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calliecat93 · 5 years

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RWBY Volume 6 Season Review

It's been a Hell of a ride dear readers. From train wrecks to zombie Grimm to mech battles, Volume 6 has had many twists and turns that have held absolutely nothing back. Now that it's over, it's time to look back and answer some important questions. Was this volume good? Did it improve the problems of the last volume? And how does this volume stand against the rest? We have a lot to go over and this is already several weeks later than it should, so for the final time lets get into RWBY Volume 6.

Visuals

Do I even need to say that the animation was good? Of course it is. The animation improves with every single season, and they knocked it out of the park here. If anyone was still doubtful about the change to Maya after Volumes 4 and 5, then this will show you that they have absolutely mastered the engine. Character animation and expressions are lively and energetic, which again isn't a surprise anymore. I have nothing new to say about the general animation. It's good. Really, really good..

The backgrounds and set pieces have greatly improved. A big problem with V5 was that we were mainly restricted to Qrow's Mistral house. It's a nice house, but being stuck in one setting for so long gets... well, boring. The other settings were either ones we were now familiar with (Menagerie) or nothing all that special (Raven's camp) with the exception being the Spring Maiden Vault. But the upside to V6 being a journey based volume like V4 means that we get more settings, and all of them were good. Brunswick Farms was cold and eerie, Lil' Miss Malachite's bar very much felt like a criminal hangout, and of course the beauty that is Argus. It's a massive city clearly based off San Francisco and they DON'T use 2D stills to get the point across. We get one episode where we get to see the city in full, and it makes us engage with the location as a result. And that's not even getting into everything in Chapter 3. The sets were all visually appealing, unique, and I very much loved everything.

There's also the effects. Oh gosh, the effects. Snow is very prevalent in this volume, and it looks beautiful. Just watch the opening shots of Chapter One, the falling snow against the trees looks freakin' great. Compare the trees to the ones in Volume 1, you WILL see the massive improvements that Maya have provided. In the effects department though, Chapter 3 wins. The blue smoke effects during Jinn's flashback just look so good and really give it a mystical feel. Hell, Jinn herself looks freakin' great. Other-worldly and kind of God-like, very fitting for a being made by a God and based off a genie. Which the character designs for the new characters also look great. Salem's human form making her look like a graceful maiden in a sharp contrast to her current form, Ozma looking knightly and regal, Saphron and Terra both look beautiful and their designs say a lot about them (Saphron is a fun-loving but caring person, Terra looks a little nerdy but also mature), it's all really good and diverse. I love it!

Finally, there is the big one. The fight animation. This was by far one of, if not THE biggest complaint about Volume 5, especially with the Battle of Haven...ugh... battle. They were too slow. ‘’characters just stood around. It was clunky and un-energetic. In short, people had problems. Well, I think it's safe to say that they listened. The fights are all fantastic. Chapter One alone addressed the concerns with the train battle, going very fast, had a badass fight song, and it’s fully utilizing every character involved. Same with the battle against Cordovan, again utilizing everyone effectively and giving all the characters a moment to shine. The one on one fights, which I thought were fine in V5, are also very good. Cinder vs Neo is very fast and has Neo using her Semblance very effectively, Maria vs the Grimm and then Tock truly demonstrated Maria's past skill and managed to make one minute truly tense and engaging, and of course Bumblebee vs Adam. It was badass. The entire thing. So... while I was pretty okay with V5's fights, I think it's safe to say that they redeemed themselves here.

So when it comes to visuals, the volume was very strong. Great expressions, nice and unique designs, beautiful set pieces, great effects, and epic fights. All of the visuals looked great. I cannot think of one bad or nitpicky thing to say about it. Even the opening looked badass, but that's no surprise. Once again, CRWBY stepped it up, and they perfectly hit the mark.

