how do u feel about S2 so far? also ! I am far from the first person to talk about this topic, so I've linked some great videos in the description for further learning if u are so interested :) (also ALSO, I apologize in advance if I got any lore wrong, I tried my best 🥲)
With some small lol knowledge black rose introduced Warwick’s soon to be introduction has me waiting for what’s next I’m also interested how their going to aproach jinx she’s sees herself well as her namesake but which everyone rallying behind her I wonder how she’ll see it
I personally really like it so far and I'm really curious where it's gonna go. The fight scene with Sevika and her newly upgraded arm was insanely cool and all the action so far feels even more intense then the first season
Honestly! I remember not understanding the praise Arcane got like 2 years ago when it came to female characters. I spend a lot of time writing complex female characters myself (*complex men too of course), so I was just a bit in my own bubble, that was on me. I believed what they did was the bare minimum. Someone had an essay about it saying "Arcane writes women where their strength is also their flaw" and I said "...Yea thats kinda how characterization works---...Oh. Right. Most popular media don't write women like they're actually people..."
@H-otApp-le-Pies it's one of those things that SHOULD be the bare minimum, but sadly isn't. especially in popular shows, which so often feature bad or outright misogynistic writing for the women within them 😔 but i think for me, arcane does a little more than the bare minimum because the designs of the women are also varied and none of them are treated like failures or lesser than each other for how they look. vi is allowed to be a butch lesbian, sevika has a prosthetic, jinx is thin and wiry without it being oversexualized, etc... again frankly allowing your women to look so different from each other (again... yknow, like people) should just be the bare minimum but sadly... it isn't.
@@lunarw1ng Oh no, I fully agree. Arcane is passionate about their women just as much as their men, and their attention to detail deserves to be praise. Character design is a huge part of great characterization. I too really love the character designs (I practically simped for Sevika 200% more in Arc 2, how she doesn't NEED her arm to feel competent? How its an extension of herself? Man. I love women. I need more of her NOW) I also really appreciated how Jinx was showing a lot of skin but wasnt sexualized. It means they were being mindful. I really hope people/writers learn from Arcane, because each woman is STILL a woman, even if she appears more masculine in personality and/or design.
rule one to write good characters, no matter the gender: characters need weaknesses. the triumph a of character overcoming or finding a way around their weaknesses is a universal experience all people can relate to. a character without weakness risks nothing so they never triumph
exceptions exist tho: Villians and Side characters. Death, from Puss in boots 2 has no real challanges to overcome. He is still entertaining becuase all the story needs him to be is threatening, and in that he is great precisly becuase we know there is nothing for him to overcome. It putts all the pressure away from the villain and onto our main character, in this case a cat dominated by fear. Becuase if the antaganost has no weakness to exploit, the only way the protagonist can win is by improving themselves.
i wish writers would completely ignore gender unless it's a central part of the character's lore. i feel like that would give us more complex female characters
@@mackingcheese I actually disagreem because I think being a growing up as a woman, or man or even nonbinary does shape who you are, and I think its neat how arcane reflects that without stating it explicitly. It's like, I think what's so great about vi is that she isn't man but woman, or a mary sue.
@@moebelhausmann69420Funnily enough, if death was female in puss in boots (even just voiced by a woman with no other changes) you can bet that everyone would suddenly hate death, call the movie "woke" and that it's "forced diversity" or some bs like that and all the nice fan edits of death as well as the people calling him an awesome character would cease to exist. Same goes for countless other male characters like house md, james bond, batman, iron man, walter white etc. which is why I'm usually very wary of criticism of female characters, yes, the writing may be bad, but its usually just motivated by sexism. Literally saw a video of a guy criticizing star wars and how the male characters are mistreated, while at the same time saying that blade runner is his fav movie. You know, the one where a female character literally gets r*ped at the beginning.
Many times in media when a woman is "manipulative" they make her solely rely on her attractiveness and sex appeal to get other men to do as she wants. What I love about Mel, is that she's not just beautiful, but *very intelligent*, and her intelligence SHOWS with all the choices she makes. I also love how she doesn't fall into the trap of having her "manipulation" be her only defining character trait, she has so many layers to her that as the show goes on you slowly start to understand why she's making the decisions she makes.
Mel is the perfect "politician" archetype in this show. She's manipulative, seductive (i believe she seduced Jayce but then grow to actually care about him), but also she's very wise, and empathetic. And more importantly, she has a real, just cause behind her actions. Like, I'd trust her more as the leader of my city over Jayce or Caitlyn. And to me it's an amazing writing that I can get to compare these characters with one another. They all have such deep, multi dimensional traits. Oftentimes, stories that have "female" politicians only focus on how women CAN also gain power, and employ the same dirty tactics that men do. But the story forgets about WHY we should root for her as a politician / leader. The result is often an unlikeable character.
Also, Mel's manipulation isn't limited to sex appeal/being pretty. She gives the other politician a child's toy and tells him that it is a complex puzzle.
@@coolfer2Interesting I do think they wrote her well so far but man I definitely don’t like her character her manipulation is the trait I see most from her but she does have layers as pointed out. Every character in this show definitely has their flaws which is enjoyable to see those flaws interact and affect each other even some of the characters I do like
On the topic of manipulation, I also love how Ambessa also relies on pure status and power for her manipulation. She is a ruthless Noxian and plays to the desires of vengeance for other characters.
The best part about Arcane is how it handles male and female characters equally. It's not trying to overpower a female by making a male character completely useless. Vi's fight scene with Jayce becomes more enjoyable because we actually see Jayce fighting at the backend as well, and not just a bystander she's showing off to. They could've so easily gone that path but they didn't. The bridge fight with Jinx and Ekko, both characters fight and show their strengths and weaknesses. The show also strays from that childhood saying "No hitting the girliEs-" and shows Ekko completely beat down Jinx to the point she's ready to die by s*cide rather than dying at the hands of a childhood friend. I think a lot of Hollywood media is still terrified of hitting the perfect girlboss that it ends up creating redundant versions of the same stereotype-
Hollywood is also setting up an impossible standard with those badly written girl bosses who don't need anybody. It's putting terrible messages that you're less of a woman if you don't put others down or not ask for help when things are terrible and all that. Truth to be told, Hollywood is not putting any thought to anything. They saw girlboss and just rode on it because of money.
That part too. This show doesn’t do the unnecessary “girls are more powerful than boys” thing many shows with female fighters do. Hell we see vi struggle and her get beat up by people stronger than her. That’s normal. You don’t win every fight cus your a girl and I respect arcane for that
@@AUGHHHHHBBG more accurately i think the show shows that vi can win fights because of her own merits and not her gender, which is due to the show never calling attention to her gender as a factor like you said
thats awesome! be sure to post videos of you knocking people out in an epic fashion too! JK! but have fun with that! it can be a great way to get excess energy/emotions out while excercising!
@ that’s awesome! I’m sure you’re gonna love it. I’ve been training for almost a year now and not only did it greatly improved my stamina and strength, it also gives a huge confidence boost. Keep at it and have fun
@@toothfairy9242 that's so awesome!!! that's exactly what I was hoping for. Two girls starting boxing, because someone made an effort to portray a woman fighting with her fists without over the top kung fu moves to insult our intelligence! it's amazing
what really gets me about Vi is how, in interviews about s2, they explicitly talk about her as a butch lesbian. that kind of representation matched with her emotional storyline really hits and her design and what it means and conveys is really, deeply important to me. "vi fights to protect" is a great example of one of the core tenants of what it means to be butch. the showrunners and writers openly admitting this is just so, so special!!! :) great video as always!
Also with those interviews, it usually could spell disaster with a female character. They did this with Rey. I like her POTENTIAL but she isn't there yet. Sadly. Going on and on about how she's a "butch lesbian" could've turned people away like how they did with Rey. But the show....SHOWS how Vi ACTUALLY is. A person. She is who she is because of the ENVIORNMENT around her. THAT'S what makes these characters so good.
Can you tell me the name of the interview (or one of them) you're referring to so I can watch it? I havent seen any where they talk about her sexuality explicitly so Id love to see it.
I'm just glad they didn't make her stereotypical butch lesbian as TV usually presents it: a woman who hates everything feminine and is basically a man in all but name. I don't get that vibe with Vi and I love it ❤
The ladies in Arcane are characters first, women second. They have flaws, strengths, agency and their own abilities and stories. I love them all and I hope more properties write their female characters with this in mind
@@merlin5662 you’re right!! There’s definitely a place for some characters to focus on the experience of being a woman or female exclusive things, but some writers forget we are still people, and people have personality and interests.
@@MoonlightBrillance 100% It seems that in THIS universe se xism doesn't exist, so it's ok for characters to just exist as they are. There are class issues but no gender-based issues. So you don't need to highlight the female experience. But if you're going to make a movie about suffragettes and they're just bad ass fighters w/o any se xism thrown their way, well, it would just be ignoring the actual conditions and the reason WHY they became suffragettes. Highlight gender/sex has its place within the story. Ignoring it does too in a world that doesn't seem to have se xist structures.
