/grief with a kindred spirit (Ahri). But guess we'll just have to wait and see where they decide to take him from there.
I'd honestly love it if he got to be a bit more lighthearted. After all, he's literally themed around the wind. Let him wander into Demacia and get caught using his wind techniques and imprisoned for it, only to crack jokes and make fun of his circumstances. Or you can have it take place after Mageseeker and do the traditional "seemingly stupid drunk gets in trouble with uppity people, willingly takes a beating, but helps them out in time of need" trope.
Have him travel to Piltover/Zaun, where he meets Janna and learns about another side to himself (figuratively). Or take him to the Freljord to reunite with Braum and observe the culture.
Like, they set him up to be the "wanderer." His travels don't need to be filled with meaning - he can go where the wind takes him and see what happens.
@ApexGale I have hope too but am worried that the arc they set up in ruined king will just be left to be retconned into the next oh I'm the reason my brother and master are dead. Not every character needs to have life changing earth shattering goals but everyone real or fictional need a reason to get up in the morning. It can be something as simple as I don't want to waste my life again so I'll go where the wind takes me or it can be resolving to save the world but there has to be something there or it becomes less and less compelling as time goes on. Look at yuumi, may the cat burn in hell gameplay wise but story wise she is a very compelling character. Magical cat gets into hijinx with a magical book while looking for her missing master. Is it the greatest most epic story of war deciding scale? No? Is it fun gives her motivation for why she exists the way she does and make her interesting to read about absolutely. For every zyra there is a malzahar and while quality is up for debate the point stands. While guilt can be a powerful motivator and is likely why yasuo has gotten so much lore coverage in the first place it is deeply disappointing that years and stories later he is still in the same place character development wise.
Heck you can even make that a story him recounting how he lost his brother and the mental health issues he is spiraling into every time he falls back into that pit, something. Anything besides another variation of guilt guilt guilt resolution amnesia guilt guilt.
Is it a perfectly valid character motivation yes deeply disappointing also yes
📺Well done Mr. Skyen, very informative and all around good.
I've spent my subscription well it seems.
Much love from România.
One detail I'm a bit surprised wasn't touched on (unless I missed it) was that in tryndemeres fight against the Kindred, wolf chomps down on his shoulder guard (thankfully the only place tryn has a semblance of armor coincidentally) it leaves a lasting mark that can still be seen when ashe comes in and breaks his battle rage, showing that it was more than mere hallucination in some way.
19:00 the other thing with lamb, shes waiting for him to accept death and each arrow is when she thinks he should be dead, and then confused when he keeps fighting. Thats how i interpreted it at leas
Only 15 minutes less then I expected! I’m so good
the kayle and morgana section is my favourite
Kindred finally being acknowledged is my fav
Me wanting to write the "Yasuo specifically doesnt want to hurt"-comment right when Skyen mentions it :D
📺It's nice to hear someone verbalize all the issues I had with the cinematic, as a Kindred main I have been fed good but every other part of the cinematic felt oddly underwhelming and I could never be sure weather the whole censorship thing was real or not so I'm happy to finally get some proper explanation for all that.
In regards to Yasuo's segment?
@@gamensch2629 of the blood and visible wounds on characters engaged in lethal combat
Yasuo's segment isn't exactly censored, he's specifically not drawing blood as he doesn't want to kill, if you watch closely his sword never really slashes, it's just the wind knocking them out.
@@light53541:16:35
@@light5354that's the point. The wind technique is deadly and cuts more brutally than the blade. This is a pivotal point of Yasuo's story. "Wind knocks them out" is not only dumb realistically, it doesn't make sense lore-wise, nor story-wise
Also lol, now when i think about it, him accepting death just means that the goons wake up soon after and kill the remaining villagers. Gg ez
I don't have siblings, so I don't know why it hits so hard, but the dynamic between Morgana and Kayle (from Morgana's perspective) is so heartbreaking to me.
📺 solid breakdown! I really loved the visual storytelling of death/kindred especially how it was executed similar to Puss in Boots Last Wish
Hallo skyen, I love hearing you think and learning things from your head
📺| Watching Skyen's videos will always feel like im just in a call with a friend talking about my hyperfixations and i love this SO MUCH
second time that I do my nails while watching and I always finish a little faster than usual!! which means a lot bcs i normally take hours with those things lol
1:01:59 They kinda look like gangsters. There’s this childish arrogance to how they approach the fallen woman.
Anyone else notice the lighting and shadows in the opening shot with Trynd makes Aatrox's face shape? Silhouette of his horns, jaw, Trynd and his sword make his right eye.
📺was patiently waiting for this one. Thank you skyen
📺Summed up how i felt exactly, big flashy moments mean little without something substantial to chew on just leaves me hungry for something i'll never get.
The overlay of Ashe and Lamb made me think, to their foes, Ashe and Tryndamere are like the Kindred.
A heard someone said that trynamere looked like Boromir and now I can’t unsee it.
Omfg no WONDER he looked familiar
The irony of a character that CAN'T die looking like Sean Bean :)
great analysis as always yippe 📺
All of the critics can also be applied to all the other cinematics. There are all hyper realistic, all of them have music as their pace setter, and all of them lack time for stories to develop.
Yes
📺 i wish i had you as a teacher in college, your insight is amazing and really eye-opening
📺 very good analysis and very well put together despite part of it not being scripted
that last look kayle gives morgana also read a lot like "I can understand your sacrifice, but you made a choice I can't understand/get behind" but maybe it's my kayle-still-loves-morgana pipe dreams idk lmao