Adult animated series ‘Arcane’ (Netflix) may be an adaptation of the ‘League of Legends’ video game, but its creators wanted it to be seen and enjoyed by people outside of the game as well. “We insisted on this in the beginning,” he recalls in a video call Alex Yee, creative designer at Riot GamesDeveloper of the ‘LoL’ universe. “We were a little strict about that.” Besides him, the creative director Christian Linke He recalls arguing that a TV series could be made for everyone: “If you tell a good story about human issues like family, loss, or love, it ultimately doesn’t matter if you use terms like Hextech and talk about places like Piltover or Zaun.. “All this is just spice.”
When it premiered on Netflix in November 2021, everyone (critics, viewers, gamers, technophobes) surrendered to this film’s expansive world, aesthetics, and animation. Production by French studio Fortiche, under the supervision of Riot. The following year he achieved Four Emmys, including best animated program (the first broadcast series to achieve this) and even nine Annie (Oscar for animation), including best animated production for TV. This is the premiere of the second season Friday, 8th dayIt has the feel of a major pop culture event.
A tale of two cities
The massive world of ‘Arcane’ is basically divided into two halves: there’s the surface, utopian city Piltoveror as it is said in the series, “the land of progress, equality and innovation” and there is also the underground, dark ZaunArt deco and cyberpunk style contrasting with the modernism of the previous one.
We examine the conflict between the two, first and foremost through the two sisters, Vi (Hailee Steinfeld in the original version) and the younger Dust (Mia Sinclair Jenness), orphans taken in as children by the leader of a failed rebellion. The younger sister’s explosive decision caused them to go separate ways and even become enemies; The video game didn’t explain how this happened. With his soul shattered, Powder transformed into Jinx (Ella Purnell), a killing machine in the arms of crime lord Silco. The punk style of the character design is particularly reminiscent of Jinx’s style. Jamie HewlettGorillaz’s artist; Fortiche studio was responsible for the video for ‘DoYaThing’ in 2012, so it all fits together.
The spirit of punk and resistance is also present in the plot that deals with this subject. issues between science and spirituality as well as class struggle. “Rivalries in the game play out through these lenses, but the characters’ backgrounds are not emphasized in the same way,” says Yee. “In the game, it’s all about the player’s experience. It was important here that our main characters were truly punk in every way.”
breaking the rules
In the purely animation department, Fortiche tries to outdo itself in its usual mix of 2D (or traditional animation) and 3D (virtual construction and manipulation). “It was difficult for us to find the style at first because it’s not a typical style at all,” explains Linke. “Most of the animators who worked with us came from films aimed at children and teens. Animation in these types of productions tends to be stylized and almost always flexible, but we We wanted to strike some sort of balance between stylized and realistic.“Vi is a boxer of sorts, and her fight scenes are portrayed realistically, while scenes involving the faster-moving character Jinx bear traces of anime.
“This is the second season [dividida, como la primera, en tres actos; el segundo y tercero llegarán los días 16 y 23, respectivamente] Linke says: “Even though I think we’re breaking the new rules, it works in balance. Episode three is a good example of that. And anything mystery-related in general.” [lo mágico, lo oculto] It’s really impressive.”
There is no subway map
For many fans of the series, it was both a surprise and a disappointment to learn that the second season of ‘Arcane’ would also be its last. (According to ‘Variety’ sources, an impossible $250 million was invested in the first two, which may have influenced the decision not to reach the planned five). Its creators claim they knew the ending all along. “However Let’s not talk about the master plan, because who knows, maybe we will enter the witness protection program soon.” Linke says, laughing. ‘We definitely knew how the characters would end up, what the alliances would be.’
All the characters? in this universe The two heroines mentioned are as important as the scientists Jayce and Viktor, the counselor Mel Medarda, and the old and wise ‘yordle’ Heimerdinge.etc. “It was definitely a challenge to find a satisfying ending for all the characters,” says Linke. “I’m trying to think of a series that has done this with a dozen productions, but I can’t think of one.” The duo does not explain to us how they achieved this. Yee at least points us to an unused tool: “In the first season I devoted myself to making a sort of subway map where you could see where some characters crossed paths with others. Thank goodness I stopped doing that for the second season.”
Source: Informacion
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.