RWBY - Volumes 4 and 5

October 01, 2018

RWBY - Volumes 4 and 5

Following the high tempo fast paced action and drama of RWBY Volume 3, fans were left wondering how the plucky gang could ever recover given the intense beating they all suffered. In Volume 4, the four principal members of Team RWBY have all separated from one another. This meant there was a lot of time developing and exploring their personalities and backgrounds. While this emphasis on character development took away from the amount of fighting action, it did add a lot more depth to the show which I found very rewarding.

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[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Let's talk ships...relationships. I think the thing that makes the RWBY series so strong in my opinion is the time the show has taken to really develop the characters and, crucially, the relationships that they have with each other. There is a lot of love going on: some of it is repressed, some of it hopeful, some of it mournful, and some that have been twisted by bitterness and broken hearts...who knew a fighting fantasy anime could wring up such an emotional melting pot.

Yang - she goes through a lot of pain, but hey, cool robot arm!

One of the most powerful story arcs deals with Yang and her slow, painful attempt to recover from her PTSD. She suffers the loss of her right arm but more than that, she is broken in spirit and in heart. In the previous volumes, it was firmly established that the outgoing and extrovert Yang had made a special connection with the introverted and somewhat sullen Blake. It was Yang after all who was the only one able to convince Blake to snap out of her self-absorbed vengeance mission and instead come to a party. Lots of fans seemed to fantasise about these two becoming a more explicit romantic relationship. And so it seems the writers were happy to explore this further. In Volume 4 it's patently clear that Yang has been deeply scarred by the act of Blake running away. They both spend much of the series trying to heal their personal wounds. In public, Yang emotionally shuts down at any mention of Blake, in private, she stares at a photo and is clearly heartbroken. When the pair are eventually reunited towards the end of season 5, it's a very intense and moving moment.

Speaking of LGBT relationships, another character pops up in Volume 5 - the reptilian Faunus called Ilia. In one tense scene she confesses her long-held love for Blake (lots of characters seem to have fallen for Blake, must be those cute kitty cat ears). It's cool that an openly lesbian character appears on the show but it's a shame that she has to be a baddie as villainous/doomed lesbian females tend to be a bit of a movie cliche - as discussed here for example.

Ilia - a reptile in love with a pussy cat

Another heartbroken character is given a short but powerful scene: while the other members of his camp are sleeping, he finds a spot alone and summons up a fight training video of the deceased Pyrrha. He goes through the training moves but it's clear he misses her dearly and is probably also kicking himself for realising only too late, that she was in love with him.

Mummy dearest

Another pair that I enjoyed seeing develop were oddball couple Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. When we first met them back in episode one, Nora was extremely annoying and Lie seemed so laid back he was practically comatose. There didn't seem any way those two could be friends so different were their personalities. But thanks to their backstory (both were child orphans) I warmed to them much more. This helps a lot during the finale of Volume 4 when they face off against the demon that killed their parents. We get to see how important and touching their deep friendship is. In one funny scene, Nora hangs off a tall building and Lie below her can see up her skirt, it's a hilariously awkward yet innocent moment.

Nora and Ren: they would make beautiful anime children

Family - you can't live with them, you can't live with them. The relationship between family members is another very strong RWBY story theme. It seems a lot of the young Huntsmen and Huntresses come from broken or difficult home lives. Ruby's mum is possibly deceased and her sister Yang is actually her half-sister having been born to a different mother - who herself happens to be (is she good is she evil) Raven...who herself is the twin sister to Ruby's uncle Qrow. And that's not even half as messed up as the Schnee family set up with the scheming father of Weiss being a complete bellend and his son, Whitely, equally so. Weiss herself transforms and towards the end of season 4 is very much a reformed character compared to her stuck up rich girl self from the first season. Finally, it's worth mentioning Blake's family - the Belladonnas are truly lovely. Dad is a bit old school and hard to please but Mum is adorable - again must be those cat ears. I'm not sure why Blake ran away to join the cult White Fang but she is at least back home to repair family ties.

Schnee family - the males are a bunch of little shits really

These two seasons of RWBY seem to have really stepped up the quality of animation and art direction. Every scene seems to have been planned and prepared so well. The characters are modeled so well now that I forget about the previous episodes and how stiff they all were. Right now RWBY looks like any other cel-shaded animation. The music as ever really rocks and the voice actors are superb...okay Ruby's voice is a little annoying, especially as she has several long monologues and that faux-little-girl voiceover gets a wee bit grating.

Volume 5 seems to bring together all the story arcs so far and ends with an epic battle scene pitting all the good guys versus all the bad buys. Well, most of the bad guys. The supreme leader herself Salem doesn't get her hands dirty in this season but I suspect she'll feature more prominently next season. In fact, Season 6 begins October 27th and I'm going to have to get used now to watching it weekly as opposed to binge viewing. I cannot wait!!