RWBY: Doubles Round

I know I said Delta Episode on Wednesday, but this week’s RWBY episode is giving me a lot of material. Plus, I feel like instead of just the Delta Episode, I should take a shot at a series of reviews of Pokémon post game and legendary discussion. I love Pokémon.

First of all, looks like there are two errors in my previous posts. I guessed that Qrow’s semblance was teleportation like Raven’s. It looks like Qrow’s semblance is similar to Yang’s, which means that Yang could’ve inherited it from Raven. Second, I missed that Nora lightning around a charged Nora is pink, it could be her aura altering the color or Neptune and Nolan may have blue auras that affect their lightning attacks.

Anyways, Cinder has now revealed almost all of the named characters who are fighting in doubles. They are:

Weiss and Yang for RWBY
Sun and Neptune for SSSN
Emerald and Mercury for Cinder
Coco and Yatsuhashi for CFVY
Russel and Lark for CRDL
Penny and another girl

The only unknown is who represents Team JNPR. Although, Pyrrha is the most experienced tournament fighter, so she’ll probably be one of them. Granted, there’s a chance that she won’t to keep her from being put on a higher pedestal for her various tournament wins, but I find it unlikely. I’m interested in seeing Ren, since he’s the one who has worked with Pyrrha the least out of Team JNPR, and all the other teams where we know the team spelling are using the member with the last letter (Yang, Neptune, Yatushashi, and Lark).

Weiss and Yang have had some off screen bonding (searching for Blake, setting up the dance). Weiss and Yang’s previous combos mostly focused on turning terrain to the team’s advantage, and the Amity coliseum’s battlefield is very conductive to Dust attacks. I feel sorry for anyone fighting them on the icy or volcanic fields, since that’d play to their elemental advantage. Strategy wise, the duo would probably work with Yang drawing fire while Weiss sets up Dust attacks and keeps enemies from doing too much damage at once. Yang with her semblance and Weiss’s haste spell would be dangerous.

It looks like with Team SSSN is going by rule of main characters. Sun and Neptune are a decent combo, although the robot fight and the battle against Team NDGO wasn’t good for showing team combos for Team SSSN, because of Sage’s early defeat and Neptune’s fear of water.

Team CFVY seems to have gone to doubles with the plan of eliminating people with sheer force. Yatsuhashi can break the ground with a sword smash and is willing to act as a human shield for Velvet, so he has strength and his aura can provide a strong defense. Also, his sword is interesting. A lot of the weapons shown are variations of silver, gray, white, and black, plus when he draws it, there is a high-pitched sound, which also accompanies Dust attacks, so maybe the blade is infused with a kind of earth Dust. Coco can do good damage with the handbag, but her real strength is shredding Grimm with the gun. I hope as a DVD extra we see their team match, because I want to see how Velvet works in an arena that can be Dust heavy.

Russel and Lark were not what I was expecting for Team CRDL. One of them with Cardin or Dove seemed the most likely. Lark and Russel were the first to flee the big Ursa and the first for Pyrrha to knock out. There weapon builds also don’t seem that great. Russel has a low reach, and since he doesn’t use Dust against Pyrrha, the only ranged attack he has used will leave him short a dagger. He does rush Pyrrha, so maybe he could retrieve the dagger fast, but then why not charge while equipped with both daggers? Lark has a perfectly functioning pole-axe (wiki calls it a halberd, but it doesn’t have spear point, just the axe part), but it looks like if there’s a gun feature, the muzzle is by the axe end. The same is true for Crescent Rose, but the scythe can dig into the ground and the weapon would still be at a height for Ruby to fire while standing, while that isn’t the case with Lark’s weapon. Someone would have to be laying down or squatting to fire. Also something I feel like noting, with Lark’s fair ground cameo, the images of Russel and Lark for doubles, and Dove’s stadium appearance, Cardin is the only member of Team CRDL to not appear, in spite of getting the most speaking lines of the group. Their teamwork is really terrible, so maybe there’s been a falling out between Cardin and the rest?

