There have been few shows on Netflix that have awed me, but Arcane League of Legends has! Spoiler: Is Arcane League of legends worth watching? Yes—Hell yes it is. This is a spoiler-lite review. I will not go too much into the plot for the sake of the new viewer.
Based on a video game series.
Before we get too involved in the show’s plot, we must first pay homage to the video game: League of legends. League of Legends (LoL) commonly referred to as League, is a MOBA game, a multiplayer online battle arena game. Riot Games created it in October 2009. The game is free to play online on PC or Mac. The creators of the game make their money by selling purchasable character customizations.
LoL has a huge international following.
League of Legends boast an international scene with 12 leagues that compete annually at the League of Legends World Championship. Two teams of five players battle in player versus player combat. The aim of each battle is for each team to use strategy and tactics to overtake their enemy’s base. During the battle, each individual champion can level up by defeating enemies and earn gold to purchase more powerful weapons, to be used to destroy the apposing enemy’s army.
Cool game looks really fun thing to do with all your nerdy friends. That means Merick N.H. Ulrik would play this game. Now moving on to the show…
The world of Arcane League of legends.
Set in the world of Runeterra, our story is based on the struggle between people groups in the undercity of Zaun and their overlords in Piltover. They literally built Piltover on top of Zaun. Piltover is full of rich elite, living in a thriving community growing with industry and affluence. Zaun gets the dregs of society and the industrial waste run off from Piltover directly above.
Steam Punk and Sci-Fi with a hint of Epic Fantasy.
That is what I would call the genre of this story. Steam Punk definitively with all the lever action rifles and Victorian style machinery. Epic Fantasy with all the strange species of beings and the idea of bringing magic back. But it’s almost more Science Fiction than Fantasy with the way magic is more experimented on and defined in a more scientific way.
Our Story begins…
In the under city of Zaun, rebels march across the bridge to Piltover in an uprising, but enforcers of Piltover push them back. During the violent riot on the bridge, enforcers kill Vi and Powder’s parents. Vander, an underworld crime figure of some sort, takes the two sisters in as their surrogate father.
Themes of class warfare and inequality.
This begs the age old question: if someone is born poor in a terrible environment, is crime their only option? But the drama of the story is much more than that. Vi and Powder sneak into the upper city of Piltover to steal anything of value. Things go wrong and powder gets the nickname Jinx because she seems to be unlucky in holding valuables or not blowing things up.
The first thing that grabbed my attention.
The detail in artistry of the animation is incredible. They created a very vivid world with Arcane League of Legends. I was immediately pulled into the action scenes and the emotion that was conveyed through the animators. Christian Linke and Alex Yee created and wrote much of the story. Arcane is the next level of 3-D animation.
The second thing…
Secondly, the complex characters and situations that they found themselves in. For instances, a bad guy or villainous character could be seen doing an act of kindness at times or a protagonist losing his cool and betraying a friend. It showed a depth of genuine emotions and even some adult situations. Being an origins story, Arcane League of legends does not use the characters as props but creates very believable characters. The story development is legit.
The Drama is between Vi and Jinx.
Because of the chance occurrence between Vi and Powder; Powder feels betrayed by Vi and is taken in by their enemy Silco. Silco raises Powder, and she goes by the name Jinx. Jinx has major emotional trauma and possible mental illness and is groomed to be a psychotic criminal by Silco. Vi spends time in the slammer but is released by Caitlin, a female enforcer. Vi discovers that her sister Powder is now working for Silco and she seeks to turn her to the good side once again. Jinx seeing some chemistry between Vi and Caitlin is jealous and suspicious of her relationship with a Piltover enforcer.
All of this is going on and major civil unrest with undercity of Zaun using a powerful drug/magic tech called Shimmer. Piltover’s new leader, Jayce, is experimenting with powerful Hextech.
Fast Paced.
If this was a book, it would be a page turner. They crammed so much into each of the nine episodes of the first season that I routinely re-watched episodes just to make sure I missed nothing. The saga has a foreboding element that makes you feel like something is coming at all times and it doesn’t disappoint.
Great Sound Track—Imagine Dragons.
Imagine Dragons and a star-studded lineup featuring Sting and Ramsey did a fantastic job on the soundtrack.
Conclusion—Is Acane League of Legends worth watching?
Why was this such a wonderful series? I have done reviews of many series that were not, like Amazon+ The Wheel of Time. This series had a cast of female dominate characters as did the Wheel of Time, but these characters didn’t seem forced. Lesbian love scenes in Arcane but again the build up and character development seemed natural. I am beginning to theorizing that when you have an adaption of a very good book series; the pressure is to do something unique to what was already a great story instead of retelling the excellent story. In contrast, when you are starting with a video game, the pressure is off and IMHO creativity comes from a place of carelessness. Arcane League of Legends is worth watching— it is one of the most well-crafted series on Netflix I have ever seen.
Click here to read my full review of Amazon The Wheel of Time.