Arcane, the show based off of characters from Riot Games’s League of Legends, has taken the world by storm in the year 2024 as the series came to a close with its 2nd season. When watching the show, the wow-factors that stuck out to me were the art style and the writing style of the show and more specifically the characters.
Arcane is one of the few shows I’ve watched in which each character has a purpose, and each character was captivating in their own way. I was never left feeling like a character was bland or just not interesting. Off the top of my head my favorite characters were Vi and Jinx, their dynamics from children to their older years, the characters and their traumas built them up to have a love hate dynamic and in a sense dependency and/or independency. Jinx had been separated from Vi for a long while, which led to independence from Vi. Vi on the other hand had a duty or dependency on Jinx, Vi, had been grasping onto the past version of her little sister, and it entirely their dynamic felt in a way natural. Its dynamics and relationships like these make Arcane worth watching and really combat any sense that animated projects, or shows, are not serious and that they’re ultimately targeted for kids. This is clearly the opposite in Arcane, the show is gritty and it is rough. But back to character development, nothing felt too sudden and nothing felt done in a rush, it all flowed. That’s what made the show so enjoyable, the character development for better or worse, really pushed the show.
Aside from characters, the show likes to play a lot with parallels. I think that is what also really helped to solidify the themes within the show. Themes like family, good vs bad, oppression, cycles of violence, are what make the show so mature and entertaining to watch. It’s so raw in its themes, there is no sugar coating it, which if you like to watch or read or just consume media that has to do with more mature or serious topics, I’d argue Arcane is right up your alley. The parallels are not just within the show though, in my opinion the parallels are right outside our door, it’s a very convenient and well timed reflection of our society now.
From an art perspective, Arcane is amazing. With Into the Spider-Verse we got the first big taste into a more 2D looking 3D animation. Arcane does just that, but instead of going the comic book route like Into the Spider-Verse, it’s more of a paint feel. But what really marries the art style and the writing together is the way in which the characters express themselves, with intense and emotional topics such as that in arcane, it’s extra important that the visual aspect translates that just as well. And they did just that, the emotions in the animation felt real and made the viewing experience just that more hard hitting. They also did a great job with world building, and in general the backgrounds and stylistic choices in scenes, made it feel original and truly a great expression and testament to what art can become with mixed media influences.
