RWBY Critiques: Volume 5 Blake Character Short

Hey, everyone.

So, in case you missed it, the RWBY Volume 5 Blake Character Short was released on YouTube. I don't know how it went over with the general audience, but there are definitely a couple of Illia weeaboos in RWBY Wonderland now. And, I'm not one of them.

Anyway, I said I was going to do a critique of it for both my YouTube channel and my blog. The critique for YouTube is available here, but fair warning, it kind of sucks. (I don't think I'm going to be doing any more critique videos.) But, the good news is that my blog version is much more comprehensive. So, let's talk about it.

The Character Short starts with Blake and Sun chasing what I assume is a member of the White Fang through the market streets of Menagerie. During the chase, there's a flashback to years ago where Blake asked Illia why she joined the White Fang, and why she chose to fight when she passes for human. Illia launches into a story about how she used to attend a school in Atlas where she hid her Faunus powers and even talked sh*t about the Faunus with her human friends because she claims that she was one of them.

The story takes a turn when Illia and her friends find out about a mining accident where another Faunus was injured: the friends laugh whereas Illia turns blue and starts sobbing. Her friends are suddenly filled with fear, and she breaks their teeth in for some reason. From there, we go back into the present and Blake manages to catch the White Fang member she was chasing, Illia shows up, there's a moment between them where Illia shoots a bunch of crates off a hanging chain to distract Blake, and she makes good her escape along with the other dude. Sun shows up and asks what happened, and Blake apologizes for letting him get away, doesn't tell Sun about Illia, and then becomes awkward herself for some reason.

Damn it, Blake! Stop being so emo!
And this is coming from someone who claims to be a Gothic emo kid
beneath his cool adult exterior.

As you can probably imagine from the way I retold the short, I didn't like it. The fact that it wasn't about Blake irritated me to begin with, but then when I checked in on RWBY Wonderland and found that Illia had some new fans, I wanted to scream.

Does nobody else see Illia for what she is? A hypocrite and a terrorist? Think about it: Illia sh*ts on the Faunus though she is one (that's low), and then says that it was perfectly fine because she identified as one of the girls she went to school with (double low). But then when she hears about how the one Faunus accidentally blew himself up, she reacts differently from her friends. I'm sorry, but I thought she claimed she was one of them. Shouldn't she have laughed, too? And then, after her abilities are revealed and her friends become terrified of her, she ends up beating the sh*t out of them. They were already terrified of her, did she need to beat them?

So, tell me, what exactly is there to like about this girl? I don't get it. It confuses me as much as people who like Cinder, Mercury, Neo, or Adam. All of these people are murderers or, at the least, unnecessarily violent, and some of them have made attempts on the lives of our main cast. So, is there something wrong with the people who like them, or do they not know how this villain thing is supposed to work? Generally, you're not supposed to like villains. I will admit, Heath Ledger is one hell of a Joker and Spehiroth is the biggest pimp dick OG in the world of video game villains, but that doesn't make them likable. Hell, I don't even like the villains I write for my own stories.

Most badass villain ever!

Now, I admit, the above point isn't a criticism on the character short; it's a criticism of the community. So, do I have any actual criticisms of the short itself? Yes.

It seems to me that Kerry and Miles are setting up Illia to be an emotional block or hindrance to Blake, and I'm against that. Not because I think Illia could get Blake to have second thoughts, but because Blake already has at least three emotional blocks and they are all other characters: Sun, Adam, and Yang. By dint of their very existence and the dealings they've had with Blake, they have all inadvertently prevented Blake from taking some course of action or has forced her to retreat along her path. Why is a fourth one being introduced? Blake has enough problems. She likes a boy, but doesn't want him to get too close in case he gets hurt because of her (which has already happened thanks to that bitch Illia), she abandoned her best friend in a great and confusing time of need without explanation, and then she's got a toxic ex-boyfriend who desperately wants to destroy her. Why do we need a former friend getting in there and mixing things up? This is one the biggest problems I have with Blake as character; though it is through no fault of her own (I'm looking at you Kerry and Miles), she is the least developed of the four, she's the most stock out of the four, and all her problems are the same to which she has the same reaction--running away.

