RWBY - The Hindenburg on which Rooster Teeth rests its hopes, dreams and future

[SherlockMexicano]

I thought this was funny

View attachment 5646903

Let me guess he thinks it's deep because
" Clinical depression is cured by just being yourself brah. Also Alice in wonderland is weird or something IDk." Wow so deep. People should stop going to therapy, or worrying about their real life problems, this is the real shit.

But seriously though, not even the most souless corporate toy comercial would be that shallow.

Everyone clans V9 had a "good message about depression". I just don't see it. There's nothing anyone could apply on their life's at all. Nothing.

Only 2 important things happened that matter in the long term.Neo became good, and Lesbians. Everything else was filler and a waste of time. And yest that includes Ruby's depression arch because it was solved with an asspull

 

[Useful_Mistake]

and the fall of Beacon is where the show goes wrong.

The fall of Beacon itself, or after?

As an aside, the whole immortal Ozpin was probably another major mistake that is only there so they could have all that Vol 5 exposition about Salem.

I thought this was funny

View attachment 5646903

I know this opinion is sorta unpopular in this thread, but I kinda liked Vol 9. It had its own slew of problems (Neo's semblance evolved out of nowhere to make her essentially a God, the Jaune story went fucking nowhere and the writers admitted they did it just to make him suffer, the drugged out team scene which showed a fundamental lack of understanding of the characters (or what happened like 3 episodes prior), etc), and it's not entirely pointless. The volume is there to tie up all the loose ends of their character growth/Ruby torture plots/Neo stuff before going to Vaccuo where they won't have time for that shit. Certainly it would have been better if they tied it up in Vol 8, but they just had to endlessly Penny-death-bait. I also liked the set up as to how Summer died and what hand Raven had it in, but honestly, I'm afraid that if they ever continue they'll just go with the dime a dozen "das big bad killzed har, she did".

Kerry's jerking himself too much, obviously, but this isn't as bad as Vol 6 or 7.

Looking back in this thread, my opinion didn't change much:

It’s technically not a filler volume though this might bring “not real communism” vibes. What Vol 9 was is threefold:
1. A thinly veiled excuse to finally get two of the main cast together without the plot getting in the way
2. Resolving “let’s torture Ruby” arc they’ve been building up since like Volume 6 (and solve all the consequences without the plot getting in the way)
3. Drop some last minute lore on some characters that haven’t been relevant since Vol 6 (the Gods) while potentially finally setting up the plotline regarding Summer’s death, and Raven’s hand in it.

Problem is, most of this volume is Blake fangirling that she’s an OC self insert in Alice in Wonderland, and that important parts were made with no thought behind them (Jaune having to suffer two decades being alone (with literally no changes bar appearance and one time show of mild insanity) was made up because the Authors just wanted to have Jaune suffer. Their entire thought process was, and I quote, “just be different”). What ends up happening that aside from the kiss and the potential storyline set up the volume seems entirely self contained.

Tldr: there are parts of it that don’t make it technically filler, but I get where you’re coming from.

and Vol 9 is decent if you don’t mind the fact that most of it is just Blake fangirling that she is a self-insert OC in her favorite story. It has some nice scenes, some lore dumps, set ups for vol 10, Raven’s back for like 2 minutes, etc.

Vol 9 aside, which was in its entirety a Alice in Wonderland fanfic (albeit it became less of a one once the volume started developing

 

[Sleazy Car Salesman]

The fall of Beacon itself, or after?

The fall of Beacon is the catalyst for everything that comes after and so I treat it as the shark jump, or more like Patient 0. Without the fall of beacon you have a charming little indie animation about a science fantasy monster fighting school where anime girls pull off Devil May Cry moves on shadow beasts and also occasionally fight terrorists and criminals as well in between dealing with teenage girl melodrama. With the fall of beacon you get a bloated, incompetent mess of a show that has delusions of grandeur while the writers and show runners realize they are well and truly in over their heads.

RWBY could have continued to be a dumb fun magical girl series with a relatively limited scope. Something similar to Cardcaptor Sakura or Sailor Moon or Teen Titans. Instead we end up with this wannabe D&D campaign.

