RWBY, the newest series from Roosterteeth, is far from perfect.
That said, for a supposedly amateur web series, it's pretty darn incredible.
Set in a world of magitech and highly implausible action scenes (read: everything is guns), RWBY follows a basic plot of a group of girls learning to fight monsters at a legendary academy. It may be fairly generic, but this is easy to overlook; they're clearly not going for a groundbreaking story-line here, and are instead focusing on RWBY being a tribute of sorts to a number of other shows.
Despite the fact that we've had an entire season thus far, the plot is still in its infancy; what we've had so far has been mostly establishing the characters and tossing out random, in-universe terms that we're apparently supposed to swallow without question. 'Dust', 'Aura', 'Semblances' and the like are casually mentioned then brushed aside, as if they were self-explanatory, leaving the viewer somewhat in the dark. Given the brevity of the episodes, however, this lack of exposition is forgivable, for now at least, particularly since it means we get more action.
Oh yes. The action. One aspect in which RWBY is nearly flawless. Monty Oum has certainly outdone himself with the fight scenes. Each one is meticulously crafted and an absolute joy to watch (and re-watch...and re-re-watch...). Sure, it's slightly unlikely that a teenage girl with arms smaller than pool noodles could rip of a giant bird's head with a scythe bigger than her body, but hey. The world of RWBY makes it plausible.
The characters, despite there being little time for development, are mostly likable, though the show doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind as to who deserves the starring role. Ruby herself seems to fade from prominence as the spotlight is passed from one character to another (never stopping on Yang, unfortunately, who out of the four girls is probably the one with the most personality). However, it is nice to see the supporting team (JNPR) have their time in the limelight, if only to ease the constant threat of RWBY transforming into a 'girl-power' series (given Monty Oum's involvement, I think we were all fairly surprised that there were actually going to be male characters. With speaking roles, no less).
The animation acquits itself fairly well, though not without a few awkward blips that could've done with some polishing. Most of the attention in this area is given to the fight scenes, which are rendered beautifully, whilst ordinary scenes can have their fair share of wooden movements and (on occasion) Voldemort-level awkward hugs.
Finally, the voice-acting is, for the most part, acceptable. The voices of the four main girls are well-suited, whoever is behind the voice of Roman Torchwick deserves an Oscar, and a majority of the supporting characters are at least bearable. There are a few wooden performances behind some of the lesser parts, but these are easily ignored.
Overall, RWBY may be just starting out, but it's made a fantastic start. If it wants to keep developing, it's going to have to start expanding on its own universe; maybe stop every now and then to define a few key terms. However RWBY's action scenes are second to none, its main cast likable and ripe for growth, and the groundwork for future plot lines has been nicely laid. The team behind the show definitely deserve praise for their efforts thus far. Now all that remains to be seen is what they'll do with season 2.
(if you're looking for suggestions, maybe make the episodes longer. Waiting a week for less than four minutes is agonising).
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