Arcane Season One Review (Spoiler-Filled)

As the streaming wars have picked up, there has been a push for more animated series than ever before, which includes basing these series on comics, like Dead Endia and Hilda, or on video games, like the upcoming Earthworm Jim series. The latter is the case for the nine-episode-long Arcane, a science fantasy and action-adventure story, adapted from a multiplayer game called League of Legends – and is for those over age 16, with language, violence, smoking, blood, and death. This series, which has become a smash hit for Netflix, ranking at the top of the charts for the streaming platform, has been renewed for a second season due to the intense audience interest.

Arcane is a relatively simple story within a bigger framework, with a main cast consisting of eight individuals. One of the primary stories is the separation of two sisters: Vi (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx/Powder (voiced by Ella Purnell). They are on different sides of a war between the Zaun under city and Piltover, a well-off, utopian paradise. This story is interlinked with the rise of Jayce Talis (voiced by Kevin Alejandro), who works with Viktor (voiced by Harry Lloyd) to control magic and make it usable to those in the upper city. Silco (voiced by Jason Spisak) takes in Jinx, while Caitlyn Kiramman (voiced by Katie Leung) is tasked by Jayce with tracking down Vi, leading to her traveling to the under city. There’s also Ekko (voiced by Reed Shannon), an under city fighter who helps Caitlyn and Vi, the under city crime lord Vander (voiced by JB Blanc), and another member of the council, Mel Medarda (voiced by Toks Olagundoye).

My personal taste in animation is wide, and as a result, I tend to not watch many animations that are very realistic in their depiction of characters, like the mature French animated film, I Lost My Body or the animated series Undone, with its rotoscoping. I also tend to give those who work on such shows wide latitude, as the way that characters tend to be depicted or presented is not why I usually dislike shows. Arcane was no exception to this. Critics have praised the show for its blend of computer-generated and hand-drawn animation. And truly, this is one of the series’ strongest elements, something which other animated series fail at. I liked the steampunk feel of the upper city, reminding me of Steamland in Disenchantment – with deep detail put into each frame with nothing wasted. This includes the Hexgates, amazing visuals shown in each episode, and the action and fight scenes. I hope that the Arcane crew were well-paid because a lot of blood, sweat, and tears were put into making this series.

Arcane is a story which has three distinct acts, setting its story up more like a play than a television series. The story begins in the under city, introducing viewers to Vi, Jinx (then named Powder), Vander, and their whole crew, as they fight against a crime lord, Silco. Vander has an agreement with the Enforcers of the under city, not wanting to cause too much trouble. As you can imagine, this does not go well. Vander is killed by Silco’s goon. Vi is captured. Jinx goes into Silco’s arms, as she sees him as family. With the end of the show’s first act, the second act involves even more world building. Viewers see more of the upper city of Piltover. Jayce’s power grows, leading him up the ranks and onto the council, even displacing his former mentor Heimerdinger (voiced by Mick Wingert). There is a growing conflict between the under city and the upper city. In the show’s final act, this conflict comes to the fore as Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn figure out what side they are on in this war. The series has themes of class oppression, even when it happens in a world where there is no sexism, racism, or homophobia, reminding me of similar themes in the 10-episode cyberpunk sci-fi series, Sherwood, which is much more family-friendly than Arcane.

Some have praised the show’s diversity, including its portrayal of ethnicity and disability representation (since Viktor has a bad limp and uses a cane), and the praise is well-earned. Human experimentation is a major theme of the series, as is the allure of power and privilege, the corruption of someone’s dreams, and the consequences of technological progress. Family separation, acceptance, and struggle, either between siblings, like Vi and Jinx, or between mother and daughter, as the case for Mel and her mother, are also recurring themes.

Character development is an important part of Arcane. The growing relationship between Caitlyn and Vi, is a perfect example of such development, with both attracted to one another despite their different circumstances. Amanda Overton, a writer for the series, confirmed that the pair were in a relationship, and said that in Piltover, there is no homophobia or stigma against those who are gay, meaning that she could marry someone of any race or gender, with that person becoming “part of her house.” This relationship was first hinted in the show’s fifth episode, in the middle of part 5, where Vi brings Caitlyn to a place known as the Pleasure House to find information and tells her “you’re hot, Cupcake.” Overton described this line as clarifying her character and showing that she loved other women. Caitlyn shows, in the same episode, attraction to another woman she talks to in the Pleasure House. In the show’s last act, Vi moves in with Caitlyn, becoming her roommate. Jinx describes Caitlyn as Vi’s girlfriend, in the final episode, and Vi does not object to this description. It is a stretch to see “bisexual energy” radiating from them, as one critic opined. I’d say it’s more of gay energy. Neither has shown any attraction to men, at least not as directly and strongly. This is apart from Vi calling Jayce a “pretty boy” in the eighth episode, as the latter was likely a way to work with Jayce so they could try to take down Silco together.

As a result, there has been a lot of discourse online about their growing connection to each other, with fans shipping them as CaitVi, with a flurry of fan art (and fan cams) of both characters together, and their moments together even shown on the show’s official account. There is, to use a line from a fan when referring to a scene from The Owl House episode “Enchanted Grom Fright,” no heterosexual explanation for their relationship. Both characters clearly are in a relationship with each other. It remains to be seen how this will develop in the show’s second season. From the discourse on sites like Twitter, it is clear that fans, including those like Miranda Mundt of Webtoon’s LoveBot, are excited and overjoyed by the moments in the series itself. The line between whether the LGBTQ identities of characters should be subtle or more outward is a continual struggle among creators, their crews, and the opinion of fans. Each show has a different approach, with some going with a subtle approach, like Twelve Forever having protagonist Reggie Abbott blush at Connelly, a girl in the eighth grade, and others being more overt, like Ruby and Sapphire in Steven Universe. Whether to have something as subtle or not is up to those who create a show, with one approach not necessarily better than another. This subtlety should not be confused with queer baiting, when a show hints at same-sex romance or LGBTQ representation but does not depict this representation.

Unfortunately, Arcane has a bit of a double standard. Jayce and Mel Medarda have a brief overt heterosexual, and interracial, relationship which involves kissing and sexual intercourse. Vi and Caitlyn have growing feelings toward each other, even sleeping on the same bed as one another. However, they do not kiss in the show. While this would fit with the characters of Vi and Caitlyn, that they are taking this slower as they are from different walks of life, one from privilege and opulence, another from poverty and desperation. Jayce and Mel are of the same class, the same social standing. So, that undoubtedly affects how they act toward one another. Vi clearly sees Caitlyn as sweet as a cupcake, hence her nickname for her, and was named by Overton as her favorite character. Since everyone on the show’s crew is working to tell the same story, hopefully, the relationship between Vi and Caitlyn becomes more overt in the show’s next season, potentially becoming even more the signature romance of the show. Some fans have also shipped Jayce and Viktor together, although that ship was never made canon in the show itself, so its existence is only in the show’s fanon.

Apart from these deficiencies, the characters of Arcane shine through. Personally, I was not familiar with most of the voice actors, apart from  Toks Olagundoye, who I remembered as voicing Commodore Winifred in an episode of Cleopatra in Space, or Captain Amina Ramsey in an episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks. She also voiced Countess Cleo in Carmen Sandiego,  Madame President in Kid Cosmic, and Nanefua in Steven Universe, to name a few, and played Kemi Talbot in Veep,. The voice acting is one of the show’s strong points. The voices match completely with the expressions of the characters and emotions, making them more relatable to viewers, including when it comes to the relationship between Caitlyn and Vi over the show’s arc, beginning with gay moments and moving onto something more. The show’s characters are relatively diverse. They aren’t a cast of White characters. Rather, the cast includes many people of color, whether in the upper city or the under city. The voice cast itself is compromised of a diverse grouping as well.

There are a number of areas that Arcane falls short. Although I generally like the animation, some effects, like those from Jinx’s perspective are a bit too cutesy. Perhaps this is the hand-drawn animation part that some critics referred to, but it felt a bit out of place. While the opening song “Enemy,” is good, it’s disappointing to see a mainstream pop rock band, Imagine Dragons, as the artist, rather than someone lesser-known. The opening theme by JID, a Black rapper and singer, in a few episodes, is a bit stronger than the “Enemy” opening theme. I might have appreciated the song more if it was in the style of RWBY, sung by Casey Lee Williams, in that it would tell you the broad contours of what would happen during the season. I would not say the intro was “badass” as one reviewer put it, and would have been better with another song, although the instrumental pieces are much better than the opening. These elements of Arcane seem to be there in an effort to appeal to the masses who will watch it as it surges in popularity. The show is a way for Riot Games, which created League of Legends, to get people to play the video game.

Another aspect that irked me was the length of the episodes of Arcane. Each episode is between 39 and 44 minutes long. This means it is hard to watch them all in one sitting unless you have that much time to spare. I don’t understand why the episodes couldn’t have been shorter and divided into more episodes. There could have been double the number of episodes if they were of a shorter length. The time in each episode reminds me of the variable lengths of Mr. Robot episodes, which made it hard to know how much time you would be spending watching an episode, and hard to plan other activities during the day around it. These longer episode lengths make the show less accessible to viewers. If the episode lengths had been like Inside Job, it would have made for an easier binge.

As for a second season, it will probably air sometime in 2023, rather than next year. Moving into season two, hopefully we will see more of the world beyond the upper city and under city, as going to other locations could expand the story tremendously. In addition, I’m hopeful that the show’s music selection will be improved, that the cutesy animation effects are removed entirely, and that season two introduces more LGBTQ characters other than Vi and Caitlyn. Considering that the relationship between Leona and Diana in the League of Legends was made canon recently, I suspect there will be additional queer representation in a second season. Outisde of those larger hopes, from a plot perspective, the next season will likely deal with the possible death of everyone in the Council, due to Jinx’s missile. Vi and Cait may have to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of this destruction. It is even possible that Jinx will be redeemed.

Despite my criticisms of the series and its mature content at times, I would recommend it. It remains engaging, entertaining, and relatable, easily pulling in viewers.

Arcane is currently streaming on Netflix.