For the people who have already read my posts here, you probably already know that I’m not a big fan of animes, but a big manga fan. I’ve already done many reviews about different kinds of works and usually some are very “traditional” in this universe. I can count on the fingers of one hand which animes I really liked after I got a bit older. When I was a teenager, I was a big fan of Dragon Ball (Z), Yuyu Hakusho, Sakura Card Captors, Saint Seya etc. However, now that I’m older, the only one that still resonates a lot with me is Sakura Card Captors, my passion.

Curiously, RWBY has a lot in common with my favorite anime, so let’s go!

To the newcomers, Tuesday, 12/01/2020, there’ll be a video on our channel which we’ll be covering the series! Access youtube.com/podcaverna and subscribe in order to follow the series of videos we’re going to be recording.

RWBY is an animation made by Rooster Teeth, a company that has been gaining a lot of recognition for quite a while with productions such as Red vs Blue and RWBY (which is the ruby of the industry, literally) The company has worked independently for many years, until they got a partnership with Warner and started expanding the team, equipment etc.

Although RWBY has an anime vibe, I don’t actually see it as an anime itself. I see a lot of artistic inspirations at some moments, the expressions of the characters, the humor in certain scenes etc. I’d say RWBY is more original in this aspect because it incorporates elements of the Japanese art, elements of cinema, different camera angles, an more western storytelling approach, but with an tone eastern with it, well-built characters full of references; all that presented with 3D models and a lot of charisma.

When it comes to the soundtrack, everything was arranged and written following the script; the composer (Jeff Williams) seems to have been inside each of the characters’ head and turned everything they’ve been through into songs, counting with the amazing performance of the singer (Casey Williams, daughter of the composer), whose abilities are fantastic and bring a lot of emotion and heart to the music! It’s an unique experience!

The story begins with a girl named Ruby Rose reading her comics in a shop that commercializes Dust (crystals which give humans the ability to use magic, instantly). The shop is ready to get robbed by a bunch of gangsters of some sorts. However, when one of the goons approaches the girl, he ends up flying through the window of the shop. Ruby is no helpless little girl, she has been trained at Signal combat school (by her uncle, Qrow) and doesn’t let these criminals get away with it. During their flee, the boss of the gang gets into an airship and tries to escape, although a witch appears and helps Ruby because the vehicle seems to be carrying a mysterious and powerful figure that attacks both girls. At the end of the night, Ruby is taken to be interrogated by Glinda Goodwitch (the witch and professor) and Ozpin (professor and headmaster of Beacon). The headmaster invites the young girl to become one his pupils at his academy and turn Ruby into a huntress. The girl accepts the invitation and joins her sister in their journey to become heroines and protect the world from the creatures of Grimm (monsters that are attracted by our fears, hate, oppression and any other negative feelings).

The premise is simple and objective, but as you watch the episodes/chapters, you start to notice things, many elements that had been presented earlier start to be explained later on. The series don’t drop the ball at any rate, always making us curious to know what’s going to happen to certain characters and how the show is going to develop certain things. Talking about the characters, they all have very interesting  arcs that go over a lot of different topics which me and my friend, Diego Onrstein, are going to cover in a future post!

My objective now is to talk about some of the backgrounds of the main characters!

Starting with the main character, Ruby Rose – our moral compass. The girl has an interesting semblance which allows her to be super-fast and practically fly for a short period of time. Semblances are a gift that come with the aura of each person, each one with their own unique abilities that are quite connected to the persons’ personality or vice versa. Ruby is the heart of her team, she is the one who remembers her friends why they keep fighting, with the innocence and charisma of a child, but the thorns of a rose! I see her a lot like a moral compass through out the whole story, quite similar to Sakura in Sakura Card Captors. Her past is being slowly revealed to us as the volumes/seasons go by; there’s something greater behind Ruby’s eyes that no one can imagine.

Weiss Schnee – the ice queen, the snow white. With a lot of class, the girl is the heir of her father’s company which seems to have a dark history with their employees and very abusive tactics. Weiss is down-to-earth, her semblance is a circle of magic that can be used to climb up walls and even used as a “catapult” in certain moments. She’s always trying to redeem herself because of the bad things that her father’s company has done and tries to become something that belongs only to herself and herself alone.

Blake Belladonna – the ninja of the team. She has especial abilities, different from the other girls of team RWBY. Blake can leave shadow clones of herself behind and trick her enemies. A very useful semblance and that says a lot about Blake’s past, who always left something behind, being it her family, friends etc. She tries to undo the damage that the revolutionary group called the White Fang – that once has fought for freedom and equality, but now lost their essence and turned to be extremists led by Adam Taurus. The young girl wants to become a huntress and fight for a better world, rid of hate and more equal.

Last but not least, Yang Xiao Long (my favourite!) – Ruby’s older sister. The blond girl with amethysts eyes is a thrill-seeker who wants to live her life traveling, helping others on her way and fighting the creatures of Grimm, and maybe someday find her mother, Raven, who’s been missing. Yang’s semblance is strong and says a lot about her personality; even if she takes a hell of a blow, she’ll stand up and hit twice as hard as the blow she’d gotten before. Her eyes turn red and she gets into a state of extreme rage. She’s quite stub-born and it’s always looking forward to helping her friends during the heaviest and most intense moments, as the episodes reveal to us along the series.

I’d spend more than a thousand pages writing about the other characters and their semblances, how’s everything connected to many different events, but I think it will be better if you check it for yourself at Rooster Teeth (https://roosterteeth.com/series/rwby)! You just have to connect your Google account to their website and that’s it, you can watch RWBY since the very beginning up until the eighth volume, and the future ones yet to come! Check this show out! This was a recommendation of my dear friend, Diego, and a student of mine, Ana Luísa. Thank you so much for making my 2020 feel a bit better, it’s been hard to survive this whole madness we’re going through and nothing could be better than a little bit of magic and beauty in our worlds. I recommend RWBY to everyone reading this post – it’s a rare and amazing jewel, indeed!