(It snuck up on me this year, but we passed another The Contrarian Corner anniversary the other day! This little blog has officially been online for FIVE YEARS now! That’s insane! Here’s to another five!)
It’s been a while since the last one of these, huh? Well, I’ve been meaning to tackle a full Contrarian Retrospective for RWBY, and for some reason now felt like the right time to undertake this task. It’s one of my all-time favorite shows, and I’ve been wanting to do it justice with a deep-dive review for months now.
If you need a refresher on how these types of articles work, I’ll be going through one season per week, breaking down the episodes one-by-one. For each episode, I’ll do a synopsis of what happens, give my own thoughts/mini-review, and then a rating from 1-10. At the end I’ll give an overall review and rating to the season as a whole.
Let’s get our journey kicked off!
Episode One – Ruby Rose
After a mysterious narrator establishes the worldbuilding of the fantasy realm of Remnant (such as the evil monsters, the Grimm), a young girl named Ruby stumbles upon (and mostly foils) a robbery led by a criminal named Roman Torchwick. Torchwick escapes thanks to an enigmatic woman in a red dress, and Ruby is saved by one of the local school’s lead teachers. Ruby is then questioned by the affable headmaster, Ozpin, and inducted into Beacon Academy.
This is an extremely solid opening to a show, especially one that eventually gets as dense and epic-in-scale as it does. The show smartly kicks us off with just Ruby, Torchwick, a bank robbery, and a bit of worldbuilding for Remnant and Beacon Academy. Plus, the scene with Ozpin and Ruby talking is layered with a ton of very good moments of foreshadowing and setup for payoffs that won’t happen until several seasons later. The Cinder tease is fun too, even if she sticks out a bit not having a voice yet, and also not really being important in this season at all.
Rating: 9
Episode Two – The Shining Beacon
Pushed to make new friends by her older sister, Yang, Ruby stumbles through her own socially awkward tendencies to try and make some lasting friendships. She has an explosive meetup with the pretentious heiress, Weiss, sympathizes with the lovably luckless Jaune, and bonds with the aloof loner Blake over a shared love of books.
So there’s a bit of a common trend with this season that leads to a lot of the middling scores I’m going to be giving to these episodes. It’s just…not all that exciting. Yes, I know the show needs to set up all of these different characters and their dynamics, and I’m sympathetic to that, but it still doesn’t change my score. Combined with the voice actors still growing into their roles, and the very stilted animation, and it makes many scenes just a bit awkward. There’s always highlights (I really like Ruby and Blake’s conversation in this episode), but much of it is just kinda ‘okay‘.
Rating: 7
Episode Three – The First Step
The first task at Beacon Academy is an initiation trial which not only tests the students aptitude, but also establishes their partner for their entire schooling duration. Despite trying to find Yang, Ruby ends up partnering with Weiss instead, and the two girls are immediately at odds with one another. Elsewhere, Jaune partners with a student named Pyrrha, a pseudo-celebrity and extremely talented fighter.
Yet another episode that is mostly just ‘okay’, and as I mentioned, that’s a theme with this season. Still, I really do love Weiss (she’s my favorite character, after all), and I love that the show wasn’t afraid to make her a borderline antagonist in this season. She’s at the center of almost every major conflict and character moment, and her interactions with Ruby are awesome. The rest of the shenanigans in the forest? A little less so.
Rating: 7
Episode Four – The Emerald Forest
Blake and Yang end up as partners, and surprisingly get along quite well. Ruby and Weiss continue to butt heads. Stoic Ren ends up partnered with rambunctious Nora, while Pyrrha teaches Jaune (and the viewer) a few more things about how the world of Remnant works. The students are then ambushed by a giant scorpion Grimm and a giant bird Grimm, placing them in peril.
I have even less to say about this episode than the previous one. Yang and Blake immediately getting along in a sort of ‘opposites-attract‘ kind of thing is fun, and Jaune’s cluelessness is a good framing device for Pyrrha to do more exposition dumping, but otherwise this whole forest stuff does drag a bit.
Rating: 6.5
Episode Five – Players and Pieces
Ruby’s recklessness requires Weiss’ help, but her spirit impresses Weiss. Reinvigorated, the two teams of four work together to battle the scorpion and bird Grimm, taking down their opponents while showing off their unique skills and abilities. Upon returning to school, the students are grouped into teams of four, with Ruby being declared as the leader of Team RWBY. In the city of Vale, Torchwick plans a new criminal scheme.
Thankfully, everything that happened in the forest gets an excellent payoff with this big clash, an action-packed setpiece that takes up most of this episode’s runtime. Getting to see every character flex their stuff to tackle a giant Grimm scorpion and bird is very enthralling, and the music is sublime. It’s a moment that, for many, will be the scene that sells them on the entirety of RWBY. A teaser for Torchwick at the end of the episode is the neat little bow on a great mid-season climax.
Rating: 9
Episode Six – The Badge and the Burden
Though she tries to give Ruby a shot as the leader of their team, Weiss finds herself quickly infuriated by Ruby’s juvenile behavior and lack of experience. Believing herself to be a better leader, Weiss volunteers for a dangerous test during class. After class, Ruby receives guidance on how to be more responsible, and Weiss is humbled when her teacher points out her ego. Weiss and Ruby make up that night.
