Parallel world Manga Artist-Chapter 202: End of the First Season

By the end of February, Arcane Episode 8 aired as scheduled.

The conflict between the Upper City and the Lower City, carefully built up over seven episodes, finally erupted in full.

Silco ruled Zaun through Shimmer, a substance that caused addiction and grotesque biochemical mutations. After uncovering the truth, Vi went straight to Jayce and convinced him to personally lead an operation into Zaun to destroy Silco’s Shimmer factory.

Jayce, who had long harbored prejudice toward Zaun because of repeated riots, finally crossed the line from policymaker to soldier.

Armed with the Hextech Mercury Hammer, he fought at the front.

The moves that once existed only as player inputs in League of Legends, Shock Blast, To the Skies, were rendered flawlessly in animation. For a brief moment, the audience was swept up in the spectacle: overwhelming power, dazzling effects, decisive victory.

Jayce achieved exactly what he wanted.

Silco’s armored subordinates were crushed. The factory was destroyed.

The operation was a success.

Then everything stopped.

Only after personally killing several masked soldiers did Jayce realize the truth.

The people he had slaughtered were children, twelve, thirteen years old at most, made to look terrifying only because Shimmer had warped their bodies.

The factory workers he arrested were children as well.

Three minutes earlier, the Mercury Hammer had left the audience breathless.

Three minutes later, that same weapon chilled them to the bone.

That heroic, stylish battle had been staged against the deaths of children who had never left Zaun, children who grew up breathing toxic fumes every day in the Undercity.

Jayce had often declared, as a councilor, that if Zaun continued to stir chaos, Piltover would not hesitate to go to war to preserve peace.

Many viewers had agreed.

Zaun was pitiable, but also violent. A swift strike might end the problem.

Better a small sacrifice than a prolonged war. But standing over the bodies of dead children, especially with Arcane’s hyper-realistic animation, the cost of that logic struck home with brutal force.

"This is war," some viewers realized.

"In war, the old, the weak, women, and children all stand on the battlefield."

Animation is not philosophy. It is not a moral textbook. It cannot reform humanity or teach virtue.

At best, an animated work can pull the audience into its world, make them feel shock, awe, grief, and leave them reflecting, even briefly, on society, power, and human nature.

If it can do that, even for half an hour, it deserves to be called excellent.

Arcane did far more than that.

This was precisely why Rei had loved the series in his previous life.

And now...

After two months on air, Arcane began drawing together its final threads, pushing relentlessly toward the climax of Season One.

Following Episode 8, the ratings surged to 6.76%.

Across Japan, from city streets to ACG fan districts, the momentum of Hunter x Hunter, which was still building toward the Chimera Ant arc, was completely overshadowed.

Arcane posters were everywhere.

Promotions for the upcoming auto-chess game had already begun.

At anime conventions nationwide, cosplayers dressed as Jinx, Vi, Jayce, and others dominated the floor.

Fans around the world found themselves counting down the days to Friday, the finale of Season One.

Even knowing that Season Two would begin in April did little to ease the bittersweet feeling of watching a truly great work reach its end.

Ion TV Station intensified promotion, airing previews for the final episode during every commercial break.

Rei himself began appearing more frequently at public events, as the scale of promotion expanded to its peak.

Time finally reached the first Friday of March. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

That afternoon, Illumination Production Company closed early.

Chairwoman Himari issued a single request to all staff:

At eight o’clock that evening, they were to return home, turn on their televisions, and watch the final episode of Arcane Season One, together with their families.

Of course, this requirement counted as official work, and Himari made sure to calculate overtime pay for everyone.

Rei also set aside the work in his hands and began browsing online comments from seven in the evening, skimming through fan discussions and complaints while waiting for the broadcast.

Although the first season had received overwhelming praise, Rei knew very well that it was still far from perfect. Compared to the completed Arcane from his previous life, there were inevitable differences. Any work brought into Japan required localization and fine-tuning, blindly copying the original was never the best option. Paying attention to audience feedback now meant that any genuinely useful suggestions could still be incorporated into the production of Season Two.

Of course, truly constructive feedback was rare. Most of what filled the forums were excited conversations from fans killing time before the episode aired.

As eight o’clock approached, the discussions grew livelier.

"Strictly speaking, Arcane doesn’t have a moment like Sai’s disappearance in Hikaru no Go, that kind of scene that stays with you for life. But for some reason, I still feel Arcane is better overall. This anime is incredible."

"That makes sense. Most of Hikaru no Go sits around a seven, but Sai’s arc shoots straight to a nine-point-nine. Naturally, that leaves a deep impression. Arcane, on the other hand, maintains a consistent eight throughout, with climaxes reaching nine. That kind of stability is rare."

"And with production quality this absurd, it’s only natural it feels that way."

"That’s how ensemble-cast anime work. When every character needs screen time and development, no single character gets pushed to an extreme peak. There just isn’t enough narrative space."

"Still, I’m genuinely moved. Will Japan even produce an anime this good again in the next ten years?"

"Of course. Season Two of Arcane starts next quarter."

"I meant anime other than Arcane."

"Then Hunter."

"Forget Hunter. The plot isn’t inferior to Arcane, but the animation quality is. Otherwise, the ratings wouldn’t be stuck around six percent. Shirogane-sensei’s works only truly shine when he personally oversees production. Hoshimori Group invested a lot, but the finished product is still at least two tiers below One-Punch Man and Arcane."

"True. Even though Hunter’s animation quality is already top-tier by industry standards, there’s still a gap when you compare it to One-Punch Man and Arcane."

"They make anime to boost manga sales; the animation itself doesn’t have to make money. But look at Arcane, one fifty million per episode. That budget alone could fund one or two full seasons of a normal show. Hoshimori Group isn’t poor, but they’re not idiots either."

"Then what about Shirogane-sensei? Why does he dare to invest that much?"

"Because he’s Shirogane. He literally can’t lose money."

"Even if he drew absolute trash right now, people would still line up to see how bad it is. How could he possibly lose?"

"So what do we do once Arcane ends after two seasons?"

"Wait. At this point, no one in Japan’s animation industry can surpass Shirogane, except Shirogane himself. Each of his works outdoes the last."

As time passed, discussions about Shirogane and Arcane continued to intensify across the internet.

And at last, the final episode of Arcane’s first season reached its broadcast time.

...

STONES PLZ

Read 50 Chapters ahead @[email protected]/Ashnoir