A review by billyjepma
The Art and Making of Arcane by Elisabeth Vincentelli

informative

3.5

I love the show (obviously), and so does this book, which is less a “Making Of” than an extended pat on the back for itself. It’s not quite as bad that sounds since there are plenty of interesting tidbits and insights into the processes involved in making the series—emphasizing Fortiche more than Riot was wise. But those takeaways are primarily surface level, and whenever I was given a cool morsel of information, the book would change the subject entirely. I know a proper behind-the-scenes book would be a far denser, time-consuming project to undertake, but that’s what I was hoping from this, at least in part. What’s here is solid, and will likely satisfy most readers—I’m just a nerd who wanted to learn more about how Fortiche’s animators imitated different camera lenses or the specific mechanics involved in the way they overlay 2D and 3D animation. Hopefully we get a deeper-dive into the series’ production later on. 

The book fares much better as an art book, though, and i feel like it should’ve marketed solely as that. The physical book itself is a stone-cold stunner, and the design of the pages and layout is very tongue-in-cheek and fun in how it adds Jinx’s scribbles, sketches, and commentary alongside the contents. It’s self-indulgent, of course, but I’m more down for that in an art book, especially when the artwork is as impressive as it is here.