Arcane – Season 1 – Radical Dreamer

Title: Arcane
Series: League of Legends
Director: Pascal Charrue, Arnaud Delord
Release Date: November 6, 2021
Episodes: 9
Genres: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Steampunk
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Kevin Alejandro, Katie Leung, Jason Spisak, Harry Lloyd, Toks Olagundoye, JB Blanc, Reed Shannon, Mick Wingert
Where to Find It: Website
Rating:

Arcane (titled onscreen as Arcane: League of Legends) is an animated action-adventure 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.

Review

I should preface this by saying that I loathe League of Legends. Not because it’s a bad game or anything silly like that, I loathe it because it’s no longer the game that I used to love. I was a veteran player that started playing around the end of 2010, around the one-year anniversary of the game. The last time that I played consistently was around 2018, and that was mostly for social reasons. By that point I played almost exclusively ARAMs, because I was just so tired of Summoner’s Rift, and how obnoxious people became over the meta. I loved the game for many years, met and lost many good friends, I played ranked all the way up to Platinum and got burned out, and I slowly came to dislike the game as its identity evolved.

With that out of the way, I still enjoy League of Legends music, something they’ve almost become more known for than the game itself. I was hesitant to watch Arcane because of how tired of the game I was, but gave in from the rave reviews and honestly? I loved it. I surprised myself with how into it I got that I ended up binging the series.

Arcane centers on the backstories of just a few champions from the game, namely Jinx, Vi, Jayce, Viktor, and to a lesser extent Caitlyn. Plenty of others make cameos or have minor roles in the show, along with some interesting new characters. Being a personal fan of these characters, particularly Jinx who I used to main, I was happy to see their characters fleshed out and to have a stronger backstory about each. I was pleasantly surprised that Viktor was developed so much, he ended up being one of my favorites.

The setting centers on the contrast between the technologically advanced utopia, Piltover, and the mean undercity Zaun, and the threat of war for independence for the people of Zaun. I appreciated that Arcane really leaned into the politics in the League of Legends lore and really brought the cities to life. The show was beautifully animated with a distinct visual style that is eye-catching and memorable.

The best part is that you don’t have to be a former League of Legends player to jump in and understand what is happening. The plot is fully developed and doesn’t assume any prior knowledge of the series, and the character arcs are genuinely engaging and thoughtful. The music is fantastic and really kept the action and excitement high throughout the series’ runtime.

I still have no plans on going back and playing the game, unless my husband decided that he really wanted to start playing again, and even then, I wouldn’t jump to do it. I’ve spent thousands of hours in the game already, and there are just other things I’d rather do at this point. But I would definitely continue to watch this series, the number of characters and locations that they can choose from is vast.

Quote

“Power, real power, doesn’t come to those who were born strongest, or fastest, or smartest. No. It comes to those who will do anything to achieve it.”