The Guru's Impressions: Arcane

The Animation Guru returns to give his first impressions on the latest video-game-to-series adaptation Netflix has spawned: Arcane! Take it away, Cameron!

Before we talk about the actual limited series that is based on the popular (is it still popular? I don’t hear anyone talk about it) League of Legends game by Riot Games, it wouldn’t be fair to talk about the show until I bring up this little thought about the company that makes the game the limited series is based on, Riot Games. Due to being in the news for cultivating an incredibly hostile and toxic workplace with multiple allegations of harassment, discrimination, and a multitude of other actions that would have been so easy to solve, they decided to do the exact opposite of easy and get themselves into even more trouble. Well, obviously I despise the people who run the studios for their actions, and condemn their actions and the way they have handled the situation. If you support the employees who have been treated badly by this company, you should not play the game or any Riot Games products in question. Fight for game studios to have better working conditions and to expel the toxicity that has spoiled the roots of the game industry and the entertainment industry in general. Anyone trying to downplay the abuse and harassment going on in the entertainment world should be ashamed of themselves. While I will be talking about the show on its own merits with any praise going to the studio and team that made the show, do not forget how bad the game company is for their inactions against their employees’ mistreatment. 

Netflix has been on a roll with adapting video games into animated or “anime”-inspired shows. They have had Castlevania, Dragon’s Dogma, Dota, and now a nine-episode CGI series based on the influential MOBA game League of Legends, Arcane. I was able to check out the first four episodes of this nine-part series that will be released weekly over the span of November. So, are we going to get something on the level of Castlevania and Dota, or are we on the verge of getting something akin to Dragon’s Dogma? 

Personally, the first thing that should be talked about is how incredible the CGI animation is. This fluid painted style of the CGI character models looks amazing. It looks like theatrical quality CGI and animation work from Fortiche Productions. As someone who is not familiar with the world itself, this steampunk look that combines technology and magic is stellar. As already said, there are so many little details in the character’s movements, and it feels like a show that was made with the intention in mind to take what Spider-Verse and The Mitchells vs. The Machines laid down the groundwork for, and kept the ball rolling. The fact it combines 2D visual effects as well gives this one of the more distinctly visual presentations of any CGI series in 2021. It’s honestly really cool that studios these days are now pushing CGI animation forward when we have stuff like the previously mentioned movies and the recent release of Maya and The Three. It has a lot of that energy from the Love, Death, and Robots short from Alberto Mielgo, The Witness, where it combines steampunk, fantastical architecture, and punk rock visuals. Could you imagine what future animated films and shows using CGI could look like if they were given the time and money to craft visuals like this? They obviously spent a lot of time on this show’s visuals and for the characters to have more detailed facial movements, and for the action to be executed as well as it does. 

Speaking of action, with this world of technology and magic, the action so far of the four episodes that were available to me, felt grounded and brutal. Even with the gorgeous CGI visuals and its combination with 2D effects, they do not overpower the eyes. It doesn’t become too much of a visual light show like some animated fare that goes overboard with the visuals while sacrificing coherent storytelling. The action was really well executed, and it’s easily some of the best action in animation this year. 

All that being said, don’t expect it to be nonstop action. There is a story here, and from what I can assume, it’s pretty much a prequel story setting up some of the game’s iconic characters. The action is bombastic, but the story juggles the violence with a story about the rise of the combination of technology and magic, a powerful drug, themes of morality, and drama between two of our characters who were either family or family-like in their dynamics. There is a touch of a time skip by the fourth episode, so the story will keep moving. The big question should be, if you are not a fan of the franchise or games in general, will you be able to get into the show itself? Sure, you could probably pick up on whether the world building, writing, and characters are accurate to the games, but I think it’s a show that while dense with worldbuilding, is easy to follow. It was smart for this show to only focus on a small handful of characters as the core of the story, while using some characters who help with fleshing out the world itself. At the core of the story, it’s a story about the bond between two girls, while having a thriller-like plot running alongside it. Oh, and the voice cast is great with Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Kevin Alejandro, Jason Spisak, Katie Leung, Toks Olagundoye, JB Blanc, and Harry Lloyd, to name a few of the cast members. 

For now, Arcane holds a promising start with its nine episodes, and so far, it is avoiding a lot of the tropes that are sadly attached to most animation fare aimed at adults. Now, if you do not feel like supporting this show due to its connection to the game and its company, that’s perfectly okay as well! I wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to give their time to this. However, if you are curious about the show, the first three episodes will be available on November 6th, then November 13th, and then November 20th. As of the four episodes I have watched, this is definitely one of the higher-end shows based on video games on Netflix, and if you are looking for something visually distinct in the animation scene of 2021, you will want to check this show out.

The first three episodes of Arcane are available now on Netflix, then more episodes will be available on November 13th and November 20th.