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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:10 pm Reply with quote
It wonders me who that redhead who's briefly revealed after Jaune, getting right on the nose, asked forlornly and rhetorically, "where will I find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" is. Throwaway? Foreshadowing? Tiparillo?

Well, she appears in the opening, as I've only just noticed, so I presume not throwaway. (There are too many w's in that word anyway... too many y's in that one)

Some of the dialog in this episode felt gratingly cliche to me. (Weiß' and Ruby's little, "we can paint our nails and talk about cute boys et cetera. Really? No." exchange was more than little old hat) I feel like it's teetering between a real dynamic and stock 'teenage girls #42" one. The bit where Ruby and Yang became a cloud of dust with limbs flying around kind of hurt to look at.

My, my, my, my Mitchell, am I cranky. I must have done a good deed.

Of course, it's not at all all bad.

I dug Yang's 'lusty' tone and her habit of quite literally strong-arming Ruby around. (Her shoulder's do jut upward a bit rather than the more traditionally feminine slender slope and bully for that, I say!)

"What are you doing? Idon'tknowhelpme!" I liked that. I like Yang and Ruby's dynamic too; I can't assess from experience as I had only a brother with whom I am not especially close, but it feels fairly natural. That said, given that they look very different and presumably have different ethnic backgrounds, I'd bet on a dead parent with an adoption scenario for one or maybe even both.

Ruby keeps on being damned adorable. The voices for both feel surprisingly right for the characters. Nobody in this show sounds too squeally or so giggly that I suspect brain damage.

I also found Blake's reaction believable. She wasn't straightforwardly rude, but didn't seem to put a value on interacting with Ruby until she showed an interest in the book, which drew slightly hesitant, guarded engagement out of her. We may presumably take this as a sign of not just a naturally withdrawn character, but also of personal loss or betrayal.

Five dollars says we see some sort of combat training or practice in the next episode.


Last edited by Surrender Artist on Sun Aug 04, 2013 8:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Crisha
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Joined: 21 Apr 2010
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:05 pm Reply with quote
Surrender Artist wrote:
It wonders me who that redhead who's briefly revealed after Jaune, getting right on the nose, asked forlornly and rhetorically, "where will I find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" is. Throwaway? Foreshadowing? Tiparillo?

Well, she appears in the opening, as I've only just noticed, so I presume not throwaway.

Yup, she's part of his four-man team, along with an orange-haired girl and an Asian-looking boy in green.

Surrender Artist wrote:
Weiß' and Ruby's little, "we can paint our nails and talk about cute boys et cetera. Really? No." exchange was more than little old hat.

What, you mean you've never had your enemies taunt you by pretending to be friends and offering to braid your hair and go for bikini waxes together? Oh, SA, you've been denied all the great things in life.

A lot of the jokes on the show are well-worn. I personally haven't come across one yet that has annoyed me - then again, I'm quite partial and biased to the show, which muchly improves my impressions of the episodes watched.

If they throw in a boob-faceplant gag though (which they probably won't since they're avoiding that kind of fanservice)... eugh.

Surrender Artist wrote:
The bit where Ruby and Yang became a cloud of dust with limbs flying around kind of hurt to look at.

Aww, c'mon, it's a throwback visual gag to the Hanna-Barbera days. They're including a mixture of anime sight gags and early American cartoon sight gags. I personally like the mix-up. It's a little rough around the edges, but being an indie creation I think it does well.

You might want to watch out, you're starting to sound like those complainers in the "American anime" thread. Wink

Surrender Artist wrote:
Well, that's a cranky opinion, but it's not all bad.

Mr. Grumpy McNit-pick. Razz

But as for Ruby, Yang, and Blake - I agree on all of your comments.
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Crisha
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:17 pm Reply with quote
Professor Ozpin is a dick. LaughingLaughing Also, the Emerald Forest. I'm slow on the uptake not recognizing the reference to the Wizard of Oz sooner.





Yup, that about sums up episode 4.

I love how Lie Ren's emblem color is pink, and that he has pink eyes. I always thought green and pink look good together. He handles his sugar-rush friend, Nora Valkyrie, quite well - I was pleasantly surprised to hear him respond to the conversation that one moment instead of telling her off (I was expecting a "Nora, please be quiet"). It makes it seem like their friendship is close - that he might appreciate her for who she is - rather than someone he just puts up with. Or maybe it's a bit of both. I'm looking forward to seeing more of their dynamics.

