Arcane is Art 

The fact that Riot promised to make more animated movies/shows "IF" Arcane does well. I AM MORE THAN HYPED to see more! BTW, Ekko was so adorable... Little Man!

My expectations were high but Riot still exceeded it.

This type of fantasy feels so refreshing. I feel like I haven't seen steampunk / fantasy stories like this maybe ever and it's not surface level the world building is SO MUCH more rich than I was expecting even though my expectations were already high

I'm impressed with how the animators did the facial expressions. The characters really feal real.

I am very surprised how dark the show is. The 16+ is definitely justified. Not only because of the physical violence but mainly because of the psychological part. The last movie that had such a psychological impact on me was Batman: the dark Knight.

The opening scene says it all. They were able to build a world, flesh out characters, and draw you in with ZERO dialogue. Shines a light on the importance, as a writer, of "show, don't tell".

I hope this brings us a new era of "western" animation. It's been absolutely amazing so far.

I'm not a league player, but I've been keeping up with Riot's animations/cinematics for years now, so I know a little more lore than someone completely blind. But yes, this is art. The animation style is absolutely gorgeous, the expressiveness of the characters (both voice and animation) is top-notch and you feel all the emotions that they do, and the story is really compelling. I'm absolutely hooked. Great analysis, I definitely agree with your points.

Even if LoL is the world's biggest salt mine, its lore is actually incredibly impressive. It is fascinating to see how it started (with the odd and a bit ugly artstyle and simple stories for each champ) and how currently it has its own Earth with actual geography, historical events, politics, magic system, and even retcons and alternate universes ALSO with lore thanks to some skin lines.

The gaming community doesn't appreciate the world Riot's created just yet. I think Arcane is just the first step for people to recognize the sheer immensity of it. Their MMO is gonna blow every fantasy world created out the water. It is definitely the best and biggest IP in gaming. From Ionia with its Asian-inspired themes, to Shurima's Egypt-like godlike beings, to Noxus and Demacia being the cliche fantasy sword-and-shield empires, to Freljord and the powerful Watchers trapped in ice, Shadow Isles with its theme of undead living in agony... And there's an entire new continent that Riot's only been teasing! I really hope they manage to show the IP's full potential in their upcoming MMO.

I'm 47 yo and I've just come from having an incredibly tearful session with my psychologist discussing how episode three brought out my since lost memories of when my mother left my sister and I with my father and ran off to France in the early 80's. I love her to bits, but the seriously deep emotional buckshot from this show has been with me all week!!! Arcane is indeed an amazing work of art, both visually and psychologically!

I really hope this does so well, that riot decides to make other series about each region

It blew up all expectations through the roof...The brutal, dangerous, kind, dark and light combined in to one... this is insane.

I'm an artist and aspiring writer, I absolutely love making stories. I've been trying for a while now, trying not to only like doing it, but be good at it too. And let me tell you, Arcane is everything I have ever wanted my stories to be. I literally felt like I was looking into the future at my own finished story. Most notably, the emotional parts. I'd say my favorite parts of my own stories are the gut punch moments that make you tear up for one reason or another. Sorrow, or Joy, the tragedy, and the redemptions. There are plenty of other shows and movies that do that sort of thing, but this hit the nail on the head. Arcane is absolutely art. In every aspect it is brilliant.

They nailed it. They absolutely nailed everything about the story, the animation, the violence, the emotion. This was very very well done n setts a new standard for animation and fantasy story telling. Im even more excited to see what they do, because they have a whole world. Piltover/Zaun is just a small portion.

I'm a ex-league player (yes I gtfo) and I've always loved the lore. Now I can experience the lore without the toxicity of the game itself. This is 100% what I was looking for and it exceeded my expectations. TY Riot.

Live UP to the hype? No, it's far beyond the hype. I was expecting a skyscraper, but they gave me the moon, so... lol

This is the kind of thing I wish Overwatch had the gut to do.

Ngl I cried the most I’ve ever had on a movie/tv series on episode 3 - and I’ve never played league a lot. I am absolutely hyped for the next episodes

Every frame is like a painting, the facial expressions and the effect is just so good. I don’t play LOL but I always loved watching the cinematics.

The show's lore is gonna help build up their MMORPG as well! Definitely gonna go to Piltover if I get the chance

Always enjoyed reading the lore of League of Legends on the website but never cared about the game, so i was always excited about this series when i heard of its creation and the ARPG and MMO rumors; Arcane was top notch quality, fricken amazing.

