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Arcane: Season 2 |OT|

CastorSoze

Neo Member
Just started a rewatch of season 1 tonight. Planned on doing it before season 2 dropped and thought I still had time.
 

CastorSoze

Neo Member
Not for this. Season 1 was released in 2021 so forgetting a lot is understandable if haven't watched it since then.
 
Damn the show's visual is peak.
Arcane and Spiderverse art style are my favorite of all time.
And the action in Part 1 is really good. Can't wait until next Saturday.
 
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killatopak

Gold Member
We watched S1 as a family. We’re pretty much hyped for S2.

My sisters and cousins literally have gone from having no interest in League to playing it. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not XD. They prefer Valorant though.
 

Fbh

Member
First episode was great.
The story is still engaging, the characters are still great and it still looks amazing. If the rest of the season keeps up this quality I think this will cement its position as the best gaming adaptation IMO.

My only complain, as with S1, is that I think the licensed music isn't necessary and feels out of place.
 

Jinxed

Member
If the rest of the season keeps up this quality I think this will cement its position as the best gaming adaptation IMO.
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Yep, Arcane is still incredible. Amazing what you can get when you give a talented studio the time they need.

I do think they went a bit overboard with the art style shifts, but otherwise the first part of season 2 is A+. Having these 3-episode bursts each week is a nice way to release them.
 

ssringo

Member
I recall giving the first season a shot. Wasn't really hooked by the end of the first episode and didn't watch further. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood at the time. I should give it another chance.

As an aside I'm not a big fan of girls with tattoos but I find Jinx quite hot.
 

Fbh

Member
Finally had the time to watch the other 2 episodes, which were just as good as the first one.
Not only is the story still great but the production values are off the charts. Every episode looks and feels like I'm watching a feature film

I recall giving the first season a shot. Wasn't really hooked by the end of the first episode and didn't watch further. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood at the time. I should give it another chance.

As an aside I'm not a big fan of girls with tattoos but I find Jinx quite hot.

Definitely give it another shot. I'd argue the first episode is one of the weaker ones.
 
Really interested to see if they can stick the landing.....if the series is indeed ending, there are a LOT of loose plot threads to tie up in these last 3 episodes:
    • What happened to Heimerdinger and Ekko?
    • How will the conflict between Piltover and Zaun be resolved? What will happen with Ambessa?
    • Where will Jinx and Vi's relationship land? Or Caitlyn and Vi's?
    • What exactly caused Jayce to turn so violently anti-Hextech, and where does he go from here?
    • Is Viktor really dead?
    • Is Warwick dead, and if not, is Vander's mind completely lost now? What becomes of Singed?
    • What will happen with Mel and Black Rose?
    [*]
 

pachura

Member
Started watching season 2... definitely too much happening too fast on too many fronts. Fights were also more "orderly" and easier to follow in S01.

But indeed, this is the best animated film since Into the Spiderverse (Across... was ridiculously glitchy, didn't like it that much).
 
Act 2 was pretty shite compared to act 1, don’t care about jinx jnr and the plot was going too fast in act 1 so wasting three episodes on a boring detour for act 2 gave me whiplash
 
Shit take.

bringing back dead characters then killing them off a second time just.. feels like a waste of plot time.

And jinx jnr literally served no purpose other than a plot device for jinx and vi to mend their relationship, she wasn’t even a complete character, didn’t speak, and most of her scenes were just doing a very unsubtle “hey look this little girl is like jinx in her flashbacks from season 1” - was obvious she was going to die.
 
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Jinxed

Member
bringing back dead characters then killing them off a second time just.. feels like a waste of plot time.

And jinx jnr literally served no purpose other than a plot device for jinx and vi to mend their relationship, she wasn’t even a complete character, didn’t speak, and most of her scenes were just doing a very unsubtle “hey look this little girl is like jinx in her flashbacks from season 1” - was obvious she was going to die.
1st point - directly related to lore in LoL

2nd point - plot device, uh obviously and it was done brilliantly

He was right, shit take
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Somehow I think this is going to all be explained as just parallel universe mumbo jumbo.

They took some major liberties with Warwick to the point he may as well have not been called that. Especially since there is a whole trailer for how Warwick came to be in his champion trailer all those years ago.

