RWBY

[areaseven]

RWBY ("Ruby")
Rooster Teeth Productions, 2013-2016
Directed by Monty Oum and Kerry Shawcross
Created by the late Monty Oum (1981-2015)
Written by Miles Luna, Kerry Shawcross and Monty Oum
Running Time: Between 4-18 minutes per episode
Rated TV-PG for sci-fi violence.

Cast
Lindsay Tuggey-Jones as Ruby Red
Karla Eberle as Weiss Schnee
Arryn Zech as Blake Belladonna
Barbara Dunkelman as Yang Xiao Long
Miles Luna as Jaune Arc
Samantha Ireland as Nora Valkyrie

Jen Brown as Pyrrha Nikos
Monty Oum as Lie Ren (Volumes 1-2)

Neath Oum as Lie Ren (Volume 3)

Adam Ellis as Cardin Winchester

Shane Newville as Russel Thrush
Shannon McCormick as Professor Ozpin
Kathleen Zuelch (Tex in Red vs. Blue) as Glynda Goodwitch

Ryan Haywood as Prof. Peter Port

Joel Heyman as Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck

Caiti Ward as Velvet Scarlatina

Michael Jones as Sun Wukong

Kerry Shawcross as Neptune Vasilias

Taylor Pelto as Penny
Garrett Hunter as Adam
Gray G. Haddock as Roman Torchwick

Jessica Nigri (famous cosplayer) as Cinder

J. J. Castillo as Mercury Black

Jack Pattillo as Junior

Margaret Tominey as Melanie and Miltia Malachite

Adam Ellis as Tukson

Jason Rose as Gen. James Ironwood

Patrick Rodriguez as the Shopkeeper

Jen Taylor (Cortana in Halo) as the Narrator

Synopsis
In a world of magic and monsters, four young huntresses-in-training enter Beacon Academy to hone their skills and try their best to get along with each other.

Story: B
Rooster Teeth, the company behind the popular Red vs. Blue series, presents to us their homage to modern anime and role-playing games. RWBY starts off with an action-filled pilot episode, as Ruby Red uses her Crescent Rose scythe to fend off against a group of thugs. Then the series slows its pace to introduce the central characters and mix both anime and western styles of comedy in between.

Animation: B+
The cel-shaded animation is rendered using Poser Pro 2014. Some simplistic designs and lack of detail are signs of the series' low budget. Despite these shortcomings, the presentation wows viewers with its lovely mix of light and dark colors, and the way it captures the anime look.

Soundtrack: A-
Perhaps the show's strongest point is the soundtrack, which consists of the punchy power metal-oriented opening theme "This Will Be the Day" and an array of different ending theme songs.

The Bottom Line
RWBY may be low-budget and short on running time, but it sure beats whatever is on Cartoon Network these days. It's also one of the better western tributes to anime.

Links
Rooster Teeth
Rooster Teeth's Official YouTube Homepage

References
The Internet Movie Database

Edited February 16, 2016 by areaseven

[Legioss]

But how can this exist without going to conventions and showing Powerpoint slides every month for 7 years talking about development? Why didn't their budget limit them to badly proportioned character designs? I was told that no one can make acceptable mature animation and if you tried you would go bankrupt. Yet, there it is and it's great.

[areaseven]

Time to show off some moves...

Edited February 16, 2016 by areaseven

[areaseven]

Here's the opening theme.

And here's a kickass cover by the same dude who did the Pacific Rim theme cover. I'll admit that this is how I actually discovered the series.

[boinger]

Shades of Soul Eater! That was neat!

All this cartoon needs now is a little mecha action.

The Rooster Teeth crew have sure come a long way

from the Red vs. Blue machinma cartoons.

[CoryHolmes]

I've not seen this show, but I've been following its development. I'm not a fan of Monty Oum's style of animation. Heck, I even dislike Haloid.

(yes, I know. Tar, feather, bullseye, tomato target. I like Robotech, I'm used to that treatment )

The one thing that the trailer got perfect was the soundtrack. Without watching the actual show, and based solely on the trailer released a few months ago, I fully agree with A7's rating on the soundtrack

[areaseven]

RWBY is broadcast every Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on Rooster Teeth and Crunchyroll. Episodes are uploaded a week later on Rooster Teeth's YouTube channel.

And now for a quick episode guide to stay current with the series:

Episode 1: "Ruby Rose"

The introduction explains that mankind has battled creatures known as the Grimm for centuries. It was through the discovery of a magical element called "Dust" that the humans defeated the Grimm and built their civilization.

After thwarting an attempted Dust robbery, Ruby is recruited to Beacon Academy, where she joins her elder sister Yang to hone their skills.

Episode 2: "The Shining Beacon, Part 1"

The new batch of students arrive at Beacon Academy, where Ruby meets Weiss - the arrogant heiress to a Dust mining corporation, and Blake - a raven-haired girl who doesn't speak much.

