Another Hiatus

Sorry about this. Real life getting in the way again. Until things get straightened out, I won't posting new stuff for awhile. Might last a week, maybe a month. Hard to say at the moment.

Until next time...

Dueling Works: Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter

I've always had a soft spot for the fighting genre of video games. Nothing is more pleasing than pulling off a super maneuver a long volley of button smashing. Then again, my talent isn't exactly 'competitive worthy', so its usually become a passing interest at the very least.

Still, two games have stood out from the pack thanks to their innovative systems, colorful characters and competitive features that have made them a recognized staple in today's video games:

The 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Street Fighter' series.

A brief summary for both, as usual:

First debuting back in 1987, the Capcom fighting game 'Street Fighter' didn't receive too much praise. It wasn't until 1991 with 'Street Fighter II' that the Japanese gaming company found its celebrated series. Featuring fighters from around the world, players fight with special attacks and super moves to declare themselves the greatest fighters to ever live. With a cast ranging from wandering martial artists to kung-fu interpol agents and mad dictators, the world of 'Street Fighter' still remains quite vibrant and colorful in design since its release.

Developed by the now-defunct Midway Games (now redeveloped into Netherrealm Studios), the Mortal Kombat series burst onto the gaming scene in 1992. Bringing in more violent combat and the creation of 'fatalities', the series has been lauded as one of the most successfully brutal fighting games in the world. Set in the background of realms under combat, you play from ninjas to demons, soldiers to sorcerers, in battles that can define the very fates of the realms themselves. Be cautious and calculating, as each strike may be your last.

Where is the rivalry?

Both 'Street Fighter II' and 'Mortal Kombat' are often the most recognized of the fighting game genre with stellar new features ahead of their times. Both feature a colorful cast of creative characters that combat each other for...well, anything. Stories were also a bit light at the start, not to mention their transitions to 3d platforms didn't work out so well until the mid-2000s. At that point, they both relied on 2.5d style of combat, where everything was properly 3d but on a more linear combat instead of in an arena (like 'Tekken' or 'Soul Calibur'). Both received wide acclaim for their new releases, though it became clear that the focuses for each series has changed from when they first started.

A reboot to revitalize

With the purchase of 'Mortal Kombat' by Warner Brothers Interactive and the creation of Netherrealm Studios, an attempt to bring life back into the popular franchise needed to be done. The release of 'Mortal Kombat 9' showed how the story took to a reboot of sorts, thanks to time traveling visions that ends up altering the events of the first three games of the series (Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy). With the change up in story, as well as the inclusion of new powers, old fan favorites and brutal new fatalities, the series was brought back up to prominence in the mainstream community. The success of the game became so great that it ended up making back all of the money that WB had paid for its purchase, as well as winning the award for 'Best Fighting Game' back in 2011. With the release and success of 'Mortal Kombat X' years later, it seems like Netherrealm Studios has found its firm ground in the fighting game genre.

Legit to be hardcore

Capcom and 'Street Fighter' had a different focus in mind. Making note of the many players taking part in tournaments with 'Street Fighter II', they started releasing new versions of the game. Either to speed up the fighting system or balance characters, it became the norm for them. At least, until it started becoming sort of a running gag for fans of the many versions that were released for a single game. Still, the company has managed to keep that focus for later games in the series, like the prequel 'Street Fighter Alpha' and 'Street Fighter III'. Even with a proper transition into 2.5d combat, Capcom couldn't help but release updated versions of 'Street Fighter IV' into full games instead of just improving through software upgrades and downloads. With their latest release of 'Street Fighter V', they've been attempting to better cater towards the casual fanbase along with the hardcore. Whether it will turn out for them in the future is still up in the air.

Who wins?

Once more, depends on your interests. Want a more technical game with a hardcore tournament following? Then 'Street Fighter' is the way for you. Want a more story-based game with violence that rivals 'Game of Thrones'? Then 'Mortal Kombat' it is.

Why the neutral answer?

This is probably something that a few readers have been thinking while reading these posts.

Well, much like anything else, it all comes back to your own personal tastes. You could like all these games or hate them. It all comes back to you, the buyer, the player. Plenty of people have already made their voices clear on what they like with these games.

What about you?

Until next time...

Dueling Works: Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter

Platformer-style games have been around since the first Mario game (or back when it was called Jumpman). Since then, it has evolved from simple 2d platforming to the freeform 3d platforming. The genre has been pushed aside as other game-styles came to dominate the market, like RPG and FPS games.

Still, there have been the occasional series managing to pop back into the spotlight and thrive, though two franchises of the last decade have managed to not only survive, but also managed to be quite similar to one another.

This is where 'Ratchet & Clank' meet 'Jak & Daxter'.

For anyone unfamiliar with either series, a shorthand version:

Developed by 'Insomniac Games', 'Ratchet & Clank' is the sci-fi series involving Ratchet, a Lombax alien with a knack for technology, and Clank, a formerly faulty bot capable of turning into different gadgets. They both roam across the galaxy and protect from forces planing to conquer and/or destroy it, like mad scientists and politicians. Helping them out is not just a galactic defense unit, but also their vast arsenal of weapons and gizmos capable of taking down whole armies.

Developed by 'Naughty Dog', 'Jak and Daxter' is a science fantasy series involving the long-eared adventurer/warrior Jak and his companion-turned-ottsel Daxter. From far-flung futures to Precursor machinations, the pair work against combating the forces of darkness in the present and future. Along the way, they have gained allies that helped them not only cripple a totalitarian government, but also stop ancient evils that would corrupt their entire planet.

Where's the rivalry?

Both games feature big-eared protagonists (seriously, look at Rachet and Jak) that work alongside a smaller but still useful sidekick. They combat the forces of evil, ranging from evil dictators, mad scientists, alien creatures and sometimes their own species. They do so with a combination of platforming power and guns. Lots of guns. Also, throw in some time traveling and item collecting too.

Behind every good hero...

It is interesting seeing the character progression with main characters like Ratchet and Jak. Not just in looks, but also in personality. When they were both starting out, they had rather opposite personalities with each other. After so many games in each of their series, it still holds true. How is that? Well, Ratchet started off mostly as a selfish jerk before mellowing out over the course of several games and become the happy go lucky hero we know and love. Jak started out as a basic mime protagonist, before being tossed in the future and forcibly experimented on gave him a darker personality and proper speaking lessons. He has since mellowed out as well, but still holds a lot of edge to him, like a finely honed blade.

Their partners in crime, Clank and Daxter, haven't had as much personality growth in the games themselves. Clank has usually been the stoic, intelligent type to provide Ratchet with useful information and skills needed for missions at hand. Daxter has always been a bit of a clown, making light of the situation in order to brighten moods while also trying to prove how impressive of a fighter he is. Still, both characters have proven time and again that they can fight by themselves (to an extent anyway), but do their work better when fighting alongside their best friends.

...Lies a terrible villain

Their villains, surprisingly, run a similar gamut between the two series. On one end, you have the corrupt leaders/politicians trying to control their domain through any means necessary. Examples like this include Chairman Drek from "Ratchet and Clank" (who destroys other planets filled with people to make a new one for his own) and Baron Praxis from "Jak and Daxter" (who controls the city of Haven through soldiers and automated weaponry to keep all his subjects in one place). While some could argue that they do have somewhat noble goals (both wanting to help their people to a degree), their methodology and behavior certainly don't help in that regard.

