Its not just the facial animations, even the body language has insane little details. One person on Twitter pointed out that when Vander was talking with Vi his fingers first tap the couch, then let his fingers "walk a few steps" and its done so incredibley well.
@@TheDonmayo i only noticed that when I watched it again (yes I am rewatching it while waiting for the next drop) and I was giddy with the detail work. And as someone whose favorite game is Dishonored, I am doubly fangirling because the art style painterly 2D + 3D modelling is amazing
Powder's voice actor is FIFTEEN years old. Literally incredible the emotion and breadth of character that she displayed in the show. SO impressed. Cant wait for Friday.
Between Arcane, Dota: Dragon's Blood, and Castlevania, Netflix is realizing that people will go head over heels for solid storytelling based on popular game franchises, and I am all for it.
While watching Arcane I felt the same as when I watched Spiderverse, like this is something that breaks the game by a lot (talking about animated series in this case, not movies). They translated the art style of their game's splash arts into an animated series and it's so freaking awesome how they made it look so good and smooth. We are used to top-level animations coming from Riot but this was way better than I could ever expect. I have seen the scene when Powder grabs the sandwich during the heist like 20 times, it's super dope how they interact with objects that at first sight you would think are only a hand-drawn background.
Fortiche prod is the studio that did the "jinx" music video and the "champions" promo trailer with the imagine dragons song - they have showed some chops - but it's true that cool flashy animations isn't the guarantee that the studio will deliver when it comes to heavy emotional moments, so props to them for delivering here!
I would say its easily the best game adaptions so far. Nothing is even close. And not only that, it comes close to being a Top 10 TV series over all, not just game adaptions, and not just animated. At least for me. Lets hope they stick the landing.
Crazy that you didnt even talk about Jayce, Viktor and Heimerdinger. All of them are fantastic, and the simaltanious use of the Magic stones, one for good, one for bad, is so well executed.
Expanding on that, it's the seemingly oppressive upper class that is attempting to solve the world's problems with Hextech. The lower class is using it to destroy.
TBSkyen put it well in his coverage of the first three episodes. About how the show Wields it’s tropes and cliches to fast-track the plot. The story has a breakneck pace because they could shortcut character moments and rely on character-driven animation to sell you on who the people onscreen are.
The whole way they've done the marketing for this show (release strategy, cross promotion across all their games + collabs etc) could be made into a case study as well, so far it feels like they're doing everything right with this show.
I'm not sure about that. As someone that doesn't play or follow the game in any way at all, I heard and knew nothing about it until this video. And now having watched it, I can safely say there are millions more people out there like me that would love it. Hopefully all the good reviews will lead them to it.
Fun fact: this little taste that you had is just the tip of the iceberg because league of legends have A LOT of great LORE that i SUPER recomend you to read is really awesome.
I've played LoL since closed beta and I've consumed the lore ever since - my god we've come a long way. I love this world and these characters. Even if I'm like "eh, I'll aram occasionally" when it comes to league of legends itself :P (legit love the card game 'Legends of Runeterra' - it's the fairest monetization in the the genre and the cards keep expanding the world, lore and characters ^^) Love your videos bub, Stay safe and take care x
Great video! Would have appreciated if you only used footage from 1-3 though as some people don't want to watch all that footage of upcoming episodes. (Trailers nowadays show waay too much)
I just watched the show yesterday, and was blown away by it, so it was super gratifying to come onto TH-cam this morning to see such a positive review from one of my favourite TH-camrs.
Never played the game but I was kinda hyped for this for quite sometime after having watched a ton of their graphic cinimatic shorts for what feels like years now. The detail that goes into this animation kinda reminds me of Disney animation back in the day before Pixar was a thing.
I love how the kids are portrayed that the ending just broke me to pieces. Powder wanted validation so badly she didn't consider her actions. She probably overloaded "that thing" out of sheer desperation for it to work, forgetting earlier events. And Vi remembering Vander's words in EP 1 when she looked at her hand... small things like that make it all the more poignant. Cliche, sure, but the delivery and execution are perfect. Great review! And thanks to this, I found your channel! Happy to be here and am looking forward to more of your content!
I don't necessarily advocate for a ton of violence everywhere, but boy oh boy, did they use it effectively. Having played the games, it hits extra hard from knowing where the characters are going to end up from the very beginning.
I have re-watched this series many times now. It's rather insane how well crafted it is and how compelling the wants, desires, struggles, etc... of everyone involved is. I hope this is a very strong first step for the League of Legends cinematic universe. If it is to the quality of this series as been thus far, I am 110% on board.
Time for me to give my take on the ending with little Jinx and Vi. Watching Powder cry out to her only and last living support, Vi, and lose everything made my heart break. It reminded me of being that (assumed) age and feeling completely lost when my parents split up. I remember the feelings so vividly and how I wanted to feel loved and cared for so badly. Damn. What a good fucking scene.
