RWBY - Are the weapon designs an inside job by Insomniac Games?

[Aldurin]

So I think with the 3rd trailer out there's enough to talk about to make this its own thread.

First the trailers
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First trailer showed off the art style, animation quality and outrageous-fight-scene focus of the series. There was enough to intrigue people, despite a few rough spots (awful sound effects for the wolves stands out the most). It was a strong introduction.

Second trailer introduces the next character (whose voice actor sings all songs with female vocals so far) and is a great example of tying the pace of every element of the presentation together. Definitely the best trailer so far.

Third trailer comes up yesterday and that's where the worries come in. Up until that point the trailers did a good job of ignoring two critical points, the story and voice acting. First, voice acting is bad, the man putting an overdramatic drawl into his growling manner, and the female character's tone does not match the situation or what we would expect. Then the story (still assuming there is one), we see the characters jump onto a train and 'say the cliches' and disregard the unseen civilians' safety with no context to invest us into the situation. Through all this apparently some unsaid character conflict happens and we get a very anticlimatic ending. This is the trailer that makes me worried.

But this is Roosterteeth, who managed to patch a shallow comedy into the surface of a deep and complex story with actual characters and things. They could very well start off strong, or start off weak and quickly escalate this to the best action anime ever because Claymore's anime is out of production. I can't really settle on a persistent opinion until I see the Yellow trailer.

So, is this shit/unshit/meh/mediocre to you guys so far?

[Bells]

i pretty sure we had a thread about this or at least a post when the first trailer came out... i recall seeing this and drawing a little paralell on how Red seemed a lot "red hiding hood" and white being anything like "snow white" would set a trend in my eyes... not so sure about that now.

The voice acting is not that bad... the guy sure, the "snake growl" is overused in American Dubs and not always fitting... the girl, is fit. Mostly she spouts quick lines... can't get a read of her just yet. Maybe it fits her character...

for the context, there is subtle context in all trailers... in the first we have a loner huntress, in the other we have someone who presents herself as a sweet and mellow public picture deep in classical music and opera style presentations, parallel right there with a tough fighter who shows to be fearless. In the third we have a rogue, probably walking "the line between good and bad" that still shows a broader view of care for the consequence of her actions...

So... yeah... there are character traits in all trailers. The problem is not they existing or not, is to see if rooster teeth can develop and sustain them.

[Flarecobra]

I'd say that the trailers work for what trailers are supposed to do: Catch your attention.

[Arcanum]

http://i.imgur.com/SOhbxwI.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ZBmK4dx.jpg

---------- Post added 03-24-2013 at 12:12 AM ---------- Previous post was 03-23-2013 at 11:25 PM ----------

But anyway, yeah I agree the voice acting is pretty bad right now. Even with Black, some of her lines just fell flat and had no emotion behind them. The two biggest culprits being "We need to get out of here" and "Are you sure?" Those lines were extremely monotonous given what was going on.

I really liked what they were doing with the allusions to fairy tale characters, and I'm sad to see that's not going to be a theme across all the characters. Unless Black/Blake is an allusion to some obscure fairy tale or one I don't know about.

As for the whole civilian thing, I was under the impression Black/Blake unhitched the train and left Tuxedo Mask behind to save the civvies (who would be at the front of the train because that's normally where the only folks on a cargo train are).

[Kyanbu The Legend]

After looking past the action, I've been wondering if they mentioned anything about what RWBY's story is going to be. If it hasn't been mentioned already, I guess we'll find out this summer.

EDIT: I believe the dude's name is Adam. But you know what, Tuxedo Mask works fine too.

[Bells]

http://i.imgur.com/SOhbxwI.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ZBmK4dx.jpg


Yes.

So much so that i honestly cant think it was a coincidence!

Also... maybe Black and Blaker are Hansel and Gretel?

that would make Yellow rapunzel?

[Arcanum]

I re-watched the White trailer and the top comment brought up an interesting point. In Red we have a full moon, in White it looks like the moon is being broken up, or possibly getting covered/consumed by something, and in Black the deterioration is much worse. Sooo, possible plot stuffs there.

Hansel and Gretel

While this is possible, the only thing to suggest that is the fact that there's two of them, one male and one female. Whereas with the previous trailers the allusions were much more obvious.

In addition to Rapunzel, Yellow could also be Goldilocks.

[Bells]

Also red was definitely winter, and Black as clearly Autumm. I don't recall signs of White being Spring or Summer though....

