Arcane
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Arcane (titled onscreen as Arcane: League of Legends) is an adult computer-animated action-adventure streaming television series created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee for Netflix. Produced by Fortiche under the supervision of Riot Games, it is set in the League of Legends fictional universe and primarily focuses on sisters Vi and Jinx. The series was announced at the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration in 2019, and first released in November 2021. A second and final season was released on November 9, 2024.
Plot
Two sisters find themselves in separate cities during the midst of an ongoing political tension.
Why It's Legendary
- It stays faithful to the source material that the show is based on. In fact, you don't need to play League of Legends in order to understand this series as it takes place before the events of the games.
- A lot of the characters are likable and have moments where they can be relatable.
- Vi and Powder (later known as Jinx) lost their parents in a failed rebellion from Zaun to Piltover.
- Becoming a father figure to Powder, Vi, Mylo, and Claggor; Vander wants Vi to understand that she must put others ahead of herself.
- Powder wants to be useful on a mission but always screws up due to her age and lack of combat experience.
- Jayce wants to develop Hextech to improve lives but is left in the shadows by higher-ups in Piltover who care more about themselves instead of the people.
- Silco wants Zaun to be an independent nation but will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
- Excellent cast with the likes of Hailee Steinfield, Ella Purnell, Kevin Alejandro, Katie Leung, and even the band Imagine Dragons.
- Speaking of Imagine Dragons, the soundtrack is excellent, especially the main theme.
- The show is not afraid to tackle politics such as police corruption, class division, and hierarchy. Not only that, the political issues are interesting and relevant to the show.
- Incredible pacing: Due to the interesting characters and storylines, no scenes felt too slow or too fast.
- Spectacular animation that it feels like you're watching a painting come to life. What's even more impressive is that while the animation team had some restraints, it still looks impressive.
- Incredible writing and worldbuilding. No scene feels like the audience are being treated like idiots on not knowing how Hextech or Shimmer works, what Piltover and Zaun are as cities, how magic works in this universe. When the show requires exposition, it doesn't feel boring at all and feels interesting and relevant. What makes this even more noteworthy is that the main writers have never written anything before aside from some lore in League of Legends. In other words, Arcane is literally their first try.
- Incredible action scenes. Thanks to the animation, the action feels fluent and uses slow-motion very well.
- Great character development. No character feels like the same when we first meet them.
- There is a heart-shattering scene in Episode 3 where Vi angrily leaves Powder behind after Mylo's, Claggor's, and Vander's deaths only to be captured by enforcers. Powder, believing that Vi abandoned her seeks comfort in Silco's arms. The choice of music at the credits makes it even more tragic.
- Even though the show is serious, there are funny moments such as in Episode 2 where Mylo shoots from a toy gun only for the pellets to bounce off harmlessly on the enforcers as they stand motionless.
- Excellent intro from both the first and second seasons.
- The second season brought everything to a complete close. It may be one of the best finales for any show ever.
- Meta Example: The show's success increased League of Legends Players and saw a sharp increase in players playing as Vi and Jinx.
Bad Qualities
- The overuse of flashing images can be distorting to some viewers.
- Maddie Nolen is revealed to be a traitor after dating Caitlyn. Thankfully, she got comeuppance in the series finale.
- The banner of one of poster of season 2 where the Netflix is AI generated. Thankfully, this was removed.
Reception
Arcane received critical acclaim for its narrative, characters, animation, acting, and world-building. It received a 100% rating from Rotten Tomatoes on 26 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Arcane makes an arresting first impression, combining a spectacular mix of 2D and 3D animation with an emotionally compelling story to deliver a video game adaptation that could become legendary."
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