Voice Acting

Before we go any further... lets go ahead and address the elephant in the room to get it over with. Lets briefly go over Vic's performance as Qrow. AKA, that guy that I no longer have any respect for. For those unaware, not long after the volume ended Vic Mignonga was fired for accusations of sexual misconduct and will no longer be involved in the series. But putting personal opinion aside and just looking at his performance, he was very good and Qrow's feelings of self-loathing and bitterness was very well conveyed. While I WAS upset at Qrow through most of it, his conflicted feelings were clear and very well acted. Vic did good, but he still utterly screwed himself and I am sure that Qrow's new VA will be even better. Alright, got that out of the way. Lets talk about everyone else now.

The cast all did a very good job. Even just the guest actors, like Colleen Clinkenbeard as Jinn and Luci Christian as Lil' Miss. They get little screentime, but they very much bring their characters to life. Coleen makes Jinn a straight-forward but playful being who is clearly amused by everything, and Luci makes Lil' Miss a very confident, very unflappable info breaker who commands respect. There's also Mela Lee as Cordovan, and she does a delightful job in making the old woman a stern, grumpy jerk who is boisterous and egotistical. You can just tell that she was having a lot of fun with her lines, haha. Lindsay Sheppard did a great job in making Saphron fun, bright, and a comforting sister figure and same for Jamie Smith as Terra.

The villains VA were very good. Not too much to say about Hazel and Watts', so lets do everyone else. This was the epic return of Tyrian, and BOOY did Josh Grelle do a great job once again at making me feel utterly terrified of the character. The guy got back into the role seamlessly and once more gave an unnerving, but fun performance. Yuri Lowenthal got to display an emotion that isn't smugness for Mercury, who finally let out some frustration and hurt over his past and circumstances. You can hear the anger in his voice when he lets it all out to Emerald, and Yuri did a great job in conveying it. In turn, Katie Newville as Emerald did a fantastic job in conveying the thief's growing fear and uncertainty over everything that just makes you want to hug her. And of course, Jessica Nigri continues to be deliciously egotistical and smug with Cinder. I wanted to kick her in the face, but I'm pretty sure that's the intention so good job Jessica!

The standout among the bad guys though is Jen Taylor. Up to this point, Salem has been in one mode: very calm and mother-like. She would raise her voice a little, but normally she remained in calm mode and that was it. This volume? Ho boy, do they FINALLY let Jen show off her talents. She NAILED every single line. The despair, the hatred, the intimidation as her calm mask slips away. Jen's performance is as heartbreaking as it is terrifying. You go from feeling horrible for her in Chapter 3, to hiding under your bed in Chapter 4. Jen got to pull the kiddy gloves off, and she did NOT hold back.

Now onto the main cast. Ren and Nora's VA's did very well especially when they comforted Jaune. Speaking of, Miles performance in Chapters 8 and 9 were just heartbreaking. You could feel Jaune's anger, pain, sadness, and finally acceptance in Miles' delivery. He did great. Aaron Dismuke and Shannon McCormick did very well when they each did their incarnations of Ozma, as well as of Oscar and Ozpin respectively. Garrett Hunter got his final hurrah as Adam and while he has been... meh at times, his final go was utterly chilling and terrifying. We also had the addition of Melissa Sternenburg as Maria, and she was just great. Maria was a super fun character, and that is very much in part due to Melissa. She was always energetic, but also greatly conveyed a sense of wisdom and experience in her delivery. She's a very welcome addition to the cast and, given her old lady roles in Nomad of Nowhere and Camp Camp, I think she has a great career as animated old ladies of Rooster Teeth ahead of her!

