₦airaland Forum

Bacteria8:
Na auto correct o

Bacteria8:
Hendricks is worse.
Na Vinicius dey carry our attack this season.

As he don get injury now...na God hand we dey.

Rajmeista:
Mbappe so far

CoolUsername:
"I don't know how to quit you."

CoolUsername:
Bro mentioned Roxanne Perez and Dragon Lee before Bron Breaker and Jordynne Grace.😭

samistry:
Cries in bird lady noises

samistry:
Eddie would be proud.
I would rank Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm above MJF, That guy has gotten stale.
I don't know what Daniel garcia is doing on this list.

Baddestguyp:
Stop being hôrny

Baddestguyp:
Arcane season 2........6/10


If I were to divide my score for this season, I would say -

Animation and music - 10/10
Writing - 3/10

One of the strongest point of Arcane season 1 was it's writing, especially it's character writing.
In my opinion, season 2 failed to deliver anywhere near that quality of writing and was plagued with many problems.

I will try to summarize a few issues below and keep things short cos of the bot-

1. Jinx and Isha.
Season 1 ended with Jinx bombing the council and her character having hit the rails. Her actions basically setting back the efforts of peace between Piltover and Zaun.
Then the writers decided to backtrack by introducing Isha. Isha is not a character but a plot device. The entire reason her character was introduced was to revert Jinx.
Yet the show failed to properly develop her relationship with Jinx because everything was moving at break neck pace.

You do not show character relationships through a music montage when Isha is about to die, you develop it through time spent with the characters. It is cheap emotional bait.

2. Vander
What exactly was the point of Vander's return other than to unite two sisters in the quickest cheapest way? All of the exploration on trauma, bonding, mental health in S1.
Instead of slowly building up to a resolution of the conflict between Jinx and VI, the show decided to speedrun things in one minute through the return of Vander as a plot device.
Building up character conflicts for an entire season and introduce a plot device to suddenly resolve it in few minutes.
Vander is back and now everything is fixed between the sisters. They suddenly reconcile.
Off-screen character arcs.


3. Piltover v Zaun (or lack thereof)

Season 1 revolved around small character conflicts tied together by the socio-political and economic issues of Piltover and the Undercity. These issues brought about great antagonists like Silco (the best written antagonist in the show).
The entire season built up this conflict as a central narrative to tie together all the other character narratives. The first season ended with Jinx's actions potentially leading up to a civil war

But the second season completely abandoned the entire plotline and went instead to stopping a humanity ending threat. Nothing mattered anymore once they introduced the world ending plot.
What was the point of Silco then if everything never mattered.
What about Silco's power vacuum? It was touched in the second episode of S2 and abandoned.

4. Mel and the Black Rose

Black Rose was the most stûpid and pointless addition to the story. It served no purpose other than linking to the next spin-off series.
Mel went from one of the best characters to suddenly developing powers that she somehow had the potential to develop?

What exactly is the Black Rose? Why should we care?
What was Mel's deal siding with them, only to play them and save Ambressa, only for Ambressa to die immediately after?

Ambressa also went from my favorite character in the season to a character I didn't recognize anymore

5. Viktor's Jesus arc

This arc had potential but needed to be a separate season, not bundled into few episodes and replacing the central Piltover conflict.
The conclusion to Jayce and Viktor's characters were cheap and uncertain and rushed. Attempting to reap without sowing.

I lost all faith in the writing when Jayce suddenly started talking about them fighting for all of humanity with no buildup to it whatsoever.

6. New side characters
Cait being betrayed by her new lover Maddie lacked any emotional impact because her new lover was barely a character at all. Maddie was simply introduced and then killed off when the plot needed Cait and VI to reconcile.

And the random dude who VI discovers, what is his deal?

7. Worldbuilding and Lore
The season just focused on some random bûllshit that anyone not familiar with the game lore would be lost. What is the Arcane? Yunno, the title of the show?
What is Black Rose and who is the Deceiver?

8. Extras
What was the weird sèx scene between Cait and VI just after Jinx said she alluded that she was intending suicide. VI just pauses and decided to have some fanservice sèx while her sister is pondering suicide?
Great writing

What about Sevika? It seemed like S2 would focus on her but she suddenly disappeared from the plot but somehow was a member of the council at the end.


Overall, season 2 is still a great visual experience but it forgot what made the show reverred in the first place
It replaced a character driven story with a rushed mess covered by stunning animation and music.

It is no wonder episode 7 is considered the best episode of S2 because it was the episode that actually slowed down and focused on character relationships.


I Still recommend season 2 for the visual experience but not for anyone looking for compelling writing or well developed character arcs.

I think the writers had some good ideas but due to the budget, were forced to rush two seasons worth of content in just 9 episodes

CoolUsername:
Hmmm, there may be some legs to the lack of safety thing. The Creed Brothers are insanely during and athletic but are a little green in-ring. Check out how Brutus used to land with the Brutus Ball and tell me that isn't a recipe for future injury.

During their first main roster run they won a tag team tournament to face the Judgement Day (Balor & Priest) for the title. However, during the title match, a Brutus ball seemed to legitimately hurt Damien Priest. Priest grabbed the back of his head throughout the fight and seemed visibly upset. He even waited for a couple of seconds after delivering the South of Heaven before going for the pin and then unceremoniously tossed Julius outside the ring after match

Maybe I'm reading too much into that match but the Brutus Ball seems to have been modified since then with the trajectory of the jump changed such that there is no longer any follow through with the falling opponent.

samistry:
Heated arguments back and forth with lots of truth.

samistry:

CoolUsername:
The Creed Brothers are legitimately great and were on fire back in NXT but Kunter Kearst Kelmsley's booking has done a lot to douse that flame.

CoolUsername:
But is she safe from CM Punk?

samistry:
Everyone is high on Bron Breakker and Jacob Fatu but we've all been sleeping on julius creed.

Baddestguyp:
When a season starts with small character conflicts with the potential to escalate into a Civil war...

And in just 9 episodes, it ends with a world-ending threat with the same characters fighting for the fate of humanity

Then you know there is a problem with the pacing and writing of the season...

Was it episode 8 or 9 when Jayce suddenly started talking about uniting for fight for all of humanity...that was when the show completely lost me.

I began to question how we got here. Whether I skipped some episodes or something

Anyway, when I have time and gather my thoughts fully, I should post a full review of the season...

But anti-spam bot is killing my confidence

Rarre:
I am 100% certain that old head will start Mendy on Wednesday.

Baddestguyp:


Maybe I'm dûmb, but I finished the entire Arcane series and I still don't know what exactly The Arcane is.



Is it just me?


They mention that it shouldn't be messed with, but not what exactly it is...unless I missed something

Devvy4:
This vini's injury is all on ancelotti, why allow him play 90 minutes after just returning from a long south America trip