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Scene from "Arcane": The series is a good advertisement for "League of Legends"
Photo: Netflix / Riot Games
Poor versus rich, good versus evil and a family feud in the thick of it: on paper, the themes of the series »Arcane« sound less original than those of the Netflix high-flyer »Squid Game«, which recently broke all kinds of records. Nevertheless, after its launch last weekend, »Arcane« landed at number one on the Netflix charts in 38 countries. This is a huge success for a series that is both a video game adaptation and an animation series, and which at first glance therefore has a top target group.
To dismiss the impressive start of »Arcane« as a coincidence would be naive. On the one hand, the game company Riot Games, on whose world-wide popular online game "League of Legends" the series is based, bought ex-Netflix marketing manager Shauna Spenley for their new entertainment department at the beginning of the year. She surely knows exactly how to get series and films most effectively to the streaming giant's audience. On the other hand, the story that »Arcane« tells is not new, but the characters that carry it offer the right mix of independence and projection surface.
Central to this are the sisters Vi and Powder, who become orphans in a bloody conflict between the cities of Piltower (rich and highly progressive) and Zaun (impoverished and full of criminal energy).
After an armistice, the two are raised by the former rebel Vander in Zaun and trained in all matters of the art of thieving.
You don't have to know the game
Vi is hot-headed, but also a born leader, while Powder is constantly questioning her own abilities and is not taken for full by anyone but her sister. Years later, a failed raid by her gang triggers a chain reaction that not only tests the connection between the sisters, but also brings both cities to the brink of war. And then there is the vengeful quasi-gang boss Silco, who wants to bring both cities into his power with a mutation drug.
Although the series touches on topics such as class consciousness in the first three episodes and exercises several subplots, the plot remains understandable and logical even for those who are not interested in gaming. Fans are happy here and there about Easter eggs such as items from the game template, and non-specialists are well entertained even without understanding these references. It could have looked very different.
Because Vi and Powder alias Jinx, like a handful of other series characters, do not come from a game that can be learned within seconds, but from a long-running e-sport that requires a lot of tactical skill and background knowledge.
The "League of Legends" published in 2009 is a so-called MOBA, short for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena.
Two teams with five players each compete against each other via the Internet.
From an isometric perspective, players take direct control of so-called champions like Vi.
In those roles, your team partners have to fight their way past towers, computer opponents and human players in order to destroy the so-called nexus in the opposing base.
Professionals, the best of the millions of League of Legends players, rely on complex tactics.
With their appearances in large halls or on streaming portals such as Twitch, they inspire millions of viewers, and they are rewarded princely for their work on the mouse and keyboard.
If you want to follow "League of Legends" tournaments and understand what is happening, you need expertise, just like with many other professionally practiced sports.
Now comes the big story
»Arcane« now offers viewers low-threshold access to this online world.
There are a few bits of information about all the champions from the game about their motivation and background story.
But in principle the "League of Legends" universe has been a relatively blank canvas up to now.
With the exception of numerous short stories written by fans, there wasn't a large cohesive narrative.
The previous attempts by Riot Games to market “League of Legends” on other platforms - these included K-Pop and Nu-Metal songs, comics in cooperation with Marvel or animated short films accompanying the game - were mostly too short and only achieved those who were already familiar with the subject.
With »Arcane« and its release on Netflix, the studio is now doing better.
The mix of hand-drawn 2D animation and watercolor-like CGI is quite an eye-catcher, the showrunners have been working for Riot Games for years and know their way around.
And with speakers like JB Blanc (“Breaking Bad”, “Better Call Saul”) and Hailee Steinfeld (“Hawkeye”, “True Grit”), quality was also brought to the mic.
Incidentally, »Arcane« is not the first successful attempt to translate video games into film.
While real-life adaptations often fail terribly, animation series such as "Castlevania" have already shown that game adaptations do not necessarily have to flop.
With »Arcane«, Riot Games underscores the thesis that video games can not only function actively on the controller or on the mouse and keyboard, but also passively on the couch - if you let the right people over and neither bored nor overwhelmed your audience.