The Best Flavor

Seems HBomber guy did an elaborate video on rwby. I haven’t seen it yet, 2 hour videos I only barely care about kinda scare me. I have heard it only covers volumes 1-3 and that he plans to tackle the rest later. Not sure whether I agree that volume 1-3 require 2 hours to expound on all the issues, buuut it probably covers some of the extra controversies, like Shane’s letter.

I’ve been enjoying the volume 7 soundtrack. Honestly, I think it’s the best one since the original 3 volumes. That said, I can’t help but feel like every intro song since volume 4 sounds the exact same, at least at certain points. I can’t even pretend I understand music, but I swear I hear a certain pattern with each one and bothers me. At least there’s no “big metal shoe” this volume.

Unavoidably I’ve heard things about volume 7, a general love of Ironwoods characterization, how the spec Ops plot falls flat and has a particularly awful line, and ya know, Penny comes back. They didn’t even do anything with that plot thread from what I gather, she just is Penny again. I’m not surprised, I’m not angry, I’m honestly not even disappointed; I feel rather vindicated knowing that the writers still struggle to take the characters in any interesting direction, besides the aforementioned Ironwood.

When I first played BotW, I treated it like Fallout: New Vegas. That was a grade A mistake that still bothers me, but I’ll get to that later. That was years ago; this time around I decided to give it another shot, be more patient, try to use guides minimally, and it’s been a far better experience.

With better knowledge, I now know not to tackle the Gerudo section until last. Not necessarily because it’s difficult, but because the stealth section was almost exclusively the thing that made me quit last time. So yeah, avoiding that has helped. Knowing and seeking armor upgrades, weapon slot upgrades, and just prioritizing shrines has been an overall enjoyable experience.

Combat has not been great. While I have gotten better at (still crap though), it gets pretty repetitive, primarily the bulkier enemies. Breaking several weapons on a Lyonel’s cheeks, eyelashes, and armpits and seeing it only 1/3 of the way dead gets really daunting, really fast. Breaking Weapons isn’t as bad after awhile, but I stand by the complaint that it makes every weapon feel less special.

Puzzles have been mostly passable, nothing too taxing, but generally fun enough. Well, minus the gyro controlled ball in a maze, although the golfing one was fun if clunky. I’m still not keen on puzzles requiring weapons with limited durability or ammunition, but BotW isn’t a game where ammunition is that hard.

In terms of exploration and rewards, this still hasn’t changed all that much. In my honest, if harsh opinion, Zelda really doesn’t have enough rewards to offer for completing objectives. Oh what’s that, some hearty truffles for completing your 3 trials? Good thing I don’t have 19 of those in my inventory already! Killed a tribe of monsters? Silver ruppee...I could farm that in less time and without spending any resources! Oh what’s that, you got me Monopoly for the Nintendo 64? Well that would’ve been great in 1864 when it was impressive to not die at the age of 35!

Overall I hope BotW2 works on some of these issues. I find the runes you have access to are versatile enough, but I still wish for a bit more in terms of what items you have to work with. Weapon durability could stand to be made at least a bit more tolerable. Basically can we get a hookshot in botw2?

Rising is by far the best track on the ost. I really enjoy the introduction with the drums that sound like galloping (reminds me of Path to Isolation, which is a good thing). Not much else to say other than it was good. 5/5

Nevermore gets a close 2nd. I shouldn’t need to explain why, it’s been out long enough and honestly I almost forgot to put it on the list because you didn’t need to wait for the soundtrack to hear it (except in better quality and more bass). 5/5

Miracle is pretty good. While not as amazing as the above two, the vocals and instrumentation changing to fit the mood of a narrative makes this one of the more standout songs of the album.  4/5

Big metal shoe is stupid and fun. That’s all there is to say about it really. 4/5

One more thing sounds like a Jeff William’s song with Casey singing it. It just doesn’t stand out to me. 3/5

Indomitable & Forever fall: snore. Slow ballads, one trying to be positive while the other sad. I’m sorry, but neither really hit me like home did; I might change my opinion if they grow on me, but I really doubt I’d wanna commit the 4~5 minutes to really listen to these songs several times. 2/5 each

Lionize still sounds like hot garbage. It sounds like garage band metal, disjointed and ugly for the most part, and otherwise unimpressive where it doesn’t suck. 1/5

Was it worth the wait? Eeeeh...I mean, Rising, Miracle, and Big metal shoe are fantastic, while One More Thing is a fine bonus, but then you get to indomitable and forever fall which drag the volume a bit but are at least inoffensive and I might listen to them if I’m feeling moody. Then Lionize just sucks.

