RWBY Volume 1 Review

2013 was a pretty damn good year, and not just because I was finishing secondary school. That year saw the debut of the hit web series RWBY, created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. Unfortunately, I have a habit of being late to the party and didn’t fully get into the series until 2018, a good five years after it’s first season wrapped up.

Oh well, better late than never. Anyway, now that Volume 6 has concluded and with Volume 7 all but guaranteed, I thought I would take a look back at the series’ humble beginnings. Without further ado, I present to you; RWBY Volume 1!

Background

The idea for RWBY had been in the mind of Monty Oum for a few years before he joined Rooster Teeth. After his work on the 10th season of Red vs Blue was completed, Monty was given the go ahead to create his own animated series. Taking inspiration from fairy tales and stories from both eastern mythology and western mythology, RWBY was born. To promote the series, four trailers were released, set to introduce the lead characters; Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. The name “RWBY” coincides with their names, as well as their respective colour schemes; red, white, black and yellow.

Synopsis and Plot

Huntsmen and Huntresses are the defenders of the world of Remnant, protecting the innocent against the evil creatures of Grimm. A young girl named Ruby Rose dreams of becoming a great hero just like the Huntsmen. One fateful day, her dream is put to the test as she finds herself in the midst of a robbery of the local Dust shop, carried out by the nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick. Determined to help out, she engages in fierce combat against the criminal, just narrowly escaping with her life. While her actions were reckless, she managed to impress the headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin, so much that she is accepted as a student. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Torchwick begins utilising the White Fang, a Faunus Terrorist Organisation, for his own ends. Together with her sister Yang Xiao Long, spoiled heiress Weiss Schnee, and the mysterious Blake Belladonna, the girls form their team of RWBY.

Volume 1 acts like a prologue to the big story that’s yet to come, establishing the core characters and the lore of this universe very well. It gives enough information about the world, yet still has potential for new and exciting plot details to be revealed later. There are two main story arcs; The initiation ceremony, where the young Huntsmen and Huntresses are grouped together into teams to fight off the Grimm, and the near the end we discover Blake’s true heritage as a Faunus. However, everything screeches to a halt around the middle and we’re treated to filler episodes, all of which are two parters by the way.

While they do give some nice character development to the secondary cast and provide some laughs here and there, they don’t have a real impact on the plot. The episodes in question are The Badge and the Burden, Jaunedice and Forever Fall. They’re not terrible by any means, they’re just uneventful.

Characters

Ruby Rose

Ruby Rose is one of the four main protagonists of the series. She’s courageous, cheerful and a real go-getter. Her ambition is to do good for the world, protect her loved ones and to save lives. I love her idealistic nature and she definitely has what it takes to become a great hero. Despite her somewhat childish nature, she does take the duty of a Huntress seriously. When encountered with enemies, she doesn’t hesitate to fight back.

Ruby is arguably one of my favourite characters in the show, not only because of her badass skill with a scythe, but because of how optimistic she is too. She can light a dark room in an instant and the way she fangirls over huntsmen and weapons is also super cute! It warms my heart whenever someone is passionate about what they love. Did I mention she’s cute?

N’aww, look at that face!

Weiss Schnee

Weiss Schnee is another member of Team RWBY. She’s somewhat of spoiled brat and kind of mean, especially towards Ruby. In the beginning, I didn’t really care for her in the beginning, because of how cold and judgemental she was towards a lot of people. This comes to a head during the season finale, when she and Blake clash over their beliefs of Faunus and the White Fang organisation.

That said, Weiss isn’t totally heartless. During the initiation in the Emerald Forest, her and Ruby do start to learn the value of teamwork, and she even admits to her own flaws. She has extensive knowledge about Dust, so much so that her rapier contains Dust vials that she can use in combat! That is pretty sweet! Weiss was also instrumental in the defeat of the Nevermore Grimm, aiding in Ruby’s crazy plan. While her elitist attitude might make it difficult for people to liker her, Weiss isn’t a bad character or bad person in the slightest and she’s on the road to becoming better.

