RWBY Season 3 – Episode 1
Even with Monty Oum’s tragic passing, the folks at Rooster Teeth were still able to continue the RWBY series thanks to the notes he left behind. Once more, I’ll do simple a simple summary on the show and give you my opinion on it, but I recommend you go watch it on their website.
Visit the website for the video
To begin, the video opens with Ruby at her mother’s grave and telling her about all the adventures she’s gone through at Beacon to this point before returning in time for her team’s match. Needless to say, they win it and decide to get a meal to celebrate, only Weiss’ credit card was declined for some reason. Luckily Jaune’s team showed up and decided to eat with them, where we learn that Ren and Nora are apparently orphans and Jaune still has some self-esteem issues, but they wish them luck regardless.
Emerald’s team also passed their match, with Neo in disguise and curb-stomping some poor chump, and because of how the Tournament is structured Yang and Weiss will be heading to the next match instead of all four of them. With that information in mind, we come to a close as Team JNPR takes the stage for their next match.
RWBY Season II Episode 12 (Season Finale)
The video picks up with Jaune getting Ruby’s call that didn’t go through only for the team to change course to head to the city when the sirens go off while Cinder mentions the plan was too early. RWBY is surrounded on all sides by Grimm and basically decide to cut loose like they’re in a FPS until Jaune and his team get there, with Jaune basically lucking into his first win when Sun and Neptune and… well, everyone else arrives.
Cinder has Emerald and Mercury maintain their cover by joining in before Team CVFY shows up and Coco basically takes the show as the ultimate badass. Then we get Oobleck, Port, and Glynda putting things back into place and wrapping up as Roman finally gets caught (and doesn’t give a damn because he knows he’s getting away). Afterwards Team RWBY reflects on everything and Ozpin basically gets talked down to by his bosses because Ironwood is a sellout who thinks he brought it onto himself before having a little talk with Roman, who only laughs.
Yet, somehow, Cinder calls it a successful day as Adam shows up and credits roll. Afterwards Yang meets the woman in the mask to see she looks like her with black hair. I’m guessing her mother.
I’m conflicted. On the one hand it showed Team CFVY’s moves, especially Coco’s, but it suddenly made what was their darkest hour look like nothing special. I was expecting death and them pulling a win from what looked to be the jaws of defeat. Not eight minutes of a one-sided slaughter. Even the first season finale was more intense.
I must painfully give it a 3 out of 5.
RWBY Season II Episode 9
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Words of the wise…
Umm, well the team is stuck with Dr. Oobleck while the others go elsewhere and the professor takes them to a region that’s just outside of Vale where they were trying to expand once but the Grim overran it so they had to wall it off. They meet with a whole pack of Ursa not two minutes in and the dog gets found out not one minute before then, but his sense of tracking might prove useful so he stays.
The girls handle most threats as they come in, but Yang states she wanted to see Oobleck in action. He basically tells them that not all missions are violence and then grills Yang on why she truly became a huntress. She confesses she’s a thrill-seeker and if she helps people it’s a bonus. Weiss sees it as her duty for being part of her family, while Blake sees there’s too much wrong in the world and someone has to stop it even though she hasn’t figured out how.
With Ruby he takes her off while telling the other three to set up camp, before showing her a herd of really big Grimm and tells her that not all Grimm are mindless and those that are so powerful they’ve lived for centuries and learned, but are waiting for something. Ruby then asks why he wants to be a huntsman, and he states that he sees lives that could have been saved in the ruins and by teaching the next generation he’s giving them power and can save more lives than with a weapon. The questions he asked the rest still makes them ponder about it, but they notice he never asked her why she wanted to be a huntress.
Well, I wanted to see more action from Oobleck, but he makes a fair point and we learned more about the characters and Grimm…
4 out of 5.
RWBY Season 2: Episode 8
The episode begins with Ironwood, Goodwitch, and Ozpin are in his office and Ironwood is less than pleased that their enemy got in so easily when Ruby shows up. She tries to lighten the mood to little success before they ask her if she recognized Cinder, but all they could gather she might be the woman who attacked her the first night and Ruby tips them off about the location where Torchwick mentioned their operation was going down before she leaves.
