RWBY Season 3

By: Robert Murphy

Those of you who have been with RWBY right from the get go know that the story is about many lovable characters who are attending Beacon Academy for hunters and huntresses. Everything is fun, bubbly and only gets serious for brief moments during the series where Ruby Rose and her friends must combat some upstart trouble makers. This season however follows a much darker path and the time for being kids must be set aside in order to combat the growing threat hidden away in the shadows, until now. 

The start of the series begins much as you would expect it to as Ruby and her team prepare for the Autumn festival and compete with classmates as well as other cools in competitions that test their skills as huntsmen and huntresses. This whole ordeal capitalizes on perhaps the most captivating aspects for the show and that is it's fight scenes. A Pokemon style battle arena is brought forth and the stages vary with each and every match up so you will see beach levels, mountain levels, forest levels and all of them coming with their own environmental challenges to face while the teams are fighting one another. All the fights themselves are spectacular and show off the skills the Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang have all acquired since they joined the school and became teammates. Their teamwork being one of the best parts to see as they combine all of their skills to make excellently choreographed attacks against the opposing teams. 

This setup also sets the stage for many characters to appear from team RWBY's respective pasts. Ruby and Yang's Uncle Qrow (pronounces Crow) makes his first appearance and despite his outward drunk/smart ass behavior, he will be a major player in revealing all of the evil activity going on behind the scenes for the past two seasons. Weiss also gets an unexpected welcome from a former family member when her sister Winter comes to Beacon alongside of General Ironwood and his massive army of robot soldiers. She is just as cold as Weiss was when viewers first met her but later it is revealed that she left home just like Weiss did and followed an unorthodox path, in their father's opinion anyways. Lastly, we learn a great deal more about Blake's past when the White Fang makes their own moves on Beacon this season. Their leader Adam having a long teased history with her that now has come back to haunt her. 

While this all may seem like great editions to the story that will drive home a much more serious plot line, many of the ideas get muddled along the way as all of this information tries to be crammed into the story in progress. Qrow is not just in town to see his family as I said and he in turn reveals what Cinder Fall and the rest of her cronies have been trying to achieve. The end game seems to be nothing but true chaos for Cinder but in order to get there she needs more power, even more the impress amount she already wields. This ends up coming from a bizarre story about four legendary huntresses that were thought to be nothing but an old fairy tale. It would seem that it was anything but that however and when it comes time for it, an ultimate sacrifice must be made by one of the shows main characters in order to acquire this power. The real issue with this turn of events though was how quickly it gets thrown into our story and then must be accepted as fact. 

There are more signs of these thrown at the wall ideas when Qrow reveals more about Yang's history. It would seem that somehow he can speak to his sister (Yang's mother) who was presumed dead and yet must be in some other plane of existence? It really makes no sense and little time is spent exploring what this could all mean for Yang's character down the road. It seems very crucial to question this because by the end of this season Yang has gone through quite the ordeal, she no long is the same smiling ass kicker she has been this whole time and its hard to see how she will recover after everything that happens to her. Other instances of thrown around ideas are all too common, between Winter revealing a hidden power she and Weiss possess and the odd abusive love story between Blake and Adam and Ruby possess some hidden power herself too by the end. There is truly just far too much going on this season and far too little time to get through it all properly. 

What remained rock solid thus far was the overall story that was established after last season with Cinder and her team preparing to unleash all out war on Beacon. Her plans devastated not only Beacon but our main characters too and in almost George R.R. Martin fashion, all bets are off. Cinder effectively causes untold despair for just about everyone which is what attracts a massive amount of Grimm to the city in all shapes and sizes. This includes the biggest Grimm we've ever seen to date but the overall tone shift proved to be an interesting one to say the least. It offered a new layer of depth that I didn't expect to come from a show with such a light hearted feel to it, heck other shows like this don't even go this dark when it comes to the world being taken over by some evil force so it's truly something to be admired. 

By the time RWBY 's third season comes to a close there is a great deal of information to digest and that isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing. There are plenty of new ideas floating up in the air but none of it is really concrete by the end of the story. However, Cinder Fall and the rest of her team have proven to be a force to be reckoned with after causing untold death and despair for our main characters, offering up a different experience for this season that I did not see coming from an anime like this. So overall the future for RWBY can truthfully go down a very solid path if all the ideas brought up this season get more time to grow and develop, but only time will tell if that will happen.

