RWBY

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RWBY
File:Official logo for RWBY.jpg
Official logo for RWBY showing the four main characters.
GenreAction, Adventure, Comedy-drama, Science-fantasy
Created byMonty Oum
Written byMiles Luna
Kerry Shawcross
Monty Oum
Directed byMonty Oum (Volume 1–2)
Kerry Shawcross
Voices ofLindsay Jones
Kara Eberle
Arryn Zech
Barbara Dunkelman
Theme music composerJeff Williams
Casey Lee Williams
Opening theme"This Will Be the Day" (Volume 1)
"Time to Say Goodbye" (Volume 2)
"When It Falls" (Volume 3)
ComposersJeff Williams
Steve Goldshein
Alex Abraham
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersMatt Hullum
Burnie Burns
Production companyRooster Teeth Productions
Original release
NetworkRooster Teeth
ReleaseJuly 18, 2013 (2013-07-18) –
present (present)

RWBY (pronounced "ruby") is an American animated web series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth Productions.[1][2] The show is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect their world from monsters. The first episode was released on the Rooster Teeth website on July 18, 2013, following an exclusive screening at RTX.[3] The second volume premiered on July 4, 2014, at RTX and to the general public on July 24, 2014, followed by the third volume on October 24, 2015.[4]

Following its announcement, the show became a viral hit, resulting in many cosplays and fan adaptations. One of these adaptations, a fan game titled RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, was later officially adopted by Rooster Teeth, and is currently under development.

On February 1, 2015, Oum died as the result of a coma that was caused by an allergic reaction during a medical procedure.[5] This left the future of the series uncertain for a brief period of time until voice actor Gray Haddock announced that the series would continue, and that Volume 3 would premiere in 2015 as planned.[6]

Setting

The story takes place in the world of Remnant, which is filled with forces and creatures known as the "Creatures of Grimm". Prior to the events of the series, mankind waged a battle of survival against the Grimm before discovering the power of a mysterious element called Dust, which allowed them to fight back against the monsters. In the present day, Dust is used to power abilities and weapons. Those who use these abilities to battle the Grimm are known as Huntsmen or Huntresses.[7] The series focuses on four girls, each with her own unique weapon and powers. Together, they form team RWBY at Beacon Academy in the city of Vale, where they are trained to become Huntresses alongside team JNPR (pronounced "juniper"), team SSSN (pronounced "sun"), team CRDL (pronounced "cardinal") team CFVY (pronounced "coffee"), and various other unnamed student teams.[8][9]

Voice cast

Main cast

Development

RWBY had been a long-standing concept of Oum's for years before it began development. Towards the end of his work on the 10th season of Rooster Teeth's Red vs. Blue, he developed the color-coding approach to character names and design as a hook for the series.[8] During production on Red vs. Blue season 10, Oum asked series creator Burnie Burns if they could produce RWBY following the conclusion of that season. Burns, worried for the production schedule, told Oum "If you finish Season 10, then you can do whatever you want." Production on RWBY began as intended, with the first trailer being finished within two weeks and premiering after the credits of the Red vs. Blue season 10 finale on November 5, 2012.[20]

Oum designed the characters with assistance from artist Ein Lee. The characters utilize designs inspired by classic fairy tale characters.[8] Each character has an associated color, and it is the first letters of these colors, red, white, black, and yellow, that give the series its name.[21] The series is written by Oum, along with fellow Rooster Teeth employees Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross.[22] Oum was initially concerned about a story focusing on female characters being developed by a primarily male crew, but said they managed to do well developing the female characters.[20] The series is animated by Rooster Teeth's internal animation team using Smith Micro's Poser software.[23] The series' music is composed by Jeff Williams, who previously composed the soundtracks for Seasons 8–10 of Red vs. Blue, and features vocals by Williams' daughter, Casey Lee Williams.

Promotion

A series of four promotional trailers, one for each lead character, were released in the lead-up to the series premiere. They were primarily produced by Oum and assistant animator Shane Newville.[24] Each trailer begins by unveiling one of the four primary characters and then showing a detailed action sequence.[22] The "Red" trailer was shown after the credits for Red vs. Blue's season 10 finale in November 2012.[22][25] It was followed by the "White" trailer in February 2013.[26] The "Black" trailer was unveiled at a PAX East panel at the end of March and was the first to include voice-acted dialogue.[24] Following the premiere of the "Black" trailer, Oum noted with regret that the first two trailers were shorter and had less character development.[24] The "Yellow" trailer was shown at Rooster Teeth's A-Kon panel on June 1, 2013.[27] Music from the trailers is being sold for digital download on several online retailers.[28]

The first episode premiered on July 5, 2013, at a panel at RTX 2013.[29][30] It premiered online two weeks later on July 18, 2013.

