Considering it’s the last week in April 2016, I should probably
be talking about the new Huntsman: Winter’s War movie. But I can’t seem to muster up any interest in
seeing that film (note to Hollywood: when the Fairy Tale Geek doesn’t want to
watch your fairy tale movie, it’s a bad sign).
So, I’ve decided to talk about a series I discovered on the internet
instead.
Lately I’ve been looking into works that take inspirations
in style and imagery from fairy tales but don’t really adapt the stories. There are a few of them, but one of my
favorites so far is RWBY.
RWBY (pronounced “Ruby”) is an anime-inspired animated web
series created by animator Monty Oum and produced by Rooster Teeth Productions,
a production company known for producing Machinima (animated productions using
video game images and backgrounds). RWBY
is one of their completely original, in-house developed series (ie: not
Machinima).
RWBY takes place in the world of Remnant. Remnant is a future world in which a huge war
wiped out a large chunk of the preexisting human culture. Now this world is not just inhabited by
humans but also humanoids bearing animal traits called the Faunus and the
mysterious monsters called the Creatures of Grimm (there’s that name again, and
used for a type of monster. Joseph Jacobs
never has to put up with this kind of crap).
To fend off the Grimm and other things that threaten the peace, some
young people go to special academies where they learn how to become Huntsmen
and Huntresses. RWBY focuses on four
young Huntresses in training who attend Beacon Academy in the city of Vale. They are Ruby Rose (based on “Little Red
Riding Hood”), Weiss Schnee (based on “Snow White”), Blake Belladonna (based on
the female lead from “Beauty and the Beast”) and Yang Xiao Long (based on
“Goldilocks”). Their initials also coincide
with the most notable color in their designs: Red, White, Black and Yellow. All the characters have unique personalities,
backgrounds, abilities and weapons to match.
The hot-headed Yang gets stronger the longer she fights and has
gauntlets that also double as guns. The
wealthy and somewhat arrogant Weiss has a fencing foil that also has a rotating
supply of an element called Dust which allows her to channel different magical
effects. The elusive Blake carries a
ninja sword and can create a shadow double of herself. Finally, leader Ruby Rose has blinding speed
and carries a giant scythe that can transform into a sniper rifle.
That’s right, it’s a show about a version of Red Riding Hood
who carries a sniper rifle. And no, it’s
not written by someone at the NRA. It’s
so much better than that.
The references to old stories do not exactly end there. The show is filled with nods to fairy tales,
history, legends, myths and literature.
One of the show’s villains is named Roman Torchwick, based on the
character of Lampwick from Collodi’s Adventures
of Pinocchio. Another is named
Cinder. You can probably guess what her
inspiration is. My personal favorite is
an android girl named Penny Polendina based on Pinocchio. There are even echoes of the stories in the
main characters’ lives. Weiss has family
issues. Blake has a rather “beastly”
controlling ex-boyfriend. However, all
of this is mostly window dressing. It
all takes a back seat to the new story of this world that’s been created. The old culture has been wiped out including
the old stories and as a discussion of fairy tales in volume three shows, new
tales have taken their place. The old
archetypes still exist but they’re more echoes that manifest themselves in the
new characters. But if you’re worried
that’s going to turn you off from the series then don’t. The plots to the series are great. The suspense in this show builds
perfectly. The characters are all
interesting and lovable (or at least love-to-hatable). The voice acting is terrific. The action scenes are all dynamic and
interesting. There are even some
elements that are just part of the background that are just fantastic. For example, they show some love to the
blended families out there with the fact that Ruby and Yang are half-sisters. They acknowledge that they have different
mothers and there is some drama associated with it, but none that creates
animosity between the two girls. All
this, plus the music rocks. Just
tell me that this song and this song aren’t awesome!
I’m finding it hard to come up with anything to criticize in
this series. If I had to pick one, it
would be that the tale-inspired character designs aren’t necessarily as
evocative as maybe they were intending them to be. The primary one I’m thinking of is Blake, who
is supposed to be based on the Beauty from “Beauty and the Beast”. However, since she’s a Faunus with cat ears,
she reminds me more of “Puss in Boots”.
Weiss might also throw some people seeing as both her hair and skin are
“as white as snow” rather than just her skin in the case of the traditional
Snow White. This is a problem that stems
more from the fact that classic fairy tales often don’t delve too much into
description. For every Little Red Riding
Hood or Goldilocks that has some kind of visually defining aspect, there’s a
Jack or Beauty/Belle who’s left up to the imagination. That’s a minor quibble at this point,
though. RWBY is a highly entertaining
and addictive show. It also happens to
be a show that just ended on a huge cliffhanger. I am glad to say that the show will pick up
with volume four in Fall 2016. This is
especially true given that the show’s creator Monty Oum is no longer with
us. He passed away on February 1st
2015 from an allergic reaction he suffered while undergoing a medical
procedure. Luckily, his creation lives
on as his legacy.
You can find the first three volumes of the show on the
Rooster Teeth website as well as on the official Rooster Teeth YouTube channel. If that’s not enough for you,
there are a number of Rooster Teeth products on offer including soundtracks
with those kickin’ theme songs and a game on Steam. Good luck and if you’re anything like me
you’ll be eagerly awaiting the debut of volume four this Fall.
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