And finally, onto Team RWBY. Kara as Weiss was good. Nothing else to really say there. Arryn did a great job with Blake, greatly expressing her guilt, new comforting side, and fears very well. Her entire performance in Chapters 10-12 were by far the best that she has given, perfectly coming across as emotional but determined especially when she finally broke down once it was over. Barbara as Yang also did very well. Yang spent the first half very angry, frustrated, and kinda stand-offish and Barb did a great job in conveying that. She lightened up in the second half, which was nice. Her best delivery was in Chapter 12 when she truly beat Adam. Her delivery conveyed much strength, and I loved it. But I must say that the best performer by far was Lindsay as Ruby. Say what you want about the pitch, but Lindsay did a fantastic job. In this Ruby got more serious and no-nonsense, and Lindsay did a great job in making her sound much more mature and decisive but still fun and energetic. She has always done a great job, all of them have. I fully expect them to be even greater in the next volume. They all really showed how far they come, even Kara despite not having much to say aside from her being good.

So yeah, great voice acting across the board! Five stars!

Music

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN?!

Do I need to say that all of the music was good? Is that a surprise anymore? The one thing that everyone has ever agreed on when it comes to the show is that Jeff Williams music is good. He doesn't disappoint here. His and Alex Abraham's scores are all perfect. The epic score in Chapter 3, the horror music in Chapter 6, the flute rendition of Red Like Roses and This Will Be the Day in Chapter 9, every single score was VERY good. Even the one piece done by Casey at the very end of Chapter 2 sounded great, so kudos to her on her first try~

Then of course, there are the vocal tracks. Going into each and every one in detail would take up too much of this post, and it's long enough as it is. But each of the tracks are very well performed. From the rocking opening theme Rising, to the emotional heart-breaker that is Forever Fall, to the massive 'f*** you Adam theme of Nevermore in the credits. All the tracks perfectly fit their scenes and the characters that they are meant to represent. I may do a full analysis of the songs once the soundtrack comes out. But, going off what we’ve heard of them so far, here's my current rankings of the tracks and which episode they played in:

Rising (Opening Theme)

Nevermore (Chapter 13 Credits)

Forever Fall (Chapter 9)

Miracle (Chapter 1)

One Thing (Chapter 5)

Indomitable (Chapter 13)

Big Metal Shoe (Chapter 11)

Lionized (Adam Character Short)

We’ll see if those change when the soundtrack is released. But either way, all of them are great songs that are once more performed perfectly by Casey. Her range continues to be impressive as Hell, being able to do hard metal songs like Big Metal Shoe and somber ballads like Forever Fall without skipping a beat. The girl is an insanely talented vocalist who, being a singer myself, I continue to envy but admire. Jeff of course also did great on the songs he sang in such as Lionized, as well as guest singer Adrienne Cowan in her badass duet with Casey on Nevermore. I REALLY hope that Jeff will bring her in for future tracks. And going back to Jeff, once more the writing and composition for these tracks are all badass. The fact that the man has delivered six quality soundtracks in a row that just keep escalating in quality really speak of his talent and dedication. Something that I imagine will only continue into Volume 7.

Characters

Now we get to the long part! Yay! There's a lot to talk about, but my main focus is going to be on Ruby, Blake, Yang, Qrow, Ozpin/Ozma/Oscar, Salem, Maria, and Jaune in greater detail. But first, we'll get the ones I don't have much to say on out of the way.

Lets talk about the villains first. Namely Emerald, Mercury, and Neo. They all came out much stronger in this volume. Emerald has already been the most sympathetic, and now that everything is sinking in, her being uncertain and scared is no surprise. What she mainly needs now is to both gain the courage to finally leave and finally realize that Cinder has not, and will not, ever care for her. Mercury, despite keeping up a smug front, also becomes a lot more likable. He defends Mercury against Tyrian, reveals his motivations and some of the trauma his father inflicted on him, and despite that smugness we can see through the cracks. IDK if that makes him as redeemable as Emerald, but it's a good start. Cinder... is still a heartless bitch who if anything we hate even more now, but at least she's still trying. Then there's Neo, who I found incredibly overrated in the past... and still do. But now that she has actual motivation with Roman dead and her quest for revenge, she comes across as a better character and not just some psycho girl with a cute design who's just... there. Hopefully we'll see her fleshed out more in the Atlas arc, but as someone who really didn't give a shit about Neo, I'm much more interested in her now.

