#she has a gradient now so maaaybe

[right-agent]

no title for this one besides how charming ieytd 1 is

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

RWBY V7 - OP

RWBY is back! I missed this show and its characters so much and the first episode was just what I needed after a weird past month.

Don’t read this if you haven’t watched the first episode since the OP spoils some things!

With that said, let’s do this!

This is half liveblog, half added notes after the fact (marked with a ***) since I had some time to think about it.

Oooh, Blake's hair looks a lot shorter and Weiss's dress looks different.

Did Jaune get a haircut?

They are all still facing forward, still a team!

Taking out her hoodie, same as V4 (but this time intentionally?)

*** At the time I wrote

I included the gif because I feel Ruby’s sudden change from smiling with her eyes closed to startled by the wind and then turning to her new team is basically her character development after last season. She was blind/sleeping due to her optimism, everything ended up turning to hell –shaking her awake– and now JNR is the team who has her back, not WBY.

In V4 her “awakening” was sudden and involuntary. Now she’s choosing to face what’s coming, whatever that is.

Very clearly centered around Atlas rather than Mantle.

Grimm dissolve that way... Pyrrha did too. Hmm.

Magical girl transformations!

An overall with convertible pants? Uhm. Okay.

I love the short hair! Maaaybe too many zippers. The weapon being repaired with a golden colored makes me think of Yang and how japanese repair things with gold * googles *, kintsugi.

kintsugi can be seen to have similarities to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, an embracing of the flawed or imperfect.

highlighting the cracks and repairs as simply an event in the life of an object rather than allowing its service to end at the time of its damage or breakage

Incredibly appropriate for Blake (and everyone, really) since she had to rebuild herself.

I didn't like Weiss' "new" dress so any change would have been welcome but this is really good. She went from "incredibly out of place rich girl" to a proper huntress.

I'm not sure how much her outfit changed (she has sleeves!) but I _love_ her hair.

I could have bet this was a reference to Ozpin standing in a similar manner in one of the first openings but I just checked and while there's a similar shot in V2's OP it's just Ozpin standing in space.

I hate that muscle tee with all my being. I wonder what's that dude with the painted face's deal. Props to the character design team for the muscular woman in the back, considering everything they do, she's probably the most realistic looking character in the show.

Welp, they are compromised by Watts. And apparently he's manipulating the election, but whose side is he helping?

- After rewatching, I doubt they are traitors but I think they are probably going to end up being manipulated by Watts into doing something.

Why does he look so guilty!? Who did he shoot!?

The more I see it the more I like Weiss's new dress.

Is Weiss finally going to stop looking up to Winter (ending her "I need to go look for Winter" quest from V4)?

Oh no... what did you do Jaune

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

*** I wonder why she’s so isolated from everyone else. Even in the group shot  at the end she appears farther away than Oscar (but closer than Qrow). Hmm.

These two also got major upgrades! The ugly gradient that Ren's sleeve had is gooooone. And Nora looks more grown up with that jacket, it feels like they are really growing up into their status as (non-authorized) huntresses and huntsmen.

I'm curious about the blue in Nora's outfit. Everyone else seems to maintain their previous colors... although I guess Nora's V1-V3's outfit did have a bit of blue in her corset.

I wonder if the fact she's wearing the trans flag colors means anything.

His hair doesn't look so bad up-close, but I think it's too "busy" for his hair color.

Ooh, hard-light dust shield!

Does this mean that Jacques is manipulating Ironwood? Last time we saw them he was pretty against everything Ironwood was proposing... unless that was his plan? Manipulate him by reverse psychology? Uhm.

They are training! Does this mean they are going to be found by Ironwood sooner rather than later?

I wonder what's going to be the end goal this season. As many problems as there seem to be in Atlas, their mission was to give the lamp to Ironwood and he looks to be in amicable terms with Oscar earlier in the OP so... what's next?

How is the election plot going to intersect with RWBY and co.? Watts is seemingly manipulating everything from the shadows so that would probably make him their problem but my imagination is failing to integrate the election itself in a way that would make sense to everyone.

I can maybe see Watts and Tyrian sabotaging Hill to get the "Tycoon" elected (hopefully not Jacques but probably him since no one else that could fit appeared in the OP) but I have no idea why other than to maybe cause another Fall of Beacon with social unrest.

Maybe Ironwood goes all "I _am_ the council" and everyone has to escape with the relics with the help of Hill (which is why she's shown fighting Tyrian)? Maybe they discover Watt's plot and no one believes them? Nah, maybe in their school days but they have proved themselves.

It's interesting that after watching the V6 opening I felt more or less sure of how the story was going to go (even if I ended up being wrong about a lot of things) but with this one I have no idea. There are a lot of pieces but I'm not sure how they the fit together.