We just need this to continue to do well so that we get a second season and we get introduced to characters like Camille and Jhin… Like please, just give us a Jhin crime investigation or something similar 🙏
As someone who has played League since beta, I was pleasantly surprised by Arcane. It's adding in a wonderful amount of characterization and depth to characters that are otherwise two-paragraphs deep. The animation is fantastic and the story was way better than expected. If you want some boppin' songs for it, look up Vi (like Bye, stands for Violence) and Jinx's theme songs. Riot's music department is phenomenal for absolutely no reason. This may change how you view the characters in Arcane, though. Personally I'd consider them two different things.
i came into this not knowing much about league, all i really knew about jinx was watching her trailer like 7-8 years ago and knowng she was into bombs and bullets and explosions. First episode i found kind of boring / predictable, 2nd and 3rd episodes definitely sold me on the series. I've spoken to some friends who write the show off since they "don't know league" and i truely hope they give the series a shot at some point. Powder messy crying in the scene made me just want to hug her like a little sister, and my stomach just dropped in the final scene. She truly thought she was helping with the bomb.. oof. The voice actor for powder in those 3 episodes did a great job and the animators who animated her did even better capturing it.
Hey Daniel, love your reviews and general channel content! I was wondering if you have seen the Castlevania show on Netflix? If not I would highly recommend it, and I would really love to see your take on it. Just putting it out there.
I commented 4 days ago to review this show! Obviously it was coming anyways but im so happy my favorite fantasy youtuber is reacting to this awesome series.
As a side note I think this 3 episode drop system should be the norm from here on out. This means that everyone has a chance to get caught up before too many spoilers from people who binge-watched an entire season in a day. Now people can only get minor spoilers from the first couple episodes and even then since it's not the entire season getting spoiled they'll be able to protect themselves the information a little easier I think. I hate that I couldn't watch the next three episodes the next night but I prefer this method over releasing an entire season all at once.
As someone who has trouble watching any shows now, Arcane was a breath of fresh air. The last fifteen-ish minutes of the third episode made my jaw drop; it was a mixture of awe and "Oh, they went there" that shocked me to my core. It's genuinely made me a fan here and I cannot *wait* for the next episodes. Also, Vander's last stand on the platform was BRUTAL. It was like an old ultra-violent 80s anime brought to life.
I find it really incredible to see that even people who don't play league can finally apreciate how great their cinematics and animation has always been. Also the entire league community has been asking for a movie/series for so long its just awsome to finally get it. Never doubted the quality. Go watch Warriors 2020 cinematic and you'll know why.
Makes more sense for her to be called Jinx in the new crew since thats what her last crew, now enemies, used as an insult against her. Sort of a reappropriation.
So I just watched the 3 episodes. I mean WOW. The main thing that sold me the fastest was how in Episode 1,when they were on the roofs on their way to the heist, the gutters and railing had some give to them, allowing me to get even more immersed into the world with that touch of realism.
I would argue the writing is actually really dang good considering the cliches they are working with. And cliches aren't necessarily a bad thing, because we live in a time in which pretty much everything has already been done multiple times in some way shape or form; meaning practically everything is a cliche to some degree. The best you can do is try to spin these cliches in a new light, and the story and character arks in these first three episodes honestly felt pretty fresh. Yeah there were some common overarching themes and character concepts but they didn't really play out in away that felt like I had seen it before.
I feel like Riot are the absolute masters of taking something that has been done before (perhaps even a million times) and just executing so fucking well. League -> DOTA Valorant -> CS LORT -> Hearthstone TFT -> Auto Chess And now Arcane has so many of the clichés you'd expect on a show like this, but I couldn't care less about that when it's done this good. I swear not a single original gets greenlit by Riot, but they have such talanted people working there that they can pull off anything they want, better than most. And the animation. Holy shit. I knew this was going to be good, because I watch pretty much anything animated they put out (it's always amazing), but Arcane somehow managed to impress me. (BTW, kind of a nitpicky thing about your thoughts, Daniel, as I've seen you say more than once now. The art-style has nothing to do with the animation, sure they work together and they HAVE to play off each other (and Riot did that beautifully here with the hand-drawn effects animation). But just because a show has a certain art-style, it doesn't mean it's going to be animated a certain way, they are different things done by different people. Animation is how something *moves* and the art-style is how it *looks* more or less)
I watched the first few episodes with a friend and when the two guys who go on the heist with Vie and Powder showed up (I can't remember their names) I said out loud "oh honey you reek of expendable side character" and I though they would just get left behind or something but nope!
For me, it was really obvious. Really simple. Seen it a million times over already... Then again, pretty fucking good for what it's worth. Now that the origin storys have been mostly told, I expect new ideas for the next episodes.
I usually don't like this type of animation. The characters look creepy. The eyes look dead. But I was totally pulled into this world and bought all of the characters. Hope this is successful and will have more than one season.
