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RWBY Volume 2 Review

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Volume 1 served as a nice introduction, now I will talk about the ways Volume 2 followed up, good and bad. Like before, spoilers. If you haven't read my review of the last season, look here.

Before talking about the story I must say that the production values look significantly better. Designs have polish and details, background characters in the last season were just drawn as a shadows, but now they are drawn as actual people. On top of this the episodes are longer despite looking better. Volume 1 was loaded with episodes that felt like one split into two, that is no longer the case. I don't know if this is the result of the staff getting better or a higher budget, but it's a welcome change to see this show's presentation go up each season.

This and Volume 1 feel like the introductions to the world and our characters. I had wondered why Yang and Ruby were sisters but had different last names. Well we got the answer with the explanation they are half sisters. Not that they care, they are a good pair of siblings who will support each other even if they are a hundred percent blood related.

Blake is still not the most social person and is obsessed with finding more about Roman and the White Fang, until Yang sets her straight with a reminder she's not the only person who suffered in the past and she doesn't need to do things alone. This really sets a trend for the series we start learning that everyone in this series has some dark back story, some are just more effected than others. Also because Blake was revealed to be a cat girl we get jokes involving cat stereotypes; hates dogs, chasing laser pointers, loves fish, ect, which are hilarious.

Also I gotta love the nods the humor gives to the various couples, with Ruby naming team attacks after fan nicknames for romantic pairings. And there's the intentional nods to the Ruby/Weiss ship like when the two hug each other in their despair over losing in a board game that's a cross between Yuigoh and Risk.

Yang was my favorite of the heroes last season, and she still is here since along with her hilarious quirks, she still acts the mature older sister of the team. Ruby didn't have any development or character moments that stood out for me this season, overall it felt like this season's arc was focused on Blake and Ruby and Weiss would get their time in the spotlight later.

We barely got to see Cinder last volume and here it was where we got see more of her. She's creepy as hell with her scheming and how she relishes in the pain that her evil schemes will cause, ignorant that they will all be foiled by Remnant's true hero, the adorable corgi Zwei! Okay that non-canon, but it's still more satisfying the spanner in the works that we actually get.

There isn't much I can about her flunkies/friends Mercury and Emerald. They have some funny scenes while still managing be threatening, feeling like a medium by the almost completely serious Cinder and the largely comedic Roman. Sadly they are overshadowed by the ever hilarious Roman since he still has a bigger role than them, which is fine since the plot hasn't had a reason for them to play a more direct role.

All that said, my favorite character introduced in this volume is easily Oobleck. In my personal opinion he is the funniest character this season with his quirky eccentric attitude. And yet he still manages to pull of the air of being a wiser and more experienced adult figure, and is enough of a badass that we see why he is trusted to watch team RWBY.

I mentioned things being followed up on for better and for worse. Given all the good things I've said, what could I possibly have against this season? Well that's easy. Team JNPR's handling. Outside of the hilarious food fight in the season opening, the team as a whole doesn't contribute much. Most of their screen time went to Jaune and Pyhrra fleshing them out and setting up their romance. It's done well, but between that, the focus on RWBY, and Cinder's team, it leaves Lie and Nora with very little to do this season. Nora has some funny moments at least but Lie only acts as a straight man, which feels redundant in terms of roles since Pyhrra also does that while having her dynamic with Jaune and what we learn about her past she is used to people being afraid to get close to her because they never felt they were good enough. This certainly explains why she took a liking to Jaune so quickly, he never cared about her reputation and just saw her as a friend.

Neopolitan is another problem. Most of the villains have some distinct personality traits, but since she never speaks at any point about all that does stand about her is that she never speaks in this volume or the next. Her lack of personality makes her feel more like an obstacle for the heroes than a real villain. Yes she is a formidable fighter, in the first three volumes the strongest villain we actually see fight next to Cinder, except maybe Adam, but she doesn't do much besides that and one bit next volume. I actually like her depiction in RWBY Chibi better thanks to her snarky attitude with the signs.

I'm actually liked the climax with the Grimm attacking Vale because of all the characters we got to see fight. That said I see why some people don't care for it since Oobleck and RWBY go through all that work to stop the train and the Grimm, the Grimm break in anyways and defeated easily, and the break in isn't brought up again. This set piece feels like it serves more introduce Adam Taurus and his weight in the White Fang than anything else.

This season was an improvement in every respect compared to the previous one. It looks better, the action is as good as ever with amazing individual fights and scenes with our protagonists working as a team. We don't learn much more about the mysteries introduced in the first volume, but we are slowly given just enough for it stay exciting.
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golork's avatar
I believe that volume 2 was also the start of the "history of remnant" sections. Do you think you could make a minor mention of them, if not going into small detail about them?