Now, I will admit that there was a part during the short that may point to the possibility of Illia's redemption. When she saved whatever-his-name-is from Blake, she aimed her weapon at Blake, Blake gave her the stink eye, Illia gasped and instead shot the crates above Blake to distract her. This moment hints at a few possibilities: 1. Illia isn't over her friendship with Blake and could be converted, 2. Illia is afraid of Blake, or 3. Illia will come to the conclusion that Blake doesn't care about her anymore and that will turn Illia into an even firmer enemy.

I hate you, you bitch!

However, Blake becoming awkward and apologizing unnecessarily afterward tells me that Blake isn't totally over her friendship with Illia, hence the emotional block I mentioned. It also feels like to me that Blake was actually apologizing to Illia for having left, or she was apologizing to Sun for letting Illia stop her when Illia shouldn't have been a problem for Blake.

Any way you slice it, we are most likely doomed to have more emo moments with Blake in Vol. 5, and this time they'll surround Illia. Which means Sun will probably have to try to convince Blake to take action against her, and that may pit Blake and Sun against each other (temporarily). Now, that wouldn't be too terrible so long as it doesn't interfere with story progression. Blake can feel awkward if she wants, but she better continue moving toward the objective of reclaiming the White Fang. Unfortunately, this also means that my prediction from last volume about how all roads lead to Mistral is wrong because it seems like Blake is going to spend another entire volume away from her friends. And I really hope that doesn't mean something is going to happen to Weiss on her journey to Mistral. I'm going to be so pissed if that happens because it means our story may not actually progress in Vol. 5 just like how it seemed to lose steam in Vol. 4.

                                                                      

So, yeah, those are my thoughts on the character short--it sucks and blows. Rooster Teeth should have led with Blake's and then released Weiss'. But this begs the question: will there be a Yang character short? Probably not; there isn't time. Volume 5 drops on October 14th (my mother's birthday by the way), and seeing as how there was more than a month separating the releases of Weiss' short and Blake's short, they can't fit one in about Yang. Besides which, she's practically in Mistral already and I'd be shocked if Yang wasn't in the first episode.

Speaking of Volume 5, I will continue writing these critiques on RWBY, I just may not to the videos anymore, but I will be releasing my critiques a full week after the fact so I don't spoil anything for the YouTube audience. This will also allow me to keep up my weekly segments of RWBY Theory and Speculation. Which means I'll be doing three RWBY posts a week starting October. (Holy crap.) But anyway, that will be it for now. In my next two RWBY Speculation/Theory posts, I'm going to talk about Blake's (fall in) popularity and why I think Sun won't be another Pyrrha. So, be on the lookout for those. Or just sign up for my RWBY mailing list here.

Keep writing, my friends.

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RWBY: The Novelization: "Yellow" Trailer

A sport motorcycle roared through the city streets of Vale. The street lights made its yellow and orange gradients blaze in the night. Atop the bike was a young girl of seventeen. She accelerated her precious Bumblebee down a straight before braking for a left turn and came to a screeching halt just outside of Junior’s Club, one of Vale’s most popular night spots.

The girl dismounted her bike and took off her yellow helmet and goggles, placing them on the bike before walking up to the club.

As she approached the entrance, a chilly evening wind blew, but it did not chill her for one as hot as her, for one who burned like her, it only served to accent her beauty like a wind spreading a flame. It blew open the lapel of her brown, midriff bearing jacket revealing a low-cut, yellow crop top clinging to her ample bust. The gust also picked up the rear hem of her asymmetrical, brown pleated skirt revealing her black short shorts beneath.

The wind blew harder, and the girl placed a cautionary hand up to the orange scarf wrapped around her neck, but shook her hair out. The wind caught her long tresses kicking up the golden, curly mane before dropping it all the way down to the small of her back.

She stopped in front of the club’s sliding glass doors and examined her reflection with lilac eyes. She didn’t know exactly what she was going to do once she went inside, but she still wanted to look more than presentable. Sure, she was sassy, but there was no reason why she couldn’t turn heads at the same time. After all, she was Yang Xiao Long, huntress-in-training, set to attend Vale’s own Beacon Academy in the spring.

Yang inspected every bit of herself. The only things she touched up were her brown knee-high leather boots, pulling them snugly up. But she didn’t adjust her knee-high orange socks: one was at the knee and the other just above the knee. While scathing eyes may have demanded that she be symmetrical, she preferred the contrast.

Yang tapped the strange metallic wristbands she wore and padded the pouches attached to the belt of her skirt. Everything seemed to be in order. She looked back up at her reflection and smiled. She was going to have fun.

