Arcane (no spoilers)
Discussion
Think this is worthy of its own thread. Seems to be getting a lot of views and the reviews are stellar.
Single biggest flaw of this was linking the marketing to League of Legends, a lot of people (me included) will ignore it thinking it's another crappy game tie in - it's far from crappy.
For the animation alone it'd be a benchmark but there's more to it than that. Hate to think what it cost given something like Into the Spider-Verse cost $90 million to throw together, and this is both better and 4 times longer.
Single biggest flaw of this was linking the marketing to League of Legends, a lot of people (me included) will ignore it thinking it's another crappy game tie in - it's far from crappy.
For the animation alone it'd be a benchmark but there's more to it than that. Hate to think what it cost given something like Into the Spider-Verse cost $90 million to throw together, and this is both better and 4 times longer.
No idea why this isn't getting more discussion.
The animation is next level stunning. I've heard of League of Legends, never played it or know the lore, but I'm totally engrossed by this. Episode 3, which is the end of Act1, is absolutely incredible in what they've achieved from the combination of hand-drawn and CGI....not to mention the voice acting and well paced story and charcter development.
It's on 100% on RT, 9.4 on IMDB.
Look past the "urgh, it's an animated show based on a computer game" and watch it.
The animation is next level stunning. I've heard of League of Legends, never played it or know the lore, but I'm totally engrossed by this. Episode 3, which is the end of Act1, is absolutely incredible in what they've achieved from the combination of hand-drawn and CGI....not to mention the voice acting and well paced story and charcter development.
It's on 100% on RT, 9.4 on IMDB.
Look past the "urgh, it's an animated show based on a computer game" and watch it.
Matty_ said:
No idea why this isn't getting more discussion.
The animation is next level stunning. I've heard of League of Legends, never played it or know the lore, but I'm totally engrossed by this. Episode 3, which is the end of Act1, is absolutely incredible in what they've achieved from the combination of hand-drawn and CGI....not to mention the voice acting and well paced story and charcter development.
It's on 100% on RT, 9.4 on IMDB.
Look past the "urgh, it's an animated show based on a computer game" and watch it.
I was totally blown away by this. The animation is next level stunning. I've heard of League of Legends, never played it or know the lore, but I'm totally engrossed by this. Episode 3, which is the end of Act1, is absolutely incredible in what they've achieved from the combination of hand-drawn and CGI....not to mention the voice acting and well paced story and charcter development.
It's on 100% on RT, 9.4 on IMDB.
Look past the "urgh, it's an animated show based on a computer game" and watch it.
The animation was just incredible. I loved the way, out of all the computer-derived content, every time smoke appeared, it was hand-drawn at a lower framerate than the rest of what was going on.
That, and the fact that when a person died, their representation changed from three dimensional shaded to two dimensional brushed. Oh, and that some characters were cell shaded while others weren't. And others would swap between one and the other.
And the storytelling was like nothing I have every encountered before. Just so incredibly good. So much depth to every character.
And the soundtrack!!!
And I was watching it in Dolby Vision and Jinx' fluorescent graffiti was just incredible!
DodgyGeezer said:
Someone, somewhere mentioned that Powder/Jinx was the best Joker/Harley Quinn they'd seen... hard to disagree.
It's just a really interesting character.You have this poor innocent who's extremely damaged - even right from episode 1 - which makes them a sympathetic tragic character. And that's showing through the whole time.
Then you have the jokey chaotic 'Harley' bit.
And overarching is an intelligent, organised, highly capable and utterly ruthless killer who casually murders *lots* of people just for the amusement of it. Which is why I saw it as much more Joker than anything else.
And the animation does a great job of selling it both in what they do and how they actually see the world.
Story/animation wise I can see people spending years picking it apart as there's loads of stuff in there.
I watched the first episode as someone recommended it to me and the 9.4 on IMDb. I thought it was OK. Watched the second, then had to watch the third straight after. Just finished it, excellent. What you think are stereotypical characters, show they are much more.
I really hope they make a second series.
I really hope they make a second series.