Release

Volume 1 consists of sixteen episodes, with episodes being around 12 minutes long. However, all episodes except the first episode, fifth episode, and finale were released in two six-minute parts, comprising sixteen parts in total. Volume 1 concluded in November 2013, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the same month.[7][31] Episodes premiere to the public Thursdays at 7 pm Central Standard Time (UTC-6) on the Rooster Teeth website and are released two hours early for sponsors.[32] They are uploaded to YouTube a week later. Crunchyroll announced on August 16, 2013, that RWBY would be simulcast on the video streaming site.[33]

Volume 2 premiered on July 24, 2014, following its exclusive screening at RTX on July 4, 2014.[34] Volume 2 featured twelve episodes, each at around 12 minutes long; the episodes were no longer released in parts. The twelfth and final episode of Volume 2 aired on October 30, 2014, after which it was released on DVD and Blu-ray.

Volume 3 was confirmed at the Rooster Teeth panel at PAX Prime 2014, where Oum stated that he planned to go straight into development of the next season as he was nearly completed with Volume 2.[citation needed] It premiered on October 24, 2015 with an episode of the backstory series World of Remnant.[35]

Volume 4 was confirmed during an interview with AfterBuzz TV, in which producer/co-director Gray Haddock mentioned that Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross have begun writing for the new Volume. It was also mentioned that the hiatus between Volumes 3 and 4 would be shorter than previous seasons.[citation needed]

Reception

Critical response

Commentators discussing the promotional trailers lauded the show's animation style and its musical soundtrack. The trailers prompted enthusiastic anticipation for the series premiere.[22][24][26] When the first episode premiered at RTX, it was popular with attendees to the point that seating was full at all three screenings. Amanda Rush, writing for Crunchyroll, noted the anime and Western influences of the series, and praised it as "quick-witted, exciting, lovely to look at" saying fans of anime would enjoy it.[7] The Yakima Herald-Republic called it "thrilling" and "captivating" and praised its "beautiful" 3D character animation.[36] The Austin Chronicle described the premiere as making Oum the "rock star" of Rooster Teeth.[37] The series has reportedly contributed to a 9% increase in views for Rooster Teeth's official YouTube channel.[38] Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis praised the series for its clever use of fairytale elements, fun and enjoyable dialogue, and the fighting choreography, but was critical about the short nature of the episodes, stating that, "The biggest drawback in doing a micro-series... is that there is precious little time for good characterization". He was also critical of the technical issues of the animation, mentioning that the animation is good when the audience is unable to see the character's feet. He ends by saying that "RWBY is a good first step into a world of possibilities."[39]

Volume 3 in particular has received critical acclaim for its darker, more serious tone than the two previous volumes.[citation needed]

Awards

At the 2014 International Academy of Web Television Awards, RWBY won the award for Best Animated Series.[40]

At the 2014 Streamy Awards, RWBY won for Best animated Series and Jeff Williams won for Best Original Score.[41]

Distribution

The Blu-ray and DVD releases in Australia are handled by Hanabee Entertainment.[42] A local Japanese dub is being developed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Japan, with plans for release on Blu-ray and DVD in 2015, marking the first time an American-produced anime-inspired series has been marketed in Japan.[43] Warner Bros. has also acquired local merchandising rights as well.[44] On February 1, 2015, Rooster Teeth announced that both volumes of RWBY so far were available for streaming on Netflix.[45] The first volume will be released in the UK by Animatsu Entertainment on May 4, 2015, on DVD.[46]

