Arcane is the Best Show of 2021

Recently I was starving for good content. I was missing that visceral "I'm witnessing a masterpiece" feeling. When watching Arcane, I had that feeling within the first episode. On paper, a show based on a video game shouldn't work. Discard your expectations, because Arcane is 100 times better than you think.

The most discussed strength of Arcane is the animation, for good reason. Every frame is a painting and that's not an exaggeration. I have never seen animation this alive and vibrant before. The facial expressions being the biggest triumph. Coupled with the masterful voice acting, certain emotional scenes felt like grieving the loss of a real friend.

But what makes Arcane worth watching is the masterful writing that backs up the visuals. Upper class versus lower class isn't a groundbreaking plot, but the nuances of the story are anything but cliché. I found the contrast of how corruption manifests in the different settings to be particularly compelling. And while the multi-threading storylines are at times too fast paced, I loved Arcane's ambitious style.

And the excellent writing extends to the characters as well. The core of the show are the relationships. Jinx and Vi are the clear standouts, with Jinx having the best Joker origin story I've seen. It feels real. The characters don't act logically, they act authentically. They make mistakes and they always face the consequences. Even Arcane's Villain, crazy as he is, had unexpected depth and was at times hard to root against.

Arcane Season Two is now my most anticipated show in the next few years and I'll be recommending it to everyone in the meantime. It'll be hard for anything else to dethrone it for me. If even a single sentence in this blog post intrigued you, please watch this show. Watch at least the first three episodes. If you don't like it, I will personally apologize.

Thanks for reading, I'm gonna go re-watch Arcane for the fourth time.