Early Access - Arcane | Reaction & Review 1x3 "The Base Violence Necessary for Change"

Man, Vi's facial animation in the final scene where she realizes Powder was the cause of the explosion, was next level. The expressions and microexpressions and body language is so well done.

Martin

Can’t say I’ve considered doing full movie commentaries, but I’ve Always wanted to do review/analysis type vids for movies. My initial plan for YouTube was Movie stuff and gaming, lol just kinda tried reaction stuff one day, and I’ve been going with the flow ever since 😁

FILMBuFF

I would love to see you do a video for bridging the rift. A documentary may not be the most riveting content, but hearing your thoughts on it would be quite interesting. Same for the "enemy" music video, it contains all new footage by the studio that animated the series.

Jan Mehrens

Not your best analysis but its alright

Raykel

Hey Im, have you ever considered making movie commentaries? I'm thinking of Blade Runner in particular. Both of them are among my all time favorites and it'd be really fun to rewatch classics that you share an interest in. :)

Nemo

I agree completely, and I'm so glad for the nuanced discussion about the ending here! It saddens me when I see a reactor take sides with either Vi or Powder at the end of this episode (the times I've turned off a reaction outright have been the thankfully few cases where the reactor flat out condemned Powder as a "villain" the moment she turns to Silco). It was so evident to me from the first viewing that the entire point of Episode 3 is that this is a horrible tragedy that is neither sister's fault. This is a story of two innocents swept up in awful, massive tides of history beyond their comprehension, and they represent the ugly and inevitable collateral damage of socioeconomic inequality, discrimination/ dehumanization, and war. Vi and Powder are victims both, and to say that either is at fault (or worse, "evil") for how they reacted to horrors to which no child should be subjected... gah. To Filmbuff directly: New Patreon member here, can't wait for the next reaction! The story continues to amaze from here on out, and I know you're going to love the hell out of analyzing it.

tarrsk

Vander means well, but the show makes clear (without casting judgment) that like everyone else on the show, he's afflicted by his own personal blinders. He's a leader by nature, and he's had to be. And he sees that in Vi, but he forgets how young she is and he fails to see how completely she idolizes him. And so when he gives her the "with great power comes great responsibility" spiel, he's not wrong, exactly - one of the burdens of assuming leadership (as she has) *is* taking responsibility for everyone in your care and command. It's a lesson he's learned the hard way himself. But it's one thing to ask that of a grown adult, and it's a hard enough thing there. It can be a terrible thing to ask of a child. (Edited to add - Hi GraffitiTurtle!)

tarrsk

It’s kind of why I’m not a fan of Vander’s whole “they’re your responsibility” thing. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a teenager. He meant well, but that mentality is going to have pretty severe consequences later on.

Chelle

I was just typing up my comment to say the same thing about Vi!! I thought it was quite apparent why Vi reacted the way she did and stepped away. So much trauma there, how is a teenager supposed to navigate that whole situation?

A

Silco is your favorite character so far. Same 😍😍😍

Ninaofthe90s

The harmony the compositing team managed to achieve for the 2D and 3D has to be one of the most impressive things in this. The matte paint finishing on all the CG surfaces is super nice. Again, there's some beautiful traditional effects animation; the explosions, the fire, the hextech gem sparkles.. all of it. They've made sure not to interfere with the look of the traditional animation while still blending everything together so well. And you are correct: anime prefers casting adults even for child characters. Adults are easier to direct and need to retake less of their lines, which works hand-in-hand with the notorious schedules anime gets made under.

Such an amazing and accurate analysis! No one does analysis like you!✨️ This episode is absolutely devastating! And equally amazing! The visual storytelling, the voice acting, the photography, the direction the story takes, it all manages to be incredible and painful in equal measure. I'm so thankful that you don't play the blame game and that you don't believe that Vi abandoned Powder. Many people blamed Vi in this episode and accused her of actually abandoning Powder, without taking into consideration how young she is, how traumatized and exhausted she is and yet having to be mature. As you mentioned, from Powder's perspective it was abandonment, but Vi just needed a moment to try to assimilate everything. Just as many people also failed to realize the parallels in the story. You saying that Silco is your favorite character at this point, immediately brought me back to the discussion in the previous episode about not everything being only good or evil, there's a lot of gray as well.

Nair

I really believe this show is a landmark in animation. Genuinely incredible stuff. Not only is it beautiful and impressive, but there is so much intent and nuance in every frame that adds so much to the visual storytelling. Can't wait for you to continue with this show. One of my favorite from the last few years.

Jak

This episode left me so completely drained and speechless. I sat through the credits, trying to process what just happened. Words cannot describe the emotions that I was feeling. And the best part? It only goes up from here!

raiguard

WOO!

Serodin

Absolutely perfect discussion, wow. You picked up on pretty much everything. I’m especially happy you noticed all of the parallels, very few pick up on them first watch. There’s so much to love about this show, but my absolute favorite part is how, at pretty much any time, you can point to any one of the characters and say “this is the result of your actions.” Vi, Powder, Silco, Vander, Grayson, Marcus, all of Topside, etc. They all impact the story seamlessly, and it’s incredible how easy it is to understand where all of them are coming from. Also, I’ve seen people interpret that scene where Powder breaks down in a few different ways. One I’m more inclined to believe is that it’s not just about her being separated from Vi. Before, Vi would always stand up for her sister and tell her that “family sticks together.” But when Vi told her (presumably for the first time) that she’s not ready and left her back at home, separating herself from her sister, that likely confirmed for Powder that she’s not good enough to be a part of their family, a fear we’ve known she’s had since the beginning of the show. Ofc we know that’s not what Vi meant, but for Powder’s character it makes complete sense for her to take it that way and have a full-blown panic attack as a result. And then… Vi confirmed it for real at the end of the episode, and Powder is left alone to sob after brutally killing the majority of the family she was so desperate to be with. But anyway, back to your own discussion: I’m glad to see you refusing to play “the blame game” on Vi or Powder. Many people immediately jump to being so angry at one or the other (because it’s such an intense moment) that they fail to realize how complex the entire situation is. By the way, this show’s episodes were each released in three acts (containing 3 episodes each) and each came out a week apart. So this was certainly a place to leave people waiting for the next batch lol. Oof, that was a long comment 😅 I can tell you’re going to love the direction this story goes. There really is just so much to appreciate, and on all fronts too.

Chelly

In case you didn't know, Powder's voice actress was 11 when she did this episode.

Alwayswit

Ohhh ok gotcha, good to have that cleared up.

FILMBuFF

Powder’s stellar voice actress is Mia Sinclair Jenness, she was actually 12 at the time this episode was in production. Vander and Silco are brothers in arms, not blood related, but siblings by common duty and experiences.

JT Hibb