Good:

- A much darker plot line than I ever thought to come from RWBY

- Top notch fighting scenes remain throughout

- Solid trademark humor the show is known for

Bad:

- New plot lines are all over the place

- Interesting ideas but so much left unexplained or ignored on the way to the end

Scully Rating: 6.5 out of 10

RIP Monty Oum

Zach Goodier

Sad news, everyone. Monty Oum, who is probably best known for his work with Rooster Teeth on RWBY, has passed away. More details are on the Rooster Teeth site, but apparently he suffered a severe allergic reaction. Please, send your love to the Rooster Teeth crew, as well as Monty's family in this trying time. He was 33 years old, far too young to leave us, especially when he had so much more to share with the world.

RWBY Season 2

By: Robert Murphy

Ruby Rose and her team are about to start their second year at Beacon Academy again and boy do they make a mess of things right from the get go. I kid you not the first episode has an insane food fight in it and it destroys the entire meal hall with mustard attacks and turkey fists flying. This goes to show how far RWBY has already come from the start, things are more at peace for the characters this time around as Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake now start to unravel many of the secrets bubbling underneath the surface from the first season. There of course is bound to be some insane fights along the way with all four and their friends showing of their skills and weaponry for what lays in store. 

Much of what was done for the first season of RWBY was getting all the viewers comfortable with the characters they are introduced to during the show and making them engaging characters. This is what drove much of the plot for the story and we only saw brief glimpses of what was to come with people like Roman, our cigar smoking and bowler hat wearing bad guy and a mysterious huntress lurking in the shadows too. This time around things start to develop upon these aspects though in a big way, yes there was the epic food fight in the first episode and much goofing around to be had but bad guys start to come out of the wood work like ants all of a sudden in season two. We finally get a face to our evil huntress, Cinder Fall and her henchman, who make their presence known this time around and they start to move their plans into action. There still isn't much in the way of a big picture yet but it is a nice change up to be getting further engrossed into what is to come from hers and Roman's plans with the White Fang and all of Vale. Cinder isn't the only new face to come with a new story though, we're introduced to a General James Ironwood this season and he introduces more of the lore outside of Beacon Academy to the story. Things like there is a military structure to the world and Huntsmen and Huntresses are not the only line of defense, they're just the cooler ones.

The humor level returns to RWBY this time around as well, need I mention the gigantic food fight again? RWBY always has something funny or charming up it sleeves and it comes out much more this time around as the characters have established themselves more and more. Ruby is still as spunky and adorable as she always was but now even Weiss is a more fun loving character to watch as team RWBY has come out of there shell to fight the bad guys. This brings up the shows other greatest strength and that has to be hands down the fight scenes, expertly choreographed and insane, every fight scene has a free flowing motion to it and every kick, punch and bullet fired, leads to another form of attack or maneuver. As we see other characters gain more screen time this season, we gain more insight into who they're and there fighting styles. A one, Prof. Oobleck comes up at the end of season two as the girls Huntsmen troop leader for an end of the year mission and shows how even the most ridiculous character in the show is still a Huntsmen and can kick serious tail if it comes down to it.

One thing that also has changed unfortunately for RWBY though is some of the shows animation quality can still appear to be out of sorts. Many of the more lighter touches for characters in scenes are not handled with enough care such as handshakes or interactions with other characters. One point later on in the season, Roman puts his cane up to a henchman's neck and you can clearly see the cane clip and it doesn't look like it's touching his neck at all. These issues come up in many of the slower scenes and even with characters in the background of scenes throughout the show and it just shows that some of the animation levels are not up to the task still for RWBY. 

In the end though the latest season for RWBY has shown a big desire to move further with it's story. The ball finally starts to get rolling with the introduction of Cinder Fall and her accomplices and it gets me very eager to see what's around the corner, especially with the nice cliff hanger you're left with at the end. The amazing fights also make a big comeback this season as more characters enter the mix and show of their own impressive skills, bad guys and good guys alike. And of course, the text book laughs make a big comeback as well, Ruby and her friends continue to get into mischief and hilarious situations but also some tender moments come up too. My favorite being the big prom event that happens part way through, it's filled with laughs and lighter moments for all the main cast. My criticisms aside, I still love RWBY and cannot wait for the next season to start. 

