Arcane is a show based on the video game by Riot Games, “League of Legends.” Riot Games is a game developing company with many hit games like League of Legends and Valorant.
As we know, video game adaptations can sometimes be sketchy and may fail to show the characters as they are in the games. This is because the show directors and animators usually have next to no idea how the game works, so what did Riot games do differently to produce a show that is undoubtedly one of the best-animated shows in recent years, if not the best.
THE GRIPPING PLOT
The story begins in the dystopian future with two cities inhabited by Arcane characters. Their world is divided into two halves — with Zaun being the underbelly and Piltover as the haven for the affluent.
Zaunians feel overlooked. Their streets are poor and the people poorer. Meanwhile, Piltovers have everything they could dream of, flying ships, stylish buildings, and luxurious apartments.
Zaunians have been trying for an uprising of sorts for a while now. The last time it happened, damages on both sides were devastating.
The Undercity mafia Silco still wants to have a go at it, though. Caught in this strife are two sisters — Jinx (Ella Purnell) and Vi (Hailee Steinfeld). Silco manipulates Jinx into joining his side, the so-called good fight, but through the evilest means imaginable.
That is the core of the first season, a filial bond that turns sour and pushes the larger plot forward.
A well-structured world and a really good character development, Arcane has you on the tip of your toes throughout the 9-episode series.
Watch the trailer here!
BEHIND THE SCENES
That’s all you need to know about Arcane as a show, but something we can see throughout the episodes is the similarity of the characters and the world. It’s almost as if the animators and story writers knew about this even before starting the project of Arcane.
They did!
When Riot Games announced that they were going to make an animated series based on their game League of Legends, they were approached by many animation studios.
Still, Riot Games declined all those offers. Instead, they gave the project to the animators responsible for making their jaw-dropping cinematics, which was uploaded on their YouTube channel. They were taking a significant risk by not giving this project to studios outside of Riot Games, as they knew that the only animators who could possibly depict the story, emotions, and locations correctly were the ones that had a lot of experience with the game itself, and that is the reason (in my opinion) that Riot Games were able to produce a show like Arcane.
Even if you are not interested in video games, Arcane is a must-watch; nevertheless, the show can depict a whole new world as if it is nothing.
Check out other Shows you need to look out for in 2022 here!
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