Vi and Powder, two sisters orphaned since the war that ravaged the city of Piltover, grew up in the poor neighborhood of Zaun. The wealthy bourgeoisie live on the high hill, Topside, where a few rich families rule within the council. On the other side of the river, in Zaun, a population struggles to survive, working in mines that emit toxic gas. But the extracted resources are essential to the city’s development, thanks to Arcane crystals.
Ten years ago, Zaun rebelled against Topside, but the army managed to crush the uprising. Since then, the situation in Zaun has deteriorated. All kinds of trafficking are rampant. Many people have succumbed to the temptation of Shimmer, a drug developed by the fearsome Silco.
Young Powder loves making all kinds of contraptions, especially explosives. Following a clumsy maneuver on her part, the two sisters are separated. From now on, Powder will grow up under Silco’s dark wing. Vi’s destiny is linked to that of Topside. There, two genius inventors, Jayce and Viktor, have discovered the properties of Arcane, which offer infinite possibilities.
A song of might and magic, hate and love. Powerful!
It is difficult to summarize in a few sentences the multiple narrative arcs that run through the imaginary world drawn from League of Legends, Runeterra, specifically in Piltover. Players will rediscover their favorite characters and champions, faithfully recreated and developed. Non-players, myself included, will enjoy the rich, powerful storyline, which draws on universal themes of family love and hate, class struggle, and the mysteries of power (political, military, scientific, etc.). Only the stories involving magic are sometimes confusing, especially in season 2.
But it is first and foremost the meticulously crafted, truly splendid graphics that amaze. Arcane is currently the most beautiful animated series in terms of its artwork, the result of a collaboration between Riot Games (the developer of LoL) and the French company Fortiche.
The casting has not been overlooked, and the performances of the actors who lend their voices to the characters are remarkable. Without distorting the characters in the game, they adopt certain traits of the actors who play them.
Visually stunning, dramatically powerful, and packed with epic battles, Arcane is a series that everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime.
2 seasons, 18 episodes (45 mn), 2021-2024, on Netflix
Created by Christian Linke & Alex Yee, WITH :
- Zaunites : Hailee Steinfeld as Vi, Ella Purnell as Powder / Jinx, Jason Spisak as Silco, JB Blanc as Vander, Amirah Vann as Sevika, Reed Shannon as Ekko, Brett Tucker as Dr. Corin Reveck / Singed
- Piltover topside : Kevin Alejandro (Lucifer) as Jayce Talis, Toks Olagundoye as Mel Medarda, Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones) as Viktor, Katie Leung as Caitlyn Kiramman, Mick Wingert as Cecil B. Heimerdinger, Remy Hii (Marco Polo, Harrow, Wellmania) as Marcus
- Others : Ellen Thomas as Ambessa Medarda