RWBY

[Amrynn]

I'm kind of stunned at the lack of discussion of the anime-inspired animated series by Rooster Teeth known as RWBY. The story, fights, characters, WEAPONS, and everything are so enthralling that I've nearly annoyed all of my fellow fans in school to ignoring me until a new episode comes out.

So, to right this, Come all fans and those intrigued, please watch, it's really good! I'd love to discuss theories, reactions, thoughts on certain characters/weapons/episodes, etc.

[Patar]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed RWBY. I watched all of Volume One and Two in a day, and I'm looking forward to what Volume 3 has in store for us. Who's your favorite character? I really like Weiss, and Ruby is sometimes to adorable and funny it hurts.  

[Amrynn]

I watched all of volume 1and 2 in one marathon as well, and volume 3 is looking pretty good so far. My favorite character is a difficult question, but I think I'll list my top 3 of male and then female characters (in no particular order) because there are so many.

Male:

1. Qrow. Even though he was just introduced, his drunken fighting and thinly veiled dislike of the upper class coupled with his loving treatment of Ruby (he hasn't spoken with Yang yet :/) made him my man crush.

2. Roman Torchwick. I thoroughly enjoy the sassy and sarcastic nature that they've given him. He's definately one of those love to hate kind of villans.

3. Lie Ren. Even though he's said, like 10 lines that I can think of, his backstory is one of the most intriguing of all of team JNPR even though we don't know much about him.

Female:

1. Neo. She's unappoligetically the coolest female character thus far because she made such an impression in her fight with Yang even though she made no sound through the whole thing.

2. Blake. I really relate to her quiet, introverted demeanor and adore the visual and fourth-wall-breaking humor.

3. Penny/Nora. I couldn't really decide if I like the over-the-top, always energetic, loose cannon of Nora or the socially awkward and occasionaLly creepiness of Penny. They're both just awesome!

Have you listened to the soundtrack? If you have, what are your favorite songs?

[Voidus]

Been watching since the first trailers for it came out

I do miss the opening from Vol. 1 though. Although Vol. 3 is doing really well so far considering what happened.

[Amrynn]

Yeah, I'm impressed with how they've done with the action scenes, considering that their main combat choreographer was Monty and the everyday animation is BEAUTIFUL! I even kinda like Ren's new voice actor. I actually like the second opening (Time To Say Goodbye) better than the first. The new one also seems to stand up to par. What're your favorite character(s) Voidus?

[Patar]

Can't say I was a huge fan of drunk Qrow, but I do think I'll end up enjoying his character. I also think that the interactions between Sun (or is it Son?) and Neptune are absolutely hilarious. As for songs, I love all of them, the soundtrack is incredible. If I had to chose, I'd have to say Mirror Mirror or I Burn. Mirror is beautiful, and captures Weiss' character perfectly. Burn on the other hand is fast-paced and absolutely epic.

Edited November 16, 2015 by patar365

[Amrynn]

I liked the fact that even though Qrow has a drinking problem, he's still quite competent and at times it seems like it doesn't even affect him anymore. I'm also inclined to believe you on the topic of Sun (you were correct on the spelling btw) and Neptune I'd like to see more of Scarlet, though. Maybe Sage as well. My favorite song is undoubtably "Red Like Roses Part II" it's so heart wrenching but so good!

[Voidus]

Yeah, I'm impressed with how they've done with the action scenes, considering that their main combat choreographer was Monty and the everyday animation is BEAUTIFUL! I even kinda like Ren's new voice actor. I actually like the second opening (Time To Say Goodbye) better than the first. The new one also seems to stand up to par. What're your favorite character(s) Voidus?

Um... all of them?

Ruby and Penny are probably my standouts cause I like crazy awkward girls who can kick chull when they need to.

And Red like Roses is indeed awesome.

[Left]

I started volume one. Got distracted, and I was struggling with the animation, so I've never gone back. Might eventually.

[Amrynn]

The animation quality skyrockets between volumes and I think that it improves episode by episode. The story is awesome and I sense that a big reveal will be coming up, so you should definately try it again. Did you make it to episode 8 by any chance?

