Adult Animation Revolution: ‘Arcane’ Delivers An Epic Emotional Conclusion
by Tito W. James
Summary
Arcane goes out with a bang and does right by its amazing characters.
A groundbreaking series from start to finish that gets better with every rewatch.
Overall
10/10
After two seasons and eighteen episodes, the steampunk fantasy saga of Arcane has finally concluded. The first season took the world by storm and united fans of action animation, anime, video games, sci-fi, fantasy, and comic books. Even those who’ve never played a video game or been interested in animation fell in love with the tale of two sisters torn apart by circumstance.
Season 2 builds upon Arcane’s themes of class division and weaves in new provocative ideas — like how fear can give rise to fascism and how one person’s freedom fighter is another person’s terrorist. This is a fantasy world that can explore something as intimate as queer love or as esoteric as metaphysical quandaries about the nature of humanity. The main strength of the series: it took a full season to establish the world and make us emotionally invested in the characters so when the show became more overtly philosophical, the narrative never loses its heart.
There are really no side characters in Arcane; each person is fully realized with their own motivations and arcs. The creators of the show are brilliant in their ability to make us root for characters or root against them. This is a world without clear-cut heroes and villains. While many contemporary villain-less animated films feel toothless, Arcane allows even its most heroic characters to have a dark side. Audiences can still enjoy the supervillainy spectacle of a character like Jinx (Ella Purnell) while also empathizing with her character.
I compared Season 1 of Arcane to seeing The Matrix for the first time. After revisiting The Matrix on the big screen this year, I can confidently say that Arcane is in the same league and we will see its influence across animation, art, and fiction for decades to come. The show celebrates the beauty and imperfection of humanity in all its forms. I know that many people will see themselves in these characters and I hope Arcane will give viewers that power to take the world head on.
