Often underrated and even more ignored than their film counterparts, animated shows have always been a staple of television. But the boundaries of both the children’s and adult animation subgroups have unfortunately often homogenized these series. What about the crude humor of those who turn their noses up at animation? Family guy all different from the slapstick comedy of The Simpsons? How impressive is Rebecca Sugar? Steven Universe stand apart from the equally moving She-Ra and the Princesses of Power or The Owl House? But when Arcane Debuting in 2021, with the confident audacity to be released in a three-week “act” structure on the quintessential binge-or-bust Netflix, the magnum opus of animated television challenged audiences to try to look away.
But for Netflix, it’s all-in Arcane was one no brainerwith a long history of creative, risky animation projects to his name (and Riot Games relatively speaking, pay a large part of the bill). The important difference between Arcane and the series that has come before and since is Netflix letting creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee tell the story they wanted to tell in its entirety, with few concessions. While Netflix has undeniably had its fair share of animated hits over the years (Bojack Rider And Big mouth immediately comes to mind), the animation offering beyond these highlights is, quite frankly, scattered, resulting in a proverbial graveyard of creative animated triumphs and misses that ultimately failed to gain a firm foothold in the crowded catalog of the world’s largest streamer.
Like everything else on Netflix, the animation offering is mostly a hodgepodge of ‘content’ thrown at the wall to see what sticks, produced solely to generate subscriptions. Once a series fails to bring new eyes to the service, it becomes expendable. Blue-eyed samurai may be a bona fide hit for now, but will only become less valuable to the growth-driven streamer over time, likely resulting in an early cancellation. But unlike abandoned projects such as The Midnight Gospel and underexposed masterpieces such as Scott Pilgrim leavesNetflix (unusually – again, probably with a strong boost from collaborator Riot Games) believed in Arcaneenough to give the series a number of Emmy wins, consistent viewership from season 1 to season 2, and a stunningly executed story from start to finish.
And really, the story Arcane spins over those measly 18 episodes are nothing short of brilliant. Following the tragedy of two doomed sisters, Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell), this series takes on the lore of Competition and transforms it into a moving examination of the basest human emotions, contrasted with the most bastardized, hellish horrors. Centering on anger, lust, love and sadness, these beacons of humanity battle greed, belligerence, fear and artificial homogenization, turning into a meticulously animated love letter to the messiness and beauty of humanity in one stunning package. The first season of the series started with heartache and tragedy, and the anguish these main characters endure never really stops until the end credits of season 2 roll. Arcane admirably never becomes entirely masochistic, with the season’s final act devoting as much time to the poignant, moving connections between these complex characters as it does to bloodshed and battle.
In the first of ArcaneIn the three-episode finale, titled “Pretend Like It’s the First Time,” Ekko (Reed Shannon) and Heimerdinger (Mick Wingert) are trapped in an alternate reality where Vi died during the sisters’ ill-conceived robbery, leaving the dead prevent. from their father and their friends, and made sure Powder never turned into Jinx. What follows is a beautiful dance between Ekko and Powder as they flirt and bicker within the confines of their working relationship and this strange situation Ekko finds herself in. The episode as a whole acts as a reprieve, contrasting this pulsating, heartwarming expression of connection and love against Jayce’s (Kevin Alejandro) journey through a hell of his own creation. Arcane has always been about the enigmatic power of the Arcane and the greater whims and machinations of war, separation and greed, but more than that, this series’ voracious devotion to these quiet, humanizing moments between its central players brings this beautifully untouchable world into play. tangible reach.
As Caitlyn (Katie Leung) states in her final monologue in the aftermath of their hard-fought battle, “With every loss we found some light, something good worth fighting for.” And it is Arcane‘s hope and belief in the power of humanity and connection that culminates in the art that lights up the screen. Like Ekko and Powder’s endearing dance, Vi and Caitlyn get their own electric moment, again contrasting the brazenness and nervous anticipation of the act. The war-torn tension is replaced with teasing banter as these two can finally shed their armor and just be together after outside forces kept them apart. While it may seem like blatant fan service to throw a sex scene in the middle of preparation for all-out war, the scene’s meticulous intimacy offers yet another example of what all this bloodshed, heartache, and war is really for – what’s the point? risking life and limb to protect the sanctity of human connection and emotion when you can’t pull that thread with someone you love?
While some called this season “indulgent,” they criticized the music video-esque moments and slow pace of this inevitable, bloody conflict, Arcane‘s penchant for transforming universal emotions into big, bombastic sequences or heartbreaking slow-motion tributes is exactly why this series is as captivating as it is. Episode 4’s “Paint the Town Blue” sequence is the distillation of hatred, rebellion, hope and fear, communicating so much through splashes of blue spray paint and riotous stylization. Caitlyn transforms into a revenge-driven leader; Isha stokes the flames of hope in a newly invigorated nation; Jinx becomes a larger-than-life figurehead for a rebellion she never expected – all communicated without dialogue and with a barrage of black-and-white images. And two episodes later, when Isha sacrifices herself to save her newly formed family, the watercolor flow of her short life with Jinx, aptly titled “Isha’s Song” in the background, captures the fleeting beauty of life’s most precious moments.
Arcane spends time on these pauses and pauses in the propulsive story because they are the most important of the series. Certainly, it’s interesting and fun to learn more about the mysterious Arcane, delve deeper into Zaunian politics, or watch Piltover crumble into violent regimes. But Arcane‘s insistence on leaving audiences with the characters’ deepest emotions, splashed with color and illustrated to perfection, demonstrates this series’ commitment to humanity more than any moving piece of dialogue or lore ever could. For every meticulously animated quirk in the corner of every mouth that graces the screen, for every eyeball that flickers with emotion beneath the painterly, captivating style that has become synonymous with this series, Arcane states that art itself is humanity, and emphasizes that through the bright love injected into every animated frame.
While the three years between seasons 1 and 2 were nothing short of tortuous, the end result is too stunning and moving to argue with. From the brutality of battle to the tear-jerking weight of empathy and sacrifice, Arcane‘s beauty, success and perseverance – both within the fictional world and beyond – is nothing short of a miracle, delivering us, blessed viewers, a story that combats the growing threat of AI and callousness, and reminds us that humanity and kindness present everywhere at every turn for those with keen eyes to see.
From start to finish, Arcane used his animated prowess to tell a relatively small, human story about two sisters who work together and fall apart as they try to make the world a better place, and his artful dedication to his characters, his style, his content and his heart transformed it into a unique wonder unmatched by anything else on TV. Whatever happens for Netflix’s partnership with Riot Games and the League of Legends tradition, Arcane has cemented its place as a genre-defining project and changed television animation for the better by daring to dream in vibrant, resounding color.