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Ice Queendom offers something that RWBY proper has little time to deal with anymore. Character studies. To start, I watch the original RWBY so these characters are already engraved into my brain so I can't speak for how good of a job it does at introducing them to a new audience because I can't simply get rid of my biases, but as a fan of RWBY I think Ice Queendom handled the characters amazing! One of the things RWBY lacked, in my opinion, was some of the deep dives into what the characters were thinking especially back in Volume 1. Weiss reveals early on that ... the White Fang has harmed her and her family in physical and emotional ways and in the original she just sort of... gets over that. Don't get me wrong, I have such a fondness for Volume 1-3 of RWBY, but getting the chance to dive deeper into the complicated feelings that characters like Weiss and Blake were feeling over the situation was such a treat. Now to break down some of the pieces of the story,

CHARACTERS
Again, I can't get rid of my prior biases so this is coming from someone who has watched these characters for 8+ volumes and I have to say they did a great adaptation here. It's Volume 1 so most of the characters are fairly baseline and perhaps a little trope-y (Ruby = Genki, Weiss = Himedere, Blake = Kuudere, Yang = Onee-san ) but that leaves a lot of area open to expanding their characters. Using "nightmares" to bring out people's fears is such a fun character study that is even more fun with context of many of these characters.

STORY
Probably one of the weaker parts but I still don't think it's bad. There are points in the middle where it drags a bit, but I still found myself engaged. Many, mistakenly, thought this was a re-telling of Volumes 1-3 (prior to the Maya Animation Engine) so they likely found themselves confused and frustrated on the amount of time spent on Anime Original content. However, seeing as it was not advertised as a retelling, to judge it based off that is unfair. The Anime Original Content is unique and makes the team seem even closer for the events of Volume 2.

SETTING
Ice Queendom primarily takes place in The Ice Queendom (hold your gasps). Seeing that this is more of a character study rather than a journey like the original RWBY, this setting works great. Having the team travel all the way around Remnant would have distracted too much from the story that Ice Queendom is trying to tell.

ANIMATION
Shaft is rather notorious for putting out rushed products that are later fixed on the Blu-Ray (Meguca quality as a I call it) and Ice Queendom is no exceptions there were a couple episodes that were just bad with characters floating around and awkward 3D models that make the series original models look like a Pixar Film. But when the animation was good, it was GOOD. Holding out hope for a Blu-Ray fix, but that doesn't excuse the laziness of a few of the episodes especially with fight scenes something that RWBY is known for. On that note...

ACTION
If you've watched the original RWBY, you are probably expecting some amazing fight animation and unfortunately Ice Queendom rarely delivers on that front. Much like the animation, when it delivers on a fight scene it is a spectacle to behold. However, having a few really amazing fight scenes sprinkled throughout a collection of mid to bad fight scenes is not a good look. Given that I believe Ice Queendom to be a character study and therefore more focused on in depth view of the characters, the action is far from a deal breaker for me. However, if you don't care greatly for the characters (in particular team RWBY) and primarily watch/enjoy RWBY for the fight choreography then you would be better off watching clips of the good fights on Youtube and calling it a day.

OVERALL
This series was a treat for fans of the show, like myself, and hopefully an enjoyable series for new fans as well. It wasn't the best series in the world but it wasn't the worst. It told the story I felt like it was trying to tell and it made me smile so I can't ask for much more than that out of a series. I recommend everyone to give it a try if you like character study series and especially if you're a fan of the designs.