Still, both include villains that are more about destruction of entire species rather than noble intentions. Such is the way of Dr. Nefarious from 'Ratchet and Clank' and Kore of the Metal Heads from 'Jak and Daxter'. Regardless of how charming or comical they may act, it is clear that they would like nothing more than the under destruction of their enemies.

Who wins?

With 'Naughty Dog' focusing on other properties like 'Uncharted' while Sony has just launched a 'Ratchet and Clank' reboot to the series, you could say the latter is still going. However, fans are still hoping for 'Jak' to make a return to the major consoles sooner or later.

After all, both series have teamed up a few times in crossover titles, like 'Playstation All-Stars', so there could still be a future for both of them.

Tune in next week, as I take a look at two series have been around about as long as I have.

Until next time...

Dueling Works: Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row

It isn't too hard to call out one series for being a copy or knock off of the other, especially when they play and act rather similar to one another. Then again, the creators of one series may take it upon themselves to stand out from the competition in a way that surprises the audience. This is especially true that, when you look at the series as a whole, you realize just how different it got from the first game to the last one released.

This is where today's pair of games come in: the 'Grand Theft Auto' and 'Saints Row' series.

For those unfamiliar with the games, here are the briefest of summaries for you:

'Grand Theft Auto' is a series that is developed and published by 'Rockstar Games' for the majority of its run. It has been around since 1997, with seven games as part of the 'main series' with different spinoffs. Your roll is that of a character trying to survive and thrive in the criminal underworld in their respective cities (which are similar, yet legally different from their real life counterparts).

'Saints Row' is the series developed by Volition in 2006 and was published under 'THQ' before they went bankrupt and the rights were bought up by 'Deep Silver' back in 2013. The games have you starting out as a low-ranking hood part of the gang 'Third Street Saints' that work to control the crime of Stillwater while combating other gangs and grabbing their territories. From the first game onward, the series gets...stranger.

Look, lets get into why these two game series have often been compared to one another.

Where is the rivalry?

Both game are open world 'sandbox' games, allowing the player a lot of freedom to do whatever they want in a city with little to no issues. While there are mission that follow the main storyline, it isn't hard for the player to forget about doing some of them for a time and try their fun doing other things. Want to drag race down from one end of the city street to the end of town? That can be done. Want to randomly toss grenades into a busy intersection and then fight off the full force of the police? Easy enough. What to parachute out of a flying plane, naked and trying to land in a swimming pool from an obscene height? Do you even have to ask at this point?

Yeah, this all seems pretty ridiculous to do in both games, but the main differences of them both come through the story and general approach of the games as done by the developers.

To denser and wackier we go!

'Saints Row' has taken the bigger stretch into making itself stand out from its counterpart of 'GTA'. Some of the changes involve the narrative, where it is this one continuous story of 'the Boss', the lowly grunt of the Third Street Saints becoming its leader and more by the end of the series. How strange can it get from there? Well, in the first game, you end up fighting what could be 'similar yet legally different' gangs based around the drug cartel of South America, vice criminals who hide behind a legitimate record company, and gangbangers who prefer racing and stealing cars more than anything else. By the second game, you end up leading the Saints to retake Stillwater after you were thought to be killed, this time fighting a thuggish gang of monster truck riders and extremists, drug dealers with a Caribbean flavor, and what could be considered extensions of the Yakuza ( Japanese criminal counterpart to the Mafia ).

Then it gets weirder into the third and fourth installments.

The Saints end up becoming celebrities and taking on an organization called the Syndicate, made up of gangs involving Eastern European arms dealers, tech-out cyber criminals and an army of Luchadores in heavy armor. In the game after, you get elected President of the United States and fight an alien empire in a cyber world, who also blew up the Earth and took almost all of the human population with it.

Yeah, 'Saints Row' founds it own voice by becoming more 'out there' in terms of a personality. While 'GTA' stuck to being more grounded in real life (to its story, in a sorts), 'Saints Row' embraced its more cartoonish aspects and made it more paramount. It certainly got its own popularity for the efforts, with people complimenting them for actually gaining its own voice rather than just relying on the style used by their counterparts. Question is whether or not it helped pay off for them by their latest game.

Keeping it grounded

This seemed to be a major focus behind the work of 'Grand Theft Auto'. Yes, there are Easter eggs within the games that can border on the comical, not to mention some game modes that can be very unrealistic (especially since the launch of 'Grand Theft Auto Online'). However, from the story, the characters and the environment, you can probably find it in common with crime drama tv shows and movies. It boils down pretty much to the main character becoming a criminal and such to survive, but it does change it up slighty with each game. Sometimes, you are an immigrant to the city using his criminal experience to try and make a living for himself. In another, you are a former gangbanger framed for the death of an officer and try to survive against criminals after you.

It changes up enough each game to keep the story interesting, yet doesn't undermine the main gameplay elements that helped make 'Grand Theft Auto' popular. Its longevity also helped it become a 'franchise' of sorts, scoring high with game critics and the public through its works.

Who comes out on top?

From a financial standpoint, 'Grand Theft Auto' has had the time and experience to chalk up more cash from their earnings that 'Saints Row'. However, both game series are recognized as favorites of many fans.

Tune in next time for games featuring our titular heroes, though half of them could be considered sidekicks. Try not to tell that to their faces.

Until next time...

Dueling Works: Overwatch and Battleborn

It isn't too uncommon to find some movies, tv shows or even video games being compared to one another thanks to similarities. At times, some people may call out how one is copying the other, which is not often true (there might be a few cases, but I wouldn't know them off the top of my head).

For the rest of this month, I'll be looking at different video games that have often been compared to one another. First up is a pair of games that haven't even been released yet (just a little over a month for both), but are still being saddled up as being copies of each other to many people: "Overwatch" and "Battleborn".

The newest IP created by Blizzard Entertainment, 'Overwatch' is the online game where you play has former members of the organization Overwatch (as well as a few villains) and compete in different modes to capture points and protect cargo and the like.

"Battleborn" is developed by Gearbox Software, where you take part as a team of fighters to take on an evil empire to stop the heat death of the universe, while also fighting against each other in different modes as well.

Where is the rivalry?

This has mostly been brought up by the fans moreso than the creators, just be observations of released information like videos and news reports. Both games are first person shooters taking place in a rather cartoonish science fiction world set in the future. All the characters have a few select abilities as well as an 'ultimate', which they can use to help turn the tide in fights at the right time. You pair up with other players as characters competing for different objects, such as capturing points, attacking or defending escort items, or playing a 'king of the hill' match.  

It is a bit funny to compare the two like this, as both companies have been working hard to stand out amongst the scene. So, what exactly makes them different from each other?

Setting

'Overwatch' is a bit of a look into the future, decades after a violent war called the 'Omnic Crisis'. Thanks to the efforts of the organization 'Overwatch', peace was restored and the relationships between man and robots were holding. However, the organization grew corrupt from within and soon disbanded under heap of public outcry and sabotage. Now, those remaining try to protect the world as best they can against evil boths new and old.

'Battleborn' is set more into the far future, where a dangerous galactic army has been snuffing the light out in the universe. Survivors of several factions are banding together to stop the last start from being wiped out. While many of these characters have different ideologies and attitudes with one another, they do agree that they are the last hope to stop this evil. Live together, or die alone.

Art Design

'Overwatch's design has often been compared to the likes of Disney's Pixar animation and it isn't hard to see why. While the characters are very cartoony in design, many behavior wouldn't be too out of place out in real life. The heroes especially have 'feet of clay', having a more developed grounding in attitude that can be seen in their gameplay as well as released shorts by Blizzard.

