- Episodes : 28 ( 2 seasons)
- Genre : Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Airing Date : July 2013 - ???
- Producers : Rooster Teeth
RWBY Preview / Plot (No Spoilers)
The story of RWBY takes place in a world called, Remnant, where there are creatures of supernatural forces roaming the lands known as, Creatures of the Grimm. Humanity evolves by figuring a way to survive the grasp of the Grimm as they wage war against them. Upon battling with the Grimm, humanity discovers an unknown and mysterious element called Dust, and allows them to use its power of influence against the Grimm in order to take back their lives.
After defeating the Grimm, humanity has flourished peacfully, and have taken certain measures to make sure they never succumb to such a fate again. Hunters and Huntresses are formed, and are trained at an academy specialized in turning those who want to continue to save humanity, into Hunters. That's where the tale of Ruby Rose and her newly found friends begin their journey, as they strive to keep peace amongst everyone in the world from evil influences who seek to destroy all that has been achieved.
Who does RWBY cater to?
RWBY is for people who want to take animation in a different direction. This series is filled with semi-exaggerated situations that seem predictable, but can surprise you from time-to-time. RWBY provides the viewer with a sense of entertainment that is fitting for the western community. For those in Japan, it is something that is quite different and ventures off the anime norm.
The CGI and animation is up to par with most Japanese animation as some can be very computer generated (like RWBY), and should be worth the watch for those interested.
What's so appealing about this piece of work.
The appealing characteristics about this anime is it is considered America's first real anime that can be in competition with Japanese animation. There is a huge debate going around the net, that this series has some qualities seen in Japanimation, but still isn't something that can be called anime.
After seeing what the series has to offer, the final conclusion is that RWBY does have some anime elements in it. It's more exaggerated when displaying fight scenes, character development and art style. As for the voice acting and comedy in the series, it is something that separates itself from the rest, in terms of anime. This can be good or bad, depending on the viewer, which is about equal!
RWBY "Red" Trailer
RWBY "White" Trailer
RWBY "Black" Trailer
RWBY "Yellow" Trailer
RWBY Main Characters List
Ruby Rose
Voice Actor : Lindsay Jones (English)
Saori Hayami (Japanese)
Ruby is the main protagonist in RWBY, as well as the captain of her Huntress team at Beacon Academy. She was able to attend the academy two years ahead of schedule after an impressive display of combat skills which was seen by the headmaster and administrator of Beacon Academy.
Ruby is very sweet, kind, supportive, and skillful in battle with her trusty scythe at hand. What she lacks in her social life, she makes up for as the best in her education and combat abilities. All while in her red riding hood coat as an outfit.
Yang Xiao Long
Voice Actor : Barbara Dunkelman (English)
Ami Koshimizu (Japanese)
Yang is the older sister of Ruby and she is very enthusiastic and optimistic about herself, especially when she found out her little sister was going to Beacon Academy at the same time as her. Yang seems to go with the flow in most situations, good or bad, but she is ultimately carefree when participating in her combat training at the academy. Make no mistakes though, when in a serious bind, she is fierce and one not to be reckoned with.
Yang's abilities are mainly influence with hand-to-hand combat, such as martial arts, but she also uses her beauty to infiltrate enemy hideouts by being somewhat seductive yet, coy.
Weiss Schnee
Voice Actor : Kara Eberle (English)
Yōko Hikasa (Japanese)
Weiss is a character in the series who is raised from a wealthy family and has received much attention as she grew up, but as she matured she comes to realize that all she wants to be is dependent for herself. Weiss is a person who goes by the book, and has rules and guidelines she follows in order to convince herself she doesn't need the help of her family to excel in life (or anyone else for that matter).
Because of this, Weiss has a rotten attitude towards others as she thinks no one takes life seriously, or at least for those going to Beacon Academy. Being a Huntress is her way of proving to her family she doesn't need them, and she does this without realizing what it means to be a Huntress. But as her attitude changes, she learns that teamwork and friendship mean so much more to her than she could have ever imagine.
