User reviews

Made by gamers (RIOT) for gamers, but, also, is a stand alone piece of art for people, like me, unfamiliar with the game, LEAGUE OF LEGENDS. The series is visually stunning in 3D and 2D animation with beautiful attention to detail. There is incredible world building, an engaging story line, music that serves as narration and a stellar voice cast. I give this series a 9 (superb) out of 10. {Steampunk Fantasy Adventure}

I am a newbie to the source material, but the first 3 episodes of this show blew me away! And, now having seen the whole first season, my rating remains even more solidly a 10! :-)

Groundbreaking/beautiful animation, awesome environments, spectacular cinematography, cool musical choice, compelling characters, great voice casting/acting, and some interesting Sci-Fi/Fantasy lore! :-)

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS SHOW!!! :-)

Beautiful storytelling, great underline currents, and the emotion behind this is just amazing. The story is for everyone, but especially for League of Legends fans. The entire time I was watching it I was trying to piece together who is whom. And some of them are obvious but other ones really make you dig deep and see where they're trying to head.

I truly believe this is a fantastic series, I love everything I've seen of it so far. 10/10 a complete knockout.

I watched it with my parents who don't know anything about league's universe. I have been playing league since 2010, So my opinion may be a bit biased.

But my parents were pleasantly surprised. They said that sometimes it was a little clear that this series is more aimed at a young adult audience. Some usage of the pop songs, and the villian being a little over the top mustace twirly.

But overall they enjoyed the first 3 episodes and wouldn't mind watching the rest in their own time.

As for me. I loved it! It was everything I hoped for and then some. Riot's art department was always on their A game. And with the track record from Fortiche I knew this had very little chance to blunder.

Knowing Riot's art department it has an excellent story, well written charaters and a lore rich world to take elements from. All in all, this show comes together very nicely. And shows some of the best talents Riot has to offer.

9/10: Amazing.

I have heard of it but never played it. When i first turned this on and saw kids i immediately turned it off and sighed "not another kids show". But then i kept watching and realized this is not a kids show. It just has kids as characters. But wow it got dark and good.

Arcane: An animated SF/Fantasy Steampunk series on Netflix. In the cities of Piltover and Zaun there is unrest, Piltover the upper city literally looks down on and oppresses Zaun. We have gangs of thieves, rebels, steampunk Stormtroopers, magic melded with science. This is serious stuff with great physical and "magic" fights. Also a tale of two sisters falling out and Scientist/Mages battling against the conservatism of the Council who fear the unleashing of uncontrollable powers. It's set in the League Of Legends game universe. Directed by Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord, written by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. 9/10.

As someone who had never played the game before, this was a great introduction to its lore. The story was riveting and the pacing was perfect. And the amazing animation and soundtrack just enhanced the entire viewing experience. The VAs did an incredible job as well, particular the VA for Powder/Jinx.

I'm not a League of Legends player. In fact, I know almost nothing about it. But this show is fantastic. To say that the opening scenes of the first episode were "gripping" is an understatement. I don't often start on the edge of my seat with a TV show-- animated or live action.

(UPDATE 1/14/2022: Rewatching the show for the second time and the opening scene still puts me at the edge of my seat, holding my breath. Wow.)

The animation is well above average for a TV series. It's atmospheric in ways that most animated series don't even try. This isn't just another Star Wars-style animated series. It feels distinctly unique.

The characters are also really interesting. Again, I know nothing about League of Legends. But based on the series description, I'm assuming at least a couple of these characters become a league champion? Ultimately, I have no idea what that really means. But I'm interested in finding out.

And that's why I think this series is really successful. I don't know anything about the source material, but after just the opening scenes of the first episode, I'm invested in finding out more.

10/10 easily. I would give it that score just for the first few minutes of the series alone.

