by Nick Nitkowski

I’ll say this right here and now, I have never played a single millisecond of “League of Legends” in my life. I’m well aware of its existence and is the basis of which this show is formed, but I’ve never played it before. And truth be told, I doubt that I ever will. But this Netflix series “Arcane”, I can’t get enough of it! No beating around the bush this time, this show is great and I love it!

For those who may not be in the know, “Arcane” as I said before is based on an online game known as “League of Legends” which skyrocketed in popularity, but I’ve been told it is corrupted with a multitude of toxic fans, but what else is new? The story of the series focuses on two sisters named Vi and Powder who both live in an underground world called Zaun underneath the rich and technologically advanced world known as Piltover. Unfortunately, the sisters become estranged and lead very different lives where Vi does what she can to survive while Powder, now known as Jinx, leads a life of crime. Along the way, we are introduced to other characters integral to the story.

It has been three full years since the release of Season One and I loved everything about it. The animation style, the characters, the soundtrack (which I bought for myself), and the story. Everything about this show was amazing. So needless to say, I couldn’t wait for a new season! Especially after the cliffhanger Season One left us on. But now they’re saying that Season Two is the end! Kind of strange to have only two seasons for such an amazing show, but I digress. At least I can see how the story wraps up. Although, they say that they’ll be exploring new stories after Season Two, so at least it won’t be “over” over. 

Once again, Season Two does not disappoint with this amazing artistic animation style. A beautiful blend of 3-D animation with some 2D elements woven in. There are even some segments of 2D animation, sometimes intentionally choppy, that really work in the moments in which they are presented. There’s really no other way to say it, the animation in this show is absolutely stunning.

The characters are just as great in this season as they were last season. There were a few characters that I needed a refresher on, but once I remembered who they were and what they were up to previously, I was back on board. Jinx and Vi remain the most interesting characters in the show for me. Their stories are the driving force of this show only. Both still brilliantly voiced by Hailee Steinfeld (Vi) and Ella Purnell (Jinx). However, there was one character from Season One that greatly stood out more to me in this season and that is the character of Ambessa, voiced by Ellen Thomas. She has such a great presence this season. Very cunning and even brutal. Definitely a new highlight in this show.

In terms of cons for this show, I only have two. Some of the action sequences throughout this show are very quick-paced to a jarring degree. It was often difficult for me to tell what exactly was happening until they did a random slow-mo shot. I felt like those scenes could have been dialed back just a little bit for comprehension’s sake. The other issue, which may not be an issue upon release, I’ll explain shortly, was the vast leap in time between episodes. To the point where I thought to myself, “When did that apparently happen, what Netflix intends to do is release three of the nine-episode series weekly starting on November 9th. I was fortunate enough to have seen six of the episodes, so it was certainly a jarring moment for me that caught me completely off guard. And because I only saw six of the episodes, that means that at the time of writing this, I still don’t know how this story ends and I get to wait until November 23rd like everyone else to see this story’s conclusion. and I cannot wait to see it.

Overall, “Arcane: Season Two” was everything I was hoping for. More beautiful animation, more character exploration, and yes, more great songs for the soundtrack of which I may or may not already have pre-ordered. Needless to say, if you were a fan of Season One, I think you are going to love this new season just as much. And if you have not yet seen “Arcane” at all, I would highly recommend checking it out because when it comes to animated shows, this one truly is among the League of Legends.

4.5  stars