I went over all three of the Volume 3 episodes, and this is the first appearance for Penny’s partner. She is probably a Haven Academy student who Ironwood asked to put Penny on her team (either because they were short a member or in place of a member). Penny was excited about Ruby calling her “friend” back in Volume 1, so I don’t think that Penny had a team until shortly before the Vytal festival, or if she does, she doesn’t get along with them.

Well, CFVY is going down. I’m sure that Emerald and Mercury are going to have to put in a good deal of work, since both seem to rely more on speed than strength. I think Mercury is the only male character shown to propel himself with gunshots like Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Nora do. Russel and Lark will probably also be knocked out. While Cinder is playing with the tournament brackets, Russel and Lark are shown matched with Penny and her partner, then Sun and Neptune. Maybe they’ll be taken down by one of those two pairs, and the rest of the teams will take on new teams.

Spoke Too Soon

I don't think I'm ready to do a series, and I forgot to take into account glyphs when used with Dust, so I'm putting my Dust theories off until there's more information.

Sunday, I should be up with a discussion of the Delta Episode in ORAS and my thoughts on legendary hunting.

After seeing "Never Miss a Beat," I'm more stymied. I could have sworn wind Dust would be green, but Weiss creates a tornado with white Dust.

RWBY: Dust 1, the basics

Okay, rewatching “New Challengers” did reveal that I did get something I wanted. More Dust use. Dew’s Spear, like Cardin’s Mace, is a weapon with a Dust gem mounted on it. Dew uses wind Dust, which gives her the ability to create small twisters. Octavia’s blade seems to have Dust forged as part of the blade, which gives her the ability to augment slashing attacks with flames. There also may be something with Gwen’s knives, seeing as they had some small, colorful explosions when dropped.

On this note, the people who read my RWBY posts are probably getting tired of me babbling, “I want more Dust. Velvet, Russel, more Dust,” so, I’m going to do some theorizing of my own. This will be a series because I'd like to hit this topic from a lot of different areas. Also, I'm trying to do shorter posts, so I have an easier time updating.

Basic Properties
The RWBY Wiki lists the colors red, blue, green, yellow, cyan, white, purple, bright orange, and dark orange as confirmed colors. Confirmed elements include lava, fire, ice, wind, stone, lightning, gravity, steam, water, and energy.

The main place that Dust is seen is when Weiss uses Myrtenastar. She has yellow, red, cyan, blue, white, and purple Dust loaded in the weapon. Weiss is shown using ice (accompanied with cyan), fire (red), and a yellow speed buff (maybe it’s energy). When Weiss gives Blake some dust vials to use with Gambol Shroud, they’re the same colors that Weiss uses. Stone is used, as well as a shadowy haze, when Blake fights Torchwick. The haze is probably purple. This would leave stone to be white or blue. I think blue would make sense as water since ice dust is a shade of blue, and ice is the solid form of water.

Dew demonstrates that wind is green. Cinder’s attacks have an orange glow, but Weiss, Cardin, and Octavia’s weapons, as well as the red glow around Yang when she initially activates her aura, have established fire Dust as red, so unless it’s an aura related color change, Cinder is using a type of orange Dust instead of the red fire Dust. This may mean that she uses lava as her main Dust type instead of fire. There’s more known elements (after RTExtraLife) than known colors. The lighting attacks that Nolan and Neptune use are shown to be blue in color, so lighting might be a different shade of blue.

Decreasing Update Schedule

Hey I've been having trouble with stress lately, and I haven't been able to write much at all. Usually the blog posts are written the day of, which I'm not overly fond of. Anyways, updates will now be Sunday only and probably shorter.

RWBY: When it Falls lyrics and animation analysis

I'm just going to post this for the record: I'm not a subscriber, so I haven't seen episode 2 yet.

This post probably should've been down earlier, before discussing the first episode. I wasn't sure how to do this, since the RWBY soundtrack has a lot of recurring motifs and imagery in the lyrics. I could probably get a few blog posts out of comparing some commonly used ideas and comparing two or three song lyrics.