Blake Belladonna

Blake Belladonna is another member of Team RWBY. She’s very aloof, initially brushing off Yang’s proposal of friendship. She’s also focused with a desire to prove herself at Beacon Academy. Blake is another one of my favourites in this series. Initially, I was drawn to her purely because of her design, (I have a weakness for characters in black, which can be blamed on Batman, Bleach and Final Fantasy XV), but overtime, I fell in love with her character.

She’s damaged by the scars of her past and the actions of the White Fang, causing her to develop a lack of trust and feeling tormented by the discrimination of her people. It’s quite heart-breaking, and it adds to her determination of becoming a Huntress. Also, she kicks ass with that sword-gun!

Yang Xiao Long

Yang Xiao Long is the fourth member of Team RWBY and the older half-sister of Ruby. She can be best described as the “party girl”, with a relaxed and flirtatious attitude. Like Blake, Yang immediately won me over purely because of her design, but I began to really like her once I got a taste of her brawler prowess and quips.

She is shown to viciously pummel her enemies with her gauntlets, but that’s nothing compared to what happens if you make her angry! With her eyes turning red and her strength augmented, you wouldn’t even time have to blink before you died! Yang does have a softer side, though and has demonstrated to be rather sweet and caring towards her sister. If that wasn’t enough, she believes in Ruby and tries her best to motivate her into becoming the best she can be. People are capable of great things, but it doesn’t hurt to have a little help every now and then.

Best sister ever!

Jaune Arc

Jaune Arc is a member of the secondary team, JNPR. We first meet him after he vomits due to motion sickness from an airship. Pleasant. He mainly functions as the comic relief of the series, often finding himself in hilarious and embarrassing situations. However, he is a competent fighter and, like Ruby, he has what it takes to become a good leader. All he needs is that little push.

Pyrrha Nikos

Pyrrha Nikos is the “strongman” of Team JNPR. Not only is she exceptional in combat, she’s also a celebrity! According to Weiss, she’s won tournaments four years in a row and is on the box of a cereal known as “Pumpkin Pete’s”. I would describe Pyrrha as the complete opposite of Weiss; she’s sweet, non-judgemental and friendly, despite her famous reputation. She was even willing to help out Jaune and unlock his hidden potential. That’s true friendship right there!

Nora Valkyrie

Nora Valkyrie is JNPR’s wildcard and man, does it show! She’s hyperactive, overly-cheerful and very violent. There’s honestly not much I can say about her, she pretty much speaks for herself. I loved every minute that Nora was on screen and she’s easily one of the best characters by far!

Lie Ren

Lastly on JNPR is Ren. I can’t really say much about him since he rarely speaks, but he does some pretty cool fight scenes and he seems to be the only one who can tolerate Nora’s crazy antics.

Roman Torchwick

Finally we move on to the villain of our story; Roman Torchwick. As far as villains go, I quite like him. He may be appear to be just a simple criminal, but he has far more up his sleeve. For one thing, he’s a pretty damn good fighter! The writers could’ve just copped out and made a lazy villain who prefers to let others do the fighting, but they didn’t. He’s capable of getting the work done by himself and while he may not have any special powers (at least so far), he can hold his own against the Huntsmen. Another thing I like is his sharp wit, especially the quips he makes when he’s fighting against Ruby in the first scene. That immediately sold me! He might not have any deep motivation, but Torchwick is a fun villain nonetheless.

Art and animation

RWBY’s art style strongly resembles anime, which was one of the reasons why I wanted to watch this show in the first place. Each character has their own unique look and, true to Monty’s vision, have their motifs taken from various fairy tales and folklore. The Grimm creatures are also pretty cool, looking like undead shadows of regular animals. The show is also known for its over-the-top, choreographed fight scenes, which take center stage in most of the main episodes. Some of my favourites include:

They really are a treat to watch! The animation is done in 3D, using the animation software known as Poser. For the most part, the animation is pretty well executed, but there are some rough spots here and there. Whenever characters run, they look rather stiff.

