[Review] RWBY Volume 6 - The Revival of Rooster Teeth's Prize Series

Written by: Andarew August 4, 2019

Ever since the ending of Rwby Volume 3, the series has hit a slump and has started to fall downhill. It is likely due to the death of its original creator Monty Oum. RIP to him. Volume 4 mostly focused on the recovery of the characters from the fall of Beacon in Volume 3. Volume 5 tried to accomplish a lot, but probably has bitten more than it could chew. Since so many things happened in that volume, everything was squeezed together to fit into the 13 episode gap that it resulted in the story not being executed properly. After Volume 5 however, the series seems to pick itself off the ground once more with the release of Volume 6. While it may have not been as good as how the show was when its initial creator was still producing the show, Rwby Volume 6 certainly has plenty of good action scenes and eye-opening moments as well.

Story/Execution of Story: 8/10

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Rwby starts off with our main cast of characters: Ruby, Blake, Yang, Weiss, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Oscar and Qrow continuing their journey to Atlas. They hitch on a train heading towards Argus when suddenly the group gets separated when Grimm attack the train. After Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Qrow, and Oscar get stranded out in the freezing cold along with a new character, a lot of new things are learned. To make sure no spoilers are given away, the story was executed a lot better than the last volume. The plot progresses at a steady pace. It was well balanced, meaning the plot didn’t throw too much stuff at your face, nor did it bore the viewer with too many fillers, although Rwby never really seemed to have a problem with fillers in the first place.

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A lot of interesting backstory was revealed about a couple of important characters as well, finally giving purpose for me to care about them, as I really never did before their backstories were revealed. It was detailed and made sense as to why the characters within the backstory behaved the way that they did. It also changes everything about how our characters perceive their situation, as now, things look bleaker than before. There were many moments that challenged our characters against a variety of difficult obstacles. Seeing them overcome these obstacles and seeing them grow from it is definitely one of the best aspects about watching Rwby. Each and every single one of these moments were enjoyable to watch. They inspire the characters and even inspire us to tackle difficult things that can be overwhelming. This is why anime, although Rwby can be debated if it is one or not, is so great to watch.

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The series finishes off with some epic fight scenes comparable to the ones in the first three volumes. Volumes 4 and 5 declined in the quality of its fight scenes but Volume 6 seems to have rekindled the fire and bring about some engaging excitement within those fight scenes once more. If there is one thing Rwby is known for, it is its fight scenes, and Volume 6 is no exception. What I liked about it is that it started off somewhat more light-hearted and laid-back, sort of like how a lot of fight scenes were in the beginning of Rwby. However, it soon shifts to a more dramatic and consequential fight, where the stakes are raised higher. It’s a good buildup to a final multi-episode fight scene for the volume.

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There isn’t too much to complain about in this volume. The story didn’t really do anything too original with its execution. I wish our main antagonist and her forces would have bigger roles in trying to stop our heroes in this volume, but they just sort of did nothing throughout the whole volume. Despite a few of its flaws in the execution of its story, it is the most enjoyable aspect of Rwby volume 6.

Characters: 5/10

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Probably the most important aspect of making a good show is to make good, enjoyable characters. Rwby excelled at this at first, but it hit a rock in Volume 4. It felt that everyone just lost their personalities they once had and that make each of them unique and stick out. Team RWBY is where it is the most noticeable. Yang and Blake are the worst cases of lost-personality syndrome. Weiss partially lost hers, while Ruby herself has short moments where she does show her personality, but others when she’s lost it. While this problem was still present in Volume 4 and 5, there was a reason for that and it was because of the trauma they got at the fall of Beacon. However, by Volume 6, they should have regained at least most of their personalities. While Ren’s character design still gives me HIV, JNPR’s personalities seems to have stayed the same somewhat. This could be due to the writers of the show struggling to replicate the personalities of the characters after Monty Oum passed away. It does show in the later volumes alot.📷

As mentioned earlier, a new character was introduced to the gang when teams RWBY and JNPR got separated when the train was attacked by the grimm. I will keep her identity secret because I feel it is an important aspect for the experience that I don’t want to spoil. While she isn’t really a memorable or special character, she does serve a purpose in the story, especially for Ruby. There’s honestly not that much to say about her other than that she complains a lot in the first few episodes after she was introduced.

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If there had to be one major flaw done with the characters in volume 6 of RWBY, it would have to be how Qrow declined as a character. He used to be more of an inspiration to the gang and much more likeable because of that. He was a leader. Once Volume 6 came along, Qrow lost all of that. He would just drink a lot, complain, and burden our main cast. While it honestly didn’t bother me too much, it would likely piss off a lot of Qrow fans in my opinion. Thankfully, he seemed to pick himself up and his half-functioning liver a bit around the end, so it seems hopeful to expect that he won’t be like how he was in this volume again.

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As mentioned before, a lot of backstory was given to a couple of important characters. One of them was Salem, our main antagonist. While I did find her backstory to be quite enjoyable to learn about, I still can’t stand how cliche and inactive of a villain she is for a show. I don’t like Cinder at all especially considering the fact that she killed one of my favorite characters in the show (you know who I’m talking about), but at least she was a villain that took action against our heroes. Salem just sits on her ass ordering all her minions to do the dirty work for her. The other character was Ozpin. I don’t have that much to say about him, but finding out about his backstory finally gave me purpose to care about him.

Overall, I felt that the characters did decline in the show, especially considering how likable they used to be from the beginning. Some of the old ones declined in quality, while the new ones introduced were bland from the start, and one, or rather two new characters were actually just used likely to push a political message out there. That is a really bad decision to make for a show. While the story and execution were quite engaging, some of the characters just aren’t in this show.

Soundtrack: 8/10

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Woo! Got the long ones out of the way. Now time for the soundtrack

I felt that the soundtrack of Rwby volume 6 was actually the best out of all the volumes. The opening’s guitar in the song is quite catching and some of the vocal osts might actually end up being some of my favorite songs in the show. One Thing and Indomitable are some of my favorite vocals.

There’s not much to say about the non-vocal songs, but this soundtrack is the best from Rwby that I have heard.

Animation: 8/10

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Ever since volume 4, the animation has shifted somewhat. The show looks a lot better in that it has a higher definition, but the fight scenes seem to have lost its flashiness it previously had. I think Volume 6 has regained some of that, especially in the start of the last fight. It still kept the higher definition animation while still improving their fight scenes. I don’t want to say that it is better than the first 3 volumes, but it certainly improved compared to the last 2.

Overall: 8/10

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Volume 6 of Rwby was very enjoyable to watch for me. If you are a Rwby fan still, you will enjoy this volume just like the rest of the series. If you are a Rwby fan that has been disappointed in the last 2 volumes, this one will hopefully spark your interest in the show once more. The show isn’t perfect just like any other, but the problems I mentioned about the show before are in truth, really not that big of a deal. I just had to point out some flaws it has and criticize them because this review is looking at the show at a more critical, analytical point of view. There are plenty of eye-opening moments in this volume, and that is what will draw you back into Rooster Teeth’s Rwby.

Andarew

Jersie's amazing brother, can be found jamming out to his epic music for hours while drawing. Tries to balance his life out by going to Planet Fitness and making fun of politics.