I don’t really have anything intelligent to add anymore, it’s all the same complaints because RWBY is the same garbage ad nauseam, so it’s not surprising when some big-named youtuber/animator comes along and echoes the same complaints RWDE has been making for at least half a decade.

I can’t even critique this show anymore, it’s too boring. I’ve always viewed RWBY as a punching bag in the past, something designed to beat up on, to feel good about beating up on. But there’s only so long you can beat a bag until the one-sidedness gets to you. No, I’ve been trying to move on to my own works.

“Bye dad!” the boys watched their father take off, having dropped by briefly before departing, leaving them to begin their chores. Matt and Luke took their dishes to the sink, the older brother handing his brother a mop.

“This stinks, I want to go see Elizabeth.”

Luke knew whining would get him nowhere with his brother, but there was a cruel satisfaction from annoying him.

“You can see her when we’re done with chores.”

“But chores are going to take all daaaaay!”

“If you keep whining instead of mopping the floor it will. By the way, you missed a spot.”

Matthew pointed at a corner of the floor, Luke inspecting it in disbelief, only for the older brother to brush him on the nose.

“Maaatt.”

“Luuuuke.”

Resigning himself to his defeat, Luke kept scrubbing the floor, the tile floor of the kitchen. This was an adult’s job, but his mother spent all but one to two of her waking hours serving the queen, and when their dad wasn’t away, he’d rarely stick more than an hour or two.

“Just be glad you’re not cleaning dishes.”

“Why can’t mom clean dishes?”

“Busy helping the queen.”

“With what?”

“I don’t know. But she’s always there, unless she’s making us food. If she were home were often, we would probably have a way worse home.”

When Luke had finished mopping the floor, he had taken his brother’s place washing dishes, using a step ladder to reach the sink. The younger brother grimaced at the dirty food, contemplating how such delicious food could look and smell so vile when cold and old.

Matthew had moved to drying dishes and putting them away in the shelves.

“You know Luke, you should be glad our house is so modest.”

“You mean small.”

“I mean we could be cleaning the entire castle.”

“At least I could see Elizabeth.”

“You’ve really grown fond of her, haven’t you? It’s only been a year.”

“She’s my best friend. She’s…my only friend.”

Matthew had stopped what he was doing to turn toward his brother. He could see his brother hadn’t even slowed down, but he looked lost in thought.

“Hey Luke, you can go see the princess if you want.”

“Really?!” Luke had perked up.

“Yeah. If mom asks -which she probably won’t- just say Brian or Eric or Adriana escorted you.”

“Thanks Matt, you’re the best.”

Luke had hugged his brother, the latter making sure not to drop the glass in his hand before rushing out.

Matthew sighed to himself, all alone now, left to finish the remaining chores.

In the southern region of an island known as Araponza, a ring-shaped wall surrounded a small city. The city, Lumina, was the capital of the country by the same name. Surrounding the city was a wall that curved to form a perfect circle, with four gates in the cardinal directions.

Inside Lumina, the citizens were divided by wealth, the poorest living just within the ring wall, creating their own ring of houses and business buildings.

The middle class created another ring, theirs being along a hill that continued rising. At the top of the hill sat the rich. Then finally the nobles, those who served the monarchy directly. The monarchy, the queen and her daughter, lived within the castle at the center of town, the hill forming a depression that hid the castle from all except the nobles.

Within the castle walls, Lukas Baronia had escaped the supervision of his family. Through the halls tall enough for some ten times his size, the little boy of only six was relieved to get away from his father and brother as he galloped to freedom, only stopping when he could see the ceiling give way to daylight.

Turning his attention from the rays of sunshine to the ground, Luke had found himself in the castle garden, surrounded by green hedges and flowers of all colors. The boy inspected the garden until he spotted a brand-new face wandering the greenery: a girl of the same age, short, pink hair, and looking equally perplexed at the boy’s presence.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my garden?”

“I’m Luke. I was just walking around.”