Ironwood takes her tip and sent every force he could down there to obliterate whatever is they find there. Goodwitch thinks he goes overboard, but Ozpin think it should be a little more discreet before it causes a panic. Meanwhile Ruby and Yang’s dog somehow gets sent in the mail, to which Weiss does a 180 in personality, and Blake acts like a cat and jumps on her bed… really, we’re pushing the cat thing that far? Anyway they need to go to an attendance before a field trip and, since they can’t leave the dog alone that long, Ruby sneaks him into her backpack.
They then go to a speech where we learn that parents started naming their children after color since the Great War started over some forces were intent on destroying art and culture and they’ll basically be shadowing a huntsman for a week to get a feel for their jobs. The girls see it as a chance to continue their investigation, but the mission is too high-level for their class. Ozpin then shows up and basically reveals he knows they’re gonna end up there anyway, so he just lets them go so they don’t have to break the rules and tells them just to be ready because it’s getting real now.
Velvet’s team shows up at the end. Her mission was delayed because there were so many Grimm, but they’ll be fine since they’re only shadowing a huntsman. The video end as they find out Oobleck is the huntsman they’re shadowing….
Well, we learned that Ozpin indeed knows everything and is simply letting them get away with it as long as they’re doing good and Velvet has a bit of an accent and is possibly a second-year or higher… so why was she getting bullied by Cardin?
Anyway, 3 out of 5.
RWBY Season 2 Episode 2
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Mood whiplash ahoy!
The episode begins with Glenda and Ozpin, watching as a fleet lands on their doorstep and General Ironwood appears. Glenda doesn’t like him, that much is obvious, and she steps outside. He and Ozpin make better talk, but Ozpin makes it clear he doesn’t like the fleet outside when they’re in a time of peace and if there’s any problems they will handle things tactfully. The general asks if he thinks his kids can win a war, but Ozpin says he hopes they never have to.
In the Library we see our two teams doing anything but studying, with Team RWBY playing a table top game. Yang pretty much dominates both Ruby and Weiss, but Blake doesn’t feel like playing as Sun arrives with his friend from the last time, Neptune…. who immediately flirts with Weiss.
Blake leaves out and curls up in her room, flashing back to what happened after the incident with the White Fang. Ozpin questions her on the incident, subtly making it clear that he knows she was once a member of them. Weiss comes in and asks her what’s wrong, she explains that things are getting worse and the fact that nothing is being done. Weiss reasons they aren’t ready, but Blake can’t take that so Ruby takes a vote and they all agree, but then she remembers she left her board game in the Library.
Ruby then crashes into Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury and welcomes them to Beacon as it ends. I’m still conflicted as to how Cinder can pass as a student, but okay then.
It wasn’t a bad episode, but it could have been better. Still, it’s hard to top last episode.
4 out of 5.
RWBY Season II Episode 1 Review
Yes, the wait is over at last!
RWBY is back with season II and it does it with the best Food Fight EVER!
The episode begins with Emerald and Mercury, after robbing the poor dust seller, going to a book store and then subsequently killing the Faunus who planned on running. I suppose that means that Blake was lucky to get out when she did.
Afterwards we skip to Ruby with her team eating lunch, with Ruby planning the best day ever. Blake isn’t too up to it after everything that’s happened, but then Weiss gets a pie in the face. We then skip to Sun talking to his friend about how cool they are as all sorts of stuff happens in the background, until they get in and everyone is running because of a food fight.
Then we get the best food fight ever. Seriously, it was hilarious and bad-ass.
Glenda comes in and fixes their mess, but Ozpin says kids will be kids and to let them enjoy it while they can.
We then skip to Roman, Emerald, and Mercury arguing until Cinder comes in and puts everyone in their place. Then she tells him to pack up the dust since they’re going into phase 2 as the video ends with the new opening.
Perfect episode, what can I say? This is how you do a season premiere!
RWBY Episode 16: Black and White (Vol.I Finale) Review
Another deliciously long episode and an excellent way to cap off the end of the first season. Let’s get into the review, shall we?
The episode begins with Sun, the monkey-dude from before excited to finally get her talking, although he ends up putting his foot into his mouth after bashing White Fang. Turns out not only was Blake a member, but she was practically born into it.