I really love Vi's mix of feminine and masculine traits. She's not sterotypically butch and manly, nor is she oversexualised and girly. It such an honest and realistic representation of womanhood
@@SophiaGunning-g4iikr!! She has power, good reason FOR having that power, yet her goals, actions, and morals still align very femininely (yet not submissively). I love it.
She's not at all pink-coded (her hair is just pink). She's red-coded, the other half to Caitlyn and Jinx who are both blue-coded, but Caitlyn particularly. The Red & Blue dynamic is very popular, especially in queer ships. Ruby & Sapphire from Steven Universe, Korra & Asami from LoK, Keith & Lance from Voltron, Wei Wuxian & Lan Zhan from MDZS, etc.
Well.. they are written by men lol so of course they have depth. When you look at the classical literature, then you will see that most of the amazing women characters were the creation of men writers.
@@Stan-jq8jr That's a very reductionist and narrow-minded way to see things, especially because Amanda Overton, a woman, was one of the lead writers of the show.
what arcane did that an overwhelming majority of movies/shows do is, not write the characters to fit into a box. Not having a box to check allowed for range of strengths and weaknesses. The creativity and storytelling felt organic and unconstrained. I feel like every aspect of this show is masterful and deserves all of the praise.
It's great that the show that had so much money invested in the production also actually has great written characters. It could have been another "rings of power" just a super expensive pretty pile of garbage. For some reason character writing mostly has gone down the drain in entertainmemt
As a man i loved watching arcane. It didnt even occur to me that there were so many well written female characters because they were so good that they were just characters to me and i loved watching their stories unfold.
almost everyone loves the show, because it focuses on their personality, making every viewer able to relate instead of focusing on identity that will seperate and exclude parts of the audience. That's the sad mistake hollywood has been making for the last 10 or so years
You don't even think about it, but I've come to notice that almost every scene is mostly just female characters. And no one should care about that, but it's a testament about how well written the show is that you don't even notice those things, it's just great characters interacting with each other and driving the fascinating plot forward.
Another detail I've noticed for VI that absolutely amplifies her character is a very specific habit she seems to have in her fighting. She very often decides to go for a riskier, more telegraphed hit when she's feeling confident, and gets majorly punished for it. Usually those flashy hits are rewarded in media, but here, everyone is a competant fighter, you can't just leap across the room and expect no interception. And the fact that the mistakes she makes in fighting are so fitting for her character (of course the hotheaded lass would try and go for a knockout punch a bit too early), that combines to make her feel like an exceptional person, not some paragon or mary sue.
Arcane excels in writing in so many places. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Jinx is the most accurate depiction of my mental illness that I have ever seen on screen. I have what is called schizoaffective disorder. Basically bipolar plus schizophrenia. The way it shows her mood swings and the way reality falls apart on her is so accurate. And she's not depicted as a monster because of her mental illness. She's depicted as a scared broken girl doing whatever she can to survive. Most shows that try to tackle my mental illness depict us as monsters. As murderers. When so many of us are just trying to survive. Jinx grew up in a hyper-violent society she learned to survive in that society. Yes she is a confessed murderer but it's not her mental illness that makes her do it. She's not a monster because she's sick she's a monster because of the people who took advantage of her sickness.
Also the animation and sound design of the show do so fucking much for it. Without those little audio touches the show would have failed in the action department. They knew what they were doing and those sound effects give every single punch weight.
I agree 100%, this is such a win for the mentally ill community. It also helps people who aren't mentally ill better understand what it's like cause Jinx's internal struggles are depicted so vividly and authentically. I haven't seen a better portrayal yet and I'll always hold Arcane close because it's so meaningful.
And even better - she's not JUST a broken girl! She's also smart, witty, funny, creative, beautiful... three-dimensional, like a real person. Jinx is forever my favourite because she helped me accept myself. The mental illness, plus seeing her in Act 1 as a child, when she was the 'weaker' one in the group who messed everything up - that was me (well not to the extent of blowing up a building but... still, I can relate), and I hated myself for so long. Sounds silly but when I saw Jinx after the timeskip in S1 Act 2, I was like HOLY HECK. SHE IS COOL! It may be silly but it kind of showed me that there's more to me than my shortcomings, and that I too, in fact, can be 'cool'.
And even better - she's not JUST a broken girl! She's also smart, witty, funny, creative, beautiful... three-dimensional, like a real person. Jinx is forever my favourite because she helped me accept myself. The mental illness, plus seeing her in Act 1 as a child, when she was the 'weaker' one in the group who messed everything up - that was me (well not to the extent of blowing up a building but... still, I can relate), and I hated myself for so long. Sounds silly but when I saw Jinx after the timeskip in S1 Act 2, I was like HOLY HECK. SHE IS COOL! It may be silly but it kind of showed me that there's more to me than my shortcomings, and that I too, in fact, can be 'cool'.
When you mentionned the violence almost intrinsic to her character, you have no idea how much this is real. Actually, Vi spent 7 years in prison, and during that period she was implicated in a TON of fight going from blows and fractures, to litteraly murder attempt. She essentially targeted Silco's supporters and other criminals with close or distant links to him. She had the reputation to be a troublemaker so much that new arrivals were advised not to look for it with her. Worse, when Stillwater's director said that he can't count the numbers of time he had a "conversation" with Vi, they also mentionned that, I quote "seems to enjoy these conversations more than them" (the guards) and we can see that when she heard the metal clanging, she seems to prepare herself to fight. Her thirst for sand was truly unstoppable, and when I see the tenderness she shows in s2, I'm pleasantly surprised to see her let her guard down and allow herself to love, protect and be loved. All these info are from Council Archives, an online event released during the first season. Anyway, Vi defender since day one, I'm a sucker for this woman and never cease to be in love with her character.
It's like they took a page out of Michelangelo's book and drew women like men. Basically you have men, but in the story we are told they are women. Also, keep in mind all these characters..well.. they are written by men lol so of course they have depth. When you look at the classical literature, then you will see that most of the amazing women characters were the creation of men writers.
Even tho I was not physically able to watch the whole thing yet I still can say one thing: nice video, there's lots of people that don't understand GOOD character design or development. But there are still a lot that do it right!
I also think what makes them more compelling as characters is that they show their vulnerability. A lot of times strong characters or fighters are written as invulnerable or they don’t show moments of doubt or weakness, which ends up making them one dimensional. Also if you like good fighting scenes, I think season 2 of Hellbound has the best live action scenes I have seen in years, and it features a female fighter.
This it the main argument I use when I have discussion about what's good and what's bad in certain characters. They need to feel human, not invincible. My favorite character, all media combined is Ellie from The Last of Us. I don't like her because she is a girl or gay. I like her because of her motives/values, strengths and weaknesses. Would the character still work if it was a boy? Would it still work if it was straight? Yes it would. You should never need to to precede the word "character" with "female" or "male" in my opinion. If the character doesn't work, it is most likely about the "character", not the "gender".
They are never sexualised. Well, Mel is seductive so she can get what she wants, but she's never a sexual object. She's in control and manipulative. The women in Arcane are strong, but they all have flaws too.
"Caitlyn should teach Vi about restraint and open-mindedness" cut to: (SPOILER) Season 2 Cait who is willing to justify shooting a child to get rid of Jinx, only for Vi to be the one that stops her because she's made that mistake before. This writing team is so excellent at switching up characters positions in the story, it's incredibly impressive.
@@a.a677 well the whole point is that it's a role reversal from their season 1 selves. I hardly see them re-reversing it AGAIN. if anything, by the end of the season they both learn their lesson, but I do think that dynamic from season 1 will largely be toned down if not gone entirely by the finale.
Could not agree more my brain was the same. They show that people can grow but characters can also regress. Showing how caitlyn really hasn't learned the rough way. Losing her mom made her mad, which something of loss vi had learned to cope with her entire life
Vi watched her parents die and then found Caitlyn and anchored her emotions on her, Cait watched her mother dies and left her emotional anchor that is Vi, act 2/3 will probably show how she then anchors her emotions to Vi making them inseparable like the current league lore
Caitlyn was not shooting at the child. She was going to shoot Jinx. Vi stopped her because she thought what if caitlyn missed. But in the entire season 1 and act 1 of season 2 , we haven't seen caitlyn miss once. She even shot a gun in the child's hand few moments ago. I dont think caitlyn would have hurt the child. She is a perfect shot.
We've had a lot of really great videogame adaptations recently, and with great character writing that extends to the women and girls. Arcane, Fallout, Castlevania (even through that does fridge one of its best), Last of Us, Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Carmen San Diego (yeah it's actually pretty good lol). I hope the successes of these shows lead to the right lessons being learned.
