RWBY
RWBY is an American anime-styled animated web series and media franchise created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. It is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors to protect their world from monsters called Grimm. The name RWBY is derived from the four main characters' forenames: Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, as well as their associated theme colors; Red, White, Black and Yellow, and their combined team name: team RWBY. Following several promotional trailers, the first episode was screened at the Rooster Teeth convention event RTX and then released on their website in July 2013. Subsequent episodes were released approximately weekly, first to Rooster Teeth's subscribers and then to YouTube a week later. The series became a viral hit, and a second season, subtitled Volume 2, was released in July 2014.
Oum died in 2015, during production of the third season for the series. This resulted in a delay in the production, as well as an overall shift in the series production and release schedule. Despite the creator's death, the remaining crew members confirmed their intention to continue the series, and Volume 3 was released in 2015 as planned. Meanwhile, the first two seasons were released to home media and made available on streaming services such as Netflix and Crunchyroll, the latter of which would include releases of the current season in their simulcasts. In October 2016, the fourth season was released. The series has also been dubbed in Japanese and broadcast by Tokyo MX, in partnership with Warner Bros. Japan. Rooster Teeth released a video game called RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, as well as a spin-off series called RWBY Chibi, in 2016.
As of February 2020, the Rooster Teeth website has aired seven volumes. Rooster Teeth announced volumes eight and nine on October 3, 2019.
Development
RWBY had been a long-standing concept of Oum's for years before it began development. Towards the end of his work on the 10th season of Rooster Teeth's Red vs. Blue, he developed the color-coding approach to character names and design as a hook for the series. During production on Red vs. Blue season 10, Oum asked series creator Burnie Burns if they could produce RWBY following the conclusion of that season. Burns, worried for the production schedule, told Oum "If you finish Season 10, then you can do whatever you want." Production on RWBY began as intended, with the first trailer being finished within two weeks and premiering after the credits of the Red vs. Blue season 10 finale on November 5, 2012.Oum designed the characters with assistance from artist Ein Lee, utilizing designs inspired by classic fairy tale characters. Each character has an associated color, and it is the first letters of the main character's colors, red, white, black, and yellow, that give the series its name. The characters' names also share the same letter and the meaning as the colour. The series was originally written by Oum, along with fellow Rooster Teeth employees Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross. Oum was initially concerned about a story focusing on female characters being developed by a primarily male crew, but said they managed to do well developing the female characters. Regarding the design, Oum wanted to "present a two-dimensional, toon-shaded look, but with all of the depth and complexity of a 3D-animated production". Seasons 1 to 3 were animated by Rooster Teeth's internal animation team using Smith Micro's Poser software, out of assets built on Autodesk Maya. Starting in Season 4, episodes are now being animated in Maya. The series' music is composed by Jeff Williams, who previously composed the soundtracks for Seasons 8–10 of Red vs. Blue, and features vocals by Williams' daughter, Casey Lee Williams.
Voice cast and characters
- Lindsay Jones as Ruby Rose
- Kara Eberle as Weiss Schnee
- Arryn Zech as Blake Belladonna
- Barbara Dunkelman as Yang Xiao Long
- Miles Luna as Jaune Arc
- Jen Brown as Pyrrha Nikos
- Monty Oum and Neath Oum as Lie Ren
- Samantha Ireland as Nora Valkyrie
- Shannon McCormick and Aaron Dismuke as Ozma/Ozpin
Web series
In the present day, having formed a cabal to guard their world's secrets, Ozma's current incarnation Ozpin establishes academies in the four kingdoms of Remnant to train students to battle malevolent creatures known as the Grimm. The academies secretly conceal four relics that, if united, would summon the gods back to Remnant to judge humanity.
The series focuses on four girls that enrolled in Beacon Academy in the kingdom of Vale: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Ruby's half-sister Yang Xiao Long. Together, they form team RWBY. At the time of Team RWBY's formation, numerous Dust thefts are carried out in Vale by local crime lord Roman Torchwick the White Fang, a pro-Faunus terrorist group. Team RWBY proceeds to investigate their connection to Salem's apprentice Cinder Fall, and her scheme to destroy Beacon and plunge Remnant into chaos.
