[No Spoilers] My Biggest Problem with this Show

When I'm working, I like to have something in the background to watch. Perhaps counterintuitively, I find it makes me more focussed on my work task, and hence more productive. Unfortunately, this means I absolutely blitz through new content and finding things to watch and rewatch that haven't grown stale to me yet is a task in of itself.

I stumbled across Arcane when trying to fill that void of silence. I don't think I'd have given it much thought otherwise: I know League of Legends is a game, but beyond that I know nothing; nor had I heard anything about this show. I only watched it because I've been consuming TV and movies so voraciously that I can't afford to be too picky, especially as I'm just looking for some easy watching to play in the background. I often miss details/plot points when I'm only half watching a thing, but I usually pick these up on inevitable rewatches.

Unfortunately, I am excited to say that Arcane is the farthest thing possible from what I was looking for. It wasn't enough to pay enough attention to be able to follow the main plot points - I kept finding myself rewinding to rewatch scenes after feeling like I'd missed something important. That's because the writing and animation and world building is so rich that even glancing away for a moment meant missing things worth paying attention for. I can't remember the last time I was so utterly transfixed by a series/movie.

So the problem with Arcane is that I wanted something to help increase my work productivity by playing in the background, but it has been actively anti-productive because I have resigned myself to having to carve out some time to properly watch it and give it the attention it deserves. Every episode so far, I've had at least one moment where I was on the edge of my seat, holding my breath as I desperately hope for an outcome where it works out for the characters I care about. Except that's impossible because I'm invested in all the characters and when they're often directly at odds with each other, with mutually exclusive win-cons. Some plot points so far have been pretty easy to predict from fairly far off, but somehow that didn't stop me from hoping as I watched events unfold with a sort of horrified fascination. God damn, this is good writing.

And the animation is beautiful on so many levels. I could watch this show on mute with no subtitles and still find it enjoyable. Just wow.

I'm only half way through, but this world and its characters have seized me so thoroughly that I almost wish I was at the end already so I could read all the reviews and dive into online discussions about how awesome Arcane is and all the ways I love it. On the other hand, I know that when I do finish it, I am going to wish I could get more of this great content, especially because I can't think of (m)any other shows that begin to measure up in comparison. On that note, if anyone has any suggestions for similar viewing, I'd be glad to hear them.

TL;DR: My biggest problem with Arcane is it's too engaging to watch in the background, sorry for the bait title, hopefully the flair helps