The boy anticipated the worst. This girl must have been the princess he heard about, and he must have seemed like an intruder wandering into her home unannounced. To his surprise, however, the girl simply smiled at him and extended her arm.

“I’m princess Elizabeth, nice to meet you.”

Shaking her hand, Luke pondered what to say next. “You uh…want to play?”

“Of course! Since this place is so big, why not hide and seek?”

“Sure. Do you want to be the hider?”

“No, I’ll be the seeker. You might never find me if I hide somewhere. I’ll close my eyes and count to five.”

Turning around and putting her hands over her eyes, Elizabeth began to count, sending Luke into a panic trying to find a hiding spot.

“Zero.” Mercifully the princess gave him a running start, but a lot of these hedges had a gap at the bottom, making it easy to see someone from the other side.

“One.” Luke looked around hectically, considering leaving the garden, but unsure of-

“Two.” No time to think! Luke ran behind a bush.

“Three.” The bush was fairly thick, but looking from the bottom, he could still see through it plainly.

“Four.” A clever idea started to form in his head.

“Five! Ready or not, here I come!”

The princess turned around, scanning the environment for the boy hiding behind one of the hedges. Luke watched from his bush as she looked around various other hedges, until she approached his.

Stealthily as he could, as the princess began to search the area, Luke darted behind a different hedge. When the princess began to wander his way, he darted behind another hedge.

“Luke, what are you doing?”

To his shock and horror, Luke turned around to see his brother, Matthew, towering over him. More importantly, he was giving away his position.

“Matthew, go away!” Luke whispered as loud as he could without alerting the princess. “Elizabeth will find me.”

“Elizabeth?”

“There you are! I could have sworn I checked this place beforehand.”

“Luke, what are you doing with the princess?” Matthew looked at his younger brother accusingly as the latter stood up.

“We were playing hide and seek.” The princess tried to excuse Luke, but the older brother shook his head.

“Father was really angry when you ran off.”

“He’s always angry.”

“Um…” Elizabeth tried to interject until Matthew turned her way.

“Princess, I’m sorry if my brother caused you any trouble.”

“He didn’t cause me any trouble, we were just having fun.”

“Well, we have to go now. Maybe Luke will come around again.”

Matthew took his brother by the hand, dragging him away while Luke waved goodbye to the princess.

“Luke Baronia, where have you been?!”

Luke felt his heart melt when he heard those words, not daring to look his father in the eyes.

“He was making friends with the princess, dad.”

“Princess Elizabeth? You met her?” The anger in the man’s voice disappeared in a flash, replaced with astonishment.

Curiosity having overtaken Luke, he looked at his father and was weirded out by the surprised expression on his face.

“Yeah, we played hide and seek.”

“That’s nice. However, Luke you mustn’t run off without supervision from your brother or myself.” The sterness in his voice returned, albeit without the usual hint of frustration. “Come, let’s head home. You can see your friend some other day.”

In order to understand how everything went wrong, we have to ask: what are the primary issues with the show? There are many answers to that question, but they can best be summarized into two categories: Focus and Time Management. These two categories go hand-and-hand, but we’ll be starting with focus.

I’ve already made a post about this topic and many more referring to this issue. When you write something you have to ask yourself, “what am I writing about?”

What is RWBY about? Well I would think Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, the characters involved in the acronym; this idea is reinforced by the first four trailers for the show centering around each character. Yet, despite rwby being the supposed focus, the audience knows far more about Jaune Arc or Pyrrha Nikos than they do about Ruby Rose or even Yang Xiao Long.

Now if the show had more time per season, this may have been less of an issue. I say may, because future seasons did have more time allotted to them but still failed to give much develop to certain characters (Ruby in volume 4, for one). Still, if time is an issue, that only emphasizes the need to focus on your main characters. If RWBY doesn’t have much time to tell its story, in needs to cut excessive elements like team JNPR and even Sun and Penny.

Ruby and Weiss have an episode -cut in two parts- that is meant to flesh out some sort of relationship between the two, but while there is a setup and a conclusion, there is no development in the middle. Ruby annoys Weiss, causing a split between the two, but instead of the characters involved working toward the solution, two uninvolved parties just solve it for them. By having Ozpin and Port talk out the issue, it removes all agency from Ruby and Weiss.