Promotion
A series of four promotional trailers, one for each lead character, were released. They were primarily produced by Oum and assistant animator Shane Newville. Each trailer begins by unveiling one of the four primary characters and then showing a detailed action sequence. The "Red" trailer was shown after the credits for Red vs. Blue's season 10 finale in November 2012. It was followed by the "White" trailer in February 2013. The "Black" trailer was unveiled at a PAX East panel at the end of March and was the first to include voice-acted dialogue. Following the premiere of the "Black" trailer, Oum noted with regret that the first two trailers were shorter and had less character development. The "Yellow" trailer was shown at Rooster Teeth's A-Kon panel on June 1, 2013. Music from the trailers was sold as digital downloads at several online retailers.On July 5, 2013, at the RWBY panel for their RTX 2013 event, Rooster Teeth premiered the first episode of RWBY, and would post the episode to their website on July 18.
Release
Following the premiere of RWBY in July 2013, Rooster Teeth posted new episodes for the first season, subtitled Volume 1, streaming weekly on their website, with access two hours early for their sponsors. The new episode would be uploaded to YouTube the next week. On August 16, 2013, streaming site Crunchyroll announced it would simulcast RWBY. Volume 1 ran for 16 episodes, varying in length. Volume 1 concluded in November 2013, and was then released to DVD and Blu-ray.The second season, subtitled Volume 2, was screened at RTX on July 4, 2014, and premiered on July 24. It consisted of 12 episodes, with the final episode released on October 30, after which it was released on DVD and Blu-ray.
On February 1, 2015, Rooster Teeth announced that both volumes of RWBY so far were available for streaming on Netflix.
Volume 3 premiered on October 24, 2015 along with an episode of the RWBY backstory series World of Remnant. For Volume 4, Rooster Teeth producer and co-director Gray G. Haddock said that Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross were writing for the series. The season debuted on October 22, 2016. In January 2017, a fifth season was announced to be in development, and was released on October 14.
In 2017, Rooster Teeth announced that Rooster Teeth First members would get episodes one week earlier than the general public.
On September 15, 2018, Rooster Teeth CEO Matt Hullum announced that RWBY Volume 6 will be released exclusively on the company's website. This decision was made after many of Rooster Teeth's videos on YouTube were demonetized for various reasons. However, beginning in 2019, Volume 6 was released weekly, alongside Volume 7, on YouTube on Rooster Teeth's secondary channel "Rooster Teeth Animation".
International releases
The Blu-ray and DVD releases in Australia were handled by Hanabee Entertainment. The first volume was released in the UK by Animatsu Entertainment on May 4, 2015, on DVD.On August 15, 2014, Rooster Teeth announced that a Japanese dub was being developed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Japan. Warner Bros. has also acquired local merchandising rights as well. Volume 3 was screened in select theaters on December 3, 2016. Volume 4 was released in select theaters for a limited two-week run from October 7 to 20, 2017. To promote Volume 4, Volumes 1-3 were condensed into 12 episodes for broadcast on Tokyo MX and AbemaTV in July 2017 under the title RWBY 1-3: The Beginning.
Manga and books
''RWBY''
RWBY has been adapted into a manga series written and illustrated by Shirow Miwa. It has been published in Shueisha's monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump. The first arc of the manga closely followed the storyline of the four trailers, while subsequent chapters explored original storylines.The first chapter was released in the Ultra Jump December issue, on November 19, 2015. It had colored center and back pages, along with additional art from the manga.
The English translation was published in Viz Media's Weekly Shonen Jump manga anthology and released for audiences worldwide on October 31, 2016 as previously stated.
Like the anime, the RWBY manga follows the members of Team RWBY – Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long – and their adventures as they train to become Huntresses at the prestigious Beacon Academy. The manga delves into the motivations and backstory of the four main characters, giving new insights and context. Many characters from the main series also make appearances. The manga also explains some concepts and elements of the setting, such as the Grimm and Dust. The remaining six chapters cover an original story chronologically set between Volumes 1 and 2 involving teams RWBY and JNPR fighting King Taijitu merged by a Grimm accidentally let loose as Torchwick investigated a possible entrance to Mountain Glenn.
The final chapter was published in the February 2017 issue of Ultra Jump in January, with a teaser about a second volume.
