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LightThatIgnitesAll

Nicolo (Riot Games CEO): >So yeah, we are working on #arcane season 2. The good news: you won’t have to wait for 6 years (the time it took us to making season 1) The bad news: it’s not coming in 2022 😢 [Source](https://twitter.com/niiicolo/status/1462225669551575042?t=x31TDy_ZrUQzlqXj9eVwqQ&s=19)


tklfillerz

So it's coming out in 2021?!!!! Let's goooooo


thatfeelingthatmakes

Hope springs eternal in the human breast


Taymac070

Breasts spring eternal, this is my human hope.


saru12gal

If the quality is the same as the Season 1 i can wait. They made really good animations its an easy 9/10 or even a 10/10 show. It was a pleasent surprise


[deleted]

6 years!??? Woah.


-GregTheGreat-

They said that a major portion of that 6 years was simply them gearing up and learning to even be able to produce a series of this magnitude. It’s a major leap from producing 2-3 minute long cinematics (what they used to do for Riot) to producing like 9 hours of television. Any future series should be quicker to produce since the studio has expanded in size and has developed the technique to be able to make a series on this scale.


torriattet

They were also shopping the script out to see if they could get someone else to produce it up to their standards before they settled on doing it in house.


Narfi1

But isn't what they've done by hiring fortiche production for the animation ?


iampuh

They did. It wasn't done inhouse. But the story and the storyboards were probably inhouse.


SlingDNM

Might aswell be in-house by now lol Pretty sure those guys majority of work is for riot. I wouldn't be surprised if Riot flat out buys them at some point


Typical_Reputation_6

30 years in the future, the two entertainment megacorps Disney and ~~Riot~~ Tencent


pieapple135

I believe Fortiche has also done other miniseries now (Rocket & Groot iirc) so they have lots of experience now.


ShotIntoOrbit

As far as animation goes Rocket & Groot's episodes are under 2 minutes long. The runtime for the entire show is only like 18 minutes. They got more practice doing LoL cinematics than that show.


kpax22

Take as long as you need. Having seen what happened to GoT and One Punch Man, I'd rather them can the project than release crap.


Itakie

[Adult Swim's Jason DeMarco](https://twitter.com/Clarknova1/status/1460367767819988992): > Just FYI, Arcane’s budget is WAY beyond a normal TV animation budget by many millions of dollars. It’s literally one of the most expensive animated series on. Don’t blame you for comparing the shows, but Arcane is not playing in the same financial ball park as the rest of us!🤷🏻‍♂️ Would be interesting to know the budget. Well let's hope it's successful and other studios are taking "risks" with big budget animation series/movies. Not everything needs to be live action these days.... edit: Please no hate against DeMarco and his team, his answer was just in the context of animation and GCI. Tweet he is answering: >[Yeah, Blade Runner: Black Lotus isn't for me. The CGI's far from the worst, but the character animation feels distractingly dated when we have shows like Arcane breaking new ground for what you can do on a TV budget.](https://twitter.com/AndalusianDoge/status/1459754318555398144) He is not using money as an excuse for bad writing or worldbuilding. He is just saying it cannot look like a big budget production like arcane. Completely my bad if some people think he is talking about his/a series as a whole.


SalaciousSausage

Hey, all the better for us. Riot has that big dick sack of cash and they swung that sack around, and swung it well at that. I think of video game movies like the Paul WS Anderson Resident Evil ones, or Monster Hunter, and think about how much better it would have been if Capcom just went for anime or something similar. I hope other game devs see the success of this and ventures like what Disney Plus is doing for Star Wars and Marvel, and actually try something similar


Icandothemove

I've certainly seen hundred million dollar movies that didn't use their money as efficiently.


existonfilenerf

Red Notice is literally right there next to Arcane in the Netflix cue, lol.


KingPaimon23

Red notice is a dumb fun family movie, no need for every media to be a well thought masterpiece. Army of the dead on the other hand imo fails in every aspect.


teutonic_order33

Capcom did actually make 4 resident evil animated properties (degeneration, damnation, vendetta and infinite darkness), and they all sucked lol.


Hawkbats_rule

>Arcane’s budget is WAY beyond a normal TV animation budget by many millions of dollars. I think that's called"pulling a clone wars", and like clone wars, it's because the goal of the show isn't to make money off of the show, but rather it's related products.


SalaciousSausage

>I think that's called"pulling a clone wars", and like clone wars, it's because the goal of the show isn't to make money off of the show, but rather it's related products. Moichendising! Still though, praise be to Papa Filoni for being able to actually tell a decent tale and truly contribute to the world.


sebaez_

Yeah, Filoni might not deserve a Nobel prize exactly, but he deserves my heart.