The villain who came out the best however is Salem. She doesn't change or anything, but now we understand who she is and what she is after. She began as this tragic maiden, locked away until she found love. She lost that love and went through a ton of tragedy and pain all because she wanted him back. She got screwed over, but refused to accept that death happens and... it's understandable. She went to the extreme, but her past self comes across as very sympathetic and human because of how harsh the Gods are to her. Then she gets Grimmified, and she becomes terrifying. She gains a God complex, yet we see that she still has the ability to love and care as she was to her children. But after Ozma 'betrayed' her, she threw that away. Salem went from this mysterious Big Bad, to a figure defined by tragedy. Someone who went through so much torment and grief and it twisted her into a monster. But we also see that, while sympathetic, she IS still a terrifying wicked witch who will not rest until she has wiped out all of humanity and gained her revenge on both The Gods and Ozma. Those who stand in her way be damned. She's still a force that has to be stopped, but at least now we understand how she became that way.

Since we're on that topic, lets talk about Ozpin. Holy Hell... Ozpin. This guy has gone through Hell and back. We finally find out everything about the man. His past, the reason for his motivations, the reincarnation deal, his connection to Salem. The guy was just a good-hearted person who found love, died... several times, and then got roped into serving the Gods to make sure that humanity didn't die the second time. You can understand why the guy is so secretive and just how cruel his existence has been. He is an equally tragic figure... but he too has done bad things. He's lied to people, lead them to their deaths for a cause that seems hopeless, and has essentially lead people on a suicide mission. While I do have some issues with how this was played out and what the show wants us to think of Oz, he ultimately was shown for what he is: human. He isn't evil, but he's not 100% good. He's done bad things, but it's all to try and save Remnant from something unfathomable. The world broke him, and he’s struggled to save that world. But now, with everything out and all of his allies turning their backs on him, he did what he did prior to the Maidens: lock himself away from the world.

Which brings us to Oscar... and how his arc was sadly not as good as it should have been. Not that it was bad, but it... really did not get the attention that it required. But the kid's fears over his identity are understandable. Who wouldn't be terrified, especially now that he's seen how this mess happened to begin with? But even so, he still tries. He still tried to help at Brunswick, he still tried to help keep spirits up in Argus (prior to Jaune's outburst), and while I wish we SAW him come to terms with his situation, he still did and proved beneficial in the airship mission. He really has taken Ruby's advice in V5, to keep moving forward despite the fear and pain. Because even at his lowest moment and more than enough reason to just give up, he doesn't. He still has plenty of growing to do, and I imagine that he still has things with Oz to sort out, but he's shown his potential and I think that he's going to go far.

Onto JNR. Not much to say about Ren and Nora sadly. Only that Nora was at her funniest here, and their support for Jaune was super sweet and really shows the team's unity. Now Jaune.... HO BOY. We all knew that it was gonna come to this eventually. First, Jaune's really matured. Chapter One alone showed him being able to quickly go into leader mode, how he's already gotten the hang of his Semblance, and despite his fear of losing more loved ones he understands what has to be done. It was also really cute to see his interactions with his sister and him getting to be happy again... until Chapter 8 hit. Jaune finds out the truth, and he is by far the most justified in his reaction. He lost Pyrrha, his friend and mentor, because of all of this... and it was for nothing. We all know that he's been struggling with Pyrrha's death and trying to move on, and we already know that he's got issues with all of this as Volume 4 demonstrated once he came to understand just what was wrong with Pyrrha. As such, I just felt horrible for him, especially once he realized what he almost did to Oscar and how bad he felt.

