Blu-ray Review: Arcane Season One

Another title for Arcane would be Breaking Bad as serving as the narrative spine and beating heart of the story is a hapless inventive young girl named Powder desperate to please her confident and respected older sister Vi; when the former attempts to assist the latter, a body count ensues and a wedge is driven between the siblings that proves to be the psychological tipping point which causes Powder to transform into the sociopath known as Jinx. Mixed into this is social unrest as the undercity of Zaun seeks independence from affluent Piltover and a controversial effort is being made to harness the power of magic through science.

The animation style pushes the boundaries by combining painterly 3D characters with 2D aesthetic for effects like smoke and fire. There is also a music video quality to some of the sequences that heighten the emotional state of the cast.

An interesting choice was to divide the nine episodes into three trilogies that are separated by a time jump, propelling the narrative forward while still making time to show the backstories of some of the principal characters. Equally impressive are the vocal performances of Ella Purnell, Hailee Steinfeld, JB Blanc and Harry Lloyd.

Emphasizing the idea that ignorance is bliss, painful and expensive is the five-part documentary Bridging the Rift: The Making of Arcane which chronicles the journey that Riot Games went through with French animation studio Fortiche as they attempted to do something that had to be learned along the way. Also, included are four scene breakdowns and a featurette that reveals the creation of the new character Mei. In the end, the real star is the episodes themselves and watching League of Legends go beyond the game console in a way that expands and enriches the franchise.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.