[Amrynn]

I just met up with one of my friends who I've been trying to convert to RWBY for a while, and here's the conversation:

Him: "Hey, I finally watched RWBY yesterday."

Me: "Oh, great! How far did you get?"

Him: "Oh, you know. All of it. I kind of got sucked in"

Funny enough, this is the third time that someone that I've conviced to watch it has watched it all in one setting.

[Left]

Well on Netflix it's not really divided into episodes, so if I did pick it back up I'd probably just watch it through like a movie. I was only maybe twenty minutes in tops.

[Amrynn]

Oh, then you didn't even get to the first big fight OR character development. In that case, I even more highly suggest that you give it a shot!

[Amrynn]

Spoilers for Volume 3, Chapter 5:

Finally, we saw the mysterious team FNKY! (Also, Meg voicing a character! Yay!) But on the topic of the story, I'm glad that Penny is finally back, but Cinder's totally going to mess with her and it makes me a little anxious because she's one of my favorite characters. Another thing, do you think that Ozpin was referring to Pyrrha or Ruby at the end of the episode when talking about their "Guardian."

 

I also had a theory about some allusions in Ozpin's group, and it was somewhat confirmed in this episode. Basically, it's the Wizard of Oz:

-Ozpin= Oz (the wizard)

-Glynda= The good witch of the west (also named Glynda)

-General Ironwood= The tin man (Qrow said "sometimes I wonder if he even has a heart." in reference to Ironwood)

-Qrow= The scarecrow

-Ruby= Dorothy

-Zwei= Toto

It may have been obvious to everyone else, but I was stunned to see that the references may go further.

[ChocolateRob]

I'm a big fan of RWBY, I have both volumes and their soundtracks. A quick look on my Ipod tells me that Red Like Roses part II and I Burn are in my top 25 most played tracks (previously it was the trailer versions of both). I also really like Caffeine and Die from vol 2. Really enjoying volume 3 (on crunchyroll) the latest episode (6) was really different to any of the previous ones in that it actually explained a lot more about the over arcing plot and world building. Before this one it was all very teen heroes going to school genericness (but with awesome choreography and weaponry) but this one episode made the world more unique. It is better to look at the first three volumes as one series (as they were imagined) and having reached the middle of the third we are entering what would be the Sanderson Avalanche.

One thing I am addicted to is TV tropes and whenever I read or watch anything new I always look them up there to see what I missed. Lots of useful extras to be found there (I altered the RWBY character page during vol 1 to have the weapons treated like characters).

 

The wizard of OZ allusions for the characters mentioned above are on the nose (and not spoilers as they have been discussed since the start). Most of the characters in the show are allusions to stories in our world, often grouped into similar themes.  The most obvious being Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang as Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Beauty & the Beast and Goldilocks (fairy tales).

Team JNPR has an interesting theme that is far less obvious - they are each gender flips of ancient heroes who disguised themselves by cross-dressing.

Jaun Arc is obviously Joan of Arc

Nora is based on Thor (disguised himself as the goddess Freya)

Pyrrha is based on Achilles (pretended to be a woman named Pyrrha to avoid the trojan war)

Lie Ren is based on Mulan.

Other random ones: Cinder Fall = Cinderella, Cardin Winchester = the Cardinal of Winchester (oversaw the trial and execution of Joan of Arc), Penny = Pinochio, Roman Torchwick = Alex from A Clockwork Orange, Velvet Scarletina = the Velveteen Rabbit (ps Team CFVY are all named after cakes).

Another thing you can get from TVtropes (or the RWBY wiki) are the names of the weapons, in the series only Ruby's scythe has been named (Crescent Rose, a High Velocity Sniper-Scythe) but most do have interesting names and descriptions.

Weiss - Myrtenaster, Multi Action Dust Rapier.

Blake - Gambol Shroud, Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe.

Yang - Ember Celica, Dual-Ranged Shot Gauntlets.

Jaun - Crocea Mors. (Yellow Death, supposedly the weapon of Julius Caesar).

Nora - Magnhild. (translates from Norse as Mighty battle).

Pyrrha - Milo and Akouo (Speak [the sword] and Listen [the shield])

Ren - Stormflower.