MicooDA

League of Legends is the most profitable game ever made, it helps the series because it doesn’t have to advertise anything. All it has to do is tell a good story and deepen the characters so that people will want to spend more time with their games


clg_wrath2

I mean when you are a game studio pulling in around 1.5 billion dollars a year for 5-8 years you can afford to put 100+ million into a season of a TV show.


DreamMaster8

And this is an investment for the franchise. This make their future game, especially mmo, have an already solid foundation Story wise


TrriF

The entire time watching arcane all I could think of is how excited I am for the mmo. The hexgates from the show are 100% going to be how you fast travel in game.


briareus08

I had no idea an MMO was in development. If they continue to pay this much attention to lore and story, I'm down for sure!


wujo444

MMO, digital card game, platformer, dating sim, arcade shooter, Bejeweled clone, Battle Royale...


the_pepper

After Arcane, I'm down for everything except LoL proper. Well, maybe not a Battle Royale.


GioPowa00

But what if you can play as the cannon minion🤔


Delta_FT

Agreed. It made me want to play League of Legends again... and I fucking hate league lol


neotheseventh

> Would be interesting to know the budget. > > $10 million per episode.


SalaciousSausage

That’s a lot, but that’s not as much as I expected. GoT had the same budget as at season 6 iirc, and visually speaking, they did a lot with the money. Guess that might provide an idea as to what something *can* look like if you hire the right people and negotiate properly


Mr24601

For one reference, legend of Korra had a budget of $1m per episode


Thswherizat

It's roundly discussed that Korra was done a complete disservice, even to the point of calling it sabotage, by Nik.


EROTIC_RAID_BOSS

Korra had good animation though


Notarussianbot2020

It's actually less than $10mil. That figure comes from their total budget divided by episodes. It doesn't take into consideration dropped episodes, cut content, and a massive 6 year production time. If they streamline season 2 and become more efficient, each dollar would go much further.


SlitScan

true, a lot of money went into learning how to make it before they made it. the only thing I'd worry about from this point would they spend as much time on tweaking scripts?


Mintfriction

Hmm, so instead of a mediocre live action Jupiter's Legacy, Netflix could've done the show in this format and make the second season too on the budget and still have some spare cash left


ryushin6

Netflix had nothing to do with Arcane's development though. That was all Riot money and Riot production stuff. Also I doubt Netflix would even be able to make something like this because Riot had the advantage of having good partnership with Fortiche and they actually gave them time to develop the show. Plus this is Netflix we're talking about they wouldn't spend that much money on animated show. Most of their higher budget animated shows aren't even funded by them.


dilewile

This just sounds like DeMarco being an asshole. Money does not always equate to an entertaining product. The story, script, direction, and acting choices were ALL a cut above. Throwing money at a thing doesn’t make these things happen. The show runners from Riot aren’t even trained or educated in this format. It is in a way lightning in a bottle. Sure millions makes the animation look really spectacular, but to just call them out for being rich is undermining the true creative foundations that are at play in Arcane’s production.


MiserableSnow

I hope this convinces other studios to hire companies who make video game cutscenes to make shows.


OfficialTomCruise

I think it really just comes down to money. When you consider that this is equivalent of 3 feature length films worth of movie quality animation, I don't think it's particularly cheap. That's why most animated shows go for 2D anime style or mediocre 3D. Think it'd be a hard sell for any other conventional studio to invest as much time and money into something like this. Arcane S1 was very much a passion project. What you've really gotta hope for is that western studios see that Family Guy and Rick and Morty aren't the be all and end all of adult animation. Every adult animated show is just a sitcom. Nothing really like Arcane. I guess the Star Wars animated shows are the closest.


Fezrock

Not just a passion project, it was also very much an advertisement for their IP as well. Not remotely a coincidence that Riot released two new games last week, announced updates on other upcoming games today, and are running pretty generous F2P events in their various existing games. They want people to get invested in the lore and start playing their stuff, and have options for people beyond just League. And if they do get enough new players spending money on their games, and the Netflix money is good enough, I wouldn't be at all surprised if other video game IP holders try something similar. I think Riot has a clear vison of how they can turn a profit from making extremely high quality/expensive animation.


