(by Monty Oum, 2013-present)

I've got a lovehate relationship with RWBY. Let's just get this out of the way and make things clear. I really want to enjoy this show. I really do. And sometimes I do actually catch myself genuinely enjoying it. Even the later volumes. But other times...

For those who don't know: RWBY is a web animated series about four girls - Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang - training to become huntresses and protect their world from monsters called Grimm. Together, the protagonists form the titular team RWBY (pronounced "Ruby"), named after their first initials. And also after their respective theme colors. And you know I'm a sucker for color-coded characters, so when I first found this show back in (I think..?) 2014, I could NOT pass up this opportunity and quickly got into it.

In concept, RWBY has a lot of good things going for it. All characters have their own (usually) fairytale-, mythology-, or legend-inspired motifs. Most weapons can tranform between at least two modes. The most popular one being Ruby's signature scythe, which (you guessed it) is also a gun. A sniper rifle, to be more exact. So this must make for something extremely fucking cool and fun, right? Well-

The first three volumes (what seasons are called here) are exactly that. It's a little rough around the edges and sometimes things don't make much sense, but it's so entertaining and endeering it makes up for that! The fight choreography is amazing, and it even has its own original soundtrack. You can see its potential. You can FEEL the passion behind it. You just KNOW this is gonna be the next big thing and it's gonna get so much better in the future!

And then volume 4 comes around and everything goes to hell.

Don't get me wrong, RWBY still has great moments. And it certainly started getting better again since volume 6. Sort of. But man, volumes 4 and 5 were SO. FUCKING. BORING. And also just generally terrible. After how amazing volume 3 was, I assumed that the writing, fight scenes, pacing, designs, and all that other jazz would only keep improving with each installment. But then they didn't. And then the show spawned a myriad of ridiculous, utterly unexplainable, and inexcusable mistakes.

So what keeps me from quitting after years of disappointment? Honestly I'm not sure. Some fucked up sense of duty to finish what I've started for once in my life? Morbid curiosity about this trainwreck's inevitable ending? Definitely vested interest at this point. Surprisingly though, I'm kind of optimistic about volume 9, since apparently it was planned right from the beginning. So who knows, it might actually have a leg or two to stand on.

All in all, the show hasn't ended yet so this mini-review-thing is subject to change in the future.

If, for some reason, you wanna resign yourself to watching the entirety of RWBY, you can find it on Rooster Teeth's official website, crunchyroll, and (if you search hard enough) youtube. HOWEVER, I strongly urge you to watch the four trailers (Red, White, Black, and Yellow) BEFORE you pick up volume 1.