Music

Volume 1 Soundtrack

Untitled

The official soundtrack for RWBY: Volume 1 was released by Jeff Williams on November 12, 2013, hitting #1 on iTunes and beating out the movie soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.[47] It includes all the songs used in the trailers, the intro to the series' episodes, and also the score music to each episode. The soundtrack also contains previously unreleased songs such as "I May Fall" and "Wings".[48] These songs were, however, briefly played at the end of various episodes.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."This Will Be the Day" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams3:08
2."Red Like Roses (Red Trailer)" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams3:12
3."Mirror Mirror (White Trailer)" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams2:54
4."From Shadows (Black Trailer)" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams4:48
5."I Burn (Yellow Trailer)" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams5:30
6."Gold" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams4:02
7."I Burn" (feat. Casey Lee Williams & Lamar Hall)Jeff Williams3:11
8."I May Fall" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams4:03
9."Red Like Roses - Part II" (feat. Casey Lee Williams & Sandy Casey)Jeff Williams4:02
10."I Burn Remix" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams3:07
11."From Shadows" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams5:21
12."Wings" (feat. Casey Lee Williams)Jeff Williams5:11
13."EP 1 Score - Ruby Rose"Jeff Williams8:37
14."EP 2 Score - The Shining Beacon, Pt. 1"Jeff Williams3:31
15."EP 3 Score - The Shining Beacon, Pt. 2"Jeff Williams4:39
16."EP 4 Score - The First Step, Pt. 1"Jeff Williams2:59
17."EP 5 Score - The First Step, Pt. 2"Jeff Williams & Steve Goldshein2:36
18."EP 6 Score - The Emerald Forest, Pt. 1"Jeff Williams & Steve Goldshein4:24
19."EP 7 Score - The Emerald Forest, Pt. 2"Jeff Williams3:01
20."EP 8 Score - Players and Pieces"Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham7:25
21."EP 9 Score - The Badge and the Burden, Pt. 1"Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham3:02
22."EP 10 Score - The Badge and the Burden, Pt. 2"Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham2:36
23."EP 11 Score - Jaunedice, Pt. 1"Jeff Williams & Steve Goldshein1:26
24."EP 12 Score - Jaunedice, Pt. 2"Jeff Williams & Steve Goldshein6:05
25."EP 13 Score - Forever Fall, Pt. 1"Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham2:34
26."EP 14 Score - Forever Fall, Pt. 2"Jeff Williams & Steve Goldshein4:59
27."EP 15 Score - The Stray"Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham6:55
28."EP 16 Score - Black and White"Steve Goldshein, Alex Abraham & Jeff Williams11:07
Total length:02:04:24

Volume 2 Soundtrack

Untitled
Tracklist
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Time to Say Goodbye"Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams3:24
2."Die"Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams3:18
3."Shine"Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams4:19
4."Dream Come True"Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams4:12
5."Caffeine" (feat. Lamar Hall)Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams3:09
6."All Our Days"Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams4:36
7."Boop"Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams3:25
8."Sacrifice"Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams4:00
9."This Will Be the Day" (Acoustic)Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams3:17
10."Time to Say Goodbye" (James Landino's Beach Bae Remix)Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams3:19
11."This Will Be the Day" (James Landino's Magical Girl Remix)Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams3:03
12."Best Day Ever" (Chapter 1 Score)Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham9:27
13."Welcome to Beacon" (Chapter 2 Score)Alex Abraham, Steve Goldshein & Jeff Williams4:52
14."A Minor Hiccup" (Chapter 3 Score)Alex Abraham, Steve Goldshein & Jeff Williams3:59
15."Painting the Town...." (Chapter 4 Score)Jeff Williams & Steve Goldshein7:59
16."Extracurricular" (Chapter 5 Score)Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham5:34
17."Burning the Candle" (Chapter 6 Score)Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham5:15
18."Dance Dance Infiltration" (Chapter 7 Score)Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham5:02
19."Field Trip" (Chapter 8 Score)Alex Abraham, Steve Goldshein & Jeff Williams4:27
20."Search and Destroy" (Chapter 9 Score)Alex Abraham, Steve Goldshein & Jeff Williams10:04
21."Mountain Glenn" (Chapter 10 Score)Alex Abraham, Steve Goldshein & Jeff Williams5:59
22."No Brakes" (Chapter 11 Score)Alex Abraham, Steve Goldshein & Jeff Williams9:19
23."Breach" (Chapter 12 Score)Jeff Williams & Alex Abraham3:36
Total length:01:55:35

Other media

Video game

For Rooster Teeth's anniversary in 2014, fan Jordan Scott created a video game based on RWBY, titled RWBY: Grim Eclipse, using the Unity[49] engine. It was in development for a total of five months.[50]

