Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s time for the Animation Bang edition of RWBY and helping me out with this is none other than Isis, Mira, Shizuku, and Yin-Yang Team of Team IMSY (pronounced Empress). In this blog we’ll go a little more into the characters and I’ll name my favorite episodes as well as characters in the show. With that said let’s take a look at RWBY.
The Main Characters
(Isis): The main characters are team RWBY comprised of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. 4 young girls with personalities and traits that share the same dream of becoming Huntresses and protecting their world from the creatures known as the The Grimm. One of the interesting things about this team is that they’re all based of female characters from fairytales. For example Ruby is based off of Red Riding Hood, Weiss is Snow White, Blake is Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Yang is Goldilocks.
Ruby Rose
Ruby is the leader and the youngest member of team Ruby. Her dream is to become a Huntress and protect the world simply because she’s always wanted to help people and keep them safe. Despite the fact that she’s a very antisocial person, she’s rather shy around other people and has a tough time making friends. In fact she even says she hates standing out in the crowd which is ironic because being a Huntress will have the spotlight on her at all times. Despite this however Ruby is a good girl who has amazing skills for her age and steadily warms up to people once she gets to know them. She can be a little reckless in her fights often being impulsive and jumping in without thinking trying to show others how strong she is but at other times she’ll show to be quite tactical and often see an opponent’s weakness before anybody else on her team. Her weapon of choice is a scythe combined with a high caliber sniper rifle called Crescent Rose. While the scythe is bigger than her she seems to have no problem wielding it and has shown great skills when using it in battle. In the show it is said that Crescent Rose is one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed and wielding it requires someone of equal or greater strength to use it effectively so that’s a testament to how strong Ruby is.
Weiss Schnee
Often considered the resident bitch of the team Weiss is the heir to the Schnee Dust Company the largest supplier of Dust in the world. According to Monty Oum she’s a character whose life has been decided for her, she’s never been given the chance to make decisions on her own or decide what she wants to do with her life so she comes off as kind of a rebel. One could say that her becoming a Huntress is her way of rebelling against her life style and trying to make a life for her own where she decides what she wants to do. Although she can be quite arrogant and bitchy at times she is in fact a good person, as we see in some episodes she’ll recognize her faults and change them. Her harsh tone and outlook on others is a front for hiding her true emotions which is that of a lonely girl who longs to be accepted by others as just herself instead of an heiress to a powerful company. Unlike Ruby her battling style is more analytical and planned out. She won’t rush into combat or do impulsive moves, she’ll quickly analyze the situation, make her move, or retreat if the situation becomes too dire for her. Her weapon of choice is a Dust rapier called Myrtenaster which houses a few tubes of Dust which Weiss uses in combat to enhance her skills and powers. She can also create runes with the blade and use them as stepping stones or catapult her teammates as we see in the series. In keeping with guns and weapons Weiss also has a revolver in the blade that shoots Dust energy at her opponents.
Blake Belladonna
(Nitsuj): This is my favorite female character in the show, favorite member on Team RWBY, and second favorite character all around in the show so far. Blake is a Faunus, a catgirl to be exact, who has cat-like reflexes, speed, and agility that make her very ninja like. While she comes off as rather quiet, serious, and reserved she does have her humorous moments and she’s quite friendly when you get to know her. She’s an advent book reader often engrossing herself in books in fact when we first meet her she’s reading a book and practically ignoring everything else. She’s also a very righteous person, she speaks out against Weiss’ family treating Faunus workers poorly and respects those around her whether they be human or Faunus. In the show we find she used to be a member of the White Fang a group of Faunus who take part in illegal crimes to get back at humans but she quit the group because she didn’t like where things were going. Because of this she hides the fact that she’s a Faunus from the group until the last 2 episodes in the season. Blake’s weapon is Gambol Shroud, a combination of two weapons. A katana and cleaver combined with a pistol and a chain which allows her to swing around. The blades are actually quite strong being able to cut through metal as seen in her trailer and Blake has shown incredible skills with them. If I had to describe her fighting I would say its quick and fast-paced and roughly similar to Ruby’s fighting style however she does show a little more control in her fights and won’t just hastily jump in.