It’s not too bad but it does look weird.

Music

The music is composed by Jeff Williams and many of the signature songs are sung by his daughter, Casey. The opening theme “This Will Be the Day” stands out most of all with it’s crazy guitar riffs and sharp vocals. This is contrasted in the season finale with the ending song “Wings”, which features piano and calmer, softer lyrics. It’s absolutely beautiful.

Themes

One of the major themes highlighted in this series is friendship. Groups of young people are forced band together to fight something dangerous, but through that trauma, they begin to develop real bonds and learn to trust one another. Discrimination and prejudice is also present, with the Faunus and White Fang being an allegory for racism. Blake Belladonna wants the best for her people so that they’re no longer viewed as threat by society, but the prejudice is still there and only continues to grow due to the White Fang’s hostility. Eventually, she finally confesses to her teammates about her heritage and comes to know that they accept her for who she is and that she doesn’t need to hide from them anymore.

Verdict

RWBY Volume 1 is a decent first season. It serves its purpose as a gateway into the world Remnant and does a good job of establishing the mythology. While the plot does drag around the middle, and even though the animation can be rough at times, the fun characters and awesome fight scenes more than make up for it. Monty Oum truly created something special and this season does a good job of giving a taste of what’s to come next. You can find RWBY on the Rooster Teeth website or on their YouTube channel. I’d recommend checking it out.

Total score: 7/10

References:

https://www.crunchyroll.com/en-gb/anime-feature/2014/12/13-1/feature-making-rwby-an-interview-with-monty-oum

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/smith-micros-poser-software-empowers-130000291.html

Links to RWBY:

Rooster Teeth- https://roosterteeth.com/series/rwby

YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/user/RoosterTeeth

Links for purchase:

iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/gb/movie/rwby-volume-1/id727097564

Google Play- https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/RWBY_Volume_1?id=ybZhKJd3bVw&hl=en

Blu ray- https://www.amazon.co.uk/RWBY-Blu-ray-NTSC-Lindsay-Jones/dp/B00UBYP4AQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rwby+blu+ray&qid=1557861116&s=gateway&sr=8-1

DVD- https://www.amazon.co.uk/RWBY-NTSC-DVD-Lindsay-Jones/dp/B00UBYP43S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rwby+dvd&qid=1557861206&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Bleach Volume 1: The Death and the Strawberry Review

Note: This review was originally uploaded to Blogger 12/12/2018

Shonen manga is one of my favourite genres in the medium. I can’t help but love it. Sure, most of them aren’t deep or complex but they offer great stories with interesting character dynamics and so much awesome power ups that will your jaw dropping to the floor. Naruto, Bleach and One Piece (A.K.A, The Big Three), were the kings of Shonen from the 2000’s all the way to the mid-2010’s. Currently, only One Piece is still ongoing, with Naruto and Bleach seeing their runs end in 2014 and 2016 respectively. During the summer of last year, I discovered that Bleach had hit Netflix and was more than excited to revisit my past! The first three seasons of the anime hold up surprisingly well, as does the initial manga run. Let’s go all the way back to where it all began with Bleach Volume 1: The Strawberry and the Soul Reaper!

Background

The idea for Bleach came from Kubo’s desire to draw Shinigami in a kimono, which soon became the basic design for all Shinigami in the series. To reflect their clothing, Kubo originally wanted to call the series “Black” but soon decided against it as he found it generic. He later tried “White” which was soon renamed “Bleach” to better associate with the colour without also sounding too generic. Kubo tried to get his series published in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but was unfortunately rejected. Akira Toriyama, of Dragon Ball fame, wrote a letter of encouragement to him and he decided to give it another try. This time, he found success and Bleach was finally released on 7th August 2001.