Not just the art style and story is dark but the psychological focus on characters' minds makes it so much darker. Mental health issues is a dangerous area to explore in media and can sometimes backfire. They shown Jinx's psychotic episodes so well and without bias or romanticizing mental health issues. It is very true to how it happens in reality and it makes you feel how she feels during the episodes. They executed that psychological aspect very well.

They set up the future conflicts between the good and evil champions so well, when I see viktor and jayce discover the hextech it’s a moment of wonder and sadness because I know what happens to viktor, and they made him one of the most Likable characters (shout out to the VA btw he was excellent), It’s complex, and I can’t wait to see them tackle Ionia with Shen and Zeds story, and maybe we’ll get to see the Ionia-Noxian war. How fucking cool would it be to see garen and Darius battle fully realized through this animation. The world is so deep and rich with lore and world building they could be producing different stories every season and I would eat it up. 10/10

Bruh the stills look like splash artists made every frame, it’s freaking fantastic, freaking insane

I really had no issues with it at all. Everything about this show is quality and well planned. I'm sure the rest will be awesome as well. I just hope that if they do more of these kinds of shows that they actually take time to keep a level of quality because I can see a future where this first one is great, but then they pump out mediocre shows trying to capitalize on the hype too quickly.

The facial expressions were so amazing in this, the characters were all just so damn expressive while never feeling over the top. Amazing how realistic it looked. Sometimes I’d forget I was watching an animated show because of it lol 😂

This show is on another level. The emotion, writing, VA, animation is all insane.

I’ve never played League of Legends in my life. My girlfriend and I started this the other night and we didn’t even know it was connected to the franchise and thought it was just a random Netflix show. Instantly hooked. This isn’t great for fans, this is great on its own right.

I've never played league of legends and the extent of my knowledge of the lore is just the music video jinxed. Holy shit this was fantastic. They did a great job with explaining the lore (though I expect I am very far off from being an expert). But the character writing? I'm in love with all of them

This show is the new God Tier in series.

I agree this show is effing awesome

Never played the games and went in completely blind. My wife took the kids out while I stayed home to do lawn work. I thought this was gonna be terrible but just watched it as filler. After episode three I was hooked. Made popcorn for episode four and watched them all in one day. Great show and I'm going to check out the game at some point. It made a fan out of me.

I’ve never played League of Legends, all I knew about it is that it’s a video game. i have a BA and an MA in film theory and media, so this whole concept of game/series crossover I love, and I binged as much of this as I could in one night because the animation and storytelling are fucking incredible. Can’t wait for the final 3 eps

This is the best video game adaptation I've ever watched, if there's a better one please let me know cause I probably did not watch it. Also, Vi is my 2nd favorite league champion, so I'm happy a big part of the plot is centered around her so far.

To be honest I was not hyped when I heard a show about League of Legends would come out. I played the game not very long and know only the basics about it. So when I started watching the first episode I was not expecting much. From their Trailers I knew Riot could create good looking animations, so that was all I was expecting from the show. But after having watched the first three episodes and the teaser for what is going to come I can proudly say I am hyped as hell.

I agree with everything. This is amazing. I'm a non League of Legends player and didn't even know this was from that game until after I saw the trailer and was hooked.

I've played League for years now (start of season 2) , read the lore when there wasnt even much lore and even now with universe, watched both necrit and tb skyen's lore videos... and gotta say I love that i was wrong in all of the speculations ive done coming into watching arcane.. i cant describe in words how good this show is

It just fantastic how they put the game in the background, like players will have their moments like ooooo, omg there are her chompers but they focused soooooo much more on the story and the characters and they really brought them to life..... The amination is just sooooo freaking BEAUTIFUL..........BRUH!

I just started watching this yesterday (no knowledge of League of Legend lore) but I am blown away by this! This is incredible and I'm so excited to see where they go with it. I'm stoked to see such epic art and storytelling!

The fact that its a not a kids show is amazing. Like people get clapped and it happens unexpectedly because your like "oh yeah its all g this is an anime people don't die yet" and boom someone is dead and your like "oh, that just happened". But my favorite part is how it depicts Jinx, it shows her kinda of like i've always wanted DC to use Harley Quinn, as psychotic and crazy sure, but then you see these brief flashes of the old person, the sane one, the person they were before. And that contrast is so amazing because its unlimited in the idea that you can play to the audience's hopes that these characters can somehow be redeemed or saved, despite the bad they've done. And maybe they can, maybe they can't, that to me is fascinating, especially when we have jinx and vi, and the audience has to essentially pick one to root for because they're both so different and so contrasting. Love that type of stuff (if you cant tell). Its a villainess you want to root for done right, kinda a tragic villain and that's so much cooler than being bad for bads sake.