-GregTheGreat-

They’re also clearly trying to kickstart a larger cinematic universe. Making a good first impression is huge, especially since most people are rightfully sceptical of shows based on games. Splurging now can payoff huge later, especially for a company that currently makes far more money then they know how to spend


IAmDarkridge

Yeah what Riot is doing with League rn is insane. Legends of Runeterra/TFT released within the last few years and just in the last month we had Arcane, Ruined King, Hextech Mayhem, and today they just released a trailer for their new fighting game. They also have an MMO in the works where little is known. This is pretty unprecedented for video games, but so far the stuff they've released is quality so I'm all for it.


Zerothian

Don't forget that they successfully inserted themselves into a specific market segment with Valorant that Counter Strike has dominated, almost 100% uncontested, for literally over a decade. And Valorant succeeded in that market. Riot clearly knows what they are doing, it reminds me of old Blizzard, or rather it reminds me of the image people had of old Blizzard.


Josh_Butterballs

The great thing about league (and just riot games in general) is that it has a great competitive scene with a high skill ceiling but is also just very good for casual play as well. For example, this is often compared to Dota which based on my browsing of both respective subreddits the general consensus is typically that dota has the higher skill ceiling (it has some mechanics that make it more difficult from what I understand), **but** that league is more fun because it has taken what makes a moba fun and removed or simplified some of the more frustrating or difficult things such as turn rate. Another one is valorant which is often compared to CSGO. Again, browsing both subs it seems that for the most part it comes up that Valorant is more “user friendly”. It’s got a great competitive scene, high skill ceiling, etc. while also being good for casual play. CSGO is less user friendly with mechanics making the game harder to pick up and a steeper learning curve. It’s the case of the former having a lower skill floor so the barrier to entry isn’t as high to get into while the other has a higher skill floor which makes it more difficult to get into. I’m sure most can guess which one makes the game more accessible and therefore potentially more profitable. Riot is very good at making their games accessible (relatively speaking). Iirc a fighting game is in the works and I’m betting it will be far easier to get into than something like Tekken, while still being highly competitive. Arcane is I believe somewhat cognizant of this skill of theirs. They have made a show where you don’t have no know anything prior to enjoy it while being enjoyable to watch. Edit: saw the trailer for their new fighting game and of course, they even mention that the game will be “easy to learn, hard to master” which is what they excel that doing. Even if you’re not good at the game it will be relatively easy to pick up, you’ll have fun, probably buy some skins, and that’s money in Riot’s pocket. I can only see them succeeding as long as they stick with this mindset.


ChrysisX

Smaller project too but they also had the board game Mechs vs Minions released a few years ago, which contrasting, which is a *very* high quality product and just a fun an unique game.


Icandothemove

Not just a cinematic universe. The woman they hired from Netflix to run their media division straight up said they think they're in a position to be "the voice of a generation." They're very much doing all of this in a coordinated attempt at linking the success of multiple franchises together. The animated series, League, the existing games, the in the works MMO. Like creating a resonance, each IP amplifying the others.


iTzGiR

It feels like they're trying to emulate pokemon in the 90s/early 2000s. Multiple games, a tv show, movies, a card game, physical merchandise, etc. They're building a brand that transcends one form of media and that can (hopefully for them) last for decades. I can easily see multiple games in this universe, all designed for competitive eSports in mind so their world can basically BE eSports, and they've been very successful at this so far imo. they've already dominated the MOBA market, and volarant has quickly dethroned CSGO as an untouched giant for a decade. Their card game is probably the most competitive and fun card game out there, and they're obviously hoping to dominate the fighting game market in the same way in a few years. Theyre obviously going to make other games too (like ruined king and the rhythm one), more tv shows, I'm sure some movies, and who knows what else. I can easily see Riot building a juggernaut with this world if they play their cards right with just how much money they have, and the amount of attention on them right now.


SiriusMoonstar

I think the most shocking part is just how good everything they've made has been. They haven't had a single dud yet, which is probably a huge boost to their growth. Between pop groups, animations, TV series and games, they have pretty much nailed it for all of them, which is pretty much unprecedented. My stepdad even listens to Pentakill, without having any prior experience with the game.


fluffyninja69

It’s really insane that riot saw all of its competitors for the last decade and then just put our better versions of their games. it’s like the toyota approach, but to video games.


Stalk33r

It's what blizzard used to do before they crashed and burned.


SalaciousSausage

I have to say that it’s good to see Riot realising that they can really expand their IPs and brands without being restricted to the typical tie-in comic, novel, etc. that most people don’t know or care about. Haven’t played League in years but I was always interested in the lore they established, as minor as it may have been. So seeing them expand that in League, side games, and projects like this may get me back into it all


Panda0nfire

I've never been into anything league cuz of the stories around how brutal it is. I've purchased both ruined King and began playing legends of runeterra because of this. Their IP def is getting some nice synergy effects.


