Netflix’s Arcane Season 1 Review

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Arcane is, by all means, one of the best-animated series I saw last year. Based on the popular game League Legends, arcane tells the tragic story of two sisters, Violet and Powder, whose lives spiral out of control after losing their parents.

Things only get worse when the sisters get caught up in the social class war between the rich city of Piltover and The Undercity of Zaun. And soon, Powder and Violet find themselves fighting on either side of a war of clashing ideals.

Why You Must Watch Netflix’s Arcane

From the beginning, Arcane distinguishes itself with its amazing animation, action, and soundtrack. But its true powerhouses were always its characters and its incredible story.

Despite having several characters, the Netflix series does a brilliant job of fleshing everyone out. And in doing so, it showed us how many of its character’s stories are interconnected.

To call Arcane’s characters complex would be an understatement, as the series never paints any of them as good or bad. Instead, Arcane presents everyone in shades of grey and uses each of them to address major issues in society, and through this, we realize that not every character is as black or white as we initially think.

Spoilers ahead. (Click to Skip to Verdict)

Violet and Powder- Anxiety and Rejection

Violet and Powder’s story is one of Arcane’s most unfortunate tales.

Once close, Arcane sees the events of an unfortunate night tear the two sisters apart and set them down on two different but equally dark paths. But while Violet emerges from her trials with few bruises, it’s Powder who gets the true scars. And all of her guilt, anxiety, and rejection from that terrible night, pushes her to become one of the show’s most ruthless villains, Jinx.

But no matter how far her sister falls, Violet never gives up Powder, as she feels responsible for turning Powder into the monster she becomes. However, while this is true, the series reveals that Powder chooses to remain insane, as a way to cope with the guilt of accidentally killing her foster family. And so rather than returning to the sweet girl we meet in the beginning, Powder hides behind her Jinx persona, to shield herself from the pain and the world’s rejection.

Piltover Vs Zaun- Social Class Divide

While Arcane’s primary story follows Violet and Powder, in the background, the show focuses on the social class divide within society.

The series shows how Piltover’s council would rather build a Utopia for the rich while leaving the poor to die in the Undercity. But while one would expect the heroes to champion this cause, Arcane chooses its antagonist Silco, to call out Piltover’s hypocrisy.

Though Silco manipulates and kills many people, he never loses sight of his goal of gaining independence for the Undercity. And he uses all the ensuing chaos to push the council to agree to his demands.

The crazy thing is, his plan actually works.

But like every other story in Arcane, just when everything seems resolved, tragedy strikes and everything falls apart.

What’s truly tragic about Arcane is how every character is in one way or the other, correct about the necessary steps for things to improve. However, because of distrust, manipulation, and bad luck, things go from Bad to so much worse by the season finale.

Verdict.