To call a win for animation would be an understatement. The Netflix original series took the world by storm when it premiered on the streaming service in November 2021. Set in the universe, created by , Arcane is a steampunk fantasy set in the escalating unrest between the affluent city of Piltover and the neglected undercity of Zaun. Primarily focusing on sisters Violet (voiced by ) and Powder/Jinx (voiced by ), the animated series produced by French animation studio is one of Netflix’s most prestigious achievements.

The first season of Arcane achieved immense success, becoming Netflix’s highest-rated series within a week of its premiere and ranking first in the Top 10 in 52 countries. The show went on to break records and sweep the Annie Awards, winning nine awards for its first season at the 49th ceremony in 2022 and seven awards at the 52nd ceremony earlier this year. If that wasn’t already enough, Arcane Season 1 won four in 2022, becoming the first-ever streaming series to win Outstanding Animated Program.

Arcane Season 2, which premiered on Netflix throughout November 2024, delivered the same fantastic animation, moving drama, and excellent voice acting that had won Netflix subscribers over 3 years earlier. The primary concern was that two seasons weren’t enough, and considering that Arcane is one of the best modern animated series, I can’t disagree. Who wouldn’t want to see more? Thankfully, even though the main series has come to an end, there are various in sight, as well as a recently released prequel novel, , by .

With Arcane merely being the start of the League of Legends franchise on the small screen, it was exciting to chat with (Showrunner and Head of Animation Studio, Riot Games), (Co-Director and Creative Director, Fortiche Production), and (Screenwriter and Co-executive Producer) about their work on the series and the long list of accolades they’ve achieved in such a short time. Surprisingly, that critical acclaim wasn’t something that was ever in the back of the minds of the Arcane creators, with Linke sharing, “We just wanted to make it a dope show.”

We’re not looking for any kind of awards. But a little tap on the shoulder is always something that we do appreciate as artists, you know? Whether it’s coming from the professional industry or from the fans. So, when someone tells you, “Oh, this is a great show,” we appreciate that a lot.

We were just, frankly, trying to make something that would exist and that we all liked. That was the hardest part at the beginning. The fact that other people like it, too, makes it very nice to be able to share our passion with fans and critics.

In a world where animation is often underappreciated, Netflix’s Arcane carved a path for itself to be a standout in the medium. Working in animation at this time, Christian Linke notes that while the industry often thrives in nations with a rich and appreciative animation culture, budgetary constraints can be a significant issue. In contrast, other people have been slower to appreciate the medium of animation.

The thing you hear the most from people who work in animation is, “I wish I had that kind of budget,” which is a problem. France and Japan are good examples of rich animation cultures. However, I think it has fallen somewhat to the wayside over the years, as certain production formulas have become too rigid. Hopefully, Arcane can inspire more opportunities for different studios, IPs, and teams to take bigger creative swings and secure larger budgets.

There are endless possibilities with animation beyond just children’s movies. We’re starting to see more of that, and these risky stories tend to resonate with general audiences. Yet, it’s still an uphill fight. Many people simply don’t watch animation. I’ve talked to a lot of people who are like, “Hey, I don’t usually watch animation, but wow, Arcane was cool.” That’s what we’re hoping to achieve, right? To create a few more animation fans! It still feels like there’s plenty of progress to make, though.

From my perspective, there was never a desire to show the world how to get things done. That was not the point. Having said that, I was looking forward to being proud of doing something that my wife or some members of my family, who don’t care about animation, for instance, would enjoy. I wouldn’t say we wanted Arcane to be mainstream, but rather to somehow reach people outside of the animation world.

Something Arcane fans across the board would agree with is how the music genuinely elevates and enhances various scenes throughout the series. It informs important scenes and moments between key characters, creating an even more memorable experience in the show’s journey. Christian Linke calls this one of the most fun processes of the entire production.

Once the storyboarders and editors find a spot where everyone agrees, “All right, this is going to be the moment for the music to shine,” you essentially create an empty box. You don’t know what it looks like yet, but you already know it’s going to be cool. The process then takes over, and the team asks, “Okay, who do we work with?” You reach out to different artists, and it becomes fun to watch it come together.