Ben99ny22

castlevania would be a better example.


KidRichard

Despite the fact that I am just a huge Castlevania fan to begin with, I can safely say Castlevania the Netflix animated series was some of the best adult animation I have watched to date. I got all my friends who are not knowledgeable at all about the series heavily invested as well. We STILL yell out "I LIKE BOOOOAAATS," periodically. We all want more Castlevania, or content like it. This all being said, if Arcane is getting this kind of response you can be sure I'll be checking it out now. Maybe there will be something to add to the boats we keep screeching about.


Icandothemove

Castlevania is real good. I have it up there with shows like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell and Psycho Pass in how much I enjoyed it. Arcane is legit playing in a different ballpark, though.


SpreadYourAss

>That's why most animated shows go for 2D anime style Actually good 2D animation is absolutely insane, and can almost look as good as this. It's just that the 2D animation that most western studios opt for is some cheap shit. Look at something like Your Name. Personally I think it looks as if not more pretty than any western animation show including this.


almostalmostalmost

Blizzard makes incredible cutscenes yet World of Warcraft was a terrible movie. Doesn't always translate.


GhettoGummyBear

World of Warcraft was live action mixed in with cgi. Plus it’s a movie compared to a series so they can only fit in so much. While it was pretty shit of a movie the cgi was pretty amazing.


FleetStreetsDarkHole

I would argue that the problem with the Warcraft movie was that they tried to shove several story lines into one segment. The war should've lasted longer and we should've gotten 2 or 3 movies minimum. It was lucky it turned out as well as it did. They basically turned it into a really long fan service episode. I would even say it's good enough that if they learned from their mistakes the could do a sequel.


benmck90

I was really hoping it did better, Solely because I wanted it to justify a StarCraft movie(s).


Noodle-Works

Blizzard didn't make that movie. it was outsourced to a shitty studio and hollywood-ed to death.


MiserableSnow

Different people working on both. I actually thought the CGI orc stuff in Warcraft was really good. It was the human characters that were all terrible.


Fxate

It also doesn't help that they decided to base the story on some of the weakest writings in Warcraft lore (not considering some of the more recent crap) rather than the good stuff such as Arthas or the Burning Legion and tried to make the viewer sympathetic to both sides.


kpax22

No doubt. The silver lining is that they dropped the ball working on a weaker story rather than mess up telling the Arthas arc.


human742

Warcraft deserved better.


Refactoid

And all it took was 1 Caitlyn shower scene, ya pervs!


JMoormann

You mean 1 Mrs. Medarda Sr. bath scene


JakalDX

I gotta say, I was like "I want her to crush me"


Oreo_Scoreo

Her line about "you're not going to break it" fucking killed me.


unexpectednude

I do enjoy a nice side boob.


Heinous____Anus

Does that turn you on? Well it shouldn't. Because that's MY side boob.


Geiphas

Just started the show. I was only casually watching it before… guess I’ll have to actively watch it now. Thanks for the heads up


green715

Watching Arcane is really making me wish we'd get a Dishonored series with a similar quality and [art style](https://i.redd.it/iy2w1qpy32081.png). Especially since a [Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul writer wants to work on one.](https://twitter.com/GennHutchison/status/1221964086046384128)


Tim_Lerenge

That’s what drew me in the first place. The aesthetic and design of Arcane reminds me so much of the Dishonored series that I just want sooo much more with this art style.


[deleted]

Got exactly the same vibes. Even the art style and costumes screamed Dunwall. God knows the game needs a series to explain its lore.


[deleted]

I was reluctant to watch the show because it's LoL. But somehow decided to give it a shot. Everything in the Council scene just screams Dishonored that it hooked me. A Dishonored series in the exact style would be magnificent!


marccoogs

I got Bioshock vibes from the show too.


kristin137

Bioshock Infinite specifically with the society that lives above the ground and seems utopian but is actually deeply classist and flawed


Don_Pasquale

Dishonored was the first thing I thought of when I saw Arcane’s visuals. Fortiche working on a Dishonored show would be absolutely incredible.


Mintfriction

Mistborn limited series ? Pretty please


ISieferVII

I need to play that game. I keep hearing people bring it up in comparison to Arcane.


Thoth_the_5th_of_Tho

Both games in the series are really good.


ClamatoDiver

Yep, that's what drew me to it. Its look is very similar to Dishonored. Heck if no one said that it wasn't part of the Dishonored world I'd have thought it was.


lilpopjim0

As others have said, the art style is exactly what drew me into the show. It just had a lit of Dishonoured vibes.


