Arcane Is The Perfect Show For Jamie Nicholas And Other People That Don't Play League | Winter Spectacular 2021
Arcane is one of the best examples of game-based media perfectly representing its source material. It took all the aspects of League of Legends that I love and turned them into one of the greatest animated shows I’ve ever seen. It also manages to recreate some of Leagues most interesting themes, as well as some surprisingly strong story beats I never expected in a show based on a video game.
Spoilers ahead.
Imagine being the writers room told to turn this into a prestige TV show.
I love video games, but their numerous terrible adaptations to more cinematic mediums? Not so much. These sat in the back of my mind when I started the first episode of Arcane, Welcome to the Playground. Admittedly, I don’t know much about League apart from the handful of games I’ve played when mates of mine wanted to play - I’m not a very active player, to say the least, but that helped me to appreciate the show at face value. Without the premeditated concerns about what the writers have done to my favourite champion (I read the game of thrones books, y'all did Dany dirty) I got a feel for the narrative and characters without the overhanging worries of an experienced player.
Folks, that narrative gave me everything I could have ever wanted. For starters, I love morally grey characters. Those poor idiots trying to make their way in a world, doing the ‘right thing’ depending on their surroundings? Yeah. That's my shit. Watching Jayce advance a capitalist and oppressive regime because he liked science is a prime example of this. Arcane uses this theme in a fantastic way by showing us all sides of Piltover and Zauns’ conflict. This culminates in Jayce and VI’s short arc where they cooperate against Silco’s drug empire - Jayce finally faces the world that he created and realises he is not the solution to his own system.
You telling me this TV made a man with a face this punch-able relatable?
That's what surprised me about Arcane - it's not just a show about League of Legends. They used League characters to frame a considerably complicated political issue. Which is cool! I like it when an adaptation does something new, and it's a refreshing change to see a narrative explore all perspectives of a story, where every character is at least somewhat relatable - even Jayce! Arcane could also very easily be a stand-alone show on its own, which I think is one of the things that really appealed to me about it. I know little to nothing about the characters involved bar what I learned from Arcane and poking my friends while I watched and went, ‘Who’s that dude?’ So the fact that I feel so strongly about these people is a testament to Arcane’s strong character development.
One of the little things that really struck me was how quickly I got invested in each character. Arcane’s art style definitely has something to do with it - Heimerdinger, for example, broke me. When Jayce and the council got rid of him I genuinely cried. There's something very endearing about how he looks in the show. The way he moves betrays his softer nature, compared to what he expresses in the first few episodes before his forced retirement. I’m not massively artistically inclined, but the expressions and appearance of the characters in the show instil a powerful sense of empathy. Even characters like Silco who are framed, for the most part, as antagonistic have moments where I feel for him. During his death scene, for that split second where he connects with Jinx, he’s not a ruthless drug lord, he's a father - and it's all down to his facial expressions and the framing of their relationship. The subtle changes in the way Jinx moves when they are alone was enough to explain the relationship dynamic to me, and that is impressive.
Just gals being pals!
This artistic expression also rears its head in quite possibly my favourite slow-burn gays - Vi and Caitlyn. As a queer storyline, Vaitlyn does a number of things that are fantastic to see; for one, it is not a coming-out story. Vi’s ‘man or woman’ line is probably the closest thing to this we get, which is a lovely show of queer inclusion without rushing a relationship between the two characters. I am happy to wait for this one - often TV show romances feel rushed, but Arcane has given us the building blocks for a fantastic arc - all it has to do now is deliver.
*pssst* Apparently the jungle is just the games name for the middle name… We don’t know what you do there either…
Arcane did everything it needed to do and more to get me invested in a show about a game I know little to nothing about. It has the building blocks to become a truly great series, and it toes the line between fan service and stand-alone in a very positive way. It let me explore a lore that I would have otherwise been overwhelmed if I tried to access in its original medium, which is a service to both League’s community and people like me, who still don't know what a jungler does.