But of course, the biggest step is in Chapter 9. Everything is weighing on Jaune. His guilt, his pain over his loss, his uncertainty about what to do now. Then he's lead to the memorial, and he meets who I still assume is Mama Nikos. We see him process everything as he looks at the statue, that pain still shining through. Then he and Mama Nikos talks, and he finally starts to find comfort. He remembers what a Huntsman and Huntress is supposed to do, protect others no matter the price. He realized that Pyrrha knew what was going to happen, but if she could save even just one person, it was worth it. It as hopeless, yet Pyrrha fought anyways. It inspires Jaune to continue, and to finally find peace in his situation. Will he forget Pyrrha? Never. But now that he's been able to talk to someone, now that he's been able to let it out and have assurance from Ren and Nora, he can finally move forward. Which he does, creating the plan to steal the airship, defending against Cordovan, and he seems much more serious but happier as well. The paladin has grown a lot throughout the series, going from a buffoon completely out of place to a good-hearted warrior who will do whatever he can do wherever he is. Something that he learned from Pyrrha Nikos.

Next we'll go into WBY (I'm gonna bring up Ruby in a little bit) I don't have a ton to say about Weiss. She's afraid and uncertain about going back to Atlas since... well, she'd pretty much be going back to her abusive home that she just escaped from. It's all pretty subtle, but very clear and very much build up for her upcoming arc now that they made it to Atlas. So not much going for her development wise, but still she was great in this volume. Especially when she shattered the alcohol bottle and burned the Apathy to death (seemingly anyways). As for Blake and Yang... ho boy, where do I start?

This volume is very much the next step for Blake as she tries to fix relations with her team, though mainly Yang. We see small things like her comforting Weiss after she and Yang found the bodies, which it's just sweet to see her trying to be better and there for everyone. But of course, the biggest obstacle is with Yang. The girl is trying. She tries to help Yang with her stuff, talks about how Adam made her feel powerless, tries to be comforting... even if she said the wrong thing, but still she's trying. On Yang's part, she's also trying. It's good that she's not just angry at Blake like she was the volume prior, showing that she DID take Weiss' words to heart and is trying to let Blake back in. I... have my issues with Yang, like being hypocritical of secret keeping when she's yet to talk about Raven and I really think that her anger at Oz, while justified, was uncalled for and done at the worst possible moment. That being said, we do see that she's still struggling with her PTSD, the realization that things look hopeless, and I was okay with her by the second half.

Of course the final moment for their character arcs that has lasted since the end of V3 is the final fight with Adam. Blake confronts her demons for the final time, and Yang confronts the source of her fear and trauma. Regardless of what you think of Adam, he was very much the one who brought them pain, and it was only fitting that he be the one who brought it closure. Blake already took control back from him in V5, but this is her being forced to bring it to an end and affirm her promise to never leave her loved ones again. Yang had gained back the will to fight, but now she not only showed that she had become smarter with her fighting and her Semblance usage, but had her rip control back from Adam and at last exterminate the ghost that had haunted her. As much, the two fixed the damage to their bond that V3 caused and have come out stronger and much more supportive of each other. So do I think they're officially together? Mmm... not yet. I think at this point it's gonna happen, but IDK... I think we need more happy stuff between them first. But hey, the season got me to finally subscribe to the Bumblebee ship (even if I still hate people using it to harass CRWBY) and their arcs got the closure that it needed. It left me immensely satisfied and ready to see what happens with these two next.

Onto Qrow now and I was... mixed about him. Him finding out the full story about Oz and the seeming hopelessness? Yes, his anger was understandable. What made me lose sympathy however is how he punched Oscar (yeah it was directed at Oz but IDC, Oscar still felt it) and then told Ruby to not lie to the kid about not just being another of Oz's lives. He reverted to drinking himself stupid, which nearly got everyone killed, and just quit once things got too hard at Argus. I get that Qrow's struggling and I do like that his drinking is being put in a more serious light... but it just made me lose ANY sympathy or liking to him. I got some back once he expressed fear of the kids getting killed but in many ways it's too little, too late. IDK, I just did not like him at all in this volume because of how much of a downer and hindrance he was and he never so much as said that he was sorry. He kind of acknowledged his mess ups in the end, but it just wasn't enough for me. I hope that V7 makes amends for this and overall I guess it's good that this happened now. Plus hey, I lost my sympathy for Blake in V4, then loved her again in V5 and here, so I guess that might be the case with Qrow. We'll see.