Pyrrha Nikos... I think I'm gonna need to see more of her. Right now she seems kind of bland, especially with all of the more expressive personalities surrounding her. Fans had speculated that based off of her clothing that her name might have something to do with Greek mythology. And sure enough! Her outfit does remind me quite a bit of Trojan armor.

There was also a similar theory about Nora being from Norse mythology since her emblem looks like a hammer (reminiscent of Thor). And once again, they're right.

I'm not certain about Lie Ren though. His emblem and last name stands for lotus, but I'm not certain how he ties in with his team. We've got references to Jeanne d'Arc, Pyrrha, and valkyries... I wonder who he is?

Ruby's awkwardness with people, desire to not move out of her comfort zone, and preference for weapons is a nice change of pace. Then again, it's probably not as novel as I'm thinking - it's just with all of the Precure shows lately, it's hard not to compare. She's got the idealism and eagerness down. But she doesn't seem to possess the same charisma or people-friendly skills that many of those lead females have. Ruby seems to prefer shying away from that stuff rather than embrace it and surround herself with others. She's clearly not a leader yet, but I can see the potential.

Oh Jaune. You are such an awesome dork. (I think I'm probably going to be saying this once per episode for a while Anime hyper) I love his voice work - I think the VA does a great job capturing and expressing him.

I noticed in the line-up that Blake wasn't present. I wonder if she's been at Beacon for a while? Her age is the same as Yang's and Weiss' on info sites I've found, but I wonder if she's like Ruby where she got into the academy early? Or maybe she's just with a different group of students that got launched someplace else or at a different time.

There were two fighter guys in the group who weren't blacked out that I'm not familiar with. I wonder if they're redshirts who gonna get killed off sometime in the upcoming episodes just to make a point that, yes, this training exercise is dangerous - or else, why not just black them out?

Looks like the next episode brings back the action! Looking forward to it!

Lesson learned this episode? Clearly a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Plan is not enough... I need to learn a Landing Strategy as well. Laughing

And now starts another week of waiting. Le sigh.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:32 pm Reply with quote
willag wrote:
Surrender Artist wrote:
Weiß' and Ruby's little, "we can paint our nails and talk about cute boys et cetera. Really? No." exchange was more than little old hat.

What, you mean you've never had your enemies taunt you by pretending to be friends and offering to braid your hair and go for bikini waxes together? Oh, SA, you've been denied all the great things in life.


Well, my lifelong self-loathing, defensive misanthropy and cynicism make me regard all such entreaties as probable mockery. I've probably missed some sincere invitations because of that...

Also, I might not have been entirely sure who my enemies were... I'm oblivious and easily confused like that.

Where am I? Who are you? What's going on? AAAHHHHH!

willag wrote:
A lot of the jokes on the show are well-worn. I personally haven't come across one yet that has annoyed me - then again, I'm quite partial and biased to the show, which muchly improves my impressions of the episodes watched.


Certain familiar jokes are very 'marked' as stock to me and it just chafes me. Something like that feels like the the writers aren't trying hard enough or are just unaware. I really want to like this show too. I am almost unreasonable biased in favor of women being all crazy badass, but certain things I can't help being picky about.

willag wrote:
If they throw in a boob-faceplant gag though (which they probably won't since they're avoiding that kind of fanservice)... eugh.


Would be a potential deal breaker for me. That's an anime influence that I'd be happy for them to reject.

willag wrote:
Surrender Artist wrote:
The bit where Ruby and Yang became a cloud of dust with limbs flying around kind of hurt to look at.


Aww, c'mon, it's a throwback visual gag to the Hanna-Barbera days. They're including a mixture of anime sight gags and early American cartoon sight gags. I personally like the mix-up. It's a little rough around the edges, but being an indie creation I think it does well.


I see those gags as very distinctly products of their time and medium, it makes them look out of place and awkward to me. I more or less feel that way about all of the old-timey (well, 50s-80s) cartoony visual cues that they've used. By curious coincidence, and this will seem pretty out of left field, I had a similar complaint against a few scenes in The Flowers of Evil. Takao and Sawa never turned into a cloud of dust, but there were a few parts where Sawa would do something like seemingly teleport abruptly from point to point, which just jarred me.