We started the relationship between our creative teams at Riot and Fortiche by producing music videos. So, it’s this extension of the same DNA, right? Yes, we’re growing into this bigger TV show, but this is something that we all go back to — the trusted home turf of making music videos within these episodes. Honestly, it needs to be fun. It needs to be entertaining. It needs to be something where you create space for the music, and then invest in the team. The musicians will fill the sandbox, and it’s extremely gratifying to watch unfold.

Arcane has a plethora of standout characters that appear throughout the series. While the narrative mostly focuses on Violet and Jinx, with other characters like Ambessa Medarda (), Mel Medarda (), Jayce Talis (), and Viktor () also getting prominent arcs, I wondered which characters, if any, the creators had grown personal connections with. Amanda Overton shares that you always have to find something personal or relatable for each character in every story that you write.

You have to find something personal to you for every character and story that you write. Then, it’s like a compromise of many different creatives’ personal experiences that you combine into one plot. For each character, I get to say, “I put part of myself in that, this is the mother-daughter part, and this is the sibling part of me,” and so on. However, it’s too hard to choose between one of your children, is what I like to say. I can’t.

Personally, in my adult life, finding a healthy boundary between a family member you love with all your heart, but whose relationship is not serving you, is something very difficult to do. Admittedly, I have failed at doing that before in my own adulthood. So, in showing these two sisters [Vi and Jinx] struggling with that, there is no right or easy answer. I think it’s okay to fail and make a mistake, and then have someone else help you through it. That’s really what resonated with me personally about Arcane.

Over the course of Arcane‘s two seasons, numerous impactful emotional threads emerge. Watching it and experiencing all the emotional turmoil from the comfort of your home is one thing. Experiencing it first-hand through writing the story is something else entirely. Amanda Overton explains that the entire point of storytelling is to make it “difficult.”

You want to make their journey as difficult as possible, so that it means the most when you finally get to the end. It’s incredibly hard to put characters that you grow so close to, that you pour so much of yourself into, through such affliction. But the whole point of storytelling is to make that journey as challenging as possible. When character arcs are messy, there is no clear-cut answer.

If everyone looks at their decisions and says, “Yep, they made the right choice,” you did your job wrong. I love the word Christian uses: chaotic. It shouldn’t be an obvious choice, because then you will surely think about it afterwards. The choices they make will linger in your mind. “Would I have done it differently? Would I have made the same choice?” Those are the questions you’ll be asking yourself after the show ends, and those will be the things that teach you about who you are as a person.

We know this isn’t the last of the characters of Arcane and other characters from the League of Legends world. With Christian Linke sharing that there are “many different chapters that are not on screen,” it seems that, from prequel novels to spin-off shows, the franchise’s lore and mythology are ripe for exploration. What’s next could be literally anything.

Over the last 10 years, we have spent tons of time crafting the world and the characters. Yes, there are many different chapters that are not on screen. In the years between 103 and 104, you could probably have somewhere around five books. We have Ekko growing up, Vi is in prison, and Jinx is under Silco’s control. Additionally, Mel is building her own sort of empire and exploring the implications that come with it.

What happened between Mel and Ambessa, of course, is mentioned in the book, as well. There is so much left to explore, to a certain extent. You need only to ask, “What do you want to focus on?” We’ll see, because we also want to venture into new spaces with new characters. It really boils down to who among us has a need to see something come together and be fleshed out. That’s what we really focus on.

On top of that, we ask ourselves, what gaps do you fill in, and what gaps do you let the audience fill in for themselves? That’s a tough choice, because this is a show where you want the viewer to fill in their own gaps between life. That’s why we left those gaps in the first place, so that people could make that journey personal to themselves.

 November 9 (Act I), November 16 (Act II), & November 23, 2024 (Act III).
 Christian Linke & Alex Yee.
 League of Legends by Riot Games.
Christian Linke & Alex Yee.
 Christian Linke, Marc Merrill, Brandon Beck, Jane Chung, & Thomas Vu.
Arnaud Delord, Bart Maunoury, Pascal Charrue, Etienne Mattera, Marietta Ren, Christelle Abgrall,
Main Voice Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Katie Leung, Kevin Alejandro, Brett Tucker, Mick Wingert, JB Blanc, Amirah Vann, Ellen Thomas, Toks Olagundoye, Harry Lloyd, Reed Shannon, Lenny Citrano, & Jason Spisak.
Composers: Alex Seaver & Alexander Temple.
Production Companies: Fortiche & Riot Games.
Episode Count: Split into a 3-act structure, 3 episodes each (Season 2).