Unbelievable shows. I lost myself in the stories of Piltover and Zaun. Not addicted to any shows or movies for a very long time, I like Arcane so much. What a masterpiece. In my heart, it is in the same position as Tom & Jerry and Spirited Away. Good job, Riot and Fortiche ! Can't wait for next season.

Arcane is a surprisingly good TV show based on the universe of League of Legends. The show starts well immediately. The art style and animation are magnificent, the voice acting brilliant, the dialogue engaging, the characters all different and interesting in their own way. The only thing that annoyed me from the start was the music, and it kept irritating me throughout the show.

Despite the great start, I think the show rapidly flies off the rails with the flow and content of its plot. The flow is like a driver alternating between driving at 120 km/h and 0 km/h, instead of just driving at a smooth 60, if that makes sense. Sometimes it seems like time is not being used effectively, whereas at other times it seems like they are trying to cram together too many plot points and it feels disorienting. Game of Thrones early seasons are a good examples of how to advance different subplots concurrently. Arcane struggles to do that, and in the end I felt detached from the events in the plot, and was often a bit confused.

Another issue I had is that any mild knowledge you have of the video game will instantly remove all danger and character development from the character arcs. We know Jinx, Vi, Jayce, and so on don't die because they are in the game which takes place after Arcane. We also know there wont be any massive shifts in their character because that would diverge from League. Perhaps season 2 will be more interesting in this aspect.

Judging from the helpful ratings of other reviews here, anything below 8 will get downvoted to oblivion, but it is what it is. I will say though that the intensity of the fans and the fact that they make up the vast majority of people who watched this definitely explains its 9.1 rating.

This anime series is a big step up in visuals and sound. You definitely get a sense of the emotion of the characters. There are also some interesting ideas about the use of technology versus its dangers, paralleling the marginalization of parts of society. Yet the series drags on and the ideas are not developed very well. Ultimately, this series is not very engaging either intellectually or emotionally as the characters and plot become more predictable.

Arcane tells the story of two young orphaned sisters, growing up and getting into trouble in the dual city of Zaun and Piltover.

The series is based on the video game League of Legends, and although it drops you right into this fictional world, the necessary time and care is taken to set up places and characters in a commendable show-don't-tell fashion. Solid character development and world building means it's an entirely enjoyable watch without knowing anything about the game.

The animation is outright exquisite. As an anime fan, I found the animation in Arcane to be leagues beyond anything I've ever seen from an animated series before. There is an incredible attention to detail. It's clear that no artistic talent or monetary expense was spared in bringing the world of Runeterra to life.

Great soundtrack, great acting and a compelling story that doesn't pull any punches when it comes to violence and more adult themes.

So far only the first three episodes have been released, and I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us!

Here's to the new us.

League of Legends (LoL)' first project in expanding its own cinematic universe is done. The story between sisters, rich and poor, loyalty and betrayal, peace and war, and everything in between.

There's a common saying that LoL's big budget went into animation instead of balancing the champions in game, and this couldn't be more right. I did not expect this masterful level of animation. After each episode, they found more ways to wow audiences with amazing visuals and transitions. The fighting scenes were hard-hitting and jaw-dropping.

Even though the series wasn't fully canon to the original lore, it's still an intense story that set up an interesting universe. Not gonna lie, the first act didn't impress me too much, but episode 4 afterward got me entirely on board. My only problem with the story was that I just couldn't get enough of it. I wanted more and I don't like waiting.

Just as cool as the animation was the characters. Many character dynamics fascinated me and made me realized how much I needed them. I'll admit that some characters were straightforward, but not all of them were predictable. Some still surprised me until the very end. The directions for all characters were incredible.

Overall, even though the game was a love-hate relationship, Arcane was for sure all love, and a phenomenal step in setting up LOLCU. 8.5/10.

Arcane (2021)

I have never played a single minute of League of Legends in my life but I always knew how influential this online game is. Normally, I wouldn't have paid attention to this series but considering the 9.4 on IMdB, I had to check out at least an episode to see what is so incredible about it. Starting of in a rather casual way, I wasn't too impressed with what I saw in that first episode, but the cliffhanger made me want to see what would happen next. Once I climbed that cliff, I was immersed into a fast paced steampunk world that had a lot to offer and many more cliffhangers to be experienced.