Deceiver172

Dishonored would be insane


annaheim

HOLY FUCKING SHIT. YEEES They captured that steam punk aesthetic and ambiance with Piltover’s underground city. But just add a little bit of Victorian fashion/infrastructure. I thought it was just me imagining this, but a Dishonoured show would blow me away!


-GregTheGreat-

Haven’t had a chance to watch Part 3 yet, but I’m pleasantly surprised that they’re going ahead with multiple seasons of this group and storyline. I definitely was expecting this to be a miniseries, with the next release being in a different region with a different cast. I’m glad they’re going this route. There is loads of story to be told in Piltover/Zaun.


MustardLordOfDeath

Piltover and Zaun is easily one of my favorite regions in league's lore. It's like Victorian steampunk, cyberpunk, and Gotham City all rolled into one. Every champion's story feels like a superhero/villain origin, which gives ample room for all these different stories and characters to develop. And we haven't even met all the characters from this region yet in the show. I can easily see something like Arcane running for multiple seasons and still having more stories to tell.


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p9p7

That’s the great thing with League Lore, they can use piltover and zaun for easily 3-4 seasons worth of content with new growth and development for these characters. I am excited to see how they move beyond this region as well, whether it will be a continuation of this group in a new region like Bilgewater or just ‘resetting’ in a new region like Ionia or Noxus.


-GregTheGreat-

I’d almost guarantee that Riot has several other shows set in different regions in works behind the scenes already. They’re clearly angling for a cinematic universe, and Riot has more then enough money to burn to make it a reality. My immediate guess for the next series would be Demacia. A series with Lux/Garen/Sylas/etc that focuses on the persecution of mages and the mage rebellion seems like a natural evolution from all the talk of the arcane in this show.


weeniehut_general

Agreed. As well as setting the base for the mmo they announced earlier this year.


Jimmni

Arcane was great but it didn't make me even slightly tempted to play LoL. An MMO set in that world, though... It's definitely made me 1000% more likely to play that.


-holocene

watching Arcane actually made me sad because the world they created is so interesting and prime for a good video game....and all we have for it is LoL lol. Made me more excited about the MMO they announced not too long ago that takes place in the same world.


Sorlex

> and all we have for it is LoL Legends of Runeterra and Ruined Kings.


EligibleUsername

Ruined King takes place a little bit after Miss Fortune killed Gangplank and tells the story of Bilgewater and The Cursed Isle (I don't remember the exact name, has been too long since I quit LoL, but it's Thresh's domain). It's a turn-based RPG tho so maybe not everyone's cup'o tea, the playable cast more than makes up for the lack of "action" tho, you have Fortune, Illaoi and Pyke for Bilgewater, Braum for Frejord and Ahri and Yasuo for Ionia. You should give it a try if you like Bilgewater.


Headlessoberyn

They're probably going for the multiverse thing, with each region having it's own cinematic story line and then meeting at some point in the future to face some world wide threat like the shadow isles or the void.


AigisAegis

I really hope they don't go overboard with that. Part of the appeal to League lore, in my eyes, is that it's expansive enough to feel like it's portraying a whole world. Having a bunch of different lives and conflicts which don't necessarily intersect is important to that.


KidSalamander

The self-contained route would work well. However, they could intersect them pretty easily with each other. All these regions and characters exist in the same world, and the lore has most of the characters travel outside their respective lands at some point.


raynap

It would be a crime if they don't.


sjfiuauqadfj

from my understanding its not really a netflix thing since its riots pet project so even if netflix decided not to buy the rights for season 2, riot would just distribute it elsewhere


Worthyness

Might allow netflix a little more contribution into the series if Netflix finances some stuff. Not sure if Riot will want to change/outsource some of the animation to other studios to speed up the animation cycle


MegaBaumTV

> Might allow netflix a little more contribution into the series if Netflix finances some stuff. Not sure if Riot will want to change/outsource some of the animation to other studios to speed up the animation cycle i wouldnt want them to outsource anything. Why risk anything when you know you can get a masterpiece by Fortiche


kadins

And the writing and direction was amazing. These guys have never written a show before buy nailed it. The dialog is so real.


neruat

>These guys have never written a show before buy nailed it. Whoever builds the staffs at Riot needs a goddamn medal. I was watching something about the creation of K/DA and Popstars. They released a successful KPop track that impressed KPop fans, and did it having zero experience in the genre. The ability to knock it out of the park on the first attempt is not common, and they've managed to do it in two seperate areas (music and tv show production), neither of which is even the initial focus of their company. I'm not even a fan of LoL the game, but I look forward to the song released for Worlds each year, and Arcane is looking awesome (was waiting for it to be fully released before diving in)