(Unless somebody wants to claim that RWBY makes allegories to Proust, this is probably the least expected point of comparison that will appear in this thread)

willag wrote:
You might want to watch out, you're starting to sound like those complainers in the "American anime" thread. Wink


Ouch! Couldn't you have just been nice by comparing me to Hitler instead?

willag wrote:
Surrender Artist wrote:
Well, that's a cranky opinion, but it's not all bad.

Mr. Grumpy McNit-pick. Razz


Well, I had just run out of lemonade. I'm grumpy when I don't have my citrus.

If I may be suffered a nitpick for the most recent episode: If the students were launched from their pads into the forest in sequence with long enough gaps between launches for the characters to have brief conversations, then why did they appear in a single group in midair before falling to the ground at the end?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I had meant to watch episode four earlier, but that pesky Otakon got in the way.

This was another 'getting there' episode, but we do have to get the band together after all. I do wonder how they'll execute that. We naturally assume that Ruby, Weiß, Blake and Yang will end up as a team. It's the bloody title after all. However, Blake doesn't appear among those launched into the forest (perhaps she's exempted or already in the forest for some reason) and there's no guarantees, so perhaps the team will be different at first and be rearranged later for some reason or perhaps RWBY will never be an official, de jure team. (Most grimly, somebody'll be paired with a Redshirt who gets f**king murdered and needs to be replaced with a pall of guilt put over the survivor)

Weiß' manner of speech with Pyrhha stood out as odd. It sounded affected and she was avoiding contractions. (I felt that the voice actress' performance was a off-mark too) I wonder if this is a trait that I missed in her prior appearances or an affectation that she was affecting to impress Pyrhha, who has a rather formal manner herself. I tend to doubt that they'll take this tack, but an obvious opportunity is that she'll turn out to feel trapped in her apparent perfection and high achievement and thus either rebel or become depressed. That would give her a character arc.

Man, I'm writing a lot about a six-minute show. (Well, this episode was seven and a half minutes long)

willag wrote:
...I was pleasantly surprised to hear him respond to the conversation that one moment instead of telling her off (I was expecting a "Nora, please be quiet").


I kind of liked that too. It actually shows them to friends as close as Nora was very energetically telling us.

Nora annoyed me. I'm not sure if was her character archetype or because that kind of person would annoy me.

On the subject of boobs... did anybody else notice that Yang's right breast deformed in a weird way at when she raised her arm at 2:18? (*sigh* Lock on to what boobs are doing, how bro of me)

willag wrote:
I'm not certain about Lie Ren though. His emblem and last name stands for lotus, but I'm not certain how he ties in with his team. ... I wonder who he is?


Lotus, eh? That might explain why he's so laid back.

willag wrote:
Ruby's awkwardness with people, desire to not move out of her comfort zone, and preference for weapons is a nice change of pace. Then again, it's probably not as novel as I'm thinking - it's just with all of the Precure shows lately, it's hard not to compare. She's got the idealism and eagerness down. But she doesn't seem to possess the same charisma or people-friendly skills that many of those lead females have. Ruby seems to prefer shying away from that stuff rather than embrace it and surround herself with others...


I like that Ruby's being portrayed as socially uncomfortable. As somebody who's slow to make friends and doesn't know what to do when either not alone in a room or in a room with too few people to disappear into the crowd, I appreciate not just being given another outgoing gladhander as our heroine. Portraying her as enthusiastic and bubbly when she's in familiar contexts, but not instinctively social feels realistic as well as appealing to me. It also, as you've observed, sets an clear character arc up for her.

"I don't need people to help me grow up. I drink milk!" I liked that.

willag wrote:
Looks like the next episode brings back the action! Looking forward to it!


I hope Yang punches something. I like it when Yang punches things.
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larinon



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Posts: 992
Location: Midland, TX
PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 12:12 pm Reply with quote
So it turns out you can now preorder the BD ans DVD versions of RWBY. http://roosterteeth.com/store/product.php?id=435 . Unfortunately they dont give any details about runtime or specific extras. If I had to guess, it'll fall near two hours and I bet we'll get some nice behind the scenes stuff about how it's mo-capped and animated. Also at least one commentary, staged outtakes, maybe a deleted scene or two. Typical stuff for RT releases at least.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:44 pm Reply with quote
Birdy no!