[Arcanum]

Well the opera house didn't have a roof, thus open to the elements, and it was nighttime at that so I would guess it was summer.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Yeah like many I was not impressed with the Black trailer at first. Mainly because of Adam, dude stole the spotlight from Blake too much and his voice acting is terrible. Also the sudden arrival of high tech mechs was kind of jarring, until then the only piece of really advanced tech we'd seen was Rubys Crescent Rose.

It did offer some more insight into the connections between the characters; the possibility of Ruby and Adam being related, the Schnee family crest on the cargo crates, which seems to imply her family are involved in their manufacture, the continuing degradation of the moon, etc.

Still, what we did see of Blake was cool. Anyone with a pistol-sword-whip with sword sheath is ok by me. Ruby is still my favourite character so far (gota love a badass redhead with a sniperscythe), but overall I think Whites trailer was the best.

Still optimistic on what Yellow and the series will bring.

[Amake]

If it was me I'd make Yellow based on The Matchstick Girl. Have her throw magic spells with a sulphur-fire staff and possibly meet a tragic end.

It'll be funny if they keep the distinct color schemes for the characters in all their scenes, especially if they meet each other. Could almost get David Mack-ian.

[Gregness]

The fight choreography sort of reminds me of a Tales game to be honest.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

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All of my faith has been restored in this show. I think I just found my favorite character. Also that ending should have gotten a nice loud "KO" after that last fully charged punch to the face.

[Bells]

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All of my faith has been restored in this show. I think I just found my favorite character. Also that ending should have gotten a nice loud "KO" after that last fully charged punch to the face.

Was she Dempsey Rollin!?

Did she Dempsey roll with Shotgun gauntlets?!!!

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Yes, yes. She's that awesome, also apparently she's an expy of Cinderella.

[Flarecobra]

I would never have thought of gunfists before.

[Aldurin]

Well, at least now July will have something to keep us sane while Hussie is not updating Homestuck.

Best combat style ever. Forget the lever-action scythe, forget the magic rapier, forget the ribbon-pistol and definitely forget the not-a-jetstream-sam-ripoff. Shotgun gloves for life.

[Krylo]

VA and writing was god awful.

Hopefully can download videos with voice audio tracks differentiated from SE and music.

No words. Only punches.

[Bells]

VA wasn't nothin much to write home about really, but from what i see this will just be loosely based comedy sketchies used to tie in awesome action sequences.

and you know what? I've seen worst...

[Arcanum]

VA and writing was god awful.

I came here to say this. Every time someone opened their mouth to talk I visibly cringed.

I will admit at the end I was hoping maybe Ruby could make up for the shittiness. But nope, she just made it worse.

With that aside, the action is still pretty awesome. The trailer was much more lighthearted/ridiculous than the previous ones, as seen by the stupid interactions at the start (I have really poor hopes for the writing of this series) but also in the rocket launcher that transforms into a giant baseball bat, and the super-saiyan power-ups.

Also a little sad that they rehashed their Mirror Mirror song for parts of the trailer. Sure hoping for a completely new song with vocals and everything might have been setting the bar a little high, but I was still hoping for it.

Anyway, I'll most likely be watching the series when it's out. But I might have to mute it whenever the action stops and the talking starts.

[Arhra]

Surely bazooka-bat deserves at least an honourable mention?

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Yeah, gota agree with the previous sentiments; the voice acting is terrible. I mean I thought Adam from the Black trailer was maybe just the one dude pulling the show down, but then we had the same with nearly every line in Yellow too. Especially Ruby, god that voice is horrible. Not what I imagined she'd sound like at all.

The action and the weapon designs are still excellent, but that's pretty par for the course at this point. I also didn't mind them reusing the music from all the previous trailers either, I quite liked that touch, brought the whole thing full circle.

But they seriously need to work on that dialgue.

[Aldurin]

The abysmal writing and voice acting is the only thing that might bring this whole thing down. I'm actually shocked by it, as people have made Skyrim mods with better writing and voice acting from their basement than what we've seen in these trailers.

[Flarecobra]

So, it's aired at RTX already... and will be available for the public July 18th.

[Fenris]

So, it premiered today online.

The first episode was... okay.