Zaun was actually the original name of the city in that location...but after the city fell, Piltover was built...OVER Zaun and eventually became what the two communities are now.
the little comments about caitvi are so real lol I LOVE THEM looooveee this arcane appreciation from ur channel!! ive watched sm video essays on arcane already but i love seeing one from you simply appreciating and putting the spotlight on the amazing female characters
hehe but now I'm annoyed at CAITLYN at the end of E3 (really thought it'd be Vi that I'd continue to be annoyed with) S2 so far feels very different than S1, so I'm still wrapping my head around it. I think I have to see the other two acts to form my full opinion!
@ I KNOWW people are hating on her soo much for it but i agree we need to watch the whole thing before having any proper official opinions. it is of course amazing so far tho + we got a kiss!!! but at what cost...
@artatmidnight Right now, I find it really interesting how much Caitlyn and Vi's conflict resembles Powder and Vi's at the end of act 3. A moment of weakness caused both Vi (in season 1) and Caitlyn (now) to hurt the people they cared about the most
You're right, the female characters are so well realized in Arcane, all the character types are just perfectly balanced. I love the show for that. All the arcs pay homage to each of them and their evolution, it is extremely well done and so rare that it have to be highlighted.
This reminds me of another perfect example of a girlboss, Mizu from Blue eyed Samurai. She's basically a perfect example of an female "badass lone swordsmans" archetype that is usually dominated by male characters.
If that's the case, then it's too bad they didn't present it up front. I found myself unable to even watch through the first episode of that show because it just screamed the usual "she's just perfect and better than all men girl boss"
@@Belbecat you should give it another try! Its genuinely one of the only shows I know where they did this type of character right without it feeling like a power fantasy self-insert.
@@Belbecat No, unfortunately Mizu stays a perfect and better than all men girl boss until the end of the season. She's winning ridiculous fights throughout the show, like her (stabbed) against 100+ trained soldiers (in full health). Then she reaches the Big Bad (who is not a trained soldier) and all of a sudden loose her skills enough to make the fight long and interesting enough. It's all very frustrating. The show is not worth it if you're looking for arcane level of writing female fighters.
Mizu is definitely far from perfect. She gets injured in literally almost every fight she has, the only reason she keeps going is because of her hate and anger. She is a character who does the impossible, a person who gets critically wounded every 4 hours but keeps fighting because she is just that spiteful. not because shes a super strong awesome girlboss.
@Anticssc she keeps winning fights despite those injuries and against all odds. It's just magical realism at that point, which does not fit the historical fiction they were trying to go for otherwise. Vi has magic/tech and her fights are still more down to earth and believable than Mizu's. I would have loved blue eye samurai if they had a medical advisor on team to tell them that you physically cannot run with you achilles tendon severed.
In defensive Rey in the first movie, she actually does have a fighting style. She fights with the staff at the beginning, which is a two-handed weapon and we can see that she tries to fight two-handed with a light sabre at first, but a light sabre is a one-handed weapon. So she’s very awkward at the beginning of the fight with Kylo, but she begins to learn by watching him and shifts to a one-handed fighting style
Rey really should have been given a double-bladed lightsaber at some point in the films. It would have been a perfect callback to her staff in The Force Awakens, and helped her stand out from previous heroes like Luke, Anakin, and Ahsoka.
Characters in Arcane regardless of gender, sex, age, colour of skin, actual race as in Human, Vestaya or Yordle, etc are first and foremost, well written characters. Regardless of whether you root for them or hate them, you understand them.
@@a.a677 well the whole point is that it's a role reversal from their season 1 selves. I hardly see them re-reversing it AGAIN. if anything, by the end of the season they both learn their lesson, but I do think that dynamic from season 1 will largely be toned down if not gone entirely by the finale.
also, i LOVE the fact that on the show their world seems to be ruled more by women than men, and that is showcased in a super natural way too. the women in kiraman's family who carries their legacy, ambessa ruling over everyone and giving the "power" to another woman (caitlyn), sevika assuming silco's power and sooo many other examples.
I love how they're able to have features usually considered masculine along with deep personalities and stories themselves, while still remaining feminine in a powerful way. My fav show by far
good shows like arcane that do characters so well just show how much blockbusters have lost the plot when it comes to writing female characters. they peaked with Elizabeth Swann.
Elizabeth Swann works so well as a character in part because she has a traditionally feminine end goal. She WANTS to be married (and presumably fitting the cultural expectation of the time, be a mother). She just doesn't want to be disregarded or pigeonholed. She wants to be taken seriously as a competent individual while also fulfilling a feminine role.
I’m bi with a preference for men but Vi reminds me of just how crazy awesome masc women are and that no, I am not straight 😂 Like I lowkey have a lil crush on Vi and the scene where she calls Kate “cupcake”, dude I ACTUALLY had to take like a 30 minute or so break from the show to calm down omg-
I'd argue that in a way it's easier in animation to have a character who has a unique fighting style than it is when you are working with real life people/actors. You can just add so much detail to animation that just gets lost when it's done real people.
I know you're not a League player or anything, but I'd actually love to see you break down how the girls are presented in KDA. The music videos give them each a good bit of personality, especially their solo ones. Stuff like how super feminine Evelynn is in a loud ass muscle car, for example.
They are not only girlbosses also individuals and not only women emotionally bond with the characters also men can emotionally bound with them and find a piece of themselves in these characters. All of them have their personalities and it makes them uniqe
Arcane has to be for me the best first season I ever experienced in a show, jinx oh jinx, the feeling of being a constant disappointment and while trying to prove other wise messing up even more , vi reminds me of a girl that used to be in my old gym super supportive with the best one liners and got that jump rope rhythm
All the characters in Arcane have moments where they win and lose. They all have strengths and weaknesses. They all are written to the highest standard of any show I've ever seen.
Well.. they are written by men lol so of course they have depth. When you look at the classical literature, then you will see that most of the amazing women characters were the creation of men writers.
You forget to mention Ambassa, she's so well written that you can tell, at first introduction, that this is someone you don't want to miss with on any level 😅. She's imposing, strong and smart. Glittered with scars showing you she's been forged from war and numerous battles.
As a lifelong marvel fan, i couldn't wipe the grin off my face whenever watching the arcane girlie's box. The little girl in me was delighted because! They're fighting plot important fights!!! And they're cool!!! And theyre WOMEN like me!!! Representation in a genre i love is always incredible
"doesn't seek violence" First thing we learn about her prison stay (even before we learn it's her) is that she beats anyone associated with Silco into a pulp
THANK YOU! For Posting about Arcane! As a Developer in the Game Industry it is crazy, what they have achieved! Not only the estetics, but the story telling! I hope people give this show a chance... Now that this will be the final season. ❤
When vi punches her childhood building in season 1, it's so strong BECAUSE she drank the shimmer. She's strong but it's to show what's possible with shimmer and why all of those people are so addicted to it. It's very much a reflection of what steroids do to people iRL
Yeah, Arcane knows how to write their women. Even Caitlyn's mom, Cassandra (r.i.p.), had a badass moment. When the two returned to the Mansion, they sneaked and made some commotion in Caitlyn's room. Now, you'd think she'd fetch the guards to go check the room, but no, she actually took a rifle, kicked the door, and stormed inside, looking like she's ready to shoot anyone and anything that moves. And only a few episodes back, we just saw this old lady enjoying her tea while reprimanding her daughter for her life choices, like how a concerned mother would. Next thing you know, that loving mother just turned up and became the deadliest person in the room. And somehow, you actually believe she is.
First off love the video, and omg yes I love that you brought up fighting style, because it is such a glaring issue in a lot of movies and shows tv shows. And the fighting style gives so much personality to the character. My personal favorite fighting style to watch has always been wonder woman (animated version) because of how long she’s lived, she’s known as like the best melee fighter. And you can see how she uses her body to it potential and how she get out of grapples and how she uses her legs. And it’s a different fighting style to other characters like Batman who’s more slick with his movements (at least in the iterations i’ve seen) and Superman who is more brute strength and boxer style. Anyway this is too long. Love the vid lol 😅
I gotta say, I have seen many MANY videos praising Arcane for their writing but this is the first time a video makes me comprehend what actually makes any characters compelling in a writing sense. Thank you, I will use your review as also a guide.
Great video. I think I was recommended this because I've watched a lot of Schnee, who is so good. I really like the take you have here and your perspective. You carefully negotiated a way to criticize the Mary Sue trope without injecting manosphere anti-woke elements (there's a lot of attention to be had out there if you are a woman who is willing to spew all of that). Your point about how it's not really any better to go from arguing that women have to be perfect Barbie dolls to having to be perfect action figures is such a clear and concise way to put it. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content. :)
Great video and I'm really happy it exists but I just had to comment about how much I giggled when you said how vocal she is cause as a person who's played her for over 10 years, girl you have no idea. Since she has this ability on a 1 sec cooldown and her playstyle is more pve rather than pvp focused, all I hear for approximately 30 minutes every 1 second is HYEAHHHH HYAAHHH HAAAAHHHH RAAAHHH
One minor correction to the correction. What Vi uses would be considered a Cestus (cesti plural?) which are gloves specifically designed to cause damage as hand weapons. Gauntlets are generally considered to be armored gloves, capable of increased damage but not specifically designed to do so. Edit: Further research has divulged that some definitions of the Cestus describe them as "weighted gauntlets". So I stand corrected on my correction to your correction.
