［ENG/ESP］Arcane vs Masters of The Universe

# English │ Ingles Greetings, Hive! Let's talk seriously about two things, shall we? On the one hand, we have Arcane, a series based on the League of Legends universe, with a gripping story, characters with great development and an amazing sountrack. A series that tells us about the rivalry and conflict between two cities over magical power, and as the plot progresses, these same conflicts come to separate groups of family and friends. On the other hand, we have the series "starring" (those who saw the series will know why this word is in quotation marks) by He-Man, which was supposed to be a faithful remake of the series seen before in the 80's. In this article we will expose the reasons why Arcane was a resounding success and Masters of The Universe ended up being a product that disrespects its audience. Without further ado, let's begin.  [Made by suyenhb03 on Giphy](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.riotgames.com%2Fdarkroom%2F1440%2Fb540da2b9afe5ec83e842a2d84f6dbb1%3Ae95535ecd35e48592908762c9353926a%2Farcane-final-poster-16x9-no-text-no-border.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.riotgames.com%2Fes-41) The reason to make this analysis and comparison between both series is to get to know and identify when a creator respects his audience and when he laughs in their faces. For this I will separate this analysis into three parts: the way in which both series develop their stories and characters, marketing strategies and finally the treatment given to their audience in both cases. #### Development. Something that greatly differentiates both series is the seriousness and coherence with which the Lore of their franchises is treated. Arcane knew how to implement concepts already seen in the League of Legends game, sometimes even separating from the original stories already presented by Riot, but this is done for a better understanding of the story and these changes never become incongruent with the story that is being presented to us. On the other hand, Masters of The Universe changes the rules of the Lore already seen in the 80's as soon as the series begins and they change as the story progresses for the convenience of the characters. As for the narrative and script, Arcane is much more mature when it comes to narrating its story and the dialogues are consistent with the plot and actions of the characters. All this is carried out without giving unnecessary explanations since it is the same context of the series that explains it, making the viewer the one who is tying up ends and understanding the complex universe that is presented to us through simple but deep dialogues. On the other hand Masters of The Universe does something very confusing because at times they release too much unnecessary information and at other times they don't explain anything at all even though the situation deserves it, all this is because their script is very vague and childish but they try to disguise it with extensive and redundant moral conversations, this series treats its viewers like children by constantly telling them what they have to feel, as if the viewer himself did not have enough criteria to do so.  [Skeletor from Tenor](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftenor.com%2Fes%2Fver%2Fcasting-a-spell-skeletor-masters-of-the-universe-revelation-summoning-magic-destroying-the-floor-gif-22185617&psig=AOvVaw3tPs8FiWAG7Kl8JYMEKfyY&ust=1642791510822000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCMjnmLeBwfUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAP) Another of the things in which Arcane stands out is in the development of characters, we can see many nuances in their characters, no one is good at all and no one is bad at all, all are charismatic and have a unique personality, all have very human traits with fears and insecurities based on the experiences of the same. The experiences of the characters play a very important role as they feed back into the development of each character. Although in Masters of the Universe the characters also have lights and shadows, they are capable of going from goodness to evil in a matter of seconds and without a coherent explanation. Their personalities and skills are not congruent with their experiences, resulting in flat and even unbearable characters. As for the development of their stories. Arcane presents us with an adult story, with a socio-political conflict, showing us the classic story of struggle between the political class and the people, very characteristic of cyberpunk dystopian environments. Masters of The Universe on the other hand, as I mentioned before, was supposed to be a remake of the series already seen in the 80's, this series was never characterized by making a social criticism, however, Kevin Smith (showrunner of the series) used the characters already known in the animated series to create a story with an agenda of gender ideology and forced feminism. Using characters to address issues for which they were not intended. Here we will touch on another important point, which is feminist empowerment versus feminine power. Teela, the empowered protagonist of Masters of The Universe, constantly needs the viewer to validate her as a strong, all powerful and self-confident woman, constantly teetering between anger and resentment for men with the acquisition of powers out of nowhere, without minimal effort to get them, without reflection, the powers are hers because they are hers, because she always had them but couldn't get them until her time because He-Man and other men in the series overshadowed her. Another example could be Evil-Lyn who teeters between evil and goodness due to Skeletor's constant mistreatment, but contrary to this premise she never shows passive attitudes to avoid the consequences of the confrontation and does not show emotional dependence towards Skeletor, her aptitudes do not correspond with her experiences nor with the emotional instability that the creators want to sell us. They want to portray a battered woman without showing any trait of her. And because of this, Evil-Lyn's supposed emotional instability can become good or bad at the convenience of the plot, creating a flat story lacking coherence. However, Arcane shows us truly strong women, and this is not only because they are women, all their strength is based on their experiences throughout the series, they are very different women whose actions respond to events and traumas of the past. For example, we have Vi, a determined but insecure woman, strong but at the same time vulnerable, constantly afraid of not being able to protect her loved ones. Jinx, is the complex mirror of schizophrenia whose whispers and visions in her mind gradually consume her innocence that characterized her at the beginning of the series, she becomes dark and cruel but even deep down we can perceive sadness, deep down she wants to be rescued from the monsters that inhabit her brain. Both are imperfect and have weaknesses, because they are human and that is why we can empathize with them, something that does not happen with the female characters in Masters of The Universe. Now let's talk about the male characters of both series, which are also treated in different ways in both series.  [He-Man from ElUniverso](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eluniverso.com%2Fentretenimiento%2Ftelevision%2Fasi-se-ven-he-man-y-skeletor-enmasters-of-the-universe-revelation-de-mattel-nota%2F&psig=AOvVaw1SeRVjDENP2KUPTxvJnaJ2&ust=1642792012054000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCNCjtqWDwfUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD) He-Man, the undisputed protagonist of the original series is relegated to and put in the background to make way for Teela, literally must apologize to this for having died to save her as she is very offended. Skeletor is a complete good-for-nothing who loses GraySkull's sword for thinking with his genitals and not his head. However, the treatment given to the male characters in Arcane is the same as that given to women, giving them personality and nuances that make you empathize with them, even with the villain himself at some point, as you come to understand his motivation, even if you don't agree with his methods to achieve his goal. Another thing that makes Arcane stand out is the affection with which the protagonists remember their father, the lessons and moments they shared that made them learn and mature. In Masters of The Universe, the protagonists go from love to hate for their fathers in a matter of seconds. Now let's talk about forced inclusion, because Masters of The Universe takes the first prize in this category, as it inserts fluid and racialized characters out of nowhere, a very clear example of this is Lieutenant Andra, a simple and flat character who is a strong woman only because of her black skin and who is also presented to us at the beginning of the series as Teela's love interest, and who is suddenly replaced during the second arc by He-Man, with no relationship development, breakup or coherent explanation, nothing, just Teela forgets about her and becomes romantically interested in Adam. Very different from this, with Vi something different happens, as we don't care what her sexual orientation is as long as it flows with the plot and is consistent with it, the relationship between Vi and Caitlyn develops naturally and without rushing, it is congruent with the events as both help and support each other, they spend time together and this makes a very natural attraction develop between them that can even go unnoticed in the eyes of the viewer. #### Marketing and promotion strategies. How were these series sold prior to their premiere? Well, months before the premiere of Masters of The Universe, we were constantly haunted by the statements of Kevin Smith, showrunner of the series, a trailer was released that made us raise our expectations about the series enormously and Kevin Smith's statements only increased the hype, since the same showrunner declared that long-time fans were going to love this product.  [Kevin Smith from CBR](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbr.com%2Fmasters-of-universe-kevin-smith-angry-he-man-fans%2F&psig=AOvVaw2VGdx4h7kHRZ4ReLTQOHIj&ust=1642792344047000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCPjRz8aEwfUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD) The result? A resounding failure, fans were disappointed, they were promised a series in which the undisputed protagonist was He-Man, full of epic fights, which turned out to be far from the drama and sentimentality that the series became. And to top it all off, Kevin Smith had the gall to blame the fans for not liking his series. But as for the promotion of Arcane, it went almost unnoticed, as a single trailer was released a month before the series premiere and hardly any statements were made by Riot or Netflix to avoid excessive hype. What was the result of this? A massive reception, as this series turned out to be much more than expected. #### Fan treatment. After the previous points, we can safely say that Netflix and Kevin Smith despise He-Man fans and with this series they did not intend to make a good product that paid homage to the 80's series, on the contrary, the only goal of this series was to please the offended people on Twitter who must not even know what He-Man and the Masters of the Universe are. The story of this series is incongruous and changes the rules of its own universe at the convenience of the plot, with a very poor script and writing that presents us with flat and one-dimensional characters, and when they undergo a change it has no justification, it is done all at once and without prior development. The inclusion is forced because it contributes nothing to the plot. What makes me so sure that Kevin Smith despises He-Man fans is the fact that the original series premiered in the early 80's so he is targeting an adult audience to whom he can speak frankly and maturely, however, he ended up putting out a product lacking interest, an uninteresting plot and forced feminism. Kevin Smith had no intention of making a product for the fanbase to which it was addressed and thinks that the viewers do not deserve better, because at the end of the day, and in the words of the showrunner himself, the only thing he cares about that work is a check that is already cashed. Quite the opposite of what happened with Arcane since, despite the fact that this game was released in early 2009 and its fans are younger, Riot knew how to tell an adult story, treating its fans in a mature way and not treating them like little children. In conclusion and to end this article, given the success that Arcane had in comparison to the red numbers of Masters of The Universe, let's hope that Netflix learns the lesson and stop inserting cheap and forced morality that no one has asked for in their animated series, which not only bores and offends the public but makes us think that Netflix is disinterested in producing quality products that really contribute something to their viewers. # Spanish │ Español ¡Saludos, Hive! Hablemos seriamente de dos cosas ¿quieren? Por un lado, tenemos a Arcane una serie basada en el universo de League of Legends, con una historia atrapante, personajes con gran desarrollo y un sountrack asombroso. Una serie que nos habla de la rivalidad y conflicto entre dos ciudades por cuestión de poder mágico y con el avance de la trama estos mismos conflictos llegan a separar a grupos de familia y amigos. Por otro lado, tenemos la serie “protagonizada” (los que vieron la serie sabrán porque esta palabra esta entre comillas) por He-Man, la cual estaba supuesta a ser un remake fiel a la serie antes vista en los 80’s. En este articulo expondremos las razones por las que Arcane fue un rotundo éxito y Masters of The Universe termino siendo un producto que irrespeta a su público. Sin más que decir, comencemos.  [Made by suyenhb03 on Giphy](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl