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8.5/10
Netflix, you sly dog. You’ve done it again! This is one of the best animated series I’ve ever seen. Now keep in mind, I’ve never played League of Legends, nor did I know anything about the game going in. I went in completely blind and I came out so damn impressed. The characters man… the characters were so freaking SICK! Powder is such a well written character and she was easily my favourite part of the show. I couldn’t and still can’t get enough of her. She’s like Harley Quinn, but better. What a fantastic character! I also really liked Vander, Vi, Jayce, Silco, Caitlyn and come on, Heimerdinger is just great.
They all had wicked development and the voice cast was top notch across the board. This show had some of the craziest voice work🔥 What really takes Arcane to another level though is the animation. Dude… that sh#t was insane. The style, designs, use of colours/light, world building and editing was all flawless. I can say without a doubt that this show is a visual masterpiece. My god👏🏼 I also thought the music was really solid and it helped give the world it’s grungy yet calming feel and atmosphere.
Here’s the thing; it’s pretty hard for a show to completely win me over. I’m just not a series guy🤷🏼♂️ I prefer stories that are told in a 2-3 hour format, so shows usually lose me pretty quick. I often find myself very invested in the first few episodes of whatever I’m watching, then become underwhelmed by the rest. When it comes to this show though, yes, I do think the second half was slightly weaker than the first but it never once lost me. I think that’s because the first 3-4 episodes had unbeatable storytelling, so the rest of it was overshadowed by that. There was still plenty to love in the second half but it didn’t quite hit like episodes 1 through 4. Yeah, I’d say that’s my only real complaint. In the end, I think Arcane is just a kickass and madly impressive show. Netflix has once again proven themselves as the streaming giant. I had a blast watching this and I really can’t wait for season 2. Bring it on😍
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Arcane is a 9 episode series available on Netflix and produced by Riot Games and Fortiche. Clearly most of the work was done by Fortiche, Riot can’t even balance champions, they could never do a work of art like this.
If you’re a League of Legends fan, old or new, you probably wanted to learn a bit more about some characters besides reading some paragraphs of boring lore. This series got you covered.
Jinx and Vi are the main characters, with big roles for Jayce, Viktor, Heimerdinger, Ekko and Singed. You’re probably wondering who the fuck am I talking about if you’re not a League fan, but fear not, this series is (almost) just as good for newcomers. Sure some references and cameos (like the little fucker Teemo) you won’t understand, but the story is the core here, and you’ll likely enjoy it. Also, Silco is a pretty good villain! An original character for the League of Legends universe.
Props to Riot on one thing, the characters and worlds they create sure make for interesting stories. But a HUGE HUGE HUGE word of congratulations to Fortiche, the animation style they created is simply incredible. In fact, I can safely say that this is one of the best animation works of all time, a true work of art.
From the beautiful vistas to the incredibly detailed characters (seriously, even nuanced movements of the eyes make for awesome immersion), the amazingly choreographed fight scenes to the use of different colours…it’s so good to look at, you just want to keep watching it. The action scenes rival some of the live action greatness from recent years!
The story is, for the most part, great. A bit rushed here and there, but you know it’s good when you’re rooting for heroes and villains alike. The series also ends on a satisfying cliffhanger, which I don’t often see.
It’s an awesome series, something everyone that likes good storytelling and animations should watch. With season 2 already confirmed and a promise from Riot to work with Fortiche more, there are so many great lanes that they can explore.
Hopefully they don't drop the hexcore, like the idiot Yasuo in my team does everytime.
10/10
By @afcgaming
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5/5
Fantasy/Drama
MINOR SPOILER WARNING
Sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder (Mia Sinclair Jenness) find themselves divided on opposing sides, amidst rising tensions between the rich utopia of Piltover and the oppressed underworld of Zaun.
Riot Games and Fortiche Studios took the streaming world by storm in November 2021 when the first season of Arcane released onto Netflix and I’m here to say that… I was about 2-3 months late to the party. However, I can now weigh in on why I, like many other viewers, consider this season of television a pure masterpiece. I absolutely did not expect to be here after 2021, explaining how and why the best
TV from last year was an animated spin-off from a non-narrative PC game with a variable reputation, which meant that Arcane was a massively pleasant surprise for me. Quite frankly, little TV has had me so engaged in quite a while and it’s largely down to the phenomenal writing and impressive world building.
Arcane could have easily become clunky and stumbled under the weight of introducing its lore and expansive cast of characters, however, the creators make the wise decision to treat the audience as if they know nothing about League of Legends, which sounds simple yet is an issue that many a videogame adaptation has been tainted by. Consequentially, we aren’t spoon-fed exposition but rather learn about the steampunk world and its inhabitants through the lenses and stories of the central protagonists and antagonists, which is done by prioritising character work and exploring their relationships, while small details about the world are sprinkled in, until we can eventually form an expansive understanding of the setting. It doesn’t feel like any of Arcane’s runtime is wasted on insignificant details, for example, in the opening scene, we see two young girls, presumably sisters, on a bridge while some armed characters in blue and gold uniforms, suggested to be police or guards, are in conflict with a lone human in regular attire, who seems to be the last alive after his companions have been murdered. We can infer that the sisters’ parents have just been killed by the police or guards and, since we will obviously sympathise with characters who have just experienced that tragedy because of the apathy of federal action, we quickly understand the pain and anger of the oppressed population of Zaun due to the ignorance of Piltover, a city controlled by those blinded by their wealth. However, this scene also introduces our two main characters and how important their dynamic is, as they suffer shared trauma by a cruel system and are suggested to be the only biological family they each have left. This tragic opening sets out Arcane’s dramatic yet human tone and displays the show’s visual flair, with the chillingly orange mist. Therefore, even the opening scene concisely offers a taste of the character, world-building, tone and animation that’s to come. From what I remember, there’s also hardly a word spoken in this scene, demonstrating how well this show can balance character and world-building, saying so much even without dialogue. This distinct opening immediately demands the viewer’s attention and is only a small example of how Arcane constructs its scenes but, from this point on, it stays mind-blowingly consistent, entirely devoid of any weak narrative links.
While the fight scenes are kinetic and stunning, Arcane is more concerned with exploring its characters
and their relationships amidst the tension and violence that surrounds them. Act 1 introduces Vi and
Powder in their found family dynamic with father figure and protector of those vulnerable in the underworld Vander (JB Blanc), and friends/surrogate siblings Mylo (Yuri Lowenthal, who I’m happy to ‘vocally see’ again after his excellent take on Peter Parker in Insomniac’s Spider-Man) and Claggor
(Roger Craig Smith). The show’s opening 3 episodes do a fantastic job of presenting the innocence of the young mischief-makers contrasted harshly by how unforgiving and unfair the world is, and part of what makes Arcane so insatiable is that it never pulls its punches, whether that’s in violent explosions or
merciless stabbing. People die unexpectedly and horrifyingly and it’s not pretty or glamourised. It’s also
not afraid to tackle complex mental health issues, such as in how genius but impatient scientists Jayce
(Kevin Alejandro) and Viktor (Harry Lloyd) each find themselves considering taking their own lives. This
show may take place in a distant steampunk setting but it consistently and impressively feels so real and raw, permeating in mine and many other viewers’ minds so much more than a lot of TV that takes place in our normal world. While Vi and Powder’s relationship sees moments of wholesomeness and wonder, like when they look out over the city discussing their plans to be respected someday, it’s equally contrasted by disturbing instances of trauma and tragedy, like the end of Act 1 which I don’t wish to spoil but, bloody hell, that is some disturbingly human s***. After an intense opening that sets the stage for the turmoil and stakes to come, Arcane doesn’t ever let up and continues its wonderful trick with presenting rounded out characters who we can sympathise with even at their worst, to the extent where I can’t think of a single one that the audience doesn’t get to know at least slightly beyond the surface. It’s always evident throughout the series that all its inhabitants have evolved from a complicated past that’s influenced who they are in the present but, perhaps more relevantly to the story, have plans for how they want to play the ‘game’ of prospering with wealth and power in Piltover or simply trying to survive the cutthroat undercity of Zaun, that’s been so beaten into submission by corrupt enforcers and merciless crime lords alike. The time that this show takes in ensuring that the audience knows the characters allows these components to build up a rich tapestry of conflicts driven for multitudes of different purposes and this allows the narrative to be so consistently thrilling.
I would consider ruthless crime boss Silco (Jason Spisak) to be one of the most exemplary of just how
effective the Arcane treatment of character is, as he’s the kind of supporting component who could
have easily become an archetypal and unoriginal villain. However, he’s such an intriguing presence
because of the fact that he’s not a moustache-twirling sadist, but rather a character with shades of good in his intentions who’s sadly overwhelmed by his flawed means of ‘achieving’ them. His tumultuous past with Vander shows this in how they both ultimately wanted and want the same thing (freedom and fair leadership for Zaun) but are on polar-opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to the extents that they believe they can go in the name of ‘peace’ before it becomes tyranny. Silco’s storyline is obvious proof that the world of Arcane tragically doesn’t reward honour and benevolence, which makes it all the more interesting that, by the end of season 1, it’s clear to the audience that what’s most important to this brutal and cold murderer is his surrogate daughter, Jinx (Ella Purnell). Despite his shortcomings in mercy and often sympathy, through his deeply rooted relationship of Jinx, we see a pause in his manipulations where he shows a capacity for genuine love and care, a theme that recurs at other moments too when Silco reflects on some of his extreme decisions and questions whether they were the right thing to do, almost imploring judgment from the ghosts of the past.
The narrative in the more entrepreneurial ‘topside’ is driven by the brilliant but problematic duo of
Jayce and Viktor, bringing a story thematically imbued with some surprisingly hard-hitting and rich
commentary on how humanity’s ambition so often leads to self-destructive ruin. To sum it up for any
unknowledgeable readers, the two inventors form a perilous fixation on the potential to harness the
power of ‘arcane magic’ via scientific means, a plan which temporarily runs smoothly but risks failure
because of humans’ arguably innate inability to know when to stop pushing the bounds. This show is the opposite of surface-level in every manner and these tough realities that the pair faces are best summed up by Viktor’s memorable line, “In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good”. (On a brief sidenote, there’s no way that the latter character wasn’t named after Victor Frankenstein: both wish to break through the ‘natural order’ of the world, sink into mental illness when their pursuits are at a failing, and are driven by unchecked ambition that causes significant harm to at least one innocent who cares about them. I don’t want to dig into this comparison too deeply, as there are obvious differences, such as that Viktor averts Victor’s hamartia by being able to accept responsibility for his mistakes and consequently strive to fix them, however, I thought it was an interesting potential allusion to consider.) Jayce, in his political pursuits, provides an effective fish-out-of-water aspect to the Piltover storyline that allows the viewer to simultaneously learn about the intricacies of how the city is governed and how people compromise to stay in power. Quick-witted councilwoman Mel Medarda (Toks Olagundoye) and
eccentric but kind-hearted mentor and staple of Piltovian (did I get it right?) history Heimerdinger (Mick
Wingert) are standouts, as plenty of depth is brought to the overall grey manner in which most noble
political attempts by those in power are sadly overshadowed by their selfish failures, that often go on to
instead harm the ‘lower classes’ populating Zaun. Plenty more interesting characters fill out the world,
such as Katie Leung’s rookie enforcer Caitlyn, who forms a relationship with Vi going from begrudging toendearing in Acts 2-3 (without becoming cliché or unrealistic), and the two end up offering one of the
most enjoyable dynamics in the show, through the contrast between the former’s naivety and the
latter’s street-smarts. Caitlyn also serves as an effective foil to Vi in subtly bringing out the latter’s
vulnerability, allowing for a deeper understanding of both characters’ mentalities and emotional states:
it’s clear that the writers know what they’re doing.