'Battleborn' is easily comparable to a Saturday morning cartoon, something that Gearbox seems to revel in when it came to designing their story and characters. Their personalities are almost borderline exaggerations, but have enough pop in their look and feel to easily stand out from each other. It revels in the fact that it is a cartoony game, so it plays with it the best it can.

Gameplay

'Overwatch' focuses on six versus six team matches with different maps and objectives. Characters are seperated into groups depending on their main talent: Attack, Defense, Tank, and Support. The game helps players point what which they might be lacking in a team, as well as enable them to switch characters in the middle of fights to change up strategies. Each character as their own weapon and abilities to use, including an 'ultimate' that charges depending on the character's main stat (attack characters charge with dealing damage, while tank characters charge while taking damage).

'Battleborn' has characters that represent different factions, each with their own style of abilities fitting to their own factions: the nature-preserving Eldrid, the highly imperialist Jennerit, the military-focused Peacekeepers, the mechanically focused Last Light Consortium, and the rebellious Rogues. Players can form teams of fight to compete in story 'episodes' or player versus player combat. Majority of these characters are heavy damage based, with few being better tanks and even fewer being better support.

Final Thoughts

It certainly comes down to personal choice more than anything else. Are you more of a fan of cooperative play with fellow gamers in an environment looking straight out of a Pixar film? Then 'Overwatch' would be the game for you. Are you more into the Saturday-morning cartoon variety of action that allows you to solo a campaign mode as well as multiplayer? Then you'll look forward to 'Battleborn'.

Neither game will be out yet until next month, so it is hard to say who will be the true winner of this duel.

Next time, we'll be looking into a pair of video game series where one would almost be considered a copy of the other...if it didn't go off the deep end of 'dense' and 'wacky'.

Until next time...

New Stories For April

Finally back from a bit of a hiatus, real life and all that taken care of for the moment.

Already got a theme for this month for the next few weeks: Dueling Video Games. I mean by this is how there are many video games out there with similar gameplay, design and aesthetics to them that make comparing them all the more prevalent (especially when they debut close to each other).

For the next several weeks, I'll be looking at two games that would fit into this little story and just show what makes them different and what makes them the same.

First up are a pair of new releases: 'Battleborn' and 'Overwatch'!

Until next time...

No Review This Week

I do have to apologize for not having a review this week. Currently facing a family crisis that is taking the forefront of everything else.

Depending on how things go, I may be back to posting new stuff next week or by next month. Hard to say so far.

Until next time...

RWBY Month: From Shadows

Well, it has certainly been a long journey from watching 'RWBY', even if there has only been three volumes completed. From what I heard by the creators, they are ready for at least 20 more. Lets not get too ahead of ourselves here and just look at the stuff offered so far, shall we?

Three years and 40 episodes later, the 'RWBY' series of Rooster Teeth has gathered an impressive fan following. Despite the loss of its creator, the series has managed to improve over leaps and bounds since it was first released in 2013. Still, it is not without its inconsistencies and mistakes, but that will be later in this review.

The Good:

If there is one positive thing I can attribute to the series is that it has been improving since day one. From the animation to the characters and stories, you can see the progression that has been made since the first episode of volume one to the last of volume 3. Can you believe that at the start, any unnecessary background characters were just black shadows?

Speaking of the dark, I've read about many people enjoying the darker tone the series took halfway through volume three. I wouldn't exactly call it so much as a shift in tone but more like a pulling of the curtain to the true world of Remnant. After all, many viewers have been misled by the colorful characters and wonderful fight scenes. Is it any wonder that the creators had to put up 'viewer discretion' images when they learned that their show was being watched by children?

Lets take look at the world from Remnant: the place is overrun by creatures of darkness that openly hunt for mankind's extinction, with many children trained at a young age to fight them for the cause, all while living in a world with one a few kingdoms to call home, along with a terrorist group that seeks to use destructive means to get their way, as well as a hidden party trying to do...something that easily disrupted one of these few kingdoms to make it happen.

(When you look at the moon and see that, do you really think the world is all gumdrops and rainbows?)

Again, the dark part of RWBY has caught many people off guard because of the good work they put in other areas, such as their likable characters and incredible action scenes.

From the main four to the supporting cast and villains, many of the characters brought forward have enough personality to give each one a swathe of fans to follow them. The main four themselves are very distinct: the bubbling naivete of Ruby, the headstrong confidence of her sister Yang, the proven princess of Weiss, and the calm collected Blake. As the series goes on, we seem them (among others) develop in characters with depth, such as a interest from Yang to search for her missing mother and Weiss trying to remove herself from the hold placed by a controlling father.

Supporting characters like team JNPR, the teachers of Beacon Academy and the likes of Penny and Qrow also add a lot of personality to everything. It is enough to get you paying attention to the characters and stick with them through the crazy ride.

The action is, of course, a major standout of the series and among the show's finest moments. Combining standout weapons like the scythe-sniper rifle or gauntlet-shotguns along with superpowers against monstrous creatures or even against each makes it a sight to see each episode it is displayed. Not only does it help show off the characters in fighting style but also shows how well they can work off each other when on a team. You see it with in 'Painting the Town' with the titular team RWBY functioning like a unit against Roman in his stolen Atlas mech. They knew how to use their abilities and skills together in unison to take out a singular threat like that.

(The buildup for Yang punching that mech was fantastic)

Another stand out is the music for the series. Just about all of it is original work for the series and it really helps with setting up the mood for scenes. Whether with or without lyrics, you'll get the right idea of what feels you should have for the scene before the dialogue kicks in.

Also, I've been using a lot of the titles for said songs for the posts, so enjoy that little tid-bit.

The Bad:

Despite the improvement of the series, there are still plenty of faults and mistakes that haven't yet been addressed yet. Some of these have been brought up by the fans while some others have been spotted by myself.

The villains are the biggest problems of the series, both for the main cast and for some of its viewers. While they haven't been brought up that much at the start, their continued appearances have brought a lot of focus on them. Unfortunately, it has made them more open to criticism when you start looking at the big picture they are apart of.

Roman Torchwick had probably the most consistent personality and behavior of the group before being killed, Neo is just mostly a walking prop needed for different moments (especially since she doesn't have a voice actor yet), Mercury is just an asshole, but not a very well written one, Emerald's behavior and agenda seems weird and her interactions may look like she could be heading towards a Heel-Face turn, but that's still up in the air at this point.

Then we reach Cinder and Adam.

Two different can of worms that can rub people the wrong way.

Let's start with Adam.

His motivates as part of the 'White Fang' group make sense, as well as being forcibly conscripted into working with Cinder and her follows. However, its his characterization in the last few episodes of 'Volume 3' that have me scratching my head. He quickly acts like some stalker boyfriend to Blake upon first seeing her, a far cry from his usual collected manner that hides his dedication to the Faunus cause. Now, he is all about wanting to destroy everything about Blake. Its a weird bit that kind of throws the character off, though the creators of the series explain that Adam did have elements of acting like a 'domestic abuser' with Blake back when she was with the 'White Fang'. This is more personal complaining than actual fact.

Cinder, on the other hand, is a more troublesome issue.

Already gone through three volumes of RWBY with her and we still have little to no idea who or what Cinder is. Its clear she was after the Fall Maiden's powers and managed to accomplish just that. Aside from that, she is just so mysterious of an unknown that it borderlines and frustrating. 

Not to mention the fact that the villains have rarely seen properly defeated during these three volumes.