It just feels like it’s going to be some hex tech is the cause of rifts to parallel plains. The void, summoners rift, wild rift, etc.
 
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Reactions: Fbh

Fbh

Member
I thought act 2 was great though I do agree I liked act 1 better. There was a bit of a shift in the story that felt a bit too fast paced for me but overall it's still great.
I do think they have a lot of ground to cover and lots of story threads to tie up with just 3 episodes left. But hopefully they pull it off.
 

taizuke

Member
As much as i love this show and as much as i'm loving the new season, i agree that it may be moving a bit too fast. Plus, not a fan of their montage music videos as that also cuts down the story. I think one or two (maybe even three) during the entire season is fine, but not when almost every episode has two.

This is just some minor criticisms i have. I think Arcane is the best show on Netflix.
 
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The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
Aaand finally done. Unsure how to feel about the ending and what transpired. Feels like I've seen this stuff all over again
time travel ending, alternate reality, fixing the future, sacrifice,
all of these are extremely generic tropes which is a huge minus compared to the first season....still a great show, but I dont think it surpassed my expectations or reached them. It was a good ending, I guess an 8/10
 
Love love loved the last act, I'll admit it felt like Jinx directed it, chaotic, unpredictable and maybe went a bit too hard at times in one direction rather than playing it safe, but it landed it's emotional blows, just seeing some of the screengrabs etc on reddit afterwards, hits me in the feels with hextek gloves.

One thing I'll really praise in hindsight having seen the entire story arch now is how good the whole ensemble cast is, even at the last episode it's like, I know who I should side with at times, but it's so hard when even the "villains" have depth and shades of grey and are just entertaining as fuck in their own way. When it cut to different characters, or went on a sub-story, I was like "awesome, now I get to see x for a bit" rather than "where is jinx! this should be the jinx show!!"

Spoiler thoughts..
- I thought Mel coming up with the plan to defeat both her mother, and her mothers enemies at the same time for that bittersweet ending was very clever, totally expected the mother to just die off screen to that dumb character we only met one episode ago, but nope, they found a better bittersweet way

- Jayce haters feeling stupid, as they should, fuck them.

- Old alternative universe Viktor saving (prime) universe from current Viktor's naivety via Jayce actually made sense, considering Viktors constant almost exponential growth, him ultimately just realising it's just not worth it was far more interesting than the possible trope endings, and it's not like we didn't get some awesome fights still.

- The relationship between Vi and Kat felt genuine rather than tokenism, and the Ekko and Powder episode was so sad to watch, my boy Ekko probably gave up the most and still had the roughest ending all things considered

- The evil dr basically had his cake and ate it, have to respect that swag.
 
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Fbh

Member
The ending, just like the second season as a whole, had some issues but I think ultimately it was still great and really enjoyable.
The pacing and overall focus of the story was all over the place, and I agree with The Cockatrice The Cockatrice that I was a disappointed when it started leaning heavily into some really generic tropes. Direction wise I think they overdid it a bit with the music montages (it's a cool concept for every now and then...not like twice per chapter) and the action, while still great, could have benefited from holding the shots a bit longer like the first seasons instead of fast cuts and tons of Snyder style slow mo.

All that said, it still delivered an engaging story, great characters, fantastic visuals and solid action, so ultimately it reached what I felt was a compelling ending.
I also can't praise the visuals enough. I honestly think this is the best produced TV show ever, I've never seen something that has so consistently made me feel like I was watching a proper movie tier production.
It actually makes me sad animation isn't more popular, because we could get so many incredible adaptations with these levels of production values if there actually was a bigger market for higher budget projects like Arcane.

There was this article making the rounds some weeks ago about how both seasons (including marketing) cost something around $250 million and how expensive it is. But I see it the other way around, look what a visual spectacle you can make with $250 mill using animation, all with a unique style and visual cohesion you'll never get with live action and setpieces that you'd need to spend 10X more to look half as decent. A single episode of fucking Rings of Power costs like $60 million.
 

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
I genuinely consider Arcane one of, if not the best thing, I've ever watched. This isn't a hot take either.... this take has been years in the making. I don't know how the hell they pulled this off. In my opinion, they didn't make a single mistake. Feels so cathartic to have a story (and everything else) that actually has a satisfying conclusion.
 