The opening theme starts with piano music and a shot of beautiful blue trees. A single rose petal falls onto a rose. Then the metal parts (I am not a music expert) of the song start up as a stampede of Grimm, most of which seem to be Ursa rush by. The trampling Grimm take the flower off. Last volume ended with a massive Grimm attack, so I feel like a literal Grimm attack is unlikely this volume. The Grimm are probably symbolic in this song.

The rose is associated with three characters: Ruby, Adam, and Summer. The first lyric of the song “Maybe red’s like roses” brings the songs from the Volume 1 trailers to mind. The title and part of the first line of the first song are “Red Like Roses.” The reference to Ruby’s song continues with the mention of blood. Ruby’s second song, “Red Like Roses Part II,” features the lyric “it’s [Summer Rose’s] blood that’s red like roses.” This volume probably won’t end well for Ruby and/or Adam.

The song continues to show Team RWBY, Team SSSN, Team JNPR, and Cinder’s group in Amity Coliseum, which means those four groups are likely to be major players in this volume, and maybe the semi-finalists in the tournament. Last volume’s opening featured a quick display of groups of characters similar to this, but a lot less appear this time. Penny, Professor Port, Dr. Oobleck, Team CFVY, Team CRDL, and Team ABRN do not appear in this opening. We know RWBY beats ABRN, and they probably fade into the background. CFVY and CRDL will probably stay in the background too this season, with a possibility of them and all the other defeated teams helping in a final battle. Penny might have some battle moments during the singles rounds of the tournament, since her introduction was tied to the tournament.

The song screams “Their Dying Eyes” as the animation zooms in on Cinder’s eye then switches to the eye of a Grimm. The Grimm are revealed to be charging at Beacon Academy. “And now they know the cost of trusting you’s obliteration” is sung as the view switches to the main tower of Beacon which is being climbed by Grimm. Last volume, Ironwood had trouble trusting Ozpin, and that may have had something to do with Ironwood being placed in charge of Vytal Festival security. There may be more Ironwood vs. Ozpin moves.

“Mirrors will shatter” is sung as an image of Ozpin and Glynda separated from the Grimm by a mirror. Mirrors have had some interesting use in past RWBY songs. Weiss’s theme, “Mirror, Mirror” is sung in a way that suggests that she’s talking with the mirror as if it’s a protector and a confidant. I think Weiss may lose something when Beacon falls.

“Crushed by the weight of the world” is sung as the video shows a hostile and combat-ready General Ironwood with the force of the Atlas military behind him. Atlas is named for a figure in Greek mythology who bore the weight of the world as punishment for fighting the Greek gods. I don’t think Ironwood or Atlas will be crushed though. Mistral seems to be more in danger. Characters who are known to be from Mistral (Pyrrha, Neptune) are linked to Greek mythology, and Mistral provides the pillars used in Amity Coliseum.

“Pillars collapse in shame” is accompanied by an animation of Blake seeing Adam in front of a group of White Fang fighters. Adam seems hesitant. In “From Shadows,” shame is one of the things that Blake/Adam/the White Fang want to rise above. The White Fang will probably get a hollow victory at some point this volume, where they destroy something that’s oppressing them, but at great cost. Perhaps an all out war against the White Fang will be part of future volumes, or of course the White Fang could lose a lot of followers to death, or possibly a different cause. Blake is not fighting in the tournament, and the White Fang was on her mind a lot last season, and Dr. Oobleck asked how being a huntress will help her make a difference. The combination means that Blake may be trying to think of another approach for dealing with Faunus rights and the White Fang. Blake may reveal herself as a Faunus this volume and try to rally the White Fang against Cinder.

The animation shows Team RWBY and Team JNPR fighting along side Atlas soldiers against Grimm with Beacon in the background. Becaon is in one piece but looks empty. Ironwood took command of Vytal security after the Vale council doubted Ozpin’s skill. Perhaps, if something were to happen to Ozpin, Ironwood would take command of Beacon students.

Now back to the lyrics. There are some theories that Summer Rose may still be alive. All that’s said is that “she never came back,” so her being alive hasn’t been denied by the Rooster Teeth crew. Summer could stop “resting” since “there’ll be no rest.”

