A few years ago, I had only heard about the video game “League of Legends” from my older brother.Now, I’m fully invested in a show based off the game, and anxiously wait between its episode releases.
Following the recent trend of turning video games into motion pictures, Riot Games adapted “League of Legends” into the show “Arcane” in November of 2021. Each season of the show is split into three acts, with each act consisting of three episodes. The second and final season released its first act on Nov. 9, and the other two will be released on Nov. 16 and 23 respectively.
In “Arcane,” sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell) are separated at a young age in their dystopian city of Zaun. Years later, they find themselves on separate sides of a war between Zaun and the utopian city of Piltover in an era of magic and progress.
Throughout season one, Piltover characters such as the rookie enforcer Caitlyn (Katie Leung) and novice scientist Jayce (Kevin Alejandro) fought against attacks from Zaun using Piltover’s magical innovations. Meanwhile, Zaun characters such as the young leader Ekko (Reed Shannon) and the sisters Jinx and Vi are brought down by their rough upbringing and seek liberation.
That season won 22 awards, including four Emmys due to its outstanding animation and writing, ending on a thrilling cliffhanger where audiences questioned whether or not the main characters survived to the end.
The second season picks up immediately after the cliffhanger, creating an emotional beginning to the season.
Something that stuck out in the first act was the character changes. New characters were introduced and placed into the main plotline without much of an explanation by episode one, such as a Zaunite girl, Isha, running into Jinx and becoming her companion in one scene. The main characters have seemingly abrupt personality changes, such as Vi joining Caitlyn’s strike force of enforcers despite hating them her whole life.
These odd character changes make the act seem rushed. The quick pace through the plot could be explained as symbolizing the “rushing” and “nonstop” aspects of war, but instead waters down the complexity of the characters and makes their choices confusing. However, the thing that remains constant between the seasons is the quality of animation and sound.
“Arcane” is considered as 2.5D animation, similar to the movies “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” This style of animation is a refreshing change compared to the hundreds of 3D animated motion pictures, and allows for the best aspects of 2D and 3D animation to be combined. “Arcane’s” amazing animation is enhanced by the show’s phenomenal music design and voice acting.
Both seasons have their own soundtrack, the second including songs from big artists such as “Twenty One Pilots,” “Linkin Park” and “Ashnikko.” Additionally, the opening song of both seasons is “Enemy” by “Imagine Dragons.” While the big names bring large audiences to the show, the smaller names, such as “Woodkid,” turn sad scenes into heartbreakers and fight scenes into thrillers.
Though this season feels rushed so far, I have confidence that “Arcane” will wrap up nicely through the next two acts. “Arcane” is the origin story for a few of the “League of Legends” champions, so the fate of the main characters is already decided. Despite this, the show’s vividly stirring display of these character’s origin stories make “Arcane” an exciting watch.
