Go behind the scenes of Arcane season 2 with these epic making-of videos

As a die-hard fan of animated series and video games, I must say that diving into the world of “Arcane” has been nothing short of a breathtaking journey. Having grown up playing League of Legends, it’s incredible to see how the creators have taken the game’s rich lore and transformed it into an emotionally gripping narrative.

As a passionate movie buff, I recently found myself captivated by the final installment of “Arcane,” the critically acclaimed animated series produced by Netflix and Fortiche Productions. This series, derived from the popular video game “League of Legends” by Riot, managed to surpass expectations and deliver a narrative that transcended its original source material. Frankly, who would have thought that a show based on a multiplayer brawler game could produce one of the most engaging genre TV stories in recent memory?

What made Arcane stand out was a multitude of factors: its exceptional writing, the compelling narrative about twin cities striving for a brighter future, unforgettable characters voiced by renowned Hollywood actors, groundbreaking animation, and an extensive soundtrack. With the conclusion of its second and final season, it’s now time to reflect on Arcane and how Riot and Fortiche successfully crafted this extraordinary series.

Essentially, Netflix has shared some fascinating behind-the-scenes clips about Arcane to delight fans. Here, we’ve gathered a few of them for you. If you’re an enthusiast of Arcane and have missed out on additional content, these are definitely worth watching. Let’s begin with “Creating Arcane | Arcane: Season 2,” which was released shortly following the finale airing:

This piece showcases fascinating behind-the-scenes clips of different voice actors at work, along with co-creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee discussing their broader plan for the series. Linke elaborates that for season 1, the primary focus was on bringing the game’s familiar characters to life and capturing their unique traits and fighting styles. However, they aimed to infuse it with the drama and tension typically found in anime. For season 2, there was a greater emphasis on delving deeper into the characters’ complexities and darker aspects.

One video I’ve come across that’s quite unique is “Making Arcane”. It provides a glimpse into actors recording dialogue for the show, occasionally even while watching series clips. It’s also engaging to listen to insights from stars such as Ella Purnell (Jinx), Hailee Steinfeld (Vi), and others, sharing their experiences during this adventure.

Arcane Afterglow

A collection of intriguing behind-the-scenes clips, titled “Arcane Afterglow, is definitely worth a look. These brief, approximately 10-minute videos showcase different cast and crew members seated on a set resembling The Last Drop, a bar managed by Vi and Jinx’s adoptive father Vander. Netflix released an episode of “Arcane Afterglow” for each act of the final season. Similar to “Making Arcane,” the final episode of “Arcane Afterglow” was made available shortly following the finale episodes.

In addition to intriguing details such as speculation about Jinx’s fate (Ella Purnell stating it’s “up for interpretation”), the exploration of Viktor’s power development, and the reason behind Ekko (Reed Shannon) being trapped in a different dimension during the seventh episode of Arcane Afterglow , the Act 3 episode also delves into one of the soundtrack’s standout tracks: “The Line” by Twenty One Pilots. This song mirrors key aspects of Viktor’s character progression throughout the series, depicting his transition from an optimistic scientist to a nearly divine being determined to manipulate magic to dominate his surroundings.

In the show “Arcane Afterglow,” the creators of Arcane invited Twenty One Pilots’ Tyler Joseph to record a music video with animation from the series. During filming on a soundstage, Joseph is depicted on wires and playing the piano. If you’re interested, check out the final product in the official music video below:

To clarify, the “Arcane Afterglow” is a three-part series. If you’ve been missing out on each act, I strongly recommend catching up with these videos. Here are the episodes for Act 1 and Act 2 of “Arcane Afterglow”: (Note: The original text uses HTML tags, but I have removed them for clarity.)

It’s clear that we now understand the resolutions of certain suspenseful moments from the previous episodes of ‘Afterglows’, created by showrunner Christian Linke, but there’s still a lot more to enjoy for fans of ‘Arcane’. This is particularly true if you’re interested in listening to Purnell and Steinfeld discuss the development of Vi and Jinx’s characters.

Arcane has one big advantage over video game shows like The Last of Us and The Witcher

As a passionate cinephile delving deeper into the captivating world of Arcane, I’m excited to share some intriguing insights from a recent interview with one of the show’s talented writers, Amanda Overton. In an engaging conversation with GamesRadar+, Overton shed light on several fascinating aspects about the final season of Arcane. Notably, she highlighted one of the show’s most compelling advantages over other video game adaptations: its ability to deviate from fixed source material, enabling it to shape events in a manner that serves the story best.

In a nutshell, League of Legends stands out due to its exceptional mobility and adaptability, which is quite uncommon among games. It’s constantly evolving, making rapid changes, and being highly flexible. This unique nature makes it challenging for other games like The Last of Us or The Witcher to replicate, and even game adaptations we’ve seen lately don’t share the same dynamic relationship with League as Arcane does,” Overton explained.

In this instance, Overton accurately sums up the essence of League of Legends. Essentially, it’s a team-based multiplayer game, often referred to as MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). The objective is for players to engage in a battle against each other while attempting to seize their opponents’ fortresses. The narrative aspects of the game are secondary; it’s possible to spend hundreds of hours playing League of Legends without encountering its rich lore, which is primarily found on the game’s official website.

In contrast to “The Last of Us,” which is primarily focused on story, the television show had to closely follow its narrative to avoid upsetting fans, while “Arcane” was free to create an entirely new tale. “The Witcher” faces an even greater challenge; though it’s based on a book series, the popularity of the video games has led many fans to have misconceptions about the franchise that are not in line with Andrzej Sapkowski’s original novels and short stories, resulting in a complex response from the fandom.

Watch our interview with Arcane Executive Music Producer Alex Seaver

wrapping up our discussion about Arcane, let’s get back to familiar grounds! To bring closure to this series, we had an engaging conversation with Alex Seaver, known for his work as Mako, the Executive Music Producer. Seaver was involved in both seasons of Arcane as a songwriter and co-composer, but in season 2 he assumed a higher role, supervising the show’s pop songs. The music in Arcane is undeniably integral to the show, and it was fascinating to hear Seaver’s insights into how the music for this season was created. You can catch the interview above, or read a summary of some key points here.

The entirety of Arcane has been made available on Netflix, and the team behind this series has hinted at more story concepts brewing for potential spin-offs within the world of League of Legends. We can’t wait to follow their journey!

Apart from that, there’s also an upcoming novel by author C.L. Clark set to release next year titled “Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf”. This book delves into the origins of Ambessa Merdada, the main antagonist for season 2 of Arcane. It is scheduled for publication on February 18, 2025 by Orbit Books, so we won’t have to wait much longer to return to Runeterra!

2024-12-03 00:41