Arcane (titled onscreen as Arcane: League of Legends) is a steampunk action-adventure television series created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. It was produced by the French animation studio Fortiche under the supervision of Riot Games, and distributed by Netflix. Set in Riot's League of Legends universe, it primarily focuses on sisters Violet / "Vi" (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder / Jinx (Ella Purnell) as they become embroiled in a conflict between their native underbelly of Zaun and the city of Piltover. First announced at the League of Legends tenth anniversary celebration in 2019, the series' first season was released between November 6 and 20, 2021, and a second and final season was released between November 9 and 23, 2024. Arcane was met with critical acclaim, with praise for its visuals, writing, worldbuilding, soundtrack, and voice acting, though its second season's pacing had a mixed response. Some have noted the series' appeal to both viewers who have never played League of Legends and longtime fans of the game. It was Netflix's highest-rated series within a week of its premiere, ranked first on the Netflix Top 10 Chart in 52 countries, and second on the chart in the United States. Several critics and publications considered it one of the best video game adaptations ever made. In 2022, the series became the first streaming series to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. It also won an Annie Award for Best General Audience Animated Television Broadcast Production.

Premise

Amidst the escalating unrest between the rich, utopian city of Piltover and the seedy, oppressed underbelly of Zaun, sisters Vi and Powder find themselves embroiled in a developing conflict over clashing convictions and Arcane technologies.

Voice cast and characters

= Main

= Hailee Steinfeld as Violet / "Vi", a Zaunite orphan and Jinx's sister Ella Purnell as Powder / Jinx, a Zaunite orphan and Vi's sister Mia Sinclair Jenness as young Powder Kevin Alejandro as Jayce Talis, a scientist, inventor, and eventual Councilor from Piltover, who is responsible for the creation of Hextech Faustino Duran as young Jayce Katie Leung as Caitlyn Kiramman, a Piltover enforcer, daughter of Councilor Cassandra Kiramman, and former lab assistant to Jayce Talis, who becomes Vi's love interest Molly Harris as young Caitlyn Kiramman Jason Spisak as Silco, a crime lord in Zaun, Jinx's second adoptive father, and leader of the Chem-Barons Toks Olagundoye as Mel Medarda, a member of Piltover's council who takes an interest in Jayce and Viktor's experiments, and later begins a relationship with the former. She is the disowned heir of Ambessa Medarda, and becomes entangled in a conspiracy when she is kidnapped by the Black Rose Imogen Faires as young Mel Medarda Harry Lloyd as Viktor, Jayce's research partner and former assistant to Councilor Cecil B. Heimerdinger, who is responsible for the creation of Hextech and grows to become obsessed with using magic to perfect humanity, partly due to his physical disabilities. Viktor is originally from Zaun, but lives in Piltover at the start of the series Edan Hayhurst as young Viktor JB Blanc as Vander, Silco's former brother-in-arms who took part in a rebellion that led to the death of Jinx and Vi's parents, leading him to adopt both of them. He is also the bartender and owner of the bar The Last Drop. In the second season, he is turned into a wolf-like beast named Warwick by Singed Blanc also voices Irius Bolbok (season 1), a member of the Piltover council Reed Shannon as Ekko, a childhood friend of Vi and Jinx, and the leader of the revolutionary Zaunite group, the Firelights Miles Brown as young Ekko Mick Wingert as Cecil B. Heimerdinger, a founder of Piltover and leader of the city's council who mentors Jayce, Viktor, and later Ekko Amirah Vann as Sevika, Silco's right-hand woman and chief enforcer Ellen Thomas as Ambessa Medarda, Mel's mother and a respected but brutal war general from Noxus who seeks to use Hextech weapons against the Black Rose cabal Brett Tucker as Dr. Corin Reveck / Singed, Viktor's former mentor, and Silco and later Ambessa's chief scientist, who performs unethical experiments in an effort to realize immortality and save his cryopreserved daughter

= Recurring

=

Introduced in season 1

Shohreh Aghdashloo as Grayson (season 1), the original sheriff of Piltover Remy Hii as Marcus (season 1), the sheriff of Piltover who is secretly a corrupt cop working for Silco, and Tobias Kiramman, Caitlyn's father Josh Keaton as Deckard (season 1), a Zaunite thug who works for Silco, and Salo, a member of the Piltover council with selfish interests Bill Lobley as Huck, an Undercity inhabitant who becomes addicted to shimmer Yuri Lowenthal as Mylo, Vi and Powder's arrogant adoptive brother Roger Craig Smith as Claggor, Vi and Powder's strong adoptive brother Fred Tatasciore as Benzo, Ekko's adoptive father, Vander's friend, and shop owner Mara Junot as Shoola, a member of the Piltover council Erica Lindbeck as Elora, Mel's assistant Abigail Marlowe as Cassandra Kiramman, Caitlyn's mother and a member of the Piltover council and Renni, a Chem-Baron who works for Silco Dave B. Mitchell as Torman Hoskel (season 1), a member of the Piltover council Kimberly Brooks as Sky Young, Viktor's assistant who has an unrequited crush on him, and Margot (mute in season 1), a Chem-Baron who provides prostitution services Miyavi as Finn (season 1), a Chem-Baron who seeks to usurp Silco

