I haven’t seen RWBY since season six in late 2018, and nothing, in particular, has turned me off the series. My interest just kind of petered out after I began to make, and listen to criticisms of the show. But, when I saw a new anime called “RWBY: Ice Queendom” the long cold fire that was my interest in RWBY began to smolder anew. However, the smoldering waned a bit after I watched the first few episodes, and by the last episode, the fire was as cold as it always was. Not that RWBY: Ice Queendom was bad. It just captured very little about what I liked in the original show. The animation, music, and character development that the original show had (to varying degrees I might add) just weren’t there in the end. Don’t watch this if you are a RWBY mega fan because you will just get mad. Also, if you are not a fan, don’t watch it because this won't get you into, or back into, RWBY. So who is this show for? I don’t know, children? 4/10.
*Spoilers beyond this point*
I immediately knew I was going to be in for something when the first three episodes are pretty much all recaps of the show, but they condense two hours of the show into one hour for the anime. This caused a lot of pacing issues in those first three episodes. Like when the students are tasked with finding a chess piece in order to make teams. The entire thing was here and gone in a few minutes. And this was one example of things being cut out and left worse for wear. There are many more I can assure you. And because of the amount cut out, the dialog has to pick up the slack, and oh boy does it hold your hand. It holds your hand so hard in fact that your bones will powderize after the first episode. One of my favorite examples is when Weiss says, “Hello Father and older sister this is my final test right?” Now the dialog in the original show wasn’t very hands-off, but it was leagues better than this!
Two of my favorite moments from the first season were the open fight at the dust store, and Blake's reveal as a Faunus. But of course, both of these moments are way worse in the anime than in the show. For example, in the show, Ruby turns the music off on her headphones after going outside. That was a small detail, but it sold the scene. Also, there was no cut to Yang in the middle of the chase going “Ruby? What are you doing little sister?” Who thought that would be a good decision? Also, who thought rushing through Blake's revel as a Faunus was a good idea? So in the show, Blake’s revel had (mostly) proper buildup and payoff, but in the anime, it is like, “See Blake? Wow, she is a Faunus. Anyways, moving on…” Very little setup and even less payoff. You would have guessed?
After the first three episodes, comes the meat of the season. That of course being that Ruby, Blake, and Yang have to save Weiss from the Grimm that is keeping her in her dreams. Does that sound confusing and misplaced? Well, reader, I can assure you that it is even worse in the show. It comes out of nowhere and makes very little sense. The Grimm has always been a real, and physical, threat, but this one is not and not. Why? Couldn’t tell ya. Actually, I can. It is the same reason why they did not send as many people as possible into Weiss’s dream to begin with, the reason why there were so many relics, and the reason why Ruby didn’t just use her semblance to get inside and help Weiss right away. We needed a 12-episode show, and without these poor story decisions, and others, we wouldn’t have that.
The story isn’t all bad though. For example, I like how the characters have relationships prior to the show starting. It shows planning and an idea of where the show will go in the future. Also, I like the airplane scene because it takes all the nonsense from the first season of the show, and condolences it down to a (mostly) logical scenario. It was a nice step up from the original. Also, Wiess’s dream had good symbolism. Weiss’s father's hologram has bright blue eyes as if that's the part of him that she remembers the clearest. There were also some funny jokes. Like when Ruby thinks that Weiss remembered her weapon, but then it shoots from the end of the handle instead of the tang. Lastly, The visuals when Blake’s and Weiss’s dreams collided looked nice. Even though it made no sense narratively. I will finish off this paragraph with a recommendation. Because it doesn’t make sense for Pyrrha to be sinning Mirror Mirror, so what should happen is to have a hologram of Weiss pushed into an alleyway singing it. You get the song and the symbolism. Bam.
Also, I suggest people stop ragging on the animation. Listen man it’s not good, but I have seen so much worse. When you delve into the rabbit hole as often as I do, you know it can get really bad. Honestly, the worst parts about the art are the chins that can cut diamonds, and the character redesigns. All of the characters look bad except for a couple like Adam and Penny which are just okay. Additionally, the redesigns remind me of the “drawing characters from _____ in my art style” thing that occasionally occurs on the internet. Also, on the character designs, hate Blake’s dream clothing. I know that that is how Weiss really sees her, but could it be any more on the nose? The final criticism of the art is that I hate it when an anime is edited like a manga. Like when the screen is cut in half and Weiss’s eyes are staring straight ahead at the viewer, and Ruby’s are on the bottom staring at the viewer too. Like you are making an anime. You can have more creative and dynamic shots than that.
There are a few things that I do like. For example, I like Ruby’s, Weiss’s, and Yang’s dream clothes. They fit the characters very well, while still feeling like they fit the environment. Also, I liked Shion Zaiden’s design, but she is so different than the others that she really stands out.
Another example is that there are a handful of scenes that look good. Like when Weiss crushes the golden chess piece with the vines growing out of her hand. This scene made me sit up in my chair and go “Oh wow.” But then I slumped back down again after I remembered that there were probably many other relics just kicking around.
I have so little to say about the characters. They were already ill-defined at this point in the show, and the anime doesn’t do much to combat that. The only thing that the anime does is take out moments that I liked, and were needed for proper character development. I have almost nothing to say about the sound too. I prefer the original music and go back to listen to it sometimes, but the music in the anime isn’t that good. While some of the music in the anime is good and fits well and others don’t and don’t. Some sound effects are good, and others are not. The VAs did a passable job. That’s it. Moving on.
So, did I enjoy RWBY: Ice Queendom? No, because clearly this anime was made for the current fans of the show, but I can’t see any RWBY fans liking this show because of all the things it does wrong. It looks, on average, worse than the show, it has worse music than the show, it has a worse story than any season of the show, and it has worse characters than the show. So what does it have for a current fan? Past fan? Non-fan? Of course, the answer to all the above is that I don’t know at best and nothing at worst. Unfortunately, all of these problems leave me unable to recommend. In the end, the sound gets a 5 while the story, animation, characters, and enjoyment get a 4. For a final score of a 4/10.
