RWBY, First Thoughts Episodes 1-14

When I first watched the trailers, I honestly thought that this show was going to be a little more action packed. Because in all reality, that's the ONLY thing listed in the trailers. There are four of them, one for Red, one for White, one for Black, and one for Yellow. And the whole basis of them revolves around fighting. Scarcely any interaction, no plotline, you are kept in the dark, shown only these fucking awesome epic battle scenes. Which, in all reality, is why most people waited so long to watch it.

The first episode got over 64,000 likes on Facebook, while the 13th only got a mere 6,000, and episode 12, less than that. If you simply look at the Red trailer on YouTube, it got over 5 million views, and while the first episode got only a little over 1 million views, episode 2 got 800,000. And by the time you get to the 10th video, it only has around 270,000 viewers. It seems that this show is having some issues with holding a fan base.

The graphics are ok, the battles are not very often, and more often then not you are spending entire 7 minute long episodes talking about a characters troubles, which, unshockingly, gets resolved easily and quickly with no messy residue. Weiss and Ruby had it out for each other, especially after Ruby got made into the leader. But after one talk to both characters, they are best of buds!

Juane is wimpy and gets bullied by someone in episode 11-14 but is stereotypically too masculine to ask for help. Everyone else in this entire academy of fighters do NOTHING to stop the bullies. Then Juane gets blackmailed into being the bullies servant, and they go to do something bad. Juane says no, bully gets upset. Fight scene, Juane saves bully, and bully stops bullying. Do I even need to mention this as a cliche'? In fact, it's also noted in a few episodes of Accel World, and almost every show that features a school.

The characters are pretty diverse. From the silent type who are very powerful, to the incredibly intelligent and not quick-witted, to the very hyperactive and talkative. There is in fact good characters in here. My favorite is Blake, mainly because she acts a lot like me. High endurance, fast, reads a lot, is silent, but is also not a full introvert. She seems to be able to interact well with her teammates.

The show itself, outside of the battle scenes, seems to me to be a little too animated. Like, the drawing style is not a good style to use if your show is going to be that animated. The "cloud of smoke" arguments and the "evil thoughts" trope, as well as the "popping here and there when talking" sequence. Not good, in my opinion, with that form of art style.

I think this show went downhill from the moment episode 2 started. This is a FIGHTING school, monsters and death around every corner in the outside world. They behead giant birds and stab snakes in the eye with their own fang for crying out loud! You would think that they would have more pressing issues then a school bully, or jealousy over who was made team leader. Or if so, show it with a little more tact. Harry Potter dealt with both of these issues very well, this show made it a little too childish. The battle scenes are great! But the rest of the storyline... wait, what was the storyline again?

But despite the criticism, I watched all the episodes without having a huge desire to click away. And when it was awesome, it was awesome! So I have can't give this show a bad rating. But it does need work.