Outside of the Grimm fights, these villains have rarely seen a long-term or even short-term slow down of their plans, Heck, they may have even been helped along the way by the heroes at one point or another. Any kind of defeat they do is more to service the plot rather than as a testament to our heroes' skills. It really undermines them as competent characters and function more like minor nuisances.

When the final battle of Volume 3 occurred, it required a 'deus ex machina' to have the heroes pull off a victory. If this does lead to them getting better, good. Otherwise, I'd hate to see the series drop that point off and have all their big battles won by random luck.

Another problem with the series, and it is one of the biggest, is the matter of so many inconsistencies and dropped plot points.

The directors and writers for RWBY tend to have these bad habits of leaving some things unexplained or dropping certain plot points for the sake of the main story. 

Some examples include:

• Pyrrha's development as someone perceived as the ace, when in reality is more unsure of her role and desire to be treated as an equal
• The random appearances and disappearances of Zwei during the attack on Beacon (seriously, he isn't back with the dad?)
• How Qrow couldn't pick out Cinder and her lackies after rescuing the Fall Maiden (would've especially helped during the Vytal event)
• The random appearances and disappearances of 'Aura' during fights (which tends to get screwy when done for plot and such)
• How Penny is declared 'dead' except that she is a robot and can be rebuilt (they haven't even gotten into this, even during some interviews with the creators)
• Weiss trying to break away from her father but ends up being taken back to Atlas instead (kind of makes sense, but it makes all that previous development almost worthless)
• That meeting with Yang and her mother (the former still had that arm in that meeting, so is it non-canon now or what?)
• How Jaune managed to get into Beacon on face manuscripts (how convenient)

This is only a couple of them over the course of three volumes. Once the series gets into the double digits of seasons, we could easily be seeing more of these mishaps popping up. Even though Monty did plan out enough details to get that far, its hard to say if they all will make sense in the long run.

Which brings me to my last point...

The Ugly

The death of Monty Oum.

It is a tragedy, to say the least, to lose him during a time where he was with great friend, family and fans. The fact that he was able to plan out his main series 'RWBY' so far ahead showed that he had foresight and belief in his fellow creators to help continue that vision and bringing it forward.

Right now, all we can do is speculate on what could've happened were Monty still alive. Would he have stayed the course with his vision? Would he have decided to rethink the plot in areas to try and make it better?

Regardless, the important thing to remember is how much Monty put himself into his work and all the effort that helped bring RWBY to this level of popularity.

Here's to you, Monty.

This wraps up 'RWBY' month. Stay tuned next week for a new month and a new theme.

Until next time...

RWBY: Sacrifice

Now onto the third and (currently) last completed volume of RWBY's recaps. Here, everything starts to change.

We kick off with the first episode 'Round One', with RWBY visiting her mother's grave and telling her all the fun times she has had at Beacon with her friends. At the end of the scene, we see some birds flying off into the sun, making the signature symbol that Monty Oum has been known for.

(Still miss you, Monty)

Next scene and the Vytal Tournament in full swing as Team RWBY takes on the visiting team ABRN (pronounced 'auburn'). Professors Oobleck and Port provide both commentary and exposition on how exactly the Tournament functions:

• It has three phases: round one is will full teams, second round has two members from each team, and third round is just single fighters.
• Each team must either knock out the other team (by reducing their aura) or by ring out
• Shown later on, but not mentioned, is that arenas will be randomly generated around certain themes, like lava lakes, glaciers, forests, city ruins or even water.

Team RWBY manages to win their first round and have some lunch to celebrate. Emerald manages to catch up to them (still under the pretenses of being their friend) while making note that Weiss and Yang will be heading into the next round. Its also noted that Emerald, Mercury, Cinder, and a disguised Neo are also competing and have completed their first round too. 

After team RWBY gets their food, Weiss tries paying for team, but finds her credit card revoked. Thankfully, team JNPR comes in with the save with some cash and get wished 'good luck' before their next match. The episode ends as team JNPR takes to fighting team BRNZ (pronounced 'bronze).

Next episode to pop up is 'New Challengers'. Here, Team JNPR manages to win their round while Team SSSN (pronounced 'sun') with members Sun, Neptune, and their other teammates Sage and Scarlet, take to fighting Team NDGO (pronounced 'indigo'). Despite half the field being covered in water, which turns out to be Neptune's greatest fear, team SSSN manages to advance to the next round relatively unfettered,

Throughout this episode, we also see a man getting drunk in a bar watching the fights. He comments on how it all 'isn't really that great' while noticing a large plane touching down near the festival area. He leaves, making note that someone is arriving. Back at the tournament, Weiss and Ruby also notice the plane touching down, making Weiss realize that 'she' is here now.

This leads us into 'Its Brawl in the Family', with the arrival of not only Weiss' sister Winter Schnee, but also the full appearance of Ruby's uncle, the man drunk in the previous episode, Qrow Branwen. The two end up getting into an argument, which leads into a fight across the area. Mercury ends up catching a bit of it before leaving to tell Cinder. Before the fight can come to a finish, Qrow bows out and leaves Winter to blame, forcing her to leave under Ironwood's orders.

Qrow and Ironwood soon meet with Ozpin and Glynda in secret, the quartet discussing a matter of things: the infiltrator (meaning Cinder) is the one responsible for the condition of one 'Autumn', that the Atlas military on point could be more trouble than protection, and that Qrow has been away a lot on reconnaissance and found things to get pretty scary pretty quickly. Back with the villains, not only does Mercury reveal that Qrow has arrived, but also that Cinder has been manipulating the standings for certain fights to occur. This leads to her creating a matchup between Mercury and Emerald against members of team CFVY from volume 2.

(I could post something more serious, but with the way this volume is going, I'll need all the laughs I can get.)

The followup is 'Lessons Learned', showing Mercury and Emerald defeating the two members of team CFVY rather handily. Meanwhile, Weiss and Winter have a family talk about their lives away from their father's influence as well as their rare family Semblence of 'glyphs'. Winter reveals the higher level skill of actually summoning defeated enemies like the Grimm as ice creatures, something she tries to teach Weiss to do as well. It sort of takes, but not to any major extent.

With the Rose family, Qrow discusses a bit about his journey with Yang and Ruby, making reference to the team he was previously a part of with Ruby's mother and Yang's mother and father; team STRQ (pronounced 'stark'). Yang takes particular note of her mother, who bears a slight resemblance to the woman that saved her in the previous volume (that little ending scene from volume 2? never really addressed yet). Weiss says goodbye to her sister as she leaves with the episode wrapping up.

We continue in 'Never Miss a Beat', with RWBY members Weiss and Yang taking on members of the Atlas team FNKI (pronounced 'funky'), Flynt Coal and Neon Katt. After some heavy fighting, Weiss and Yang manage to win their fight and advance to the next round. Ruby herself manages to reunite with Penny for a bit, the latter also having entered into the tournament and made it to the third round as well. It is a bit of a breather episode before the big kick off coming up next.

Halfway through the volume and we reach 'Fall', which drops a bunch of different bombshells. Pyrrha gets asked to meet with Ozpin and the secret co. to go over the 'Maidens', four girls who possess incredible magic power. One, Amber, had been critically injured and half of her power stolen. The only way to save the other half would be to transfer that half into a worthy vessel. For them, they picked Pyrrha. She is given the choice of whether or not to go through with it, but she'll need to decide sooner than later.