Blake Belladonna
Voice Actor : Arryn Zech (English)
Yū Shimamura (Japanese)
Blake is the final member to be introduced, she is more calm and mellow than the other three in the group, Team RWBY. She takes life one step at a time and seems neutral about choosing sides or making decisions with the others. Blake also has a secret past she keeps from Ruby, Yang, and Weiss.
Little does she know, the more interactive she is with them, the more their bond grows and for that, no secret is really anything that can judge a person. The only thing is, her secret actually turns out to be information which allows Team RWBY to uncover an even bigger secret right underneath their noses.
Contains Spoilers
RWBY Review
RWBY, also known as Red, White, Black, and Yellow, is about a group of girls who have different lives and attend the same academy to learn and train to be a Hunter. The Beacon Academy is where they attend in order to know the ways of being the defenders of the world, the Hunters. The academy serves as a line of defense against evil creatures known as, Grimm, and was established after having a war with these creatures. Since humanity learned about a mysterious power called Dust, during the war which lead them to victory, mankind as devoted their lives to learning more about it.
Fast forwarding to the present, the series follows Ruby as she excels through life while learning to be Huntress. It is through this academy where she meets new friends and becomes the team leader of their group. Up to this point the series has so far done good job at introducing us to the main character, Ruby. You somewhat relate to her as she is just another girl whose interests exceed many, even her own. As her story continues, the lives of her sister, Yang, as well as Blake and Weiss, come together to form a very strong bond which is one of the major influences in the series.
Everyone plays a role, and you can see their personalities develop as you go further into the series. This is great character development in my opinion, especially after seeing one episode when the team goes out on a scouting party with one of the professors, who ends up asking them the reason for them joining Beacon Academy to become a Huntress. The significant aspects in RWBY obviously has to be the choreographed action scenes in the series, which you get a taste of in the very first episode.
The fight scenes bring new excitement and thrill in a mini-series ONA, as the Hunters demonstrate their combat skills in some miraculous ways. The art style is something that I personally am not a huge fan of, but it is done very well and reminds me of some anime films here in Japan. To create the movements that are the characters in the series, Rooster Teeth used actors and 3D digital mapping which is something you never really see in any form of anime.
It was new, but unnecessary due to the fact that it can be done much smoothly without using 3D mapping and actors. Leave that for video games (ex: The Witcher 3). I did like the weapons in the series as it incorporated blade-like firearms for multiple use in combat. The trailers for each character of Team RWBY demonstrates their use fully, and it is pretty. Now, the comedy on the other hand is definitely something I didn't like, for it was to.....American compared to the outrageous antics from anime in Japan.
For me, western comedy in animation really does make me feel like I am watching a show for children, with no sense of maturity in it, I can see why people would think anime is the same. Well, make no mistake about that, just so we're clear. The comedy in RWBY was a bit hard to swallow, but I can admit it did have some moments where I laughed a few times, mainly because of the situation of a particular character (chuckles). We are now close to end of this review and it is time to talk about the story.
The story is something that can measured up to the writings in several anime, and has grabbed my attention almost from the beginning. That is because the story provides a healthy dose in understanding the characters of the series before crazy events begin to happen. As the story goes on, you learn of the White Fang (not the movie with Ethan Hawke), also know as a Faunus, and how Blake is a member of this race. She discovers that her people are part of a syndicate plan to take over the city of Remnant, and then the world.
Although, they aren't the ones in charge of such a scheme, the Faunus are influenced by an even smaller group lead by a woman named Cinder, who is voiced by the popular cosplayer, Jessica Nigri. Cinder's group also has influence on the military in the city of Remnant, and will attempt to use its newly developed war machines to take over the city. All of this was discovered by the members of Team RWBY and professor Bartholomew when out on a routine scout.
They reveal that Cinder's group wants to use the Grimm to strike fear in the people eyes living in Remnant, by leading them trough an under ground subway which runs under the city. Needless to say, they succeed, but now we have new characters introduced in the series which strikes interest, not only in the eyes of the viewer, but myself as well. Unfortunately, that is where the series ends for the moment and it looks as if there is going to be a continuation of the series sometime in this year in 2015.