Yang Xiao Long
Ruby’s big sister who is pretty much the exact opposite of Ruby. While Ruby is shy, somewhat antisocial, and quiet; Yang is loud, straightforward, confident, energetic, and very social. If I had to describe her I would describe her as someone who would teach you how to fire a gun by just tossing you a gun without showing you how to hold it properly and seeing what you do. That kinda describes her relationship with Ruby. While Yang does care for Ruby and worries about her like a big sister she doesn’t baby Ruby, she encourages her to go out and make other friends besides herself but at the same time whenever Ruby really needs her Yang is there for her which I like. I like the relationship these two have, Yang is caring and protective of Ruby but not to the point where it’s unbearable she gives Ruby the freedom to make her choices and watch over her from a distance seeing her grow strong. Yang probably has my favorite weapons in the show so far shotgun gauntlets called Ember Celica. At first they appear as bracelets but once activated they turn into gauntlets that cover her hands and forearms meaning she fights her opponents bare-handed. Here’s a little bit of trivia, I actually did base Shizuku’s shotgun gauntlets off of Yang’s weapons. When I saw her trailer and saw those gauntlets I just fell in love with them and knew that if I got around to creating a second AI girl her weapon would be shotgun gauntlets. Much like Ruby her fighting is impulsive however just like Blake she seems to be a little more in control as we’ll see her display a high level of confidence in her abilities and not be fazed by the enemy even when they have her outnumbered. She also seems to know a bit of boxing. One could say she’s being cocky in her abilities but I think she’s just knows that she can handle this situation and has confidence she’ll pull throw.
Minor Characters
(Mira): Much like there are main characters in the show there are minor characters as well. In truth I hesitate to call them minor on account of there’s a chance that they have the potential to play an important part in the show. The minor characters I’ll be focusing on is Team JNPR (pronounced Juniper).
Jaune Arc
The leader of Team JNPR and so far the only person in the show who’s weapon doesn’t have a gun installed in it. Coming off as the class clown in the show Jaune does try his best to be a suave, smooth, and strong character in the show. He has a kind heart and is very out-going actually being the first real friend Ruby made when she arrived at Beacon. He also comes off as a womanizer making passes at Weiss a few times but striking out. His backstory is he comes from a long line of heroes so he obsessed with trying to live up to his family name even if that means doing it alone without relying on help from others. His weapon is just a simple sword called Crocea Mors and a shield. While he shows some combat skills so far his skills are the weakest in the show.
Nora Valkyrie
A girl who is just bursting with energy and enthusiasm. She is just a joyous person to be around because of her energy and playful nature however this does make her speak in circles a lot and ramble on at times which does get a little annoying but not too annoying. However, the team doesn’t seem to mind Nora’s energy if anything it seems like they welcome it. Nora’s weapon is a war hammer called Magnhild which can transform into a grenade launcher and even in battle she maintains that enthusiastic personality. Because of this weapon Nora can be seen as the powerhouse of the team.
Pyrrha Nikos
Said to be one of the strongest students in Beacon, Pyrrha is a celebrity in the world of RWBY who displays strong skills and intelligent thinking. But despite her celebrity status she’s still a very approachable person she’s friendly, patient, modest, sociable and very righteous standing up to bullies whenever she sees someone being bullied and everything. It’s also hinted in the show that she might have feelings for Jaune as she’s always helping him out and looking out for him. Whether this is just an act of friendship or something else remains to be seen. Pyrrha uses a heavy javelin and a shield called Miló and Akoúo̱ to fight. The javelin can also transform into a double-edged short sword called Xiphos and has a carbine gun build into it. In battle she shows level headedness and has a wide array of combat abilities.
Lie Ren
The final member of Team JNPR and considered the perfect student by Nora. Not much is known except his personality is somewhat similar to Blake, he prefers peace and quiet and also seems pretty much in control of his emotions and character actually being able to stand Nora’s jumpy personality but this could be only because they’ve been friends for such a long time he’s used to her character by now. He’s also hinted to be quite a cook as he makes the team pancakes in one episode. Ren uses automatic pistols with blades attached to them called StormFlower probably the most basic and simple out of all the weapons so far. As far as battling style we see him as quite a capable fighter able to hold his own against the Grimm quite well. He comes off as rather disciplined and collective when fighting.
The Enemies
(Nitsuj): So far in the series we have 3 enemies. One is the Grimm the mysterious creatures who have been fighting against humanity for years. The other is Cinder who makes her appearance in the first and last episode and seems to be Huntress gone rogue. She also seems to be affiliated with Roman the antagonist we’ve seen throughout the first season.