That’s to say nothing of poor Yang, who could be replaced with a mop or a lamp or some other inanimate object for 90% of the volume and it wouldn’t make a difference. Maybe if Jaundice, a boring arc that established nothing of value were replaced with episodes focusing on Yang, this wouldn’t be an issue.

So far, I’ve only really cornered these criticisms to volume 1, because the subsequent seasons only exasperate these issues. Each volume continues to inflate the cast’s numbers while our main protagonists feel neglected during many points. Ruby and Penny have some sort of relationship that isn’t given time to flourish because show is fixated on a plot involving Weiss, Jaune, and yet another new character. We haven’t had time to properly flesh out Weiss and now she’s being put into a love triangle that doesn’t go anywhere or add anything of substance to her character or anyone else involved.

Near the end of this otherwise farcical “arc”, we are given a genuine moment between two main characters that contains actual development as Yang regales Blake with her past and attempt to relate it to Blake’s current situation. Afterwards we return to the farcical arc.

It’s not something that hit me until recently, but volume 2 also began the tradition of introducing episodes that solely setup future episodes. Episode 8 is purely a setup episode, meaning there’s no real meat to it. Does it develop the characters? Not really. Does it develop the plot? A little. Truthfully, the plot advancing elements make up roughly 1-2 minutes of the episode while the rest is foreshadowing. You can condense the majority of these scenes and begin episode 9 half way through episode 8, as an example.

It’s only once we get to the back-end of volume 2 that the audience learns anything more of the main cast: we learn more about Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Nothing about Ruby though, get used to that. And then a big train sequence which results in nothing but the end of Grimm being taken seriously as a threat. CFVY was mentioned to be returning during episode 8, but since the audience has literally no reason to care about them until now, this scene exists on its own.

And there is really too much stupid to analyze in 2 minutes, but I’ll do my best. First off: fox. He exists and does stuff. It’s cool but emphasizes how little these characters matter because we never see him in action ever again. Yatsu-whatever has generic ground explosion power. Velvet does a bunch of kicks and stuff. Finally, enjoy Coco cutting enemies in half with her minigun, because this will be the last time bullets will ever have an affect on grimm.

It all ends with our protagonists having gained no knowledge whatsoever. If it weren’t for the brief snippets of character development, this volume would be filler.

Finally volume 3. We begin with Ruby mourning her mother. Don’t worry, we’ll never hear about Summer again nor get anymore development on this aspect of Ruby’s life.

Fights fights fights involving colorful cardboard cutouts until the main plot kicks in about halfway through the volume. These fights could be used to develop our main characters (or do literally anything other than useless foreshadowing) but then we couldn’t have cheesy pop songs based on them. Thankfully once rwby gets disqualified, the plot proper kicks off. Wait what.

Volume 3 is where the show really unhinges and just lets loose on nonsensical garbage. Suddenly we have maidens, magic, a giant grim dragon, and silver eyes, and only one of these bullshit element involves even one of the main characters, and it doesn’t get any development until volume 6, 3 seasons after it’s introduced. Still, silver eyes at least have an explanation unlike maidens and magic which are just whatever.

I’ve been ignoring JNPR as much as possible up to this point and there’s good reason for it: I don’t care. They’re a separate team and only half of them get any development. Of the half that gets development, Pyrrha is just a plot device while Jaune eats up screen time to remain the exact same bland, heehawing jackass since the show began.

Why should I care that Pyrrha died? Was I supposed to be charmed by how she danced around a romance plot for 3 volumes? Was I supposed to enjoy her non-existent relationship with anyone but Jaune? If you want me to care about this character, you have to focus on her relationships with more than one person, or at least make the relationship with that one person compelling.

As if the show didn’t already have enough problems with focus and time management what with taking away time from the main team to not develop Jaune and Pyrrha’s relationship to the point the audience has a reason to care about Pyrrha’s death: the main cast is split apart!

Remember how I said Volume 2 episode 8 was just an episode to setup future episodes? Ruby and JNR’s entire arc is just that, explaining how they got from Vale to Haven. We get some backstory for Ren (and a tiny bit for Nora) and that’s it. There could be interesting development for Ruby if the Silver eyes weren’t swept under the rug at the beginning of the volume.