Based on the events in the first trailer, the demo was a "hack 'n slash survival" featuring Ruby facing escalating waves of Grimm attacks. Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised its combo system, which "excellently mirror[ed] its animated counterpart," and its unlockable skills, saying, "you'll feel like an unstoppable badass akin to Ruby in the series."[51]

At RTX 2014, Rooster Teeth announced that they had hired Scott, and officially picked up the game. An early demo of the game was available for consumers to play at the event. Rooster Teeth CEO Matt Hullum stated, "RWBY is a natural choice for us to focus on for our first in-house produced video game. Fans can expect that we will bring the same level of originality in action, comedy and design to the video game that has made the RWBY animated series such a hit."[52][53] On December 1, 2015 the game was released as an Early Access title on Steam.[54]

Rooster Teeth later changed the spelling of the name to RWBY: Grimm Eclipse to match the spelling of the creatures in the show.

Manga

The November 2015 issue of Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine announced that Dogs manga author Shirow Miwa would be illustrating a manga adaptation of RWBY, which debuted in the December 2015 issue on November 19, 2015.[55]

The manga will "reveal mysteries of the four trailers."[56]

References

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ Silverman, Joshua (2013-07-18). "Review: RWBY Premiere Episode". Geek News Network. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
  2. ^ Lazar, Shira (2013-08-07). "Roosterteeth Adds Anime RWBY To YouTube Slate (WATCH)". The Huffington Post. AOL. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  3. ^ Lakich, Ryan (2 July 2013). "Geeks and gamers are ready to raid Rooster Teeth Expo 2013". CultureMap Austin. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  4. ^ Rooster Teeth [@RoosterTeeth] (October 8, 2015). "#RWBY Volume 3 - Saturday, October 24th, at 10 am CT - Roosterteeth.com - Get pumped" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 October 2015 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Hullum, Matt (February 2, 2015). "Monty Oum has passed away". Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  6. ^ "Rooster Teeth · The Future of RWBY". Rooster Teeth.
  7. ^ a b c Rush, Amanda (2013-07-12). "FEATURE: Inside Rooster Teeth's "RWBY"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
  8. ^ a b c Silverman, Joshua (19 February 2013). "Interview: Monty Oum". Constantly Calibrating. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  9. ^ Webb, Charles (9 July 2013). "EXCLUSIVE: See Rooster Teeth's RTX Panel For Animated Series 'RWBY'". MTV.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  10. ^ Rooster Teeth (15 May 2014). "RWBY Volume 2: Production Diary 3". YouTube.
  11. ^ Rae, Taylor (22 June 2014). "The Geeky: An Interview with Kara & Lindsay of Rooster Teeth". WordPress.
  12. ^ Howard, Rachel (1 August 2014). "Comic-Con: Arryn Zech and Kara Eberle Talk RWBY, Their Characters, Food Fights and What We Can Expect in Season 2". Collider.com.
  13. ^ RFMagGamerGal (7 August 2014). "San Diego Comic Con 2014: RWBY Cast Interview with Kara Eberle & Arryn Zech". YouTube.
  14. ^ Patta, Gig (24 July 2013). "Comic-Con 2013: Exclusive Interview with Rooster Teeth's Kara Eberle and Kathleen Zuelch for Animation 'RWBY'". Latino-Review.
  15. ^ "Arryn Zech". Supernova Pop Culture Expo.
  16. ^ "Hanabee Inviting "Team Bumblebee" to Supanova: Pop Culture Expo Melbourne and Gold Coast". The Otaku's Study. 23 March 2015.
  17. ^ "San Diego Comic Con 2014: RWBY Interview". The Nerdy Girlie. 30 July 2014.
  18. ^ ScrewAttack (21 October 2015). "Yang VS Tifa DEATH BATTLE!". YouTube.
  19. ^ Jones, Leslie Anne (18 April 2014). "Rooster Teeth Rules the YouTube Roost". Silicon Hill News. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Machuga, Stephen (27 May 2013). "Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth, RWBY: Front Towards Gamer Radio, Episode 172". Front Towards Gamer. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  21. ^ Oum, Monty. "Rooster Theeth Podcast #191". Rooster Teeth. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  22. ^ a b c d Parbhu, Sanjay (4 June 2013). "Rooster Teeth Releases RWBY Yellow Trailer". Capsule Computers. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  23. ^ "Smith Micro's Poser Software Empowers Rooster Teeth Productions' Upcoming "RWBY" Web Series". Yahoo Finance. Yahoo. 2013-07-03.
