ARCANE, season 1 review - It puts a hex on you

(By Melody Werner)

Arcane is a television pseudo-adaptation, pseudo-prequel to the monstrously popular (and just monstrous) League of Legends by Riot Games. Arcane, however, was produced in collaboration predominantly with Studio Fortiche of France, then secondarily with Netflix of Hell. Fortiche is known for their prowess visible in the animated shorts they've done for League, while Netflix is renowned the world over for their abilities to fund hate speech. Which makes them the exact right partner for Riot, a company beloved for how their executives abuse employees like they think real life is a game of LoL. But we're not here to facetiously talk about how awful a few corporations are—they all are, it's just a question of how awful each one is—we're here to talk about Arcane, a show that had the world over genuinely considering whether League was actually worth checking out. Now that's impressive! This show actually made people consider entering Purgatory. And upon witnessing it in its grandiose totality, it's easy to see why. It is nigh scientifically engineered in a lab to be great and artful in a way that monotonously spiraling in League can never be. But just like everything else outside of League, its purpose for existence is to ensure that the intellectual property of the game lives on long after the game itself eventually dies (preceded by the heat death of the universe, of course). That doesn't make it bad--far from it. This is a wildly engrossing, complex, beautiful, stimulating, and even experimental work. What it does mean, though, is there is an annoying waft of battle pass energy to the show through no fault of its own.

I can't imagine the person who could possibly mock Fortiche's bold and expressive work vis-à-vis the animation. Every motion, even those of "extras" in the far background, feels crafted with care. And yet, Fortiche go one step beyond, with the occasional art style swap that's really mind-blowing, and the transition between differing styles is smooth as hell. If I had to level a gripe at the visuals, it would be the prevalence of flashing lights, which can genuinely become painful at times—and I'm not photosensitive. If you are, this show is prohibitively dangerous to watch. Which absolutely fucking bites.

For a project as reliant on its sprawling ensemble cast, voice acting is paramount. Luckily, every single performer brings their a-game, with the deliveries frequently flowing with personality. Elsewhere, the musical score is rock solid. Not much to say, it adds to the atmosphere. More additive than standout in its own right. The soundtrack, though, is a mixed bag. From the lows of the algorithmic slop that is Imagine Dragons to algorithmically generated Lorde, to the highs of the ever excellent J.I.D. and some decent enough tracks that I would never dare touch outside of the show. A lot of the time, I could leave the vocal cuts on the table.

While I have us in this negative headspace, I want to chitchat about the Vi and Caitlyn situation. League fans for years have been shipping these two together, and it's obvious why. To borrow from T B Skyen, Caitlyn is a pig and in game looks like a porn parody of her own damn self, while Vi is a devout criminal. The horny lesbian fanfic writes itself. Riot, cowardly as they are, have always tiptoed up to the line of making them an item officially--but have yet to cross a millimeter. Arcane, for its part, tries its best to make it crystal clear. And the pairing in practice is, FWIW, very cute in Arcane; even if one of them began life as a sentient Spirit Halloween costume of a "sexy cop" (which is why I am less predisposed to say "FTP" regarding Caitlyn, she's too cartoonish). To call their mutual interest "hinted at" in the show is a huge understatement, for sure. Vi calls Caitlyn hot right to her face, their lips get very close several times, they argue like a romcom couple, Jinx refers to Caitlyn as Vi's girlfriend, Vi always calls Caitlyn "Cupcake" when they're alone together (an element from the game), and how does Caitlyn picture Vi when they are separated? Well... mostly her posterior. But at the end of the day, you can still feel the icky plausible deniability. They never OUTRIGHT say they like each other in THAT way. This is still Riot just wagging their leg over the line, before they return their feet back to the same position. But this isn't just something that's annoying from the perspective of wanting more OVERT queer representation, it also hurts the story. While I value platonic relationships far more than romantic ones personally (I am aromantic, after all), this is self-evidently not a platonic relationship; these characters as depicted are basically waiting for one spare moment to jump on each other. And yet, they don't even get to say something like, "I love you", or anything. Which makes their pain at being separated or fearing for the other's safety less impactful than it'd be if they had a single kiss or literally just said something that doesn't feel calculated by Riot's upper crust in order to give them enough legroom to scram given the chance to. You could say the same for Jayce and Viktor, but Viktor struck me as possibly being aro, since he didn't seem too interested in anyone like that. I do hope Vi and Caitlyn get to actually be official in season 2, since they 1) just work, 2) the WLW folks have been dying for this one, and 3) we already bullied Riot into finally letting Leona and Diana be the gay Sun & Moon.

Complaints aside, this is just a wonderful show. I don't even know where to start as to why narratively, as it weaves so many plot threads and themes together effortlessly. This is the kinda show that can start as a fun show about street urchins heisting away magic crystals, then introduce body horror elements, then go full political thriller—then oscillate between them until throwing a cataclysmic spanner in the works, doing a time jump, and phenomenally sticking the landing.

Arcane's blistering pace comes off more substantial than half-vignettes or anything like that. There's always a clock ticking, always a shoe about to drop--even calmer scenes belie a lurking danger. When bodies start dropping, you feel every ounce. As the pressure mounts, the pacing can dance between exhilarating and suffocating—but in a good way. It makes the show hard to look away from. And even when you're done or take a break, there are so many extraneous thoughts just swimming in your head. There is so much at work here, so many moving pieces, that I could never be comprehensive with a review of this nature so soon after finishing it for the first time. But it is a show that you cannot contain passion for, and just have to talk about.

But let's talk characters now, as that's the hook League hangs its hat on. Character designs are either improvements over the in-game models (e.g. Caitlyn), or original designs that are immediately iconic, such as that of Silco. I really like Vi and Viktor a lot, sans Vi saying some cracked shit to justify an ally (or her) murdering a child towards the end of season 1. The storyline with Skye is the show at its weakest with regards to writing, as she feels like nothing more than a prop. But other characters, like Silco and Mel are quite intriguing. Though put an asterisk on Silco, as well as Jinx, as I can absolutely see why someone would have problems with either. Silco is what liberals think all revolutionaries are. "Oh, you should just be nicer to the city of rich parasites sucking Zaun dry, and you'd get your way." Jinx can be a very upsetting character if you have mood swings (as I do), and even more upsetting is how almost everyone except Vi and Silco writes her off despite the fact that she only acts how she does because no one will just talk to her without threatening her or triggering her childhood traumas. This isn't a problem with the writing itself, imo, but more in the results being pretty difficult to stomach at times.

Am I absolutely down for season 2? No doubt! I don't know when it'd be (other than a vague "after 2022"), but I don't mind waiting for something this terrific. I'll give it a 9.5/10 with some important caveats, such as that this being a great show that talented folks worked on for years should not fuel any apologism with regards to the ghastly actions from within the Riot camp. It should serve as a reminder that the Rioters who have been pushing for better, more inclusive stories were right all along--and that the company's executive class know virtually nothing about what folks actually want to see from League. Which is all of the allosexual/alloromantic characters who can give informed consent fucking. Oh, and to send Aaron Eckhart to save mankind from the ravenous, swiftly approaching black hole that is League of Legends.

Must-watch

Summary:

Arcane is about as close as Riot can ever get to buying themselves artistic legitimacy