No movie or series has had a cultural task as burdensome as Arcane, which was first released in 2021.  The award-winning animated series that adapted the universe of a widely popular—and divisive—video game into the mainstream spotlight.

With the release of its second and final season in November 2024, Arcane has not only succeeded in maintaining its revered status, but also ascended to something far beyond: a pillar of artistic expression and philosophical creativity, stuffed to the brim with all manner of style and substance.

Following the series’ conclusion, Arcane was officially labeled as one of the most expensive animated series of all time, with a budget of $250 million across the two seasons.

The show’s consistent attention to detail makes the otherwise insane budget relatively understandable, with nearly every scene using complex design techniques to blend 2D and 3D animation, and dozens of newly created or licensed, fan-favorite songs. Arcane, in both its successes and failures, is a product of allowing creatives a freedom they rarely experience in a world so focused on profits.

This freedom comes to a head in a series of sequences that use an art style completely different from the rest of the show, and from each other, to portray the important subjective perspectives of individual characters. These “subjective sequences” appear throughout the series, often using metaphorical visual cues to elicit audience understanding without implying that what we see on screen is literal.

In Season 2, Episode 1, one of these sequences is used to depict immense grief following the death of a pivotal character. What follows is an extended funeral scene, with mute colors and bright pastels, entirely hand-drawn in charcoal over hundreds of hours. This beautifully immersive sequence pulls us into the grief-stricken mind of the character’s daughter, reintroducing the audience to the series’ second season in a profoundly emotional way.

However, aesthetics alone are not enough to explain Arcane’s massive success.

In Season 2, Episode 6, another subjective sequence reconnects the audience with a character thought to be long dead. The otherwise detailed animation reverts to a plain white canvas background for a raw trip down memory lane, with splattered watercolors forming familiar yet idealized versions of the character and those they love. The simplicity of this style speaks to the purity and pain of memory – how we remember those we have lost, not as they were, but as we wish they had been. It’s a moving depiction of loss and the desire to preserve the beauty of the past, even as it inevitably fades. These subjective sequences, blending style and substance, are a core feature of Arcane, embodying the deep connection between artistic choices and narrative structure.

The entire series functions as multiple simultaneous character studies—each character grappling with their own personal demons, burdens, and desires. Jinx must learn to overcome the madness that defines her; Vi struggles to live beyond her past regrets; Ekko must let go of the love he lost to protect his future. By the end of the series, an attentive viewer should be intimately familiar with the internal struggles of each and every character.

One of Season 1’s central plot points, Jinx and her resident graffiti psychosis, is a more developed version of these subjective sequences. In moments of stress or internal chaos, sharp neon shapes are scratched across the screen itself. As a result of her mental illness, figures from her past – whether remembered positively or negatively – are reimagined as metaphorical ghosts that haunt her.

This visual motif returns again in a crucial moment of Season 2, when Jinx is forced to embrace a difficult role to protect someone she deeply cares for, and again in the final moments of the season as the resolution to her character arc. The motif is reused not out of laziness, but because it serves as a reliable tool to help the audience continuously understand Jinx as a character.

However, something fascinating happens when such a vast web of interconnected motivations and visual tools is built: a natural overarching message takes shape at the very heart of the series.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Viktor and Jayce, two of the series’ protagonists, lie at the center of this message. Jayce, the idealistic working man, and Viktor, his crippled genius partner, are climatically forced to realize that some innovations are not worth their cost. Some cycles are not worth continuing. The only way to bring about a better future is to “find the will to walk away.”

For Viktor and Jayce, this means accepting their untimely end, but for the others, the meaning takes different forms. Vi and Caitlyn are able to move into a new stage of their lives by moving on from their ongoing drama. Jinx is all but confirmed to have escaped into the greater world, embracing the possibility of having a future free from the shadows of her past.

As we follow each character’s journey, we see how acceptance, however difficult, allows them to step into new phases of their lives.

Arcane succeeds not only as an innovative and visually stunning animated series, but as a deeply philosophical exploration of the complexities of progress, both as an individual and as a society.

The show’s creative freedom, expressed through its striking subjective sequences, gives us an intimate look into the minds of its characters, highlighting their internal struggles and how they come to terms with their pasts. Through these sequences, Arcane achieves something rare: it allows the audience to truly feel what the characters experience, providing a deeper connection to their respective journeys.

Ultimately, Arcane is more than just a visually stunning animated series—it’s an exploration of the tension between progress and sacrifice. In a world where stories often emphasize triumphs, Arcane dares to ask: What does “winning” cost? And when is it time to let go?

In answering these questions, Arcane stands as a testament to animation’s ability to convey not just stories, but profound philosophical ideas, all while making you feel the weight of every choice its characters make.