I'm curious if you picked up on all the fan service moments they put in as someone who seems to not have much exposure to league? I think more than any other media they took me out of the show because I have such mixed to negative feelings towards the source material. I did like the show a lot though and I'm excited for more of it tomorrow.
while i get where you are coming from, the game and its lore have been basically completly divorced since 2014. The playerbase and the problems of the game dont have any influence over the quality of the lore and the characters. It really shouldnt impact your enjoyment of the show and im kidn of sad to hear that it did. Because a product this good doesnt deserve to get dragged down by its distanly related baggage^^
I feel like an outlier because I thought the show was kinda boring with a cliche plot... I love the animation and lore of the world, but if that's all that's going for it then it's like I'm reading a really pretty history book. I'm still gonna watch till the end so I'll have a better opinion of the whole show, but based on the first 3 episodes my expectations are pretty low :( Also, I used to religiously play the game!
I don't know how Daniel manages to not ever, EVER, miss. I know you didn't review the show too in depth but you hit my exact thoughts on the show,especially on the whole cliche part. In my opinion it's a very good show but is being overhyped a little by the fans, and ends up a little basic. Still a very good show though. Great video too!
As a content creator for League of Legends I was super excited for Arcane. It was everything I wanted and more, and to see one of my favorite booktubers review it is just the cherry on top. 👍
I'm looking into getting into League as a person who loved Arcane. What's the first thing I could do to Jumpstart me? Specifically looking to avoid first-timer mistakes.
@@TheHazeKiller Playing co-op vs AI is the best thing until you unlock draft pick to get a handle on the game. You can always pick champions and see guides from content creators to get better, and eventually you'll learn everything on your own. I'm like level 200 now and still discover minute details sometimes.
Funny thing, as I was watching and obsessing over the animation, one of the thoughts of mine was : Good lord, Mistborn would fit right into this style...
Little clarification : I dont think Silco took Powder in entirely because he wanted to use her. His actions at the end were expression of compassion and sympathy. He saw himself in powder the same way Vander betrayed and walked away from him
I think that they definitely left it open to either interpretation, or even a little bit of both things all in one, and yet didn't outright tell you for sure either way. They may or may not clarify it later on, or they might just leave it open to interpretation; we shall see. ^-^ _(to clarify, I would say the editing in that moment of flashing to the flashback and Vander's body and everything in that moment[ and the way his eyes react/widen at first], certainly suggested that he might be identifying a bit with Powder in that moment, but right as he closes his arms around her before the scene's end his eyes actually do a different thing that doesn't exactly look like sympathy anymore and looks a lot more like he's just scheming to use her, so I don't really blame anyone who read slightly more of either one interpretation into that scene than they read of the other interpretation into it; It makes sense, to me, that it's a scene that's going to hit differently for different viewers - and, personally, I think that may have actually been intentional.)_
There are identical shots from when Vander was choking Silco and when Vi is grabbing Powder's face. Shots from the side and shots directly on Silco/Powder's faces. You are 100% correct.
@@VaregianEisselor i think people just expect him to be just a bad guy and aren’t looking for any redeeming un-villianlike qualities, so they miss obvious stuff like this
As a league of legends lore nerd, I can safely say that they did amazing job in terms of portraying Piltover and Zaun. And the fun thing is that this world is not only about Piltover and Zaun, its only like 1/10 of the whole world. League of Legends as a game is shit. Runeterra (Setting) is freaking amazing.
I don't play LOL often anymore, because it's not my thing, but Runeterra (the setting) is the greatest, most fleshed out Steampunk setting I think I've ever seen. It's so good.
do we know how long this series will be? i want to see everything from the lore. maybe not annies backstory cuz i dont want to cry me to death but pls give me Noxus
The good thing is that they’re branching out into other games types. Like how they made the card game and TFT, and I know there’s a fighting game coming out and I believe a platformer(story game?)?
Skeptical of Arcane -> intrigued by Arcane -> watch Arcane -> love it -> wow league sounds fun now -> addicted to league again I know where this path leads and it terrifies me, yet it is a path I must follow.
These first 3 episodes really took me by surprise, probably because I had no expectations going in. But I really loved that final sequence in episode 3. The voice acting was phenomenal too
I love that it stands on it's own, but there's so much that people miss - it's one of those shows where the more you know about the lore the better it gets. It's absolutely nuts! It almost feels like a waste sometimes😅 cuz as a lore fan you wish it could impact others in the same way
I think the opposite. I regret knowing their lore after watching this because everyone who is a league player already expected how the characters would turn out, but luckily we weren't fed of HOW it turned out and it was amazing.
@@gravelor78 I enjoyed knowing what some of the characters would become. Seeing powder being adorable and just all around a lovely girl just made the knowledge of what she'll turn into so much more devastating.
Can't wait to get immersed in Runeterra lore through TH-camrs explaining it. It seems like a good setting, and I love the D&D supplement they made. That, along with this new show, is making me hyped for the MMO project.