They were trying to go for something dramatic. Instead, they did something akin to a college project that didn't go anywhere because everybody involved decided they would rather smash beers and snort coke.

RWBY as an IP just doesn't have the legs for something like that unless you timed it to be like the final season and the fall is orchestrated by the Big Bad, not the Big Bad's lackeys.

I thought this was funny

View attachment 5646903

Kerry was always a dysgenic little goblin but man he looks rougher than usual in that picture.

I know this opinion is sorta unpopular in this thread, but I kinda liked Vol 9.

V9 is, in a vacuum, decent. It's honestly not bad. The problem with V9 is what it does to the show as a whole:
>it take a show that already has totally fucked pacing and an unhealthy abundance of filler and just adds literally an entire volume's worth more
>V9 breaks any semblance of narrative flow the story may have had by taking us from (what was supposed to be) an emotional breaking point with the fight in the relic room and straight into whackadoodle land where everything's made up and the points don't matter
>yeah sure it does let them resolve (largely unimportant) plot lines without the plot getting in the way but that just removes any sort of flow the plot may have had

Sure it has some nice scenes and the fanservice is largely acceptable (bumblebee is fucking awful and I will die on that hill) but the problem is that to do it they had to make a season long anime beach episode and they did it at the worst possible time during the plot's development and the company's doldrums. You cannot just slot a fanservice beach/onsen/cabin episode anywhere in the plot, it has to be at a point where the characters would reasonably have a reason and some time to unwind before going back at it, and RT put an entire season worth of beach episodes in at once in exactly the wrong place.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

(bumblebee is fucking awful and I will die on that hill)

It could work as a ship, but if I didn’t know that Barbara loves it, I’d assume the team was actively sabotaging it. As is, they are just bad at writting (though somehow managed for Ren&Nora)

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

I thought this was funny

View attachment 5646903

Same. I don't think I could have generated anything quite as funny and memeable as homophobic Ruby.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

Same. I don't think I could have generated anything quite as funny and memeable as homophobic Ruby.

That’s not even them. That was made by people on Twitter (and 4chan) who didn’t like Vol 9. The most memorable part about the Volume wasn’t even their creation, lol

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

That’s not even them. That was made by people on Twitter (and 4chan) who didn’t like Vol 9. The most memorable part about the Volume wasn’t even their creation, lol

I mean, Kerry and Miles sure set up that tee ball for them to hit.

 

[Sleazy Car Salesman]

It could work as a ship, but if I didn’t know that Barbara loves it, I’d assume the team was actively sabotaging it. As is, they are just bad at writting (though somehow managed for Ren&Nora)

I'm just completely burnt out on shipping at this point. I want a show without shipping and if there does have to be two characters getting shipped they wait until the epilogue. Bumblebee could work as a ship but not at all how it was presented to us in RWBY and frankly I just like the idea of Blake and Yang as very close friends (bonds of sisterhood forged in battle) rather than falling in lesbians with one another.

 

[SherlockMexicano]

Sure it has some nice scenes and the fanservice is largely acceptable (bumblebee is fucking awful and I will die on that hill)

Maybe it’s just me but Bumblebee felt like a shallow publicity stunt. Like a last ditch effort to generate hype and funding for another season. The yuri shippers are happy, so there’s that I suppose.

 

[TheAmbiguousLurker]

The volume is there to tie up all the loose ends of their character growth/Ruby torture plots/Neo stuff before going to Vaccuo where they won't have time for that shit.

Except none of it was tied up any more than it already was. There's no conclusion or development. It's the same character beats repeating over and over again, and will be reset next volume so the characters can mope around for half a season, pat themselves on the back and pretend that anything actually happened when they arrive at the same conclusion but in a different room. If the last we saw of Neo, an already pointless and empty nothing of a character who returned purely for the fan service of having Neo there, was Cinder kicking her off the bridge, nothing would be lost. If we didn't have the characters reaffirm that they totally developed again, nothing would be lost. If we didn't have Ruby pouting about things not going her way with no actual exploration of what went wrong for the, what, fourth time, nothing would be lost. No character was expanded or developed by volume 9, nothing was concluded or tied up, it is an entire season of the show spinning it's wheels or repeating shit that's already happened.