''RWBY: Official Manga Anthology''
RWBY: Official Manga Anthology is a manga adaption of RWBY. It consists of side stories that follow the plot of the show, put together by multiple manga artists. It was released in a multi-volume format.On December 23, 2016, Japanese entertainment company Home-sha announced Vol. 1: Red Like Roses, the first volume of RWBY: Official Manga Anthology and stated it was coming in Spring 2017. It was later announced on March 25, 2017 that it would be released on May 19, 2017. The second volume, Vol. 2: Mirror Mirror, was released on June 19, 2017. The third volume, Vol. 3: From Shadows, was released on September 19, 2017. The fourth volume, Vol. 4: I Burn, was released on October 19, 2017.
In North America, Viz Media has licensed the manga for an English language release.
''RWBY: The Official Manga''
RWBY: The Official Manga is a manga adaptation written by manga artist Bunta Kinami. The manga debuted on November 19, 2018 in Weekly Shonen Jump, and on December 20, 2018 in Shōnen Jump+. Shueisha published the first tankōbon volume digitally on August 19, 2019. In May 2020, it was announced that the series would be finished on June 25.''RWBY: After the Fall''
RWBY: After the Fall is the first companion book in a series written by E. C. Myers and published by Scholastic on June 25, 2019. It follows Team CFVY following the events of the Volume 3 finale, as the team travels to a new Academy and deals with the personal and global aftermath of the Fall of Beacon.''RWBY: Before the Dawn''
RWBY: Before The Dawn is a direct sequel to the first companion book After the Fall written by E. C. Myers and released by Scholastic on June 21, 2020. The book follows Team CFVY and Team SSSN as they investigate a mysterious organization called The Crown.''The World of RWBY: The Official Companion''
The World of RWBY: The Official Companion was published on October 29, 2019 by Viz Media featuring behind the scenes information, interviews and concept art from the show.''RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant''
RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant is an upcoming book featuring original fairy tales written by E. C. Myers, illustrated by Violet Tobacco and published by Scholastic will be released on September 15, 2020.Other media
Video games
For Rooster Teeth's anniversary in 2014, fan Jordan Scott created a video game based on RWBY, titled RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, using the Unity game engine. It was in development for a total of five months.Based on the events in the first trailer, the demo was a "hack 'n slash survival" featuring Ruby facing escalating waves of Grimm attacks. Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised its combo system, which "excellently mirror its animated counterpart", and its unlockable skills, saying, "you'll feel like an unstoppable badass akin to Ruby in the series."
At RTX 2014, Rooster Teeth announced that they had hired Scott, and officially picked up the game. An early demo of the game was available for consumers to play at the event, and the game's title was changed from "Grim Eclipse" to "Grimm Eclipse" to match the spelling of the creatures in the show. Rooster Teeth CEO Matt Hullum stated, "RWBY is a natural choice for us to focus on for our first in-house produced video game. Fans can expect that we will bring the same level of originality in action, comedy and design to the video game that has made the RWBY animated series such a hit." On December 1, 2015 the game was released as an Early Access title on Steam, with the full PC release on July 5, 2016. The game was released for macOS on October 13, 2016, and was later released for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on January 17, 2017. The game allows one to four of the main characters in any combination to battle through waves of Grimm. They are also on the trail of a mysterious company and its founder. The action takes place in the Emerald Forest, Mountain Glenn, Forever Fall and ultimately to an island named after the antagonist, Doctor Merlot.
At the Evo 2017 gaming event, it was announced that the fighting game would feature cross-over characters from BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, Under Night In-Birth, and RWBY. Ruby Rose was a featured participant in the game's first teaser trailer, and Weiss was confirmed in the second character introduction trailer. Blake and Yang were added as the game's free downloadable content. At Evo 2019, it was announced that Neo Politan would be added to the game as part of a 2.0 update scheduled for November 21.
NHN Entertainment developed a tower defense mobile game based on the show, RWBY: Amity Arena, which was released for Android and iOS devices in October 2018. Rooster Teeth Games published two mobile games, also available on Steam, in 2019, the collectible card game RWBY Deckbuilding Game, and the puzzle game RWBY: Crystal Quest. RWBY Deckbuilding Game was discontinued on April 30, 2020.