Jinxed

Member
I genuinely consider Arcane one of, if not the best thing, I've ever watched. This isn't a hot take either.... this take has been years in the making. I don't know how the hell they pulled this off. In my opinion, they didn't make a single mistake. Feels so cathartic to have a story (and everything else) that actually has a satisfying conclusion.
I agree, what an incredible show. Just perfect from the first to last episode. It's definitely the best animated project I've ever seen. I'm gonna miss this universe
 
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Mozart36

Neo Member
It really is an amazing show. I loved every minute of it. But I feel so empty now. I need more Jinx, Vi, Cait, Jayce, Viktor. I just need more...
One think, that would make me a little happier at the end would be if ...
When Ekko is sitting on the edge at the end (where he kissed Powder from another universe if I'm not mistaken) it would be great if there was some slight hint, that Jinx/Powder is there behind the camera or something. For example some sound from behind the camera or a glimpse of a shadow of someone, so Ekko would just look over his shoulder. Nothing more. Just a hint she came for him (ofc viewer would have to guess that it was her). Then when we see the airship flying away at the end (that Powder in S1E1 said she will ride one day), we could hope she took Ekko with her. Sorry if I'm not explaining it well. I just want to believe she is not alone on that airship and seeing Ekko at the end was just so sad, because he sacrificed a lot and literally was the reason it ended good so he deserves good ending for him too.
 
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LordOfChaos

Member
I'll say it was still good, act 1 and 2 had more hype moments, but act 3 seemed scattered with pacing issues and unresolved plots for a "final" season. Things that needed more time weren't given more time but we were given a 3 minute hot lesbian jail cell makeout scene just when her suicidal sister left lol. It was almost weird how long it went on avoiding so much as a boob but clearly seeing Vi eating her out lol.

Season 1 was a masterclass, almost perfect pacing. This was still good, but I'm somewhat let down compared to what it could have been. I think the whole Ambessa conflict should have been a whole season and then resolving the Arcane, Victor etc a final season 3, give every character a proper ending such an amazing show deserves, but like GoT they wanted to end it in this one. Not saying they GoT messed it up to the point an appetite for a rewatch is gone, again I'm saying if season 1 was a 10 season 2 was maybe an 8.7, higher in act 1 and 2 and lower in 3

It seems likely there will be another LoL series, just not Arcane season 3 as they've said this is the end, but maybe we can see
Jinx's probable survival
there
 
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Just finished the last episode. What a wild ride. Though I do think some of the plotlines in season 2 needed more room to breathe, they somehow managed to bring most of them to a satisfying conclusion.

I havent finished yet but its massively disappointing to see the show go into "alternate universe" crap, I am bone tired of this trope.

It is overused these days, but I don't mind when it's used for a meaningful narrative purpose, rather than just being thrown in for the sake of it. I rather liked what they did with Ekko, whose experience with alternate future Powder and the invention they build together make it possible for him to see past his disillusionment and connect with Jinx in the main timeline.
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
More often than not stories die when time travel or alternative universes are introduced in them.

I think Dark was good, but Arcane pretty much copied Dark which is why I felt they pulled a generic sci-fi trope. You could see from miles away once they introduce time travel, who the figure in the hood was. Still a great show overall. I think the background took a nosedive compared to the 1st season. Felt more 2D than actual 3D.

Singed won the match tho. Never go up against a Singed in top lane.
 
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John Bilbo

Member
I think Dark was good, but Arcane pretty much copied Dark which is why I felt they pulled a generic sci-fi trope. You could see from miles away once they introduce time travel, who the figure in the hood was. Still a great show overall. I think the background took a nosedive compared to the 1st season. Felt more 2D than actual 3D.

Singed won the match tho. Never go up against a Singed in top lane.
For me best time travel stories have been Back to the Future, Groundhog's Day, Time traveler's Wife and the one action movie with Tom Cruise in it. Basically stories that are designed with time travel in mind from the get go.

I very much liked the first and second season of Dark but after that I started to lose interest in it and grew to hate the pretentious endless dialogue of the show.
 

Jinxed

Member


This 11 years old music video was interesting to watch after the show. The visual style is a similar combination of 2D drawing and 3D animation.

Yeah, Fortiche have their unique style. They also worked for Gorrillaz back in the days.

Can't wait for their next project, it will be hard to top the best animated series of all time
 
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