The newRWBYanime,RWBY: Ice Queendomaims to deliver a new take on the series. In order to do this, however, it does make a lot of changes from the original.RWBYwas originally a web series released in 2012 by RoosterTeeth and created by the late Monty Oum. Despite many challenges, including the passing of its creator in 2015, the series has grown into RoosterTeeth’s most profitable IP, and is still in the midst of its initial run, with volume 8 of the story being its latest season.
The series has seen great success in Japan particularly, leading to its characters appearing in other properties likeBlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and eventually to its adaptation into anime form viaRWBY: Ice Queendom.
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Visuals
The originalRWBYshow was caught up in many of the same anime vs cartoon discussions asAvatar: The Last Airbender. Even today, the line between anime and anime-inspired cartoons is a hotly debated topic. Being developed by Japaneseanimation studio Shafthowever,Ice Queendomhas fully committed to the anime aesthetic.
The most noticeable part of this is the transition to 2D visuals, over the 3D style the series has always been known for. TheRWBYcast has been seen in 2D previously, due to their appearances in games likeBlazBlue, along with comics and manga, but this is the first time the series has been rendered in a 2D style on this scale.
While much of the animation industry worldwide is still apprehensive to dive fully into 3D visuals,RWBYset itself apart with its high quality 3D choreography. While it is a shame to lose some of the novelty of its original style, the animators at Shaft have done justice to its action and fight scenes, adapting them in impressively high quality.
Music
One ofRWBY’s most recognisable traits was always its soundtrack. Most of the music for the original series is composed by Jeff Williams, who’s experimental rock style gives the series’ action scenes a unique flair. Jeff’s daughter Casey has also voiced most of the vocal tracks, making her voice quite iconic for the series.
ForIce Queendomhowever, Jeff and Casey Williams are nowhere to be found. The compositional duties instead go to experienced composers Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi who have worked on properties likeMetal Gear SolidandDetective Pikachurespectively.
TheIce Queendomsoundtrack does attempt to carry on the spirit of the original soundtrack though. It makes use of vocal rock tracks with mainly female led vocals, which do a good job of delivering the same energy as the original tracks, while being more fitting for the anime’s new aesthetic.
Treatment of Weapons
RWBYcreator Monty Oum was a popular animator on youtube even before the series first premiered. His focus on 3D fight choreography produced some amazing videos that are still exciting to watch today, and he brought that same energy into every fight inRWBY.
Particularly, in its early days,RWBYhad a noticeable fixation with the character’s weapons. The series’ weapons are highly mechanical, transforming marvels that helped make fights exciting and different from other action shows. The camera would often focus on their intricate transformations with the glee ofa mecha anime, helping to make each weapon a big part of their weilder’s identity.
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InIce Queendomhowever, the weapons don’t get nearly as much focus. While they are still a big part of combat and many of the original series’ creative weapon attacks are present, there’s a certain passion for the cast’s equipment that is sadly missing.
New Characters
WhenIce Queendomwas originally announced, many wondered whether it was meant to be a full reboot of the series, or possibly an adaptation of theRWBYmanga. As it turns out, the anime is seeking to tell its own original story, building off the events of the earlier volumes of the original show.
An original story means original characters. Most importantly, is the new character,Shion Zaiden. Shion appears as early as episode 2, ofIce Queendom, mysteriously observing the main cast’s first exercise at Beacon Academy. It isn’t clear what their purpose in the story is at first, but once Jeane falls into a deep nightmare, Shion reveals their true purpose.
As it turns out, Shion is a nightmare hunter, specifically hunting ‘grimm’ monsters that are capable of entering and haunting people’s dreams. This new dream plotline is the setup forIce Queendom’s original story, and its attempt toexplore Weiss’ character on a deeper level. So, however the story progresses, Shion will likely remain an important part of it.
Story Progression
In service ofIce Queendom’s original story, it was to be expected that large aspects of the original series would be changed, toned down, or entirely removed. As it turns out, this mostly manifests in the anime speeding past scenes from the original show.
For example, upon arriving at Beacon Academy, Ruby originally has an interaction with Jeane in the school’s courtyard. This scene is completely missing fromIce Queendom, cutting down on the screen time Ruby and Jeane get together, which might somewhat weaken any future interactions between the two.
Many other scenes are cut as well, and the early parts of the story go by much faster. At times this unfortunately hurts the flow of the story. Strangely, even the original material tends to be delivered quickly at times, leading to a much faster overall pace.
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