TV Show review
Review basis: 2 seasons · through November 23, 2024
November 6, 2021 · TV-14 · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Arcane is a two-season animated series set in the League of Legends universe. It follows sisters Vi and Jinx as they grow up on opposite sides of a class divide between the wealthy tech city of Piltover and the oppressed underground of Zaun, with hextech magic technology sparking conflict, family trauma, and personal ambition. The show features a prominent central lesbian romance between Vi and Caitlyn that develops across both seasons, along with visibly diverse character designs and voice casting that includes multiple ethnic backgrounds in a fictional steampunk world. Class-based institutional power struggles and corruption appear as recurring plot drivers but stay grounded in character choices rather than modern activist messaging.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Arcane.
Woke representation / casting
Visible ethnic diversity in character designs and voice cast; prominent central lesbian romance between Vi and Caitlyn that receives significant screen time and emotional weight across seasons.
Woke political dialogue
Occasional talk of class exploitation and elite corruption during council scenes and rebellions, but delivered as plot events and character conflicts rather than speeches or modern jargon.
Identity-driven story themes
Primary focus remains family trauma and sisterly loyalty; the Vi-Caitlyn queer romance adds a clear identity layer, and class functions as an economic divide with some identity-adjacent undertones.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Piltover's ruling council is shown as out-of-touch and self-serving while Zaun suffers, but this follows classic fantasy rich-versus-poor storytelling without reframing into contemporary critiques of patriarchy, whiteness, or capitalism as systemic evils.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Niche online videos, Reddit threads, and forum posts accuse the show of diversity signaling, strong women dominating, and leftist class messaging; complaints stayed limited and did not prevent commercial or critical success.
Creator track record context
Lead creators Linke and Yee come from game lore work with no activist history; producer Monica Macer has a documented pattern of race- and identity-centered projects, and writer Amanda Overton has publicly prioritized LGBTQ+ representation.
Production
