Set in Riot's League of Legends universe, it primarily focuses on sisters Violet / "Vi" (Hailee Steinfeld) and Powder / Jinx (Ella Purnell) as they become embroiled in a conflict between their native underbelly of Zaun and the city of Piltover.

Arcane was met with critical acclaim, with praise for its visuals, writing, worldbuilding, soundtrack, and voice acting, though its second season's pacing had a mixed response.

Amidst the escalating unrest between the rich, utopian city of Piltover and the seedy, oppressed underbelly of Zaun, sisters Vi and Powder find themselves embroiled in a developing conflict over clashing convictions and arcane technologies.

The idea for Arcane first came from Christian Linke in 2015 after Riot had initially delved into other media to help strengthen the connections players had with the IP such as cinematic trailers and music videos.

[14] Arcane was first announced at the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration in 2019,[15] and is set in Riot's League of Legends fictional universe,[16][17] In September 2021, it was announced that Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Kevin Alejandro, Katie Leung, Jason Spisak, Toks Olagundoye, JB Blanc and Harry Lloyd had joined the voice cast.

On November 21, Netflix and Riot Games announced a partnership with Secret Cinema for an in-person Arcane experience located in Los Angeles, California.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Arcane makes an arresting first impression, combining a spectacular mix of 2D and 3D animation with an emotionally compelling story to deliver a video game adaptation that could become legendary.

[46] Writing for IGN, Rafael Motamayor called the first season of Arcane a "classic in the making, and the nail in the coffin of the so-called video game curse."

He concluded by saying that Arcane "delivers a killing blow to the idea that video games cannot be masterfully adapted... with compelling characters, an endearing story, and fascinating lore and worldbuilding, as well as striking visuals," calling it a "once-in-a-generation masterpiece" and giving it a 10 out of 10 rating.

Despite calling Act 1 "a fairly typical fantasy tale" he lauded the animation, saying that "each frame looks like a gorgeous piece of hand-painted concept art; in motion, it's like nothing I've ever seen" and that "it's also a world that feels lived-in and fully realized.

"[48] Matt Cabral of Common Sense Media called the first season "visually stunning" and that it "features the sort of nuanced characterizations, thoughtful storytelling, and rich worldbuilding typically associated with big-budget, big-screen epics."

Bennett called "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons "infectious" and that the show is "the new benchmark for what can be done when it comes to successfully translating worthy videogame universes into a different medium.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Expansive in scope while hurtling towards the endgame at a rollicking pace, Arcane's second and final season is a supremely satisfying capper to an epic saga.

[44] In a more critical review for the Reactor magazine, Kathryn Porter wrote that "With Fortiche at the helm of the animation, Arcane will always look incredible no matter how good or bad the writing is," but that although "everyone lands where they are supposed to by the time the series concludes... it is how they reach those conclusions that feels a little hollow in the wake of a far superior first season".