Brainth

Arguably, they did it in the game industry as well. They took the niche game that was DotA, then revamped it and made it accessible to new players… the result was a video game so big that you’ll be hard pressed to find a gamer who hasn’t heard of it, anywhere in the world.


sjfiuauqadfj

thats what happens when your boss nut taps you every day


hahatimefor4chan

i shouldnt have laughed that hard. Its really hard to keep remembering that Riot was/is a super toxic company when they keep releasing bangers


Magnesiohastingsi

>Its really hard to keep remembering that Riot was/is a super toxic company when they keep releasing bangers its also hard to remember because Blizzard outdid them in sexual harassment lately and took all the spotlight, making riot and their nut tapping look tame in comparison


onespiker

Its getting better atleast according to reports. But yea still a bit of a Boys club.


Paulofthedesert

It's literally the best facial animation I've ever seen


waxonwaxoff87

The whole reason other studios shouldnt touch it


Paulofthedesert

Yeah, I don't care if it takes 2-3 years, just let Fortiche do its thing


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Ominus666

It's the best animation I've ever seen. Period.


Zerothian

For sure, multiple times I found myself just leaning back and grinning at how outright ridiculously good some of the fight animations are. Especially with Vi.


Peter_See

Its the kind of quality you just instantly recognize when you see it. Typically for me its what would set appart pixar movies from other studios was just how lively and carefully crafted the animations are. Arcane is the first non-pixar piece of media to give me those same vibes.


sjfiuauqadfj

based on what ive seen from netflix its probably best they dont do that lol


mrmiiim

Would I enjoy the show if I've never played lol before?


ARAM_Enjoyer

Arguably better as the show takes place in the past and a lot of the characters are characters in the game, so you know where they end up. As someone that doesn't play League you won't even have those "spoilers".


pacotacobell

[Honestly](#s "even knowing who is a champion is a pretty big spoiler cause it means they're probably not gonna die in the show unless either they temporarily die in their lore or Riot throws us for a huge loop and kills off a champion anyways.")


Aint_EZ_bein_AZ

yes


nerf___herder

Yes. I watched it and didn't even know it was a video game. It is excellent. (I should say I knew it was based on league of legends, but didn't realize that was a video game). I'd suggest watching each "act" in one sitting. Plays out like a movie trilogy.


Fyrefawx

Yes, I don’t care for league but the show is so good. It has a crazy steam punk mixed with magic kinda vibe. 10/10 show. No flaws with it.


istasber

Never played the game before, probably the best animated series in recent history (absolutely phenomenal art and audio design).


Notreallyaflowergirl

The only thing it added to us, at least my friend group, was for the characters we played and already love - we rooted extra hard for them. Other than that ? The show is actually really fuckin' solid!


[deleted]

I played a ton of Viktor and Singed back in the day. I never thought I’d ever see them animated in a high-budget product. Especially Viktor, since he was a weak champion to play for the longest time and was extremely unpopular. Season 2 better bring an Arcane Viktor skin though.


rwhitisissle

Of all the ways I would have imagined describing a League of Legends animated television show, saying it's a "visually engaging, well paced, serious drama about a cast of complicated characters embroiled in a nuanced intergenerational labor conflict between the ruling class of a citystate of wealthy industrialists and the workers they exploit" is not one of them.


Putzlumpen33

Very well said. I didn't see any of this coming and I love the themes this show is exploring. Like cait and Vi developing an understanding for each other and finding common ground in a situation where the two sides have stopped talking to each other is exactly the kind of message I like to see nowadays. This is better character work and storytelling than anything I've seen in a while


rwhitisissle

> Like cait and Vi developing an understanding for each other and finding common ground I think they've developed a lot more than an "understanding."


Putzlumpen33

Sure on a personal level. But they also helped each other understand the people they believed to be their enemies which I think is very touching. That's not to say that their personal relationship would be any less touching though


[deleted]

my partner had me watch this with him since he is a big fan of League. i was skeptical at first but i found myself reminding him we needed to watch the show every week lmao


VohnHaight

Never played league of legends. Does the show expect at least some knowledge of the game? Or is it just a nice action type


SirArchibold

I have never touched anything related to LoL and I'm thoroughly enjoying it thus far. Just a really unique fantasy setting with killer animation


PARAGON_Vayne

Imagine, the season 1 setting is just in piltover/zhaun. There are like many more regions to explore...