Synopsis and Plot

In Karakura Town lives a teenager, Ichigo Kurosaki. He isn’t some ordinary boy, however, as he has the ability to see ghosts. This eventually places him at odds with the Hollows, evil spirits who invade the World of the Living and devour human souls. One of them sets its sights in his family, as it begins its deadly assault. But, as if by fate, a Shinigami appears! Their job is to guide the souls into the Soul Society and to kill the Hollows. But when even she can’t help, it’s up to Ichigo to throw his life on the line and become a Shinigami, protecting both the living and the dead.

Volume 1 is the beginning of the first story arc of the series; The Agent of the Shinigami. This mainly focuses on how the spirits interact with living and how Ichigo trains as he accepts his new responsibility as a Shinigami. The first seven chapters feature a “villain of the week” scenario. which acts as a nice introduction for the series and helps to focus the attention on smaller, more personal stories. The dialogue can be rather odd at times, repeating phrases unnecessarily, sometimes within the same sentence. Certain events are also glossed over rather quickly, such as Ichigo’s training being far shorter than it should be. Despite this, the story still flows well and is coherent enough that events still connect to one another.

Characters

Ichigo Kurosaki

Ichigo Kurosaki is our protagonist of the story. What I like about him is that he breaks the mould of typical Shonen heroes. Unlike Goku, Naruto and Luffy, Ichigo isn’t a goofball. He’s stern, serious and a bit of a hothead. He’s also forced into his heroic duty compared to the other three. While they all chose to become who they were, Ichigo had no choice. It was either becoming a Shinigami or dying, and even when he was granted these powers, he was very reluctant to accept his new responsibility. Despite this, he has a good heart and will risk his life in to protect the innocent. This is both an endearing trait and a serious character flaw, as he becomes reckless, often making the situation a little worse. My favourite thing about Ichigo has to be how blunt he is. He’s never afraid to express himself and this works perfectly in his interactions with Rukia.

Rukia Kuchiki

Rukia is introduced as this mysterious, badass Shinigami and, for the most part, she sticks to that image well. However, as the story progresses, she becomes a “fish out of water”, engaging in wacky hijinks with her limited understanding of human society. My favourite scene occurs when she’s reading a comic in order to understand how people talk.

It’s a great scene that showcases the dynamic between her and Ichigo. Like I said earlier, their interactions are some of my favourite moments in the manga. Their arguments are perfect and makes for a nice breather in between all the action.

Orihime Inoue

Orihime is one of the normal students of Ichigo’s high school. Okay, I wouldn’t exactly call her “normal”, as she does have a tendency to make strange food and is a little bit dense. Nonetheless, she is a real sweetheart and does bring a certain charm to the story. Early on, it’s very obvious that she has a crush on Ichigo, but, like most Shonen protagonists, he doesn’t notice. Despite being just a human, she has one of the best moments in Chapter 6 when Ichigo is fending off Hollows. I won’t spoil it for you but that moment was both incredible and heart-breaking.

Yasutora “Chad” Sado

Chad is a Mexican-Japanese student and another friend of Ichigo’s. His quiet and reserved demeanour is contrast to his large size and tough build. Chapter 7 focuses on Chad heavily and we get to see more of his character, most notably how loyal and protective he is. He’s also a pacifist, only ever engaging if he feels anyone he cares about is threatened. This is one of my favourite qualities of him and is a great compliment to Ichigo’s personality.

Artwork

Kubo’s artwork is bold an expressive. I especially love the character designs. From Ichigo’s classic spiky Shonen hair to Rukia’s beautiful kimono and Chad’s burly frame, each of the characters really stand out. The real shining light for me, however, are the Hollows. Those creatures are straight up nightmare fuel, with their white faces representing the horror of death. The action scenes flow nicely and deliver a solid punch on every page. The fights with the Hollows are especially impressive, with blood splatters that really highlight the true brutality of the duty of the Shinigami.