The third round of the tournament starts, with Yang facing off against Mercury. Its a tough battle, but Yang manages to come out on top. However, Mercury tries to go for a sneak attack, which Yang is able to counter attack. Unfortunately, with his Aura down, Mercury gets shot in the knee. While Yang saw Mercury attacking her, the audience saw Yang dealing a cruel blow after the match. Everyone is in shock as forces move in to potentially stop Yang, who herself is confused as to what just happened.

(Given his behavior, he kind of deserves it)

The next episode is mostly a flashback titled 'The Beginning of the End'. Ominous.

It brings up Cinder's recruitment of a young Emerald and Mercury (the latter whom probably just killed his father shortly before recruitment). They try getting the White Fang onboard as well, but it is clear that Adam isn't biting at this point. Instead, they trio focus their attention on one of the Maidens, Amber. Here, we learn a multitude of things:

• Emerald can cast illusions on people, usually one at a time
• Mercury actually has prosthetic metal legs instead, making the inevitable shot to the knees another trick
• Amber's Maiden powers are pretty incredible, though she ends up losing the fight
• Cinder uses a small, parasite-like Grimm to try and acquire those powers, succeeding in only getting half.
• Qrow actually arrives on the scene to prevent the full power capture, but the villain trio escape

With the maiden's powers all hers, Cinder forces the White Fang into the alliance with her. Back in the present, the villains manage to trick the medics into believing the injury while they retreat and hide out until the next match.

We then head into the episode 'Destiny'. Ironwood reveals to team RWBY that they've been disqualified for their actions. Some write off Yang's actions as being under heavy stress in battle, but it is clear that there is more afoot when Ruby learned of it happening with team CFVY as well. 

Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha have a nice moment together, though each misinterpreting the others words. Pyrrha tries talking about destiny and whether or not to follow through on it (since she can't talk about the maidens outside of Ozpin and co.) Miscommunication leads to Pyrrha getting upset and knocking Jaune away, apologizing before leaving. 

The next fight in the tournament starts, with Pyrrha fighting against Penny. Not only does Ruby know of the possible implications here (a metallic robot fighting someone with magnetisim), but also sees Emerald in the crowd, despite the latter supposed to be tending to her friend. It gets worse when she sees Mercury walking around all fine, notices Ruby, and she forgets that she doesn't have her weapon to properly fight.

It leads us to the next episode, 'PvP'. Pyrrha and Penny start fighting as Mercury keeps Ruby from alerting people. Once Penny starts busting out the swords on strings, Emerald uses her Semblance to make Pyrrha see hundreds of blades instead of a few. Pyrrha overreacts and uses her magnetism to disrupt the blades, the strings of which actually end up cutting straight through Penny and killing her, much to the shock of everyone in attendance.

(Fun fact: this fan picture was put online BEFORE the actual episode aired)

Ruby breaks down in shock and surprise as Mercury just exits stage left. Cinder gets on all intercoms, delivers a speech about the secret counsel of Ozpin and co. were doing stuff that may seem amoral (paraphrasing here), which gets the crowd riled up enough to bring the Grimm in as well as the White Fang lead by Adam (which brings more Grimm in). Also, Neo frees Roman on one of the Atlas ships.

The real fighting begins in 'Battle of Beacon'. Pyrrha is still in too much shock to react to a giant Grimm coming down in front of her. Ruby comes to the save as many of the hunters and huntresses in training come in to help. Ironwood arrives (and kicks butt against the Grimm) and tells them to either stay and fight or run before heading on one of his ships to help. However, Roman activates a virus which turns many of the Atlas machines away from the Grimm and White Fang and against everyone else. Ironwood himself gets caught on his own airship, which ends up exploding on its own.  Ruby realizes something is up and goes to try and stop the machines at the source. As the heroes try to fight and split up, Blake runs into Adam, who is all too upset upon seeing Blake. Meanwhile, a massive dragon Grimm bursts out of one of the mountains and attacks, as well as deposits Grimm from its hide onto the surface. Pyrrha breaks off to find Ozpin while Jaune follows her in pursuit.

The penultimate episode of Volume 3 is 'Heroes and Monsters'. The remaining heroes do their best against the Atlas machines and Grimm, but are clearly faltering. Ruby manages to get on the ship with Neo and Roman, taking out the former by opening her umbrella (imagine doing that off of the top of an airship) and the latter gets eaten by a Grimm mid-rant. Blake fights Adam, though the latter is certainly stronger and crazier than her. Yang arrives to help and attacks, but Adam manages to react fast enough to swing his blade and cut off one of Yang's arms.

(I honestly hope she ends up with something like this after that experience)

Blake manages to get herself and Yang away from Adam thanks to another shadow clone. Meanwhile, Ozpin prepares Pyrrha to receive the maiden power with Jaune standing guard to help. Unfortunately, Cinder interrupts with an arrow, killing Amber and taking the full maiden power for herself. Ozpin orders Pyrrha and Jaune to leave as he tries to hold off Cinder himself.

The final episode for the volume is 'End of the Beginning'. Ozpin tries to fight Cinder in the dark, but Cinder somehow manages to come out on top. As the heroes start to retreat, Ruby goes to after Jaune and Pyrrha (the latter kissing the former and sending him away to safety to fight Cinder alone). In this battle, Pyrrha tries her hardest to fight Cinder, but ends up dying in the end. After witnessing another friend fall, something in Ruby is awaken, drowning her, Cinder and everything else in a bright flashing light.

Time passes and Ruby awakens from a coma, which leads to an info dump by her father Taiyang and uncle Qrow:

• Beacon Academy is overrun with Grimm, the dragon itself now frozen in stone, but still drawing them in
• Communications are down thanks to the villains, making inter-kingdom communication virtual nonexistent
• Atlas' reputation is most likely in the toilet, thanks to video showing the rogue Atlas robots attacking
• Weiss is taken back by her father for protection
• Blake is back on the run...again
• Yang is stuck in bed and mostly mopey, due to losing her arm and Blake
• Ruby's silver eyes make reference to legends of 'silver-eyed warriors' that make them feared amongst the Grimm

When winter comes, Ruby leaves with the remaining members of team JNPR (which sort of manes them now team RNJR) leave for Haven to try and stop what may be coming next. Qrow follows them in secret and we get revealed of the true mastermind behind it all: a villainess named Salem, residing in the unknown lands of Grimm.

(Behold, new nightmare fuel)

Certainly a lot to unpack there. This coming Friday, I'll give my thoughts for these three volume, as well as series in general at this point.

Until next time...

RWBY: All Our Days

Onto the second volume of 'RWBY', which has less episodes, but also less multi-parters and more time in each episode. So, it kind of all evens out.

The volume begins with the episode 'Best Day Ever', introducing us more villains working under Cinder: Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. They spend a bit of the intro killing someone who's trying to leave the White Fang. What a way to introduce us to this villains, eh?

Back at Beacon Academy, students from the different academys start taking hold at Haven. Among them include Sun Wukong and his team partner, Neptune Vasilias. While they meet up with team RWBY and JNPR in the academy cafeteria, The latter teams end up starting a food fight, even using literal food as their weapons.

(You can't make up stuff like this)

After much fighting and destruction, Glynda appears to fix everything and scold the teams for their violent disruptions. Ozpin, however, reminds her that they deserve some happy moments for it could get worse for them down the road. Best to let them enjoy the moments while they can.

Back with the villains, Roman meets up with Emerald, Mercury and their boss, Cinder. Roman wants more info on why he is stealing so much dust, but Cinder keeps quiet on it. Its also clear that Roman isn't a big fan of working with Emerald or Mercury.