''RWBY Chibi''
RWBY Chibi is a comedic animated spin-off of RWBY compromising 57 three- to six-minute-long episodes in three seasons. It was first announced as part of Rooster Teeth's 13th-anniversary celebration on April 1, 2016, and Episode 1 premiered on May 7, 2016. Its first season concluded on October 15, 2016. Each episode consists of several scenes where aspects of RWBY's characters are usually exaggerated for comic effect. The episodes follow no strict chronological order, nor do they follow the strict canon of the main show. In January 2017, Rooster Teeth confirmed that a second season would launch that May. A third season started in January 2018, shortly after the main show's Volume 5 ended.Comics
At New York Comic Con 2018, Rooster Teeth announced a partnership with DC Comics to publish RWBY and comics starting in 2019. The RWBY comic is written by Marguerite Bennett and drawn by Mirka Andolfo and Arif Prianto.''CRWBY: Behind the Episode''
CRWBY: Behind the Episode is a behind the scenes documentary about the production of RWBY featuring interviews with the production crew. The show aired weekly during Volume 5 and Volume 6. The first season is exclusive for Rooster Teeth FIRST members. The second season is free to watch on YouTube and Rooster Teeth.''RWBY Rewind''
RWBY Rewind is a talk show that went live weekly only for FIRST members on Rooster Teeth during the fifth and sixth Volumes. The show featured discussion about the most recent episode and one guest from the production crew. The first season is exclusive for Rooster Teeth FIRST members. The second season is free to watch on YouTube and Rooster Teeth.''Talk CRWBY to Me''
Talk CRWBY to Me is a behind the scenes podcast hosted by Kerry Shawcross about the production of RWBY featuring members from the different departments within Rooster Teeth Animation. The podcast started airing weekly only for FIRST members on May 23, 2020 and concluded after eight episodes on July 11, 2020.''RWBY: The Grimm Campaign''
RWBY: The Grimm Campaign is an upcoming Rooster Teeth Dungeons and Dragons campaign featuring members from the production crew. It will premiere on Rooster Teeth FIRST on August 15, 2020.''RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant''
RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant is an upcoming animated production exclusively for Rooster Teeth FIRST featuring original fairy tales from the world of Remnant.Appearances in other media
Yang and Weiss appeared as combatants in the online series Death Battle, where they fought Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII and Mitsuru Kirijo from Persona 3, respectively. The series creator, Ben Singer, talked with Oum about including a RWBY character on Death Battle before Oum's passing.Ruby and Yang appeared as combatants in Death Battle's spin-off series DBX, where they fought Ragna the Bloodedge from BlazBlue and Katsuki Bakugo from My Hero Academia, respectively.
In the film Doctor Sleep, the character Abra Stone has RWBY posters and a statue of the character Emerald Sustrai in her room, and also wears Emerald's hair in a dream sequence. The filmmakers decided to bring in the references suggested by Abra's portrayer Kyliegh Curran, who is a fan of RWBY.
Music
The music for all volumes of RWBY has been composed primarily by Jeff Williams, with additional composition by Steve Goldshein, Mason Lieberman, and Alex Abraham. Williams was a member of the band Trocadero, who did the music for Rooster Teeth's Red vs. Blue, and eventually composed by himself the music for the three seasons of Red vs. Blue that preceded RWBY. Most of the vocals are provided by Williams' daughter Casey Lee Williams, with some additional vocals by Lamar Hall and Sandy Casey.The soundtrack features a variety of genres, most notably intense, fast-paced rock music. In an interview with Rooster Teeth, Williams mentioned that he uses his lyrics to foreshadow future events on occasion. In developing the songs, Williams uses the show's script and picks out random words and phrases that he thinks are cool. He would also get advanced knowledge as to the character's development, their background stories and lives. He then picks out the emotions related to the scene, adds tempo, drumbeats, rhythm, and eventually composes the song from there.
''Volume 1 Soundtrack''
The official soundtrack for RWBY: Volume 1 was released by Jeff Williams on November 12, 2013. It includes the songs used in the trailers, the intro to the series' episodes, and also the score music to each episode. The soundtrack also contains previously unreleased songs such as "I May Fall" and "Wings". These songs were, however, briefly played at the end of various episodes.Volume 1 reached number one on iTunes and beating out the movie soundtrack to . The soundtrack reached number 22 on Billboards Top Rock Albums charts.