Yang sauntered through the sliding doors into the spacious nightclub converted from an industrial warehouse. She nailed the entrance: her hips wiggled up and down, her back was straight with shoulders pushed back and chest pushed out, and the pièce de résistance was her confident little smirk.

The club was decorated with circular glass pillars here and there, and the patrons had come out in force. The strobes and lasers were in full swing as the DJ, wearing an oversized bear’s head, kept pumping out the jams. By a miraculous coincidence, the song being played was “I Burn,” an electronic beat that was one of Yang’s favorites. She took it as a good sign.

  Yang looked to her left and saw her quarry, the owner of Junior’s Nightclub, Junior himself. He was at the bar talking to a man dressed in a long white coat with a black bowler and cane. Whatever business they were conducting was concluded as Yang approached. The man in the coat seemed fairly pleased as he strode off, but Junior’s mood seemed to have taken a dark turn. He leaned his arms on the bar next to two of his employees, the club’s eye candy, the Malachite twins, Miltiades and Melanie. Both wore the same strapless dress with the exception that Miltia wore it in red and Melanie wore it in white.

Yang approached the bar and slyly came to a stop right next to Junior. She saw him dismiss the Malachite sisters out of the corner of her eye. Yang couldn’t stop herself from marveling at how tall he was. She barely came up to his shoulders, and even then, it was only the cowlick on top of her head.

“Strawberry Sunrise,” said Yang to the bartender, acting casual. “No ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas.”

Junior took the bait.

“Aren’t you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?”

Yang turned and giggled. “Aren’t you a little old to have a name like ‘Junior?’”

“So, you know who I am. Ya got a name, sweetheart?”

“Yes, Junior. I’ve got several. But instead of sweetheart,” she said, dragging her finger down his arm in a vampish manner, “you can just call me ‘sir!’” she said, her hand grabbing onto Junior somewhere below the belt causing him to squeal in painful surprise.

This was the part Yang hadn’t planned, but it served her purpose. “People say you know everything.” She pulled out her iScroll and an image of a raven haired woman with red eyes came up on the screen. “Tell me where I can find her, and I’ll let you go.”

“I’ve never seen before!” said Junior in a high voice. “I swear!”

Yang squeezed harder. “Excuse me!”

“I swear! Sir!”

A number of Junior’s men, employees or henchmen, depending on the day, ran up to the bar. They were all dressed in the same tacky black suit with matching red ties and sunglasses. Each had a black bowler, and they all wielded either a small axe or short curved sword with a red blade.

“Hmm,” said Yang unfazed. “Looks like we have an audience. This must be kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward.”

“Listen, Blondie! Sir!” Junior quickly added. “If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now!”

Yang got what she needed from him, so she did as Junior said and pocketed her scroll.

Junior let out a sigh of relief. “You’ll pay for that,” he managed in his regular voice. He began to limp away and tried to save some face by donning his own red sunglasses.

Yang quickly ran after him onto the dance floor. “Oh, Junior. I was just playing with you. Don’t be so sensitive. C’mon. Let’s kiss and make up, okay?”

“Huh?!”

Yang made a flirty giggle and bent at the hip showing off her cleavage and puckering up.

“Uh… okay.” He bent forward.

Just as their lips were about to touch, Yang threw her fist forward and sent Junior flying back across the entirety of the club smashing through several glass pillars. He crashed into the wall next to the entrance and was in a daze. The patrons on the dance floor panicked and ran.

Junior’s men charged at Yang and her bracelets expanded into dual-ranged shot-gauntlets covering her entire lower arms and hands. Each gauntlet had twelve rounds of Dust ammo. Yang brought one arm forcefully back and the shotgun-like pump moved back chambering a round.

Junior’s men raised their weapons as they got close, but Yang jumped high into the air. At the apex, she waited for gravity to pull her down and she smiled feeling like a hawk looking down at its prey. The song playing in the club reached her favorite lyric, “Yellow beauty burns… gold.”

Oh, yes. This was going to be fun.

Yang crashed into the dance floor and her gauntlet went off. There was a fiery blast from the barrel at the end of her fist and it exploded outward throwing all of Junior’s men back several feet.  She ran at a group of them as they recovered and succeeded in knocking them all out with a combination of well practiced punches accentuated by Dust discharges from her gauntlets.