While not as good as the previous episode, we roll right into more Weiss-centric content, so it’s still good. Genuinely, I think she’s kind of the main character of the season. Anyway, her having issues with Ruby’s immaturity and feeling like she should have been the team captain instead is a really valid and in-character response for her, and I like how the lesson she learns isn’t to just accept the way things are and deal with it, but to learn how to humble herself and be a great teammate and friend. Likewise, I appreciate that Ruby isn’t let off the hook either and also needs to learn to be more mature and responsible.
Rating: 8
Episode Seven – Jaunedice
Jaune finds himself dealing with a school bully, Cardin. That same bully also torments the Faunus at school, who are essentially humans with a few animal traits. Pyrrha takes Jaune under her wing, training him and helping him to grow more confident. Still self-conscious, Jaune admits that he cheated his way into Beacon Academy. Unfortunately, Cardin overhears Jaune’s confession, and decides to blackmail Jaune.
Okay, let me be clear in stating that I do not hate Jaune or Pyrrha as characters. Pyrrha is super cool, and Jaune goes through a ton of great moments and character development. The issue is that I really don’t think the debut season of RWBY needed to get sidetracked by devoting almost twenty minutes to Jaune-centric content, when he’s just a supporting character. It feels odd, out-of-place, and it’s just a cliched anti-bullying story (not that that’s a bad message, mind you). It’s not that great.
Rating: 5.5
Episode Eight – Forever Fall
Forced to cater to Cardin’s every desire because of the blackmail, Jaune ends up alienated from his own team members. When Cardin tries to get Jaune to hurt Pyrrha, a line is finally crossed. Jaune stands up to Cardin, but then proves himself a real hero when a bear Grimm arrives to attack, and Jaune risks his own life to save Cardin. A grateful Cardin agrees to leave Jaune alone, and Jaune makes up with Pyrrha and his team.
The second-half of the Jaune stuff is definitely better than the first half, but even then, it’s really just the final few minutes that I like. Jaune taking down a big bear Grimm (with a secret assist from Pyrrha) right as the music swells to its crescendo? It’s pretty awesome. Jaune reconciling with his friends? Not bad. Just the overall plotline and everything else? Again, cliched and a bit boring.
Rating: 6.5
Episode Nine – The Stray
While exploring the city of Vale, Team RWBY encounters a quirky girl named Penny, and a rascally monkey-like Faunus named Sun. Sun’s not-exactly-legal antics annoy Weiss, who reveals deep-seated distrust and dislike of all Faunus (born from a nationwide racial prejudice in Weiss’ homeland). Weiss’ rude comments anger Blake, and the two argue. Blake eventually accidentally reveals herself to be a Faunus (with cat traits), and she runs away in shame and embarrassment.
Getting to see more of the city outside of Beacon Academy is a cool move for this season’s final storyline, and I really enjoy both Penny (she’s hilarious) and Sun (he brings in some interesting story themes). Weiss is, again, the antagonist here, and her butting heads with Blake leads to some great tension, as does the Blake reveal of her cute little kitty ears. Is it the most nuanced discussion of racism ever put to the screen? Uh, no, it’s a bit weak, actually. But I appreciate the attempt and the drama that unfolds.
Rating: 8
Episode Ten – Black and White
Blake runs into Sun, and shares some of the backstory of a Faunus organization she used to be a part of, the White Fang. A trail of clues lead Blake and Sun to realize that the White Fang is working with Torchwick to steal tons of supplies and goods. Blake and Sun intervene and battle Torchwick, while Ruby bonds with Penny. Ruby and Penny show up to pitch in, and Penny demonstrates jaw-dropping skills to almost single-handedly destroy Torchwick’s operation, though the man himself escapes. Team RWBY makes up afterward, and Torchwick has a shady meeting with the woman in the dress who saved him in the first episode, Cinder.
The first season’s grand finale is a bit quaint compared to the seasons that follow, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing here. Especially because, even with the smaller scale, the choreography is just incredible (gun-chucks, anyone?). Blake’s backstory about the White Fang is super cool, Weiss slowly thawing out of her home nation’s bigoted ways is nice to see, Penny continues to be a joy, and as touched on above, the final showdown with Torchwick is still one of the show’s best brawls. Officially meeting Cinder in the post-credits scene is a nice way to cap things off and tease us for the story to come.
There is a weird moment where Ozpin gets a text message from Ruby’s uncle, Qrow, who we don’t meet until much later and is working for Ozpin as a spy of sorts. Unlike some other moments of foreshadowing and cheeky hints at the future, this one feels out-of-place, and (speaking from a writing perspective) I don’t think it works. It’s not the only time this happens in RWBY‘s earlier seasons, and it does feel a tad like a symptom of rewrites.
Rating: 8
SEASON CONCLUSION
Two years ago (my how time flies), I ranked RWBY’s first season as my least favorite. If you couldn’t tell by the rest of this article, my opinion on the matter hasn’t changed.
It’s hard to overlook just how unimpressive the visuals are for everything but the action scenes, as the stilted and janky animations take a lot to get used to. The voice acting isn’t quite up to par yet, and the pacing is a bit all over the place (especially with the really rough Jaune stuff in the second-half of the season). That being said, it’s extremely charming, quite funny, and the three big action scenes bring the wow factor. The soundtrack is, of course, sublime, and there are enough little kernels of interest in the story and characters (our four heroines, for instance, are easy to fall in love with) that keep your attention going.
Rating: 7
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
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