I’ve never really been into cyber punk themed movies, neither have I particularly loved a video game adapted into a movie, but arcane manages to bridge the gap between those two for me, not only does it feel more like it’s own series than it’s adapted, it’s also well paced, with excellent animation, showing every detail, every emotion, so much so that the characters feel alive
Summary
Imagine a world that’s split in horizontal halves, on the top the utopian city of Piltover, whose refinement and advancements in science allows them to live and prosper, gently advancing and growing to new heights even among utopias, Piltover is quite literally referred to as “The city of progress”, and they do more than live up to that title.
“Surely, we, the pioneers of science, can use it for good. We’re the champions of discovery. Why fear it when we can master it?” — Jayce
On the other half, below Piltover lies a dystopia, the underground city of Zaun, popularly referred to as “The Undercity”, home of the not so privileged, criminals, cast aways and other people who are less fortunate, where surviving is the goal everyday.
“It’s not enough to give people what they need to surive, you have to give them what they need to live.” —Ekko
The friction between the ruling council of Piltover and the surviving masses of Undercity is the foundation of conflict in this well paced story.
The story follows two sisters Powder and Vi, two orphaned children, their relationship, challenges victories and tragedies. And although they were the central characters driving the plot forward, the series does an excellent with the other characters as well, and pulls them all together to give a well paced, well written and action packed story through all 9 episodes.
“Mylo’s wrong, Powder. You’re stronger than you think. And one day… This city’s gonna respect us.” — Vi
There’s a lot to love about this show, and my goal was to write this review without giving too much away, and ruin the drive for you to watch it. So here’s a few key things I enjoyed.
The moral theme of the story: a dystopian society with clear boundaries between the social strata, with the rich and powerful literarily living above the poor and less fortunate. The distinction is clear, some live in complete disadvantage, they don’t have a choice but to live each day like it’s their last, get whatever you can here, steal something else there, and even though all the odds seem to pile up against you in unquantifiable measures, you do the only thing you can; you survive, at least until you don’t. Then there’s the other side, those who have the luxury of choosing their meals, their clothes, their associations, the luxury to love art, to make science, and to live a life where the mundane things don’t matter as much, cos you can afford it all.
Memorable characters: the show does a good job establishing its characters and who they are, what drives them. The characters are the very catalyst of their own lives, their progress, and their ultimate challenges, victories and defeat. Any one could write a story where good and evil plays and ultimately faces off, but here the lines are not so clear cut as the characters are complex showing potential for both the light and the darkness of their persona and identities, and in some cases where the lines blurred a little.
Great story: Well paced, with well balanced conversations with philosophical impacts tied together with the complexities and chaos of human emotions, emotions that are often deeply rooted in prejudice and personal experiences or conclusions that blind you from seeing the bigger picture, the world building isn’t given to us on a silver platter through narration, but instead we get a clear well timed picture of the world as we follow the characters through their adventures, and I must say it’s masterfully done, I understood the arcane world without knowing I was learning about it.
The design, animation and choreography: I mentioned earlier how I wasn’t into cyber punk themed movies, but the character designs, the world designs and animation where all masterfully done. Created by French studio Fortiche Production alongside Riot Games, you can tell that they put a lot of thought and work into their work, each piece fits, managing to catch the most subtle expressions as well as a neat well executed animation, excellent and well choreographed fights and parkour (the parkour is excellent and just beautiful)
The music: I couldn’t end this list without mentioning the music, with the opening song being a song “Enemy - by Imagine dragons” who also happens to be one of my favorite bands, and a whole lot of other songs that manage to tie the emotions and general feel of the show together in a way that is art. It’s all in all amazing.
I’m not especially familiar with the game:league of legends, but that’s what makes arcane such a great series, with no prior knowledge or interest in the franchise, the series has managed to introduce itself in a memorable way, with its unique crisp animation style, and visually compelling arts and character designs (most of which I assume where inspired by the game), and the amazing storyline and characters, this show gets a highly recommended from me.