Arcane (Season 1)

I love video games, and I love movies and television, so it pains me that the "Video Game Curse" exists. It really shouldn't be that hard to adapt a video game, a medium filled with fantastic worlds and memorable characters, into a piece of film. While I'm not a League Of Legends fan, the fact that I enjoyed Arcane as much as I did is a testament to its quality. And with my friends who do play LoL shouting its praises from the mountaintops, Arcane does the impossible task of managing to appeal to both newcomers and long-time fans of the franchise, solidifying itself as quite possibly the best video game adaptation ever.

Arcane takes place in an aristocratic city called Piltover that, in spite of its technological advancements, has a massive class division to the point where half of the citizens live in the dark and dank undercity of Zaun. The main characters of Arcane are the sisters Jinx and Vi, two pretty popular characters from League Of Legends who were orphaned and raised in Zaun, and the story is primarily about how they became the champions we know today. The first three episodes in Arcane are about their childhood and the tragic events that separated them, and the rest of the season is about their reunion and subsequent realization that they have gone separate ways. Meanwhile, there's a subplot about two scientists named Jayce and Victor who've discovered a way to harness arcane magic, with the ensuing politics serving as the backdrop to Jinx and Vi's story. While these two storylines can feel a bit separated at first, they both do a great job of fleshing out the world, and when they intersect it can be really satisfying. The classism issues that Piltover deals with are fascinating and well-realized, and both sides of the city are equally fleshed out.

Out of the two sisters, it's hard for me to pick which of them is more interesting. After accidentally causing the deaths of her friends and adoptive father with an explosive, Jinx (originally named Powder) was taken in by Zaunian crime boss Silco, who wants to disrupt the peace within the city. Jinx delves into insanity, explosives, and villainy, but even in later episodes you can't help but feel bad for her tragic situation. Meanwhile, Vi was imprisoned for a large part of her life by a corrupt Enforcer (basically this show's version of a police officer), separated from her sister. She teams up with an idealistic (at first) new Enforcer named Caitlyn to track Jinx down and get revenge on Silco. Speaking of which, Caitlyn might just be my favorite character. It was really fascinating to watch her spend time in the Undercity and learn just how awful it is for people down there, and her blossoming relationship with Vi has been adorable so far. I hope I can trust the writers to pay it off in later seasons.

Then there's the Piltover storyline which is pretty good too, even if I don't love it as much as the stuff with Jinx and Vi. As mentioned above, the politics within the council are super interesting mostly because of just how shady it all is. The council members manipulate, vote each other out, and are at best completely negligent of the happenings down in Zaun. Jayce and Victor, the scientists working on the arcane magic, have a great dynamic, and watching them be torn apart throughout the season is just heartwrenching. The only thing I'm not a massive fan of here is the relationship between Jayce and Mel, which just doesn't work for me. Their sex scene is definitely one of the more clumsy moments in the series.

And then there's the animation. Much has been said about Arcane's art direction so I'll keep it quick: Arcane looks fantastic. It manages to blend together 3D with a unique painterly style, and while the movements are stunningly fluid and life-like, there's a great amount of exaggeration used that really accentuate the characters. The action scenes are fantastic, and the art shifts used in Jinx's scenes look amazing. Sadly I can't say quite the same thing about the music. The background music is great, but I'm not a massive fan of all the pop songs they used. It works sometimes, most notably in the godly Episode 7 bridge scene, but they usually just stick out. There's one scene in particular that sneaks in a cameo from the Imagine Dragons (who made the also not great title theme) and it just pulled me out of the show.

While the whole show was great, there were some especially great episodes, particularly at the end of acts:

The Base Violence Necessary For Change: Oh, I was not ready. This episode was already pretty eventful up until the halfway point. We got some surprising deaths, Vander being kidnapped, a cool Vi fight scene, Jayce and Victor founding Hextech magic. But then Powder's literal drama bomb shows up and everything changes. The final fifteen-ish minutes of this episode were devastating, from the myriad of deaths to Vander's climactic decision to the fight between Vi and Jinx to the sisters being separated. TBVNFC was definitely what sold me on Arcane and is easily my favorite episode of the season.

When These Walls Come Tumbling Down: The end of Act 2 wasn't quite as big as the end of Act 1, but it was still pretty fantastic. Obviously the highlight was the final few minutes where Vi and Jinx reunite only to realize that they both have drastically changed, but I also really liked the subplot about Caitlyn trying to heal Vi's injuries. It forced her to really gain an understanding about how the Undercity functions and marked a major point of character development.

The Boy Savior: While most of the episode was pretty good, that big bridge scene at the end was especially good. Jinx and Ekko's fight was a massive shift in art direction that worked really well, creating an action setpiece that was both really cool to look at and emotional.

Oil And Water: This is the point where the two major storylines of Arcane really combine into one, between Vi and Caitlyn facing the council and Vi's brief teamup with Jayce. This penultimate episode did a great job of setting the stage for the finale. Heimerdinger taking a tour around the Undercity was sobering yet surprisingly wholesome, the big Vi and Jayce fight scene was amazing, and the episode ends on a dark note with both Jayce and Victor going way too far in their own ways.

The Monster You Created: This was a great season finale, bringing the season's major players together in an incredibly tense dinner table standoff. Vi and Sevika got a badass rematch, Ekko and Heimerdinger form a cute partnership, Silco dies, and the episode ends on a crazy cliffhanger as Jinx blows up the council right as they're about to declare peace. That can't be good...

Overall, Arcane is a fantastic series, definitely up there with Vivy as my favorite of this year. The story is well-paced and interesting, the world is fleshed out, the characters are great, and the animation is phenomenal. It's a great video game adaptation that works both for newcomers and long-time fans. I have to say, it's a miracle it turned out this well.

5/5 Stars