Introduced in season 2

Earl Baylon as Loris, a Piltover enforcer who befriends Vi and joins Caitlyn's squad Stewart Scudamore as Rictus (mute in season 1), Ambessa's bodyguard Katy Townsend as Maddie Nolen, a Piltover enforcer secretly working for Ambessa Lucy Lowe as Isha, a Zaunite orphan adopted by Jinx Ashley Holliday as Gert, a prominent member of the Jinxers Minnie Driver as Illusionary Sorceress, the mysterious leader of the Black Rose who is at odds with Ambessa

= Guests

= Imagine Dragons as The Last Drop's band (season 1) JID as The Last Drop's rapper (season 1) Ray Chen as an orchestra concert soloist (season 1) Krizia Bajos as Ximena Talis (season 1), Jayce's mother who was rescued by a mysterious wizard in her past Mira Furlan as Babette (season 1; mute in season 2), the madame of an Undercity brothel Salli Saffioti as Amara, a member of Piltover's merchant guild who is secretly a member of the Black Rose Robbie Daymond as Scar (mute in season 1), Ekko's right-hand and second-in-command of the Firelights Lenny Citrano as Smeech (mute in season 1), a Chem-Baron who sells cybernetic enhancements Lex Lang as Chross (mute in season 1), an elderly Chem-Baron who works for Silco Eve Lindley as Lest (season 2), a servant of Salo who is a spy for Mel Jeannie Tirado as Felicia (season 2), Vi and Powder's deceased mother Keston John as Kino Medarda (season 2), Mel's deceased older brother The League of Legends character Orianna also appears during the second season.

Episodes

= Season 1 (2021)

=

= Season 2 (2024)

=

Production

Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent said it took six years to make the first season of Arcane. Arcane's production differed from standard industry practice. The idea for Arcane first came from Christian Linke in 2015 after Riot had initially delved into other media to help strengthen the connections players had with the IP such as cinematic trailers and music videos. But at that point, none of the promotional content had any dialogue. Next, instead of finding a new animation studio that specialized in television animation, Riot decided to continue their partnership with Fortiche who had produced music videos for them. Riot also targeted the "adult-minded" animation market instead of more established markets for video game to television animation adaptations. Arcane was first announced at the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration in 2019, and is set in Riot's League of Legends fictional universe, In September 2021, it was announced that Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Kevin Alejandro, Katie Leung, Jason Spisak, Toks Olagundoye, JB Blanc and Harry Lloyd had joined the voice cast. On November 20, 2021, following the conclusion of Arcane's first season, Riot Games and Netflix announced that a second season was in production for a planned post-2022 release. In June 2024, it was announced that the second season would be the series' last; the season began on November 9, 2024, and concluded along with the series on November 23. The combined budget for both seasons is reported to be $250 million.

Broadcast

= Marketing

= Riot Games promoted the launch of Arcane through events in their games, including League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Valorant as "RiotX Arcane". It launched promotional collaborations with non-Riot games such as PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, and Among Us. On November 6, 2021, for the global premiere, Riot Games streamed the first episode on Twitch. Some content creators were allowed to co-stream the first three episodes of the series once they received permission from Riot Games, a first for a Netflix series, which also allowed viewers to retrieve in-game drops during the premiere. Drops were only included in the games League of Legends (Arcane Capsule), Wild Rift (“A Single Tear” Emote), Teamfight Tactics (Gizmos & Gadgets Little Legends Egg), Legends of Runeterra (“Fascinating” Emote), and Valorant ("Fishbones" Gun Buddy). The premiere received 1.8 million concurrent viewers on Twitch. On November 21, Netflix and Riot Games announced a partnership with Secret Cinema for an in-person Arcane experience located in Los Angeles, California.

= Release

= Originally set for a 2020 release, the show's first season was rescheduled for in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was scheduled for a simultaneous November 6, 2021 release on Netflix and China's Tencent Video, with the series broken into nine episodes, with three episode "acts" being released once a week over three weeks. The same release format was used for the second and final season.

= Leaks

= On August 9, 2024, Netflix stated that one of its post-production vendors had been compromised, which led to a number of episodes from several Netflix titles, including three episodes from the second season of Arcane, being leaked online. The leaks have been described as "the worst anime leak of all time" by some media outlets. It was later reported that Iyuno was the source of the security breach. Netflix later issued a statement, saying it would take action against those responsible for the leaks. On November 21, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a subpoena, ordering Discord to provide information of the user that claimed responsibility for the leaks.