Next episode is 'Welcome to Beacon', we are introduced to the Headmaster of Atlas Academy and its military, Ironwood. He ends up bringing a large force to Vale as a means of both showing Atlas's power and helping to defend it against any threats.

Meanwhile, Sun helps give Neptune a proper introduction to the teams during a study session/military strategy game. However, Blake herself is a bit distracted by the recent events of the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. She wants to figure out what they are exactly up to and goofing around in the off hours isn't helping them. Team RWBY decides to go for it during said off hours. Near the end, Ruby herself runs into Cinder, Emerald and Mercury disguised as actual students.

Now onto 'A Minor Hiccup', with Team RWBY donning some new outfits to go out with. Ruby and Weiss decide to do research in the recent robberies against the Schnee Company, Blake goes out to look into a White Fang rally, while Yang tries looking up an 'old associate' of hers to learn more that way. Sun and Neptune end up overhearing the planning and join in, Sun following Blake and Neptune going with Yang.

(Seriously, we only see these for two episodes and never get used again)

While visiting the Cross Continent Tower for information, Ruby and Weiss encounter Penny again, who surprisingly leaves in a hurry once she is recognized. Ruby decides to follow her to see what's up, leaving Weiss to do the research all by herself. Ruby eventually catches up to Penny, noticing her reactions to an open display of new Atlas robots and armed soldiers chasing after Penny. Ruby tries to help her escape with her speed, but ends up pushing too hard and nearly gets hit by a truck. Penny makes the save to catch said truck, though reveals to Ruby that he is in fact a robot.

A third of the way through the volume and we reach 'Painting the Town...' Yang and Neptune end up meeting the 'old associate', who happened to be a mobster whose men were hired out by Roman at the start of Volume 1. Meanwhile, Blake and Sun managed to infiltrate the White Fang meeting, seeing Roman getting the Faunus fanatics over thanks to stolen Atlas tech, including a large working mech. He quickly pics out Blake and Sun in the crowd, but the pair managed to escape. However, Roman makes pursuit with said stolen mech.

The group ends up reuniting to fight the mech, spilling it out into a freeway before taking it off road. Sun and Neptune get blasted away, but team RWBY manages to destroy the mech to get to the Roman center inside. However, he evades capture once more thanks to the arrival of the short (but hardly sweet) associate named Neo.

(Given the coloring themes going on, having her 'ice cream' based makes the last joke easier to swallow. Wait.)

Next up is 'Extracurricular', starting off with Pyrrha completely dominating a practice fight against team CRDL. Afterwards, Glynda gets a volunteer from the audience for a one on one fight against Pyrrha: Mercury. The two are more evenly matched, but Mercury calls it off before the fight can be finished. Meanwhile, Blake is too obsessed over the White Fang's work to focus properly in school, worrying the rest of her team.

Afterwards, Mercury reconvenes with Cinder and Emerald, making note of Pyrrha's fighting style and 'polarity' semblance. Cinder makes a note of her, saying that she will be 'removed' soon enough.

We've reached the halfway point of Volume 2 with 'Burning the Candle'. Ruby, Weiss and Yang work to set up the academy dance, still sad at watching Blake obsessing over the White Fang more and more. Yang resolves to fix this as Weiss resolves to get past Jaune's attempts at inviting her to the dance. Jaune gets some advice from Pyrrha, though the former remains oblivious to the latter's obvious attraction to him. Meanwhile, Yang manages to pull Blake away from her work to get it across how her stubbornness will get her killed.

Yang does this by explain that it almost killed her and Ruby when they were younger. A flashback occurs, with Yang explaining how she lost her mother after one mission and wanted to try and find her. She brought a young Ruby along to keep her company and safe. Unfortunately, Yang almost gets killed by a group of Beowolf Grimm before the arrival of her uncle, Qrow. Yang sums up that Blake needs time in between to rest and be ready. Blake ends up taking it to heart and resolves to make it up to Yang.

Later that night, the dance is in full swing, Jaune isn't able to get it with Weiss (he saw her talking with Neptune instead and thought the worst) and the evil pair Mercury and Emerald arrive as well.

Continuing with the second half of the volume is 'Dance Dance Infiltration', with Cinder attempting to break into the communications tower to install a bug. Ruby manages to follow in suit (she isn't a big fan of dances or high heels) but is unable to stop her nor able to discern her identity.

(That little mask apparently hides a lot)

Back at the dance, Jaune learns that Pyrrha wasn't able to get a date herself since she feels that she intimidates people for her abilities. She talks about enjoying Jaune's company so much because he was the first person to treat her like a regular person. Jaune resolves to make it up to her by wearing a dress (he made a remark last episode that he'd wear one if Pyrrha wasn't asked on a date prior to the dance) and the members of team JNPR dance the night away as a team.

Next episode is 'Field Trip', with Ruby being brought to the academy office to see Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood to discuss the break in (as she was the only one able to keep up with Cinder before she fled). They realize the danger that could be ahead, as well as Ruby's help in trying to stop her. After the debrief, the RWBY team try to cheer up their leader with a mail package from Ruby and Yang's father.

Its a little black corgi named Zwei (which the cat Faunus Blake isn't too receptive of at the start). The four members leave for a trip with an experienced Hunter arranged by Ozpin (who realizes that they're looking into the White Fang situation a lot and that they would deviate just to get that chance). Their assigned hunter? Their high energy history teacher, Professor Oobleck.

(See? He's even dressed for adventure!)

On to the next episode, 'Search and Destroy', with team RWBY and Oobleck arriving at an abandoned city in Vale overrun with Grimm. It is also revealed that Ruby brought along Zwei in her backpack, which Oobleck decides is quite a helpful asset to the mission. They spend most of the day hunting Grimm, though Oobleck himself asks Weiss, Blake and Yang about their thoughts on becoming a huntress. At one point, Oobleck and Ruby manage to spot a herd of giant Grimm marching around a perimeter of Vale. Here we learn of how these larger Grimm are waiting for an opportunity to strike and are more intelligent and resilient compared to their younger counterparts.

At the end of the night, the three girls wonder why Oobleck didn't think so highly of their answers to become huntresses and wonder why Ruby wasn't also questioned about it as well.

Three quarters done with the volume and we reach 'Mountain Glenn'. Weiss, Blake and Yang still think about their conversation with Oobleck and realize that it is more important to recognize the responsibility to protect others than their own personal reasons. Meanwhile, Ruby manages to stumble upon the White Fang thanks to a literal underground network. Oobleck brings up how the city used to have another underground, before the Grimm overran that as well.

Now, the White Fang have control of it, as well as a direct train line to Vale itself, requiring the hunter and huntresses to stop them. Unfortunately, Ruby gets herself captured pretty quickly and runs into Torchwick once more.

The penultimate episode is 'No Brakes', with the heroes regrouping to stop the White Fang operation, mainly the train from reaching its destination. Unfortunately, not only do the White Fang have stolen Atlas tech helping them, but also loaded bombs on end train cars that open up entries for Grimm to appear in. As Ruby, Oobleck and Zwei (yes, the dog) take care of White Fang on top of the train, the rest of team RWBY load into the train to stop it there. They end up splitting up to fight different enemies, with Yang going against Neo, Weiss against a White Fang lieutenant wielding a chainsword, and Blake taking on Roman once more.

(Told you Neo was tiny)

Yang and Weiss get their butts handed to them something fierce, though Yang gets saved from a killing blow thanks to the arrival of a mysterious stranger. Blake manages to handle her fight better (thanks to some Dust ammunition supplied by Weiss) and knocks out Roman. The team reunite as they realize the train isn't stop and that ahead of them is a collapsed exit. Weiss brings up an ice barrier around them as an explosion creates an opening for the Grimm to arrive in Vale itself.