Weiss’ arc isn’t much better, as we finally see her home situation. From her room. The little we see outside of Weiss room is dedicated to the attitude of Atlas, but before that we have to waste one minute on this GuyWhoWasInVolume2 look-alike. Why? I don’t know, but despite being a scene that lasts less than a minute, it’s the perfect showcase of how the writers still hadn’t grasped time management skills. The exchange between this man and Weiss adds nothing that wouldn’t be established in another minute, yet the writers felt this scene was pertinent enough to keep in. It all ends with Weiss escaping her home, having learned nothing nor evolved in any visible way.

Blake’s arc is completely confused on what it wants to be and do. The focus issue is front and center here as the story would have benefited greatly from choosing between the relationship between Blake and her parents or Blake and Son Goku; instead, it tries to do both and fails at each.

Finally Yang’s Arc attempts to build Adam as a threat, insults Yang for being depressed, mocks her disability by comparing it to being scared of a mouse, before finally being a lesson about Yang keeping her cool. It’s all over the place, yet is also the shortest of the volume 4 arcs. Perhaps instead of adding the painfully stilted comedy bits from Blake’s story, that time could have went toward exploring Yang’s issues. Or Ruby’s. Or Weiss’.

Volume 5 finally converges all these plots by Having Weiss be damsel in distress for Yang to have to rescue, before the two have a foreshadowfest with Raven where she talks about magic and reveals nothing that separates it from semblances, and then she portals the pair to RNJR. No, nothing RNJR did before this point actually matters, so there’s no point talking about it.

Back at Blake’s plot, which refuses to get its ass in gear, her and Goku struggle for half the volume to add anything of value to the plot until 10 episodes in, where they take down Ilia and the mustache twirling faunus brothers. Blake then instant transmissions her and rest of the island to haven and proceeds punk Adam, diminishing literally all the threat he ever had and ever will have.

Back at the Haven fight, aka the last 1/3rd of the volume and only part which matters, a bunch of fighting happens because Jaune gets angry which causes Cinder to inexplicably take her grudge out on him, before Ruby activates her Silver eyes on Cinder for some reason, and Weiss nearly dies because of Jaune but it’s okay because he finally unlocked his semblance: Amplification. That makes up for the fact he acted out of line and also got Weiss nearly killed, right?

Anywho, Yang finally ends her whole “controlling your emotions” arc by running toward the vault instead of picking a fight with Mercury. After an intense battle between two characters that have had no real development, Yang convinces her dumbass Mom to give her the object fuck-off magical power which she wanted to be rid of in the first place.

It all ends with Adam and Salem’s crew running away, Cinder not dying because she has so much potential to not achieve, and our hero’s reuniting so that the plot might have some semblance of focus.

Volume 4 and 5 suffer from the same major issues: nothing happens until the last 1/3rd, focus is all over the place with Blake’s story line taking up well over an hour between the two volumes while having the poorest quality, Yang getting basically no focus at all, Ruby’s focus going toward JNR or dumb things like hand-to-hand combat, and Weiss is just there to be rescued.

And then we have Volume 6. While it’s not over yet, the problems are already evident. It very wisely chooses to start with Son Goku Kamehamehaing ThatGuyFromVolume2, Ilia, and himself out of the plot, and then shortly after cuts JNR out too. Unfortunately, though volume 6 seems to be addressing criticisms, it’s going about it the wrong way.

Yang is suddenly angry at everything, which would be great in terms of learning how to control her emotions…if that bridge wasn’t already completed back in volume 5. We already had a big revelation about her overcoming that “arc” that started in volume 3; there is a longer running theme involving her and Adam, but Blake so easily dealt with Adam in volume 5 that he is no longer a threat.

Likewise, we’re learning more about silver eyes, Salem, and magic, but we’re already halfway through the show. It feels a little late to be addressing these element, especially Ruby’s silver eyes, given she never once attempted to ask about them prior. Even worse is that, given they’re based on protecting the people she loved, it’s great they’ve never once shown or mentioned Penny since volume 3. Guess she was just a hunk of junk after all.

We only barely learn anything about Ozpin or Salem too, and we’re left asking more questions, like what was Salem’s life before Ozma or why is it not obvious that once Ozpin collects all the objects of fuck-off magical power, he can just summon the god of light and wish Salem into the deepest recesses of space?