“There’ll be no love” is more ominous when paired with the animation. Volume 2 gives Pyrrha and Nora songs, and they’re all love songs. When Team RWBY and Team JNPR are falling together, Pyrrha is the first to fall, and Nora falls so fast that it’s hard to see. There has been a lot of foreshadowing that Pyrrha will face some misfortune since she’s on Cinder’s list. Nora reveals some vulnerability in “Round One,” and at the very least, Nora will lose a friend, one of her greatest fears.

Team RWBY fighting against the leaders of Cinder’s group accompanies “There will be no hero in the end who will rise above.” Adam naturally takes Roman’s place as Blake’s opponent. The fights are too quick to show a winner or anyone having an advantage, so perhaps Team RWBY will face defeat.

The images of the families is shown when “and when it ends” is sung. Winter and Qrow face off while “victory for hate incarnate,” which suggests that the conflict between Ozpin’s group and Ironwood’s will contribute to whatever falls. Weiss seems concerned when Winter goes to face off against Qrow, while Yang and Ruby aren’t. Weiss is worried about either her sister’s well-being or her relation with her teammates, or both.

“Victory” has appeared in all of the openings so far. “Victory is in a simple soul” from “This Will Be the Day” is optimistic, and there’s a tiny bit of that optimism at the end. Yang, Weiss, and Blake all have their heads down in the final shot of Team Ruby on the ground. Ruby’s eyes are open, and she’s looking up, possibly for hope. “Time to Say Goodbye” is more ominous with “or are we weapons?//Pointed at the enemy//so someone else can claim the victory.” With the semblance steal theory that I’ve been running with, it seems likely that the semblances, a part of the heroes, could contribute to another villain victory.

The imagery of light and darkness has reoccurred a lot in the songs. In the yin and yang, light is one of the things that are associated with the yang element. One of Pyrrha’s songs from Volume 2 is titled with “Shine.” There have been concerns about Yang being killed, because kill the mentor. Yang is showing signs of being suspicious of Emerald and Mercury and may try to confront them about information. Also, Yang’s semblance is pretty spectacular, so she could be on Cinder’s list. Granted, the semblances we’ve seen—Team RWBY’s, Pyrrha’s, and Sun’s—all seem pretty great and would be more deadly when used by a skilled Dust user. Cinder leaving clones made of fire or lava to destroy her enemies with Blake or Sun’s semblance or using Ruby’s speed/rose motif to leave a trail of lava in her wake would be dangerous.

“Misery and pain for all” is sung when the photo is in the screen. The group in the photo has already faced some misery with Raven’s departure and Summer’s disappearance. These incidents are shown to have had a serious effect on Tai Yang, even to this day based on Ruby’s talk with Summer’s memorial. The group may reunite this season, only for one to die because mentors are often killed off for the main characters to transition to adulthood. Also, after the zoom in on Qrow’s sword, it shows the black and red energy that Raven seems to use to teleport. I think this means that the teleport/black and red energy is a Branwen family skill, which means that Yang’s semblance is probably similar to Tai Yang’s, and Ruby’s is similar to Summer’s.

Steven Universe: The Gem War on Earth

What we know:

• Rose Quartz rebelled against the Gem Homeworld because she saw the beauty of it and didn't want the Homeworld to destroy it.
• Pearl chose to follow Rose into battle.
• Amethyst was recruited at the abandoned kindergarten, and some things about her, such as size, were not up to the standards of a usual amethyst.
• Rose, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst are the only surviving members of Rose’s army, to Jasper’s surprise.
• The remaining Gems (both Crystal and Homeworld) on Earth were corrupted and turned into monsters that Rose couldn’t heal.
• When the war was lost, the Homeworld left the cluster behind to destroy Earth millennia later. 
• Lapis Lazuli’s gem was cracked and stuck in a mirror.

Motivations:

I think that the war on Earth coincided with another event in Gem history, which would be the decision to use fusions solely as weapons. Why would an experiment on forced fusion be left to cook in the core of the Earth if fusion experiments weren’t another major Homeworld project?

