When I started Arcane I didn’t expect to love it and I was sceptical about the fact it was based on a game - “League of Legends”. Nevertheless, I was proved extremely wrong and even before I start, I urge you to watch it no matter how much of a gamer you are. You don’t need to know anything about the game, or be a gamer yourself. The only thing you need to do is grab some tissues, sit back and enjoy!

Arcane puts the final nail in the coffin of the “video game adaptation curse” by shattering preconceptions of what the animation medium is capable of, meanwhile delivering a-one in a generation masterpiece that will inspire both fans, gamers and storytellers alike for years and years. The show boasts a perfect film critic score of 100% on the infamous “Rotten Tomatoes'' and an even further impressive 98% audience score. Arcane is set in the city of Piltover and its undercity district of Zaun. The central characters are Vi and Powder/Jinx, two sisters struggling to survive in the harsh world and two inventors, Victor and Jayce, on the brink of being able to harness magic through technology. 

 

There are three main reasons to why Arcane was such a success:

 

1. Choosing the best style of animation.

The one unforgettable fact about the show is it’s cinematography.  From the start, Arcane does a fantastic job of introducing its expansive world full of rich history and lore without bombarding us with exposition by relying on visual storytelling and using easter eggs to hint at a larger world. The mechanical architecture of Zaun and it’s dimly lit, green-toned streets compared to the gold and white architecture of Piltover is a perfect way of introducing the world. This is much in the same way the original Star Wars did. Arcane’s unique art style, which involves mixing 3D characters with 2D shading and flat colors, gives the show an airbrushed, painterly look that, combined with the world's steampunk aesthetics make each scene utterly unique and mesmerizing. This is definitely the most stunning piece of animation since Spider-man into the Spider Verse shattered expectations. 

 

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

2. Creating memorable characters that seem like real people. 

It’s impossible to not fall in love with the characters in this show. The amount of effort that went into the animation and voices bring the characters to life, they are not simply drawings anymore. Each character has nuances and is beautiful in their own way. For example, the antagonist Silco seemed to be the usual 2D villain yet everything changes after the third episode. His father-daughter relationship with Powder/Jinx is heartwarming, heartbreaking and so complicated that he is impossible to hate. The audience can truly sympathise with Jinx who had wanted to do just one right her whole life and admire Silco’s unconditional love for her. This is an example at its finest of how to create beautiful and intriguing characters, something original that you don’t see so often anymore. 

 

3. And finally - voice actors that bring the series to life 

Well-written characters are just part of it, as Arcane also boasts an impressive voice cast that helps bring a layer of emotion to the characters, from Katie Leung’s soft-spoken Caitlyn to Shohreh Aghdashloo's regretful Grayson. Ella Purnell fits Jinx perfectly as she blends Jinx’s outbreaks of rage, hysteria and vulnerability to inspire both fear and tears alike. Jason Spisak plays Silco like no other and finally, Hailee Steinfeld steals the show with her phenomenal portrayal of VI throughout the entire series bringing a world full of pain and emotional baggage.