Now lets talk Maria! Dear Lord, I LOOOVE Maria! She is such a welcome addition, especially with Ozpin now out of the picture. She's wise, experienced, and takes shit from no one while also being silly, sassy, and incredibly petty. She brought a lot of much needed levity to the darker stuff, like making everyone get their acts together after the massive flashback. Really in general she was the funniest character this volume. Her “Maybe she's dead!” line got the largest laugh out of me all volume. But as I said, she's also wise. She's stern, but friendly. She's screwed up and been through Hell, which she recognizes and longs to do something to make up for it. She does what she wants, but also recognizes what's important like say... getting out of a snow storm and THEN deal with your various emotions over the traumatic flashbacks. She is a strong, experienced, and optimistic figure and very much provides the guidance that Ruby really needs. She was a delight and I assume that she's going to stick around, so yay!

Which finally brings us to by far the best character this volume: Ruby herself. This was EVERYTHING that I have been wanting for SO LONG. Last volume, I was NOT happy with how she was shafted, got the Silver Eyes ignored, and just... did nothing. It pissed me off as a Ruby fan and was the one thing I was hoping to see them make an effort to improve in this volume. Which I am very happy to say that they GREATLY redeemed themselves with her character.

This is very much Ruby's volume. She steps up as a leader, she tries to keep everyone on their feet as things just get bleaker and bleaker. She goes against Ozpin when she questions if he meant what he said about the good in humanity, and even goes against Qrow when she finally gets fed up with his quitter attitude. She comes up with plans and faces every threat, such as The Apathy and Cordovan's mech head on because hey, someone has to. With Maria around and her now starting to understand her Eyes power, Ruby shows interest in learning it. Which all of it culminates n her facing the Leviathan, knowing that her power is their only hope. She may not have killed the Leviathan, but she now has a grasp on her power and it is because of her that Argus was saved. And all of this without losing the optimism and cheerfulness that we love about her.

Many say that Ruby hasn't grown at all since the beginning, and I have to STRONGLY disagree. In the early volumes, she was an awkward girl who's goal to be a Huntress was genuine, but her view was very idealistic and naive. She wanted to be like the hero of the stories he was told of as a child, but didn't understand all the pain and regret that would come with it. She knew that bad things happened... but she hadn't really experienced it aside from losing her mom, which she was too young to comprehend fully then. But now? She understands pain. She understands loss. She understands the importance of her job and just how bad that the world can be. But it doesn't bring her down, it only strengthened her resolve. Now, in this volume, shes had to step up since people like Ozpin and Qrow are incapable of leading. She's faced threat after threat, refusing to back down until she and her friends have achieved their goals. She used to be a girl asking Glynda, a Huntress, for her autograph. Now? She is that Huntress. It's not a naive girl's fantasy anymore, it is her duty and she will do everything in her power to make things better. Because that is what she signed up for, and she will see it through to the end.

As far as characters go, this volume did very well. It brought many character arc to a close, while leaving plenty of others open. Many got new layers of depth and had questions about them finally answered after so many years. New additions like Maria and Jinn were very welcome, and the new supporting characters like Saphron, Terra, Lil' Miss, and Cordovan were just really nice and fun to have around... even if Cordovan got off far too lightly, but meh. There were some good welcome backs, like with Tyrian and of course Neo. Even if I was annoyed at some, like Yang and Qrow, overall I thought that all the characters were great and I really have a new appreciation for pretty much all of them. Excellent work CRWBY!

Story

Back at NYCC, Miles and Kerry didn't say what the season's theme was, but that it would be clear to us by the time it was over. Well... it's over. What's the theme then? How about we take a look back and find out.