But at the same time, people who have no idea about lore are highly benefitted! Spoilers below: The fact that none of them know what Viktor becomes especially in League and the way he looks and uses Hextech will be more challenged and surprised by whatever decisions he makes in the future in his partnership with Jayce. While some people who don't know League have been pondering if Viktor is using Jayce, I think many of them are hoping for good things.
lmao. good thing they started retconning and changing lore. rmmber in the early days of the lore? Blitzcrank had a dating service and Sivir was arrested for drunk driving
Yeah when I heard about a TV show adapted from LoL I weirdly imagined a fight between Garen and Yasuo... They avoided the easy fan-service that's for sure! In my opinion having Jayce and Viktor, even if it's logical given the setting, was already an original choice.
I think one of the best parts of the animation is how realistic the movements and facial animations are without falling into the uncanny valley. I tend to get that uncomfortable feeling when 3d animation tries to be too smooth and realistic, but they executed it so well here.
@@JacobODell_ it won't happen, the way the industry is structured now. Arcane was tremendously expensive and complex to make, and was only possible because of Riot's bottomless pockets
Honestly, the show exceeds all expectations. I never believed in MY LIFE that I would rate something 10/10!!! But it deserves it SO MUCH! - Worldbuilding = Excellent - Characters = Amazing! - Plot = Gimme 🙏
I literally waited for this video since the first trailers, regardless the final quality haha Such an awesome show👌🏼 And I don't even care at all for LoL lol Also I loooove the trilogy-format they chose. 1-3 as part 1, 4-6 as part 2 and 7-9 as part 3, really awesome for storytelling-purposes
What I like with Arcane are the character. Cliche ? Maybe, but every single one has personality. No empty sell, no plot slaves or stereotypes for the sake of stereotypes
It's genuinely disturbing how good the facial animations are in this show.
body language very strong too
Anyone who could act crying IRL like powder did deserves an Oscars. Those sobs are infectious af.
Its not just the facial animations, even the body language has insane little details. One person on Twitter pointed out that when Vander was talking with Vi his fingers first tap the couch, then let his fingers "walk a few steps" and its done so incredibley well.
The animation is just gorgeous. It's like a beautifully written fantasy novel translated on screen.
@@TheDonmayo i only noticed that when I watched it again (yes I am rewatching it while waiting for the next drop) and I was giddy with the detail work. And as someone whose favorite game is Dishonored, I am doubly fangirling because the art style painterly 2D + 3D modelling is amazing
Powder's voice actor is FIFTEEN years old. Literally incredible the emotion and breadth of character that she displayed in the show. SO impressed. Cant wait for Friday.
I had no clue thats incredible.
She's 15 now. She was probably 12 or 13 when they recorded a lot of it so that makes it even more incredible.
@@TheAndroidNextDoor Very true, I didnt even think about that! What a career ahead of her, phenomenal work.
Jesus she is a voice acting prodigy
@@TheAndroidNextDoor i believe I sas an interview on screen rants 2nd channel that said she recorded her lines 5-6 years ago. So she was 9-10, wow
Between Arcane, Dota: Dragon's Blood, and Castlevania, Netflix is realizing that people will go head over heels for solid storytelling based on popular game franchises, and I am all for it.
While watching Arcane I felt the same as when I watched Spiderverse, like this is something that breaks the game by a lot (talking about animated series in this case, not movies).
They translated the art style of their game's splash arts into an animated series and it's so freaking awesome how they made it look so good and smooth. We are used to top-level animations coming from Riot but this was way better than I could ever expect. I have seen the scene when Powder grabs the sandwich during the heist like 20 times, it's super dope how they interact with objects that at first sight you would think are only a hand-drawn background.
Fortiche prod is the studio that did the "jinx" music video and the "champions" promo trailer with the imagine dragons song - they have showed some chops - but it's true that cool flashy animations isn't the guarantee that the studio will deliver when it comes to heavy emotional moments, so props to them for delivering here!
Just finished eps 7-9, duuuuuude can't wait for your review
One of the best video game adaptations of all time easily. Low bar, but still.
I would say its easily the best game adaptions so far. Nothing is even close. And not only that, it comes close to being a Top 10 TV series over all, not just game adaptions, and not just animated. At least for me. Lets hope they stick the landing.
Crazy that you didnt even talk about Jayce, Viktor and Heimerdinger. All of them are fantastic, and the simaltanious use of the Magic stones, one for good, one for bad, is so well executed.
Expanding on that, it's the seemingly oppressive upper class that is attempting to solve the world's problems with Hextech. The lower class is using it to destroy.
TBSkyen put it well in his coverage of the first three episodes. About how the show Wields it’s tropes and cliches to fast-track the plot. The story has a breakneck pace because they could shortcut character moments and rely on character-driven animation to sell you on who the people onscreen are.
The whole way they've done the marketing for this show (release strategy, cross promotion across all their games + collabs etc) could be made into a case study as well, so far it feels like they're doing everything right with this show.
It's what the show deserves as it's the first full length animation series they've made.
Noticed that as well, rather it was hard to miss. Their marketing was on point!
I'm not sure about that. As someone that doesn't play or follow the game in any way at all, I heard and knew nothing about it until this video. And now having watched it, I can safely say there are millions more people out there like me that would love it. Hopefully all the good reviews will lead them to it.
