Music was used exceptionally well in both seasons, but I do think season 1 did it better. There were times i felt season 2 wrote the narrative around the music videos instead of the opposite which i felt was detrimental to the flow of the narrative, but keeping the instrumental music during the bulk of the show the same (thank you Ray Chen!) helped tie the two seasons together. I'm still a student so I couldn't give, like, an actual thesis on this, but just comparing "Our Love" and "Goodbye" to "I can't Hear it Now" and "Sucker," it's obvious there was a shift in the direction of the show. Despite being the same story beats (death of a family structure then death of a father figure), the songs in season 2 interject in a way season one songs don't. "Our Love" is a record playing in-universe while we see a slice of life in Vander's home, "Goodbye" is the end credits song of act 1, but its also how Vi and Powder felt in the moment. "Sucker" is just a music video. It shows us that the chem barons fell apart and lost power, but we already knew that. The visuals aren't particularly interesting. I think they knew that because it was released early on youtube as promotional material. It really is a shame it wasn't cut for time in the final show when we know so much else was, I really think it should have just been promo. I haven't mentioned "I Can't Hear it Now" yet because I think it was genuinely done very well as a mirror to the season one songs, and frankly I have no notes. I think the scene accompanying "The Line" would have benefited from being a monologue from Viktor and the music could have played over the scene of his death (basically swap the two audios) to better parallel s1e3. I'm being nitpicky at this point, I've said my piece.
4 weeks ago | 410
I hated how they used music montages to skip through important story moments. I felt like it took away from the emotional impact in a big way, and I felt like I was just getting the story summery rather than the story itself.
4 weeks ago | 137
I really loved the ‘music videos,’ aesthetic and thematically. I take huge issue with the fact that they were used to speed run really critical plot development! As a HUGE CaitVi shipper, put fighter Vi being released on promo got me so excited for an expected deep dive into her process and mental state during that time. Watching the show, and just haunt Jinx wander in after the ‘music video’ made me feel like something was missing even though they ‘technically’ told the story.
4 weeks ago | 314
Personally, I feel the use of music between the two season dramatically highlights the issue with pacing. In season 1, the music really encouraged you to bask in the emotion of the scenes. One of the best examples of this would be the Guns for hire scene from the end of act 2 when Jinx lights the flare. It's beautiful, the imagery and contrasting edits are so good. And the lyrics and tone appropriately mix with the visuals to convey the current feeling, (silco) and the one about to happen (the failed reunion with vi and jinx) For example "The walls come tumbling down" it's speaking to how silcos world is about to come tumbling down, literally with the building literally crumbling on top of him and figuratively with the lie told Jinx. But the tone, the pain on Jinxes face, the way Vi and Caitlin are being set up to be the bullets in the chamber , to spark further violence. This speaks of the future, it's telling the viewer what to expect next. It builds anticipation. Jinx is doing the thing we have been so eager for all of act 2, to light the flare. But everything about the scene is telling us, setting us up to feel the tragedy of the reunion. At it's heart, season 1 is a tragedy, it's all so well foreshadowed, the visuals , the pacing. It's about every characters fall And the music supports that. We as the viewers know everyone in the show, was trying their best at every stage. How every single character had good intentions, but made bad choices out of fear or love. It's tragic how close they came to a peaceful resolution, time and time again. There's also a deep indulgence element. This, is what I would say is the biggest difference between season 1 and 2 What could have been, is such a sad song, and the choice to have it start to play so soon, before Jinx fires the rocket , we as the viewers know what's coming and the music leads us into that. We are thrust deeply into the tragedy of the sadness that's coming, we know she's about to do something terrible, but not what specifically. It creates dread and a feeling of inevitability. Then the edit to the council chambers and we know she's going to do something terrible, but not specifically what again, It just builds, slowly and the whole theme of the first season just sits beautifully. The song is so painful, speaks of so many different characts in that moment and your heart aches. And it's slow! The indulgence for each shot! Each gorgeous background shot is held at the perfect moment to match the pacing of the music. We get to sit with the beautiful animation for longer, the shots of the rocket in the sky? Astounding, and when we see it come on screen, the singer in the song belts this haunting note at the same time . It's like the action was inevitable, we can instinctively tell the way a song is likely to go next, match