Good:

- Story starts to unravel much more this time around

- Still has awesome action and humor to it

- Characters feel more adjusted and more relaxed in their roles

Bad:

- There are still animation flaws with the work that pop up and prevent me from complete enjoyment over the show

Scully Rating: 8.2 out of 10  

RWBY

By: Robert Murphy

As some of you may or may not remember, awhile back I posted an update to the site about a new show that I thought looked quite incredible and was being made by my favorite online production and multi community channel Roosterteeth.com and that show was RWBY (Pronounced Ruby). Not too long ago the first season of the show concluded, the show mainly follows four young girls who have all been selected to join the prestigious Beacon Academy which teaches exceptional young men and woman how to be Huntresses and Huntsmen. Once they do so they will be able to fight shadow like creatures that take on various forms and are known as “The Creatures of Grimm” and prior to these events these creatures fought against humanity and sought to destroy it. With the discovery of a magical element known as Dust however, humanity managed to push back the Grimm creatures and restore order and peace.

Ruby and her teammates, Yang, Wise and Blake, form team RWBY and together go to classes at Beacon to become future Huntresses and all of them have amazing abilities and strengths. One thing you should all know about the weapons of RWBY is that they all look like one thing but can be something else entirely, like a giant war hammer having shotgun shell device at the end for high powered impact attacks, weapons go from looking like melee weapons to being high tech pieces of equipment. Ruby for example wields a giant scythe that she can skillfully handle and use but it also doubles as a high powered sniper rifle and she uses the momentum it creates when fired to do some amazing things. Almost all weapons in the world RWBY have this attribute to them or the ability to use the magic of Dust to augment the user’s abilities, the result makes for some crazy and spectacular fights much like the style of Final Fantasy. The action itself was just incredible but the weapons and unique concepts of them made the fights even better, each weapon works almost as a part of the user and their individual fighting style.

RWBY is not all about non stop action though; the show also has a lot of characters, story and development to it. All the character of RWBY have a unique look or style to them, some little quirk to them that makes each character as memorable as the next even if they’re on screen for a moment. Ruby for instance is a fun loving, spunky girl who has a little red riding hood look to her but she isn’t all sweet and innocent once she gets her scythe in hand and flies through the air, cutting down Grimm creatures ten times her size. Then there are other minor characters such as the professors at the school but they have funny attributes such as a massive caffeine high that makes them go speeding across the room in seconds. But if one thing could be said overall is that the story feels like a setup for things to come, there are a few developments that are interesting but nothing substantial. As the show goes on you feel things are developing more and more and that RWBY has much more to come later and this is good, we are left with a great setup for the future with great and engaging characters and I know that I for one am excited for what is about to come from later seasons.

In conclusion, I look forward to what the future brings for RWBY because what we have right now is already something truly addictive and impressive. Each character is as unique as the next and are each engaging in there own way, whether their cocky mannerisms or their incredible fighting skills. Also the unique weapons and abilities shown throughout the series are just simply amazing; they’re sleek and enjoyable just for how over the top they are. Although a portion of what I have seen seems to be a setup for the future of the show, this makes me excited for the next season and I hope it does for you  all too.

Good:

- Over the top fights and action

- The incredibly bizarre and fantastic weapons are something you have to see to believe

- Engaging characters, all with their own style and look to them

Bad:

- Animations a little rough around the edges

- A lot of setup and hinting for the goodies yet to come

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10 

RWBY Release

By: Robert Murphy

Link to video here

Good news everyone, the release of RWBY’s premiere episode has finally come out for everyone to enjoy. For those of you who don’t know, Rooster Teeth Productions, the people who brought us all Red vs. Blue, has been working on an anime style show known as RWBY and was created my animator Monty Oum. The story takes place in a modern setting filled with monsters and supernatural forces. The series focuses on four girls, each with their own unique weapon and powers, who come together as a team at Beacon Academy in the city of Vale where they are trained to battle these creatures and become Huntresses. Prior to the events of the series, mankind waged a battle of survival against the shadowy creatures of the Grimm until they discovered the power of Dust, which allowed them to fight back the monsters. Having watched the first episode of the series, I can say that I am thoroughly impressed and amazed by all the hard work that has been done on this series and what has come of it all is truly and amazing start to what will be a great series. Hope you all decide to check it out and stay tuned for more episodes to come, Murphy out.