REVIEW: Arcane S2
It’s been a few years since Arcane dropped seemingly out of nowhere on Netflix to universal acclaim. With a near perfect audience score and praise for its story, voice acting, music, and phenomenal visuals, the series inspired by the League of Legends game became one of the most watched tv series on the planet and so there has been a lot of hype for the second, and final, season. Just like in the first season, Arcane S2 has been crafted with love and an attention to detail that makes it stand out in an animation field of greats (Blue Eye Samurai, Castlevania, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners) and ends on a high.
[image error]Arcane S2 picks up right where the first season left off. There’s barely time to breathe as we witness the aftermath of Jinx’s attack on Piltover. We see how her actions have consequences that will bleed over all our beloved characters with Caitlyn’s mum’s funeral the following scene as Piltover demands revenge on the anarchist just after peace between the two seemed a possibility. Vi’s guilt for Jinx feeds into all her actions as she struggles to keep Caitlyn from being consumed by the hate and despair threatening to take over and it is difficult to see all the characters in the show repeatedly faced with such difficulties, there never seems to be a moments peace and this is in line with the almost relentless pace of the show as it doesn’t really slow down until the second act as we hit episode 4. Here, we see Jinx almost peaceful as she cares for younger girl and the undercity has taken to dying their hair blue and worship her as an almost cult-like figure with the memory of her being larger than life. The pace of the show does make it a bit difficult to pause and take things in and process the changes to the characters (such as Jinx’s sudden shift) but the quality of writing and voice work works around this and keeps the audience invested.
There is a lot packed into Arcane S2. Time jumps, parallel dimensions, time travel, magic – there’s a lot to pack in but amongst all the action and chaos, the series remembers that the show puts the characters through grimdark hell because it wants to bear its heart. It remembers to slow down at the right times to remind its audience to care and there are beautiful scenes with gut-wrenching emotion that make it all the more difficult to watch when you see characters made decisions that you know will lead them on a dark path and away from happiness. The series teases happy endings and shows you what could have been but this is a dark world full of fighting and anarchy and the joy shown is fleeting but it makes it all the more beautiful for that.
Of course, the art direction and visuals in Arcane S2 are stunning. The numbers spoken about regarding the cost of the show is insane but it has paid off. This is the best-looking thing on TV at the moment (take note Rings of Power) and the action is fluid and brutal at all times. The voice cast is top notch and the fabulous cast really do bring such raw emotion and nuance to the characters across the show and you can tell that they ahve taken the time to truly understand their characters in order to pull of such stunning performances.
Arcane S2 is a masterpiece of the streaming era and rare in that it has a definitive ending after two seasons. The brutality is relentless but so is the beauty. Whilst the Arcane S2 could have used a few more moments to breathe, the overall series is a near perfect show with one of the best stories ever written. If you haven’t started it yet, what are you waiting for?
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