The next group was some distance away and Yang decided to show off another one of her techniques. She locked her arm and shoulder in place and fired her gauntlet. The force of the discharge sent her backward at incredible speed and her elbow went straight into the stomach of a henchman. Yang showed off this capability again by using the shot from the gauntlet to spin herself around unbelievably fast and kicked another. A third ran up and Yang lambasted him with a series of punches firing her gauntlets each time.

Suddenly, machine gun fire lit up the floor around her. The DJ was still up in his booth and was armed with a gun, the Vale Typewriter. Yang charged and used her gauntlets to give her a boost of speed. She jumped into the booth, kicked the DJ disarming him, smashed his head into the turntables, and then threw him out of the booth giving him a final blast from both gauntlets. He landed unconscious on the dance floor, his giant novelty bear head rolling away.

Yang turned her attention back to the dance floor and saw the Malachite sisters standing there. Miltia had a pair of curved metal claws extending from her fists and Melanie was wearing a pair of weaponized high heels.

“Melanie,” said Miltia in a blasé voice, “who is this girl?”

“I don’t know, Miltia,” replied Melanie in the same tone. Then in a slightly darker one, “Let’s teach her a lesson.”

Yang grinned at the new challengers. She ejected the spent dust shells from her gauntlets, threw strips of red shells into the air and caught them in her shot gauntlets. She jumped from the DJ booth and shot her gauntlets while still flying. This time, a projectile was fired from them that exploded on contact.

Melanie and Miltia dodged the first salvo. They attacked Yang when she landed, and proved to be worthy adversaries. Melanie managed to cut two of Yang’s projectiles in half deflecting them elsewhere.

The twins charged together and managed to beat Yang back. But Yang used her gauntlets to charge back into the thick of things and knocked Melanie away with a point blank blasting punch. On her own, Miltia was a poor opponent being easily countered with an uppercut to the gut and another to the head. She was sent flying and crashed into a glass pillar.

Yang went after Melanie next, but found her much more resourceful. Melanie was a master of kicks and could cut Yang’s projectiles from up close. Melanie gained the upper hand and kicked Yang back.

Yang glowered; she wasn’t having fun right now. This girl was very skilled and it was to Yang’s slight shame that she wasn’t as good at kicking as she was at punching. She’d need a new tactic.

Melanie rushed in, but didn’t attack immediately. Instead, she played a game of footsies; Melanie teased and taunted Yang with feints to her legs and even just raised her knees to see what Yang would do.

Yang kept retreating, but when Melanie showed her back for a spinning kick, Yang dodged under it, and elbowed her in the stomach. Melanie’s equilibrium gone, she was an easy target as Yang grabbed her by the wrist, led her around in a circle around herself, and then Yang finished her off with a kick of her own straight to the face. Melanie fell in defeat.

Yang looked around waiting for her next combatant. He showed up a second later as none other than Junior himself, this time equipped with a bazooka.

“You’re gonna pay for this!”

Junior shot the bazooka and the missile split into multiple smaller projectiles. Yang jumped back dodging them, and then rolled forward through the explosion they caused. Junior fired a second time and a second time, the missile split. But this time, Yang shot her gauntlets at the projectiles destroying any that came near her.

Junior transformed the bazooka into a large metal bat and leapt at Yang. She took a defensive posture and while she blocked Junior’s hits, she still took three of them from the bat directly.

Junior spun around and hit her a fourth time that she wasn’t expecting and was knocked back significantly into a glass stage that shattered.

Yang got up and giggled with a smile. Junior was put off slightly by her confidence and noticed a strange flame-like aura coming from her hair. She was going to show him her secret weapon, her Semblance.

Yang summoned the power she had suffered in the fight into her fists and charged.

Junior shot the bazooka again, but Yang dodged it and went into a punch chain. It was fast, furious, and combined with her shot gauntlets, was quite painful. Yang took a step forward and threw everything she had into a final cross. Junior, before being hit, got to see Yang’s soft lilac eyes change to a ferocious red.

Junior was knocked back several feet. He looked at his bazooka—it had been broken in half. But then he looked at his other hand and saw several gold strands in it. He looked at Yang and smiled.

Yang clenched her fists and her tendons snapped. It had all been fun and games. But now… now it was personal.

