Why Does Arcane Work so Well?

I had heard of League Of Legends from a wide variety of YouTube sponsorships, and to be honest, this incessant advertisement stigmatized the show for me off the rip. I had never interacted with the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game intentionally, and I still haven’t. But upon a recent rewatch of its spinoff series Arcane on Netflix, I realized that although the show is essentially a giant, promotional movement, it deserves praise. Praise and analysis, that is. 

Considering that TV adaptations of video games are generally difficult to make and much harder to popularize, Arcane stands out naturally. Picturing the Resident Evil movies, for example… These adaptations aren’t usually revered pieces of media. More often than not, their producers will prioritize an action-packed, money-making spectacle over a nuanced saga dealing with ideas surrounding conquest, fate, and the limits of science-- like Arcane does. The series tells the story of two cities locked in conflict through the lens of its two complex main characters, Violet and Jinx. It isn’t exactly a casual watch, so why bother?

For one, it’s animated beautifully. During the process of Arcane’s creation, its animation team grew to about 300 people. Lead animators Alexis Wanneroy and Jonathan Perez combined 2D and 3D animation over a production period of about nine years to provide the clean animation of the show’s unforgettable characters and action scenes. Magic is well-known among professionals as one of the more difficult pieces of TV animation. It takes well-developed expertise to include in screenwriting at all, so I appreciated the creative approach taken by the animation team to show off how interesting magic systems can be for a large scale project like Arcane.

Fight scenes often go unappreciated because they’re one of those parts of writing that, at their best, are considered passable by wide audiences. In other words, some of the best written fights are the ones you don’t really notice. But Arcane’s masterfully written action sequences hit just as hard as its pensive emotional beats. Some were almost inspirational; they were written so well. I kept getting this fuzzy feeling about how the characters were able to work so well as a unit, even the antagonists, and I fear that message wouldn’t have been as well communicated in an expository dump. 

I could gush about Arcane’s underrated legacy all day long, but once the evening fades into the night, I’d have to admit that I probably wouldn’t recommend this show to everybody. I found the writing messy at times, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that the creative team at Fortiche Production bit off more than they could chew, especially throughout season two. Some scenes felt contrived for the sake of edginess, and I would be remiss to not mention the fact that the edginess never quite landed for me. Every so often, I’d glance at the TV-14 rating and think, “Yeah, that checks out.” So while I don’t think I was a part of its intended audience, I adore Arcane. These nitpicks are obviously not meant to discourage anyone from watching the show; I added them so I would seem a more reliable source when I inevitably tell you to check out Arcane. So… do that.