Arcane was enjoyable to me. I think the second episode slowed it a bit down, but I think it's because they were trying to introduce and establish the new characters. Also Just wanted to emphasize that Powder's voice actor is cracked. I think she did a good job bringing to life Powder and how a child would feel in her many situations

i havent played league in years, never really got far into it. But i just loved the lore, and watching lore dumps on youtube. and watching arcane? with the lore ive just learned in mind? seeing everything in this format was amazing. I cried three episodes in. this is only part one of three. I am unbelievably excited for more!

I can't but help notice that in the micro expressions for the characters, the shiny bits on the character's eyes sometimes shook to emphasise their nervousness which is definetly taken from anime as well as the solid colour shots in action scenes. These are from anime from my knowledge and I thought it was interesting.

I subbed because u mentioned expanse and it's rare I find ppl talking about it with such love💕

its really insane how everything riot touches that is NOT their piss soaked dumpster fire of burning shit-ladened garbage that their is their flagship product and original IP is actually fucking fantastic. Arcane is one of my favorite shows of all time and its only 3 episodes deep. The world, the characters, dude i fucking love runeterra... like can you imagine the potential of a story like this for all the major runeterra factions? Noxian invasion of Ionia, Fall of shurima, demacian internal conflict with mages, shadow isles, the void, frejlyord civil wars, Bilgewater, Darkin incident, the epic of fucking RYZE. like holy shit with this level of quality this is the new cinematic universe in the making. Idk if its as special for non league players but for me who remembers many a summer and winter night as a jinx-cait two trick who roleswapped to jungle with vi and ekko as two of my top 5, getting top 25 on the ladder in a point in my life i felt little motivation to do much else... holy fuck this show hit like little else has in a long time. I cant stomach the game any more, but if this is what they are putting out for this universe you can sign me up for the next few decades. god damn.

It's so great to finally be getting some great video game adaptations, first Castlevania now Arcane. Hopefully, this is the start of an era of great video game adaptions.

Spot on. It is art. I Found it by stumbling upon it, without any knowledge that it was in the making or that people liked it. And then was swept away, as it kept getting better, later episodes enhancing the previous ones and now i can't get it out of my head. need to watch it 1x more soon, because it was so packed that there were a lot of subtle details i almost missed

i have never been exposed to anything league. i'm not a gamer. I get into shows and do art so i was told that i should try out arcane since i was told the art is magnificient, and the story is amazing ....and holy shit. holy shit. you really don't need to know much about league (though I was told there are a lot of easter eggs and from what I have read up on the lore, the attention to detail is magnificient). The story is so fucking human, very based on characters morals, their trauma and emotions while also building so much depth in the character relations. The consistency in the story, especially as it progresses. Foreshadowing, parrallel, running themes - it was so good. The girls, for the first time I've ever seen, are such a highlight. They get dirty, they get hit, they are so diverse and unique. The scene with the one character crying, and snot and tears pouring down and the sheer hysteria - you rarely see that. The art - I cannot even begin to describe. Every frame is a masterpiece, with such attention to even background settings and people. Nothing is mundane. Nothing is bland. Everything is beautiful yet haunting when it needs to be. I cannot rave about this enough. I don't think I will play the game (i have been warned about the players and uh...how crude they can be), but I am getting into the comics and the lore now. I'm obsessed.

I haven’t been this excited for a weekly release since WandaVision. This series is already SO good!

as someone who never even heard of the game and just saw something’s on instagram i am completely obsessed with this show and it’s probably become one of my all time favorite shows and have tried to get everyone i know to watch it

It's not art; it's cinema. Riot Games are really doing the best job in both marketing and storytelling ever since Daft Punk.

Dud in German they put the Spongbob voice to the Fox scientist ! lmao !

Studio Fortiche is amazing, i really hope riot makes more works with them!!

The animation used in this series is on a level I have never seen before and not just the animation the show it self was fantastic at least so far I'm defiently looking forward to the next 6 episodes

I always wondered why some game studios like Square Enix, Blizzard ,and Riot! didn't make movies before this. I mean we got a Final Fantasy movie, but it wasn't what people were expecting. Huge props to Riot for creating this series. Everything clicks for the two series that I've watched so far. Props to you for The Expanse comparison!

I wish they will start greenlighting season 2 and 3 after finishing this one. I don't even need more episode to know if it's worth it.

I remember my friend showing me the Jinx music video 8 years ago when it first released and thinking, “wow! A show in this style would be absolutely amazing!” And then years later that same friend tells me that riot was finally making a show. I was so eager to watch it and I’m so happy Riot not just proved me right, but absolutely exceeded my expectations. Like you said, not only is it gorgeous visually to the point where almost every frame could be a gorgeous painting on the wall, but the story is one of the best I’ve seen out of fictional media in years. If this show doesn’t get some of award I’m going to lose it.