16:27, I was initially hesitant to watch the series based on the trailers because the plot seemed like it'd be a simple revenge tale between Vi and Silco, but her unwittingly sharing in the blame of what happens to Powder along with Silco intentionally manipulating her into his loyal enforcer was a welcome addition, as was this series' other nuanced and deep characters with complex perspectives on the events of the narrative.
OMGG this was such an interesting and fun video to watch!!! I love how you explained how the character's backstory explains their current personality and their fighting style. I can't wait to start season 2 and listen to your video about it in the future!! Thank you for making such amazing videos!!
Literally said everything I was thinking! You should totally do a season 2 vid because holy shit it’s just as good and I’d love to hear what you have to say!
I love your review so so much, I want to watch it a million times. it's so incredibly charming and I feel you 100%. I could watch vi's fight scenes a million times. it's so strange to watch a portrayal of women as a woman and instead of feeling insulted and inadequate, I feel inspired. Vi is my favourite character...maybe ever. Thank you for your perfect analysis. I hope to see some of it for season 2 :)
@@paulaogawadefinitely check out schee's video on the matter! I thought it had some more depth, and I believe that's where she got the point of feminine vs masculine motivations vs method of obtaining. I love he also pointed out mel has a "masculine motivation" of amassing political power and preparing for war (season 1 at least) but a feminine method of obtaining it through active listening, seduction, soft pressure, ect ect. I try not to categorize everything in that binary because I find it gets pretty restrictive, but it's fun for analysis from time to time
@ I have already watched all Schnees videos about arcane and you’re right they are fantastic. I love the one about how they write women (also men). And as you said it’s not that easy to just categorize every aspect but he does a very good job of saying exactly that.
The parallel between "the perfect Barbie" and "the perfect warrior" is best critique I've seen against poorly written girlboos. Calling it simply poor writing wans't getting the message across.
LOVE the video! I was wondering whether you took schnee‘s video „How ARCANE Writes Women“ as an inspiration for some of the points you made . If that‘s the case a reference somewhere (in the description maybe?) would be nice. :) Whether you used it as a reference or not I just wanted to mention that I love the amount of effort you put into properly researching the topics of your videos! ❤
i love that video! I watched it when it was first released, but I specifically did not use it as a reference here, as i wanted to ensure my opinions were my own (I believe he talks about subverting writing tropes for ALL female characters, whereas I specifically wanted to analyze Vi's character in depth). however, I am not surprised if we overlapped a bit. I think it's a great idea to add his video in the description for further learning though! thanks for the idea 🩷
Phenomenal analysis of a remarkable show. I'm writing this after Act 1 of Season 2 has been released, and oh man, the complexities and dynamics between Vi, Jinx, and Caitlyn, in particular, have gotten richer than ever. I don't know where the whole story will go, but I will be glued to my TV every Friday for the next two weeks. And I'm positive you will have plenty of juicy material to analyze.
They not writing female characters they are writing characters who ARE female. That's the difference I've realized watching the show. Making a balanced character with the design coming as a result is what Arcane works with. Vi's og design doesn't look anything like her. The changes are beautiful
I am really happy I found your video! I have watched many analysis about Arcane female characters but it's the first time I get recommended a video analysis from a woman creator :')
Just finished first 3 of season 2 and boy, the characters in this series are perfect. Would love to see the update of this video with season 2 materials
What I love about Vi is that she’s tough as nails but not perfect, she takes a hit but will get right back on her feet. That and she never berates characters like Jayce
The reason Daenerys going mad didn't work is because the show abused time skips. The time between Missandei being killed and Daenerys burning Kings Landing is multiple months at least 4-5 however because of the show being limited in time it seems like it happens straight away. Daenerys' fall into madness just didn't have the time it should have because the show runners wanted to end the show as soon as possible because they had been hired to do a starwars film so they rushed game of thrones not caring how it ended as obvious by all the plot holes in the final season which led to it being trash which led to disney firing them from starwars and thus ruining their reputation and credibility.
PERFECT TIMING!!! watched S2 so far and i got so fucking sad at the end man :( GOD! the complexity of each character is so heartbreaking considering what happens all around them. Please cover s2!!!!
Now there are alot of videos about Jinx, and with good reason, but this was a really good video about Vi and a very needed one. During this when you referred to strong characters with weaknesses I kept thinking about two of the greatest action characters of all time Indiana Jones and Rocky Balboa, these two characters aren't perfect fighters who win all the time, they get hit.. alot and they get hurt... alot, but they still kept pushing forward. And with Rocky particularly it's also emotional too, this is what makes great character! "The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!” -Rocky Balboa "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage" -Indiana Jones P.S. It's interesting that you called Caitlyn Anti-Vi, I've heard alot of people think of her as the Anti-Jinx, two blue haired gun girls who fill an important emotional spot in Vi's life, one is extremely chaotic the other very rational, one poor one rich, one breaks the law and the other upholds it, and Jinx see how close her and Vi are and trys to force Vi to make a choice between the two of them. P.P.S. I personally believe that Ekko is the anti-Jinx and Sevika is the anti-Vi.
the funny part is.... in the old game, Cait was just the sexy "police cosplay hottie", people even used to say that she was modeled after an adult "actress", lol cait even has a joke about "fuzzy handcuffs"... Vi was the result of those "pink haired lesbian karens" memes.... th game was all about memes Nowadays, women in League are superpowerful rulers of nations or very powerful fighters, in majority most of them occupy positions of power
how do u feel about S2 so far?
also ! I am far from the first person to talk about this topic, so I've linked some great videos in the description for further learning if u are so interested :)
(also ALSO, I apologize in advance if I got any lore wrong, I tried my best 🥲)
Not the biggest fan of S2 unfortunately but we will see how it goes.
@@cuteshaybay it definitely feels more action-first, than character-first and I miss that a bit 🥲but I agree, we'll see where it goes!
With some small lol knowledge black rose introduced Warwick’s soon to be introduction has me waiting for what’s next I’m also interested how their going to aproach jinx she’s sees herself well as her namesake but which everyone rallying behind her I wonder how she’ll see it
I personally really like it so far and I'm really curious where it's gonna go. The fight scene with Sevika and her newly upgraded arm was insanely cool and all the action so far feels even more intense then the first season
It's so crazy and good!! So excited to see where it goes
arcane writers running with the crazy idea of "what if we wrote our women as if they were people?"
Honestly! I remember not understanding the praise Arcane got like 2 years ago when it came to female characters. I spend a lot of time writing complex female characters myself (*complex men too of course), so I was just a bit in my own bubble, that was on me. I believed what they did was the bare minimum.
Someone had an essay about it saying "Arcane writes women where their strength is also their flaw" and I said "...Yea thats kinda how characterization works---...Oh. Right. Most popular media don't write women like they're actually people..."
@H-otApp-le-Pies it's one of those things that SHOULD be the bare minimum, but sadly isn't. especially in popular shows, which so often feature bad or outright misogynistic writing for the women within them 😔 but i think for me, arcane does a little more than the bare minimum because the designs of the women are also varied and none of them are treated like failures or lesser than each other for how they look. vi is allowed to be a butch lesbian, sevika has a prosthetic, jinx is thin and wiry without it being oversexualized, etc... again frankly allowing your women to look so different from each other (again... yknow, like people) should just be the bare minimum but sadly... it isn't.
@@lunarw1ng Oh no, I fully agree. Arcane is passionate about their women just as much as their men, and their attention to detail deserves to be praise. Character design is a huge part of great characterization. I too really love the character designs (I practically simped for Sevika 200% more in Arc 2, how she doesn't NEED her arm to feel competent? How its an extension of herself? Man. I love women. I need more of her NOW) I also really appreciated how Jinx was showing a lot of skin but wasnt sexualized. It means they were being mindful.
I really hope people/writers learn from Arcane, because each woman is STILL a woman, even if she appears more masculine in personality and/or design.
Unbelievable, right? Who would've thought...
haha on point
rule one to write good characters, no matter the gender: characters need weaknesses. the triumph a of character overcoming or finding a way around their weaknesses is a universal experience all people can relate to. a character without weakness risks nothing so they never triumph
exceptions exist tho: Villians and Side characters. Death, from Puss in boots 2 has no real challanges to overcome. He is still entertaining becuase all the story needs him to be is threatening, and in that he is great precisly becuase we know there is nothing for him to overcome.