The main characters are pretty clearly not used to voice acting yet. The animation is generally good, but there were a few moments where the lip flap wasn't quite in sync. The cigar hanging out of Roman's mouth defied gravity pretty hardcore and took me out of the narrative. Additionally, the scene where Ruby is eating the cookies (or more accurately, vanishing them in front of her mouth) was ridiculous.

The action sequences continue to be fantastic - it's pretty apparent that these are Monty's forte. The soundtrack was fairly good as well, although as a composing musician myself I did have my criticisms which I'll keep to myself as they're wholly subjective and wouldn't be useful to anybody else. The mythology of the world is pretty interesting as well.

I am going to continue to watch the episodes, though, because a) it's more RoosterTeeth content and they're pretty talented people and b) I think it'll get a lot better as the voice actors and animators get more accustomed to their roles in the creation of the series. I think this will be a lot like RvB in that I personally find the first few episodes to be bland and uninteresting but by the time the series gets into full swing and the story progresses, I have a feeling that it will be absolutely fantastic.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Still 30 minutes until it airs for the general public. I am waiting with much anticipation.

I am also going to avoid reading anything more than like, 2 lines of Fenris post due to spoiler fears.

[Fenris]

The post is spoiler free, as far as plot goes.

Although I do reveal one character has a cigar! And Ruby eats cookies!

[Flarecobra]

And as of now, 2 minutes until it airs.

I'll give it a couple episodes, as the first episode is rarely not about introductions.

POST-VIEWING UPDATE: Not too bad. Certainly has a bit a Final Fantasy 8ish feel to it, it seems. And I think the voice acting is better then in the trailers.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I was suitably impressed. Love Rubys intro. Background for the world is pretty interesting, nice bit of foreshadowing for things to come. And the dialogue was not terrible, which is a massive relief.

Now I'm probably going to go and re-watch the episode about 10 times like I did with all the trailers.

EDIT; If I have 1 complaint, it's that certain characters faces are appearing extremely white and washed out to the point of featurlessness at certain points. Most notably with Ruby during the interogation scene under the harsh light, and then with both Ruby and Yang in the last scene. I've been messing with my monitor settings but to no avail, so I'm not sure if it's just me or what.

[Flarecobra]

Might've also been a style choice too, considering that the "non-interactive folks" seem to only be represented by silhouette.

[Bells]

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Ok, yes... this was REALLY well done

[Fenris]

After watching the panel, it appears as though Jack was the voice actor for Junior in the Yellow trailer.

Which explains the terrible voice acting. Jack's one of those guys who has never claimed to be a voice actor and admits freely to being terrible at it. Sounds like it was one of those circumstances where Monty just needed somebody to cover the part and Jack happened to be around.

I don't think that character's going to be thoroughly involved in the rest of the series by the sounds of the panel, but I could be wrong on that also considering we've only seen one episode.

[Aldurin]

Decent, voice acting doesn't make me cringe, though the whole fact that the rendering process can't decide when to trace out border lines for objects drives me nuts, since it looks like a really shitty lens focus effect at times.

Will keep watching.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

though the whole fact that the rendering process can't decide when to trace out border lines for objects drives me nuts, since it looks like a really shitty lens focus effect at times.


Is that the same thing that's making peoples mouths dissapear in bright light that I mentioned? If so, yeah, it's bugging the hell out of me. Hopefully it's just a case of early installment wierdness and gets scrapped soon enough.


Also, that intro. Man that is a fucking ace intro.

[Gregness]

I did some cursory looking aroud the rooster teeth site, but I couldn't find anything regarding the release schedule for this. Is it weekly or what?

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Weekly yeah. Every thursday. Not sure of the exact times though, since it varies depending on if you're a sponsor or not. They've also said volume 1 is going to be 16 episodes, but volume 1 doesn't mean season 1, so we should have a lot of episodes to look forward to.

Also I hear there's a weeks delay before they go up on youtube, but don't quote me on that.

[synkr0nized]

OK

So, I went into the first episode thinking I'd get Red vs. Blue season 1 levels of bad audio and voice acting.

Uh

It was better than many English dubs from licensed studios.

*shrug*

As for the rest, it seems to actually have more plot and effort than Monty Oum's other work, which is nice.

Also did I hear Cortana doing the narration? Please say, "Yes!"

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Also did I hear Cortana doing the narration? Please say, "Yes!"

Yes.

Though you may be alone in thinking the audio and voice acting is that good, from what I've been reading on other sites a lot of people are really bashing the show.

Personally I think they're just being nitpicky.

