It’s safe to say at this point that Arcane, the story of Vi and Jinx (who are both suddenly seeing a surge in popularity) from the well-known MOBA League of Legends is a smashing success. The show has been at the top of the most-watched show on the streaming platform since its release, or at the very least it has stayed in the top ten, and there's already been a second season confirmed.
And, considering it’s an animated show, a genre that usually has a hard time appealing to all demographics, this is a huge achievement. So, why is it that Arcane is doing so well as an animated adaptation of League of Legends? Well, let’s take a look at some of the big things it does differently from other popular animated shows, where the show could possibly go in its second season, and just really figure it all out.
8 The Staggered Release
First of all, not many animated shows do the staggered release schedule on Netflix. Sure, anime on Crunchyroll or other streaming platforms release a new episode every week, but if it comes to Netflix they tend to drop the entire show/season at once.
But, giving Arcane the three-cour release schedule is actually working for it, as it has people talking about the show (and the finale) in casual conversation the same way they would talk about other shows with staggered releases such as Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, or The Walking Dead.
7 The Style Of The Show, Obviously
Second up, let’s talk about the actual art style of the show at a surface level. At a glance, Arcane is obviously not an anime, and it’s also obviously not a kid's show. The painterly, detailed style of Arcane serves as both an absolutely beautiful way to tell its story, but also as a way of letting people know right away that this is something different.
This is the most obvious element of the show that's been drawing people in, as the visuals of Arcane are on a new level quite literally. French studio Fortiche really nailed it, and they're sure to find themselves with a lot more people looking to hire them going forward. Riot has always excelled at managing to make their characters fit any art style, as seen with the two new games they recently dropped along with the style of all their shorts leading up to this point.
6 The Purposely Contrasting 2D & 3D Elements
Now, let’s talk a bit about the effects in Arcane. Now, as far as the backgrounds and characters go, the style is relatively the same. But, whenever anything action-oriented happens, such as a Hex Crystal explosion or a building burning down, the actual VFX of the explosion or fire is primarily in 2D.
This sharp contrast between the 3D characters and 2D effects takes a minute or two to get used to, but once viewers have adjusted this stylistic choice only further serves to cement Arcane as something unique and memorable.
5 It’s Able To Hide References Everywhere Since It’s An Established Property
To be fair, this next aspect applies to almost anything Marvel or DC as well, but even they don’t quite sprinkle in the references as much as Arcane does. Riot knows that a large portion or even the majority of people watching Arcane are either past League of Legends players or current ones. And, even if they’ve never played LoL, they likely know a few of the champions or some of the major concepts.
So, with that in mind, they’re able to literally pack Arcane to the brim with references and also save a bit of time by not having to explain every little concept.
4 Hand-Painted Backgrounds That Can Be Added As “Textures” To 3D Objects
When it comes to animated shows, the backgrounds are a whole different wheelhouse from the actual character illustrations. Usually, the backgrounds are separate illustrations the characters are put on top of, are 3D models the characters are put “into”, or some combination in-between. In Arcane, it’s a bit different. They’ve obviously made these beautiful hand-painted backgrounds of Piltover and Zaun, but for the scenes with characters actually interacting with objects, it seems to be something different.
Riot hasn’t really gone in-depth into how Arcane was made quite yet, but the most commonly accepted idea is that they likely have 3D models of all the rooms and objects characters interact with, and they impose these stylish textures on top to achieve the style they're looking for.
3 Camera Filters, Tricks, & Lenses
This is something that comes up a lot when talking about 2D shows, shows that use 3D models or even live-action shows, and that’s camera tricks. A 2D anime can emulate the way certain camera lenses can cause certain blurring or parallax etc… but it’s still just an emulation.
3D shows, however, can actually replicate these effects in-program, as the characters/objects being in 3D means they can basically “film” the scenes within the confines of whatever software they're using. This is what allows Arcane to use certain filters, spin around the characters as if it was a steady cam (such as the seen of Jinx holding up the flare), or even use motion/distance blurring on objects and characters.
2 It Works For Those Who Know How These Stories End & For Those Who Don’t
Once again, because Arcane is built upon the established lore of League of Legends, anyone familiar with the characters already knows how a lot of these stories will ultimately end up. Stories like Vi and Caitlyn’s partnership, Viktor’s big change, and everything to do with Singed/Warwick. But, because Riot knows that a good portion of the audience is already aware of this, they can use that to their advantage.
For example, there are already many parts of Arcane that deviate from “canonical” LoL lore, and these mixups or twists on what viewers thought they knew only cause the people who know about them to get more excited for the next episode. These characters are becoming so huge, in fact, that Jinx herself recently appeared as a costume in Fortnite, which is basically the major league for any original character.
1 Like AMVs...But Made By Professionals
And lastly, let’s end things talking about the more...musical aspects of Arcane. Riot is already very familiar with putting their characters in music videos and more, given that K/DA, Pentakill, and all the Imagine Dragons collaborations exist. And, they use that expertise in Arcane to make some of the big moments of the show that much more impactful. In fact, this expertise will even be useful in their development of Project L, as fighting games and killer music go hand-in-hand.
Honestly, these musical moments feel like the highest quality AMVs possible. And, for those who aren't familiar, AMVs were all the rage back in the late 90s to early 2000s as anime fans would take the best moments of certain characters and mesh them together with their favorite songs.
League of Legends is available now for PC and Arcane is available to watch exclusively on Netflix.