Episode five is only four minutes and thirty two seconds long, which is a little short. Episode four was a little long. I wonder if there was a hitch in the production or writing that led to what was planned as one episode being split a little unevenly into two.

Each character's 'landing strategy' seemed indicative of their personalities in some way. Yang was definitely having big, brassy, fiery fun. The animation sill little pretty awkward at times; I hope that they eventually find some way past what I presume are technical limitations.

I think I begin to see what they're trying to do with Pyrhha. They seem to trying to contrast her impressive reputation and skills with a personality that's unassumingly forthright, almost innocent in a way, and not so much humble as not even aware that she could be haughty. She still seems a touch ill-defined, but I think that she'll play off of her teammate well.

Half of RWBY has been formed and it's exactly as I should have expected, because that's how these stories go. The gag they pulled after the formal eye-contact was really simple, but worked in context and low-key be nature, so I liked it. Ruby's reaction afterwards was amusing too.

I think that much of why I'm enjoying this is that I find Ruby so disarmingly adorable and likeable in ways that don't debase or subordinate her character. Somebody who's bubbly and energetic, yet badass on top, but a shy dork at her heart is quite appealing and accessible. It's also a little idiosyncratic for a female protagonist, which I dig. I also just find RWBY relaxing to just sit back and like.

And at the very end, we get to see a character who has not heretofore done anything like it show a little hint of vulnerability and fear.

We also get to see a promise that next episode: shit. will. go. down.
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A Mystery



Joined: 10 Oct 2010
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Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 4:16 am Reply with quote
For some reason Crunchyroll decided that I could watch this too, so I'm gonna try it.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:29 pm Reply with quote
In regards to episode three.

A Mystery wrote:
For some reason Crunchyroll decided that I could watch this too, so I'm gonna try it.


Neat!

I think that as RWBY is not controlled by a Japanese studio, there aren't of their usual region restrictions attached.
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Crisha
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:42 pm Reply with quote
So, I just rewatched all nine released videos on Crunchyroll. I think that's a smart idea getting the series on Crunchyroll - it helps aim for a wider crowd that would be interested in such a series.

They've cleaned up some of the episodes I noticed. Episode 2 had an animation error originally that got corrected for the Crunchyroll release. Normally, Ruby carries Crescent Rose on her back when she's not using it. At one point in episode two - when she's talking with Yang - Ruby transforms Crescent Rose into its scythe form, but the inactive form is still present on her back. They removed the one from her back on Crunchyroll's release of episode 2.

Something else I noticed, I don't think Jaune's shield had his crest/emblem on it originally - I think it was blank. But it shows up in gold now on Crunchyroll's episode 2.

So, I had a thought while rewatching the episodes. During the intro sequence, there are three sets of antagonists shown - the monsters, Torchwick and his men, and then three people in shadows with the one in the middle being the magic user from the first episode. What if those three are part of the White Fang?

Which got me thinking about some other things. Speculation follows: spoiler[First, the White Fang is an extremist group of Fauna that have decided to rely upon more aggressive measures, which is why they ended up disturbing the peaceful Fauna Civil Rights Protest. Episode 1 didn't elaborate much on what happened, so it's kind of hard to tell whether or not White Fang is actually opposed to the Fauna CRP and were trying to stop it or whether they're a more extremist group fighting on the same side who turned the protest into a riot. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I'm uncertain.]

spoiler[Second, Blake is Fauna (or part-Fauna). Which ties into the third speculation that she was originally a part of the White Fang and broke away because she didn't agree with their methods (the first episode mentioned them having once being peaceful, but they ended up starting a riot at the Fauna Civil Rights Protest). Adam's disregard for the people on the train was something that clearly bothered her. I'm thinking that the Black trailer shows her defection from the group (or maybe it's just a red herring, and really she is still working for the group and is now a double agent inside of Beacon). Anyways, her talk with Ruby in the third episode about real life not being a fairy tale (implying that there are no such things as happy endings) seems to indicate some sort of "loss of innocence" in terms of how the world works. Having to either - A: Take a side/stance against those who were once her friends/family OR B: Continue working for friends/family whose methods she doesn't personally agree with (A or B depending upon whether she's still working for White Fang) - I think that would be a pretty demoralizing situation. I can imagine a young Blake who's similar to Ruby - a girl with dreams who's going to change the world and make it a better place. One where she isn't treated like "an animal" "into subjugation" as mentioned in the Black trailer. But then she grows up and realizes that her dreams don't involve heroics as she might have imagined... that those around her use methods she disagrees with.]

spoiler[So, continuing on from the second and third speculation, is the fourth, that the crimson woman in shadows with gold eyes is related to Blake. My first thought was that she was her mother, but she may be a sister or an aunt. Similar to Blake, her eyes are catlike and shine gold (I don't know why I never noticed such similarities before). I'm kinda wondering if the guy to the left of her during the opening sequence is Adam - the hair isn't exactly the same though but it's close.]