Yang released her aura to its furthest extent and a flame seemed to burst outwardly from her filling the entire club. She ran forward yelling a battle cry at the top of her lungs and Junior felt a mind-numbing, leg-paralyzing, bladder-emptying fear.

The last punch connected and there was an explosion. All the windows in the club shattered and Junior was thrown out of one landing outside in the street. Yang quickly followed jumping out of the window and landing on her feet behind him.

“Yang?” said a voice. “Is that you?”

Yang looked up and saw a girl wearing a black combat skirt matched with a red riding hood and cloak. “Oh! Hey, sis!”

“What’re you doing here?” asked Ruby.

Yang sighed. “It’s a long story.”


RWBY: The Novelization is not endorsed by Rooster Teeth in any way. Views, opinions, and thoughts are all my own. Rooster Teeth and RWBY are trade names or registered trademarks of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. © Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

RWBY: The Novelization: "Black" Trailer

In the forest of Forever Fall, a wood of constant autumn within the borders of the Kingdom of Vale, there was a ragtag group of terrorists called the White Fang founded by the animal-like race of Faunus. Stolen weapons, resources, and Dust littered their campsite. Their leader, a man named Adam Taurus, exited a tent. He was tall with red spiked hair and wore a black suit with a red shirt and black trench coat. He wore a white mask over his face and carried a sheathed katana in his hand.

Adam ran his hand through his hair and over his ox antlers as he walked out to a deserted area of the forest near the camp. There he found who he was looking for: a girl of seventeen with long black hair and wearing a black bow. She wore a black vest with coattails over a white cropped shirt, black, ankle high boots, white shorts and full length stockings that had a color gradient from black to violet at her ankles. She was sitting on a boulder and looking up at the sky.

“Blake,” called Adam. “It’s time.”

Blake turned to him and looked unusually sad. “Okay.”

Blake and Adam took off dashing through the forest barely leaving a trail. They came to a cliff with a steep hillside overlooking a set of train tracks. In the distance, a whistle blew and a freight train loaded with shipping containers displaying the crest of the Schnee Dust Company was coming.

As it passed, Blake and Adam jumped onto the steep incline and slid down it throwing up fallen leaves. They jumped as they neared the bottom and landed on one of the boxcars. They ran and jumped to the next car. Adam casually flicked his wrist and slashed open a hatch which they dropped into.

Adam looked back at Blake. “Looks like we’re going to be doing this the hard way.”

Blake looked up and a platoon of Atlesian Knight-130’s jumped to life.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” said Blake.

The AK-130s’ sensors turned red. They held up their hands and their fingers became machine gun barrels. One turned to Adam and said, “Intruder; identify yourself.”

Adam responded by pulling a trigger on his sheath and shot his sword into the head of the AK. Adam dashed, caught his sword, and with blindingly quick slashes, he destroyed the AK and replaced his sword to its sheath.

The other AK’s sprouted blades where their hands were and charged. Blake jumped backward into two oncoming Knights and hacked them apart with her black machete which had a long black ribbon attached to its haft. She dashed forward and she and Adam went to work hacking and slashing the AK’s as they closed in.

One AK started shooting machine gun fire from its fingers and Adam shielded them by slicing the projectiles out of the air. Blake surged forward and slashed two more AK’s in her way before unsheathing her true sword, a katana within the machete sheath, and cut the AK down at the knees before slashing its head open.

Blake continued moving forward using both her katana and sheath to cut down AK’s as they got in her way. They were no match for her dual blades as they danced and circled through the air. One Knight was launched into the air and Adam kicked it through a door leading out onto a neighboring flatcar.

Several more AK-130’s sprang to life and charged them.

“Let’s do this!” said Adam.

He drew his katana and killed the first two. Blake leapt forward and transformed her katana into a kusarigama by collapsing the katana and a gun barrel slid out. As Blake threw it forward, she shot the gun giving it more force. She grabbed the ribbon attached to the handle and pulled it taut. There was another shot and it returned to her slashing AK’s as it went. She flipped into the air and pulled the ribbon every which way shooting the attached gun every time and destroying the surrounding AK’s as it went.

Once a path was cleared, Adam charged forward and slew another seven AK’s with some deft blade work. Blake brought up the rear with her katana back in shape and cleaned up the rest of the Atlesian Knights.

With the androids taken care of, Blake and Adam proceeded into the next boxcar where they found a steel chest.

Adam opened it. “Perfect!” he said. “Move up to the next car. I’ll set the charges.”