The animation style of this series is best described as taking 6 buckets of paint, throwing them into a 10,000 volt transformer and stepping into the electrical blend of colors to be engulfed in the sheer awesomeness. As you adjust to this dynamic animation, you wilk see a story of an inventor, an underworld crime boss and a girl who wants to find her sister. All of these characters find themselves in the middle of a political intrigue that involves a utopian city and a rotten underbelly with it's social classes striving to achieve their goals by any means necessary. To top it off, there is plenty of emotional stuggle between family, friends and enemies.

While all the technical, sound and visual aspects are second to none, it is the characters that made me want to come back to this series again and again. The show is irresistible to watch and the two reasons for that are the masterfully crafted intro that got me pumped in the beginning of each episode and the nail-biting cliffhangers that made me want to see hiw the story continues. Whether you like videogames or not, this show will grab your interest and won't let up until the final second. At that point, you will be anxiously waiting for season 2 which I hope will come very soon.

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I'm not a big league of legends player but I deeply appreciated the animation, storyline, and music of Arcane. This is one of the best animated series I have ever watched. My wife has never player league of legends and she loves the arcane series so far.

Really great, stunning, amazing and beautiful tv show. Possibly the most unique show to come out in the last decade or so...ppl if you havent started watching this..plz do. This show has really amazing storytelling, the animation is simply superb, the action is always on high levels of adrenaline. I aint gonna lie..i dont watch much tv..but this show sitting at 9.4 was really something...lol had no choice but to give it a go. So thanks ppl of imdb.

Some ppl are going to prob go nuts, but please bear in mind I am strictly a console gamer.

I have never even heard of this game before and after researching what the game is about, I will probably never play it... it's just not my kind of game.

But with that being said... what a great show!

Felt like Hugo mixed with Alita mixed with Elysium mixed with a hundred other movies out there but it was well done, entertaining, beautifully animated, and well casted.

A definite watch for anyone that loves a more mature animated series. I hope they make another season.

This is a piece of art, pure and simple. Every frame is a painting ready to fill a museum. The story, the characters, down to the little details. I laughed, I cried, and I wanted to be there for every moment.

Give me more!

Cool and impressive animation. Show is decent, but nothing special. Typical mainstream fodder with uninspired dialogue and storyline. That said, it does all these things in a very polished manner, so there's that. It feels like the primary audience is teenagers.(13-15 years old). As an adult viewer, I didn't find it very compelling overall.

On another note - notice all the reviews saying nothing at all other than "AMAZING" and "You have to see it!!!" and so on - they all have "14/14 found this helpful" or similar, yet say nothing at all helpful.

And then any review at all which is the slightest bit critical but has actual useful information to a potential viewer, and it has "0/6 found this helpful." What a joke. Clear astroturfing. I wonder how many people will go out of their way to tag this review as unhelpful, as I was slightly critical but gave a realistic take on the show?

The current rating obviously won't last, as it's not a 9.5/10 show or anything even remotely close to it. Who are these people? Who hires them? What's even the point of it all? I don't see this happening on all Netflix shows, so why this one? All those questions give me a greater sense of mystery than this show.

I went into this expecting a lot since I had only heard great things about it. Watched the first three episodes and found it unbearable so I quit. A friend told me that it got better and so I watched a few more episodes but it did not get better, then quit for good.

None of the characters are interesting and the vibe I get from the show is just that it's very pretentious. It paints itself like it's very clever but it's pretty typical.

I will say that the animation style is pretty good but that alone does not come close to make me want to keep watching the show.

So many positives i don't know where to start! This is unique, gripping probably won't happen again like this! Phenomenal. Art is an anomaly; i don't get how but i know it is reality.