I never liked the “cast bloat” argument or that Team RWBY don’t feel like protagonists.
Now in fairness to the first one, RWBY isn’t the only fantasy series with loads of characters that seem snuggly packed in. Many writing teams or authors want to show off facets of their world via characters born of various fantastical cultures. Y’know? Show and not tell what their world is.
But shows like RWBY can’t all be Shonen Manga designed to go on for as long as possible or at least as long as editorial wants. Especially in the age of eight episode seasons. That said, even if it’s a glimpse, I always appreciate when the world of Remnant does not stop nor end at four girls still figuring themselves out.
With Hunter X Hunter, Gon may be the face of the series with Killua as his number two but you also have Kurapika take center stage in their individual arcs like Yorknew or Leoreo sharing one with Killua in the Election arc. And even then, we will have other perspectives in any given arc.
The Chimera Ants may be the antagonists in a very fan favorite arc but they’re borderline protagonists of their own stories. Hell, Gon doesn’t even face off with the big bad but rather one he has a personal score to settle with. Instead a bunch of old mentor type characters take out the Chimera King.
RWBY clearly learned from Shonen Anime that the world doesn’t have to stop or end at the main character. After Dragon Ball, titles inspired by it afforded other characters to have their own time in the limelight rather than be purely foils for the main character.
Raven vs Cinder is relevant to them because they are important characters even if none of the titular characters are there to witness it. Furthermore, Cinder as a Maiden is connected to Ruby, Winter to Weiss, Yang to Raven, I bet the Summer Maiden will be close to Blake.
Basically, this choice keeps the world from shrinking and feel big, lived in.
And it’s hardly unique in this regard as Trixie The Golden Witch explains in her video: Is There Meaning In "Subverting" Shounen Tropes?
To argue against Team RWBY supposedly not feeling like protagonists, sometimes titular characters can feel too much like protagonists. I have been rereading Harry Potter to sort out my feelings regarding Rowling crowning herself TERF Queen. To keep it relevant, I have found the Harry only perspective both effective and limiting.
It’s effective at making the dramatic parts hit us hard as if we were in Harry’s shoes buuuuut it can feel limiting when there’s a whole school of magic with students of all sorts to get to know. It feels like there were potential side stories that could flesh out Hogwarts.
A similar criticism is often lobbed at Steven Universe. Effective but often limiting.
So… I prefer a cast bloat to there being no other characters for Team RWBY to bounce off of whether the budget calls for it or not. They call them character foils for a reason.
Circling back to RWBY, some characters are there for as long as they need to so they make the most of things to make an impression. If not, discourse would become how flat they are.
The Ace-Ops inform us of how huntsmen as basically super cops in Atlas, building up to Ironwood’s downfall. The Afterans inform us of the eccentricities of the Ever After.
Hell, who says we’ll never see them again be it in the main show or supplementary content? This provides such fertile grounds for fan content alone or future spin offs.