It putts all the pressure away from the villain and onto our main character, in this case a cat dominated by fear. Becuase if the antaganost has no weakness to exploit, the only way the protagonist can win is by improving themselves.
i wish writers would completely ignore gender unless it's a central part of the character's lore. i feel like that would give us more complex female characters
@@mackingcheese I actually disagreem because I think being a growing up as a woman, or man or even nonbinary does shape who you are, and I think its neat how arcane reflects that without stating it explicitly. It's like, I think what's so great about vi is that she isn't man but woman, or a mary sue.
@@moebelhausmann69420Funnily enough, if death was female in puss in boots (even just voiced by a woman with no other changes) you can bet that everyone would suddenly hate death, call the movie "woke" and that it's "forced diversity" or some bs like that and all the nice fan edits of death as well as the people calling him an awesome character would cease to exist.
Same goes for countless other male characters like house md, james bond, batman, iron man, walter white etc. which is why I'm usually very wary of criticism of female characters, yes, the writing may be bad, but its usually just motivated by sexism. Literally saw a video of a guy criticizing star wars and how the male characters are mistreated, while at the same time saying that blade runner is his fav movie. You know, the one where a female character literally gets r*ped at the beginning.
@@RandomUser13324 well yes except death is a furry and that is "woke" in itself or have they already normalized furfriends? :3
Many times in media when a woman is "manipulative" they make her solely rely on her attractiveness and sex appeal to get other men to do as she wants. What I love about Mel, is that she's not just beautiful, but *very intelligent*, and her intelligence SHOWS with all the choices she makes. I also love how she doesn't fall into the trap of having her "manipulation" be her only defining character trait, she has so many layers to her that as the show goes on you slowly start to understand why she's making the decisions she makes.
Mel is the perfect "politician" archetype in this show. She's manipulative, seductive (i believe she seduced Jayce but then grow to actually care about him), but also she's very wise, and empathetic. And more importantly, she has a real, just cause behind her actions. Like, I'd trust her more as the leader of my city over Jayce or Caitlyn. And to me it's an amazing writing that I can get to compare these characters with one another. They all have such deep, multi dimensional traits.
Oftentimes, stories that have "female" politicians only focus on how women CAN also gain power, and employ the same dirty tactics that men do. But the story forgets about WHY we should root for her as a politician / leader. The result is often an unlikeable character.
Also, Mel's manipulation isn't limited to sex appeal/being pretty. She gives the other politician a child's toy and tells him that it is a complex puzzle.
She also wants until Jayce is a councilor being seducing him.
@@coolfer2Interesting I do think they wrote her well so far but man I definitely don’t like her character her manipulation is the trait I see most from her but she does have layers as pointed out. Every character in this show definitely has their flaws which is enjoyable to see those flaws interact and affect each other even some of the characters I do like
On the topic of manipulation, I also love how Ambessa also relies on pure status and power for her manipulation. She is a ruthless Noxian and plays to the desires of vengeance for other characters.
The best part about Arcane is how it handles male and female characters equally. It's not trying to overpower a female by making a male character completely useless. Vi's fight scene with Jayce becomes more enjoyable because we actually see Jayce fighting at the backend as well, and not just a bystander she's showing off to. They could've so easily gone that path but they didn't.
The bridge fight with Jinx and Ekko, both characters fight and show their strengths and weaknesses. The show also strays from that childhood saying "No hitting the girliEs-" and shows Ekko completely beat down Jinx to the point she's ready to die by s*cide rather than dying at the hands of a childhood friend. I think a lot of Hollywood media is still terrified of hitting the perfect girlboss that it ends up creating redundant versions of the same stereotype-
I agree equally rights equal fights lmao😅 but fr tho
Hollywood is also setting up an impossible standard with those badly written girl bosses who don't need anybody. It's putting terrible messages that you're less of a woman if you don't put others down or not ask for help when things are terrible and all that. Truth to be told, Hollywood is not putting any thought to anything. They saw girlboss and just rode on it because of money.
That part too. This show doesn’t do the unnecessary “girls are more powerful than boys” thing many shows with female fighters do. Hell we see vi struggle and her get beat up by people stronger than her. That’s normal. You don’t win every fight cus your a girl and I respect arcane for that
@@AUGHHHHHBBG more accurately i think the show shows that vi can win fights because of her own merits and not her gender, which is due to the show never calling attention to her gender as a factor like you said
@@randomguymatt3832agreed
I literally love Vi so much
She’s the reason why I started boxing
Cool!!! Good for you 🙌
thats awesome! be sure to post videos of you knocking people out in an epic fashion too! JK! but have fun with that! it can be a great way to get excess energy/emotions out while excercising!
holy shit same! had my first lesson yesterday!
@ that’s awesome! I’m sure you’re gonna love it. I’ve been training for almost a year now and not only did it greatly improved my stamina and strength, it also gives a huge confidence boost. Keep at it and have fun
@@toothfairy9242 that's so awesome!!! that's exactly what I was hoping for. Two girls starting boxing, because someone made an effort to portray a woman fighting with her fists without over the top kung fu moves to insult our intelligence!
it's amazing
what really gets me about Vi is how, in interviews about s2, they explicitly talk about her as a butch lesbian. that kind of representation matched with her emotional storyline really hits and her design and what it means and conveys is really, deeply important to me. "vi fights to protect" is a great example of one of the core tenants of what it means to be butch. the showrunners and writers openly admitting this is just so, so special!!! :) great video as always!
Also with those interviews, it usually could spell disaster with a female character. They did this with Rey. I like her POTENTIAL but she isn't there yet. Sadly. Going on and on about how she's a "butch lesbian" could've turned people away like how they did with Rey. But the show....SHOWS how Vi ACTUALLY is. A person. She is who she is because of the ENVIORNMENT around her. THAT'S what makes these characters so good.
Can you tell me the name of the interview (or one of them) you're referring to so I can watch it? I havent seen any where they talk about her sexuality explicitly so Id love to see it.
I'm just glad they didn't make her stereotypical butch lesbian as TV usually presents it: a woman who hates everything feminine and is basically a man in all but name. I don't get that vibe with Vi and I love it ❤
shes a whole lot better looking than the obese/chubby ones I've seen irl
Lets go complex lesbians
The ladies in Arcane are characters first, women second. They have flaws, strengths, agency and their own abilities and stories. I love them all and I hope more properties write their female characters with this in mind
there is a surprising amount of distinction between a character who is a women vs a women who happens to be a character.
That sounds just terrible. Just saying they're characters first would have been good enough. LOL....
@@Unworshipediety why does it sound terrible? I’m a woman myself and I don’t see the problem with it😭
@@merlin5662 you’re right!! There’s definitely a place for some characters to focus on the experience of being a woman or female exclusive things, but some writers forget we are still people, and people have personality and interests.
@@MoonlightBrillance 100% It seems that in THIS universe se xism doesn't exist, so it's ok for characters to just exist as they are. There are class issues but no gender-based issues. So you don't need to highlight the female experience. But if you're going to make a movie about suffragettes and they're just bad ass fighters w/o any se xism thrown their way, well, it would just be ignoring the actual conditions and the reason WHY they became suffragettes. Highlight gender/sex has its place within the story. Ignoring it does too in a world that doesn't seem to have se xist structures.
Good video.
Random but i like how Vi is The "pink coded" one but she's like. Not girly or too nice lol
I really love Vi's mix of feminine and masculine traits. She's not sterotypically butch and manly, nor is she oversexualised and girly. It such an honest and realistic representation of womanhood
@@SophiaGunning-g4iikr!! She has power, good reason FOR having that power, yet her goals, actions, and morals still align very femininely (yet not submissively). I love it.
She's not at all pink-coded (her hair is just pink). She's red-coded, the other half to Caitlyn and Jinx who are both blue-coded, but Caitlyn particularly. The Red & Blue dynamic is very popular, especially in queer ships. Ruby & Sapphire from Steven Universe, Korra & Asami from LoK, Keith & Lance from Voltron, Wei Wuxian & Lan Zhan from MDZS, etc.
@ I apologise for my faulty vision.
@xrubyxlightx Sorry to nerd out lol. It was just a first hearing someone call her pink-coded. She & Cait are one of my favorite red/blue ships.
This is what happens when you prioritize writing:
- A strong character, who HAPPENS to be female
vs
- A female character, who HAPPENS to be strong
Wonder Woman fits both of those statements
Well.. they are written by men lol so of course they have depth. When you look at the classical literature, then you will see that most of the amazing women characters were the creation of men writers.
@@Stan-jq8jr That's a very reductionist and narrow-minded way to see things, especially because Amanda Overton, a woman, was one of the lead writers of the show.
what arcane did that an overwhelming majority of movies/shows do is, not write the characters to fit into a box. Not having a box to check allowed for range of strengths and weaknesses. The creativity and storytelling felt organic and unconstrained. I feel like every aspect of this show is masterful and deserves all of the praise.