Surrender Artist wrote:
Birdy no!

I loled.

Surrender Artist wrote:
Episode five is only four minutes and thirty two seconds long, which is a little short. Episode four was a little long. I wonder if there was a hitch in the production or writing that led to what was planned as one episode being split a little unevenly into two.

It just might be that that was the best place to end episode four. Given Rooster Teeth's history with RvB, they're pretty good with timing their humor (comedy is just as much about the delivery and timing as it is about the joke itself, arguably even moreso... sometimes taking that extra pause can really help sell the joke). Having it end with Professor Ozpin just calmly watching the students get catapulted into the air (with Jaune taken by surprise) was a pretty great way to end the episode. Several laughs were had on my end. Ozpin is such a dick. Anime hyper

Of course, it could just be because of the animation schedule.

Surrender Artist wrote:
Each character's 'landing strategy' seemed indicative of their personalities in some way. Yang was definitely having big, brassy, fiery fun.

Yes, I think so as well. Pyrrha is gonna be another powerhouse if the way she crashed through those trees is any indication. Perhaps not with the same gusto as Yang, but still there.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I think I begin to see what they're trying to do with Pyrhha. They seem to trying to contrast her impressive reputation and skills with a personality that's unassumingly forthright, almost innocent in a way, and not so much humble as not even aware that she could be haughty. She still seems a touch ill-defined, but I think that she'll play off of her teammate well.

Yeah, I'm liking her more. She's a very earnest individual. And I can see her as someone with a firm code of honor, never one to betray her teammates. I thought her "I'm sorry!" for pinning Jaune a second time - despite saving him - was cute.

I can see Team RWBY stuck within the storming phase longer than Team JPLN, who all seem a lot more easy-going.

Surrender Artist wrote:
I think that much of why I'm enjoying this is that I find Ruby so disarmingly adorable and likeable in ways that don't debase or subordinate her character. Somebody who's bubbly and energetic, yet badass on top, but a shy dork at her heart is quite appealing and accessible. It's also a little idiosyncratic for a female protagonist, which I dig. I also just find RWBY relaxing to just sit back and like.

I think there are many reasons I like this series. One, of course, being Ruby for many of the reasons you mentioned.

Two, for the references and hints thrown in throughout the trailers and episodes that could potentially give an insight/details to the characters or what's going on in the story. It was one reason why I loved Madoka Magica so much when I first saw the series, and why I loved Princess Tutu as well. I like it when creators throw in quotes or metaphors or tie in fairy tales/stories or give characters names that have meaning - something extra for fans to speculate over. I love joining in on gab about speculation with other fans. I enjoy analyzing series or reading about other people's analyses. It's a big part of the fandom experience that helps enhance my enjoyment of the series. RWBY has a pretty dedicated Wiki that I've been hanging around lately. I did the exact same thing with Madoka Magica at its Wiki while the series was ongoing. And after I finished Princess Tutu, I found a livejournal dedicated to the series where several fans (who have a background in the arts or music) gave their analysis and explanations on the music choices of the series or gave further insights about the operas or ballets being referenced. That fandom interaction can really help make a series more enjoyable for me (as if anyone couldn't tell with my mile-long write-ups after each episode).

Three, just the characters in general. I like the personalities that have shown up and I like how they're being presented, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them.

Four, the humor. The humor is in line with what I enjoy.

Five, the choreography of the fights. All of them have been pretty damn cool, and I'm looking forward to seeing more. Hopefully the next episodes starts right where episode 5 left off. It promises to be a pretty cool fight.

-----

larinon wrote:
So it turns out you can now preorder the BD ans DVD versions of RWBY. http://roosterteeth.com/store/product.php?id=435 . Unfortunately they don't give any details about runtime or specific extras. If I had to guess, it'll fall near two hours and I bet we'll get some nice behind the scenes stuff about how it's mo-capped and animated. Also at least one commentary, staged outtakes, maybe a deleted scene or two. Typical stuff for RT releases at least.

