RWBY Month: This Will Be the Day

Really, I try and come up with these 'themed months' so that I have plenty of fresh material as well as making sure things are relevant to the period. Well, with the series wrapping up its third season this month, I figured it would be an excellent time to talk about the adventures and exploits of 'RWBY' (pronounced 'ruby')

(Sit back, cause we'll be covering this for the rest of this month)

Created back in July of 2013, the American animated web series was created by Monty Oum under the 'Rooster Teeth Productions' web company. Set in the world of Remnant, team 'RWBY' fights against the forces of malevolent Grimm creatures while attending the hunter's school of Beacon. However, things quickly go aray as an unknown group of individuals are plotting in the background. Along with fellow team/classmates 'JNPR' (pronounced 'juniper') and more, the young hunters and huntresses prepare to approach the dangers of the world through the use of their multi-layered weaponry, unique abilities, and the mysterious substance known as 'Dust'.

The show quickly became a hit, spawning its own fan-created video game and Japanese manga. It certainly shows you hit 'big time' as a Western anime when the country that helped popularize the medium want to dub your work. The show itself has nearly completed three seasons of episodes, as well as mini-episodes detailing the background of the world and characters. Unfortunately, Monty Oum passed away last year due to an allergic reaction during a regular medical checkup. Despite the major blow to the series, those who've worked close with Oum have stated that they have several notes he left behind for the series to continue forward and will continue it in honor of his fans and his memory.

(Gone, but not forgotten)

Anyway, lets get back to introducing our main character quartet.

First up is our main heroine and leader of team 'RWBY', Ruby Rose. Despite being younger than the rest of her team, Ruby Rose has quickly proven her worth has a 'huntress-in-training'. Her main weapon is 'Crescent Rose', a massive scythe/sniper rifle that is much larger than the smaller Ruby (at least when not in its collapsed state) but is still easy for her to wield. With a knack for speed, Ruby manages to get into the more advanced 'Beacon' academy a few years ahead of schedule. Befitting her young nature, she is positive and upbeat, though sometimes naive of the world at large and how her role as a 'huntress' plays into it all.

Ruby's partner is Weiss Schnee (pronounced Why-ss Sh-nee), the heiress to a major Dust manufacturer. Despite her standings, she works on making herself stand out of her father's shadow to be her own person, especially as a 'huntress'. She wields Myrtenaster (mer-ten-as-ter), a 'Multi-Action Dust Rapier', which allows her to use Dust of different powers along with her rapier skill and 'glyphs'. This makes her able to perform different combinations of Dust and 'glyphs' that can throw off most enemies. Despite her status was one of the wealthiest students at Beacon, Weiss tries her best to fit in and make friends, though Ruby's antics can quickly get on her nerves.

This is Blake Belladonna, a girl with a lot of secrets to her character, among them being actually a Faunus (a human with partial animal characteristics) and former member of the group 'The White Fangs'. She now attends Beacon and as part of team 'RWBY' as a means to make up for past misdeeds and mistakes. She is more patient, quiet and observant than the rest of her team, preferring to watch than get involved. Overtime, she has been working to get out of her shell and manages to open herself up more. In combat, she wields the 'Gambol Shroud', a pistol with a ribbon and sword attachments for close combat. She can also produce 'Shadow-clones' that can take an attack and allow her to return in kind. With Dust, these clones can even take on elemental properties.

Yang Xiao Long is Ruby Rose's parental half sister, as well as rounds out team 'RWBY'. She possess high confidence in herself and her abilities, as well as flirtatious behavior that can lead to fights breaking out. Then again, she enjoys fighting against enemies (except when they damage her hair, then she'll go ballistic). With her 'Ember Celica' gaunlets/shotguns, she prefers the 'up close' time of fighting, especially with her ability to absorb hits to make herself stronger. Even though her range may be limited as a 'huntress', Yang doesn't give up in fights so easily. Once she sticks to a goal in mind, Yang won't stop until she gets the job done.

While they are the titular 'main characters' of the show, they do have an ample supporting cast as well. From teachers of Beacon, like Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch, to fellow teams like JNPR. Here, there is their leader, the courageous but reluctant Jaune Arc, the bosterious Nora Valkyrie, the elite fighter Pyrrha Nikos, and the quiet Lie Ren (who used to be voiced by Monty Oum as well).

You can certainly start picking out some themes and ideas going into the project from the get go, though I'll be explaining some more of that next week, as well as get into some of the side material released dealing with the 'World of Remnant'.

Until next time...