Jinx has been my favourite champion for soooo many years and getting her backstory in an animated series that is this good is just a dream come true
Fun fact: this little taste that you had is just the tip of the iceberg because league of legends have A LOT of great LORE that i SUPER recomend you to read is really awesome.
I've played LoL since closed beta and I've consumed the lore ever since - my god we've come a long way.
I love this world and these characters. Even if I'm like "eh, I'll aram occasionally" when it comes to league of legends itself :P
(legit love the card game 'Legends of Runeterra' - it's the fairest monetization in the the genre and the cards keep expanding the world, lore and characters ^^)
Love your videos bub,
Stay safe and take care x
Great video! Would have appreciated if you only used footage from 1-3 though as some people don't want to watch all that footage of upcoming episodes. (Trailers nowadays show waay too much)
I just watched the show yesterday, and was blown away by it, so it was super gratifying to come onto TH-cam this morning to see such a positive review from one of my favourite TH-camrs.
Never played the game but I was kinda hyped for this for quite sometime after having watched a ton of their graphic cinimatic shorts for what feels like years now. The detail that goes into this animation kinda reminds me of Disney animation back in the day before Pixar was a thing.
I love how the kids are portrayed that the ending just broke me to pieces. Powder wanted validation so badly she didn't consider her actions. She probably overloaded "that thing" out of sheer desperation for it to work, forgetting earlier events. And Vi remembering Vander's words in EP 1 when she looked at her hand... small things like that make it all the more poignant. Cliche, sure, but the delivery and execution are perfect.
Great review! And thanks to this, I found your channel! Happy to be here and am looking forward to more of your content!
You can really see the time and effort put into this show. I've been quite impressed, and I'm looking forward to more.
The fights and the feeling behind every punch is what hooked me.
I don't necessarily advocate for a ton of violence everywhere, but boy oh boy, did they use it effectively.
Having played the games, it hits extra hard from knowing where the characters are going to end up from the very beginning.
"My name is Victor" -> :O
I have re-watched this series many times now. It's rather insane how well crafted it is and how compelling the wants, desires, struggles, etc... of everyone involved is.
I hope this is a very strong first step for the League of Legends cinematic universe. If it is to the quality of this series as been thus far, I am 110% on board.
This was a pleasant review, please review more western animations Daniel. You really neet to review Castlevania
Time for me to give my take on the ending with little Jinx and Vi. Watching Powder cry out to her only and last living support, Vi, and lose everything made my heart break. It reminded me of being that (assumed) age and feeling completely lost when my parents split up. I remember the feelings so vividly and how I wanted to feel loved and cared for so badly. Damn. What a good fucking scene.
We just need this to continue to do well so that we get a second season and we get introduced to characters like Camille and Jhin… Like please, just give us a Jhin crime investigation or something similar 🙏
As someone who has played League since beta, I was pleasantly surprised by Arcane. It's adding in a wonderful amount of characterization and depth to characters that are otherwise two-paragraphs deep. The animation is fantastic and the story was way better than expected.
If you want some boppin' songs for it, look up Vi (like Bye, stands for Violence) and Jinx's theme songs. Riot's music department is phenomenal for absolutely no reason. This may change how you view the characters in Arcane, though. Personally I'd consider them two different things.
A DANIEL REVIEW OF ARCANE!?!? My life is complete
i came into this not knowing much about league, all i really knew about jinx was watching her trailer like 7-8 years ago and knowng she was into bombs and bullets and explosions. First episode i found kind of boring / predictable, 2nd and 3rd episodes definitely sold me on the series. I've spoken to some friends who write the show off since they "don't know league" and i truely hope they give the series a shot at some point.
Powder messy crying in the scene made me just want to hug her like a little sister, and my stomach just dropped in the final scene. She truly thought she was helping with the bomb.. oof. The voice actor for powder in those 3 episodes did a great job and the animators who animated her did even better capturing it.
Hey Daniel, love your reviews and general channel content! I was wondering if you have seen the Castlevania show on Netflix? If not I would highly recommend it, and I would really love to see your take on it. Just putting it out there.
Out of all the awesome parts of this series so far the release schedule is my fav
LOL 11:11 just casually rolling the weed pen back and forth. Love to see it.
It's the Vee turning into Vi halfway through the video for me.
Still love your content just had to poke fun after the wheel of time teaser review.
I commented 4 days ago to review this show! Obviously it was coming anyways but im so happy my favorite fantasy youtuber is reacting to this awesome series.
11:45 Right, that does make sense. I hope Netflix will stray away from binge-culture this way.
I'll say it again , I want to see a Masters of the Universe film in this animation.
The visuals are AMAZING!
Love the steampunk elements.
As a side note I think this 3 episode drop system should be the norm from here on out. This means that everyone has a chance to get caught up before too many spoilers from people who binge-watched an entire season in a day. Now people can only get minor spoilers from the first couple episodes and even then since it's not the entire season getting spoiled they'll be able to protect themselves the information a little easier I think. I hate that I couldn't watch the next three episodes the next night but I prefer this method over releasing an entire season all at once.