[Flarecobra]

It does appear to be Jen Taylor there.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Full version of the intro song is up.

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As is a complete soundtrack for ep.1

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Which is mostly just worth it for the short segment from Rubys fight scene.

[Vauron]

I'm personally glad that Ruby doesn't have as nasually a voice as she does in the Y trailer. I couldn't stand her voice there, but I had no problem with her in the show itself.

[Aldurin]

I do wonder how they're gonna go about the whole "furry civil rights" thing that was briefly shown in the news report. Like Bianca or whatever Black's name is has the cat ears, so it's not going to be something that stays in the background of the setting.

Bonus points if this somehow leads to a stupid crossover with Dust: An Elysian Tale.

[Flarecobra]

I thought it was a bow in her hair.

[Bells]

It is. The official poster shows it. But it does look like cat ears, and i'm pretty sure it's supposed to

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Well, it seems, despite speculation, the first four episodes will not be named after each of the main characters.

Now I just wish new episodes didn't have to air at 1am for me every week.:mad:

[Flarecobra]

And Ruby continues to be adorable.

Also, Weiss is a bitch.

[Gregness]

The animation was uncharacteristically stiff for Jean (john?) while he was bumbling about with his equipment, but that didn't really hurt the episode for me I don't think. I quite liked it.

Edit: Now that Weiss has an actual speaking role, with her being an abrasive Germanic elitist whose trailer hints at a deep loneliness? There's no way she's not an expy of Asuka.

[Aldurin]

Vomiting noise is unrealistic.

Worst show.

[Bells]

So, what i got from this episode was that Weiss Schnee is Rarity.

...i'm okay with that.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I don't remember Rarity being such a blatant stuck up bitch. I guess we all saw this coming though, we knew there'd have to be some character conflict, and that either Weiss or Blake would be the centre of it.

Gota feel sorry for Jean. In a world of improbable weapon users he certainly seems to have gotten the short end of the stick.

[Bells]

If anime logic applies that only means he has the most powerful weapon...

[Aldurin]

If anime logic applies that only means he has the most powerful weapon...

Still waiting for the guy who fights unarmed with no magic showing up and beating everyone.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Pretty sure that's Yangs department. She did punch Junior accross a room with a single punch even without activating her weapons after all.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Loving this series more with each episode. They packed a lot of humour into this one. And the group dynamic that's forming is interesting, with Blake seemingly becoming the only sane woman and Wiess being, well, Wiess.

[Bells]

I have absolutely no problem investing 5 minutes each week into this show, it actually feels like a perfect length. Group dynamic is flowing and voice acting is better than i expected.

Well written too!

[Flarecobra]

I think I might have found my favorite character in the series in Blake.

[batgirl]

I've just finished watching the most current episode (if you want to call it that, mini episode maybe?) and I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.

At first, the clunky art was kind of off putting, like watching an entire anime in Windwaker style art. It is especially apparent when there is any sort of non-action happening. Watching people walk is just...painful. The fight scenes, however, are awesome. In fact, the art style improves the fight scenes and gives it a nice flow.

The voice acting, like most people are stating, is painful. We'll have to see what happens in later episodes, but I'm kind of not enjoying it at all at this time.

So, I'm guardedly neutral about the show. I'll certainly keep watching, but I'm not expecting a masterpiece of voice acting.

[Aldurin]

The voice acting isn't a steaming pile of dogshit like it was in the trailers, but it still feels off through most of it (I do think that Ruby's voice actor is probably doing the best out of the leading four characters so far).

But hey, I put up with playing Warframe, so maybe my voice acting tolerance is a bit skewed.

[Flarecobra]

At the start... how many of us know of people like the orange-haired girl?

And suddenly how the "RWBY" team gets together starts to come into focus I believe.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

So we finally have names for the other characters. And it turns out Ren is a full time gunslinger.

Next episode should be pretty cool, we'll finally get to see everyone in action and how the other team fights.

[batgirl]

Is it just me or did anyone feel like a bit of a cop out with the uber short episode this week?

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Yeah, I was hoping for a bit more action as well. Hopefully the next few episodes should start getting a bit more action heavy, what with the imminent danger and all. Likely the rest, or at least the majority of, the season will be spent in the forest fighting shit, which will make up for it all.

Still, we did get to see Pyrrhas cool sword/spear/gun thing, which is pretty neat.

