Hi ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here !
I’m surprised I have not read any review of RWBY here on WordPress. Is it because anime fans are purists who do not want to acknowledge any anime -like shows as anime if they do not originate from Japan ? That’s an unfortunate attitude because RWBY is simply awesome, and in my humble opinion, has the most beautifully choreagraphed combat scenes, bar none. Yes, I say, bar none. Just check out the trailer.
RWBY ( pronounced Ruby ) stands for Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, 4 all-female members of a team that are studying to become Huntresses ( and Hunters ) at Beacon Academy, the most prestigious school in Remnant , located in Vale , one of the 4 kingdoms that make up the world of Remnant. Students at this school are trained to combat the malevolent creatures called Grimms . ( Check out Wiki for summary ).
RWBY is an adventure and fantasy series whose plotline makes sense, and , more importantly, is grounded on Remnant’s reality. At first, the 3-D animation of the characters made me a bit skeptical that the American developer, Rooster Teeth , could pull this off. The way the characters ” walk ” does look awkward, as if their feet do not touch the ground……and the eye movements leave much to be desired. Thankfully, the graphics got better. Besides, I didn’t expect the graphics to look like Unchartered 4.
One other thing that I love in RWBY is that it does not follow the anime trope of highly sexualized females, with jiggly , huge knockers, whose main objective is to get into the main guy’s pants. I don’t get that obsession, but well, whatever floats one’s boat. RBWY is only on Volume 4, so let’s see what happens. To date, there is very little romance in the series, and I am fine with that . I hope the developers don’t fall into the pit of fanservice, and start showing young , innocent Ruby’s underwear every time she is in combat .
This is all for now. I hope you can watch RWBY if you haven’t yet. You can actually bingewatch on Rooster Teeth’s YouTube channel. The first 2 volumes are on Netflix’s roster, though I’m not sure if it’s still there.
I rate this 9/10.
Bye for now and thank you for reading.
Renxkyoko's Space 
I would rate the first two volumes up there, maybe as high as 8.356/11.765 (~7/10 on your scale). Mostly enjoyable with some really annoying lapses.
The fight scenes are OK but inconsistent. Tell me you have a most awesome weapon and then have it behave inconsistently (from wiping out gazillion bad guys to unable to bring down a single bad guy even after multiple hits) and I’m not impressed. Also, there is a reason you don’t see drawings and painting of warriors from out own history fighting with sickles or right-angle swords. The reason is that while they may be good for cutting grass and swarms of gnomes, they are not worth much in a battle.
The first two volumes had a semblance of an interesting plot, setting up things with intriguing possibilities.
Volume three I would rate at 6.18/12.36 for even more inconsistent fights and for being all over the place with the plot. Also, there was an underlying love story, except they killed one-half of it at the end of volume three.
Volume four is where the stuff the creators were smoking took hold and they dreamed they were doing a huge epic story; a story they wanted to introduce with a whole lot of episodes that went nowhere, likely invalidated previous stuff, and made no sense to me. Even then, I would have given them a pass for good dialogue and character interaction, but no . . . all they get is 3.78/13.82 and I’m being generous.
I think volume five is out, but my desire to continue has dropped to 1.35/17.63. I might get back to it once all of Volume five is available, but if you had not posted this, I probably would have forgotten all about RWBY.
By the way, I had written a review of sorts . . . https://dispersertracks.com/2016/10/10/sunday-with-my-thoughts-still-thinking/
Very brief and halfway down, and I also linked a couple of YouTube review of the series (in my opinion, excellent reviews — I almost enjoyed them more than the series).
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They will release Volume 5 Fall of 2017.
I guess the later volumes flipped it for me. I ‘ve gotten used to the awkward graphics ( just the walking at this point ) and got to focus on the storyline.
Well, it’s just like Superman able to turn the earth’s axis , but uses too much effort to stop an oncoming train.
Actually, the survivors have not really finished their training when the Academy fell, and therefore have to combine all their powers to defeat the overpowered enemies. Take note, Ruby is about 14 years old, the youngest in the academy, and the rest are just freshmen, still teenagers.
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OK, that explains their immaturity, but not the inconsistencies in what they can do or the power of their weapons.
Let me reiterate. I liked the first two volumes a lot. And that’s the problem; I had high hopes for the continuation of the story (there was a long lag between me watching the first two and the third).
I judge shows I watch based on my desire to rewatch them. I’ll happily rewatch the first two volumes. I’m not that motivated in experiencing volumes three and four again.