The final episode of the volume is 'Breach'. Team RWBY tries calling in help to deal with the onslaught of Grimm, which gets answered in full. Team JNPR quickly arrives along with Professor Port and Glynda Goodwitch, as well as a more experience team of hunters in training known as Team CFVY (pronounced 'coffee') and Sun and Neptune. Heck, even the Atlas military jump in to help as well. By the end, the whole is sealed, the Grimm has stopped, and Roman is taking into custody. Team RWBY writes off today as a great success.

However, Cinder, Mercury and Emerald are still planning in the shadows. They realize that the tunnel destruction took out a lot of White Fang members, potentially making their alliance hazardous. However, one White Fang members makes sure to keep their alliance going: Adam Taurus, the White Fang partner to Blake before she left the group.

An end credits bit showed Yang meeting the stranger in a mysterious void, asking who she is. The woman removes her helmet to reveal herself as Yang's long lost mother.

Its weird how much can go on in 12 episodes than 16, am I right?

Anyway, we're about to reach RWBY's current finished volume recap soon and its going to be a doozy.

Until next time...

RWBY: Shine

Back into the World of Remnant and 'RWBY', so lets go on with the recap portions. To make things all organized and such, I'll be splitting up each volume of 'RWBY' in between, so you'll actually be getting multiple posts throughout the weekend. It also helps to see how things will change from one to another moving on.

With that said, let's start from Volume 1 and the first 16 episodes.

Starting with 'Ruby Rose', it starts with a bit of background of the show, how humans and Grimm fought and the usage of Dust to make civilization. There is also a dialogue between two voices, one male and female. The female voice talks about how victory cannot be won simply by strength, while the male voice talks about how they must rely on hope to bring them through as well.

The scene transitions to a Dust shop being robbed by a group of goons, being lead by one Roman Torchwick.

(who kind of reminds me of that one kid from Pinocchio with the red hair and cigar smoking)

However, they also end up in the one Dust shop with our main character, Ruby Rose. She makes quick work of the goons, forcing Roman to flee with the help of an airship and mysterious girl in glass slippers. With the surprise arrival of Glynda Goodwitch, Ruby manages to survive as the villains flee. While Ruby gushes over meeting a real-life huntress, Glynda spends a bit berating her for the unnecessary risks she took. Both quickly get quite with the arrival of Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy.

(Come to the hunter's side. We have cookies)

A discussion breaks out between Ozpin and Ruby, talking about the latter has silver eyes, been trained by an experience hunter of an uncle at Signal (sort of a transition school into Beacon) and being offered a chance to jump ahead a few grades to get into Beacon. Ruby accepts, quickly transitioning to getting hugged by her sister Yang, who is excited to be joined by her little sister in the academy. As they travel by airship, they watch news of a recent attack by the 'White Fang' group on a Dust complex and seeing future friend and ally Jaune throwing up in the corner.

Continuing into the two parter 'The Shining Beacon', we are also introduced to Weiss (in a rather explosive fashion) and Blake (in a more subdued fashion). We also get a bit more into Jaune, showing that despite his status as a new arrival at Beacon Academy, he is still quite over his head. Ozpin later addresses the incoming students in a speech that they must be ready for what comes to them and the like. The two parter ends with the new students sleeping together in a large room (I guess they haven't been assigned rooms yet) as the rest of future-team RWBY get to try and know one another.

Onto the next two parter 'The First Step', which also introduces the rest of future-team JNPR as well. Nora and Ren are shown as close friends, with Pyrrha being introduced as one of the best Huntresses-in-training at Beacon. There is also clear interest from Pyrrha to Jaune, but the latter tries pining for Weiss while oblivious to the latter. 

We are also introduced to the 'entrance exam' of Beacon Academy: everyone will be launched into the woods by themselves. The first person they make eye contact with will be their partner for the rest of their time at Beacon. Afterwards, they'll need to acquire a certain tribute from a selection before meeting back. 

As the class gets spread out, pairings get formed rather quickly, with Ruby and Weiss quickly teaming together while Jaune meets with Pyrrha. The former clearly have differenting opinions about each other (Ruby likes the teamup but Weiss is unsure of it all), while the latter seem to get along just fine.

(A common statement regarding the JauneXPyrrha love angle)

In the next two parter (yeah, I'm already sick of typing it out, but we still got a few more to go) 'The Emerald Forest', the rest of the pairings are shown: Ren gets found by Nora (the former having beaten a large snake Grimm with his bare hands) while Yang is found by Blake. Weiss and Ruby still try to get along, while Pyrrha helps Jaune learn about his 'Aura'. Unfortunately, both of the latter groups ends up encountering larger than life Grimm of their own (a raven and scorpion Grimm respectively).

The second single episode of the volume, 'Players and Pieces', the future teams of RWBY and JNPR work together to take down the massive Grimm. The latter manages to take it down with its own stinger, while the former manages to decapitate the bird with Ruby's scythe. At the ceremony officially forming the teams, both Ruby and Jaune are made respective leaders of their own team (much to both's surprise, though given that the first letter of each team name denotes the leader, it kind of shouldn't be a surprise).

(So were these guys, but I'll get to them later)

The next two parter 'The Badge and the Burden' focuses a bit more on the Ruby/Weiss relationship (not what you think!). While Ruby tries giving Weiss some advice in one of their classes, Weiss mostly writes off Ruby as an unfit leader due to her maturity and lack of understanding in the position. Both get approached by teachers (Ozpin to Ruby, while Weiss meets with the teacher of said class, Professor Port). Ozpin discusses how important of a burden it is to be leader and advises Ruby to take the same care with said burden. Port calls Weiss out on her rude behavior, making her question of her attitude would truly fit in the role of leader? Eventually, the pair make up in the end of the episode pair.

The next two 'two part' episodes may as well be a four part episode revolving around Jaune Arc. Both 'Jaundice' and 'Forever Fall' deal with the fact that Jaune actually snuck into Beacon academy through false manuscripts. He wants to be a great Huntsman like the rest of his relatives, but still comes up short, Pyrrha tries to offer him help, but he turns it down on the belief that he needs to do it on his own. Unfortunately, after Pyrrha leaves, Jaune gets confronted by the resident bully Cardin Winchester (the guy with brown hair and a bird on his armor), who blackmails poor Jaune into doing his homework for him.

Eventually, during a field trip, Cardin and his team want to get back at Pyrrha for embarrassing Cardin before in a class. Jaune refuses to go through with the mean-spirited prank and tries to defend himself, but they end up attracting a large Ursa Grimm creature to their scuffle. While most of Cardin's group flee in fear, Jaune actually stand up to the Grimm and stops it from attacking Cardin. Eventually, with a little unknowing help from Pyrrha's magnetic 'semblance', Jaune manages to not only beat the Grimm, but also decapitate it and put the fear in Cardin that he won't be pushed down again by him or his team. At the end of the day, Jaune takes up Pyrrha's offer for the extra training, realizing that he still has a ways to go.

The final two episodes aren't really two parters, but it certainly feels that way to a degree. Dubbed 'Stray' and 'Black and White', they help set up some important foundation for the next volume and beyond.