What’s worse is that now that JNR has returned, there’s a good chance too much screen time will be dedicated to them. If the show had the time, having JNR around would be fine, but it’s clear that the writers cannot balance having RWBY, JNR, Salem’s crew, Ozcar, Qrow, and whoever else is character of the day.

What draws people to RWBY? The action? For me, while the action looked okay, I was more drawn to the peculiar team dynamic that looked to be forming among the titular rwby. Little did I or anyone else realize just how little we were getting out of that dynamic.

One of the shows I still love the most is the Teen Titans 2003 animated series. I feel as though its episodes draw a great balance between lighthearted comedy and heavy drama. A lot of what makes both these elements work is the interactions and development between the characters.

To break it down, the reason why the team aspect works so well is due to 3 things.

1) the characters are wildly different. Robin is the serious one, Starfire is the strange one/foreigner, Raven is the gloomy one, Beast boy is the prankster, and Cyborg is the fun one. That said, Robin lets loose with Cyborg, Cyborg joins on Beast Boys pranks, and Starfire is usually sentimental around Robin; that these characters can show more facets to themselves when interacting helps be more than flat characters.

2) The show has better focus. Each episode generally picks one or two characters to focus on, while the others are relegated to comedic relief or are all trying to help the one. Because many episodes only stick to one or two main characters at a time (and usually only one villain), this results in each episode being able to breath, have its own identity, and accomplish its goal in the time allotted. It also allows the show to better separate its comedy and drama.

3)Each character combination is played with at least once, resulting in the team concept being fully utilized. This includes episodes that focus on the team as a whole, or the Robin’s role as a leader, or more.

And it’s not like the Teen Titans is the only example of how to write multiple main characters and their interactions. You can go and search up Deltarune, a free game by Toby Fox (yes, creator of undertale, Earthbound: halloween hack, and homestuck music) which focuses on the dynamics between four characters. Everything I said about TT applies to Deltarune.

So with all that, how does this relate to RWBY? Simple: rwby consist of three barely developed characters (and a desk lamp) who rarely have interactions and even more rarely use those interactions to develop off of eachother. When Weiss throws a fit over taking orders from the desk lamp, there’s no interaction that these two should have in order to reach the conclusion where they become better people. The entire point of having two people in conflict in stories is that they will develop from having to overcome the obstacle(s) placed before them; in rwby, the characters don’t have to overcome the obstacle because two unrelated characters solve it for them.

I have mentioned countless times at this point, but it bares repeating: Blake and Yang’s interaction in Burning the Candle is one of two times that the show gets team interaction (between rwby) correct. Blake is having a conflict, Yang helps her through this conflict while also developing her own character, and we get a resolution.

A little over a year ago I wrote a conclusion on how RWBY was anchored down by focus problems. As a follow up, let’s talk about the consequence on not bunkering down on select plot points and characters. 

I have spent a bit wondering why it had always bugged me that JNPR were so prominent in the story, but I think I’ve finally come to a consensus: they don’t benefit the main characters. Jaune doesn’t benefit Ruby or Weiss and doesn’t interact with the rest, and he is the only that communicates meaningfully to rwby.

This wouldn’t be a problem if several episodes from the early seasons weren’t dedicated to him having mundane to troubling arcs that didn’t benefit the story due to how self-contained they were. Then there’s Ren’s arc which is again self-contained thanks in no small part to Ren not impacting the plot or being a titular character or even interacting with them in a way that’d lend development. Even Pyrrha isn’t safe from this as the maiden plot has yet to actually contribute to the main plot (relics) other than giving Cinder a needless power boost.

In volume 1, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake barely get any development while Jaune gets an entire arc to himself; Yang ends up getting robbed of an arc, not that the little develop her teammates got was much more substantial. When Weiss and Blake have their falling out, instead of the episodes focusing on developing these characters and resolving the plot, Penny and Sun chew the scenery until the conflict just stops.

In volume 2, there is focus on the main characters as Blake and Yang share a moment that should not be as rare as it is; however, because the volume stops to have a needless dance arc, the conclusion ends up being rushed, with the introduction of -you guessed it- new characters that completely overshadow the four main characters and destroy the concept of grimm as a threat.

