The final season of Arcane came out in early November of 2024 and since then, the hype around the series has fallen. But I am still in love with it. 

Before the first season of Arcane came out in 2021, while I hate to admit it, I did play a little bit of League of Legends (the game the series is based off of). I enjoyed the League of Legends characters and how they all somehow interacted with each other even though their stories were not shown in gameplay. 

I think that’s why I loved Arcane so much. Because players got to see the backstories of characters they play as. 

Arcane was set up to where you did not have to play the game to understand what was happening, but if you had played before, there were some easter eggs that occurred in the background, and it was nice to see playable characters from the game as background characters. 

One of the main reasons Arcane sticks out to me so much is because of the animation style. The style is so distinct from anything else I have seen, it’s like a mix of 3D and 2D detailing and each frame was hand drawn by the animators. 

Next is the storyline. Each detail of the story is so thought out and everything falls in place perfectly. Throughout the series, the story flips back and forth from different perspectives of the same incident. Showing how different characters from different backgrounds react to experiencing the same life-altering events.

The show features two main cities within the same kingdom, Piltover, which is the main government and is much richer and calmer compared to the “undercity” or Zaun. The characters that live in Zaun struggle living through crimes and hardships. The relationship of Piltover and Zaun can represent the social divide seen in the real world. This conflict of the two cities helps guide the storyline forward and keep the viewers on their toes.

I think one of the most beautiful storylines from the show would be the story of Caitlyn and Vi. Caitlyn is from Piltover and has very little to worry about with her family running Piltover government and Vi being from the undercity. The building of their relationship guides the two cities to work towards the same goal.

The representation in the show is so beautifully done as well. With Caitlyn and Vi having a deeper relationship as lovers, but it’s not seen as a huge deal is so refreshing. Having simple queer representation in the media is so important to the community and Arcane did a wonderful job of perfecting these kinds of relationships. No character has strict or outspoken labels, it’s just simple love. And Arcane shows the realistic aspects of these relationships along with many more. 

Along with LGBT representation, the series heavily shows strong women in power and focuses on the theme of “daughters”. A lot of the plot can be connected to parent and daughter relationships, which is something I don’t see explored too often. I feel like I always see son and father themes, but most daughters are shown as “spoiled” or “soft”.

Arcane highlights the complex relationships of a daughter and her parent(s) that sometimes can be overlooked in other media. 

Overall, to me, Arcane is such a beautiful and complex show that covers so many different kinds of themes. The plot can sometimes be difficult to follow, but watching is so enjoyable. 

I wish I could watch this series for the first time again, but it feels like everytime I rewatch I pick up on something new.