Episode 3: "The Shining Beacon, Part 2"

The cadets are informed that their initiation begins the next day. In the meantime, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang get to know each other before bed time.

Episode 4: "The First Step, Part 1"

As part of the initiation process, the cadets are catapulted toward the Emerald Forest, where each student becomes partners with the first person they make eye contact with for the rest of their stay at the academy.

Episode 5: "The First Step, Part 2"

Ruby pairs with Weiss (reluctantly), while the clumsy Jaune becomes partners with the veteran Pyrrha.

Episode 6: "The Emerald Forest, Part 1"

Yang becomes partners with Blake, while the mysterious Ren battles a snake-like Grimm while putting up with the annoying Nora.

Episode 7: "The Emerald Forest, Part 2"

As the cadets wander through the forest, Jaune and Pyrrha enter a cave, where they encounter a scorpion-like Grimm. Meanwhile, Yang and Blake discover an abandoned structure with chess pieces, which they believe are the relics they are looking for.

[areaseven]

Episode 8: "Players and Pieces"

The main cadets converge at the abandoned structure, where they are cornered by the bird and scorpion Grimm. There, they set aside their differences and fulfill their mission to collect their relics and head toward the old temple.

[Old_Nash]

Great series.

[areaseven]

Check out this guy's cosplay props:

Tatsutetsu

[TehPW]

OK im gonna watch this... i was very enterttained...

[areaseven]

Episode 9: "The Badge and the Burden"

Team RWBY commence their first mission: decorating their new dormitory. It doesn't take them long to realize they're late for class.

[areaseven]

Episode 10: "The Badge and the Burden, Part 2"

Weiss' skills are put to the test in class as a boar-like Grimm is unleashed in front of her, but tensions once again arise between her and Ruby during the demonstration.

"Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be."

Edited September 20, 2013 by areaseven

[areaseven]

Episode 11: "Jaunedice"

Jaune still has not mastered his aura, and he is further demoralized by resident bully Cardin Winchester, leader of Team CRDL.

[areaseven]

Episode 12: "Jaunedice, Part 2"

As Jaune continues to slack off in class, he reveals to Pyrrha why he's in the Academy in the first place.

[technoblue]

I'm late to the party, but I watched episode one last night. The music was fantastic and I may stick with it for that alone.

[areaseven]

Episode 13: "Forever Fall"

Jaune continues to face his dilemma of doing favors for Cardin in order to keep the truth of his enrollment a secret. Meanwhile, the class takes a field trip to the Forest of Forever Fall to collect red sap samples, and Jaune must do one dirty job for Cardin at the cost of his own team.

[areaseven]

Episode 14: "Forever Fall, Part 2"

Jaune's last act of defiance against Cardin is gonna be painful.

[areaseven]

"It's a combat skirt."

"Yeah."

Episode 15: "The Stray"

Tensions arise between Weiss and Blake when another Dust shop in Downtown Vale is robbed and Weiss places the blame on the extremist group White Fang, which consists of Faunus - humanoid outcasts with animal-like features. Weiss demonstrates her distrust toward Faunus while Blake reveals herself to be one of them.

[areaseven]

Episode 16: "Black and White"

During an afternoon tea with the Faunus stowaway Sun Wukong, Blake reveals herself to be a former member of the White Fang who left the group to become a huntress. They both do some investigation to find the real culprit behind the recent string of Dust robberies.

[technoblue]

Another good episode. I think the writers are doing a good job with enhancing the back story of the main characters.

[areaseven]

Junkers Cosplay of San Diego, CA, made this replica of Sun Wukong's signature weapon: a collapsible Bo that splits into two shotgun nunchucks.

Junkers Cosplay

[Dangard Ace]

Bored watching most of this series until the last few episodes. Gun-chuks, terrorist group and Penny.

They need to work on the character interaction with their surroundings though. Felt like I was watching an old episode of Reboot with the way the characters run.

[areaseven]

And now for an evening with the voices of RWBY:

BTW, RWBY Volume 1 is now available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD at Walmart and other video stores. Also pick up the soundtrack on iTunes.

[areaseven]

Volume 2 premieres at RTX on July 4-6.

[karmajay]

I love this show. That intro song never gets old either!

[areaseven]

Good News: RWBY figures are coming this year.

Bad News: They're by McFarlane Toys. And they're overpriced (US$34.95!).

RWBY Ruby Figure - Presale

[mechaninac]

Overpriced by Anime figure standards? Not at all. Overpriced by McFarlane standard quality junk? Absolutely!

[areaseven]

[areaseven]

[areaseven]

And the girls are back.

Chapter 1: "Best Day Ever"

[areaseven]

Chapter 2: "Welcome to Beacon"

[Old_Nash]

And the girls are back.

Chapter 1: "Best Day Ever"

SISTERS! FRIENDS!! Weiss!

Best sentence ever XD

Edited August 8, 2014 by Old_Nash

[karmajay]

I love the new intro to this show!

[areaseven]

Chapter 3: "A Minor Hiccup"