For example, what does this parallel mean? Are they facing similar problems? Similar pasts? Do they regret having to do whatever they have to do? Is it even intentional?

In any case all these questions are great, they make me want to watch the rest of the season even more!

Until next time!

PS: There was no moon this OP, so my moon theory from last season just went up in flames unless everyone goes their own way for some reason.

P.S: The first episode is up on Discord

[demethinkstoomuch]

Deme Rates Villagers: Cubs

It’s Bears, but Smaller!

(Why didn’t I lump Bears and Cubs the way I did Cows and Bulls? Because there are a fair number of them, I think.)

I have also realized that, rather than a numerical rating, an emoticon rating might be better. I may do numbers from time to time, and so likely will not go back for the others. There will not be a scale, but a broad expression of my feelings. Or a mimic of their faces. Or a comment. Sometimes.

Disclaimer: Images are from the wiki, all good dogs, my ratings are mainly just there because “Deme gives her abstract thoughts on villagers” is hardly a catchy thing.

Aisle

Another Animal Forest E+ exclusive, another villager that looks like they came out of a Rare game like Banjo-Kazooie or Conker’s Bad Fur Day, even though this one doesn’t feature any exact equivolents. On the whole, I think the high contrast between the blue fur and the tuft of blond hair is a bad look, but the big blue eyes being sort of heavy-lidded and dour’s kind of cute.

Rating: :|

Barold

Barold is great. Like, I don’t entirely know what they’re going for with him -- he vaguely suggests either Fred Flinstone or an IT guy in my head -- but I love it either way.  (Fred Flinstone: 5 o’ clock shadow, shirt. IT Guy: Eeyes have kind of a glasses shape, beard).  He’s oozing with character, albeit a strange character, and do I detect little white pawsies? I do!

Rating: B’|

Bluebear

She’s a bear! She’s blue! She’s got a little white and a little pink, which gives her a nicely over-all pastel look. I like the darker blue (Fire Emblem Lord Blue, perhaps?) hair on her. She is just cute.

Rating: :)

Cheri

Another colorful bear cub, this one, pink! I like her, she’s sassy. Nice eyebrows that pair with her eyes to give her an impression of moxie that’s still quite cute. Hair is spiky, which adds to that. She’s peppy, which means that by peppy standards, she’s pretty edgy, in a weird, pink little bear way. Either way, she’s rather cute.

Rating: :]

Chester

Man, what do the Animal Crossing devs have against just letting pandas be cute? Chow, Chester... They’re both just sort of weird in a way that I find, funnily enough, more unsettling or dull than charming. Long pupils are not friend-shaped; if they leaned into the creepy, like with a goat, that would be one thing, but it rather spoils Chester. The sad-looking mouth could be cute, but it’s a bit big for that. Almost there, Chester, but just not.

Rating: :(

Cupcake

So, Cupcake is kind of Cheri, but with a half-hearted snootification effort via heavy-lidded eyeshadow eyes. Meh.

Rating: :[ (Like Cheri, but worse.)

Judy

A New Horizons new villager, and Judy is sure an aesthetic! The pastel gradients, the enormous sparkly eyes with the big shojou lashes, she just screams that she belongs in a gothic lolita girl’s arms during a photoshoot. Get this bear a lace-up dress. She could be an extra Hello Kitty collab character or something. I’m not actually a huge fan of Judy, but I cannot possibly deny that she is wonderfully what she is, and so while the agressively UWU quality to her isn’t for me, but I can’t help but applaud it. Dedication! Also, I like the subtler blush. It works.

Rating:  (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

June

June is maaaybe my favorite cub, she’s just simple and pleasant-looking, without being a pastel screaming-fest, Her colorscheme and implied heavy fringe has a sort of... Like, it makes her big blue eyes and over-all cuteness read “girl next door,” sort of an ordinary, natural cute. And then you add the cute big hibiscus for a little pop that contrasts with her eyes. It’s just a real cute look. I’d probably, though, if I were to consider adopting her, check to make sure her eyes aren’t super weird when you look at them from other angles. It’s a bad fate to befall a villager.

Rating:  (◕‿◕✿) (Babe, hold my flower)

Kody

Hey, look, it’s one of my starter New Leaf villagers! Kody was the last of my first villagers to move out, too, sticking around for quite a while indeed. His departure left a hole that Clyde entered through via someone’s void, and I was not happy about that. As a result, I feel fonder of Kody than I would otherwise, since otherwise, he’s just, you know, a blue bear with a darker blue spot, like many animals that are just like that except not bears. It can be charming with the right face, but there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about his face. It’s just Kody. There he is. Old chum.

Rating:  ˅ u ˅ Ah, the memories...

