While the series is currently in progress ahead of its season 2 release, Arcane co-creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee shared some surprising details on the League of Legends animated series’ origins during a Reddit AMA.
Although the Reddit thread ended weeks ago, it’s still intriguing to learn extra information about the Awarded TV series from the creators.
The co-creators of Arcane revealed the show’s classic anime influences
Surprising to many, Riot Games’ first TV series, Arcane, was actually inspired by earlier anime series, as Arcane co-creators Christian “Praeco” Linke and Alex Yee revealed in their Reddit AMA.
“I remember calling Christian after having an epiphany that our tone could be like that of the edgier anime I appreciated growing up,”
“No idea why this didn’t occur sooner, it just hadn’t felt as much like League at the time. For me, anime straddled a tonal line unlike anything else at the time – the bridge from childhood to adulthood.”
The production crew intended to present Vi and Jinx as sisters when they were younger, but doing so would make the program feel more child friendly. To address the difficulty, they took inspiration for the series’ tone in Arcane Act 1 from old anime series.
The tone of Arcane was influenced by anime from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, such as Hellsing, Berserk, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Gungrave.
Arcane’s opening sequence at Piltover’s Bridge of Progress is similar to the dark, chaotic beginning of Cowboy Bebop’s Asteroid Blues episode. Anime protagonist Spike Spiegel travels through town on a rainy day, recalling his latest task after killing numerous people as part of his prior employment at Red Dragon Crime Syndicate.
Arcane was also inspired by BBC Studios’ Peaky Blinders, in addition to old anime titles. The show’s screenplay was influenced by the British period crime thriller, especially as both co-creators are fans of the series.
While the release date for Arcane season 2 is uncertain, it looks like Riot is slowly giving more information on Piltover and Zaun’s past and future.