“What about the crew members?” asked Blake a little worried.

“What about them?” said Adam in a harsh tone.

Suddenly, a Spider Droid dropped down from the boxcar’s ceiling on four legs. It had two large cannons on either hand and the same configuration on shoulder mounted cannons.

The Spider Droid charged its eight cannons and fired multiple shots. Adam managed to dodge every shot while Blake dodged and dashed straight at it. She leapt at the war machine, but it countered her by headbutting her and knocked her down.

Blake landed on the ground heavily, and as the Spider Droid stepped over her, Adam leapt in and made several slashes against it, but didn’t do any serious damage.

The Droid kicked Adam back and then shot several rounds at him. He dodged every one.

The Droid considered Blake and threatened to crush her under one of its pointed legs. Adam materialized out of thin air, grabbed Blake and headed for the other end of the train car where he put her down.

“We need to get out of here,” said Blake.

The Spider Droid combined its eight cannons together into one giant charged particle cannon. It charged a beam and fired. Adam placed himself between Blake and the beam, but the force of it alone was strong to enough to knock him and Blake through the steel wall behind them onto the next flatcar.

Blake and Adam struggled to their feet and the Spider Droid followed them onto the car.

“Buy me some time!” said Adam.

“Are you sure?”

“Do it!” he ordered.

Blake dashed at the Droid while Adam stood there and found his center.

Blake dodged several more shots and then leapt into the air slashing at the Droid’s undercarriage, but turned her katana into the kusarigama and jumped into the air. Once at the end of the ribbon, she pulled it and shot the gun further slashing the Droid. She spun as she fell and slashed the Droid several more times.

On the ground, she pulled her weapon back, turned it back into a katana and proceeded to dash all around the Droid hacking and slashing as she went. The Droid tried to shoot her once, but the blast hit one of her Shadow Clones, her Semblance, and she advanced without taking any damage.

Blake appeared in the Droid’s face and held down the trigger on her gun firing it fully automatic until the magazine was empty. She retreated back to Adam’s side when the Spider Droid prepared to fire its charged particle cannon again.

Adam ordered her to move, and as the Droid fired its cannon, Adam unsheathed his sword part way and absorbed the entire beam into his blade. He quickly sheathed his sword and laughed. The Droid leapt at him, but Adam shot his sword into his hand and slashed upward cutting the Spider Droid in two.

After the Droid fell, Adam sheathed his sword and looked for Blake. He turned and saw her on the next car.

“What’re you doing?” he asked.

Blake looked like she was close to crying. “Your hopes have become my burden. Goodbye,” she said, slashing the car’s coupling. The following train cars automatically braked, and Blake disappeared into the darkness of the night with the advancing engine.

 

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RWBY: The Novelization is not endorsed by Rooster Teeth in any way. Views, opinions, and thoughts are all my own. Rooster Teeth and RWBY are trade names or registered trademarks of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. © Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

RWBY Speculation: Why Have So Many Fans Become Disenchanted?

Hey there, everyone. With this post, I'm starting a new series called RWBY Speculation. It's like RWBY Theory, but it's different... somehow. Anyway, what's the first post about?

Yes. It is true. Believe it or not, some fans have become disenchanted with RWBY following Volume 4. But why is this? Well, I have a theory.

With the advent of Vol. 4, there were many things that the fans weren't really pleased with. I can remember people complaining about the animation change and how the battles were no longer choreographed so that there was no wasted energy. Some of the issues I had with Vol. 4 was that the story was a mess filled with jump cuts, some of the story felt like filler and other times, it felt like something was missing. But, all of these complaints pale in comparison to what I think the real reason is.

The real reason is that RWBY fans in general were just disappointed with Vol. 4. Why? Well, the short answer is because it wasn't what they were expecting. The long answer... Are you ready for this? It might take a while. Are you sure? Okay. In order to understand why Vol. 4 was a disappointment, we must look back at Volume 3.

The End of the Beginning

There are major differences between Vol. 3 and 4. The big thing that sticks out is Vol. 3 was action packed! It grabbed us by the nuts and never let go. There was a major fight happening almost every episode. And then we had major plot development in the form of the Maidens, the introduction of Winter and Qrow, and the fact that Arkos fans saw an end to their badass case of blue balls followed by the ultimate cock block.

The end of the blue balls!

The ultimate cock block.