Verdict

Bleach Volume 1 is a very good read and while it does have some awkward dialogue and a few rushed scenes, the fun character dynamics and gorgeous artwork more than make up for those shortcomings. The stories are well crafted, explaining the lore of Shinigami without going into exposition, and tackle the theme of death in a genuine and sombre manner. If you like your Shonen with more of a horror edge, this is the manga for you.

Total score: 8/10

References:

https://www.thoughtco.com/interview-tite-kubo-2282834

https://web.archive.org/web/20090423115417/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/28/entertainment/etw-kuboweb28

Links to purchase:

Comixology- https://www.comixology.co.uk/Bleach-Vol-1/digital-comic/105795?ref=c2l0ZS9saXN0L2Rlc2t0b3AvZ3JpZExpc3QvaXRlbXNTZWFyY2hEZXRhaWxMaXN0

Google Play- https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Tite_Kubo_Bleach_Vol_1?id=FQTwAQAAQBAJ

iBooks- https://books.apple.com/gb/book/bleach-vol-1/id722014419

Amazon- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bleach-Vol-1-Tite-Kubo/dp/1591164419

Waterstones- https://www.waterstones.com/book/bleach-vol-1/tite-kubo/tite-kubo/9781591164418

Forbidden Planet- https://forbiddenplanet.com/24205-bleach-volume-1/

YuGiOh Volume 1 Review

When I was a kid, me and my friends would always be hyped up about the latest toys and games at my school. There were three that stood out in particular; Pokémon, Beyblade and YuGiOh. Wherever you went, at least one guy or girl had a deck of YuGiOh cards. We spent most of our break time playing the game, excited about all the monsters, traps and spells at our disposal. It wasn’t just the card game though, as many kids were equally excited about the anime. Seeing Yugi transform into his dark side and wipe the floor with everyone was an awesome sight to behold. Next to Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon, YuGiOh was one of my favourite anime. However, as I began to enter my teens, neither the card game nor the anime held my interest anymore. As I became more engrossed with anime as a whole , thanks to shows like Naruto and Bleach, I decided to stop caring about YuGiOh. At the time, I tried to convince myself that outgrew it and that I needed to find something more “mature” and that I needed to “act my age”, so I put YuGiOh in the past and have never looked at it since

.…..until I read the manga. When I found out that YuGiOh was originally a manga, I was pretty confused. I didn’t really know what to think but I decided to check out after curiosity got the better of me. Not only did it reignite my love for YuGiOh, but it’s actually become one of my favourite manga of all time, next to Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, My Hero Academia and Black Clover. See how it all began with YuGiOh Volume 1: The Millennium Puzzle!

Background

YuGiOh was created by writer/artist Kazuki Takahashi and was published in Weekly Shonen Jump on 3oth September 1996. During development, Takahashi was struggling to create something that could stand out among the other Shonen series, as many of them were focused on fighting. After deciding to base the theme around games, YuGiOh began to take shape.

Plot

Yugi Mutou is a student at Domino City High School. Timid in nature and with an interest in games, he becomes an easy target for the classroom bullies Jonouchi Katsuya and Hiroto Honda. It’s only until the timely intervention of his best friend, Anzu Mazaki, that he’s saved. Despite this trouble, Yugi is still determined to finish his greatest game; a mysterious puzzle from his grandfather’s game shop. However, upon completing it, his life is changed forever! Now possessed by an ancient spirit, Yugi punishes evil by challenging them to the Shadow Games!

This volume acts as an origin story for the series; detailing how Yugi met his friends, the Millennium Puzzle, the birth of Dark Yugi and the start of the Shadow Games. Chapters are presented in an episodic format with the same basic formula; a “villain of the week” causes havoc for Yugi and his friends, forcing his dark side to emerge and engage them in Shadow Games to test their true nature. Losing would ultimately result in a Penalty Game, a horrific punishment that mirrors the loser’s nature. Unlike the anime, Duel Monsters isn’t the primary focus here. In fact, it wasn’t conceived until volume 2, and even then it wasn’t significant. Duel Monsters wouldn’t gain traction until YuGiOh: Duelist, but that’s another story for another day.