Originally White Fang was meant to be a symbol of unity between the two races, but discrimination by humans led to them becoming the voice of the people with protests and boycotts until five years ago, when a new leader took over and started the violence. The sad thing is it worked. Not out of respect, but fear, and she decided that she was going to leave.
After Sun asks if her friends know, we then skip to them looking for her. Weiss suggests getting the police involved, for her being a supposed terrorist, but Yang insists on getting her side of the story. Penny then arrives and points out she knew she was a Faunes at a glance, something they didn’t, and then vows help them find her as they split up.
Blake states to Sun that White Fang never needed that much Dust before so she doesn’t think it’s them, so Sun suggests they find out by staking out a huge shipment of Dust. It seems she was wrong, as people in White Fang armor are stealing it, until Roman Torchwick starts mouthing off and she figures they would never work with a human like him and holds him a swordpoint. He claims they have a business agreement and then fires at her, causing a big enough scene for Ruby and Penny to see in the distance.
She’s forced to take cover as Sun applies the Boot-to-the-Head on Roman and then gets surrounded. He promptly busts out the Monkey Staff and beats down on them until Blake takes a shot for him and goes after Roman. It turns out the dude actually knows a thing or two about fighting and manages to keep them at bay long enough to drop a crate on them and hold Sun at gunpoint, until Ruby show up with Penny.
Penny, unfortunately, distracts Ruby and Roman proves to be savvy by shooting at her that moment, knocking her down and angering the tag-along. Penny then lays on copious amounts of ass-kicking with swords that float behind her like wings and can even fire a laser beam that takes out gun ships. It reminds me of Namine on Dead Fantasy. Roman quickly leaves like a good villain to save his ass.
When Weiss and Yang approaches them, Weiss has apparently had a lot of time to think and decides she doesn’t care about who she was, only that she’ll come to them the next time something this big comes up. The episode ends with Penny being taken away and Ozpin receiving a message from Qrow about Ruby. Credits roll and season one ends with a stinger involving Roman and three others.
Okay, the episode was perfect and gets a full score, but let’s talk about the entire series. This entire damn thing has been awesome, the fluid animation during battle and the story itself being interesting as several people from different walks of life come together to be monster-killing badasses. Not just that, but it has character development at its finest.
I can honestly say, for something of this nature to be developed by such a small team is nothing short of amazing and they impressed me for it. True, I was annoyed with how short the episodes were occasionally, but they all came together wonderfully and I only regret the next season isn’t out.
Buy the Blue-Ray or DVD when it comes out on the 12th.
RWBY Episode 15: The Stray Review
This delightfully long episode begins with team RWBY venturing to the docks undergoing preparations for a festival when they come across the crime scene of a Dust shop. The criminals took all the Dust but left the money in the register, which Ruby seems to recall being the same thing that happen when she met Roman Torchwick.
We then learn that White Fang is a collection of Faunes who, apparently, want to wipe humanity from the face of the earth. Given that this is Weiss talking I take it with a grain of salt as she promptly says something that seems offensive to all Faunes. As Yang tries to counter her point, its then that a Faunes stowaway on one of the boats makes a break for it.
They chase him until Weiss crashes into a girl named Penny, who’s weird even by their standards, and Weiss keeps insults Faunes, which aggravates Blake and starts an argument between them that lasts until they get back home. Weiss then mentions that the White Fang keeps targeting her family, including that train robbery in Blake’s trailer, and it made her childhood rather unpleasant. Her rebuttal eventually causes Blake to say something that gives away she was a member of White Fang.
She then runs out into the night, stopping long enough to remove her ribbon and reveal she has Cat Ears and is a Faunes herself, when the one from before calls out to her. Come morning the others go looking for her, while she sits with the guy from before and enjoys tea before the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
I hate when they end it on a cliffhanger at the good point, but this episode delves into the issues of the world that the girls live in, showing that beneath Blake’s cool exterior there exists a troubled young woman. While I normally like my episodes with a good helping of action, this one gets a perfect score as well since the only fault with it was that it cuts off on a cliffhanger that will hopefully be resolved next week.
