Alex's Best Adaptation of 2024: Arcane

While I can understand the argument that Fallout is a better video game adaptation, as it seeks to take what gamers can experience in the video games and bring that to a new medium, that might convince The Game Awards, but it doesn't convince me. In my opinion, despite Arcane having nothing to do with League of Legends besides its characters and lore, it being a better show makes it a better representation of video games as a whole.

Yes, if you're trying to get a friend into Arcane, you have to tell them it's nothing like League of Legends, but do you really sell someone on Fallout by saying it's just like the games? One of the reasons I found The Last of Us from HBO rather dull was that it just retold a story we'd already seen before, besides the excellent Bill and Frank episode. To really make something great, you cannot just retell with an adaptation, but you must, well, adapt. That's what makes Fallout and Arcane so great, because they take what exists, and mould something new with it firmly in mind.

Before stepping into Arcane Season 2, I rewatched Season 1, and it sits up there with some of the best TV I've seen. Brilliantly paced, well-written, effective at balancing a large cast and giving everyone enough time to shine. Season 2 doesn't always hit the same marks, especially with the finale, but the same greatness exists for the vast majority of it all.

The thing that always shines most in Arcane is the animators' attention to detail. The love they have for these characters is more than even the most-dedicated stan, as controversial as that may sound to some. Whoever thought to have Jinx's tear stains be a reverse "Vi," or animate the dance scene between Ekko and Powder at four frames per-second - the same amount of time Ekko can rewind time for - deserves a raise. It's those little things, those things you think you're the only one to spot, that make you feel so individually attached to a series, only to then discover there is a whole fanbase out there appreciating it even more than you. That's what solidifies a series to go from one of the best of the year, to one of the best in a decade.

Do I think Arcane could have ended better? Yes. Had all gone perfectly, I think it could have easily been a top-five all-timer for many people, but I think that would have required a third season, something that the writers didn't think they needed. Still, when you look at the animation quality of both seasons, it's hard to imagine how much money would have been needed to pay for a third. Separating the Piltover vs. Zaun conflict from the Arcane storyline would have done a world of good, rather than sequestering them to separate parts of the season, never really feeling like either major plot is fully resolved.

Then again, I have watched a lot of bad TV, bad movies this year (thanks, Netflix), and even better shows, but nothing hit quite as hard as Arcane did when those final credits rolled. It asks you to do more than watch, but luxuriate in the show as a whole, listening to the soundtrack long after you're done with the episodes, reading interviews to see what happens next, what's the plan for the next League of Legends. Hell, it might even make you want to play League of Legends, before the post-Arcane clarity hits and you realise you don't want to waste 1000 hours playing a game you know you hate from the first minute. What an achievement Arcane is. That it can make such a hellish game seem so inviting.