Maple

Awwww, look at her! She’s just precious, very simple, with implied floofy bangs and bright little dot eyes. Even the pink sticker blush works better with her colors than I see in a lot of places. If June didn’t have her flowers, maybe I’d be here saying Maple’s my favorite. Maybe Maple is my favorite, I don’t know. She feels like angelfood cake, you, know? Light, pleasant, sweet...Though, admittedly, not especially flavorful.  She’s just cute as she is.

Rating:  ‘ ◕  w ◕ ‘

Marty

Ah, a Sanrio villager! ...Not one of the cuter ones, really. Looks sort of like a honey jar bear to me, which is, I suppose, something. His eyebrows have an unassuming quality, like he’s just a normal guy.

Rating: Normal Guy / Guys

Murphy

Remember everything I said about Kody? Yeah, still true about Murphy. His coloring is just sort of “spotted bear,” now in green. But! He does have big square eyebrows and big square eyes, which give him a bit of extra character, reliably and kinda sleepy. A good face.

Rating = w = (A good thing, I promise.)

Olive

Olive is a villager I’ve heard compared to Maple a lot -- it’s the shirt, I suppose, but really, more than that. Her color scheme is also pretty naturalistic and grounded, she has a cute bang outline. She doesn’t push the cute as hard, but that might make her more comfortable, less out-and-out cutesy to folks. That said, her eyes just have that quality I found with the birds, where something about them, paired with the surprised eyebrows, that feels kinda blank, like they reveal nothing. Staring. These eyes have seen too much. But she’s still pretty cute, won’t lie.

Rating: O-O

Pekoe

Aww, isn’t she cute? This screenshot makes her look more cream-colored than I’m used to thinking of her as, a dramatic bonus to her over-all level of adorable. Pekoe’s use of ears to suggest little covered hair-buns is pretty flavorful; it makes me wonder if they almost wanted to make a cute, very on-theme panda, and then decided “No, let’s just make her a white bear, good enough.”  Still, her face is cute, too, with a distinct set of eyes carrying through the same sort of design sensibilities as her hair and ears/buns, intensely stylized. It’s a nice look.

Rating: :)

Poko

What is with the shape of his head? You all see that, right, where his head is a totally different, longer, shape? Why? What does it mean? Is it meant to be like a mask? If it were meant to be a long mask, that’d be cool. I don’t think it is? It’s a mystery that he would need another appearance to solve, and that’s not happening.

Rating: ? :/

Poncho

Poncho’s cute. He’s basically just blue Olive, though the bangs are less fwooshy. Still, I find him a bit cuter than Olive, because the oval eyes sort of soften the effect of round on round on round that looks strange and staring; this is a bit more cartoony and cute. That’s about it from me. Pretty cute.

Rating: 0 ˅ 0

Pudge

Oh, Pudge looks so sad and alone! I want to hug and protect him! I’ve checked other screenshots, that’s just how Pudge’s face is, and it’s so precious! I do not get the freen on the ears and tip of tail, though. I do not understand why this is a thing, and I cannot say I approve of it. It’s kind of a distracting negative among this otherwise adorable design of a baby I just want to protect!

Rating: (> ‘ . ’)> Come here and let me hug you!

Stitches

OK, so, maybe if it’s not June or Maple, maybe Stitches is best cub. Certainly, he’s the most thematically strong, with this adorable patchwork teddybear design! His eyes evoke a really cute version of his name, little stitches. Just adorable and aesthetically on-point and I’m really happy to see him. I could see him with a place on my island, if I only didn’t have too many villagers I could see with a place.

Rating :D or, alternatively, XwX just for him.

Tammy

Oh, it’s almost all the things I dislike in a villager design. Random colors without real cohesion or purpose, just “well, this is a colorful animal” that clash with other randomly-selected colors (orange blush, deep rose eyeshadow, pale pink inner ears, white muzzle/paws, brown bangs) with eyeshadowed eyes to say “Hey this is a snooty” without going all-in for glamor-comedy? I think we’ve hit bingo. Funnily enough, I think this might be my least-favorite cub.

Rating: :(

Vladimir

Vladimir is ugly with dedication. Vladimir is ugly with a passion. Vladimir is ugly with soul and purpose. Buck teeth and that flatly furrowed, thin, no-brow-unibrow! Those awful bangs! Truly, Vladimir is an artist’s study in ugly-cute. I can’t say that it works to vaunt him into a villager I’d really love to have around, but I can profoundly respect him.

Rating:    ಠ ῳ ಠ

The cubs are good, in conclusion. A good mix of aesthetics, and at least 3 I rather like, which is a good number. Also, I got to whip out some Japanese emoticons, and isn’t that important?