Often when people discuss animation they separate the technical quality from the plot and emotional narrative. This is especially true for long-running shonen anime series.
Set in two cities, Piltover and Zaun, Arcane pits the wealthy elite against a shadowy underworld. The story centres around scientists Jayce and Viktor (apprentices to mustachioed Heimerdinger) creating hextech, a technology that can be used for magic.
Character Design
Characters in Arcanes are well-designed to immediately capture attention and convey a sense of personality, background, and purpose. Animators carefully consider how their characters relate to the overall narrative, and use unique visual characteristics like facial expressions, body language, and gestures to establish a connection with viewers.
This allows viewers to connect with and identify with the characters, which is vital for creating a strong emotional narrative. Arcane is a must-watch for League of Legends fans. Character design begins in concept art, where designers explore different designs and refine the details of a character’s appearance. To ensure a character design aligns with the artistic vision of an animation project, a designer must understand the script, genre, and target audience.
To build a detailed, richly textured world, the team at Fortiche used a mix of 3D modeling and 2D animation. This allowed them to paint and hand-draw the characters while simultaneously utilizing computer-generated elements like smoke, fire, water, and dust.
The result is a stunning animation that looks both painted and digital, with each detail painstakingly modeled by hand and carefully framed within meticulous cinematography.
Another highlight of the series is its style, which is dark and gritty but never goes overboard. Fortiche intentionally aimed to avoid the “watered down” look of most animated projects, and instead wanted the characters to feel raw and realistic. Even scenes that could be considered gruesome, like a shot of Vi and Powder boarding the elevator in Zaun, are still graphically appealing.
Storytelling
When people talk about animation, it can be easy to separate the technical quality of the animation and storyboarding from the overall plot and emotional narrative. This can be particularly common for shounen anime where many of the series are renowned for their technical prowess and more discerning viewers will easily pick out the best works based on that criteria alone.
But Arcane is one of the few shows to seamlessly combine all three aspects into a cohesive whole. The visual storytelling techniques used throughout the show are incredibly sophisticated and expertly executed, but the show also has a powerful narrative that is compelling and emotionally resonant.
The story revolves around the tensions between two cities, Piltover and Zaun, that are polar opposites in terms of wealth and progress. The wealthy aristocrats of Piltover are racing to secure their dominance through new technology and science, including hextech and a mysterious drug called shimmer. In contrast, the impoverished citizens of Zaun are living in a world of drugs and corruption. In this dichotomy we meet sisters Vi and Jinx, who were born and raised in different environments but share a tragic past that sets them on completely different trajectories.
Christian Linke and Alex Yee, the writers behind the show, have created a layered and engaging narrative that is captivating and enthralling. But it’s the animation style that elevates it to an entirely new level.
The use of subjective camera work, choppy editing and overlaid 2D scribbles to convey emotion are all expertly executed in ways that can’t be replicated by live-action. It’s a style that is unique to the show and it helps to draw the viewer into the world of League of Legends with a level of detail and ingenuity that makes the experience incredibly immersive. The story is so strong that you don’t even need to be a fan of the game to enjoy it.
Emotional Narrative
Arcane isn’t some slick, CG-heavy videogame adaptation, it’s a virtuosic passion project that combines technical animation quality with an emotional narrative. This is something that a lot of other animation doesn’t do, especially shonen anime where dramatic speeches and internal monologues are often used to drive the plot forward. In Arcane, the characters’ choices and virtues are organically knocked against each other in a masterfully crafted domino effect that is one of the most gut-wrenching tragedies I have ever seen.
While the story is based on League of Legends and its lore, it’s also very much an independent work. In fact, the show’s greatest draw is not its game-centric references or even its stunning animation (though it is that too). Instead, it’s the way it tackles themes of identity, family, the struggle to be a good person in a bad world, and so much more.
Its use of visual language helps to reinforce these themes as well. For example, the show uses a lot of visual mirroring or bookending, where a scene from an earlier episode returns in a similar manner in a later one to punctuate or underline its emotion. This is done very effectively, and it adds a layer of depth to the already deep story.
Another thing that elevates this animation is the realism of the movement and physics. The animators avoid the exaggerated squashing and stretching of cartoon movement, they draw clothes with realistic folds, and they pay attention to physics like how water and glass react to force. This level of detail gives the show a much more realistic feel than many other animated shows, and it adds a great deal to the experience.
The show also has an incredible soundtrack that is perfectly synchronized with on-screen movement and edits. It ranges from hip hop that pulses with invigorating energy to melancholy ballads that compound the emotions of a scene. This combination of music and animation paired with a well-written story makes for an unforgettable experience.
All in all, Arcane is an amazing show that has made its mark on mature animation. While it will undoubtedly inspire a slew of soulless cashgrabs that try to replicate its formula, it is a seminal contribution that should not be missed.
Visuals
The animation in Arcanes is a true work of art that spent six years in production. The team at Fortiche Productions has crafted beautiful, 3D characters paired with 2D effects that give every shot the look of a vivid illustration. The show uses visual storytelling masterfully, showcasing cupcakes on the balcony that Vi steals, bombs on the desk that Jinx sets off, and so much more.
The show also employs a style called cel shading or toon shading which makes the 3D computer graphics appear flatter and more comic book-like. This gives the series its signature aesthetic that elevates the show above other League of Legends content. For example, when Vi, Powder, Claggor and Mylo slide down a pipe, mud spatters on the “camera” which creates the illusion that the scene is being filmed by a physical camera.