It's great that the show that had so much money invested in the production also actually has great written characters. It could have been another "rings of power" just a super expensive pretty pile of garbage. For some reason character writing mostly has gone down the drain in entertainmemt
As a man i loved watching arcane. It didnt even occur to me that there were so many well written female characters because they were so good that they were just characters to me and i loved watching their stories unfold.
almost everyone loves the show, because it focuses on their personality, making every viewer able to relate instead of focusing on identity that will seperate and exclude parts of the audience. That's the sad mistake hollywood has been making for the last 10 or so years
You don't even think about it, but I've come to notice that almost every scene is mostly just female characters. And no one should care about that, but it's a testament about how well written the show is that you don't even notice those things, it's just great characters interacting with each other and driving the fascinating plot forward.
Another detail I've noticed for VI that absolutely amplifies her character is a very specific habit she seems to have in her fighting. She very often decides to go for a riskier, more telegraphed hit when she's feeling confident, and gets majorly punished for it. Usually those flashy hits are rewarded in media, but here, everyone is a competant fighter, you can't just leap across the room and expect no interception. And the fact that the mistakes she makes in fighting are so fitting for her character (of course the hotheaded lass would try and go for a knockout punch a bit too early), that combines to make her feel like an exceptional person, not some paragon or mary sue.
Arcane excels in writing in so many places. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Jinx is the most accurate depiction of my mental illness that I have ever seen on screen. I have what is called schizoaffective disorder. Basically bipolar plus schizophrenia. The way it shows her mood swings and the way reality falls apart on her is so accurate. And she's not depicted as a monster because of her mental illness. She's depicted as a scared broken girl doing whatever she can to survive. Most shows that try to tackle my mental illness depict us as monsters. As murderers. When so many of us are just trying to survive. Jinx grew up in a hyper-violent society she learned to survive in that society. Yes she is a confessed murderer but it's not her mental illness that makes her do it. She's not a monster because she's sick she's a monster because of the people who took advantage of her sickness.
Also the animation and sound design of the show do so fucking much for it. Without those little audio touches the show would have failed in the action department. They knew what they were doing and those sound effects give every single punch weight.
I also see a lot of my borderline in her, which makes me feel less lonely😅
I agree 100%, this is such a win for the mentally ill community. It also helps people who aren't mentally ill better understand what it's like cause Jinx's internal struggles are depicted so vividly and authentically. I haven't seen a better portrayal yet and I'll always hold Arcane close because it's so meaningful.
And even better - she's not JUST a broken girl! She's also smart, witty, funny, creative, beautiful... three-dimensional, like a real person.
Jinx is forever my favourite because she helped me accept myself. The mental illness, plus seeing her in Act 1 as a child, when she was the 'weaker' one in the group who messed everything up - that was me (well not to the extent of blowing up a building but... still, I can relate), and I hated myself for so long. Sounds silly but when I saw Jinx after the timeskip in S1 Act 2, I was like HOLY HECK. SHE IS COOL! It may be silly but it kind of showed me that there's more to me than my shortcomings, and that I too, in fact, can be 'cool'.
And even better - she's not JUST a broken girl! She's also smart, witty, funny, creative, beautiful... three-dimensional, like a real person.
Jinx is forever my favourite because she helped me accept myself. The mental illness, plus seeing her in Act 1 as a child, when she was the 'weaker' one in the group who messed everything up - that was me (well not to the extent of blowing up a building but... still, I can relate), and I hated myself for so long. Sounds silly but when I saw Jinx after the timeskip in S1 Act 2, I was like HOLY HECK. SHE IS COOL! It may be silly but it kind of showed me that there's more to me than my shortcomings, and that I too, in fact, can be 'cool'.
When you mentionned the violence almost intrinsic to her character, you have no idea how much this is real. Actually, Vi spent 7 years in prison, and during that period she was implicated in a TON of fight going from blows and fractures, to litteraly murder attempt. She essentially targeted Silco's supporters and other criminals with close or distant links to him. She had the reputation to be a troublemaker so much that new arrivals were advised not to look for it with her. Worse, when Stillwater's director said that he can't count the numbers of time he had a "conversation" with Vi, they also mentionned that, I quote "seems to enjoy these conversations more than them" (the guards) and we can see that when she heard the metal clanging, she seems to prepare herself to fight. Her thirst for sand was truly unstoppable, and when I see the tenderness she shows in s2, I'm pleasantly surprised to see her let her guard down and allow herself to love, protect and be loved.
All these info are from Council Archives, an online event released during the first season.
Anyway, Vi defender since day one, I'm a sucker for this woman and never cease to be in love with her character.
"Vi stands for Violence"
what i absolutely love is how muscular the “street fighter” women are like vi and sevika !!!
And then there is Ambessa, the absolute unit
Omg, yes!
It's like they took a page out of Michelangelo's book and drew women like men. Basically you have men, but in the story we are told they are women. Also, keep in mind all these characters..well.. they are written by men lol so of course they have depth. When you look at the classical literature, then you will see that most of the amazing women characters were the creation of men writers.
Even tho I was not physically able to watch the whole thing yet I still can say one thing: nice video, there's lots of people that don't understand GOOD character design or development. But there are still a lot that do it right!
thank you! I definitely think Arcane does ALL it's female characters so well in S1 💕
I also think what makes them more compelling as characters is that they show their vulnerability. A lot of times strong characters or fighters are written as invulnerable or they don’t show moments of doubt or weakness, which ends up making them one dimensional.
Also if you like good fighting scenes, I think season 2 of Hellbound has the best live action scenes I have seen in years, and it features a female fighter.
This it the main argument I use when I have discussion about what's good and what's bad in certain characters. They need to feel human, not invincible. My favorite character, all media combined is Ellie from The Last of Us. I don't like her because she is a girl or gay. I like her because of her motives/values, strengths and weaknesses. Would the character still work if it was a boy? Would it still work if it was straight? Yes it would. You should never need to to precede the word "character" with "female" or "male" in my opinion. If the character doesn't work, it is most likely about the "character", not the "gender".
They are never sexualised. Well, Mel is seductive so she can get what she wants, but she's never a sexual object. She's in control and manipulative. The women in Arcane are strong, but they all have flaws too.
"Caitlyn should teach Vi about restraint and open-mindedness"
cut to: (SPOILER)
Season 2 Cait who is willing to justify shooting a child to get rid of Jinx, only for Vi to be the one that stops her because she's made that mistake before.
This writing team is so excellent at switching up characters positions in the story, it's incredibly impressive.
season not yet over
@@a.a677 well the whole point is that it's a role reversal from their season 1 selves. I hardly see them re-reversing it AGAIN. if anything, by the end of the season they both learn their lesson, but I do think that dynamic from season 1 will largely be toned down if not gone entirely by the finale.
Could not agree more my brain was the same. They show that people can grow but characters can also regress. Showing how caitlyn really hasn't learned the rough way. Losing her mom made her mad, which something of loss vi had learned to cope with her entire life
Vi watched her parents die and then found Caitlyn and anchored her emotions on her, Cait watched her mother dies and left her emotional anchor that is Vi, act 2/3 will probably show how she then anchors her emotions to Vi making them inseparable like the current league lore
Caitlyn was not shooting at the child. She was going to shoot Jinx. Vi stopped her because she thought what if caitlyn missed.
But in the entire season 1 and act 1 of season 2 , we haven't seen caitlyn miss once. She even shot a gun in the child's hand few moments ago.
I dont think caitlyn would have hurt the child. She is a perfect shot.
We've had a lot of really great videogame adaptations recently, and with great character writing that extends to the women and girls. Arcane, Fallout, Castlevania (even through that does fridge one of its best), Last of Us, Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Carmen San Diego (yeah it's actually pretty good lol). I hope the successes of these shows lead to the right lessons being learned.
Yeah Carmen Sandiego is pretty great didn’t know that it was based on a video game lol
Yep loving this new genre
@@benelz8542 Yeah it was a popular game for 90s macintosh computers originally and then got ported to pc and Amiga.
@@benelz8542 You mean the older one or the newer one?
Zaun was actually the original name of the city in that location...but after the city fell, Piltover was built...OVER Zaun and eventually became what the two communities are now.
the little comments about caitvi are so real lol I LOVE THEM
looooveee this arcane appreciation from ur channel!! ive watched sm video essays on arcane already but i love seeing one from you simply appreciating and putting the spotlight on the amazing female characters
hehe but now I'm annoyed at CAITLYN at the end of E3 (really thought it'd be Vi that I'd continue to be annoyed with)
S2 so far feels very different than S1, so I'm still wrapping my head around it. I think I have to see the other two acts to form my full opinion!
@ I KNOWW people are hating on her soo much for it but i agree we need to watch the whole thing before having any proper official opinions. it is of course amazing so far tho + we got a kiss!!! but at what cost...
