Arcane was a big reason I wanted to create some content again. There is so much to say about this series and while it is certainly not underrated with a 9.4 on Imdb and 98% User score, 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the series is kind of underwatched. In Germany it is only in the bottom Top10 Netflix charts and in America it seems to fly under the radar as well somehow. This post will be without spoilers, because it seems way too many people have not watched the show yet.

Why you should watch Arcane!

• Excellent animation. The animation style is quite unique but there is so much detail in every scene, that it feels on par and even at times superior to your big animation studios like Pixar. I even get somewhat of an oldschool Disney vibe from some of the characters at times.
• Excellent characters. The characters are also very unique. Each giving you different reasons to love or hate them. While you might think that action will be the vocal point of a pc game adaptation, in Arcane it is clearly character development.
• Strong women. There has been a lot of talk about movies and series with strong female characters. Be it the new Star Wars, the all women Ghostbusters, the new Doctor Who. There have been troubles... And the conclusion for many MSM outlets was "Men hate strong female protagonists". We always had to point to old classics like Terminator or Alien to rebottle that. But fear not, now you can point to Arcane.
• Steampunk. While Runeterra - the world of League of Legends - is a fantasy world, the city of Piltover where Arcane takes place is heavily steampunk inspired. You have the airships, and Hextech and Chemtech which is magic and chemical based technology respectively.
• R-16 made for adults. And with that I don't mean "yay there is violence"- there certainly is, but it is rather the emotional ride of characters that is not made for children. These are no cardboard cutout Avengers, where every character is just a mix of badass + funny jokes. In Arcane every person has reasons and emotions and you can feel them for the worse or better.

I think these are the big points. You also have the classic poor vs rich setup and even a gay relationship, that for once doesn't feel awkward or forced but rather wholesome. I feel like I can't really go any further without spoiling way too much. One big note is that you need to watch with the English audio, I have had a short peek into the German dub and it is quite horrible compared to what the English voice actors were able to accomplish despite Covid.

I will do more posts about Arcane in the future discussing the story in depth and theories for season 2. Please don't spoil the series in the comments if you have watched it but let me know if you enjoyed it as much as I did and if my points are valid.