I watched RWBY over the past week to see if it was as bad as people sometimes say. I’ve heard so much about this show, but I had never actually seen it until recently. I am now current on the show, having seen all available episodes.
In short: it’s not bad. In fact, taken as a whole, it’s quite good.
My observations:
– The first two volumes function as character introduction; you are given short, episodic stories that are meant to endear you to the four main girls and their allies.
– The main character, Ruby Rose (the red one), is very endearing and likable, a hopeful ray of sunshine in a dark and dangerous world.
– The actual beginning of the story is Volume 3. Because all the relevant characters had been introduced in the previous two volumes, the show could get right into setting up its central conflict.
– From Volume 3 onward, the show appears to follow a traditional three-act structure. The end of Volume 3 is the crossing of the threshold (like the scene in the first Star Wars where Luke finds his aunt and uncle dead), and Volume 5 functions as a narrative midpoint, showing the girls’ mastery of the changed situation.
– Its fight scenes are a treat for the eyes, but they should get to the point more, rather than clashing and clanging weapons.
– All crowd scenes have a careful mix of skin tones, no matter the country or region.
– Women are the ones driving things in the show, to the point where the world could plausibly be called matriarchal. However, the characters never make a big deal out of this as it is normal to them (there is, however, a song in Season 5 that mentions a “patriarchal prison,” which didn’t make sense considering the woman-centered social structure of that world.)
– By contrast, young male characters pre-Season 5 are mostly incompetent. Older males are much more competent, but this is presumably to show that “the future has no need for competent men” or something like that. Jaune (“John”) gets it worst of all, being emasculated at every turn before Season 5.
– The show does plot twists very well, without seeming like cheap shock value. You get the sense that the four main girls are vulnerable, and you’re actually invested in their fates. Mary Sues they are not.
– Atlas is repeatedly described as a kingdom, but no monarch is even mentioned.
– The story’s structure is actually a good one to follow for long-form series. Presuming that it ends well, I’d say it’s pretty much textbook for series-level structure. There is a caveat, though: the internal arrangement of your series’ entries need not copy this show, for you have your own ideas.
Can the show be better? Yes. However, it’s not utterly horrid. It’s popular for a reason.
Much like you, I’ve heard a lot about it but haven’t watched it yet.
It does seem to have a lot of fascinating behind the scenes stories too, with the creator dying and now the company running it no longer like it was when it started.
Indeed it does. The show was popular when Monty Oum was alive, but I think his death gave it far greater reach due to how sudden it was.
Yes, but I also wonder how much it has drifted from his original vision and how much has stayed on track with his plans.
I wonder that myself. The biggest tragedy of a creator dying mid-show is “What Could Have Been.”
They should have hired Monty’s protégé (Shane Newville) to take over as director. He worked closely with him and knows the fight choreography and story beats.
Perhaps, but it’s far too late now. The show appears to be nearing its conclusion.
So I stumbled upon your samurai jack post.
https://rawlenyanzi.com/samurai-jack/
I wanted to comment but it seems they are closed. My reaction to it, as I AM a very old school fan of Jack.
https://natewinchester.wordpress.com/2019/10/07/samurai-jack-star-wars-sequels/
I also do consider Gennedy to be one of the masters of showing over telling. He has a lot of my respect as a story teller.
About the comments, I set them to close automatically after 14 days of a post being up.
As for Samurai Jack, I never followed up on it since I don’t like its art style. Good writeup, though.
Yeah I’ll admit the art style is an acquired taste.
But I do love how the creators will often experiment and attempt things with that style they could never do elsewhere. If you’ve got a ready source of the show, I could recommend a few of the top episodes that really make the art style shine. (Or some of the ones that are just packed with anime references.) lol
Animation gives you a lot of flexibility; the fight scenes in RWBY, for example, cannot be repeated in live action without looking ridiculous and fake.