@artatmidnight Right now, I find it really interesting how much Caitlyn and Vi's conflict resembles Powder and Vi's at the end of act 3. A moment of weakness caused both Vi (in season 1) and Caitlyn (now) to hurt the people they cared about the most
You're right, the female characters are so well realized in Arcane, all the character types are just perfectly balanced. I love the show for that. All the arcs pay homage to each of them and their evolution, it is extremely well done and so rare that it have to be highlighted.
I was worried I'd have to sit this one out since I havent started second season yet. Thank you for the info in description ❤
This reminds me of another perfect example of a girlboss, Mizu from Blue eyed Samurai. She's basically a perfect example of an female "badass lone swordsmans" archetype that is usually dominated by male characters.
If that's the case, then it's too bad they didn't present it up front. I found myself unable to even watch through the first episode of that show because it just screamed the usual "she's just perfect and better than all men girl boss"
@@Belbecat you should give it another try! Its genuinely one of the only shows I know where they did this type of character right without it feeling like a power fantasy self-insert.
@@Belbecat No, unfortunately Mizu stays a perfect and better than all men girl boss until the end of the season. She's winning ridiculous fights throughout the show, like her (stabbed) against 100+ trained soldiers (in full health). Then she reaches the Big Bad (who is not a trained soldier) and all of a sudden loose her skills enough to make the fight long and interesting enough. It's all very frustrating. The show is not worth it if you're looking for arcane level of writing female fighters.
Mizu is definitely far from perfect. She gets injured in literally almost every fight she has, the only reason she keeps going is because of her hate and anger. She is a character who does the impossible, a person who gets critically wounded every 4 hours but keeps fighting because she is just that spiteful. not because shes a super strong awesome girlboss.
@Anticssc she keeps winning fights despite those injuries and against all odds. It's just magical realism at that point, which does not fit the historical fiction they were trying to go for otherwise. Vi has magic/tech and her fights are still more down to earth and believable than Mizu's. I would have loved blue eye samurai if they had a medical advisor on team to tell them that you physically cannot run with you achilles tendon severed.
In defensive Rey in the first movie, she actually does have a fighting style. She fights with the staff at the beginning, which is a two-handed weapon and we can see that she tries to fight two-handed with a light sabre at first, but a light sabre is a one-handed weapon. So she’s very awkward at the beginning of the fight with Kylo, but she begins to learn by watching him and shifts to a one-handed fighting style
Rey really should have been given a double-bladed lightsaber at some point in the films. It would have been a perfect callback to her staff in The Force Awakens, and helped her stand out from previous heroes like Luke, Anakin, and Ahsoka.
Characters in Arcane regardless of gender, sex, age, colour of skin, actual race as in Human, Vestaya or Yordle, etc are first and foremost, well written characters.
Regardless of whether you root for them or hate them, you understand them.
"Caitlyn should teach Vi about restraint and open mindedness"
......lol. lmao even
season not yet over
@@a.a677 well the whole point is that it's a role reversal from their season 1 selves. I hardly see them re-reversing it AGAIN. if anything, by the end of the season they both learn their lesson, but I do think that dynamic from season 1 will largely be toned down if not gone entirely by the finale.
"Does she know?"
also, i LOVE the fact that on the show their world seems to be ruled more by women than men, and that is showcased in a super natural way too.
the women in kiraman's family who carries their legacy, ambessa ruling over everyone and giving the "power" to another woman (caitlyn), sevika assuming silco's power and sooo many other examples.
I love how they're able to have features usually considered masculine along with deep personalities and stories themselves, while still remaining feminine in a powerful way. My fav show by far
good shows like arcane that do characters so well just show how much blockbusters have lost the plot when it comes to writing female characters. they peaked with Elizabeth Swann.
Elizabeth Swann is everythingggg
Elizabeth Swann works so well as a character in part because she has a traditionally feminine end goal. She WANTS to be married (and presumably fitting the cultural expectation of the time, be a mother). She just doesn't want to be disregarded or pigeonholed. She wants to be taken seriously as a competent individual while also fulfilling a feminine role.
Love Elizabeth Swann🔥
I’m bi with a preference for men but Vi reminds me of just how crazy awesome masc women are and that no, I am not straight 😂
Like I lowkey have a lil crush on Vi and the scene where she calls Kate “cupcake”, dude I ACTUALLY had to take like a 30 minute or so break from the show to calm down omg-
I'd argue that in a way it's easier in animation to have a character who has a unique fighting style than it is when you are working with real life people/actors. You can just add so much detail to animation that just gets lost when it's done real people.
it´s never about gender, it´s always about writing. A well writen badass character is always that, no matter whats between their pants.
I know you're not a League player or anything, but I'd actually love to see you break down how the girls are presented in KDA. The music videos give them each a good bit of personality, especially their solo ones. Stuff like how super feminine Evelynn is in a loud ass muscle car, for example.
They are not only girlbosses also individuals and not only women emotionally bond with the characters also men can emotionally bound with them and find a piece of themselves in these characters. All of them have their personalities and it makes them uniqe
Arcane has to be for me the best first season I ever experienced in a show, jinx oh jinx, the feeling of being a constant disappointment and while trying to prove other wise messing up even more , vi reminds me of a girl that used to be in my old gym super supportive with the best one liners and got that jump rope rhythm
sending this to my arcane obsessed friends bc i don’t watch the show but i LOVE your video essays/analyses so hopefully they’ll like them also!
04:17 it’s actually pretty much canon in the game itself, hence why warwick (Vander) asks Vi during their battle: "Who taught you how to punch?"
All the characters in Arcane have moments where they win and lose. They all have strengths and weaknesses. They all are written to the highest standard of any show I've ever seen.
i love your analysis videos. they are structured so well. keep it up.
thank u so much! I really loved making this one 🩷
when in a show you just love the characters regardless of gender/age/race/pov, its because they are well written. Arcane is a masterpiece
Jinx and Mel are my favs! Like god I love compex characters
Well.. they are written by men lol so of course they have depth. When you look at the classical literature, then you will see that most of the amazing women characters were the creation of men writers.
I love seeing this topic discussed by an actual woman and not an angry misguided man 😭 this is a fabulous video!! ❤
You forget to mention Ambassa, she's so well written that you can tell, at first introduction, that this is someone you don't want to miss with on any level 😅. She's imposing, strong and smart. Glittered with scars showing you she's been forged from war and numerous battles.
As a lifelong marvel fan, i couldn't wipe the grin off my face whenever watching the arcane girlie's box. The little girl in me was delighted because! They're fighting plot important fights!!! And they're cool!!! And theyre WOMEN like me!!! Representation in a genre i love is always incredible
"doesn't seek violence"
First thing we learn about her prison stay (even before we learn it's her) is that she beats anyone associated with Silco into a pulp
THANK YOU!
For Posting about Arcane! As a Developer in the Game Industry it is crazy, what they have achieved! Not only the estetics, but the story telling!
I hope people give this show a chance... Now that this will be the final season.
❤
Hell yea!! Arcane coverage! Season 2 has been a blast, can’t wait for act 3 this weekend.
When vi punches her childhood building in season 1, it's so strong BECAUSE she drank the shimmer. She's strong but it's to show what's possible with shimmer and why all of those people are so addicted to it. It's very much a reflection of what steroids do to people iRL
Yeah, Arcane knows how to write their women. Even Caitlyn's mom, Cassandra (r.i.p.), had a badass moment. When the two returned to the Mansion, they sneaked and made some commotion in Caitlyn's room. Now, you'd think she'd fetch the guards to go check the room, but no, she actually took a rifle, kicked the door, and stormed inside, looking like she's ready to shoot anyone and anything that moves. And only a few episodes back, we just saw this old lady enjoying her tea while reprimanding her daughter for her life choices, like how a concerned mother would. Next thing you know, that loving mother just turned up and became the deadliest person in the room. And somehow, you actually believe she is.
Can’t wait for you talk about season 2 cause the stuff in act 1 alone is simply crazy and I love it!
8:49 I love that action shot. You can feel the sudden impact and oh boy does it look like it hurts.
HOW DARE UA-cam HIDE THIS FROM ME FOR 51 SECONDS??
Wow... **Looks around** Never been this ealy before.
First off love the video, and omg yes I love that you brought up fighting style, because it is such a glaring issue in a lot of movies and shows tv shows. And the fighting style gives so much personality to the character. My personal favorite fighting style to watch has always been wonder woman (animated version) because of how long she’s lived, she’s known as like the best melee fighter. And you can see how she uses her body to it potential and how she get out of grapples and how she uses her legs. And it’s a different fighting style to other characters like Batman who’s more slick with his movements (at least in the iterations i’ve seen) and Superman who is more brute strength and boxer style. Anyway this is too long. Love the vid lol 😅
I gotta say, I have seen many MANY videos praising Arcane for their writing but this is the first time a video makes me comprehend what actually makes any characters compelling in a writing sense. Thank you, I will use your review as also a guide.