Characters

Yugi Mutou is the main protagonist of the series. Good-natured and timid, he’s often shy around other people. His true talent, however, lies in gaming. Whether it’s puzzles, dice or even hockey, he’s always up for the challenge! I find Yugi to be a pretty likeable character. He cares very deeply for his friends and loved ones and would do anything to help them, even under the most dangerous circumstances. I have a soft for the underdogs and while he may be wimpy, when push comes to shove, his inner courage will shine through. This also leads him to transform into his alter-ego, and to say that he’s scary would be an understatement.

Dark Yugi is Yugi’s “other self”, manifesting when the spirit from the Millennium Puzzle possesses him. He is Yugi’s polar opposite; confident, brave and badass! Unlike Yugi, however, Dark Yugi has no sense of compassion. Anyone who dares to defy him will not go unpunished, often in a pretty sadistic manner. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty conflicted about his character. While the punishments might be excessive, I can’t help but feel that they’re justified.

Anzu Mazaki is Yugi’s best friend (and crush). She’s very kind but also has a tough streak, as she’s easily able to scare away Jonouchi and Hiroto as they bullied Yugi. She has big dreams of becoming a dancer, going so far as to break the school’s policy on part time jobs to save up some money. I found Anzu to be an enjoyable character and I found quite sweet how much she really cares about Yugi. She also gets her own moment of glory, such as being the class representative and organising the school festival. It’s small but it adds to her character, showing that she can take charge.

Jonouchi is Yugi’s other best friend. Originally, he and Hiroto used to bully Yugi mercilessly, though he has since changed after seeing him stand up to another bully, Tetsu Ushio. While I wouldn’t go far as to say he’s the “comic relief”, he does often find himself in hilarious situations, such as when he got his foot stuck in a barrel in one of the festival games. Even though he still maintains some of his rough attitude, Jonouchi has proven himself to be a loyal and trusting friend.

Hiroto Honda is another one of Yugi’s friends. Unlike Anzu and Jonouchi, he doesn’t really have a huge part to play, only really interacting with Yugi properly in chapter 7 when he reluctantly goes to him for help. He doesn’t really stand out as a character and officially joins group at the end of the volume.

Sugoroku Mutou is Yugi’s grandfather and the owner of Kame Games, a small but famous game shop. His character can be best described as the “wise old man”, seemingly knowing more about the Millennium Puzzle’s true power than he’s letting on. While he also doesn’t impact the plot as much the other characters, he is a big supporter of Yugi and is always there for guidance. My favourite aspect about him, though, are his horror stories. Man, put this guy near a campfire and you’ll be in for one hell of a ride!

Artwork

Takahashi’s artwork is very nice! All of his characters, even minor ones, have their own stylish flair. Yugi definitely stands out the most, given his unusual hairstyle. One of my favourite parts about YuGiOh were the flowing jackets everyone wore and they look just as great here as they do in the anime, maybe even more so.

Where Takahashi really excels, though, is during the Shadow Games. Originally, he wanted to draw horror manga, and some of that is reflected here. Take a look at this scene of Dark Yugi;

Damn that’s creepy! Especially those eyes! They’re just staring into your soul! And it’s not just Dark Yugi, many of the early villains feature very distorted features that can put any reader on edge.

Verdict

YuGiOh Volume 1 is a pretty good read. It tells a dark yet surprisingly heart-warming story about a young boy wanting to make friends and the struggles he faces when a new identity and responsibility is thrust upon him, without him even knowing it. Fans of the anime and the card game really should check this out. It gives some much needed backstory about these characters and shows a more mature side about a group of kids playing games. I was really shocked about how much I enjoyed this and I hope you guys do too.

Total score: 9/10