Dude, if this is the standard to which Riot holds their future shows and/or films then FUCK YES, BRING EVERYTHING YOU HAVE. And this is coming from someone who quit LoL years ago. Seriously, such an amazing cast of characters in such a cool world, all of the main cast feel developed, some even more so, Vi, Jinx, Jayce and Viktor were standouts (and holy fuck if I ever expected VIKTOR to be an emotionally compelling character), and goddamn did Vi and Jinx make me feel things, absolutely heartbreaking story.

Very nice vid, don't think MMO is going out soon, they started working on it like 1 year ago and its probably going to release in like 5-10 years

I would have loved if they did a theatrical release of each of the three acts. If for no other reason than to qualify for Oscar awards. I also realize that it wouldn't likely play as well for a theatrical audiences that expect a more realistic style CG for anything not family friendly.

This is just the beginning. I can see this show turning into something really big.

There is so much passion put into every frame. No way the animation team aren't diehard league fans who have been asking riot for this along side the rest of us. They did a thanos and did it themselves. Massive props to them.

The thing is a beautiful treasure. They are doing it right and acing themselves and putting in enough intrigue in the world with unanswered questions

A show has NEVER made me cry in 3 episodes, but Arcane did. If the show continues to be this good throughout the season / series it will go down on my list as one if the best show's I've ever watched. Hoping they don't fumble the bag like many other shows tend to do.

I don't play the game and I only started hearing about the series after Imagine Dragons released "Enemy," but as soon as I began the show, I was hooked and mesmerized by the stunning artwork, the unique characters, the complex story, and strangely captivating vibe. Every single episode has been amazing and I genuinely can't find flaws with the story or animation. Now I can't imagine what I'll do with my time after the series ends. It's been the highlight of every week.

Totally agree! Haven't played LoL or read any of its lore, but Arcane has me totally hooked. The animation is incredibly well done and beautiful (almost every frame is a piece of art), which you would expect from a big gaming company like Riot, but more importantly the story is engaging and interesting, and the characters have depth and complexity. You really care about what happens to them and where the story is going. Excellent series so far!

Sick thumbneil! Chefs kiss, great video 👌

Nice Thumbnail...that was a real piece of art

It's amazing how many little details you notice on rewatches.

Don't lie, we have all listened to the emotional music from this series. Love this show sooooo much and I went in not a league player

The art style alone relight my fire as an artist... As Jinx main also i just cant! i want more animations with this style even though its super demanding an expensive but man! they blew it out the water an its so worth it.

I was so sceptic about this show at first... succeeded all my expectations and beyond.. amazing AND refreshing work.. And the micro expressions in the animation are stunning! .. overall they did such a wonderful job with everything.. def went to my top series ive ever seen!

I have to say I was cautiously excited about this show when it was first revealed, but I have to say after I am completely blown away having watched the two Acts now, one of the biggest advantages and a big selling point to this show is; *_you don't need to know anything about the MOBA-game or the in-game universe beforehand to be able to enjoy this show,_* which is a huge thing because in the end this is a videogame-based show, and most of the time these types of shows and movies end up being really bad because they either translate too much or too little of the source material into the screen - and so they end up being not at all faithful and just a bastardized version of the source material, or it becomes hard to understand or incomprehensible for the average viewer who is not versed in the source material - and thats not the case with Arcane at all, I've played League for 9 years so I get extra enjoyment out of the little hints and references, *but the show is most definitely an amazing viewing experience even if there wasn't a huge logo that said **_League of Legends_* - the context, the characters, the main details given in the show are distinct, uncluttered and easy to understand, you can already tell this by how there aren't any sort of *_long exhaustive exposition dumps_* to convey information to the viewer as to assume they wouldn't understand what's going on

Damn that 3rd episode......i got the feels!

I'm a very casual League player, have stopped and only been coming back to the game whenever URF is Live now lmao.. BUT I KNOOWWWW HOW BIIIIGGGGGGG THE LORE IS IN THIS GAMEE, IVE SEEN IT GROW SINCE 2014. THE CONFLICTS, THE DIFFERENT FACTIONS, THE CHAMPIONS. ITS BIIG AND IM SO HYPED!