Finally, Riot's world is out for the world to see. There's so much more, you guys.......just wait.
As someone who has trouble watching any shows now, Arcane was a breath of fresh air. The last fifteen-ish minutes of the third episode made my jaw drop; it was a mixture of awe and "Oh, they went there" that shocked me to my core. It's genuinely made me a fan here and I cannot *wait* for the next episodes.
Also, Vander's last stand on the platform was BRUTAL. It was like an old ultra-violent 80s anime brought to life.
I...I was not ready to be called valueless like that :'(
Watched your one piece review because it's my favorite manga/anime so I'm realy excited to see your review of a series based on my favorite game
I find it really incredible to see that even people who don't play league can finally apreciate how great their cinematics and animation has always been. Also the entire league community has been asking for a movie/series for so long its just awsome to finally get it. Never doubted the quality. Go watch Warriors 2020 cinematic and you'll know why.
"Don't play with bombs, kids." Hahahah omg, too soon
Episode 3's ending killed me...like powder just became a villain
Daniel, you should read the lore of this game. It is amazing, the show is just showing a sliver of this fantasy world called Runeterra.
it's "okay" just very large
I didn't even know that this show existed. But now i have to watch it.
Me and my dad were watching this and we’re shocked by how god damn good 3 EPISODES OF TELEVISION could be
Watching arcane on 150 inch screen is pure cinema candy.
Can't wait to find out what happens to Vendor and Vee
Makes more sense for her to be called Jinx in the new crew since thats what her last crew, now enemies, used as an insult against her. Sort of a reappropriation.
So I just watched the 3 episodes. I mean WOW. The main thing that sold me the fastest was how in Episode 1,when they were on the roofs on their way to the heist, the gutters and railing had some give to them, allowing me to get even more immersed into the world with that touch of realism.
I would argue the writing is actually really dang good considering the cliches they are working with. And cliches aren't necessarily a bad thing, because we live in a time in which pretty much everything has already been done multiple times in some way shape or form; meaning practically everything is a cliche to some degree. The best you can do is try to spin these cliches in a new light, and the story and character arks in these first three episodes honestly felt pretty fresh. Yeah there were some common overarching themes and character concepts but they didn't really play out in away that felt like I had seen it before.
this series deserved to be Netflix no 1 series
I feel like Riot are the absolute masters of taking something that has been done before (perhaps even a million times) and just executing so fucking well.
League -> DOTA
Valorant -> CS
LORT -> Hearthstone
TFT -> Auto Chess
And now Arcane has so many of the clichés you'd expect on a show like this, but I couldn't care less about that when it's done this good.
I swear not a single original gets greenlit by Riot, but they have such talanted people working there that they can pull off anything they want, better than most.
And the animation. Holy shit. I knew this was going to be good, because I watch pretty much anything animated they put out (it's always amazing), but Arcane somehow managed to impress me.
(BTW, kind of a nitpicky thing about your thoughts, Daniel, as I've seen you say more than once now. The art-style has nothing to do with the animation, sure they work together and they HAVE to play off each other (and Riot did that beautifully here with the hand-drawn effects animation). But just because a show has a certain art-style, it doesn't mean it's going to be animated a certain way, they are different things done by different people. Animation is how something *moves* and the art-style is how it *looks* more or less)
Riot is an animation studio and music label that makes promotional games on the side. I have said this line s many times this year
Thanks for another great video! I hope they split WoT up like this
I loved this show too!! I hope they can keep it going through all three acts!!
I think this show has such potential I am into it.
I watched the first few episodes with a friend and when the two guys who go on the heist with Vie and Powder showed up (I can't remember their names) I said out loud "oh honey you reek of expendable side character" and I though they would just get left behind or something but nope!
Completely agree. So good. So good. Also, I love this new release format. Binge+Break.
I love the roaming hallway shots Daniel does. I'd probably do the exact same thing. I can never just sit still!
For me, it was really obvious. Really simple. Seen it a million times over already... Then again, pretty fucking good for what it's worth. Now that the origin storys have been mostly told, I expect new ideas for the next episodes.
Can you make Kaitou Joker review?
I know nothing of league of legends but this show so far has been amazing
I usually don't like this type of animation. The characters look creepy. The eyes look dead. But I was totally pulled into this world and bought all of the characters. Hope this is successful and will have more than one season.
Hey Daniel just to let you know, the 4th, 5th, and 6th episodes are all releasing on Saturday. They are releasing each act all at once.
I literally binge watched this series!
I highly suggest you get to know other characters on this world... LoL do really have one of the best game lore...just stay away from the game itself
Also, So many Easter eggs for League of Legends fans too. Like a ridiculous amount.
Ok so idk if I'll like this. Never really got into league but the trailers looked cool .
I have no idea what League of Legends is, but the animation is fucking incredible! Highly recommend!
I was just looking at the weed pen the whole time
Well I liked the pun
A really good thing is that the next 3 episodes will be dropped together on the 13th and the last 3 on the 20th.