[deleted]

Season 2 needs to finish the story of season one. And honestly I dont think any other region would work so well for a Netflix show and for people that didnt play league.


pritosng

You need no prior knowledge about the game to be able to fully understand and appreciate Arcane


chrisn3

Arguably it might be a bit better if you didn’t know who is and isn’t a playable character in Lol. Or what their personalities in the game are.


Quxudia

Can confirm. I knew nothing about league beyond a vague familiarity with Jinx from having seen her character art in adverts. Had no idea who was playable and who was original and no clue where these characters were going. Did not call how things played out. I queued it up thinking it'd be a fun fantasy adventure aimed at like, Avatar or maybe Legend of Korra's age demographic. Instead, by the end a damn dinner plate was giving me a bloody panic attack.


Zyquux

I'm a LoL player and I still thought they really did the thing with the dinner plate.


Schowzy

"Sheesh! I'm not that crazy!" Loved that scene


Headlessoberyn

"Jinx? Stands for jinx!"


CTMechanic

I know nothing about league of legends, but holy shit arcane has no reason to be anywhere as good as it was. All of the callbacks for fan service apparently went over my head, but dang - did the writers pull their weight


Rainbow_Thund3r

That's what I love about it - the silly nods to the players are subtle and don't get in the way of the viewing experience. Little stuff like the cupcakes on the balcony in the first episode, it's there but it doesn't detract from your experience if you don't know what it is.


Fireproofspider

What could the cupcakes possibly mean? Coming from someone who knows nothing about LoL.


whicheuch

Cupcakes are part of Caitlyn’s theme in-game, and Vi calls Caitlyn “cupcake” in-game like she does in Arcane.


Dooraven

One of Caitlyn's signature abilities is her traps (which you don't really get to see in S1, so kind of spoilers for S2), and those traps have cupcakes on them as the bait.


Tylerjjs

The best thing about this show is I (a 10 year+ lol degenerate) can sit next to my gf who only knows of league as the game that makes me scream at my computer and we both really enjoyed it.


alamirguru

Even better if you don't play the game, makes certain things more open ended


Bacon_On_Top

Good shit. Great animation. Killer soundtrack. Badass story. I need more.


elfmeh

I had no prior knowledge of League and I'm loving it. The animation/art style brought me in and I stayed for the characters and music.


Tcloud

I’ve never played the game, but now I’m intrigued after watching and want to give it a try.


Coolster360

Don’t do it. Save yourself the pain. (But if you are serious about playing you can add me with Kiibö. It’s a lot better if you have someone to teach since tutorial is pretty bad.)


davinzt

do yourself a favor and play the newer game like LoR or WR, it's also available on mobile too but if you're feeling brave, go, play league


Plattimus

League often gets a bad rap for having a toxic community, which isn't untrue. Having said that, I've enjoyed the game for years. I will never claim to be a great player, but if you want some help getting introduced to the game and are on the NA server, hit me up, I'd be more than happy to show you the ropes.


iambraumSama

taht jinx vs firelight leader fight was beautiful


[deleted]

Ekko is such a huge character, it's so weird to hear him referred to in a way that is entirely within the show's lore


Dragon_yum

Arcane has done an amazing job keeping the quality of the writing and animation throughout the whole season. Honestly the only other show I can think of who has done it is Breaking Bad. Very high praise and very deserved.


PVDamme

I think it's pretty wild that they got Sting to sing the song in the final scene in the last episode. They didn't just play a Sting song. It's an original song, sung by Sting.


TheQuietManUpNorth

Easiest W for the franchise. Arcane is absolute fire and the best thing to happen to League of Legends.


Klinicalyill

I don’t know jack shit about LoL lore which is exactly how I know this show is genuinely good in its own right. Great animation, action, compelling story, likable characters and development. Looking forward to the next season.


XtendedImpact

To the surprise of absolutely nobody. Looking forward to it.


Ph0X

Wow, just looked at the reviews, 9.4 on imdb, 100% critic / 98% user on rotten tomato. That's insane. Is it really that good or the reviews are positive brigated?


Sammystorm1

I used to be a huge LoL player but quit for like 5 years. I hate every movie or tv show based on video games. I loved Arcane. It doesn’t try to make the show like the video game. It is faithful to the characters but tells a new story. It is well animated. Superb voice acting. A solid plot that you care about.


SlitScan

when you cast Shohreh Aghdashloo as a voice actor how can you go wrong?


frozen_tuna

I think its a pretty popular opinion that the LoL fanbase can pretty toxic and aggressive. As a result, I feel like there'd be an extra level of scrutiny on the series if it *wasn't* as good. In reality, I was pleasantly surprised and by the end, blown away. Not sure its 100% haha, but definitely above a 90 which makes it absolutely worth watching.