Dude, totally preordering that BD. Yay!

I've been looking at other RWBY merchandise on the site as well. I'm tempted to buy the shirt or zip-up hoodie.
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MrTerrorist



Joined: 20 Oct 2010
Posts: 1348
PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:30 pm Reply with quote


Plot:
Quote:
“Mankind lived in peace until the arrival of "The Grim", malevolent creatures who emerged from the darkness to attack humanity. To fight back, mankind created a magical energy source known as "Dust" and used its power to not only drive back the Grim but catalyze the growth of civilization across the planet.

In the present day, "Hunters" are trained in special schools to harness the Dust and become protectors of the peace. One such trainee, an idealistic girl named Ruby Rose, is scouted by the elite Beacon Academy and allowed to skip two years worth of training to attend. Once there, she is placed into a team with three other students: Yang Xiao Long, her boisterous big sister; Weiss Schnee, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company; and Blake Belladonna, a mysterious and aloof girl. Though initial tensions are high, the forces of darkness are preparing to return and the four girls must learn to work together to have any chance of surviving.”


From Rooster Teeth, the team behind Red VS Blue and Monty Oum, the creator of the Dead Fantasy series, comes RWBY, an action anime-style 3D web series.

Thanks to the introduction trailers of four of the main characters, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, the series has gotten quite a buzz on the net before it's official airing. Since the first episode aired on July 18, 2013, it's currently Rooster Teeth's most popular series thanks to new viewers and fans including from Japan! It's even on Crunchyroll!

If i have describe RWBY, it would be Black Rock Shooter meets Soul Eater. Even though it's made in North America, the series does have common anime tropes you find in anime. The 3D animation is great especially the fight scenes (This is Monty Oum we are talking about.) and i love the music which is a mixture of rock, orchestra and techno. As for the voice acting, it's ok and the voice actors/actresses do a fine job conveying their characters.

You can watch RWBY at Rooster Teeth's Official website, their youtube page www.youtube.com/user/RoosterTeeth‎ or on Crunchyroll.


Wikipedia link

TV Tropes page
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Crisha
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 12:40 am Reply with quote
I created a thread in the Community section, partially because I wasn't certain a thread in the anime section would be allowed. I'll go ahead and post some of my thoughts from that thread here - hopefully the moderators will allow it to stay.

Anyways, I've been following this series pretty closely, and I'm really enjoying it, for many different reasons.

One, for the references and hints thrown in throughout the trailers and episodes that could potentially give an insight/details to the characters or what's going on in the story. It was one reason why I loved Madoka Magica so much when I first saw the series, and why I loved Princess Tutu as well. I like it when creators throw in quotes or metaphors or tie in fairy tales/stories or give characters names that have meaning - something extra for fans to speculate over. I love joining in on gab about speculation with other fans. I enjoy analyzing series or reading about other people's analyses. It's a big part of the fandom experience that helps enhance my enjoyment of the series. RWBY has a pretty dedicated Wiki that I've been hanging around lately. I've been writing long write-up thought posts after each episode in the Community section, so to any who has seen those, it is probably pretty apparent how much I enjoy that fandom aspect.

Two, just the characters in general. I like the personalities that have shown up and I like how they're being presented, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them.

Ruby's awkwardness with people, desire to not move out of her comfort zone, and preference for weapons is a nice change of pace. Then again, it's probably not as novel as I'm thinking - it's just with all of the Precure shows lately, it's hard not to compare. She's got the idealism and eagerness down. But she doesn't seem to possess the same charisma or people-friendly skills that many of those lead females have. Ruby seems to prefer shying away from that stuff rather than embrace it and surround herself with others. She's clearly not a leader yet, but I can see the potential.

Weiss has come off different than what her trailer first implied. I was getting more kuudere vibes from her then, but now I'm picking up more tsundere. Of the four main girls, she's the one I like the least, but I don't dislike her. I'm looking forward to seeing how her friendship with Ruby develops now that they're partners.

As for Blake, I've been intrigued by her since the Black trailer, and I think she rivals with Yang for favorite character still (or, I guess, potential favorite is more appropriate considering how little we know of her). Most of my discussion about her revolves around speculation, which I'm going to have to put behind spoilers.

