Thread by @NotPatrick

Finished #Arcane. I cannot find a *single* bad thing to say about it. I kid you not, it is possibly the best animation series ever created. Ever. It is incredible.
(Here's a spoiler free 🧵, but tldr is watch it. Now.)
PS: I couldn't care less about LoL. I do now though I guess!

The animation has been getting mountains of praise, and deservedly so. The graphic design and animation are unbelievable. It looks so good, and impressively, consistently so.
You are never not in awe watching it.
I'm guessing Fortiche Prod will be getting a lot of phone calls.

The graphical style is original but familiar, and just clicks. Every frame is a painting.
Animation wise there are already numerous scenes that people will talk about and refer back to for years to come. It all feels fantastical and realistic at the same time. Totally incredible.

That would make a series worth watching by itself, but it is "only" the visible part. What is even more amazing is the quality of everything else.

The writing, which is the most important thing IMO, is stellar. STELLAR. It is everything you would dream of in a script.

The story is compelling. The setting might be a bit unoriginal in its structure, but it's so well put together that it stands tall.
The world might seem like you've seen it before, with its Victorian steam punk vibes, but it is still carving a wholly original style.

But what really supports it all is the characters, who are mind bogglingly well fleshed out. It's a large ensemble cast, so you'd think some would be a bit more weak... Not so.
They are all so so well thought out, well designed, and their arcs are so compelling.

Not only do they all have "enough" time and stakes to matter, but even as some get less screen time, they manage to be painted as full and complex characters.
Even the more minor ones are given at least one scene that manages to humanize them and make them relatable.

Characters grow and evolve in ways that are so gripping it makes me shiver just thinking about it now. They never appear as an silly archetype or a caricature. No one is one dimensional, everyone is believable, and you feel for all of them.

The relationships build out the story, and they are full of relatable, realistic, human, drama. They feel real and honest, the way the best movies about expectational times and people manage to make it.
They are also never quite the thing you'd expect a series to do.

The dialog and voice acting are also beyond top notch. There are so many scenes that make sink the emotion of the situation into in your bones... The writing never goes too far, it's both deep and respectful. And the acting embodies the characters better than you could dream.

One thing I think a lot of people will miss.
Everyone who's tried this before have fallen into one major trap: shoving characters and stuff "from the game" in the show. It always feels artificial and dumb, it never works. Fan service at the cost of show quality. Not so here.

There is not a single character that doesn't deserve their place on the show. I could see the outline of the game character in there, and I'm guessing some are very close to their LoL counterpart, but it never ever ever feels like anything is gratuitous.

Everything that happens and every character in there is very much in service of the show. So much so that it feels like the show, or at least the story and lore, are the starting point for it all, rather than the game.
I have no idea how they do it in game, but it works in show.

Another note:
So. Many. Strong. Female. Characters!
Again, nothing artificial, it's all very well done and natural. I cannot imagine a single sane person that would object, and most won't even notice. But the main and coolest characters are all women.

Honestly, I could talk about it all day.
Arcane is a masterful piece of art, and everyone involved should be very very proud. I cannot imagine the amount of effort and dedication and fortitude it has taken to forge such exceptional work.

I hope Riot continues to excel.
(And I hope their harassments issues are truly behind them - or that they are continuing to make significant progress towards that goal)

I can't wait to see what's next. Maybe their fighting game Project L will be my way to enter that universe! :)