Team RWBY end up taking a walk through the city of Vale, talking about an upcoming tournament with the neighboring kingdoms. It sort of sidetracks into a discussion about the 'White Fang' group, mostly between Wiess (whose family had suffered through their actions affect the Schnee Company) and Blake (who does her best to try and defend the 'White Fan' as the innocent party). Eventually, the group is introduced by two new characters: the monkey Faunus Sun Wukong and the strange but kind Penny (who first says hi to the team while on the ground). Despite the quick meetings, Weiss and Blake just won't give up on the 'White Fang' conversation. It eventually ends when Blake lets it out that she was once part of the gang and leaves to be by herself. She ends up being found by Sun and it is revealed here that she is actually a cat faunus.

(Its amazing what a simple bow can hide)

At the start of the next episode, Blake reveals that she was once part of the group back when it was a peaceful protest group. Unfortunately, with a new leadership installed years later, it became more violent towards the Faunus cause. Eventually, she left to become a Huntress to fight against evils like that instead. With Sun in tow, she hopes to stop whatever the 'White Fang' are trying to do in the city. The remaining members of team RWBY encounter Penny again as they try to look for Blake. While Weiss and Yang leave in one direction, Ruby teams up with Penny to try and find Blake themselves.

At night, Blake and Sun managed to find the 'White Fang' looking heavy cargo from a shipyard. To their surprise, a human is actually leading them- none other than Roman Torchwick himself from the first episode. Blake tries to intervene and make the 'White Fang' members see reason, but they remain undeterred. A fight breaks out as Sun and Blake fight off most of the 'White Fang' before taking it to Roman himself. Ruby and Penny arrive on the scene, though Ruby takes  a cheap shot from Roman when she was distracted. Upset over the hit of her new friend, Penny joins the fight by unleashing several blades on string from her back, taking down several White Fang members by herself (even taking down a few airships by charging up a laser!). 

In the end, the 'White Fang' is stopped, Roman retreats, Penny is taken away back to her 'father' while no one was paying attention, Blake and Weiss try to make up, and Sun makes friends with team RWBY. Elsewhere, Roman laments over the loss of cargo from the heist before being confronted by his boss: the glass slipper lady from the first episode, now known as Cinder.

(No surprise Roman isn't feeling too 'hot' right now)

And that is it for Volume 1. I'll have the Volume 2 recaps up by tomorrow.

Until next time...

RWBY Month: Dream Come True

Welcome back to another post on the world of "RWBY". This post is mostly to go over different details concerning the world of Remnant in a list-like order. No real specific order going on, just important information to know in general.

• The world of Remnant is populated by two intelligent species: Humans and Faunus (humanlike beings with slight animal traits, like cat ears or monkey tails).

• All living creatures of the world (intelligent or otherwise) possess a soul, which allows them to use Aura; innate energy within the being that grants its user certain abilities and powers known as Semblances. These powers tend to change from person to person, though families can inherent the same powers.

• Dust is a source of energy found in a crystal form. It is a natural resource capable of bestowing several different energy effects, like fire or ice. As a crystal, it is considered a limited resource, though is still quite plentiful. Its uses can range from combat to everyday use, depending on the product. However, it cannot be used outside of Remnant's planetary reach, making space travel or communication nearly impossible.

• Grimm are soulless creatures of darkness that hunted down mankind in the early days before the discovery and use of 'Dust'. They hunt down those that express negative emotions like anger or fear. Those that survive grow older and stronger, as well as more intelligent. Their true origin is mostly a mysterious, but as creatures of darkness, they often fade into nothing once extinguished.

• Remnant is made up of five continents, with only four major kingdoms occupying the world at large: Vale (in the center), Vacuo (to the west), Mistral (to the east) and Atlas (to the north). 
  

• Hunter Academies (like Beacon in Vale) were created to help teach new hunters and huntresses the life they are heading into. Aside from combat training, they also have basic and important teaching subjects like history to help grant them an education as well.

• The Vytal Festival is a celebration that is hosted annual, uniting the young hunters and huntresses into a competition with their teams to show off their talent, as well as to demonstrate the power of the different kingdoms.

• Atlas (the northern most kingdom) is unique in having its academy function as part of its military. They also have a high focus in technological advancement, creating several different androids that can function in the place of regular soldiers.

• Faunus, despite being the only other intelligent species along with humans, have had accounts of abuse tossed towards their people. In response, the 'White Fang' formed to host non-violent protests in order to help improve Faunus life. However, a change in leadership made the 'White Fang' far more violent and destructive. While this new change has brought new respect for the Faunus, it has also given them greater fear.

• Magic is a bit of an unknown in Remnant. The closest thing to be considered 'magic' is done by the Maidens, four women that represent the different seasons and possess great power given to them by a kindly old man. 

• You can probably tell from most of the characters that they seem to revolve around colors. This is thanks to the 'Color Naming Rule' set up by Monty Oum, which can be applied to anyone who wants to create their own fan 'RWBY' team. The rule states that a character's name must either be: A) a color, B) sound like a color, C) mean a color, or D) make people think of a color. The color could be present on the character themselves (but doesn't have to), as well as the rule applying to the name of the overall team.

• The story in the show for this was due to a Great War in the past. One leader of a side destroyed much art in order to suppress self-expression. In response, people started naming their children after colors to keep up alive art in a manner. Nowadays, it is a tradition to keep up and continue.

• Usually, each team is also based around similar themes as well. With the titular team 'RWBY', each member is based around a different fairy tales. Ruby with 'Little Red Riding Hood', Weiss with 'Snow White', Blake with 'Beauty and the Beast' and Yang with 'Goldilocks'.

• Team JNPR also has a theme, but instead based around individuals who dressed up in the opposite sex. Jaune Arc is a reference to Joan of Arc (who dressed as a man), Nora Valkyrie is one to the Norse god Thor (who, in one story, disguised himself as the female god Freya), Pyrrha Nikos is one to the Greek hero Achilles (whose father made him hide out from the Trojan War by disguising him as a woman) and Lie Ren is one to Fa Mulan (who dressed up like a man to join the army)

• There are also plenty of references from characters based on "The Wizard of Oz". Headmaster Ozpin and Glinda Goodwitch of Beacon academy are clear references to the titular wizard and good witch herself. James Ironwood, Headmaster of Atlas academy, is a noticeable reference to the Tin Woodsman of the story as well. Qrow Branwen, Ruby and Yang's uncle, could also be a reference to the Scarecrow as well, given the absent-minded (and drunken) nature of the character in RWBY.

• Back on the subject of Grimm, it was originally believed in the world's history that Grimm were the corrupt souls of animals. New research shows that it is clearly not the case.

• The former belief was held due to the Grimm's appearances to several known animals, like Beowulfs to wolves and Ursa to bears. With the appearance of Grimm like the Creeps (lizard-like creatures) and Griffins, it is clear that whatever created them doesn't base itself on present animals.

• Upon death, Grimm tend to evaporate into dust and shadows, making any biological examination of their species almost impossible. Any trophies of dead Grimm you may see? Merely replicas.

• As Grimm get older, they not only get larger, but also smarter. It isn't uncommon to see packs of smaller Grimm running around, though it is surprising to see the larger ones moving in herds. They don't really attack either, preferring a more cautious route and waiting for their time. As expected for their age, they are quite strong as well.

• Grimm also tend to have strange white bones and 'masks' over their shadowy black bodies. The masks themselves would later be adopted in a form by the White Fang, under the belief that 'humanity made them monsters, so they don the masks of monsters'. 

Hopefully, all this gets you a better idea of what to expect in the World of Remnant and 'RWBY'. Next week, we'll be getting into some recapping for the completed three seasons. Don't worry, it won't be as long as you think.

Until next time...