RWBY S3 Final Impressions
This blog's final posts are overwhelmingly RWBY because I guess just don't care. Also I like RWBY a lot so there's that too.
Season two of RWBY was so boring and blah that I didn't even write anything about it. Season three was more enjoyable even if it was really obvious was the outcome was going to be.
Well the obvious answer once the four seasons thing came up was that our four heroes will eventually get the powers but I think Cinder keeping hers is way more interesting. Also, if that cool new villain has one too then sign me the fuck up.
Ruby has one of course and if the rest of RWBY doesn't get one, the final fight will just be a Precure ending where even though they're a team, only one character fights. It would be nice if the rest of the gang got strong enough that they could keep fighting beside Ruby even with Ruby having the power of summer. Or if they get some other kind of power. Who knows. I just don't want a Pink Precure fights the fight kind of dealio.
The other obvious thing was Pyrrha dying. They were laying it on really thick all season. When Penny died I thought maybe she wouldn't but nope, deadsville. She did put up a pretty good fight at least so it's kind of a disappointment.
Miles Luna laid it on a bit thick as Jaun in that scene where he calls the girls but I guess I respect that. He was a weak link in the early seasons but he definitely improved with his role as Felix in Red vs Blue. This is a waaay different role than Felix but it's nice to see him get to flex his acting muscles.
I don't think Penny will stay dead but I wish she would. I think it's better motivation if she's gone for real. However, I think when she comes back she won't have her memories of Ruby or anybody. Which will cause new problems and all that jazz.
The cut away after Ruby watched Pyrrha die did feel really anticlimactic. If Ruby some how DOESN'T have the power of summer and a different power, that would be cool. I wasn't sure if Crowe was just bringing the silver eye thing up to throw us off of Ruby having the summer power (yeah right) or if she genuinely has some other power.
If Ruby has some power related to silver eyes (and her mother's name, scheme and everything is just a red (lol) herring) and the rest of RWBY gets the power of seasons then that would be really satisfying! I would be really happy with that because everybody would be able to stand on the same level.
But they've got a long way to go before everybody can stand on the same level. I don't know if they can manage it in a single season.
Weiss has been taken away by her family to another country, Blake is avoiding everyone because of her guilt and poor Yang has lost her arm and her spirit. Granted, she'll just get a cool robo arm but that doesn't mean she can just magically be better mentally.
I feel like Ironwood getting his shirt ripped up and showing us (reminding us? idk if we learned before I definitely forgot) that he had a bunch of robo-parts was to reassure us about Yang's future.
That whole scene with Adam, Blake and her was fantastic and one of my favourites in the season, if not the whole season. Actually, all the best scenes in the series overall have featured Yang so seeing Yang so defeated and broken was really hard to watch. Ruby telling her she loves her and receiving no response was just the cap on that.
Blake was alright there but she's gone back to angsting so bleeeh. I've made it clear that Blake is the worst and if she spends the whole next season feeling pity for herself rather than going to face Ruby or Yang, I'm gonna be pretty pissed. That seems like what she'd do though.
Still, I like Bumblebee so the scene where she appologizes to Ruby was sweet at least. Hopefully I'm wrong and she redeems herself rather than WALLOWING in ANGST for an ENTIRE SEASON. Because fuck you Blake, nobody needs that shit.
Weiss proved this season that she's a great character. She's grown a lot as a person and I was really sad to see her go. I would hope that she would be the very first person they go find in the next season but they're heading to Haven. I just have to trust that my ice queen will get back in the action some how.
As for new characters… I don't like Crowe. I hate him. Even more than Blake maybe? It's not just Vic Mignogna voicing him either. But the character being "aloof cool guy who knows more than he lets on" is sooooo annoying and feels like it draws away from the story being about the girls.
I seriously hope he isn't around much next season. Especially not there the bail them out when they get into trouble.
I was hoping that Yang and Ruby's dad would be voiced by Geoff because someone brought the idea up and it seemed adorable. Being voiced by Burnie is fine though because it always seemed weird how little involvement Burnie has had in the series besides a cameo in, like, just the first episode. I'd kind of like if he did have a bigger part next season. Probably with Yang still being at home he will though.
Winter was fine though she was only there for a little while. I guess I kind of expected her to be a huge bitch but her actually being a decent and supporting sister was really nice and refreshing. Also, better than Crowe.
And oh my god, the new villain. That is my jam. I'm not saying Neo can move over because Neo is my forever RWBY gal but damn. That is a villain design that strikes me right through the heart. It's everything I could possibly want in one super evil character. AND she's voiced by Jen Taylor! She's using her Cortana voice! I love her even more and I don't even know how dastardly and evil she is yet!
So, I guess I really am excited for next season. Like, a lot. Because now we're deviating from the standard "hijinks at magic school where we learn about friendship and ourselves and OTHER ASSORTED SHOUNEN STUFF". Now it's an adventure and I'm excited to see how the pieces will come together.
When and how will Yang pick herself up and put herself back together? Will Blake stop angsting and be useful to her team? How will Weiss escape home and rejoin with her girlfriend and other assorted people?
I'm not keen on Nora (and I guess Ren) being the central characters with Ruby now. Nora is the embodiment of what's wrong with this show and that's it's awful Wacky Anime Humour. Maybe the death of a friend and teammate will cause her to mellow out a bit and be less LOLRANDUM!!1! but I'm not really holding my breath here.
I was disappointed that my beloved Neopolitan barely had a fight at all. Granted, not much could be better than her fight against Yang. It'll be a shame if her boss Torchwick is actually still alive after getting eaten and exploded but I'm worried that if he's gone, she won't be around again.
But you know? Neo is my beautiful ice cream wife and I claimed to just watch for her but now I'm so excited that I just can't wait for season four.
RTX is in five months though. I wonder if they'll premiere the new season then or if it's too soon? I really wish I could go. If it wasn't for my Japan trip at the end of that same month, I really would.
The animation has improved a lot this season and I expected the fights to drop in quality because Monty Oum only worked on a handful before his tragic passing but there wasn't too much of a difference. I did notice that some fights lacked the flow of previous ones but that might have been intentional rather than because it was in someone else's hands.
Err… well with that being said, the animation did look a lot better this season (especially because midway through I went back to wtach the great Yang vs Neo fight and the rest of that episode did not look very good at all) but actually the season finale looked really janky and the character model preportions looks really… off. Like the final scene where Ruby joins whats left of JNPR, Jaun has a weird looking neck and Ren's torso looks tiny? But uh, yeah, rest of the season was fine.
So yeah, I did end up enjoying RWBY's season three. It started off rockily enough and I wasn't excited at the idea of a tournament arc but the later part where shit hits the fan really pulls it together.
I just sincerely hope that the next season can live up to my expectations and is actually a travelling adventure rather than static and in one place. It'll be a nice change of pace for the show and I just hope they can handle it.
Summer 2015 Final Impressions
Tags: Waifu Alert