JMC 494: “Arcane” Review: The “League of Legends” adaptation is a superb achievement in animation

I have to be upfront: I don’t enjoy playing “League of Legends.” While I’ve found the video game’s character designs and lore to be intriguing, I hate playing the actual game. When “Arcane,” the animated series that serves as an origin story for some of the game’s most iconic playable characters, was released, I was skeptical. However, after watching all nine episodes, I can say that “Arcane” is a great series that is not just a love letter to “League of Legends” fans - but a captivating and engrossing series that anyone can enjoy. 

“Arcane” is beautifully directed and animated. The show’s steampunk aesthetic is gorgeous and its world is jaw-dropping. Whether it be high-tech utopian facilities, downtrodden yet colorful slum or war-torn battlefields, each landscape in “Arcane” is a visual spectacle. The animation is stylish but also realistic - fights are choreographed with clarity but are appropriately flashy. Fans of the game will be pleased to see playable characters who appear in the show using their signature weapons and abilities. The show has incredible attention to detail with character animations down to the minutiae of facial twitches and imperfections that are incredibly lifelike for the medium of animation. Best of all, those who are not familiar with “League of Legends” can enjoy the action and worldbuilding as it stands on its own without any prior knowledge necessary.  

“Arcane” takes place in Piltover, a shining city brimming with scientific innovation and cultural advancement. Life seems ideal for citizens - except for those in the undercity, a subset of eerie slums full of drugs, crime and poverty. The main characters in “Arcane” are sisters Vi (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder (voiced by Mia Sinclair Jenness as a child and Ela Purnell after a time skip), who unwillingly find themselves on opposite sides of an inevitable conflict between the luxurious Piltover and the starved undercity. Vi is a fistfighting, brash hothead who will do anything to protect her timid yet bright sister. However, due to tragic events in the third episode, the sisters are separated and Powder undergoes a startling transformation as she becomes Jinx - a highly armed, highly dangerous, highly unpredictable wild card who is responsible for much of the death and destruction over the show’s nine episodes. Jinx is one of the most popular characters in “League of Legends” and arguably the game’s mascot - her origin story and transformation are heartbreaking. Witnessing Jinx’s mental trauma manifesting as frightening hallucinations of her sister and deceased friends is an example of how “Arcane” does not rely on dialogue as a crutch - much of its characterization is done through visuals, music, and cinematography. However, sometimes the show’s style can become too overbearing - in one dramatic scene, an Imagine Dragons song becomes so prominent that band members appear in the show and start playing it in the actual scene - which made it feel more like a music video than an actual show. However, that scene is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the brilliant writing of “Arcane.”  

In “Arcane”, the heroes often did terrible things while the villains often endeared themselves to me. Every character has emotional depth beyond their surface - I found myself empathizing with many of the characters’ perspectives, even as they came into direct conflict. The show’s protagonists make decisions that are difficult to justify, and I often found myself sympathetic to the plight of the show’s main villain. A solution to the inevitable conflict between the two factions in “Arcane” seems impossible to achieve - with any conclusion likely tragic. The morally gray ambiguity continues into the show’s cliffhanger ending that opens up numerous exciting possibilities for season two. “Arcane” avoids the doomed fate of many video game adaptations thanks to its writing, animation, and art direction. It won’t get me to play “League of Legends,” but “Arcane” is a fantastic introduction to its world.