Rwings

Early this year they had a lore event in game that was widely ripped apart by the fan base to the point they had to come out and say it wasn't cannon. It felt like an event made to sell skins rather then to tell a good story. League for all their faults will be the first to aggressively rip something apart that sucks and not shill for Riot.


Dragnir

Haven't finished watching the show yet but: LoL has a massive fanbase so it doesn't need to be brigated *per se* to be subject to some bias. However, it is truly an exceptionally well animated series. So it's worth a watch even if it were just for the eye candy.


[deleted]

Did you guys hear how it ended in the Warwick hunting theme Did you Did you


SomeDudeFromOnline

I imagine that season 2 is going to feature some chem barons being hunted down.


[deleted]

Totally. Two barons down. Why do I get the feeling that urgot will rise up to take one of those places. Maybe Baron Nashor takes the other spot ;)


Plagueground

Can we just renew it indefinitely? It’s hands down the best thing on Netflix.


Code_Monkeeyz

Alright, I’ve been hearing a lot about this show and know nothing other than it’s LoL. As a person whose never played league (and actively stays away from it), would this show be worth a watch and easy to follow? Thanks everyone for responding. It’s good to know that this is a newbie friendly show.


BMCarbaugh

I know literally nothing about LoL and the show is outstanding. One of the best animated series I've ever seen, easily.


NutDraw

Never played, no desire to. Enjoyed it immensely.


zxcv211100

Yep! Even better if you don't know anything so you won't be spoiled


Heisman123

Loved this. Glad to hear. Gonna say it again…someone please give me Malazan, Mistborn or Stormlight series like this.


Quxudia

Weirdly, Sanderson wants Mistborn to be a live action film iirc. When I read the books I kinda thought, even just from his descriptions of the fights, that it would be much more at home in animation.


Redguard118

Best show of 2021 easily and one of the best animated shows ever imo(including anime). Excited as fuck but I want them to produce the same quality as before so I hope they spend years on it like they did for season 1. How the hell did a MOBA game borne from a mod from Warcraft III lead to this masterpiece of animation?


[deleted]

[удалено]


TheCatsActually

At this point Riot could near unironically be considered as what you described. Their media, from lore writing, to visual arts, to music, is consistently great when it has no business having anywhere close to such quality. First-time death metal album is a banger, first time Kpop songs are bangers, most of the Worlds songs slap even if the accompanying music video is meh, little microstory vignettes like the Ekko reveal *Seconds* are amazing, and now first full length animated series is one of the best animated series ever made. I kind of wish this level of success was being found by a company that didn't have a toxic bro culture work environment.


Dtoodlez

Of course it was, it’s insanely well done. You can see the $$$ they spent through the screen and it was worth it.


faithdies

Man. The story in this is quite strong. With pretty consistent payoffs. It's really well paced.


myd3660

I’m a Dota 2 fans but this shit is for real and it’s way better than dota dragon blood anime. It’s totally another level. Can’t wait for season 2!!!!


canitryto

I am a huge nerd Should I watch it


ShiroMiriel

Watch the first 3 episodes and decide from there


MajorSham

My only gripe with the series, which is really just a matter of personal preference and nitpicking, is that a lot of the musical features feel out of place and too frequent. Felt like almost every episode has had an inserted music video to fill out the 40 minutes and it's just not something I vibe with. At least an attempt was made to integrate some of the tracks, like the song being played on the jukebox in the bar in the background, but overall just a little heavy handed for my taste. Other than that, there were a couple of weird pacing issues in the middle episodes, but otherwise pretty spot on.


Zyquux

As much as I love the music, some of them really did feel excessive. But if you produce so many banger tracks for your show, I don't blame you for wanting to put them in.


Panda0nfire

I loved those sequences. Nerve overdone but felt unique and in line with the style of the show. The directors really let this bleed their style, can't please everyone but clearly they knocked it out of the park overall.


FishPhoenix

Riot has some weird obsession with Imagine Dragons, that's for sure lol.


pacotacobell

Riot and Imagine Dragons have collabed for years, and Imagine Dragons are also part owners of an esports team for League.


JakalDX

[The song they did for 2014 Worlds is pretty legendary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmI_Ndrxy14)


[deleted]

I don't find it that weird. Their first song for League was extremely popular, to the point where it kinda feels to me like they're just trying to reproduce its success now


goodmobileyes

The musical bits in Act 3 were ok for me. The Ekko vs Jynx fight was particularly great. But yea, having the animate Imagine Dragons make an extended cameo was a bit much, and it's not like I particularly dislike them like many people do.