I'm curious if you picked up on all the fan service moments they put in as someone who seems to not have much exposure to league? I think more than any other media they took me out of the show because I have such mixed to negative feelings towards the source material.
I did like the show a lot though and I'm excited for more of it tomorrow.
while i get where you are coming from, the game and its lore have been basically completly divorced since 2014. The playerbase and the problems of the game dont have any influence over the quality of the lore and the characters. It really shouldnt impact your enjoyment of the show and im kidn of sad to hear that it did. Because a product this good doesnt deserve to get dragged down by its distanly related baggage^^
Amazing show
Powder is a heavily traumatized character, strap in for the ride.
you forgot to mention the great music
I feel like an outlier because I thought the show was kinda boring with a cliche plot... I love the animation and lore of the world, but if that's all that's going for it then it's like I'm reading a really pretty history book.
I'm still gonna watch till the end so I'll have a better opinion of the whole show, but based on the first 3 episodes my expectations are pretty low :(
Also, I used to religiously play the game!
Yay my comments worked
As a long time league and fantasy fan, it makes me so happy that you enjoyed this!!!
PS: it’s Vi as in Violet not Vee.
P.P.S. Vi stands for Violence
@@Inttallity facts.
I don't know how Daniel manages to not ever, EVER, miss. I know you didn't review the show too in depth but you hit my exact thoughts on the show,especially on the whole cliche part. In my opinion it's a very good show but is being overhyped a little by the fans, and ends up a little basic. Still a very good show though. Great video too!
As a content creator for League of Legends I was super excited for Arcane. It was everything I wanted and more, and to see one of my favorite booktubers review it is just the cherry on top. 👍
Watching the expressions is like reading a book
@@uuamenator Oh sorry lol I read content writer, as in he was with the team of writers of the universe's narrative xD mb.
Can you tell the balance team to fix their game
I'm looking into getting into League as a person who loved Arcane. What's the first thing I could do to Jumpstart me? Specifically looking to avoid first-timer mistakes.
@@TheHazeKiller Playing co-op vs AI is the best thing until you unlock draft pick to get a handle on the game. You can always pick champions and see guides from content creators to get better, and eventually you'll learn everything on your own. I'm like level 200 now and still discover minute details sometimes.
Can you imagine this studio making a Mistborn series?
That would be the perfect art style for that
If Wheel of Time were ever done in an animated form, I think they'd nail the magic system.
Two words, Stormlight... Archives. It's almost too obvious at this point, they have found the right medium for SA.
Funny thing, as I was watching and obsessing over the animation, one of the thoughts of mine was : Good lord, Mistborn would fit right into this style...
I mean tallon is already basically wearing a mist cloak.
Little clarification : I dont think Silco took Powder in entirely because he wanted to use her. His actions at the end were expression of compassion and sympathy. He saw himself in powder the same way Vander betrayed and walked away from him
I definitely agree with this. I think that’s also an indication of how good the facial animations are done!
Fully agree. It surprises me how many people seem to miss this connection, since I felt it was painted very clearly in the scene.
I think that they definitely left it open to either interpretation, or even a little bit of both things all in one, and yet didn't outright tell you for sure either way. They may or may not clarify it later on, or they might just leave it open to interpretation; we shall see. ^-^
_(to clarify, I would say the editing in that moment of flashing to the flashback and Vander's body and everything in that moment[ and the way his eyes react/widen at first], certainly suggested that he might be identifying a bit with Powder in that moment, but right as he closes his arms around her before the scene's end his eyes actually do a different thing that doesn't exactly look like sympathy anymore and looks a lot more like he's just scheming to use her, so I don't really blame anyone who read slightly more of either one interpretation into that scene than they read of the other interpretation into it; It makes sense, to me, that it's a scene that's going to hit differently for different viewers - and, personally, I think that may have actually been intentional.)_
There are identical shots from when Vander was choking Silco and when Vi is grabbing Powder's face. Shots from the side and shots directly on Silco/Powder's faces. You are 100% correct.
@@VaregianEisselor i think people just expect him to be just a bad guy and aren’t looking for any redeeming un-villianlike qualities, so they miss obvious stuff like this
LoL players: "oh so jinx's name is powder, cool"
Daniel: "obviously powder is gonna be called jinx when grown up"
Powder's voice actress in that last scene was absolutely magnificent. She took my heart, beat it, and then spit on it.
Audience: sobbing and crying
Jinx: 'Violet, please-'
Audience: oh shit a name drop
Jinx: sobbing and crying
Audience: VIOLET, PLEASE-
As a league of legends lore nerd, I can safely say that they did amazing job in terms of portraying Piltover and Zaun.
And the fun thing is that this world is not only about Piltover and Zaun, its only like 1/10 of the whole world.
League of Legends as a game is shit.
Runeterra (Setting) is freaking amazing.
I don't play LOL often anymore, because it's not my thing, but Runeterra (the setting) is the greatest, most fleshed out Steampunk setting I think I've ever seen. It's so good.
do we know how long this series will be?
i want to see everything from the lore.
maybe not annies backstory cuz i dont want to cry me to death but pls give me Noxus
@@alwayssmiling3007 Multiple seasons/shows are planned
P/Z is not even 1/10 of the world :) 1 city baby!