This could shed some light on Garnet’s motivations. Peridot expresses discomfort with Garnet remaining fused outside of battle. In addition, when Garnet first deals with the Gem Shards, Ruby and Sapphire almost split, one of them wandering if it was their fault. I think that around the same time as Rose’s rebellion, Ruby and Sapphire chose to remain as Garnet as their default state. This brought Garnet under the scrutiny and persecution of the Homeworld Gems, which lead to her leaving to join Rose’s rebellion. Garnet is particularly hostile towards Homeworld Gems compared to the other Crystal Gems. Lapis is afraid of Garnet, although this could be because Garnet’s a full time fusion. The Centipeetle Gem is terrified of Garnet’s gauntlets, and Garnet is hostile to it in turn. I think that Centipeetle started as an anti-fusion Homeworld Gem.

If Jasper was on Earth during the Gem War, she fought because she opposed fusion. I think Jasper’s hatred of fusions is partially because fusion can make non-warrior Gems into warriors who might be able to defeat her. I’m not ready to say her motivations are pure loyalty, because “Jailbreak” shows that she is willing to act on her own agenda instead of Yellow Diamond’s. Why couldn’t they swing by the Cluster and check on it before heading back with Steven? Jasper made Steven's capture priority. In conclusion, Jasper fought for her beliefs about fusion and for the sake of fighting.

Lapis Lazuli was probably drawn to Earth because she is a hydro-kinetic gem, and Earth is mostly water. Before the war, there may have been attempts to put hydraulic energy to use for gem or weapon production. The potential failed project that I mentioned could be part of the reason that Lapis didn’t believe that Earth had potential. Regardless, Lapis didn’t want to stay on Earth, and the only way to go back to Homeworld would be to fight for the Homeworld. While Rose does operate on a morally gray scale, I don’t think that keeping Lapis imprisoned and injured in a mirror is something she’d allow. I don’t think this was done by any of the named characters. Lapis either was injured and captured by a Gem fighting for Rose then presented to Rose as a mirror, or Lapis was found injured by a Homeworld Gem and “recycled” as an object to spy on Rose with the false promise of rescuing Lapis later. The latter would explain why Lapis did at some point give information to the Crystal Gems, although the former would explain her hostility towards the Crystal Gems.

An Overcooked Amethyst:

The obvious side effect of Amethyst being overcooked is that she’s smaller than the standard quartz-type gem. Pearl calls her the one good thing that came from the Gem Kindergarten. I think that implies that Pearl (and probably Rose) felt that there was something “wrong” with the other quartzes made on Earth. Perhaps the Homeworld found a way to create quartz Gems that were naturally inclined to fight. Jasper is obsessed with strength and battle. Rose is motivated by her compassion, can create plant armies and heal, and is a skilled strategist making her a type of warrior-leader. Amethyst is light-hearted and goofy but plagued by a lot of self-consciousness that she tries to cover up with a laid back attitude. She’s also loyal but can chafe under too much authority, as shown in “Tiger Millionaire.” She's a capable fighter but can be reckless. These traits combined with her small size made her undesirable to the Homeworld Gems, and if they knew of her, she was probably abandoned.

Since she doesn’t know the role of quartz gems in society, she must have hatched much later than the other quartz gems, and that if any other gems hatched at the same time as her they were small kinds not meant for combat. Rose, as a fellow quartz, could have shared their ancestry but chose not to, probably because she either didn't want to keep the Homeworld hierarchy or was disgusted with the other quartz type gems made in the Gem Kindergarten.

Rose’s Army in the End:

Jasper is surprised that there are only three survivors of Rose’s army. The amount of hostile gems on a planet is valuable information that would have to be as accurate as possible, especially if they were sneaking noncombat gems on to check on the cluster. I say one or more because the Crystal Gems may not have known about Peridot if Steven hadn’t accidentally stuck his head out of the warp beam. The amount of enemies that could be faced would be passed on to Jasper, the warrior in charge of subduing the Crystal Gems. However, the small number surprises Jasper. This makes it seem like the Crystal Gems lost Gems between the first war and Steven's arrival.

