Arcane Season 2 is being hailed as a triumph by many, but one of the clouds hovering over the parade is the clumsy censorship that has been enacted.
Though Riot Games actively incorporates LGBT themes into its media and some characters’ stories, it openly removes them in some regions. The studio is, ultimately, owned by a Chinese conglomerate and has actively developed tracking software for China’s government. With China in the midst of a sweeping crackdown on LGBT media, Arcane Season 2 was caught in the crossfire.
While censorship can sometimes be done effectively, that isn’t the case here. The edited scenes are drawing both jeers and eyerolls from Arcane fans.
The international releases of Arcane Season 2 saw all displays of physical intimacy between Caitlyn and other women censored from the show.
The romantic relationship between Caitlyn and Vi was a major plot point in Arcane Season 2.
In China and other countries, this was scrubbed with some awkward results. Caitlyn and Vi have a relatively explicit sex scene during the show, which was cut out entirely in some territories. Things went a step further though, with the ending scene also being adjusted.
The Chinese release in particular alters the final moments of the season. Caitlyn is hosting Vi, with the two sitting together. During this conversation, Caitlyn rests her head on Vi’s shoulder. In the Chinese version of the show, Caitlyn’s shoulder is removed such that Caitlyn’s head is awkwardly cocked as she talks.
Just as strange in practice is the very final scene. While Arcane Season 2 is meant to show Vi resting her head on Caitlyn’s shoulder as they stare into a fireplace, it instead just has Caitlyn silently staring at nothing for an awkwardly long time.
It wasn’t just Caitlyn and Vi, either. There’s also a brief romance between Caitlyn and Maddie during the season, where the two are shown in bed. The censored version of Arcane Season 2 removes all canoodling and kissing, making it unclear why the two are suddenly in the same house together.
Arcane is far from alone in being censored in China. Numerous television shows and films have received similar treatment. The clumsy nature of the censorship only adds to the frustration many have felt over this initiative.
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