The voice actors are good but Hailee Steinfeld (Vi) stands out so much to me. This might be the best voice acting performance I've ever seen in my life. She has one of the bigger roles but she's mostly reacting. Vi from the game doesn't have any depth at all I've never been curious about her character or thought she was interesting, she's just a cop who punches people with her metal gloves. But in the show she's the key character that makes everything believable and draws in the viewer. Making her toughness credible but also giving her so much heart. She nails the subtlety and also just becomes the character so well. I could see so many ways in which her character could have gone wrong, but she didn't fall into any of the traps. I've been following LoL since 2012 and she probably didn't even know about this game or the characters before she started working on this project but she pulled it off perfectly and really gives me a better understanding of how hard acting is. Without her I feel like this show would go from a 10 to an 8 even with the many other great qualities that it has because I just feel like she brings it all together and makes it work. Maybe i'm a bit overboard but that's how I feel. I also liked Viktor a lot.

I totally agree that this is a show for adults that just happens to be animated, and beautifully I might add. Not gonna lie I came for the animation and the steam punk elements I seen in the trailer cuz I don't really play LoL , but once I saw how character driven it was I was glad I did. This show has some real potential to step animation geared towards grown up to the next level.

I'd be curious to know just how much of this was Fortiche Productions, the French animation studio that worked on this series, and how much was Riot Games. Just how involved was Riot with the production? Is this an animated series that was essentially made by a games studio, or was this an animated series that was made by an animation studio and was just paid for by a games studio?

It is absolutely stunning. Idk shit about League, and tbh I did feel like I was missing some info every time there was pregnant pause after a reference. But I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I won't be downloading any Riot games, but I appreciate the excellent Netflix content. Between this and Critical Role's up coming animated show on Amazon, I think adult focused cartoons are about to take off. Which has been a long time coming with "kids shows" like the Last Airbender laying the ground work, and more recent success stories like Castlevania.

Never played league of legends but always love watching their animations, music, story lore and much more since high school and so far really enjoyed the series!!!! Hope they make more!!! 😭🙏🏻✨✨✨

I know almost nothing about this game or world, but oh boy. This caught me entirely by surprise. Id like to add huge props to the matte artists and the soundtrack is just perfect from scene to scene. Incredible production. Best thing since Queens Gambit on Netflix IMHO

My expectations were already sky high, and the first 3 episodes absolutely shattered them. The amount of lore they have available to them to make future seasons or movies with is insane. I’ve been asking Riot for a movie or TV show for 10 years because I know how much potential the series has. I’m stoked for Saturday night already so I can binge the next 3.

3:38 WOw, I reeeaaaaaally needed to watch almost 4 minutes of a review to have that realisation, which totally wasn't obvious from the rating alone.

I don't play LOL and I needed no prior knowledge going in. The world feels real and these characters feel real and I loved it. I really like all the LOL animation stuff and music videos and always wanted a show, I didn't expect just how good a show was going to be.

Bro this is perfect. Pure art

As someone who has never played or have no interest in playing the game as I am not really into MP rts games at all, I have to say that this show is pretty much perfect. I can't really say anything negative about it at all. The story was great, the characters are all really interesting and cool, the action is insanely good and holy crap the animation is truly perfection. And when you bring all this together with a cast of amazing voice actors too, I just can't give this show anything but a 10/10

I think you're underestimating how expensive (in time too) this must've been to make and if we get more it's going to be either in ~3 years or lower quality

These 3 eps were so good they made me want to play league again

Hmm.. Now I'm wondering if the mmo will be like corepunk or an mmo version of ashen's style(surprisingly runs smoothly) which I'd very much love.

I want to know what is in the water that did that to his eye?

Their personalities, the art,the past and their traumas...everything was perfect...

that(THAT ONE) scene with jayce shocked me a lot

yes, it IS amazing. There's something in the character's animation, its fluidity and movement, that I think is unparallel. maybe It has something to do with the frame rate, idk. It looks better even than the best episodes on Love, Death and Robots. I'm curious to see a full making of/breakdown documentary.

I’m a tad new to the League of Legends franchise. My sister knows more than me and she got me somewhat into League of Legends, but from what I’ve seen, I absolutely loved what I’ve seen so far. I can’t wait to see what else Riot has to offer

They need to make a book for this series

I've watched like everything on Netflix and Arcane gotta be the best series I've ever seen my whole life. The characters design, art style, backstory, diffrent storys, character development, childhood trauma and there's like no gender, like for example Vi she's the total opposite of a stereotypical woman, and like Viktor he's not like the stereotypical man

If this is a sign of things to come.... I am fucking hyped af!

The show style im hoping for is American Horror story. Each season is a new setting, new characters, new story. But all of them are in the same world and can interact in later seasons if needed

This looks like something done by Albert mielgo the initial art director for spiderman into the spiderverse he's very much into adult themed animation.