The RWBY RPRT: ''Round One''

I hope to God no one's already taken this title...

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back once again. Well folks, after almost a year, the first episode of RWBY Volume 3 has been released on the internet and fans have been very excited. As for myself, I've been cautiously optimistic about it. After all, Volume 2 of RWBY left a lot to be desired. But for this volume, I'm doing something special: I'm going to give my thoughts of each episode as the Volume rolls out. So welcome Ladies and Gents, to The RWBY RPRT!

For those just now hearing about the series, RWBY is a web series created by the late Monty Oum and is about four girls: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long as they attend Beacon Academy; a school dedicated to training students to become Huntsmen and Huntresses: warriors who battle against the Grimm, creatures of destruction that cause havoc in the world of Remnant. The four girls all form a team simply known as Team RWBY led by Ruby; now that you've got the basics, let's finally dive into the actual episode.

The first episode of Volume Three is titled "Round One" and interestingly enough, it starts off with Ruby at the grave of her mother: Summer Rose. Ruby tells her about everything that's happened since in her life: her getting into Beacon, becoming the leader if Team RWBY, and everything that's transpired since then. Right off the bat, I noticed that the backgrounds in the series have changed and are now in 2D. Simply put, they look great. They just pop out and are so vibrant and it blends in so well with the 3D models in my opinion. 

Look at this shot here, it's Gorgeous! Kudos to whoever made that decision.

The first scene is a very great one. Out of the four members of Team RWBY, Ruby herself has been the most static in terms of actual character development, and I felt that, at least in this scene, there was a slight touch of more character added to her; and it ends with a beautiful little tribute to series creator Monty Oum that some may miss (I admittedly did until someone pointed it out online). 

We then cut to the Vytal Festival tournament where Team RWBY is in the middle of an intense first round match against Team ABRN. This scene is RWBY at its best: a well choreographed, well animated fight scene with a nice soundtrack playing in the background. I'd cover the fight scene in full, but if I did, that'd just be extra time wasted, and it's already well past Two AM where I am. The things that I will note about this fight scene are the moment when Weiss makes a giant hand made of ice and the big finishing move by Team RWBY at the end of the fight that secures them a place in the next round. Also, there's a girl on Team ABRN that has a hoverboard that doubles as twin pistols; this show's ability to make weapons and sometimes everyday objects a gun hybrid will never cease to amaze me. I'm waiting for the moment when a Ferrari turns into a giant cannon of death that shoots lasers and missiles 

After a hard earned victory, the girls are off to celebrate with a meal when Emerald, the dark skinned girl in the picture up above, walks up to them. They have a small little conversation about how Emerald's team did (Keep in mind that Emerald's team is a bunch of criminals here at the tournament for...reasons that have yet to be explained), and about the next round which will be a round with only two members of one team fighting together; there's an attempt at comedy with Emerald's teammate that I didn't find all that funny, and they go their separate ways, as soon as they do, Emerald pretty much tells her teammate how much she actually hates team RWBY and their happy nature.

There are two things in this scene that I want to point out. First, it might just be me, but it seems like the 3rd models here in this volume (If I were to judge from a first episode) are a lot more expressive for lack of better term in both movement and facial expressions. Just look at Ruby in this scene and Blake in the scene that follows. It just feels like the characters have more life to them, again it might just be me.

The Second thing to note, is when the Team initially decides to grab a bite to eat, Weiss gets a call from her dad which she ignores. It's been documented in both Volumes one and two of the series that Weiss doesn't have a great relationship with her family (more specifically, her dad) and it's shown in the opening and in the trailer that her older sister Winter will be introduced soon. So it'll be interesting to see Weiss' character arc as the Volume rolls on.

Moving on, next the team stop at a noodle shop where they order some huge bowls to eat and the funniest joke of the episode happens where Blake asks for fish to be piled onto her noodles (The joke is that she's a cat girl...and being a cat, she loves fish). But what really sells the joke to me, is Blake's facial expressions when her bowl's taken away from her after Weiss' card is declined. Some may find it dumb or a betrayal of the character's behavior just for some comedy gag, but what can I say? I'm easily amused.

For the new people: left to right: Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren

As I stated, Weiss' card is declined when she tries to pay for the food but luckily their friends at team JNPR do them a solid and pay for the meal. Shortly after, Team RWBY questions whether or not they're ready for their first round match to which Nora, in the only way she can, rattles on about how great she, Ren, and Pyrrah are, and how Jaune pretty much sucks. Then she freaks out about the consequences of Team JNPR losing their first round match, also making mentions of how she and Ren are orphans with no home. Ever since they were introduced, fans wanted to know more of Nora and Ren's backstory, and a sliver of it is shown in a passing line for a comedy scene. Hopefully, we'll get more of it as the volume moves on...in a more serious manner. I should also note that this scene is the first we hear of Neath Oum as Lie Ren, taking the place of his brother Monty; he did fine, he got all of Ren's mannerisms down and his delivery was also good. It may take some time for others to get used to hearing him, but I think he'll be fine for the rest of the volume. The episode ends with Team JNPR in the arena about to engage in their first round match.

Round One Puts its best foot forward and delivers a strong first episode. It's more of a reintroduction to the characters of RWBY and the story so far. The show has definitely gotten an increase in its budget as its production has vastly improved. Some of the comedy in my opinion is hit or miss, but overall, everything is well done. I give the episode a thumbs up.

Till Next Time Folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation and I'll catch you again for another installment of The RWBY RPRT!

Take Care...