And then there's Yang. I like her so much. I like her fighting style, I like her upfront, no-holds-bar attitude, I like her antics with her sister (Ruby and Yang act like sisters who are close, which I appreciate having my own sister I'm close to). I just really like her in general.

And then there's Jaune Arc and his team, who are also fun and quirky. I'm always a fan of dorky Jaune. His antics never fail to get a laugh out of me each episode.

I love how Lie Ren's emblem color is pink, and that he has pink eyes. I always thought green and pink look good together. He handles his sugar-rush friend, Nora Valkyrie, quite well - I was pleasantly surprised to hear him respond to the conversation instead of telling her off in episode 4 (I was expecting a "Nora, please be quiet"). It makes it seem like their friendship is close - that he might appreciate her for who she is - rather than someone he just puts up with. Or maybe it's a bit of both. I'm looking forward to seeing more of their dynamics.

As for Pyrrha Nikos, I'm warming up to her more. I thought she was kind of bland at the beginning. She's a very earnest individual. And I can see her as someone with a firm code of honor, never one to betray her teammates. I thought her "I'm sorry!" for pinning Jaune a second time - despite saving him - was cute.

Of Jaune's team, Ren is the only one whose reference I'm not certain of. His emblem and last name stands for lotus, but I'm not certain how he ties in with his team. We've got references to Jeanne d'Arc, Pyrrha, and valkyries... I wonder who he is?

Other things about the series that I love are the humor and fight scenes. The choreography of the fights is really good. All of them have been pretty damn cool, and I'm looking forward to seeing more. Hopefully the next episodes starts right where episode 5 left off. It promises to be a pretty cool fight.

----

As for speculation (very Blake specific):

So, I had a thought while rewatching the episodes on Crunchyroll. During the intro sequence, there are three sets of antagonists shown - the monsters, Torchwick and his men, and then three people in shadows with the one in the middle being the magic user from the first episode. What if those three are part of the White Fang mentioned in episode 1?

Which got me thinking about some other things. Speculation follows: spoiler[First, the White Fang is an extremist group of Fauna that have decided to rely upon more aggressive measures, which is why they ended up disturbing the peaceful Fauna Civil Rights Protest. Episode 1 didn't elaborate much on what happened, so it's kind of hard to tell whether or not White Fang is actually opposed to the Fauna CRP and were trying to stop it or whether they're a more extremist group fighting on the same side who turned the protest into a riot. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I'm uncertain.]

spoiler[Second, Blake is Fauna (or part-Fauna). Which ties into the third speculation that she was originally a part of the White Fang and broke away because she didn't agree with their methods (the first episode mentioned them having once being peaceful, but they ended up interfering with the Fauna Civil Rights Protest). Adam's disregard for the people on the train was something that clearly bothered her. I'm thinking that the Black trailer shows her defection from the group (or maybe it's just a red herring, and really she is still working for the group and is now a double agent inside of Beacon). Anyways, her talk with Ruby in the third episode about real life not being a fairy tale (implying that there are no such things as happy endings) seems to indicate some sort of "loss of innocence" in terms of how the world works. Having to either - A: Take a side/stance against those who were once her friends/family OR B: Continue working for friends/family whose methods she doesn't personally agree with (A or B depending upon whether she's still working for White Fang) - I think that would be a pretty demoralizing situation. I can imagine a young Blake who's similar to Ruby - a girl with dreams who's going to change the world and make it a better place. One where she isn't treated like "an animal" "into subjugation" as mentioned in the Black trailer. But then she grows up and realizes that her dreams don't involve heroics as she might have imagined... that those around her use methods she disagrees with.]

spoiler[So, continuing on from the second and third speculation, is the fourth, that the crimson woman in shadows with gold eyes is related to Blake. My first thought was that she was her mother, but she may be a sister or an aunt. Similar to Blake, her eyes are catlike and shine gold (I don't know why I never noticed such similarities before). I'm kinda wondering if the guy to the left of her during the opening sequence is Adam - the hair isn't exactly the same though but it's close.]