Confidently armed with bounds of courage and deadly gauntlets that serve almost as a mix of boxing
gloves and knuckledusters, Vi makes her fights some of the most memorable, with highlights including a high-stakes punch-up on a bridge, near the beginning, and a climactic rematch with a particular rival,
towards the end. Rebellious from Act 1 onwards, we see a constant conflict between her and Vander
about the justification of violence to protect others or otherwise, and it’s almost difficult to root against
Vi when her punch-ups are so satisfying. However, Vi’s ‘desire’ for violence if she believes the reasoning to be just links perfectly into the frustrations that her character experiences, as she’s surrounded by so much tragedy while nobody, even officials meant to ensure a safe and peaceful environment, does anything significant about it. I guess everybody’s got to take out their anger somehow… I may be a little biased as Vi is my favourite character of the show but, also, everything from the dark pink hair, tattoos and unrelenting wish to help those she cares about makes her stylish and sympathetic enough to be so memorable. (Also, Hailee Steinfeld is perfect at conveying Vi’s tough but endearing nature and it’s awesome to see her mini cinematic universe of roles in animation and popular franchises expand.) As for Jinx, who’s especially significant in Acts 2-3… I want to avoid spoilers here but I will say that the way Arcane captures the unhinged character’s mind is phenomenal and demonstrative of how Fortiche Studios uses animation creatively to enhance how psyches can be presented to an audience, therefore showing an efficient understanding of the unique capabilities of the medium. Stylistic crackles of ominous graffiti are contrasted by but also complement visualisations of ghosts from the past, representing her inner demons that she’s avoided facing for so long. Things don’t seem unclear or like a haze but there’s a constant sense that we’re following an unreliable narrator, and this helps increase the tension surrounding the legitimacy of aspects such as her paranoia. Jinx is a complicated character to tackle, as there are so many different ideas of guilt buried under hatred and emotional extremes raging on inside her. Part of what works so well about her is that her erratic status as a loose cannon of sorts makes her behaviour unpredictable but this contrasts with how the character is presented as a mastermind who’s always in control of the chaos in any given predicament. Nevertheless, Purnell brilliantly sells how Jinx is often a slave to her emotional changeability and serves as one of the most intriguing, sometimes mysterious presences on the show.
On the animation front, from what I understand, Arcane employs a blend of 2-D and 3-D animation,
which has this mystifying effect of making every shot seem like a gorgeous painting and genuine piece of art in itself, while also allowing for the perfect capture of human emotion from facial expressions, and
subtle gestures and mannerisms, despite the lack of mo-cap. While I won’t linger over this for long as
I’m far from an expert on the matter, it feels like watching a creation that could have been conceived in
2-D but has been considerably enhanced to bring a rich layer of authenticity to the world and characters that may have been betrayed if not for the 3-D adjustments. I don’t think it’s easy for animated series to possess what one would consider striking ‘cinematography’, but this show boasts some Roger Deakins-level visuals, through distinct colour palettes, carefully considered placement and deftly poetic imagery, such as in a pivotal fight between childhood friends across a dark bridge, where the scene is mirrored by a metaphorical game of paintball, a tragic commentary on the loss of innocence here, and how people can change so drastically when they grow up, for better or worse. In a similar way to how I loved the soundtrack for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse against all odds, as I’m generally not a fan of contemporary pop, hip-hop and rap, Arcane more than pleasantly surprised me with its music and I can confirm that I did not skip that intro once, thanks to Imagine Dragons’ main theme Enemy becoming a new hyper-fixation of mine (it’s cool to listen to on Spotify but that beat-drop when watching the actual intro, as the song accompanies depictions of the key characters dramatically in statue form hits different). Sting and Ray Chen’s What Could Have Been is a highlight of powerful and poignant proportions, while the rest are consistently stylish and fit surprisingly well with the tone and steampunk setting of the world, helping the show to form its own identity in marrying elements of past epic storytelling to newer conventions more pertinent to the direction that modern art seems to be evolving into.
In summary, Arcane is an example of a simple base narrative told phenomenally well, as the steady
pacing prevents any aspects feeling rushed or not sufficiently thought through. The characters are
memorable and loveable, and the voice cast equally so, working in step with the intelligent script that
packs a mature punch thematically and emotionally in addition to the sharp and engaging back-and-
forths between protagonists. From the writing to the animation to the soundtrack, Arcane reaches above and beyond and, therefore, I cannot stress enough just how essential the viewing of this sublime
steampunk character odyssey is. Also, it’s not another massive commitment for any busy viewers, as it
only lasts 9 episodes of roughly 40 minutes each, so there are no excuses really. Overall, I would recommend Arcane to all, as the overwhelmingly positive audience (and critical) reception has shown it
has a little something for everyone, and I hope that any people reading this who haven’t seen the show
already may fall in love with it as quickly as I did: let’s hope season 2 doesn’t suck.
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