Sun - Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang (the weapons of the original Sun Wukong)

Adam - Wilt (the sword) and Blush (the sheath)

 

The geek world lost quite a few big names this year (Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Lee, Sir Pterry) but Monty Oum's was the saddest for me as he was only just starting his career and his best was certainly still to come. Volume 3 is still excellent but I can't help but wonder how it would be different if Monty were still with us.

[Amrynn]

I definitely enjoyed this past episode (chapter 6) because the show is finally delving into the darker world that Miles said they would. Also, #PrayForYang! I did know about the allusions of RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, and Cinder's faction (who's named CMSN, calling it right now) because I have, admittedly, been a little obsessed in a bad way. Like, so obsessed that you begin to form a character spreadsheet for every seen/named character including data like their height, affiliation, semblance, weapon name, and weapon forms. This on the side of memorizing quotes and rambles, converting all of my freinds, theorizing, and constantly listening to the soundtracks. I can stop whenever I want...

If I'm shown a way to upload the character spreadsheet to the internet/when I get around to it I'll link to it. On the topic of Monty's passing, it's inevitable that the series will be different, but I think that the story will continue quite well, as Miles, Kerry, Gray, and many others are still there and excited to continue. If anything suffers, it will be the fight scenes. I don't know if you've seen the dvd features and commentaries, but whenever there was a major fight, the storyboard slide would just say "Monty Magic." They'll still be good, though, as the first few chapters have shown.

[Amrynn]

Sorry for thread inactivity, but as the RWBY fans know, there was a 3-week hiatus to the show.

So... That episode. First off, spoilers for volume 3, episode 7.

Now that that's out of the way, we now have depth to our villains! Yay! I've had so many friends turn down RWBY as a whole because of the one dimensional villains, but that's changing. And we finally got more of Adam Taurus and the White Fang (also, chainsaw guy who may become a reoccurring background character, slightly more prominent than Perry or Deerie). It's been a while since we got anything meaningful of Adam, since before volume 1, in fact.

And I just have to say: that fight with Amber. It was so awesome and revealed a lot, including Emerald's semblance and the secret behind Mercury's kicks.

[Edgedancer]

Eh, for me episode 7 actually fell kind of flat.

It wasn't bad per se but had a bit to many points where I was just wait what? To list what I can think of on top of my head. How did Cinder actually catch Emerald, if she can just go invisible and send a dummy away? Why did the fall maiden's force field aura just disapear when Cinder shoot at her? (For that matter for the set up they got last episode three people being able to take her out with an failed ambush isn't exactly impressive) Qrow got a clear look at all of their faces (Cinder only blurred her face up after Qrow had a chance to take a look at her) and these are very distinctive looking anime people that didn't even change their style of clothing, storms Cinder even has the word Fall in her name, that alone is a giant pointer to her being the one that stole the fall maidens power and yet apparently no one found them out. Naturally, their timing just so happened to be so Blake didn't see them either. A bit of a more minor point but for the episode actually explaining how the illusion stuff worked they showed absolutely nothing about how the actual positioning in the scene with Yang went down. I was also confused at how Cinder told Mercury to stay hidden, so no one sees him on his feet, yet him disapearing from the hospital is not supposed to be suspicious?

 

It wasn't necessarily bad but it also doesn't exactly set a good trend for being the first major plot explanation episode to punch out a series of borderline plotholes.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Edgedancer

[Amrynn]

I didn't feel like those were problems or my mind thought of explainations for them. Let me give my rational, and if my reasons aren't sufficient for you, you don't have to accept them.

-After hearing Emerald say "I can handle one mind but two is a strain" about her semblance, I think that Emerald ducked into the alley and dismissed her illusion to prevent further mental strain (since it sounded like there were multiple cops). Cinder was likely looking from a distance and noticed Emerald in the nearby alley.

-When Cinder shot at Amber, I think that the Maidens' powers, or at least the Fall Maiden's power doesn't include defensive abilities, that's left to her aura.

-I thought that Qrow did recognize Cinder, when he said "Your little intruder wasn't just another pawn; she's the one responsible for Autumn's condition." Which he probobly concluded from discriptions, he just hasn't pin-pointed Cinder yet because he's not been at Beacon for long enough or he couldn't get a reliable enough memory of her face, so the Wizard of Oz Group can't definitively confront her.