the tune and rhythm and progression. And we can tell next where the show is going for the same reason. This show loves it's repeating patterns, the story rhymes with itself and refers back to itself and I love how these scenes do the same thing through our understanding of the music. Then, you have the inverse side, indulgence in a rule of cool. This is best seen through the fighting montages and viewing of the lanes Welcome to the playground, it's awesome! It's grungy and techno and is full of percussion elements that sound like they're from the heavy clanging of metal and cogworks. It's communicating so much to us, a short scene that does a lot of world building through the music. The music takes center stage, we are basking in the music and visuals, it immerses us in the vibe, to let us understand the lanes and the contrast to topside. There's patience for the viewer to really understand the environment. Lol this comment is already super long so I'll shorten some other examples The scene vi is descending into the lanes for the first time again Ep 5: It's communicating how vi has grown and improved and is absolutely awesome now, mirrors the elevator descent in the first act . We get this fast electronic guitar heavy song. And it's so freeing for her then, the music cuts , and vi leaps and we see the beauty of the shot and how cool vi is now They hold the shot, for just a little longer. On that pause and it's just the right pacing for me personally to fully indulge in the aesthetics, in the coolness of it all. Then it kicks back up again pulling the audience back into the high octane pacing. It makes us feel like we're being pulled around and jostled about a bit, just like Vi would be feeling. It's a visceral reaction. Snakes: The great build and pay off vi using the gauntlets. 3 types of tension built: Within the act: vi getting back at silco within the episode: for vi giving up on the topsiders support and wanting to get her hands dirty and being reckless, what is she going to do? Within the scene: the music kicks in when things are going wrong, but the song is awesome and epic and the tone of the music is used to tell us what to feel. We know to get excited for an epic fight. As the music amps up there is a quick cut to vi to tell us again what to get more excited for, we knew it would be vi and re rewarded for it, for paying attention, for waiting, and then, when the music kicks up a notch we get an awesome move from Vi. It feels so good, the music tells us what to expect and then it's so satisfying when the action and events match the tone and rhythm of the music. Honestly it's so good in comparison I wonder if the production schedule on S1 Vs 2 is the reason we don't see this same rhythm in the season 2, that they didn't have the music yet? No idea but the difference is stark Also, just my opinion but all of the music from S1 was incredible, every scene with a soundtrack song was awesome and had a memorable moment and identity on a first watch. Watching s2 there wasn't a single standout musical moment. S1 has multiple each episode. Oof. There were moments I noticed it, but it felt wrong, pitfighter vi highlights this it was cool, but it's such a painful period for vi. This is a seriously painful time for vi but because it's not led up to, I can't indulge in the feelings the show wants me to feel. The song is screaming out in pain in a violent way and so is vi But I the viewer am not feeling high energy , Vi was missing from the whole last episode, we have been wanting to see her as the viewers and because of the mirrored act structure we know she will be in episode 5 (she skips episode 4 both seasons) We want to see her okay, and know she's doing something good or anything, and when we see she's hurting herself the feeling is sadness, loss, grief. Completely at odds with the song. It applies to vi but no the audience, it creates a disconnect that prevents me from indulging. I think the music clearly indicates how season 2 needed more time, this shouldn't have been our retrun to her with this song. In my opinion, they want to do this song? We need a build up, show she is doing poorly, show she's a mess then get our hopes up that maybe the fighting will help her stay busy, she has a plan or something anything. Show her start to do better, and then fall to rock bottom. Or perhaps just a quiet scene of her alone first, in pain, in silence, then she applies the oil to her face and walks into the pit and the music amps up. A moment of tension, confusion and uncertainty and then a bombardment of noise, and visuals and violence. We need the moment of anticipation to build for what is the lowest point for one of the main characters . Okay this is the most self indulgent comment ever lol. Tldr: Basically, S1 it's cool, the pacing is amazing, it foreshadows what's going to happen and what the audience should be about to feel, the editing matches beautiful and cohesively and the music is so cool, rocks. S2 Rushed, muddled tone of songs, forgettable moments, less interesting music, less patience within the music to slow and let tension build .
4 weeks ago (edited) | 109
The music was my biggest issue in season 2. It kept telling me how to feel about things. Part of what makes the soundtrack in season 1 so good, is they ADD to the nuance vs take away.