Great video. I think I was recommended this because I've watched a lot of Schnee, who is so good. I really like the take you have here and your perspective. You carefully negotiated a way to criticize the Mary Sue trope without injecting manosphere anti-woke elements (there's a lot of attention to be had out there if you are a woman who is willing to spew all of that).
Your point about how it's not really any better to go from arguing that women have to be perfect Barbie dolls to having to be perfect action figures is such a clear and concise way to put it. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your content. :)
Unfortunetly in the actual game Vi and Caitlyn are just eyecandy :/ their design in the show is such an improvement from the game
Eeeh. Vi is. Cait has been a more fully realized character for a while and her ASU just cemented it.
Great video and I'm really happy it exists but I just had to comment about how much I giggled when you said how vocal she is cause as a person who's played her for over 10 years, girl you have no idea. Since she has this ability on a 1 sec cooldown and her playstyle is more pve rather than pvp focused, all I hear for approximately 30 minutes every 1 second is HYEAHHHH HYAAHHH HAAAAHHHH RAAAHHH
One minor correction to the correction. What Vi uses would be considered a Cestus (cesti plural?) which are gloves specifically designed to cause damage as hand weapons. Gauntlets are generally considered to be armored gloves, capable of increased damage but not specifically designed to do so.
Edit: Further research has divulged that some definitions of the Cestus describe them as "weighted gauntlets". So I stand corrected on my correction to your correction.
PLEASEE make more videos on Arcane!! I am a huge fan of your video essays and I love your insight into this masterpiece of a show
I can't wait to see what videos you make on S2 it's already so interesting
This was an excellent video. I’m excited to hear what you thought about S2!
16:27, I was initially hesitant to watch the series based on the trailers because the plot seemed like it'd be a simple revenge tale between Vi and Silco, but her unwittingly sharing in the blame of what happens to Powder along with Silco intentionally manipulating her into his loyal enforcer was a welcome addition, as was this series' other nuanced and deep characters with complex perspectives on the events of the narrative.
OMGG this was such an interesting and fun video to watch!!! I love how you explained how the character's backstory explains their current personality and their fighting style. I can't wait to start season 2 and listen to your video about it in the future!! Thank you for making such amazing videos!!
The women in Arcane are the fucking shit and I love all of them.
absolutely adore your videos! keep them up💜✨👑
Literally said everything I was thinking! You should totally do a season 2 vid because holy shit it’s just as good and I’d love to hear what you have to say!
Your voice is so soothing !
Thank you for another great video as always !!
Characters need weaknesses. Weaknesses create conflicts. Conflicts create interest. Interest creates better feelings about the series
I love your review so so much, I want to watch it a million times. it's so incredibly charming and I feel you 100%. I could watch vi's fight scenes a million times. it's so strange to watch a portrayal of women as a woman and instead of feeling insulted and inadequate, I feel inspired. Vi is my favourite character...maybe ever.
Thank you for your perfect analysis. I hope to see some of it for season 2 :)
btw I also love how you describe her motivations as feminine and maternal and her execution as stereotypically male. that puts it so so well
@@paulaogawadefinitely check out schee's video on the matter! I thought it had some more depth, and I believe that's where she got the point of feminine vs masculine motivations vs method of obtaining. I love he also pointed out mel has a "masculine motivation" of amassing political power and preparing for war (season 1 at least) but a feminine method of obtaining it through active listening, seduction, soft pressure, ect ect. I try not to categorize everything in that binary because I find it gets pretty restrictive, but it's fun for analysis from time to time
@ I have already watched all Schnees videos about arcane and you’re right they are fantastic. I love the one about how they write women (also men). And as you said it’s not that easy to just categorize every aspect but he does a very good job of saying exactly that.
Can't wait for your thoughts about season 2! Everybody changed a lot especially Caitlyn so I'm curious how you'll tackle it.
The parallel between "the perfect Barbie" and "the perfect warrior" is best critique I've seen against poorly written girlboos. Calling it simply poor writing wans't getting the message across.
Rey : "Imma the Apex girl boss."
Vi : "I'm about to end that girl's career."
LOVE the video! I was wondering whether you took schnee‘s video „How ARCANE Writes Women“ as an inspiration for some of the points you made . If that‘s the case a reference somewhere (in the description maybe?) would be nice. :) Whether you used it as a reference or not I just wanted to mention that I love the amount of effort you put into properly researching the topics of your videos! ❤
i love that video! I watched it when it was first released, but I specifically did not use it as a reference here, as i wanted to ensure my opinions were my own (I believe he talks about subverting writing tropes for ALL female characters, whereas I specifically wanted to analyze Vi's character in depth). however, I am not surprised if we overlapped a bit. I think it's a great idea to add his video in the description for further learning though! thanks for the idea 🩷
Don’t forget about blue eye samurai and frieren!!!!! So many good stuff this year alone!
Phenomenal analysis of a remarkable show. I'm writing this after Act 1 of Season 2 has been released, and oh man, the complexities and dynamics between Vi, Jinx, and Caitlyn, in particular, have gotten richer than ever. I don't know where the whole story will go, but I will be glued to my TV every Friday for the next two weeks. And I'm positive you will have plenty of juicy material to analyze.
They not writing female characters they are writing characters who ARE female. That's the difference I've realized watching the show. Making a balanced character with the design coming as a result is what Arcane works with. Vi's og design doesn't look anything like her. The changes are beautiful
I was waiting for an Arcane video with your impeccable taste
I am really happy I found your video! I have watched many analysis about Arcane female characters but it's the first time I get recommended a video analysis from a woman creator :')
I came here to make an announcement, your channel and especially your videos are sooooo cozy, i love it
LoL has so many cool female characters and I'm so happy people have gotten interested in them thanks to Arcane
Fantastic video! would absolutely love to see more, What are your opinions on schnee's video covering the same topic by the way?
I love Arcane ❤️! Thank God the writers Arcane justice on their female characters
Just finished first 3 of season 2 and boy, the characters in this series are perfect. Would love to see the update of this video with season 2 materials
Release the 5 minute rave about that scene! Years later and it gives me the same chilllsssss
omg i can't wait to watch this while im drawing! i love arcane, and i love seeing people talk about it :)
What I love about Vi is that she’s tough as nails but not perfect, she takes a hit but will get right back on her feet. That and she never berates characters like Jayce
What I’ve been thinking for a long time. Super excited that others see it too.
The umm at 17:51 is sending me into orbit
The reason Daenerys going mad didn't work is because the show abused time skips. The time between Missandei being killed and Daenerys burning Kings Landing is multiple months at least 4-5 however because of the show being limited in time it seems like it happens straight away. Daenerys' fall into madness just didn't have the time it should have because the show runners wanted to end the show as soon as possible because they had been hired to do a starwars film so they rushed game of thrones not caring how it ended as obvious by all the plot holes in the final season which led to it being trash which led to disney firing them from starwars and thus ruining their reputation and credibility.
PERFECT TIMING!!! watched S2 so far and i got so fucking sad at the end man :( GOD! the complexity of each character is so heartbreaking considering what happens all around them. Please cover s2!!!!
Now there are alot of videos about Jinx, and with good reason, but this was a really good video about Vi and a very needed one. During this when you referred to strong characters with weaknesses I kept thinking about two of the greatest action characters of all time Indiana Jones and Rocky Balboa, these two characters aren't perfect fighters who win all the time, they get hit.. alot and they get hurt... alot, but they still kept pushing forward. And with Rocky particularly it's also emotional too, this is what makes great character!
"The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!” -Rocky Balboa
"It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage" -Indiana Jones
P.S.
It's interesting that you called Caitlyn Anti-Vi, I've heard alot of people think of her as the Anti-Jinx, two blue haired gun girls who fill an important emotional spot in Vi's life, one is extremely chaotic the other very rational, one poor one rich, one breaks the law and the other upholds it, and Jinx see how close her and Vi are and trys to force Vi to make a choice between the two of them.
P.P.S.
I personally believe that Ekko is the anti-Jinx and Sevika is the anti-Vi.
Great video, I thinks it's hard not to love Vi.....she is an awesome, incredible character. The whole show is just awesome. Thanks for the video.
This video was great and I'd love if you made another analysis because as you said there is so more you could talk about with this show
3:19 *10 years. Also, didn’t The Boys and Blue Eye Samurai break this mold, too?
THE QUEEN ANALYZING ARCANE??
the funny part is.... in the old game, Cait was just the sexy "police cosplay hottie", people even used to say that she was modeled after an adult "actress", lol cait even has a joke about "fuzzy handcuffs"... Vi was the result of those "pink haired lesbian karens" memes.... th game was all about memes
Nowadays, women in League are superpowerful rulers of nations or very powerful fighters, in majority most of them occupy positions of power