BUT . . . I can respect other people liking the entirety of the season.
It could be I look at things from a different perspective because I do write fight scenes and have read a fair amount about real fights. I’m also hypercritical about plot and characters inconsistencies. That’s one thing I try very hard in my writing; characters acting smart (not necessarily as geniuses) and consistent to their strengths and weaknesses. I may not always succeed but I can spot flaws in movies and books I read.
Anyway, if you like the series that much, DO NOT watch the review I linked below. In fact, you should blow that comment away so others don’t watch it.
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I also judge shows based on my desire to rewatch them. For example, Moribito is not a popular show, though I don’t know why it isn’t, and I’ve watched it maybe 5x. Engaged to the Unidentified ? Maybe a dozen times, and only because I like to hear the awful voice of one of the characters, Mashiro…. and the anime’s humor.
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The first anime series I ever watched was Claymore. It’s not even listed in the lists of best anime series out there (at least the ones I’ve seen).
In the course of looking it up for this comment, I found the series on YouTube (subtitled). I had watched it dubbed. Anyway, it was the series that got me interested in Anime, but it also set the bar pretty high (for me).
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Ah, Claymore ! I have the complete manga series and dvd copies…. the problem with the anime of Claymore is … the usual, the developers didn’t finish it, and it always ticks me off when developers do that. That’s why I see to it I read the manga coz it has the proper and true ending. The developers made Full Metal Alchemist with a different ending . THe manga was still on-going. The developers had to make a reboot ( Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood ) with the true ending.
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It’s been a while, but I though Claymore did end (as far as the 26 episodes were concerned) closing its arc. There may be more in the manga, but if just watching the shows, they came to a conclusion, not unlike most movies.
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By the way, here’s the review I mentioned. I would suggest skipping it if you really like the series as much as you do. For me, it helped clarify the narrative flaws that bothered me and I think helped me as a writer to be mindful of those same pitfalls.
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I’m pretty sure I got to watch this. I think I watched 2 links, including the link above.
I guess each to his/her own preferences. There are animes that almost everyone loves , except yours truly. Ex: Snow White with Red Hair. It bored me to tears. Evangelion, which everyone believes is one of the greatest animes of all time. Meh.
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The question , how did Qrow know the location of the Spring Maiden …… take note… Qrow was always AWOL…. he said he ‘d been looking for the location of the Spring Maiden, and I assume/guess his own sister, the leader of the bandits, had inadvertently hinted /implied, whatever, when they met up at that tavern , that the Maiden was with her. Apparently, he and his sister had been communicating secretly.
She is also Yang’s mother. By the way, at first this relationship confused me. Yang and Ruby are sisters, but I guess they’re just half sisters, with the same father but different mothers. Ruby’s mother is deceased. It does look like even Yang knows where her mother ‘s lair is located.
Qrow and Ozpin are ” best friends “. Qrow actually knows more than he lets on. Ozpin’s physical body is just one of the hundreds he has possessed for more than a thousand years. Yeah, hes that old. Theres no reincarnation here. His soul/aura wanders around to look for a body to possess. He finds Oscar.
My own question is…. where did that extreme hatred towards humans come from. I understand that the White Fangs hate humans, but not to the extent that they want to annihilate them….. and Salem, Cinder,, and ilk.
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I checked the fan wiki. His sister didn’t give anything away. At best, he’s guessing and wants to commit a bunch or resources to that guess. But even then, there’s nothing we’ve seen or that he’s hinted that would give us that indication.
Plus, it was all urgent and stuff to get to the Spring Maiden, but he’s wasting time trailing the kids who for some inane reason decide to walk instead of hiring an airship or, like Yang, ride a motorcycle. For that matter, when they helped that town out in volume 4, they might have asked for a ride or a wagon or even a bicycle or two.
Oz possessing bodies makes him eviler than the evil guys. But, if he’s going to possess someone, why not Ruby? He then gets control of these supposedly magical and important gray eyes. Heck, why not possess one of the bad guys? Perhaps the incredibly bad character with the scorpion tail?
As for the hatred, it came from the writers because they needed a plot twist. It wasn’t hinted anywhere before. The idea that the guards would do nothing as their current leader gets skewered, that to a person (fawn?) would have turned against their leader, doesn’t ring true. Then again, if she can’t figure out that every. single. one. of. her. guards. has turned against her, well, then, she probably wasn’t that great a leader to begin with.