RWBY Episode 14: Forever Fall 2 Review
The episode begins with Jaune taking a beating for his actions last episode like a man. Cardin talks big game, but Jaune explicitly states he won’t betray his team. When the jock goes for another punch to the face there’s a flash as Jaune’s aura kicks in to protect him and heals his injuries. It’s then that we remember that the forest is dangerous as an Ursa at least three times their size appears and smells the jam on Cardin’s armor.
Cardin’s team bails, leaving him to become a snack as Jaune looks on. The cowards pass by team RWBY and JNPR and alerts them to the danger and they make it in time to see Jaune defending the bully. He puts up an admirable fight, but he’s about to get mutual killed until Pyrrha reveals she can control magnetism and moves Jaune’s shield to cover him while he lops off the bear’s head on his own. She opts not to tell him that part to let him have his moment, where he lays down the law with Cardin.
Later that night he and Pyrrha have a moment and make up. He asks her to train him and she does, ending the episode on a good note. While it was short, the episode gets a solid 4 out of 5 like its predecessor.
RWBY Episode 13: Forever Fall Review
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The episode begins with team JNPR wondering where Jaune is, since he’s been out so late. He’s being blackmailed by the Jerk Jock from before, which screwed him over. Jaune can’t bear to face them so he hangs outside his dorm room until Ruby gives him a pep talk on being a leader. The next day they visit the Forever Falls, beautiful place and all, where Jaune is stuck doing the jerk and his team’s work. He then drags him into trying to get revenge on Pyrrha with a bunch of wasps Jaune collected.
Now, leaving aside the fact that suicidal doesn’t even come close to describing what Cardin’s doing, Jaune isn’t that much of a wimp and shows some defiance in refusing to go through with it. Pyrrha has been the sole person who helps him without asking for anything in return. If expulsion is the price of not turning on her, he’s willing to pay it.
Episode ends on a cliff hanger, but it gets a solid 4 out of 5 for character development of Jaune and Ruby.
RWBY Episode 12: Jaunedice Part 2 Review
A follow up on Jaune as he struggles in school, starting in History class where a professor on some very strong coffee and Pyhrra tries to help him. This is where we learn that Jaune forged his transcripts into Beacon and he has some serious issues that will end poorly, even more so when Cardin overhears him and decides to blackmail him.
In short, he’s boned.
There was some serious emotion here and the length acceptable, so this review gets a 3 out of 5.
RWBY Episode 11: Jaunedice Review
Short episode, a really short one, is basically a character focus on Jaune. He’s being literally bullied by a Jock, who seems to be out to piss everyone off. He tries that on someone who can actually fight, they’ll put him down. But the fact that these kids have the fate of their world in their hands and they allow a bully to basically abuse other students like that is my main gripe, but trying to review this episode, which is really short, doesn’t seem to be right.
So I’m with holding my review.
RWBY Episode 10: The Badge and the Burden Part 2
This episode continues from the last, which has Weiss going against some kind of boar Grimm. She handles it, but her intolerance of Ruby reaches its breaking point afterwards with her flat-out stating that Ruby wasn’t fit to be the leader when it should have been her. Note that at this point it has only been a day after the forest trials.
As Weiss leaves to sulk Ozpin appears from behind Ruby to give her some advice befitting the wise mentor role, while Weiss meets with the teacher who calls her out on her sense of entitlement and seemingly reaches her. When night falls and Weiss returns to the dorms she seems to have cooled her head a little while Ruby has been studying and gives her some coffee to continue, amending the earlier argument.
All-in-all, progress is made in both team dynamics and character development. I approve, so I give this episode a 4 out of 5.
RWBY Episode 8: Players and Pieces
Best. Episode. Ever.
In this episode we see just how badass the crew that has been assembled could be. They have a Deathstalker (read: Giant Scorpion) and a huge crow that rains feathers of death and destruction down. They have their artifacts. They had ten minutes to dazzle me and they did so with concentrated effort.
For starters, Weiss drops the bitchy attitude she’s had for the last few episodes. It felt a little sudden, but given that it was work together or die, I can’t say it wasn’t a necessity.
Then there was Nora. She wields a Hammer/Grenade Launcher and acts like she’s on a sugar high. The fact that Ren can keep up with her is a testament to his abilities, but she can fight.