Many were to believe that the series would never continue due to the tragic death of the RWBY creator, Monty Oum. He passed away earlier this year in January, after having an allergic reaction to some medicine during a routine medical procedure. The reaction was server and had Monty in comatose almost immediately, sending him to the ICU with doctors not knowing if he would recover. That happened on the 22nd of January, by the 1st of February, Monty was unable to awaken from the coma and passed away that day.
Our condolences go out to his wife and family! As for the continuation of RWBY, it has been announced by one of the production members they will continue the series, as it should release as planned according to schedule around July 5th!?
1. The Faunus
They are a group of beings very similar to humans but with a more animal like characteristic to them, mainly having ears like a cat or other fury creatures of the wild. They are considered as an outcast race in the community of Remnant city. They have protested on several occasions throughout their existence to have the same right as the humans in order to be treated equally.
In a way, they can be related to certain situations going on today in our modern world. The Faunus are ambitious for equality as they now begin to take action by force, and since they are influence by Cinder and her members to do their bidding, they believe it will bring justice to the humans for all the discrimination done to them. But in all, they are simply a race who want to live in peace.
2. Dust
Dust is a source of energy that is somewhat mysterious and controlled by those who know how. It is very useful in a wide variety of purposes, mainly in weaponry which can be demonstrated throughout the series by those who are official Hunters. Dust is a natural resource in the world of Remnant, but it is also known as "Natures Wrath."
This resource is made up of the aura from humans and Faunus alike, and exists in four different forms of energy that can be combined to create both artificial and natural forms of new energy. This can be use for good or evil depending on who controls it.
The four basic forms of energy are Red (fire), Blue (ice), Yellow (Lightning), and Green (Wind). There are other colors of energy after combining the basics, and they are cyan, white, purple, bright orange and dark orange. Dust is used to operate a lot of technology in Remnant other than weapons, including airships, androids, and even the city street lights.
The Grimm
Grimm are the main creature/monsters in the world of RWBY, and they exist in various parts of Remnant. Also known as, creatures of destruction, they don't have a soul and prevents them from using any kind of aura. An interesting fact about the Grimm is they are attracted to negativity, like envy, sadness, loneliness, and hatred.
It is said that the Grimm were once normal animals of Earth, where the bodies were taken over or possessed by some sort of evil spirit, or they are the spirits of tortured animals.
Overall, RWBY is a very entertaining series filled with tons of action and choreographed fight scenes, as well as a pretty solid story for what is presented so far. Although, the actual story doesn't really kick in until the second season, leaving the first season to focus more on the characters in a good way. The only thing that wasn't very intriguing and also took away the experience of the show was the westernized comedy being conducted throughout the series.
The second thing is the voice acting, as it is VERY westernized and seems to lack in emotion when comparing to Japanese animation, but maybe it because I prefer Japanese seiyuus for their amazing voice acting abilities compared to western voice actors which can seem a bit coy and non-believable. So, in saying this, RWBY is an average series that has its moments.
Now, can it be considered as an anime in relation to Japanese animation, that would be, no. The animation movement which should flow nicely with the emotions conveyed by the voice actors isn't up to par, and that is a very important quality in anime. Then we have the comedy which is very exaggerated, in my opinion, and lacks the outlandish antics presented in Japanese anime because, let be honest, it's anime.
The other point that would not make this a Japanese anime is its origin of production. All of these qualities, or lack thereof, are talked about on the internet in hopes of trying to find a way to accept RWBY as an anime. Ultimately, and unfortunately, it is not "anime."
Of course, there is still room for constructive arguments if any of you feel different about this conclusion. In consideration of our sanity, please provide solid information which makes sense and not an outburst of hatred for breaking your heart. Let's see if we can all agree that RWBY can be considered an anime! Let the comments begin and let's converse amongst ourselves!
Author: Alfonso "Fonzy" Ortiz
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