-I didn't find an issue with the lack of explaination of the positioning of Team CMSN (my speculated name for Cinder's team).

-I'd imagine that they gave Mercury a fake cast or something to get him out.

Sorry if that was long-winded, but you can take it or leave it, these were just my thoughts.

[Edgedancer]

I didn't feel like those were problems or my mind thought of explainations for them. Let me give my rational, and if my reasons aren't sufficient for you, you don't have to accept them.

-After hearing Emerald say "I can handle one mind but two is a strain" about her semblance, I think that Emerald ducked into the alley and dismissed her illusion to prevent further mental strain (since it sounded like there were multiple cops). Cinder was likely looking from a distance and noticed Emerald in the nearby alley.

-When Cinder shot at Amber, I think that the Maidens' powers, or at least the Fall Maiden's power doesn't include defensive abilities, that's left to her aura.

-I thought that Qrow did recognize Cinder, when he said "Your little intruder wasn't just another pawn; she's the one responsible for Autumn's condition." Which he probobly concluded from discriptions, he just hasn't pin-pointed Cinder yet because he's not been at Beacon for long enough or he couldn't get a reliable enough memory of her face, so the Wizard of Oz Group can't definitively confront her.

-I didn't find an issue with the lack of explaination of the positioning of Team CMSN (my speculated name for Cinder's team).

-I'd imagine that they gave Mercury a fake cast or something to get him out.

Sorry if that was long-winded, but you can take it or leave it, these were just my thoughts.

That's why I said it wasn't necessarily bad just that it set a potentially bad trend. Some of your explanations don't really work though.

With shooting Amber my problem is that her aura shield, whatever it was, just disapeared. the scene goes something like this

-Her aura casually catches the attacks shoot at her by Mercury and Emerald with very flashy effects

-Amber sees Cinder coming, so suprise isn't an explanation here

-Cinder's attack hits Amber without her aura doing anything, no effect, no softening the impact, no diversion, no nothing

-Cinder shoots explosive arrows at Amber that are actually shown to overpower her aura.

So why effects on the first and last one but not in the one inbetween that actually mattered?

Qrow not immediately spotting Cinders group we could talk about, if not for the fact that they are on live television of a high profile tournament that Qrow has been shown to watch in his first appearance and are also manipulation several of the match ups of said tournaments. They have not exactly been quiet.

For the positioning between Yang and Mercury, lets look at this step by step. As you yourself pointed out the episodes presented Emerald's illusions as somewhat limited, meaning that even if she got better the only way this makes sense is if Yang has been shown the illusions, that also is supported by the flashback in episode 7 focusing on Yang when the illusion effect sets in. Then we see Yang walking away from the direction in that she punched Mercury and this is not something Emerald's illusions could have manipulated from how they have been portrayed. Yet somehow Mercury kneeled in exactly the location Yang ended up punching, which means he either teleported or bend physics when hit by Yang to somehow land behind her and that this plan required so much luck to work that it should not have worked.

Alternatively the scene completely breaks the limits on Emerald's powers it has established within the very same episode and Emerald can now create so detailed mass illusions that apparently can even fool camera footage, which honestly would not be good story telling.

For Mercury's leg we'll have to wait and see but that still wouldn't explain the part where they take him out of the hospital and into their hideout.

[Amrynn]

I've looked into the thing of Emerald's hallucinations, and I've found a likely explaination. Emerald's semblance isn't illusions, it's hallucinations, or the manipulation of one person's (or two, but it's a stretch) perception. What really happened was what was shown on the stadium screens, so that's what everyone saw. Emerald affected Yang's perception to make it look to her like Mercury was standing farther back and then attacking her. She didn't have to fool everyone, just Yang.

[Voidus]

Chibi RWBY?
 

And probably not an April fools joke thankfully since RT doesn't tend to do them.

[Delightful]

Chibi RWBY?

And probably not an April fools joke thankfully since RT doesn't tend to do them.

Link? Please?

[Voidus]

[Edgedancer]

Awww, that trailer already is adorable.