Sorry, but I Just Can't Get Into RWBY
I've been playing catch-up with a lot of animated series lately, and hidden in that backlog is a popular sensation titled RWBY (pronounced "ruby," like the gem), from the same people behind venerable machinima series Red Vs. Blue.
Red Vs. Blue is a testament to how low-budget animation doesn't get in the way of witty writing, meaningful character development, and steady plot progression. RWBY shares the low-budget animation part, but none of the last three.
After watching one season, I'm not inclined to watch any more. Minor spoilers ahead.
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The Good
A scythe that's also a sniper rifle. A battle hammer that transforms into a grenade launcher. Shotgun gauntlets. All impractical, all awesome. RWBY certainly delivers on the ridiculous, over-the-top weapon porn, and leaves you with the feeling that the designs were lifted straight from a video game.
Speaking of lifting stuff from video games, every battle is like watching a scripted action sequence or cut-scene from Metal Gear Solid or Bayonetta. You know, the ones that make you wonder why your characters can't do that during actual gameplay. Only this isn't a video game, so you're not left disappointed after watching five minutes of sick combat choreography.
Most of the background music is pretty forgettable, but RWBY's soundtrack shines during fights. In fact, those fights were the main reason I felt inclined to click "Next Episode" in the face of the series' other flaws.
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The Bad
And those flaws run deep.
RWBY's main problem is that nothing presents a challenge to the protagonists. Overpowered anime characters kicking ass with absurd weaponry works well enough in a video game, but a cartoon series needs characters with conflicts to overcome. Flawless characters are boring, after all.
And since RWBY establishes early on that the good guys are nigh unbeatable in a fight, it's all the more important that the series fleshes out their internal problems and how they deal with them. In fact, we're led to believe that's where the series is going. We learn in the beginning that Ruby is a lone-wolf type with no friends and doesn't work well with others, Weiss is arrogant and spoiled, and Jaune is insecure about his apparent lack of fighting talent. These are actually great starting points for character development.
Unfortunately, RWBY is littered with quick, unsatisfying, and sometimes off-screen character triumphs that undermine their development. Ruby literally overcomes her flaw in one day. She starts off the Hunter initiation unable to coordinate with Weiss, her partner, yet somehow teams up with seven other people and masterminds the simultaneous take-downs of two particularly tough monsters.
Ruby then becomes leader of her team, presumably for setting the world record for fastest character development. She goes on to give sage leadership advice to Jaune in a later episode, making it hard to believe that this girl ever had to struggle with finding friends or working on a team.
Then there's Weiss, whose upbringing and schooling leads her to believe she has all the qualities of an elite Huntress. So when Ruby is chosen as team leader over her, it's a huge blow to Weiss's self-esteem. Thinking herself the better Huntress, Weiss questions Ruby's leadership capabilities at every turn.
How does this get solved? Does Weiss see that being a leader is more than book-facts and sword-arts? Does she learn about the magic of friendship? Nope! Instead, Weiss's teacher almost literally tells her, "Be a better person," and she does from the next episode onward.
In a later episode, Weiss is shown to be openly racist toward Faunus people. When Blake, another member of her team, reveals herself as a Faunus and leaves the team in anger, Weiss is forced to come to terms with her hatred of furries and her friendship with her teammate.
And how does that get solved? Off-screen, because the show then focuses on Blake. When the team reunites, Weiss accepts Blake openly, having clearly dealt with whatever internal conflict she had.
Jaune's inner conflict is the only satisfying one because it isn't fully resolved. He deals with bullying, low self-esteem, and the burden of leadership over the course of the first season. He's the easiest to sympathize with because he's not overpowered, his problems and his reactions to them are much more realistic, and we get to see him improve slowly as he works to overcome them.
So it's sad to say that Jaune's character development arc is the strongest when the show is so clearly supposed to be about Ruby and her team. Could they have focused on Jaune more? Sure, but there are already more than enough anime series centering around "weak dude getting stronger." Also, his voice and mannerisms are annoying, and I probably would've quit the series much sooner if it was all about him.
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The Grimm
In the RWBY universe, the Grimm are mindless, animalistic monsters that populate much of the world. They're the primary source of external conflict, but given how easily they're dispatched by our heroes, the stakes aren't exactly high.
Therein lies another major flaw with RWBY: for much of the first season, there's no enemy. We're not shown that the Grimm are any sort of threat. They're not raiding poor villages and slaughtering defenseless townsfolk. Well, they are, supposedly--just never on-camera. When they do get screen-time, they're cannon fodder for our over-leveled RPG protagonists.
