by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
Apparently, reviewing series based on intellectual property I have no previous experience is becoming my niche. (More on that next month.)
I have never played a lick of League of Legends. However, when the Arcane trailer dropped during Netflix’s Tudum event, I was drawn in by what it promised: an animated feast for the eyes with plenty of style.
Boy, does it deliver on that.
The story follows two simultaneous developments. On one hand, it’s the story of two sisters, Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder (Mia Sinclair Jenness)/Jinx (Ella Purnell), torn apart by tragedy. At the same time, there’s the underlying political storyline — the power struggle between the shining top side of Piltover and the grimy undercity of Zaun, as well as the matter of the machinations between factions inside Piltover attempting to control magic through science. The setting is a prequel of sorts to the characters in the game. So, I’m sure there are little touches that I missed being unfamiliar with League of Legends, but I had no trouble following the overall plot as a newbie to the world.
The machinations, both with the personal storylines and the political, are balanced excellently. The heart of the story is about our two sisters, and they provide us with some of the most powerfully emotional moments. There are some truly heartbreaking moments. Even when not together, they are the heart of their show. Vi develops a relationship with an enforcer (think police officer), Caitlyn (Katie Leung), and Powder falls in love with the menacing Silco (Jason Spisak). The latter relationship, twisted as it is, somehow manages to work in a Joker/Harley Quinn sort of way (though a little less toxic, perhaps, and the dynamic isn’t quite the same). It’s ironic, because Jinx can feel very much like Harley at times and Spisak has roles as the Joker inside his IMDb.
Though the sisters are our main characters, each character over the course of nine episodes is given their moment and is made three dimensional. One of the ways the show manages to do that is through flashbacks present in all but the final episode of the season. Though perhaps a bit of a cliché at this point, Arcane uses each flashback to kick off an episode and give us insight into one of our main players in a way that feeds into the overall story of the episode. It’s a rare instance these days where the choice managed to work for me. The deep character work done on a multitude of characters gets the audience invested no matter what the pairings or machinations might be of any given episode.
The real star of the show is the animation. Though I enjoyed Star Wars: Visions immensely (and perhaps slightly overrated it in my post-binge excitement), this is hands down technically the best animation work I’ve seen all year. Though cell-shaded animation has risen to prominence in the era of Telltale Games, I’ve never seen it done this well — including Marvel taking a stab at it earlier this year with What If…? The detail is incredible, particularly in the work on the eyes. The emotional moments wouldn’t work nearly as well in this series if that depth weren’t there. The cyberpunk feel, with flashes of neon color, jump off the screen. Likewise, when various magical or scientific devices are used, there’s a crackling energy to them that makes them pop. There are multiple freeze frames I want to set as my wallpaper or hang in my apartment.
The other way in which the animation stands out is during the action set pieces. The way the scenes are shot makes them feel incredibly dynamic. The fights, whether a scrum or an all-out battle, feel weighty and look like they flat out hurt. It’s a show that’s rated TV-14, but has to be as close to the line as one can get. It doesn’t pull its punches with some brutal sequences (and throws in some emphatic and well-used swears). Slow-motion is used sparingly and in a way that highlights moments of importance, not just thrown in willy-nilly.
Arcane certainly has people talking. As of writing, it sits at 15th in IMDb’s television rankings. It’s tapped into a target audience and has them utterly delighted, while appealing to outsiders like me. I’m not going to quite put it up in the echelon that fans currently have it in, alongside the likes of The Sopranos, because I do have a couple issues — mainly in the final three episodes, where I do think it loses a bit of steam and there are some fast flip-flops. However, one of the interesting things is that its unique release schedule has allowed it to stay in the public consciousness for a little longer than it might have otherwise. Rather than release all nine episodes at once, fans were treated to three episode drops, which also happened on Saturday instead of Friday. Each trio manages to feed into the next, while also feeling like its own mini-arc in a way. If the show wasn’t any good, stretching out that conversation on social media wouldn’t matter as much, but I wonder if this lays the groundwork for the service to experiment a little more with distribution in the future.
The season ends with a bang and certainly lays the groundwork for a second. It’s a show that will have you cheering one moment and emotionally wrecked the next. It mixes buckets of style with plenty of substance to match. As one of the most unique watching experiences I’ve had in a while, I can’t wait for the next chapter in this saga.
Just don’t expect me to start playing the game anytime soon.
Grade: A-
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