  24. ^ a b c d Neafsey, Paul (30 March 2013). "RWBY from Rooster Teeth: PAX East 2013". Front Towards Gamer. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  25. ^ Yamada, Yuusuke (6 June 2013). "死ぬほどかっこいい謎のアニメーションプロジェクト『RWBY』シリーズ最終トレーラーが公開!". Kotaku. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  26. ^ a b Gutelle, Sam (19 February 2013). "Rooster Teeth's Anime-Inspired 'RWBY' Is Colorful And Action-Packed". Tubefilter. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  27. ^ "《RWBY》公開最新宣傳影片「Yellow」最終主要角色亮相". GNN. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  28. ^ Green, Scott (2 June 2013). "VIDEO Preview for Rooster Teeth's Anime Style "RWBY" Hits Yellow". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  29. ^ Shawcross, Kerry (23 January 2013). "RWBY RWBY RWBY". RTX. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  30. ^ "RWBY". Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  31. ^ "RWBY Pre-Show Live Stream". YouTube. Rooster Teeth. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  32. ^ "Rooster Teeth Podcast #227". YouTube. Rooster Teeth Productions. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  33. ^ "Crunchyroll to Stream "RWBY"". Crunchyroll. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  34. ^ Monty Oum [@montyoum] (January 30, 2014). "RWBY Vol 2 will premeire at RTX July 4–6 this year! Thank you all for your support and contributions. <3 Monty fb.me/UO2W4Xyx" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 January 2014 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ RWBY: Volume 3, World of Remnant 1. RoosterTeeth. 9 October 2015.
  36. ^ Bosch, Ellie (11 May 2014). "'RWBY' a gem of a show". Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  37. ^ Solomon, Dan (2013-07-19). "The Full Monty". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
  38. ^ Cohen, Joshua (16 August 2013). "Top 50 Most Viewed U.S. YouTube Channels • Week Of 8/16/13". Tubefilter. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  39. ^ "The Beauty of RWBY's Fight Scenes Will Make Your Jaw Drop • Week of 11/22/13". 22 November 2013.
  40. ^ "2014 IAWTV Awards Nominees and Winners". International Academy of Web Television. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  41. ^ Bloom, David. "Streamy Award Round 1 Winners: 'Epic Rap Battles Of History,' 'RWBY,' Fallon, Seinfeld". Deadline.com. Deadline. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  42. ^ Halliday, Luke (10 August 2013). "Hanabee's SMASH 2013 Announcements". Capsule Computers. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  43. ^ Dong, Bamboo (2014-08-15). "Rooster Teeth's RWBY Heads to Japan". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
  44. ^ Castillo, Michelle (15 August 2014). "American-Made Anime From Rooster Teeth Gets Licensed In Japan". Adweek. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  45. ^ Rooster Teeth [@RoosterTeeth] (February 1, 2015). "#RWBY is now on Netflix. Give it a watch if you haven't yet- or watch it again!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 9, 2015 – via Twitter.
  46. ^ "RWBY: Volume 1 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-02. This title will be released on May 4, 2015.
  47. ^ Rooster Teeth [@RoosterTeeth] (November 15, 2013). "Oh? What's this? #RWBY Volume 1 Soundtrack is the #1 Soundtrack on iTunes?! YOU. GUYS. ROCK" (Tweet). Retrieved February 9, 2015 – via Twitter.
  48. ^ "RWBY Volume 1 Soundtrack in iTunes" (Digital music download). iTunes. Jeff Williams. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  49. ^ "RWBY Grimm Eclipse".
  50. ^ Scott, Jordan (1 April 2014). "RWBY: Grim Eclipse - Demo Release Trailer". YouTube. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  51. ^ Eisenbeis, Richard. "Fighting in This RWBY Fan Game Feels Just Like the Series". www.Kotaku.com. Kotaku. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  52. ^ Rush, Amanda. "Rooster Teeth Making "RWBY" Video Game". Crunchyroll.com. Crunchy Roll. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  53. ^ Cohen, Joshua. "Rooster Teeth Is Developing A Video Game". Tubefilter.com. TubeFilter. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  54. ^ "RWBY: Grimm Eclipse - Steam Early Access". RoosterTeeth.com. Rooster Teeth. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  55. ^ "Dogs: Prelude's Shirow Miwa to Draw RWBY Manga". Anime News Network. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  56. ^ "RWBY Japan's Twitter".

External links