There is a crime boss named Roman Torchwick, whose only purpose appears to be to set us up for the show's second season. We only see him in the first and last episodes of season one, and Ruby and friends do fight him in a climactic battle, but he's otherwise not even mentioned.
That means from episodes two through fifteen, there's no one for our heroes to fight. That's 14 episodes where we're left wondering where the plot is going.
Most people would say giving a series that much time to establish its footing is being rather generous.
Red Vs. Blue is a testament to how low-budget animation doesn't get in the way of witty writing, meaningful character development, and steady plot progression. RWBY shares the low-budget animation part, but none of the last three.
After watching one season, I'm not inclined to watch any more. Minor spoilers ahead.
------
The Good
A scythe that's also a sniper rifle. A battle hammer that transforms into a grenade launcher. Shotgun gauntlets. All impractical, all awesome. RWBY certainly delivers on the ridiculous, over-the-top weapon porn, and leaves you with the feeling that the designs were lifted straight from a video game.
 |
| Please Select Your Character |
Speaking of lifting stuff from video games, every battle is like watching a scripted action sequence or cut-scene from Metal Gear Solid or Bayonetta. You know, the ones that make you wonder why your characters can't do that during actual gameplay. Only this isn't a video game, so you're not left disappointed after watching five minutes of sick combat choreography.
Most of the background music is pretty forgettable, but RWBY's soundtrack shines during fights. In fact, those fights were the main reason I felt inclined to click "Next Episode" in the face of the series' other flaws.
------
The Bad
And those flaws run deep.
RWBY's main problem is that nothing presents a challenge to the protagonists. Overpowered anime characters kicking ass with absurd weaponry works well enough in a video game, but a cartoon series needs characters with conflicts to overcome. Flawless characters are boring, after all.
 |
| Black and red are the edgiest colors. |
Unfortunately, RWBY is littered with quick, unsatisfying, and sometimes off-screen character triumphs that undermine their development. Ruby literally overcomes her flaw in one day. She starts off the Hunter initiation unable to coordinate with Weiss, her partner, yet somehow teams up with seven other people and masterminds the simultaneous take-downs of two particularly tough monsters.
Ruby then becomes leader of her team, presumably for setting the world record for fastest character development. She goes on to give sage leadership advice to Jaune in a later episode, making it hard to believe that this girl ever had to struggle with finding friends or working on a team.
Then there's Weiss, whose upbringing and schooling leads her to believe she has all the qualities of an elite Huntress. So when Ruby is chosen as team leader over her, it's a huge blow to Weiss's self-esteem. Thinking herself the better Huntress, Weiss questions Ruby's leadership capabilities at every turn.
How does this get solved? Does Weiss see that being a leader is more than book-facts and sword-arts? Does she learn about the magic of friendship? Nope! Instead, Weiss's teacher almost literally tells her, "Be a better person," and she does from the next episode onward.
 |
| Of course a character named Weiss is the openly racist one. |
And how does that get solved? Off-screen, because the show then focuses on Blake. When the team reunites, Weiss accepts Blake openly, having clearly dealt with whatever internal conflict she had.
Jaune's inner conflict is the only satisfying one because it isn't fully resolved. He deals with bullying, low self-esteem, and the burden of leadership over the course of the first season. He's the easiest to sympathize with because he's not overpowered, his problems and his reactions to them are much more realistic, and we get to see him improve slowly as he works to overcome them.
So it's sad to say that Jaune's character development arc is the strongest when the show is so clearly supposed to be about Ruby and her team. Could they have focused on Jaune more? Sure, but there are already more than enough anime series centering around "weak dude getting stronger." Also, his voice and mannerisms are annoying, and I probably would've quit the series much sooner if it was all about him.
------
The Grimm
In the RWBY universe, the Grimm are mindless, animalistic monsters that populate much of the world. They're the primary source of external conflict, but given how easily they're dispatched by our heroes, the stakes aren't exactly high.
Therein lies another major flaw with RWBY: for much of the first season, there's no enemy. We're not shown that the Grimm are any sort of threat. They're not raiding poor villages and slaughtering defenseless townsfolk. Well, they are, supposedly--just never on-camera. When they do get screen-time, they're cannon fodder for our over-leveled RPG protagonists.
There is a crime boss named Roman Torchwick, whose only purpose appears to be to set us up for the show's second season. We only see him in the first and last episodes of season one, and Ruby and friends do fight him in a climactic battle, but he's otherwise not even mentioned.
 |
| 15 episodes to learn that RWBY's about racism against furries. |
That means from episodes two through fifteen, there's no one for our heroes to fight. That's 14 episodes where we're left wondering where the plot is going.
Most people would say giving a series that much time to establish its footing is being rather generous.
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