Volume 3 gives us a slew of characters who exist purely for fights. A tournament arc in most animes is the easiest way of developing your main characters as it lets them fight non-villain protagonists with philosophies that can cause the protagonists to develop in a myriad of ways. Because RWBY doesn’t have the main characters and their opponents interact, it blows its free development card for literally no reason.

And now after Volume 4 and 5 gave us the rest of Salem’s weak villain crew, Volume 6 decides to reintroduce Neo and introduce even more new villains. RWBY’s writers have an addiction to adding new characters but simultaneously don’t care about using them to make their core characters more dynamic.

No, the only time rwby ‘develop’ is during their micro arcs. Every volume Blake, Weiss, and Yang will go through an arc that would be contained in a single episode of a normal show. The finale of volume 1 could have cut Sun and Penny entirely, volume 2 could have cut the dance arc, and volume 3 could have made major cuts to the tournament arc, all of which would have allowed for more detail to go into the Weiss, Blake, Yang, and especially Ruby. Instead, Ruby is a husk after five volumes, Weiss feels just as empty when she’s not talking about her family, and Blake is a token minority because these characters don’t have multiple arcs, just a singular, repetitive arc spread-out through the entire show.

RWBY is popular, there’s no real questioning that. I mean if it weren’t, we wouldn’t be discussing it, would we? But what draws people to this show? I mean I’ve written various posts discussing the show’s flaws, but if it’s so flawed, why even bother?

Well first off, anything and everything can be analyzed, both to see what works and what doesn’t. Second, what draws people into the show and what leads many to defend it so fervently are actually the same thing: the nebulousness.

Often a writer will leave a scene or situation vague to build suspense or intrigue into the matter. One of the best methods media has generated fan-based interactivity is by leaving details out that readers, listeners, or viewers can interpret in a number of ways. This is all fine and dandy when done in moderation, but you know the song and dance by now: RWBY abuses this tool.

Interactions and develops in this show are hinted at and implied, but never stated and even saying they’re implied is often interpretive itself. For instance, the audience is led to believe RWBY and JNPR are friends, but the details are nonexistent. How are they friends? How have they bonded? Most of these details are left for the viewer to answer.

The intricacies of dust, semblances, magic, silver eyes, grimm, maidens, and societies are given such little depth that fans can mold them in any which way they see fit. In that sense, RWBY is less of a show and more of a do-it-yourself kit.

A common issue I’ve seen is mentions of stans (obsessed fans) who will try to argue against criticisms of the show while using evidence of events that never occurred in official media. For instance, I’ve had someone tell me Sun helped Blake reunite with the rest of her team in volume one. This did not occur, Sun didn’t even bring her team up more than once.

Other instances may be caused by people reading fanfictions or theory posts which expand on characters who have needed any characterization for years now, as well as exploring the concepts mentioned above. What ends up happening is that people then meld together the details of various fanfictions and the events of RWBY, creating a seemingly fantastic experience while not being able to distinguish what they read in a fan work or non-canonical extension versus what occurs in the show. Thus, these fans or stans may be willing to defend the show against criticisms they fill are unjust but don’t realize their information is corrupted by fan works.

Initially when a show has concepts that begin as vague constructs that lets it capture an audience, that audience sees it as potential. When this potential is applied to various characters and important plot items, it must be tapped into or else that potential degredates until it becomes garbage.

I’m not going to say the writers are sexist. Words like that should be saved for people who are definitively…those things. However, I want to make it perfectly clear that just because I believe these people aren’t sexist, doesn’t mean I can overlook the problematic elements that have been piling up.

I’ll get this out right now: older women are treated the absolute worst by this show; they’re treated worse than black people, worse than LGB characters, and worse than the younger women.

The ways in which women are treated can be divided into three categories: dead, evil/terrible person, or brushed aside. Dead obviously describes Summer, the one potentially kind mother in this show. The second group is what Willow and Raven fall into. The last category is for Glynda, and Kali.

In Glynda’s case, she is given one major action scene in the very first episode of the show before being relegated to Ozpin’s maid. Either she fixes the streets, she fixes the school, or she fixes Qrow’s or someone else’s mess. Then there’s Kali Belladona, who gets to lucky shot someone with one of her guard’s guns before dropping furniture on another guy; meanwhile, her husband gets to knock people around.