Anyways, I'm going to be pre-ordering the blu-ray. I think of everything I'm watching this summer, RWBY's episodes are the ones I most look forward to on a weekly basis. Not that I don't love any of the anime I'm watching. I'm keeping up with three series this summer that I'm really enjoying - Uchoten Kazoku, Attack on Titan, and Free! I think the fandom discussion and speculation has a big reason to do with that. But it's also because it has a bunch of kick-ass females with personalities that I enjoy and want to see more of - Yang, Blake, and Ruby definitely. And the humor is definitely in line with what makes me laugh.

Looking forward to more!
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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 11442
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 1:24 am Reply with quote
willag wrote:
I created a thread in the Community section, partially because I wasn't certain a thread in the anime section would be allowed. I'll go ahead and post some of my thoughts from that thread here - hopefully the moderators will allow it to stay.

MrTerrorst actually asked if it would be okay. And I figured as long as he and anyone else interested in the series could make as many comparisons or interesting discussions between this and anime, then they can have at it.

I mean, we've had people talk about Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Oban Star Racers, and probably a handful of other non-Japanese titles, and those threads went pretty well. Hopefully, if any users feel the need to dissent, they can at least be civil or make decent arguments, themselves, as to why this thread should or shouldn't be allowed.
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Divineking



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 7:08 am Reply with quote
Interesting having a thread for this series in this section. Hopefully it actually lasts a while Laughing

Going off of the trailers I was expecting the series to have a bit more of a serious tone but I've been enjoying it so far. The characters are all fairly interesting so far though I'd agree Weiss is probably my least favorite of the heroines at the moment. Ruby and Yang are a lot of fun though and I'm interested in seeing more of what Blake's deal is. I'm also extremely curious what Jaune's role in the show will ultimately end up being since there has to be some reason he's been admitted into the school despite his apparent lack of skill. Hope we find out soon.

My only real complaint about the show so far(besides the episode length which is forgivable since Rooster Teeth is a small studio) would be the way they transition in art shifts for some of the humor. It can be kind of jarring having 2D chibi models popping up out of nowhere so it would be nice if they could make that smoother at some point though I imagine it won't happen.

Overall though it's pretty fun for a web series and I'm glad to see it's apparently successful so far. I'm rooting for it to be since I'd like to see more projects like this so that we might eventually get more things like it on TV. Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra shouldn't be the only ones of their kind on TV.
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jsc315



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 925
PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 12:47 pm Reply with quote
well things are sure going to get interesting here.

I found the whole series laughably bad and stupid beyond the majority of bad anime out there. There seems like there is absolutely no quality control and the animation is just a joke. Say all you want that this is a fan project, To say that this was good enough to even put out there is just wrong. There are so many mistakes in the animation alone let alone random errors and basic key elements in the drawing and the scale of the characters are all over the place. I was actually surprised this was worked on by a team of people then just a person.

The Voice acting for the most part is stiff, uninspiring or just bad. It honestly was a chore just to get through the episodes, and that is saying a lot since they are only 5min long.

Here is my personal advice. If you are going to make a movie/series of some kind make sure it's the best you can with the budget you can. I've done a few micro budgeted movies my self and you have to sometimes cut corners, but that does not mean that you have to make it obvious and cheap looking just because of that. Lloyd Kaufman said that you should do what ever you can and make the movie the best with the money you are given for your project. While I do agree with that, one big issue with that, sometimes it's best not to take on a project if you feel it is going to be compromised because of lack of talent and or budget.

My point here is that people can make something amazing with very little resources and a very small budget. The problem is there need to be a good director to know what they are doing and knowing what they want. That is the problem with this series it has no direction and so many problems that are very obvious that it just makes the whole thing a joke. Sure at first glance it may not be all that bad, but if you actually pay attention to what is going on and as someone who enjoys animation as a medium of story telling, then I am not sure what anyone is getting out of any of this series.
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Jave



Joined: 08 Aug 2013
Posts: 198
PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 1:06 pm Reply with quote
Never heard of this so I watched the first episode and found it terrible. The animation is bad and the dialog sounds like a really bad anime dub where they heavily Americanize the slang and lingo and feels so unnatural. Really awkward but I guess it's not an actual show and just some guys DeviantArt animation so you can't expect much. Not sure why it's here when it's not anime though Laughing Or even an actual show and more like a webcomic or something. So far I think it's one of the worst wannabe anime shows I've seen up there with My Life Me and Kappa Mikey which both just throw in a lot of tropes but fail to understand the meaning behind them or do anything with them
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