Netflix’s Arcane is phenomenal!

The series adaptation of Riot games League of legends is a vibrant blend of dystopian sci-fi, action, political drama, friendships, and family in the fantasy kingdom of Piltover.

Created for television by Christian Linkee and Alex Yee, the plot is heavily steered by Vi and powder(Jinx), two sisters born and raised in the undercity. A degraded commune justly governed by Vander, a once-radical rebel. The Undercity is the rural area often neglected by Piltover’s councillors. While the top side celebrates new inventions, wine and dine act cocktail events, the citizens of the undercity suffer toxic poisons and daily strife to survive in a world according to Vi, “No one gives a shit about”. This disparity between the two factions in one kingdom will be the potent catalyst fueling the decisions and arc of every single character in the enthralling story and cause the audience to access the social segregation in the real world.

There is no argument the domination of the Topside contributes to the misery of the undercity. However, what causes further rot of the undercity is the actions of another sinister kingpin, Silco. Whom, unlike Vander, sees no reason to settle for scraps and determines to fight for liberation and sovereignty from Piltover, as he intends to forge a new kingdom, ‘The nation of Zaun’.

On the Topside, all the attention is focused on Jayce, an ambitious young scientist, and his terminally ill partner Viktor. Despite the warning of their mentor and council member, Professor Hermerdinger, the two harness the magical stones they know little or nothing about. While the gems contain immense power, the pair intend to utilize them for scientific advancement to aid the life of the Topside and Undercity commoner. Unfortunately, these two fail to realize that ‘Hextech’[As they name it] will be hijacked for political and economic gains. This shows how pure technological ideas and innovations can be corrupted and weaponized, inciting war and destruction rather than progress and peace.

Directed by Pascal Charrue & Arnaud Delord, The Netflix original thrives on various fonts. Its thought-provoking dialogues, diverse and endearing characters, clean-cut 3d animation, suitable soundtracks by Imagine dragons, JID, Bea miller and overall rich storytelling are gems engraved in its crown as arguably the best video game adaptation in recent years. Arcane’s undeniable rewatch value and commercial success makes it deserving of a second season; as the ending suggests, where jinx shoots a bomb into a topside council chamber, just when they decide to grant undercity, their sovereignty demonstrates this story is far from over.

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Israel Olorunnisola is a freelance creative. When he is not writing about Film, Music, TV or Pop culture he is telling stories on Wattpad.

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