But then, Vol. 3 redefined what we all thought RWBY was about. In the beginning, it seemed like any basic anime: a character goes to a high school that trains warriors, she makes friends, there are some baddies and epic fights, there's teenage angst, and eventually there's a satisfying ending, but the ending takes place within the dynamic of the high school itself. That's not what happened with RWBY.

I don't remember where I heard this, it was in one of the commentaries of the first three volumes, but Miles and Kerry stated that Vol. 3 was still just the beginning of RWBY. That is to say, Vol. 3 is the climax of the intro, and then becomes the catalyst for the rest of the series. Vol. 1 and 2 were the set up; Vol. 3 is actually when we started getting into the story. Before we could understand the gravitas of the story, we had to know who our major players were and what made them tick. We had to know who they were and what they wanted before they were thrown out into a cold, harsh world so we would care about the strife they would go through.

Now, Team RWBY being thrust into the wide open world of Remnant isn't unpleasant or unlikeable in and of itself, although some of us are still upset over Pyrrha and Penny, the problem is that Vol. 3 ended with such a crescendo, such a bang, many fans thought Vol. 4 would be similar. But that's not what we got. Instead, we got a much more subdued story and tone. It also didn't seem to translate very well, and there were times when it was disregarded. For instance, the scene where Ruby laughs at Jaune's hoodie (which I absolutely hated). And I was disappointed not to see anything on the Arkos side. Sure, there was that one scene with Jaune training and the other where Ruby tried to apologize for Pyrrha's death, but neither of those scenes really added any depth to Jaune's character or how he was processing his first girlfriend's death. And perhaps that's the biggest problem.

Vol. 4 didn't add much to RWBY as a whole. It was a transition from RWBY's intro to its middle. As a result, nothing of major plot importance happened (as far as we can tell). Hell, even Qrow recovered from his wound and a lot of people thought he was going to die. I'm not saying he should have died, but considering that everything turned out all right in the end is a bit of a downer because all the tension from that part of the story was relieved. And great tension makes an epic story.

Hence, that's why I say Vol. 4 feels like filler. I understand why the transitional season was done and why it's necessary, but did it have to disappoint like it did? I mean, I understand how rising and falling tension works in a story, I couldn't call myself a writer if I didn't, but there didn't seem to be any rising tension in Vol. 4 as a whole. It still feels like the denouement/resolution of Vol. 3.

If you have problems understanding what I'm on about, think of RWBY like a romantic relationship. Vol. 1 was the first date: here we learned more about the pretty girls across from us, but we were both still too nervous to have much fun. Vol. 2 was the second date, and by this time, we're all much more comfortable with each other and we can actually have fun. Hell, there was even a goodnight kiss at the end. And then there was Vol. 3, the third date. Well, it wasn't so much a date as it was we just jumped into bed together and had a lot of fun.

So, when Vol. 3 ended, many fans thought that was the end of the third date, and that Vol. 4 was going to be the next chance to score. I mean, hell, we were even given a tease in the form of the Volume 4 Character Short. But that's not what actually happened. Due to Vol. 4's much calmer tone and slower movement, Vol. 4 turned out to be more like that cuddling session that happens after sex. By the end of Vol. 4, we had only just gotten out of bed. Hell, the Renora development was next morning's breakfast.

"Pancakes!"

Which then begs the question: was Vol. 4 a disappointment, or are the fans just not familiar with how a story is structured? Hard to say because Volume 5 isn't out yet. When it is and depending on the fans' reactions, we'll have a better idea of whether Vol. 4 sucks or the fans suck.

So, to sum up, I think the reason why fans have become disenchanted with RWBY since Volume 4 is because it wasn't Volume 3, part 2. It just didn't have the same kind of impact, and as far as stories go, it wasn't really supposed to because the climax of tensions in Vol. 3 have been building up since Vol. 1. As a result, we need new tensions to build up now. And if Miles and Kerry stick to the three volume formula, we can expect Vol. 3, part 2 to be Volume 6. But right now, I'm going to put my money on Volume 7 just because Vol. 4 seemed so much to be the resolution of Vol. 3.

Anyway, that's all for this week. See you guys next time. And if you want to make sure you never miss a RWBY article, sign up here to receive updates. All those who sign up will get to see the newest RWBY: The Novelization entries a week ahead of everyone else.

Keep writing, my friends.

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