Yeah I’m thinking we’re getting a What If…?/retelling with a twist. And I wouldn’t put it past RT to start doing what Marvel is and introduce an assload of confusing multiverse bullshit.
Though a lot of people going, “See! RWBY’s popular enough to get an
anime!” really don’t understand how Japanese media works. Most anime are
already adaptations of existing material, and anime adaptations are often always to boost a series’ popularity for one of three reasons.
- The series in already popular and think an anime will boost that popularity (Attack on Titan, DragonBall, etc).
- The series is new and are using an anime to quickly get a following.
- The series is on the verge of being cancelled and the anime is a last-ditch attempt to boost popularity.
So if the adaptation doesn't bring in new fans, or even worse, drives existing fans away, the source material could get shut down before it even has the chance to end properly. Remember Ex-Arm and its awful adaptation? It was
so bad that it got the manga cancelled
along with the anime.
So just because RWBY’s getting an anime doesn’t inherently mean the show’s just popular and nobody’s noticed. A lot of Japanese RWBY fans still jumped ship at around the Mistral Arc. So the marketing is probably putting a lot of focus on the Beacon era for a reason.
If we wanted answers on whether this is a last-ditch attempt to keep RWBY relevant, we’d need to look into who’s funding this. If it’s a third party using the RWBY IP, then it’s still up in the air. But if this is being funded by RT themselves (or whoever owns it right now), then the chances of it being an attempt to garner an audience jumps a lot higher.
And let’s also keep in mind that if this Ice Queendom thing takes off, even eclipsing the OG show, then RT could always just speedrun a quick ending for the show to put more focus on the anime.