https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/94605-arcane

trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ps6nV4wiCE

tl;dr Watch it. The animation is about the best I've ever seen and the story has a refreshing depth that I haven't seen in a long while.

Spoiler free summary: I don't know anything about LoL lore other than memes and character/location names from Runeterra card text. But you don't need to know any background to enjoy this one even though I'm sure there is a lot of easter eggs only fans will get. The story is set in a fantasy crystaltech streampunk city divided starkly into a rich, clean area and a dirty, rough ghetto. The first ep has a group of lower city amateur thieves going for a "big score" in the good part of town. Naturally, things go wrong.

The plot moves smoothly from there, introducing new characters and integrating their stories while expanding the scope of the setting for the viewer. The show has an ensemble cast so there is a lot of content and background to deliver but I never felt that things were rushed or compressed. The writers did a good job balancing the individual character scenes and flashbacks with the main plot so there is enough to satisfy yet also leave the viewer wanting more.

The animation takes the spiderverse solid-color aesthetic and expertly refines it to what I would argue is one of the best looking series ever made. The background art is so lovingly crafted and obviously displayed to show off that it is almost a character in itself, helping pull the viewer into the show's universe. The motion and action and impact reminded me of the best of 70s/80s hand-drawn animation but at a modern framerate and resolution.

The main character of the first ep does have dyke-cut pink hair, but if you can push past that the series is a very satisfying watch.

And obviously pirate it because nobody should be paying neflix.

Spoilery category breakdown: Rated on a scale of 0-5 with 3+ pushing into unwatchable territory

Diversity: 1 - There are no black "main" characters though the city is conspicuously multi-ethnic. Some black side characters are shown to be in positions of respect and power. The police chief is stereotypically asian and has a daughter who appears to be white. Jayce who is the a co-main character is swarthy but that has no story impact. Overall this show does diversity "correctly" as in how it worked in the 90s. There are characters of different races but no attention is brought to that fact, and the society presented appears to be effectively colorblind.

Feminism: 1.5 - Three of the five "main" characters are female. They all have extraordinary abilities but iirc don't push into mary sue territory. If anything the show goes out of the way to "do the work" of explaining how the characters got their powers and what drove them to train. Episode one is the worst with the hyper-competent VI doing everything perfectly including winning fistfights with and effectively threatening men. But at the same time that expectation of feminist perfection is subverted because VI's later failures are major plot drivers, and her lack of humility is shown to harm those she cares about most. Still she does have the pink haired dyke side cut which made me cringe whenever I saw it.

Faggotry: .5 - There is a prominently displayed crossdresser prostitute for a few seconds of episode 1. One of the council members presents as gay but it is never highlighted. Otherwise the show is mercifully faggotry free.

Subversion: 1.5 - The main plot revolves around the downtrodden undercity dwellers and their struggle while the well off upper city lives in luxury. And the police are shown as faceless stormtroopers. Overall this trope is subverted by humanizing both sides and showing "oppressed" aren't always good and the "oppressors" aren't always evil, and violent revolution is probably counterproductive.