DOTA: Dragon's Blood vs Arcane: Money vs Art

It would seem that whatever Valve is doing, Riot Games is following their lead. But is that true for the series? Riot Games' Arcane series has been in development for over 6 years, but due to financial constraints, the creation process had to be put on hold. Arcane was planned for release back in 2020, but the premiere was postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, Valve was not going to wait long, and suddenly, in February 2021, announced its anime series DOTA: Dragon's Blood, which was released a month later. And about eight months after the release of the series from Valve was the premiere of the animated series Arcane on League of Legends.

Riot Games' League of Legends and Valve's Dota 2 are two of the most popular MOBAs for the PC, and many consider them to be major rivals in the field of esports. After all, both League of Legends and Dota 2 host major international competitions every year. And this time, the two companies are rivals again, but this time on the streaming service Netflix.

Both series did their job: to entertain their audiences and attract new ones. But what prevented DOTA: Dragon's Blood from being better than Arcane?

Animation

These two series are created by two different animation companies and of course they are seriously different from each other.

"DOTA: Dragon's Blood" was created by Studio Mir, a South Korean animation studio that created such series as "The Legend of Korra" and the recent animated film "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf" The film has the trappings of anime-inspired animation and a small amount of 3D effects highlighting some of the fights and scenery.

"Arcane," on the other hand, is animated by French studio Fortiche Production and is more in line with previous LoL animation from Riot's short films and music videos.

DOTA: Dragon's Blood is a flurry of violence and switches quickly between scenes, preventing the viewer from getting a good look at each scene. Even so, fans of the series can easily tell which episodes had a bigger budget and which were written around character and story development. In "Arcane," the animation is consistent and stylized, with a mix of 3D and 2D animation that makes the overall look unique and dynamic.

History and Characters

Arcane can offer a very interesting storyline, and almost every moment of the scene they offer is logically acceptable. Plot development is well implemented in Arcane and viewers do not feel gaps in the narrative while watching. In fact, not only can the plot of the series be enjoyed by LoL players, but regular people can easily understand the story of Arcane as well.

Not only that, Arcane does not focus on the story that exists in LoL, but focuses on the stories that are present in League of Legends life. Arcane's story focuses more on Jinx and Vi, as well as the socio-economic life of the two cities.

Meanwhile, DOTA: Dragon's Blood offers a storyline that focuses on the stories existing in the Dota 2 lore.

The story raised is indeed very interesting, especially for players who have been following Dota since Warcraft: DotA. However, because of its short duration, the development of the story seems rushed. The problem is that it becomes increasingly difficult for viewers to follow the storyline offered by DOTA: Dragon's Blood, especially for ordinary people who do not know the world of Dota.

DOTA: Dragon's Blood offers a very "old school" story with knights, dragons, gods, and the Middle Ages. The presence of some of these aspects is certainly in keeping with the history that is present in Dota, but they seem very dated, like a relic of the past.

However, both shows use "adult" stories and present them in a very specific way. Arcane tells a story in which there is a battle between children and adults. DOTA: Dragon's Blood, meanwhile, is an "adult" story that reeks of sex and profanity.

It seems the winner is obvious

Arcane beats DOTA: Dragon's Blood, from the animation, story, and character depth to the unbeatable music. DOTA: Dragon's Blood wins only in terms of the worlds displayed. Naturally, Arcane has become one of the best series on Netflix in 2021.

But despite Arcane being the winner, both series are still worth watching even if you don't play or aren't a League of Legends or Dota fan.

Still, there is no definitive winner in this battle yet, as both series have officially been renewed. The second season of Arcane is now in production, and it will be released, according to official data, may not come out until 2023. But as for the final 3rd season of DOTA: Dragon's Blood, is still unknown the exact date yet.