The whole fawn dynamic is all screwed up from the get-go. With many scenes that don’t speak to the motivation but rather to the supposed writers thinking it would be “cool” to see a particular scene. I have no idea what Blake is doing, why she is doing it, and what she’s even trying to accomplish. At some point, she too will hate the humans (the writers) because she’ll get tired of trying to look like she knows what she’s doing when no one has told her what her role is supposed to be.
OK . . . breathe . . . count to 27 . . . OK, I’m OK now. And I’ll quit because my blood pressure doesn’t need to spike.
I’ll check back at the end of vol 5 to see how things progressed.
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They probably don’t jiggle because the animation isn’t great. 😉 I kid! I kid!
One of my friends really likes this series. I need to give it a chance one of these days. Whether it’s made in Japan or the West I don’t mind. Anime is cool and so are American cartoons.
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Please give it a chance. Americans do write great stories. he he I’m liking the plot of this one. Let me know what you think.
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RWBY is a severely underrated show. Fans of anime dismiss it because it’s Western, and those with something against anime because it’s an anime. But I don’t think anyone that actually got through the first volume disliked it.
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I almost dropped it myself, not because it’s western, but because I wasn’t used to the graphics. I have to admit that the story ( and the dialogue/script do have a very western feel to it…. maybe that’s the reason. It’s not Asian enough.
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The animation really threw me off as well. I honestly thought it was fan-made thing at first. Plus, Weiss in V1 looked like a white shadow person.
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Vol. 5 is up. The animation and graphics got better. yay !
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I watched the first two episodes of season five. I didn’t find the animation any better. I did notice the sound effects (especially of the characters walking) distracting. They need a better foley artist.
The problem is the story (I won’t be watching the rest of the series). It’s both simplistic (transparent, even) and inconsistent. There’s an argument to be made that there may be more to the plot than what they’ve telegraphed, but if the characters themselves don’t know it, if we assume (reasonably) that they are acting just based on what they say they know, a lot of what I watched was just fill-in fluff.
Yang’s red eyes are completely out of left field and her changed demeanor is a huge switch from Chapter 4. We can infer a few things from all that but, again, completely out of left field. The coincidence of them all converging at the rebel site also doesn’t sit well with me because I know the meaning of the word contrived.
And, maybe I missed it, but how did Qrow know the location of the Spring maiden? And what’s with the reincarnation bit? How did Qrow know Oz was coming back? And, why possess a kid? ARRGH!
I have this sneaky suspicion they are setting up the characters to go up against each other with an eventual reuniting to fight the evil that . . . well, what the heck do the evil people want? Sometimes, they seem more reasonable than the heroes. Certainly, the heroes are more clueless.
But, I get it. Some people like it and I don’t really want to sh . . . er . . . mess that up. I’m just venting because I invested the time and interest into three seasons I thought had promise only to suffer through season four as I waited for these guys to figure out a plot (honest, we could completely erase season four and start at five and I’d be OK and not feel as if I missed much) only to then be presented with these first two episodes.
I caught a con inteview with the two guys writing the show. If I understood them correctly, they envision scenes and then figure out how to get there. They look like they are permanently stoned and immensely pleased with themselves . . . being stoned would at least explain the haphazard sequence of events that I can only presume are supposed to weave through a plot of some sort. I have no idea why they would be pleased with themselves.
Here’s one that still bothers me . . . it’s a little thing, but, dang it, I’m an engineer and know a bit about forces and mass, and reactions, etc.
Yang punches this guy while in the bar. The guy then tumbles multiple times through the air, crashes through the door and ends up sprawled outside. As far as we know, he’s no super-anything. He should be dead. Nope! He gets up with a dopey smile on his face and offers to guide Yang. I repeat, the guy should be dead, or at least severely bruised and limping.
Oh, heck, never mind. Hope the series works out for you.
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Animes don’t make sense. What is important to me, after watching millions of mangas and animes , is that it entertains me, and secondly, it doesn’t aggravate me, and thirdly, there should be very few or no fanservice , at all.
The punching part……. Have you seen, for example, HunterxHunter or Bleach ? Or just about any action/ fantasy anime ? Let’s throw Physics out the window, and just enjoy the show. ^__^
RWBY , to me, is like a breath of fresh air. I’ve almost given up on most Japanese animes .
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It sort of matters when it’s regular people. Either anyone can use animas (or whatever they call it) or no one should ever get hurt.
But, regardless, currently — for me — it only meets one of the three criteria you mention.
Like I said, hope it comes through for you and others who like it. I’ll wait until the series ends and then decide if I want to get back to watching it.
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