The music video for the main theme is worth checking out, probably works best if you've watched the series first to get the best out of the story it tells.
It's new stuff instead of just recycling from the series and a pretty decent animation demo in itself.
One of the many impressive bits is that apparently everything in this and the rest of the series was keyframe animated and not mocap performances or rotoscope.
It's new stuff instead of just recycling from the series and a pretty decent animation demo in itself.
One of the many impressive bits is that apparently everything in this and the rest of the series was keyframe animated and not mocap performances or rotoscope.
We've mentioned this a few times on the Netflix thread and I think it was I who first announced the greenlighting of Season 2, but only because I just happened to see the news before anyone else.
I've currently watched the first 5 episodes (although have unfortunately picked up a spoiler on how the finale ends).
Like many others I have absolutely no knowledge of League of Legends but I do have extensive experience of the Dishonored games, and I reckon if you made an anim of the Dishonored universe it would not look much difference to Arcane.
For added amusement, the Dishonored games are made by Arkane Studios (part of ZeniMax Media, who also own Machine Games who did the modern Wolfenstein games)
I've currently watched the first 5 episodes (although have unfortunately picked up a spoiler on how the finale ends).
Like many others I have absolutely no knowledge of League of Legends but I do have extensive experience of the Dishonored games, and I reckon if you made an anim of the Dishonored universe it would not look much difference to Arcane.
For added amusement, the Dishonored games are made by Arkane Studios (part of ZeniMax Media, who also own Machine Games who did the modern Wolfenstein games)
pquinn said:
And the animation does a great job of selling it both in what they do and how they actually see the world.
Story/animation wise I can see people spending years picking it apart as there's loads of stuff in there.
This is what makes me quite angry about how sneering some people are about animation, especially anime. Because it is just an art form and can be every bit as nuanced and powerful as "proper" [sic] films and TV. Especially since there is so much CGI in "proper" stuff these days. A lot of films these days are just actors stood in front of a green screen, so what is the difference? Story/animation wise I can see people spending years picking it apart as there's loads of stuff in there.
Anyway, yes, Arcane is awesome.
Since everyone watching it will be on Netflix, also check out both seasons of "Love, Death, and Robots"
Clockwork Cupcake said:
I've currently watched the first 5 episodes (although have unfortunately picked up a spoiler on how the finale ends).
Still got most of the really good bits to go then.And even if some aspect of the end was spoiled it honestly won't ruin it at all.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
This is what makes me quite angry about how sneering some people are about animation, especially anime. Because it is just an art form.
Especially when you can grab frames from it and they look like the sort of concept art that usually ends up in some 'making of' coffee table book. Edited by pquinn on Tuesday 30th November 01:21
pquinn said:
Clockwork Cupcake said:
This is what makes me quite angry about how sneering some people are about animation, especially anime. Because it is just an art form.
Especially when you can grab frames from it and they look like the sort of concept art that usually ends up in some 'making of' coffee table book. I must admit, it did quite amuse me on a thread where several people were dissing cosplay and I knew for a fact that a few of them had done Goodwood Revival. That went well for them once I started drawing comparisons and taking the piss. And apparently I am a t
t and they are totally different things. 
May give this a go when I have nothing else to watch. Never plated LoL or had interest in it, but people have been saying (here and elsehwere) you don't need to.
Yes, over here in most of the west (not everywhere), animation is relegation to child demographics, and voice acting often palmed off as an after thought to generic sounding americans. I have seen quite a lot of anime up to now, and I just don't see real acting in the same regard as I used to (but I still have movies that I absolutely love and hold in very high regards), there is a lot of boundaries you can break in animation that a real actor could never do, it leads to some powerful works of art.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
pquinn said:
And the animation does a great job of selling it both in what they do and how they actually see the world.
Story/animation wise I can see people spending years picking it apart as there's loads of stuff in there.
