Netflix's 18-Episode Series Redefined Video Game Adaptations

A man and a crippled woman embrace in an open doorway in 'Arcane', Season 1, Episode 9

Published Oct 31, 2026, 10:21 PM EDT

Molly DeCastro is a New York-based emerging film and entertainment journalist with a personal passion for poetic prose and impactful storytelling. She graduated from Pace University with a degree in English and a concentration in creative writing. While film analysis is at the heart of her work, she is especially interested in exploring cinema through an anthropological lens and in examining how creative themes reflect cultural identity. She aims to forge a deep connection between audiences and film through thoughtful and evocative writing.

She also enjoys keeping up with all things film! That means specializing in industry news, emerging directors, and stand-out projects.

Despite falling into an arguably niche subgenre, the 2021 animated masterwork, Arcane, not only achieved mainstream stardom but also reimagined the action-adventure world entirely. Created by narrative geniuses Christian Linke and Alex Yee, the series explores the origins of the iconic League of Legends game, focusing on the core conflict between the polished upper city and the oppressed, gritty underground society of Zaun. If that wasn't enough, the story centers around two estranged sisters: Vi, played by Hailee Steinfeld, and Jinx, portrayed by Ella Purnell, as they find themselves on opposing sides of a deadly war.

It would be exhaustive to list the awards and accolades credited to the series, given the fact that there are a staggering 41 of them. From the cast to the writers to the animators and editors, every bit of the series is figuratively covered in medals, trophies, and sashes. Notably, viewers applauded the series' groundbreaking production value, character complexity, and accessibility, which attracted fans of the game and newcomers equally. Season 2 took the magic of its debut and simply turned up the dial and raised the heat, adding a new level of depth and entertainment, plus incredible action sequences for extra entertainment value. In short, every piece of this series has worked to create a robust cocktail of riveting artistic choices, practically guaranteeing audience adoration.

Arcane's Wins Defend the Animation Genre

Ambessa with her arm on Caitlyn's shoulder in front of green curtains

Seemingly with ease, Arcane achieved an immediate level of prestige, which is a difficult feat for any series of any kind, let alone an animated series. Unfortunately, lots of audiences look to animation as a childlike or overly unrealistic genre. However, in recent years, with the birth of incredible shows like BoJack Horseman, Midnight Gospel, and Bob's Burgers, it feels as though the film world has turned a corner. Arcane takes that progress further, using its distinctive animation to tell a story that feels as emotionally rich as any live-action drama. With Arcane in particular, it felt as though audiences were shocked by their own emotional investment in the series. As stated prior, the series is surprisingly approachable for newcomers.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides

🖖Capt. Kirk

✊Princess Leia

🔦Ellen Ripley

🔥Max Rockatansky

FIND YOUR HERO →

How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.

AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward. BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction. DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.

APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one. CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.

AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it. BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not. EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.

AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated. BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds.

NEXT QUESTION →

You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything.

APrepare in silence. If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again.

AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it. BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for. But I keep going.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours?

AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it. DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable.

NEXT QUESTION →

When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.

ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me. CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am. EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it.

REVEAL MY HERO →

Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…

Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

Paul Atreides

You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you.

Captain Kirk

You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it.
Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.

Princess Leia

You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of.

You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.

Ellen Ripley

You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there.
When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything.

Max Rockatansky

You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

Additionally, it feels especially relevant to mention that with the influx of lab-made, AI-slop "animations", audiences have become particularly impressed by series that do not cut corners. Season 1 alone took a shocking six years to make, similar to other masterworks such as James Cameron's Avatar, which took 4 years of active production to complete. Season 2 took three years, and specifically the final line was debated by Yee for 27 hours before settling on: "I am the dirt under your nails, cupcake. Nothing's gonna clean me out."

In taking such long gaps of time to create, it shows not how carefully the writers moved with this series, but also how intricately yet gradually the world grew along with their characters. Piltover's elaborate machinery and towering architecture also give the series its steampunk identity, while the contrast with Zaun makes the divide between the two cities impossible to ignore.

'Arcane' Is More Than Just Its Beautiful Animation

Beyond its impressive visuals, the relationship between Vi and Jinx gives the series its emotional foundation, turning a conflict between two cities into a deeply personal family tragedy. What started as a story centered around Vi and Jinx, or Piltover and Zaun, eventually became about the people around them. Those who have fought tirelessly to reclaim control of their land, and the humbling sacrifices they were forced to make in the process. What was once so simple became much, much larger.

Fans' dedication to the series can most accurately be explained by a Change.org petition, interestingly enough. Season 2, while it was positively received and was actually awarded a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, had a streak of controversy. To avoid spoilers, it's best to reference this controversy through a slightly more vague lens.

In short, some fans were outraged by the reportedly rushed pacing and ambiguous character fates, so much so that a petition was made to continue the series despite creators specifically writing it to last only 2 seasons. With that in mind, it's safe to say that even nay-sayers were deeply infatuated with this series. Even the disagreements over its ending show just how invested viewers became in these characters and their world. Top to bottom, it received a resounding eruption of applause, and if it must be laid to rest, it will certainly be remembered for its legacy.