The entire volume could be summed up in that one moment of Jaune basically having his one character beat for the volume being just snapped away by the Blacksmith.

 

[Sleazy Car Salesman]

Maybe it’s just me but Bumblebee felt like a shallow publicity stunt. Like a last ditch effort to generate hype and funding for another season. The yuri shippers are happy, so there’s that I suppose.

You feel that way because that's pretty much exactly what it was; an asspull publicity stunt to try to make nice with the last remaining vestiges of the fanbase who don't give a shit about the quality of the show so long as their favorite girl is munching the muff they want her to. Shippers are the lowest of the low for precisely this reason and yuri/yaoi shippers are the lowest of the lowest of the low.

If the last we saw of Neo, an already pointless and empty nothing of a character

In all fairness to Neo she was the breakout highlight of V1-V3 since she basically steals any scene she's in. Having one of the most appealing character designs, fighting/movement styles, and by far the best voice acting in the show really helps. Especially in the early volumes where every character isn't really a character and is more a Devil may Cry moveset. I agree with everything else you've said though.

 

[Ensok]

Even as someone who enjoyed Volume 9 considerably, overall the best things from it were probably the opening and the homophobic Ruby memes.

 

[Gorillion others]

Neo became good

 

[Useful_Mistake]

Neo became good

She didn’t though. She remained a villain from the first to the last episode. At the end of it she got to make the same choice Ruby (and the rest of the denizens) did; be reborn as someone new or work through her problems. Her choice is purposely left unclear, though neither necessarily implies goodness.

 

[SherlockMexicano]

She didn’t though. She remained a villain from the first to the last episode. At the end of it she got to make the same choice Ruby (and the rest of the denizens) did; be reborn as someone new or work through her problems. Her choice is purposely left unclear, though neither necessarily implies goodness.

I get what you mean but this is Rooster Teeth we are talking about. Obviously I don’t mean the start of the episode. I mean the ending.

They basically said that she was evil because she was hurt for missing Roman, blinded by grief, and that she simply missed wanted to have friends “to have what they have”. And she decided not to attack team Rwby to ”find herself”. That does imply a redemption arch.

I am not saying she is a good person. We would be debating morality all day here and that’s pointless. what I am saying obviously Rooster teeth is trying to redeem the popular character.

Maybe it’s unclear if she will also do the same shallow “just be yourself bro” Aesop. But it’s not unclear what Rooster Teeth is doing here. She literally bowed to team RWBY to show she is no longer being antagonistic to them. That’s textbook “I am no longer a villain” shit.

Edit: isn’t the “work through your problems“ just exclusive to humans tho? All the magic creatures magically evolved and Jaune was shown as in the wrong for not letting some of them do just that?

Ruby was literally the first, not bootleg wonderland, person that had went through that.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

They basically said that she was evil because she was hurt for missing Roman

She was evil before Roman died, both in the shows, and in the book.

And she decided not to attack team Rwby to ”find herself”. That does imply a redemption arch.

That's Ruby's interpretation after Neo had already left. Jaune asked if they should deal with Neo, and Ruby replied in a negative, saying "She’ll find herself, one way or another".

Ignoring for a moment that Ruby is not at all qualified to talk on behalf of Neo, this is about as neutral of a comment as it can be. All shown reincarnations retained their core set of character traits. That's even if Neo chooses to be reborn, which again, left to interpretation.

Neo had just went through a very traumatic experience, and didn't really have beef with any of them (she got her revenge on Ruby). She stops following her delusions, "Yeah, I know. I’m not real." coming from a figment of her own mind, and decided to see if she would get the same positive effect from the tree that Ruby did (mind you, Neo saw her state before and after the effect).

That doesn't really imply anything but that she has chosen her own way for the first time since Roman's death.

I am not saying she is a good person. We would be debating morality all day here and that’s pointless. what I am saying obviously Rooster teeth is trying to redeem the popular character.

Maybe it’s unclear if she will also do the same shallow “just be yourself bro” Aesop. But it’s not unclear what Rooster Teeth is doing here. She literally bowed to team RWBY to show she is no longer being antagonistic to them. That’s textbook “I am no longer a villain” shit.

If they wanted to make a Good Neo, they could have used anything else than the most neutral and non-committing language. As to the bow (in exit), Neo is dramatic, and it is her saying she's talking her leave (like they do in theater, for example)

Edit: isn’t the “work through your problems“ just exclusive to humans tho?

We literally do not know that. Ruby asked, but the tree never bothered actually answering the question.

As an aside, are you claiming Neo is not a human?

 

[SherlockMexicano]

As an aside, are you claiming Neo is not a human?

No. She is human. I just think the "work through your issues" is the correct answer the smith goddess expects for humans while transformation is obviously the intended result for magical creatures.

It's technically a ",choice" with an obvious correct answer.

If they wanted to make a Good Neo, they could have used anything else than the most neutral and non-committing language.

She is mute. That's her whole gimmick. They had no choice

She was evil before Roman died, both in the shows, and in the book

Indeed she was. Which is why I am saying that being the reason she suddenly had a change of heart is badly written

As for all else you said. I get your point, and I would even agree with you in other circumstances. But this is rooster teeth we are talking about. They have never been that deep.

Ruby is still alive so I don't thinks Neo got her revenge either

I find more likely they are trying to redeem a popular character. A constant of all rebirths, even Ruby's, is that everyone became a better version of themselves. And that's clearly the intention of Neo.

What Ruby said is also what the writers think because RWBY has never been that subtle. It has never used the " this is just a character's opinion card" like others shows have to show ambiguity.

Ironwood was extremely grey, but the characters black and white opinion was portrayed as the correct one. So I don't see why character subjectivity should matter now all of sudden.

I get you like RWBY but you are overstimating them too much.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

I just think the "work through your issues" is the correct answer the smith goddess expects for humans

I mean she did push Ruby to resurrect. Only when Ruby realized she didn't have to did the tree back down.

She is mute. That's her whole gimmick. They had no choice

If third party commentary is an indication of what Neo intends to do, as you originally asserted, then that very same thing could have applied here better. Or, you know, have one of her illusions say it. Roman literally spoke (to Neo) in that scene, and Neo's illusions have been shown to be able to talk to Ruby.

Ruby is still alive so I don't thinks Neo got her revenge either

She literally tortured Ruby to the point of suicide. I kinda feel like she got her revenge. And immediately after she realized that it didn't actually change anything for her, which is why the Cat was able to possess her.

https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/Tea_Amidst_Terrible_Trouble

Neo both got her revenge, and immediately after realized the futility of it all. Even Roman was surprised by how consumed by revenge Neo was ("Why not? Offing Little Red can’t be all you wanted… Right?")

Neo could have fought after they defeated the cat at the last episode, I'd say she could even have easily won (her Semblance became brokenly OP), but there wasn't any point. She learned that already. She might yet want to kill Ruby again once she figures out what she really wants in life, but she doesn't even understand what she wants.

was portrayed as the correct one.

Ruby literally spent the entire volume 9 wondering if Ironwood wasn't right after all. Weiss considered it too.

At any rate, I'm more than willing to agree to disagree.

 

[SherlockMexicano]

At any rate, I'm more than willing to agree to disagree.

Same.

I sincerely don't dislike you. If anything I envy your optimism. Our only real difference is that I lost any goodwill towards Rooster Teeth a long time ago

Call me pessimistic, but don't have any faith in them anymore, and I just miss the days this show was cheesy, but fun show with cute anime girls instead of the pretentious, badly written woke mess with terrible character designs and boring choreography it is now.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

I sincerely don't dislike you.

I don't dislike you either.

and I just miss the days this show was cheesy, but fun show with cute anime girls

Same