= Home media

= In June 2024, it was announced that GKIDS had acquired the home video rights to Arcane. The digital copy of the first season was released on September 24, 2024, followed by the 4K Blu-ray on 8 October.

= Soundtrack

= On November 20, 2021, songs from the first season were released on Amazon Music. The series had a different opening theme in China, "孤勇者 (Lonely Warrior)" performed by Eason Chan. The soundtrack of the second season was released on November 23, 2024.

Reception

= Critical reception

=

Season 1

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating to the first season, with an average rating of 9.20/10, based on 30 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Arcane makes an arresting first impression, combining a spectacular mix of 2D and 3D animation with an emotionally compelling story to deliver a video game adaptation that could become legendary." The series also became Netflix's number-one show in November 2021, setting the record as Netflix's highest-rated series so far within a week of its premiere, ranked first on the Netflix Top 10 Chart in 52 countries, and ranked second on the chart in the United States. Writing for IGN, Rafael Motamayor called the first season of Arcane a "classic in the making, and the nail in the coffin of the so-called video game curse." He noted that the show worked for fans of League of Legends and newcomers, saying that "the character stories are what keep you engaged episode after episode; the lore is just icing on the cake." He also praised the voice cast, highlighting the performances of Leung, Purnell, Aghdashloo and Steinfeld, calling the latter performance the show's standout. Praising the animation, Motamayor called it the "most stunning piece of animation since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and compared it to Invincible in terms of episode structure. He concluded by saying that Arcane "delivers a killing blow to the idea that video games cannot be masterfully adapted... with compelling characters, an endearing story, and fascinating lore and worldbuilding, as well as striking visuals," calling it a "once-in-a-generation masterpiece" and giving it a 10 out of 10 rating. Andrew Webster of The Verge praised the "fantasy-meets-steampunk world" and how no knowledge of League was needed to understand the show. Despite calling Act 1 "a fairly typical fantasy tale" he lauded the animation, saying that "each frame looks like a gorgeous piece of hand-painted concept art; in motion, it's like nothing I've ever seen" and that "it's also a world that feels lived-in and fully realized." Matt Cabral of Common Sense Media called the first season "visually stunning" and that it "features the sort of nuanced characterizations, thoughtful storytelling, and rich worldbuilding typically associated with big-budget, big-screen epics." He also took note of the blend of fantasy, steampunk and sci-fi with emphasis on how the story puts a "fresh spin on the heavily recycled premise." Cabral concluded that viewers didn't need to have played League to appreciate the show. Reviewing the first four episodes of the first season, Tara Bennett of Paste enjoyed the way that "[the creators] purposefully made an adult animated drama that unflinchingly utilizes violence, adult language, and very dark storylines when needed to make the lives of the large ensemble cast resonate." Bennett favorably compared the series to Game of Thrones, Shadow and Bone, Castlevania and BioShock. She was also positive about the "nuance and subtle facial movements" of Fortiche's animation combined with the performances from Steinfeld, Jenness, Purnell and Spisak. Bennett called "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons "infectious" and that the show is "the new benchmark for what can be done when it comes to successfully translating worthy videogame universes into a different medium." Many publications considered the series one of the best video game adaptations.

Season 2

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season received a rating of 100% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 8.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Expansive in scope while hurtling towards the endgame at a rollicking pace, Arcane's second and final season is a supremely satisfying capper to an epic saga." Review aggregator Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the second season a score of 86 out of 100 based on seven critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In a more critical review for the Reactor magazine, Kathryn Porter wrote that "With Fortiche at the helm of the animation, Arcane will always look incredible no matter how good or bad the writing is," but that although "everyone lands where they are supposed to by the time the series concludes... it is how they reach those conclusions that feels a little hollow in the wake of a far superior first season".

= Accolades

= Arcane became the first streaming television series based on a video game as well as the first video game adaptation to win both Annie Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards, as the former became the first streaming series to both win the most awards from the same nominations in a single year, and to sweep the Annies with nine, while the latter won Outstanding Animated Program, becoming the first Netflix series to do so. Arcane also won the inaugural category Best Adaptation (awarded to media based on video games) from The Game Awards 2022.

Other media

= Future and spin-off series

= Spin-offs featuring characters from other regions in the League of Legends universe are in development.

= Prequel novel

= A prequel tie-in novel written by C. L. Clark, titled Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, is due to be published on February 18, 2025. The novel is expected to focus on Ambessa Medarda before the events of the series.

References

External links

Arcane on Netflix Arcane at IMDb Arcane: Bridging the Rift | League of Legends - Five part "behind the scenes" video series documenting production