The main goal of the season is for our characters to reach Argus, and subsequently get to Atlas. Seems simple enough, but of course the road has many bumps. Grimm attacks, train wrecks, corrupt authority figures, nothing was simple to get accomplished. Even worst, the team get fed up with Ozpin's secrets and discover the truth: Salem cannot be destroyed. It sends them into despair, causing them to be tired of all the bad things that have happened and keep happening. They struggle to find hope and to continue on, especially with Ozpin locking himself away and Qrow just giving up. What do you when everything seems hopeless? Where no matter what you do, nothing changes and you just keep dealing with bad thing after bad thing? Do you keep going on? Can you move on?

To quote the fourth opening:

“Do we just go home? Can we follow through? When all hope is gone, there is one thing we can do... Lets just live”

The entire volume's message is to rise up and continue on, despite the despair and fear. In the beginning, the heroes get brought down form their triumph as the Grimm attack, they get sepearted and wrecked in a snow storm, find out all of Oz;s dirty secrets and just how bad of a place they're in. Which results in nearly all of them feeling broken. They're left in the cold, ready to give up. The Apathy make sit worst, causing them all to lose the will to do... well, anything. Even Ruby, the only one still trying to keep spirits up, nearly gives in. She's tired. They're all tired. They want to just be done with it and go home.

But they can't

Soon, they find hope. Maria helps Ruby unlock her Silver Eyes. They're able to escape Brunswick and make it to Argus and find their friends. But then Cordovan refuses to let them through, breaking Qrow and soon Jaune. But that doesn't last long. Jaune finds comfort by discovering Pyrrha's memorial and is reminded of what his duty is. Oscar, despite all his fears, decides to use the time that he has left to do what's right. Ruby, fed up with Qrow's attitude, finally decides to take over and defy his wishes. They survived everything thrown at them. Despite all the odds and obstacles, they are a breath away from getting to Atlas. It is their duty to help people, no natter what. So they're going to fight. They're going to make it to Atlas. And even if Salem can't be destroyed, they will stand against her to protect all of humanity. It ultimately leads to Ruby facing down the Leviathan, both herself and everyone else refusing to leace because it’s their jobs to fight, and she’s able to defeat it through her hope and love powering her.

Volume 6's story was overall very well executed. Every episode was well paced, moved things forward in some way, and always had something to invest our time in. A big plus side to this volume compared to 4 and 5 is this time, we don't have multiple main plotlines. We have one: get the Relic to Atlas. We have subplots of course, like Cinder being confronted by Neo and the stuff with the villains, but they don't get in the way of the main story. The main story is where the focus stays and what is the most important. Nothing ever felt like it was dragged or like it was just a massive exposition dump. And when we DID get exposition, they kept it interesting like using magical flashbacks to show us what is happening, for example.

Speaking of, this volume gave us the lore dump that we have been waiting for YEARS. We finally find out the history of Salem and Ozpin. We finally understand their respective goals and motivations. We find out that Remnant was magical until the Gods left. We get to SEE the Gods. We find out why the Relics are such a big deal and what will happen if brought together. We even get to see how the moon got broken! And even then, while we don't get full on explanations on the Silver Eyes or about Team STRQ, we get at least a little bit. Enough to re-ignite investment, but they're left open for future volumes. With those revelations, it can explain even more. Like Ozpin making the Vaults so that the Relics were as secure and far away form each other as possible and how, as the King of Vale, he ended the war. So many revelations came from this volume and it left me very satisfied.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It wasn't perfect, mind you. Oscar got shafted too much and his arc felt rushed, Cordovan got off FAR too easily for her actions, and I have issues with HOW Oz's secrets came out and how we're supposed to view the whole thing. I think the girls were justified in demanding answers... but forcing them out I think was wrong. Or at least considering the circumstances, it was wrong to do then. Also, they don't really suffer any consequences for it, but we may see those pop up later. And IDK what the narrative wants us to think of Ozpin. Are we supposed to feel bad for him? Be angry at him? I guess both, but due to the lack of consequences and the outright enraged reactions from Yang and Qrow being unadressed... it feels like it's saying that the girls were correct and that Ozpin is the bad guy, even though one can make a VERY good argument for why he was justified in his actions. IDK, I don't like that the narrative was saying that getting angry and violating people's privacy was right and suffering no consequences due to it. IDK how it could have been better, but... it just bothers me.