Next we have the battle. The teams all worked together, with Team Juniper killing the Deathstalker with its own stinger and Team Ruby dealing with the giant crow. They had some rough spots but it was a well choreographed boss battle befitting any RPG.
For the finale we saw Roman Torchwick up to no good, planning to do something massive in Vale. Nice foreshadowing and a perfect wind-up. Perfect episode so far with no bad qualities, so it’s a perfect 5 out of 5.
RWBY Episode 7: Emerald Forest Pt.2
The episode starts with Glenda Goodwitch observing the team pairings with her tablet that somehow remotely watches the students and makes various observations, including that Jaune is nowhere near ready to be in the big leagues. Yeah, I have to agree with her. Jaune’s not going to make it to the end of the series at this rate.
Ozpin, however, is focused on Ruby. She and her teammate are having their first fight and Weiss comes out looking far worse for it by claiming she seeks perfection and is miles ahead of Ruby, while Ruby comes out slightly more childish. Blake and Yang have arrived at the temple with little trouble and seem to be getting along for the most part. Jaune and Phyrra are at the entrance of a cave, which he fails to notice has the depictions of a giant scorpion on it.
Blake and Yang retrieve their relic in the shape of a knight chess piece when they hear a little girl screaming. It turns out to be Jaune, who has awoken a giant scorpion that tosses him deep into the forest and will probably go hunting in a bit for him. The end has Blake staring into the air, which his shortly filled by Ruby flying towards them somehow.
This episode established a few things:
- Glenda and Ozpin have a means of observing the students without them being aware. Privacy is non-existent.
- Weiss is a perfectionist and has more control issues than I thought, family issues I’m willing to bet.
- Jaune’s transcript was apparently better than what we’ve seen, hence how he got into Beacon and answering my question from last week. Ether he’s a savant or someone did some forgery on it.
- Blake seems to have enhanced hearing considering she looked towards the sky well before we knew Ruby was coming, indicating she may be a Faune. Then again her motif is supposedly Beauty and the Beast, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Overall, the episode felt like a set-up for a fight against the giant scorpion that Jaune has let loose upon the world. Not much character development, so much as rehashing what we already know. I’m going to have to go for a 4 out of 5.
RWBY Episode 6: Emerald Forest
The latest episode of RWBY establishes the pairings that have been advertised so far.
Yang, who relies on her gauntlets and seems to have no reservation when it comes to blowing ammo, is partnered with Blake, the ninja by any other name. The hotheaded and cool girls seem to be complete opposites and would cover one another well and without too many problems. It’s a good pairing.
Weiss, who is the series Red Mage, is partnered with Ruby. These two need a lot of work, but their pairing covers the weakness they both seem to have. Weiss actually took the time to try and get in position to kill a single Beowolf when she was surrounded, meaning enough of them would steamroll her. We’ve seen Ruby handle far more at once but lacks the teamwork to inform her partner where she was, leading to her nearly being hit by friendly fire.
On the other end, Jaune would have been screwed without Pyrrha since he doesn’t know how to activate his Ki (well, Aura) to survive. That catapult launch alone would have killed him and she’s the only one who seems to be willing to teach him without any complications or judgement. He’s a nice kid, but he really isn’t fit to survive and leaves me to wonder how the hell he got into Beacon.
Lie Ren was used as the visual aspect of Pyrrha’s speech in that he was actually less dangerous with his guns than without. He stoic and reserved with Nora to balance it out, a silent and deadly martial artist who has earned my respect in the way he approaches combat. The ass-whupping that he bestowed on that giant pair of snakes was downright awesome.
Overall it was a good episode that balanced the team pairings and explain why they have superhuman abilities without boring me. If I had to rate it, I would give it a 5 out of 5 more or less.
RWBY Episodes 1 – 5
A bit late to the party, but I wanted to let everyone who visits know about a great new web animation from the people at Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, the guy behind Dead Fantasy.
RWBY (pronounced “Ruby”) is an Animesque CGI production from Rooster Teeth, animated by Monty Oum.
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.
The episodes are released every Thursday with five out at the time of the posting.
Monty Oum & Rooster Teeth RWBY Trailer
Now this is how Red Riding Hood is supposed to go.
Dead Fantasy can wait until this is out sometime this month.
Twilit Dreams Circle 