Roman Torchwick
The main antagonist we’ve seen throughout the first season. Roman comes across as a formal gentleman and a ruthless criminal. He has a calm demeanor and speaks charmingly when he’s robbing someone and even when Blake gets the jump on him he still maintains that calm demeanor if anything he’s more annoyed than scared that Blake got the jump on him. He’s displays ruthlessness in that he’s not afraid to use lethal force when dealing with others as seen when he fought Ruby and Blake and even goes as far as belittling Faunuses when he works with them in the last episode. So far I will say I do like this character a lot he’s probably my third favorite character in series. As I said before he comes off like the Penguin from Batman he’s got this high class feel and charm to him that just makes him fun to watch. I love how he doesn’t look threatening at all but in truth he’s quite dangerous and doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty to get what he wants even though in truth he doesn’t have to. He’s pretty got the three 3 C’s working for him calm, cool, and control. He’s got a calm demeanor when faced with danger, he’s got a cool appearance and attitude that makes you drawn to him, and he’s got this sense of control over others as well as the situation he’s end so when things don’t go as plan you know he’s not worried because he’s in control of it and is already thinking of a way out. Despite his high class appearance Roman has shown excellent fighting skills able to hold his own against Ruby in the first episode as well as Blake in the last episode. His weapon of choice is his walking stick the fans have named Candy Cane which acts as somewhat of a sword for him and also as a rifle which he uses to fire off mini Dust flares.
The Episodes
(Yin-Yang): The episodes of Ruby pretty much center around Ruby and the others. We start off with Ruby getting into Beacon and meeting the rest of Team RWBY in the process as well as a few side characters. Seeing the formation of the teams and ending with a shocking reveal, new characters, and a great fight scene that keeps you wanting more. While the episodes were good the one complaint I have with them is how inconsistent each of them last. The episodes would range from 4 to 15 minutes so one week one episode would be 10 minutes and the next week the episode would only be about 5 minutes. This annoyed me because when I was really getting invested into the show it would be over and I would have to wait another week to see what happens next. I will however give the show credit, for each episode they did manage to get exposition out and advance the story perfectly so good job on their part. Hopefully in the future they’ll try to make the episodes consistent at 15 minutes each if not longer.
Favorite Episodes
(Nitsuj): If I had to name my favorite episodes it would episodes 4-8 where it’s time for them to form their teams. This is where we get to see all the main and minor characters face each other and come to terms with each other especially for Ruby and Weiss who were at each other’s throats throughout much of the time. We also get a few funny moments with Jaune screaming like a girl and Nora just being Nora. But the best part of all of this is episode 8 when they all come together and fight as a team defeating 2 creatures of the Grimm giving us the second best fight scene in the show. That last part with Ruby cutting off the bird’s head always hypes me up every time I see it. Another group of episodes I like is episode 11-14 which centers around Jaune who so far is my favorite character in the show. We find out that Jaune snuck his way into the academy and that he has a complex of living up to his family legacy and not being your classic funny guy who always holds the team back. As I said in my review I don’t approve of him going off on Prryha but I do understand where he’s coming from. He comes from a family of heroes who were seen and respected as leaders and Juane desperately wants to live up to his family name and not disgrace it. While it’s true asking for help would be the best way for him to get stronger he feels that will just slow him down and make him appear weak. For him a hero is someone who carries the burden himself and gets stronger while solving his own problems himself. But at the end of it all he sees the errors of his ways, apologizes, and even gets training from Prryha to get stronger so I’m looking to seeing how he improves next season. So far out of all the characters he’s the one with the most potential for character development.
The Animation and Music
(Shizuku): As the boss said the animation for this show can be split into 2 categories. Regular animation and fighting animation. The regular animation is good but the characters can move a little awkward at times as well as do awkward things. For example, in the first episode Ruby pretty much demolishes cookies with just one bite like it’s nothing. To be fair I don’t blame the animators but rather the program they’re using but I expect this to improve by next season. The fight scenes for this anime are awesome. I haven’t seen much of Monty’s other work but I’m told he’s a genius when it comes to making fight scenes and from what I’ve seen these fight scenes are amazing, you will not be disappointed by them. The music is also great each character pretty much has their own theme and when the music plays during the fight scenes as well as other scenes it matches up perfectly so I think you’ll enjoy the soundtrack as well.
Final Thoughts
(Nitsuj): RWBY is an amazing show with amazing fight scenes, an interesting story, and characters who you will come to love. While I wish the episodes were a little longer and we had a few more episode exploring the world and seeing how the team interactive with the outside world more I do feel that this season was meant to establish the characters, who they are, why they’re the way they are, and slowly introduces us into the world of RWBY.
Final Score
The first season of RWBY earns an 7.5/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. As far as first seasons go this season was a huge success and I look forward to seeing where the series goes from here. In my opinion the series can go nowhere but up from here. They’re gonna shoot for the Moon and as soon as they reach the Moon they’re gonna aim for Mars and keep going. Thanks for reading I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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