But nevertheless, we return to the question. What is the theme of this volume? Well... judging from the plot, the opening, and how it ended, this is my answer: keep moving forward. Okay, that might seem weird. Let me explain. Everything looks hopeless and bleak. Everyone is broken down or ready to give in. But in the end, they find the will to keep going. Ruby refuses to give up. She keeps moving everyone on, rising to take charge. Jaune is broken by the revelation that Pyrrha died for nothing, but soon realizes that she did what she knew was right, and he rises back up. Qrow is at his lowest, but Ruby finally tells him that he isn't responsible for them and pulls him back to his feet. Oscar knows that he may not be himself sooner or later, but he still decides to face the inevitable. Adam comes back, the person who broke both Blake and Yang, and they rise up against him for the final time.

Look at the characters who didn’t move forward. Qrow gave up after learning the truth/once things got hard and Ozpin also abandoned his responsibility while giving into his own despair. Due to it, things got worst for them. Adam abandoned any good and righteousness that he once had, now blinded by hatred and his desire to seek vengeance against Blake. Salem is still consumed by her God complex and hatred of Ozpin, which has caused her to lose whatever humanity that she still has. Maria was once a famed Huntress, but once she lost her Eyes she abandoned her duty and is now left guilt-ridden for it. Cordovan was blinded by ego and power, resorting to VERY severe actions that cuased lots of panic/damage and initially refused to accept her fault for it. These are all people who gave into their negative emotions and either gave up, abandoned their duties, or were warped into monsters. Some pulled themselves back, like Qrow and Maria, while others like Adam died for it. They gave in to negativity, and because of it things only got worst for both themselves and for others.

This volume is about how you have to keep going and NOT give into the negativity. Yes, things may be hopeless. You may not win the fight in your lifetime. You may either do horrible things, or find out that those you trusted did. Your entire worldview may crumble apart, and you're left to deal with the despair and pain. And yes, you may very well feel tired and like the best thing to do is to give up. But you can't. Others will help you stand back up. You can help others stand up. You can face those bad things and break through them, becoming stronger and better as a result. And no matter how the world looks, you HAVE to keep fighting. Even to the bitter end. It'll hurt, but you CAN do it, and you will. Because if you don't, who will?

I think the best way to sum it up is with these lines from the volume's opening:

“The lightning doesn't take advice from anyone. The willow doesn't need to learn to stand As sun meets day, we'll find out way, And we'll catch that dream together someday soon. We're rising like the moon.”

Final Thoughts

This has become my favorite volume of the series. Yep, even above Volume 3. What more can I say? The animation was great, the music was great,t he voice acting was great, everything was great! So many questions got answered, story arcs came to a close while leaving new ones open, everything that needed to be addressed for this volume was addressed while perfectly leading us into the next one. When the finale was over, I was left immensely happy and satisfied with everything. Even my couple of issues really weren't that bad. This was a fantastic volume and really shows how far that CRWBY has come since the beginning. I am very much looking forward to Volume 7, and again thank you CRWBY for an absolutely amazing Volume.

So once again, RWBY has come to a close until the Fall. Thank you everyone who has read my reviews, and I'm sorry that this took so long. Life sucks sometimes. If you want to see more stuff from me, I'll be reviewing RvB17 when it starts on March 9th and while I'm not reviewing Gen:Lock episode by episode, a season review for it will be made once it concludes. I'm also planning to do some more RWBY stuff before V7, like some character analysis and maybe even going back to review past volumes. We'll see how things go. But I had a lot of fun reviewing this volume, and again to all of those who stuck with me, thank you. I'll see you again for Volume 7~

#rwby #rwby reviews #callie reviews

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