This is what makes me quite angry about how sneering some people are about animation, especially anime. Because it is just an art form and can be every bit as nuanced and powerful as "proper" [sic] films and TV. Story/animation wise I can see people spending years picking it apart as there's loads of stuff in there.
rampageturke said:
May give this a go when I have nothing else to watch. Never plated LoL or had interest in it, but people have been saying (here and elsehwere) you don't need to.
Yes, over here in most of the west (not everywhere), animation is relegation to child demographics, and voice acting often palmed off as an after thought to generic sounding americans. I have seen quite a lot of anime up to now, and I just don't see real acting in the same regard as I used to (but I still have movies that I absolutely love and hold in very high regards), there is a lot of boundaries you can break in animation that a real actor could never do, it leads to some powerful works of art.
Exactly, for example the abrupt change in style and the drawing of Ekko and Jinx as the child versions of themselves as a precursor to their fight on the bridge just created such a sense of longing for them to still be friends yet at the same time - due to the drawing style and the music - an immense sense of excitement. I can't think of a film that has created two such conflicting emotions at the same time. Or even engaged at that level, really. Clockwork Cupcake said:
pquinn said:
And the animation does a great job of selling it both in what they do and how they actually see the world.
Story/animation wise I can see people spending years picking it apart as there's loads of stuff in there.
This is what makes me quite angry about how sneering some people are about animation, especially anime. Because it is just an art form and can be every bit as nuanced and powerful as "proper" [sic] films and TV. Story/animation wise I can see people spending years picking it apart as there's loads of stuff in there.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Quite.
I must admit, it did quite amuse me on a thread where several people were dissing cosplay and I knew for a fact that a few of them had done Goodwood Revival. That went well for them once I started drawing comparisons and taking the piss. And apparently I am a tt and they are totally different things.
Indeed - wear a football shirt (of any flavour team) and no-one bats an eyelid. Wear a scifi costume......I must admit, it did quite amuse me on a thread where several people were dissing cosplay and I knew for a fact that a few of them had done Goodwood Revival. That went well for them once I started drawing comparisons and taking the piss. And apparently I am a t
t and they are totally different things. I thought this was excellent. I do have a few gripes, though:
1. The secondary story (councilman/inventor guy) was boring.
2. The accents were all over the place. They all grew up in the same location, yet there are Russian, Australian, British and American accents there. This is poor writing.
3. It wasn’t made clear why Vander was trying to drown Silco. Maybe they mentioned it, but I missed it. It definitely seemed to make Silco the anti-hero, though.
4. It was definitely pushing a feminist agenda. I’ve go no problem with a female antagonist. In fact, I liked both Vi and Powder/Jinx. However, all of the powerful, tough characters were female. It's unrealistic, even for a cartoon.
5. They gave Vi the same haircut as that woman from the recent He-Man cartoon - the one written by that nerd.
Apart from that, it was great.
1. The secondary story (councilman/inventor guy) was boring.
2. The accents were all over the place. They all grew up in the same location, yet there are Russian, Australian, British and American accents there. This is poor writing.
3. It wasn’t made clear why Vander was trying to drown Silco. Maybe they mentioned it, but I missed it. It definitely seemed to make Silco the anti-hero, though.
4. It was definitely pushing a feminist agenda. I’ve go no problem with a female antagonist. In fact, I liked both Vi and Powder/Jinx. However, all of the powerful, tough characters were female. It's unrealistic, even for a cartoon.
5. They gave Vi the same haircut as that woman from the recent He-Man cartoon - the one written by that nerd.
Apart from that, it was great.
Sensei Rob said:
4. It was definitely pushing a feminist agenda. I’ve go no problem with a female antagonist. In fact, I liked both Vi and Powder/Jinx. However, all of the powerful, tough characters were female. It's unrealistic, even for a cartoon.
So you're ok with a world where there is magic but not a different gender balance? 
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Sensei Rob said:
4. It was definitely pushing a feminist agenda. I’ve go no problem with a female antagonist. In fact, I liked both Vi and Powder/Jinx. However, all of the powerful, tough characters were female. It's unrealistic, even for a cartoon.
So you're ok with a world where there is magic but not a different gender balance? Gassing Station | TV, Film, Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff