Other Names: RWBY 2
Studio: Rooster Teeth
Writers: Monty Oum, Kerry Shawcross & Miles Luna
Director: Monty Oum
Music: Jeff Williams
Type: Original, Web Series (ONA), Sequel
Length: 12 Episodes, 13 - 17 minutes per episode approx.
Genres: Action, Adventure, Science-fantasy
Rating: N/A
Air Dates: N/A
Alternate Recommendations: Ajin (For good 3D animation) & Black Rock Shooter
(Source: Roosterteeth.com & Wikipedia)
Synopsis:
Team RWBY is back and ready for their second semester at Beacon, an academy that trains the world's strongest fighters. But real life doesn't stop. Between classes and homework, they still have to find time to save the world. And between the White Fang, Roman Torchwick, and a mysterious new trio, they certainly have their work cut out for them! (Source: Roosterteeth.com)
Review:
From my experience I have always believed that sequels must raise the roof when compared to the first season, does RWBY Volume II do this or does it fall back into the abyss with the original series?
Well let me tell you that the second season of RWBY is such as breath of fresh air, as it breathes live into the show, improving on everything in the show, though still leaves minor problems.
One of my biggest complaints last season was the animation, though not the combat animation, instead the more docile type such as talking, character interaction and movement, however this second season has shown that they can do it probably, as lip sync I found to be much more fluid which helped me feel more for the characters, which by the way are much better characterised with some getting some much needed development and back - story that is worth the watch, especially during the romantic sub-plots some characters go through which further humanises their personalities, even if the romances go nowhere.
Though on another side newer character introduced aren't given enough time to be fleshed out or even given a decent amount of screen time. Although one aspect that did grab we with the characters was how well the voice actors did their roles this times around, with main roles being played much better than before, while supporting roles felt more human, making characters feel more alive.
At times though I found basic interactions like using objects to be better than last time but can still look odd at times and finally movement which similarly while looking more fluid and natural, sometimes still came around as a bit dodgy. Though on another hand the animation used in combat was extremely well done, being one of the highlights of the series, with fast and fluid animation that are eye catching while remaining fun to watch. Though in another respect while art used in the show has greatly improved mostly on the character designs which have been fleshed out much more giving more individuality even though in other areas I found the scenery and objects within it to look out of place at times, as sometimes they'll look great but others times, objects can look just like blocks of colours and scenery will have a lovely detailed area in one, then have a silhouetted or bland shot next to it, which I found to be discomforting at times.
Moving on, one improvement most notable in the show is how the story is paced as in the previous season it jumped all over the place but in this one I felt a continuous plot that wasn't badly put together and had a real storyline. One of the better parts of this parts was that a really threat or threats were introduced, that felt both threatening and mysterious, so much as you don't even know there goal, which adds a great mystery element to the story but on the other hand leaves us the viewers not knowing what they want (aside from the White Fang group) and is not shown even by the final episode which is a disappointment, leaving us with a cliff-hanger, though a third season has been released so hopefully that will clear up the answers.
Though in contrast to this praise I can't say the story doesn't suffer, as our of old nemesis filler returns though mainly at the start of the series, due to when I started the series I wasn't expecting a food fight, which could have been funny but they decided to put in the fight music for the soundtrack, which just made it really cringe worthy.
Speaking of cringe worthy, the humour of this series is just awful, it doesn't feel like they tried at all, so much as I wanted to just skip out those parts.
Now onto the main highlight of the series, the soundtrack which is better than ever, thanks to Jeff Williams who managed to create the perfect music for every scene, even if it didn't fit into the one scene as mentioned above. I also must say that the opening song used this time around fits well with the tone of this season, fitting the mood well with a great animation sequence, that makes the viewer clamour for more, though on the other side while the ending songs can be nice and fitting they don't last long enough and 'animation' is more of the same flat pictures except with more variety, which I found to not be worth my time.
In conclusion, I'd give this one a go, it's worth the watch even if you have to sit through the boring first season and really shows us that America can produce I good 3D animation.Final Verdict:
Story/Setting: 7.3
Characters: 7.5
Animation: 6.9
Sound: 8.1
Final Score: 7.5/10
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