Then we have Willow Schnee, who isn’t so much a character as she is still just an abstract concept. We know more about her from lore and exposition than actually seeing her in action. We also have the other horrible mother Raven, who is the only woman -besides Glynda- who gets to do anything action oriented.

Being a bad parent or being passive isn’t objectively a bad thing, however I just listed every major older woman in this series to date. I could talk about Salem, but she would just fit into the evil category. By contrast, older men can be good (Ozpin?, Port, Oobleck, Qrow, Tai, etc.), fatherly (Tai, Klein), complicated (Ozpin, Qrow), Evil (Watts, Hazel), Assholes (Jacques); While women can be categorized in 3 groups, men run the gambit, and that’s not okay.

Then we turn our attention to the main generation, rwby, nora, Pyrrha, and many others. Pyrrha has the obvious problem of her entire character revolving around Jaune, while Nora only -but still glaringly- has the problem of her backstory being 90% focused on Ren. Weiss has the whole dance arc in volume 2, which relegates her to a trophy for Jaune to fight Neptune over.

And then volume 4 hits: Ruby gets her character develop stolen by Jaune, Weiss has to be rescued by her butler from her evil dad, Blake runs to see her father and Sun, and Yang has to be talked down to by her dad. When one or two of these things occur, it’s not a problem (minus the Jaune bit); when it becomes a pattern, you messed up. Where are the adult female role models? Oh right, the only one who isn’t evil/a bitch (Kali) gets to talk to Blake personally for one minute and it’s only to say that her father wants her.

Volume 5 at least has the decency to give the female leads agency again, but Raven is suddenly treated like an obstacle instead of Yang’s goal, while Weiss is nearly killed so that Jaune can unlock his semblance.

Volume 6 has, to date, given us a topless genie for no real reason other than sex appeal, and Salem’s backstory, where she only became active when a man entered her life and became evil because that man died.

And finally, the bit that has been said many times: when a female in this show acts out, does something compulsive and rash, they’re punished for it. Yang flying at Adam to protect Blake and Winter attacking Qrow for egging her on; both are reprimanded after. Jaune losing his temper and attacking Cinder? Obviously a hero, because despite Weiss nearly dying, he healed her and unlocked his semblance, so that makes it okay in the writer’s eyes.

It’s been five years, and we finally know about Ozpin’s backstory, AND IT’S…meh. There are a lot of problems with the whole backstory involving Ozma, but I’ll simply say my opinion of it mirrors the rest of the show: interesting concept, absolute failure of an execution.

The sad thing is, I could look passed how much wasted potential the story had if it had occurred earlier on. Had we learned Ozma’s backstory during volume 2 or 3, I would be more optimistic that’d we hear more about Ozma’s past lives.

However, that it’s taken this long to get this to point, I can’t find it in me to care anymore. That’s the thing, RWBY has been going on for over half a decade and we only now understand the basics about a crucial character. Maybe all of this could have occurred earlier with proper rewrites and time management, but then you remember this show gave Jaune an arc for each of the first two volumes and thus realize that the concept alludes the writers

One of the most critical flaws the show is that it doesn’t use its time wisely. Ozma’s story about reincarnation has incredible potential, but it’s all glanced over in a montage. Everything else about the character is almost equally rushed through, with the focus on Salem being just as bad. Instead of learning more about these elements, we had to have scenes with Blake’s harem, Neptune hitting on Ilia, two asshole hunters, and a story of the two brothers that could have been streamlined.

Moving on to Ozpin, we get hints that there’s something more to him, but those hints are all we get until volume 6. Now we know Ozpin doesn’t trust people as much because people like Leo betrayed that trust. This character trait could have been made more explicit sooner, but instead Ozpin is stuck with the old wise man trait.

Finally we have Oscar, who has yet to become a character, but the show seems to suggest he will be once Ozpin merges with him. What the show is asking me to do is wait for the writers to come up with Oscar’s character, and at this point I’m done waiting.

Many times it feels as if the writers are subtly asking the audience to wait hand and foot on them to write the story. When are we getting development for Ozpin? “Just wait, it will come.” When will we get answers to dust, semblances, silver eyes, relics, maidens, etc? “Just wait, it will come.” Can we at least get development for Ruby? “Stop being so impatient!”