We’ve always had a family tradition of watching animation together — Studio Ghibli was our starting point when the kids were little — and Arcane naturally found its place in that same rhythm. Season 1 pulled us in from the start — the MiniCKs and me, all equally curious about where it was heading. The art, the pacing, the characters; everything felt richer than we expected. When we started watching Season 2 at the start of the year, my eldest and I decided to continue watching it together. We went back to Season 1 partly to enjoy the story with fresh eyes, and partly because we’d forgotten more than we realized. By episode three of Season 2, the number of pauses we were taking made it obvious we needed a full rewatch of the first season.
(No actual spoilers here — just reflections on the experience. But you may want to wait to read until you're done with both seasons.)
Watching the show again only reenforced our appreciation for the mesmerizing visuals: Arcane’s quality isn’t an accident. The animation is breathtaking in a way that makes you want to print still frames as paintings. Fortiche didn’t just animate a story; they built a world that breathes. There were scenes where I found myself thinking, I’d hang this on a wall. That doesn’t happen often with television.
But beyond the visuals, it’s the characters who carry everything. Vi and Jinx, especially, sit at the heart of the show. Their relationship is complicated, painful, and believable, and it anchors both seasons. Even when the story branches out into politics, mysticism, and the deeper mechanics of Hextech, it always comes back to the people affected by those forces.
