Should Riot Games Create a League of Legends Anime Series?

The League of Legends universe is a part of the game that many people in the community have grown to be more curious about. There are a lot of pieces of lore scattered as short stories and similar media but many people in this generation aren’t really interested in reading text. With that in mind, should Riot Games begin creating a League of Legends anime series that people can watch similar to the Arcane series that already exists?

League of Legends Already has Arcane!

League of Legends does indeed already have Arcane to represent the story and present its rich and wonderful storytelling to the wider public. However, Arcane requires a large budget and a long period to complete. The best Riot Games can do is release a new season of 10 episodes every 3-5 years. While the quality of the show definitely makes it worth the wait, that means we only get to sample a tiny piece of the extremely rich story that Runeterra currently has every half-decade.

A League of Legends anime series will make it way easier to produce and provide more stories to the public. There are a lot of anime studios that Riot Games can come into contact which could release 1 season of the show every year or every 2 years which isn’t exactly such a bad number considering it gives us something to work with. Since there are already a large number of anime fans in the community, it will become instantly popular.

What if Riot Games Made a League of Legends Anime Series?

If Riot Games decides to make a League of Legends anime series similar to the style of Dota: Dragon’s Blood, it will definitely receive a lot of mixed reactions from the community. The purists from the community will not agree with an anime that doesn’t follow the same style and quality as Arcane but it is more likely that the larger community will be excited that we’re receiving another series to immerse ourselves in the world of Runeterra more.

The League of Legends anime will receive a lot of hype from the larger community because the game itself uses anime-like characters that will fit well with the overall design. The only thing that Riot Games should maximize when creating an anime is to prioritize making a lot of fight scenes in the show. Creating an anime with a slice of life or overly dialogue-heavy style will ruin the hype for the people. Let’s leave that to Arcane.

With the resources that Riot Games has, they’d probably release a 24-episode season in the first year and go from there. It won’t be a surprise if we get about 3-4 seasons in total about one of the bigger storylines in League of Legends. One of the best ways they can make use of having an anime is to introduce a completely original storyline that hasn’t been introduced in the game before related to one of the existing characters.

Following Riot Games’ plan to introduce a unified canon within all games that use Runeterra’s story and characters, the League of Legends anime would need to fit the story. Of course, that would mean the script would go through a lot of approval from the League of Legends writing team and that might make it difficult to produce the show. In the first place, creating a show like this wouldn’t be easy in any way.

What Story Should League of Legends Choose?

In terms of which story the League of Legends anime should choose, they should definitely pick something that isn’t already told in any form of media. For example, The Ruination, the Struggle between Piltover & Zaun, and Nunu’s Story should all be excluded from the list. This leaves a lot of options left but if we were to choose something that has never been told before, here are the top 2 best options:

1. The Twilight Brothers: The Story of Zed and Shen

I mean, it was obvious which story needed an anime adaptation specifically. The Twilight Brothers storyline has a lot of action, drama, and narrative that Riot Games can animate in a long-running TV show. There’s a lot of conflict and the story is yet to be resolved. The beauty of this storyline is that Riot Games makes it a point that neither Zed nor Shen are right in their motivations but they walk a path that exists to protect Ionia from different types of dangers.

There is already a comic series that exists about this storyline so it’s easier to animate the show with source material already existing. The ultimate ninja battle between these two would be extremely epic and a treat to all fans. It also features a lot of other characters such as Kennen, Akali, Kayn, Jhin, Irelia, Sion, Swain, and many more Ionians that were present both during and after the Invasion of Noxus.

2. The Adventures of Ezreal

The adventures of Ezreal don’t have as much conflict and narrative as the previous storyline but it’s definitely something that can help explore the world of Runeterra. Instead of being restricted by a single setting, Ezreal will give us a wider perspective on what’s happening in the entire world. This show will help introduce more characters to the show and give us more settings that we want to see.

The biggest reason Ezreal’s adventures would do well in the show is because his entire goal is to discover the history of the world of Runeterra. Along the way, he meets up with many of the major characters in the story and even helps out with some of their predicaments. There is also a large involvement with the void storyline which is arguably the most important piece of lore in the entire League of Legends saga.