Arcane was so successful that it embarrassed nearly every adaptation that came before it, became the first streaming show to win the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program, then took the prize again in 2025, and made grown adults weep over two sisters from a made-up city.
Now that you’ve finished Arcane‘s second and final season, the withdrawal is real. The story of sisters Vi and Jinx, the hextech class war between Piltover and Zaun, that hand-painted Fortiche animation: nothing else looks or feels quite like it. Plenty of shows like Arcane get close. Here are ten to line up next, ordered by how hard each one scratches the same itch.
The Best Shows Like Arcane, at a Glance
A quick shortlist of shows similar to Arcane before the full breakdown.
|
Show |
Where to Watch |
The Arcane itch it scratches |
|
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners |
Netflix |
Video-game roots, gut-punch tragedy |
|
Blue Eye Samurai |
Netflix |
Adult animation, revenge quest |
|
The Legend of Vox Machina |
Prime Video |
Ragtag found family, gaming DNA |
|
Castlevania |
Netflix |
Game adaptation, gothic dread |
|
Dota: Dragon’s Blood |
Netflix |
Game adaptation, dragon fantasy |
|
Avatar: The Last Airbender |
Netflix |
Worldbuilding, flawless character arcs |
|
The Legend of Korra |
Netflix |
Steampunk city, moral grey zones |
|
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood |
Crunchyroll |
Sibling bond, real consequences |
|
Attack on Titan |
Crunchyroll |
Epic scale, mature stakes |
|
The Dragon Prince |
Netflix |
Epic fantasy, Avatar pedigree |
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
If Arcane set the bar for video-game adaptations, this is its neon-drenched twin. Studio Trigger’s 2022 anime drops you into a dystopian Night City with street kid David Martinez, who bolts on illegal cybernetics and free-falls into crime. Ten episodes, no filler. When it aired, Cyberpunk 2077’s Steam count more than tripled past 136,000. Bring tissues.
Blue Eye Samurai
Netflix’s most gorgeous adult animation in years follows Mizu, a mixed-race swordmaster in Edo-period Japan, on a cold revenge quest against the men who might be her father. Operatic action, razor-sharp writing, and a study of identity that runs as deep as anything in Arcane. A second season is coming, reportedly in 2027, so there is time to rewatch.
The Legend of Vox Machina
More gaming in the bloodline. This Prime Video series began as Critical Role, a Dungeons and Dragons campaign streamed by professional voice actors like Liam O’Brien. The payoff is a ragtag band of mercenary misfits, a found-family fantasy that lurches from crude jokes to real heartbreak. Season four premiered in June 2026, with a fifth and final season already confirmed.
Castlevania
The show that proved Netflix could turn a game into prestige TV before Arcane went bigger. Pulled from Konami‘s series, it pits monster hunter Trevor Belmont against a grief-maddened Dracula, all gothic dread and gorgeous fight choreography. Stay for the spin-off, Castlevania: Nocturne, whose second season arrived in January 2025. Dark fantasy with a body count.
Dota: Dragon’s Blood
Yes, another Netflix series ripped from a game, Valve’s Dota 2, and yes, it is far better than it needs to be. Davion, a cocky Dragon Knight and part-time mercenary, ends up sharing his body with an ancient dragon’s soul. Across three seasons, it builds a rich fantasy of elves, demons, and moon cults. Underrated.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The benchmark every other entry here gets measured against. Avatar built a four-nation world with real cultures, the best villain arc in animation (Zuko), and enough emotional intelligence to make adults forget it aired on a kids’ channel. If you loved how Arcane respected its audience, the last airbender is where that DNA starts.
The Legend of Korra
Avatar’s older, edgier sequel comes closest to Arcane’s actual look. Set seventy years later in a Prohibition-era city of automobiles and industrialists like Hiroshi Sato, Korra swaps wide-eyed adventure for steampunk politics, class war, and morally grey villains. Piltover and Zaun owe this show a real debt.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
If the story of sisters Vi and Jinx wrecked you, meet brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric. A forbidden act of alchemy costs them their bodies, and their hunt for a way home pays off every thread. It is the sibling-bond anime, endlessly rewatchable and routinely voted one of the best animated shows ever made. Zero filler, mature themes.
Attack on Titan
For scale and dread, few shows reach this high. Eren Yeager’s war against the giants beyond the walls curdles from survival horror into brutal geopolitics, asking who the real monsters are. The final season wrapped in November 2023 after a decade, and the ending still splits fans down the middle. Heavy, grim, unforgettable.
The Dragon Prince
Created by Aaron Ehasz, a head writer on the original Avatar, this Netflix series is epic fantasy built for the long haul. Two princes and an elf assassin form an unlikely alliance to stop a war, and over seven seasons it grew from charming to sweeping. Shelve it beside She-Ra as Netflix’s best all-ages fantasy. The saga closed in December 2024.
The Arcane Effect
Arcane was never only a TV show for Riot Games. Both seasons sent measurable waves of new players towards League of Legends, the online arena game the series is based on, and plenty of them ran straight into one of gaming’s most punishing ranked ladders. No coincidence, then, that the ecosystem around the game, from coaching to LoL boosting services, has grown right alongside the show’s viewership. Great art sells its source, and Arcane sold a mountain of it.
That is the real Arcane effect, and it shows no sign of slowing. Riot has confirmed at least three more animated series set across Runeterra, so the supply of shows like Arcane is only going to deepen. Until then, you have ten to get through.
Arcane is now streaming on Netflix.
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