And soon Wiess will begin the process of defrosting ice queen, because nothing makes people form friendships faster than a life or death battle for survival! I suspect she will still remain a bitch despite that though.

[Flarecobra]

Yeah, not the best episode, but eh, could be worse.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Still pretty funny ep despite the shortness. Yang flying about like a loon, everyones (except Jaun) badass "landing strategies" and some funny dialogue.

No sign of Blake though, and we still haven't seen what Noras weapon is.

[Odjn]

Damn umber wants her some jaun.

[Flarecobra]

Well... I know some girls are touchy about their hair... but goddamn Yang.

[Gregness]

So I guess we know why the last few episodes have been like 6 minutes.

Also, Nora is basically the incarnation of pinky pie for this series.

[Flarecobra]

Juan just seems to be a big ol' punching bag for everything, huh?

And so far, what does everyone think of RWBY? I'm actually enjoying it myself.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

My pc just randomly decided to restart about 5 minutes in to the episode, right during the epic battle. Twice. Fuck you shitty pc. Fuck. You.

Now I have to go to work for 9 hours and not know how it all ended.

At least I finally know what Noras weapon is.

[Bells]

I like it, i really do like it. The story is lighthearted, simple... ther is nothing complex here or anything i haven't seen before. But i do like it because it's honest, it's not trying to be anything else eithe...

I can judge a show based on how well it fufill what it had promised, and the action is cool, the music is cool and the story is simple.

I have absolutely zero problems with giving 10 minutes of my week for this.

[Aldurin]

Fight scenes are still the shit, and grenade hammer steals the show for just having the coolest flow when used for traversal shit.

Everything else is starting to pour out of the seams, though. Dialogue started off stupidly weak this episode, the animation fell apart whenever someone was moving without attacking. Also the song sucked, because you don't try to cram that many words into a single verse for hype songs, and when you do it otherwise you exclusively let Weird Al do it.

I want that hammer.

[Gregness]

Fight scenes are still the shit, and grenade hammer steals the show for just having the coolest flow when used for traversal shit.

*snip*

I want that hammer.

I think that might have more to do with nora than the hammer specifically. No matter what she's doing she's having more fun than you are.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Well, it took FOUR attempts but I finally got my pc to not crash/restart halfway through. I can only assume it was struggling to buffer in the SHEER AWESOME of that fight scene! Holy shit.

Now I have to go back and watch it again, repeatedly, so I can fully appreciate it.

[Aldurin]

Meh.

I don't want filler episodes, especially with this kind of writing. Why, Roosterteeth, why?

[Flarecobra]

Well, a "Day in the life of..." episode is ok once in a while...

And was that an Achievement Hunter poster Yang posted up?

EDIT: Yeah, it was. (http://store.roosterteeth.com/collections/posters/products/achievementhunterboybandposter24x36)

[batgirl]

Anyone else getting more and more frustrated with the episode lengths? I mean, I get that it's a lot of work and all, but 5 minutes?

[Flarecobra]

..I want a rocket locker!

[Aldurin]

Anyone else getting more and more frustrated with the episode lengths? I mean, I get that it's a lot of work and all, but 5 minutes?

Yeah, every episode that doesn't shine with Monty Oum magic is already annoying, but really this was half of an episode. I get that RvB was in the "whatever the fuck length we want" because it was a comedy whose script's brain damage had brain damage for quite some, but this just doesn't work for a series that sold us on the action that isn't always present.

[Flarecobra]

Well, imagine how it'll be once the season's complete, and you can watch them straight through.

[Arcanum]

Well, imagine how it'll be once the season's complete, and you can watch them straight through.

On that note, I just recently finished binging on the current episodes in one go. Overall I find the show really enjoyable, even if the dialogue can be hit-or-miss most of the time. The actions is, obviously, the best part, and the fight against the scorpion and crow was easily the best combat scene so far.

As for the short episodes, in the grand scheme of things they're no big deal, but catching up and ending on that 4 minute filler was horribly disappointing. It just feels like they're giving us half an episode, which I can kind of understand if they need to buy some time to work on more demanding action scenes. So really, if suffering through a 4 minute filler episode means we get another fight like the crow+scorpion fight, I'm okay with it.

[Aldurin]

So the weapon locker gets bigger. I'm torn between whether flintlock nunchucks or telekinetic sword swarm takes the coolest part of this episode.

[Flarecobra]

Well, I don't think androids can have telekinesis. Or did you miss the fact that they came out of a panel in her back?