3 weeks ago | 6
There's no question in my mind that the music and animation quality greatly improved compared to season 1. However, that's about where it stops for me. The first time I watched them it was so hype!! But it took less than 10 minutes for that to wear off as I quickly realized that instead of a getting to watch a story unfold i was being expected to accept entire character arcs get condensed into a music video. The music in season 1 felt like an incredible added spice! It enhanced the drama, the atmosphere, the setting, the fight, or the character's inner thoughts, and much more! Season 2 had the music mostly feeling like an emotional crutch for the writers to justify where the plot needed to go also, in season 1, there were music scenes that took up most or all of the song, but that was the exception. Most of the time, you only got a snippet of the entire song. In season 2 it's the opposite. The music scenes carried on for long minutes of screen time instead of just the highlight of the song that best fit the scene
4 weeks ago | 28
Spin the Wheel is my favorite song from Arcane! Character driven, diagetic, plot relevant and genre diverse!
4 weeks ago | 19
as far as i remember i loved it most of the time, and it did have a huge impact on the impact of the plot. i find that in retrospect, i have more fondness for it than most of the plot the only time i did not like it was in the "caitlyn & her squad gassing zaun" montage because it felt like the soundtrack was trying to make them seem cool while doing this horrifying thing. then again, that whole plotline was messed up, so maybe it's not fully the music's fault? still, the disonance was... uncomfortable.
3 weeks ago | 7
Loved them in both. I actually preferred how it was done in S2 (think I might be the minority here) but I enjoy visually storytelling more than it being explained outright. Like both Sucker & Hellfire were absolutely perfect and got the main point across on what was happening in the world. Plus the lyrics explain the characters motives/feelings which I also really liked.
4 weeks ago | 1
The songs are absolutely an integral part of Arcane as a show, especially in season 2. The entirety of the second season is incredibly inspired by classical theatre, with the intro being the characters in plain clothes, miming out the actions they will take in the season, and all referencing scenes from famous plays. In classic Greek tragedies there would be several sections of the performance where the chorus would sing songs directly to the audience about the events of the play. This was partly done to allow the main actors a chance to change costume, but it was also done to enhance the emotion of the events we had just witnessed, give greater context to the events that had occured, as well as set up future events that will happen later in the story, which is what the musical sequences in Arcane do incredibly well.
4 weeks ago | 14
Hot take but I absolutely adored the way it used its music. The music videos to start the eps were insanely cool montages that accomplished so much visual storytelling so efficiently, especially the Vi one which was one of the coolest montages I'd ever seen. And its music usage outside of those evoked emotions in me to chill-inducing extents. Isha's big scene, Viktor's transformation, Heimerdinger's song, the Vander group hug, etc.
4 weeks ago | 49
Season 1 blended almost every musical sequence in so smoothly! In season 2 it did feel a little more shoehorned in. Not terrible! But it was just kinda, Ah Yes, the Mandatory Music Video part of the episode
3 weeks ago | 2
I liked how they used the music and all those montages. I know people have issues with the pacing but I always saw Arcane as revolutionary and it makes sense that they would experiment with different art styles to try and tell stories differently.
4 weeks ago | 5
It's not the music's fault, and I don't have any problems with the integration of the music. They just skipped over some stuff and put music instead. They needed 2 more episodes to flesh things out. Best example: vi between episodes 3 and 5. Instead of using a montage, they needed like half an episode for us to really feel her struggle.
4 weeks ago | 9
The sequence with "come play" is still one of my favorite bits of any show I've ever seen.
4 weeks ago | 3
My partner who's a cellist noticed that in the first season, other than the excellent pop tracks, the rest of the soundtrack was just one string instrument (probably violin), minimal and super effective.
4 weeks ago | 5
They basically glossed over 3 episodes worth of content for each song through edgy MVs. Thus missing crucial plotpoints, character building and relationship development. It felt extremely superficial and lazy.
4 weeks ago (edited) | 31
Everyone else has excellent responses, so I just want to say I’m really looking forward to you revisiting Arcane S2 for its 1-year anniversary (if that’s what this is for!) There are so many things I feel are still yet to be unpacked, and you’re probably the person I trust the most to do it 😅
4 weeks ago | 46
schnee
What did everyone think of Arcane S2's use of music? If you disliked the season, did the way they used music contribute at all to that?
4 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,111