Late May, Sunday.
Almost every ani fan in Japan was buzzing with excitent for this day.
All day long, Ion TV Station flooded its schedule with promos for the final episode of Arcane.
Every otaku shopping street was plastered with Arcane posters.
Popular mobile gas seized the opportunity, launching limited-ti Arcane crossover skins.
And Rei...
That very morning, he posted a single line on his creator account:
[Let’s face the ending together.]
For the first ti, the entire country ACG scene was united.
Story-focused fans praised the narrative endlessly on forums.
Visual enthusiasts dissected iconic fras and sequences one after another.
Rei’s small group of detractors couldn’t even find room to speak.
Judging by global ratings, word of mouth, and review scores, Arcane had already beco a phenonal masterpiece.
At this point, trying to trash it only made one a laughingstock.
Aside from the art style, which a very small minority still couldn’t accept, there was virtually nothing left to criticize.
At 8:00 p.m., the final episode aired as scheduled.
There were no hidden mysteries left. No dangling world-building threads.
The finale gave fans exactly what they wanted.
Relentless action.
Ambessa’s army stord Piltover.
Zaunites and Piltovans joined forces to resist.
Jayce confronted Viktor, whose mind had been completely overtaken by the hextech runes, now intent on rging all consciousness into one.
l faced her mother Ambessa head-on to protect Piltover. In the end, she wielded the power of The Black Rose to defeat her, then used her status as heir to halt the all-out war.
Viewers found it imnsely satisfying.
But the true highlight was still to co.
The aerial battle between Jinx and Vi lasted a full twelve minutes.
anwhile, Viktor fully fused with the Hexcore, mutating into a cold, chanical being determined to dominate every mind through the hextech network, absorbing all consciousness into himself.
This was the catastrophe Jayce had witnessed in the worst tiline.
The real reason Piltover and Zaun would be annihilated.
Not Ambessa, not Noxus.
Viktor’s research itself dood both cities.
The man who once sought to save the world through invention was instead devoured by his own creation, stripped of humanity, elevated to false divinity, and driven to commit ultimate destruction.
Only when Jayce awakened the final trace of Viktor’s humanity did Viktor sever himself from that godlike control, willingly "losing" the battle and sparing the twin cities.
From start to finish, the episode was wall-to-wall combat.
Every character shone. Information density was pushed to the absolute limit.
Then ca the final confrontation: Vi, Jinx, and the rampaging Vander.
Whether Jinx truly died saving her sister, disintegrated in the explosion, or sohow survived was left deliberately ambiguous.
And when Arcane’s ending the played one last ti, viewers sitting before their televisions felt nothing but bittersweet awe.
"It’s over!"
"Masterpiece confird!"
"Long live Shirogane!"
"I’m so glad to be alive in this era. As long as Shirogane keeps creating, I’ll never run out of ani to love!"
"So many feels..."
"I guessed Ekko would save the day, but watching him rewind again and again with the Z-Drive, charging at Viktor until he found the one path that broke the control, absolute goosebumps."
"Every character felt like an MVP."
"First ti I’ve seen a true ensemble ani give everyone a spotlight and still raise the narrative logic."
"Sa. Once I realized Arcane was an ensemble show, I prayed it wouldn’t collapse midway. Thank goodness, Shirogane is a god. He untangled all those relationships and delivered an ending that feels like art."
"Nothing but feels, Shirogane owns tonight!"
"But... starting next week, there won’t be a new episode every Sunday. It already feels so empty."
"Don’t say sothing that cold while I’m still crying!"
The finale’s viewership rating ultimately climbed to 7.12%.
The next morning, at Illumination Production Company headquarters, Rei finally let out a long breath after finishing up the last bits of follow-up work.
"It’s finally over... Arcane."
He hadn’t pushed large-scale IP rchandising for Arcane.
After all, the source material was a ga. Mass-producing League of Legends Online–style content in just a few months was unrealistic.
As a result, Arcane’s IP expansion remained relatively restrained compared to One-Punch Man.
Per the contract, after the broadcast ended, Rei would assist the partner studio in promoting the spin-off mobile ga Teamfight Tactics Mobile, which was set to launch in three weeks.
None of this demanded much of his ti or attention.
Sophomore spring had fewer classes than freshman year, and junior year would be even lighter.
Whenever he had free ti, Rei practically ran to Himari, overseeing Demon Slayer’s production pace and quality as the investing producer.
He weighed in personally on character art, special effects, and background design.
To preserve the original flavor, he spent hours briefing Himari’s staff again and again.
Ti passed quietly.
June arrived.
Arcane’s heat showed no signs of fading across the country.
At conventions and exhibitions, cosplay statistics still placed Arcane far ahead of every other IP.
At almost any event, dozens of Jinx cosplayers could be seen strutting around.
Yet even as Arcane continued to burn brightly, discussions around Rei’s other works surged rapidly.
June ushered in the appearance of Hunter × Hunter’s true ultimate boss: The Ant King, ruem.
Hunter Association Chairman Netero personally led an elite squad of Hunters into the sealed nation, while Gon confronted the Chira Ant invasion head-on.
Those two Chapters detonated reader enthusiasm.
Cool characters. Explosive panel composition. Sky-high hype.
They pulled back even long-dormant Hunter fans in droves.
Many readers had already begun calling the manga a masterpiece.
And the Ant Arc?
The holy grail of long-form manga arcs.
Now, that very arc had begun casting its shadow over every ani fan.
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