Published 2024-12-01
tag(s): #reviews #film-tv
I finished watching Arcane last week. As part of my digital detox, I am reading less reviews
and previews and sneak peeks and whatnot.
Lately I've been reading and playing more games so TV took a backseat, I didn't even know the
show had been released in batches.
Small sidenote: I really really wanted to re-watch the first season, as it was awesome, but decided against in the interest of time. Maybe when my son is slightly older we can enjoy the whole thing together in one go. So maybe I have rose-colored glasses about S01, just sayin'.
In every aspect, the second season felt like a downgrade. Except the art style and animation, maybe.
First, because I am a style over substance guy (?), the fights were good but not nearly as good as the ones in the previous season.
But the biggest difference to me was in the writing. In S01, every character was right in some way. Or could be justified in their actions, at the very least. Taking sides was very difficult, and meant someone was "losing". Also the way Jinx behaved was really chaotic all the way to the end. Which in a way was a good clutch for writers I guess, but also made her "crazy" really shine.
Compare that to S02: She is crazy, and chaotic, and random, but "always does the right thing
in the end". Meh.
Also Viktor with his "erase all imperfections" spiel was the most anime villain crap. Really
tired trope.
One of the best scenes was when the kid died, and even that emotional moment didn't really
punch that much[1].
We even had the cliche of the Zaun people not fighting with the rest of the city but showing up at the end. Like a said, just tired and predictable. Everything S01 wasn't.
I would still recommended the show, though.