Agreed,
Hate the game
Love the show
Honestly, I have stopped playing LoL years ago, but I'm still following the lore and watching the cinematics because holy shit! They're so good
The good thing is that they’re branching out into other games types. Like how they made the card game and TFT, and I know there’s a fighting game coming out and I believe a platformer(story game?)?
Except for the ruined king event, unfortunately. That was really bad.
Same! It's been said that Riot games makes better music and animations than games.
@@atortoiseamongturtles4958 An MMO as well, but that will take years for it to finish.
@@laconsuela69 Guess it's in the name. But Yeah, Viego was scarier as an opponent to Pentakill than as his original Design.
Skeptical of Arcane -> intrigued by Arcane -> watch Arcane -> love it -> wow league sounds fun now -> addicted to league again
I know where this path leads and it terrifies me, yet it is a path I must follow.
We league players all end up on this path one way or another… and then it repeats over and over 😂
*This is the way*
Always happen to me whenever league drops a new cinematic or music videos 😅
no! You can stop when you reach wow league sounds fun now. You can save yourself!!!
play Legends of Runeterra instead ;)
These first 3 episodes really took me by surprise, probably because I had no expectations going in. But I really loved that final sequence in episode 3. The voice acting was phenomenal too
I love that it stands on it's own, but there's so much that people miss - it's one of those shows where the more you know about the lore the better it gets. It's absolutely nuts! It almost feels like a waste sometimes😅 cuz as a lore fan you wish it could impact others in the same way
I think the opposite. I regret knowing their lore after watching this because everyone who is a league player already expected how the characters would turn out, but luckily we weren't fed of HOW it turned out and it was amazing.
If the lore is as great as you say, then I'm glad I went in blind. I loved being surprised by this show.
@@gravelor78 I enjoyed knowing what some of the characters would become. Seeing powder being adorable and just all around a lovely girl just made the knowledge of what she'll turn into so much more devastating.
Can't wait to get immersed in Runeterra lore through TH-camrs explaining it. It seems like a good setting, and I love the D&D supplement they made. That, along with this new show, is making me hyped for the MMO project.
But at the same time, people who have no idea about lore are highly benefitted!
Spoilers below:
The fact that none of them know what Viktor becomes especially in League and the way he looks and uses Hextech will be more challenged and surprised by whatever decisions he makes in the future in his partnership with Jayce. While some people who don't know League have been pondering if Viktor is using Jayce, I think many of them are hoping for good things.
Riots lore writers are just built different.
You should look up on the lore and world building,you will be surprised.
Piltover and Zaun are just mere cities in the world of Runeterra.
Also hoping the 2nd Ionian Invasion will get a series sometime too.
@@johnd3421 yeah
Like the things you can do with Demacia,Noxus Shurima and the others too is just absurd.
lmao. good thing they started retconning and changing lore. rmmber in the early days of the lore? Blitzcrank had a dating service and Sivir was arrested for drunk driving
@@badterry that would make a great comedy show
PepeLa Ruination
As a long time fan of League of Legends, and a lore nerd. This show delivers! It is a project of passion and love, not just some cash-grab series.
I agree with this sentence
Yeah when I heard about a TV show adapted from LoL I weirdly imagined a fight between Garen and Yasuo... They avoided the easy fan-service that's for sure! In my opinion having Jayce and Viktor, even if it's logical given the setting, was already an original choice.
I think one of the best parts of the animation is how realistic the movements and facial animations are without falling into the uncanny valley. I tend to get that uncomfortable feeling when 3d animation tries to be too smooth and realistic, but they executed it so well here.
mistborn animated series would fit great with the animation style
Came here to comment that
They should just do the whole cosmere like this
@@JacobODell_ it won't happen, the way the industry is structured now. Arcane was tremendously expensive and complex to make, and was only possible because of Riot's bottomless pockets
i thought you were never going to review this show, since you didn't cover it on any of the fantasy news. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Honestly, the show exceeds all expectations. I never believed in MY LIFE that I would rate something 10/10!!! But it deserves it SO MUCH!
- Worldbuilding = Excellent
- Characters = Amazing!
- Plot = Gimme 🙏
The way they are portraying Powders/Jinx's breakdown over the series is the best part, those scenes hit me hard everytime.
I literally waited for this video since the first trailers, regardless the final quality haha
Such an awesome show👌🏼 And I don't even care at all for LoL lol
Also I loooove the trilogy-format they chose. 1-3 as part 1, 4-6 as part 2 and 7-9 as part 3, really awesome for storytelling-purposes
Seriously loved this show so far! The story was surprising and beautiful at every turn.
What I like with Arcane are the character.
Cliche ? Maybe, but every single one has personality. No empty sell, no plot slaves or stereotypes for the sake of stereotypes
3rd episode made me cry. There’s nothing sadder than seeing a child lose everybody.