RWBY Volume Seven
Since I am always candid with my fellow readers, I won’t hesitate to say that season 7 has been a complicated one. It made me understand a lot of my general feelings towards RWBY as a series, especially the less flattering ones.
With its excellent pacing and plot, RWBY Volume 7 manages to make the episodes feel like they last a long time. The key themes that go through this book are trust and fear. Those two concepts are covered throughout the plot, and the author manages to let them linger from one plot point to the next.
Volume 7 is a season of dizzying highs, some of the franchise's best moments, and some of the series' lowest points. These flaws aren’t related to production but writing, which we will discuss down the road.
RWBY is not a show that can be jumped into at any time. If you try to catch up on volume seven while reading, you will miss out on a lot of the rich character development that has been set out over the past six years. There are so many characters and dynamics at play at any given time that I doubt it would be a fun experience if you hadn't already traveled with these people. RWBY season 7 sets in the hardscrabble city of Mantle, which is located beneath the kingdom of Atlas.
Atlesian Fleet contacts Team RWBY, Team JNR, Oscar, Qrow, and Maria as soon as they arrive at Solitas. They must surrender because, following the events of volume 6, they will be boarding a stolen Atlesian airship. They abandon the ship and travel to the city of Mantle, which is located beneath the floating city of Atlas. Because of General Ironwood’s embargo policy, political tensions are rising in that location. From then, our heroes' quest in the Kingdom of Atlas begins as they attempt to balance safeguarding the people.
The story introduces the Ace-Ops, the special operatives who operate directly under General Ironwood, and Robyn Hill, a councilwoman candidate from Mantle. You will meet some new characters with fine development, making it easy to like them. Their presence has a significant impact on the major heroes' actions, further fleshing out their personalities. The show makers have built the new characters and strengthened the old characters by showcasing events that further cement their ties.
The first half of the volume includes corporate pandering and merchandise creation. Penny Polendina, the popular robot girl who was killed in Volume 3, reappears, rebuilt, and is ready for battle. While it's fantastic to see her again, she doesn't get much of a buildup or even an introduction. She just pops up.
The episodes will get worse as time goes on, with little action, not-so-subtle political undertones, and a lot of pandering (more on that later). Now and then, there will be a decent line, but you won’t get to the plot yet. But this is how the show rolls, nothing new. At this point, I suggest getting used to it.
The wait is worth it because something unexpected will help. The second half of the series will start improving. The antagonists appear, and there are some difficult moral decisions to be made, including some action. As the episodes progressed, the challenges became more complex, the action improved, and more attention is given to the story. Your excitement will reach its epitome as the final episode arrives.
This volume's animation work should also be discussed because it displays significant progress from prior volumes, particularly in terms of cinematography. Not only that, the use of 2D animation for some visual effects was a job well done! 3D animation has made the battles more dramatic and kept viewers on the edge of their seats as the fights progressed.
Since we are talking about animation, why not throw in some comments about the soundtrack as well. Jeff Williams (lead vocalist) and Alex Abraham continue to impress with their rocking compositions. This time, they have introduced new vocalists to the soundtracks (Dawn M. Bennett, Erel Reilly, Adrienne Cowan, Santi C, and Caleb Hayles. This addition has added another layer of flavor to the already fantastic music.
It hurts to say that the series' actual characters are also among the season's weakest links. Team RWBY feels extraneous to this season (at least to me). It's incredible how little the season changes if they’re omitted, and apparently, Volume 7's first draught? It got even worse.
Many moments were added in the production later on, and you could tell. For instance, the scenes of Ruby+Renora at the rally, Blake and Yang's conversation with Robyn, and Ruby and Qrow's dialogue were included near the end of the writing or were "low priority" enough that they could have been omitted. One can easily spot such moments throughout season 7.
The final episode is the final nail in the coffin: after giving a speech about how Salem tries to split people and how the only way to go is to stay unified, James does the exact opposite when things don't go as planned. Don't get me wrong, his PTSD over the queen chess piece was foretold, but by the time Team RWBY provides an explanation and identifies the person responsible, he's already too far gone. When Ruby gets under her skin, Salem shows up and goes after Team RWBY. This demonstrates that Salem has a flaw and that Team RWBY can be trusted to overcome her, but it is quickly dismissed.
Too many spoilers, right? Find out what happens next by watching the finale.
Volume 7 seemed heroic, triumphant, and bleak at times. The outcome isn't a perfect world within Weiss's country, but it is one that still has a chance to recapture its soul. Who knows, we may be able to watch how all of the struggles, difficulties, and sacrifices for that soul play out in the next Volume.