My theory is that there were more who survived the Gem war at first, but they eventually became the corrupted monsters that Rose and the others fought to protect Earth from. Another possibility is that they could have artificially enlarged Rose’s army using Pearl’s battle holograms, but I find that one less likely. Surely the Homeworld Gems would be able to tell the difference. Also, I'm not sure if only her Pearl holograms were able to attack.

RWBY: First Round

I'm trying an episode recap this time.

The episode has a beautiful beginning, with Ruby talking to her mother’s grave and giving her mother a catch up. It’s really sweet. I like Ruby’s little joke about keeping Yang in line, and I think Ruby got her sense of humor from her mother. The photo in the opening theme implied that Summer might not have been the best with social interaction, and maybe she’d miss the joke after it was explained like Ruby. Overall, the animation is great. I love the reflection of sunlight on Ruby’s eyes. It’s so beautiful. The one problem is that Tian Yang looks to have been drawn in a completely different style. The shading style looked a lot different and he didn’t move.

Next we go to the fight. The beginning was a bit off. I prefer knowing what’s going on at the start of a fight. Ruby and Weiss got some cool battle poses, but who were they fighting? I mean yeah, Bolin and Nadir since Blake is in one on one against Reese while Yang and Arslan are throwing down, but what are Ruby and Weiss doing? I guess Weiss was launching a glyph from far away, but Ruby seriously looks like she was just striking cool poses. I had the same issue with Pyrrha’s fight with Team CRDL. There are flashes of her fighting Cardin, Dove, and Lark, but Russel takes his time getting to the fight, so does he just spend some time practicing back handsprings while the others fought?

Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck deliver banter and exposition. The tournament setup is good, and it sounds like all students get to the team round. It’s a good style for huntsmen and huntresses in training, since it requires teams to think about who will best represent them and will likely give a lot of them a chance to observe other fighting styles. It also means that Penny will have a lot of time to test herself in fights. The large amount of ships taking people to and from the fair ground suggests that the Dust shortage in Vale, I think, so I swear to God, Velvet and Russel if you get fight scenes you better do more than kick people. I want to see more Dust usage. Weiss and Cinder have each picked a favorite element to destroy people with, so I need more Dust users in the show to satisfy my Dust need. I have no faith in Cardin providing a lot of cool Dust usage, because in Volume 1, he had Jaune do his Dust homework. Seriously, Weiss just made a giant ice fist out of Dust. That had to have taken some intense Dust manipulation. How does she do that? The stadium will give a good opportunity since Bolin was able to snag some lava Dust for Reese to use.

Anyways, once the doctor and professor are finished, the fight scene gets good. Blake and Reese are going toe to toe, as are Yang and Arslan. They’re good match ups. Yang and Arslan are tough brawlers, while Blake and Reese’s weapons have a good amount of surprises. Someone also said it was very Spiderman-esque. Team RWBY has great teamwork between Ruby and Weiss, and it gets even better with the ending move, a team up to prepare the ultimate punch. It was deliciously over the top.

I liked what little I saw of Team ABRN. Arslan’s use of the wire is really cool, and kind of like Blake’s ribbon. Hopefully more characters will put this strategy to use later since large Grimm or really strong fighters can send a lot of them flying. I think Reese’s hoverboard uses wind Dust as a default Dust type, but obviously it can take other crystals, such as the lava one to use in addition to the wind. ABRN seems to have a better balance of individual combat styles than a lot of the Beacon teams. Arslan, Bolin, and Reese are primarily fast melee, while Nadir is primarily ranged. It’s not that balanced, but of the sixteen shown Beacon students, Coco is the only one who isn’t a melee fighter or a melee fighter that can fall back onto ranged attacks. How does Beacon not have teams that are poorly balanced? I suppose it fits Ozpin’s style to stick kids together and say, “alright, it’s your job to find the strategies for this to work.”

We find out that Cinder and her group destroyed another team. Neo in disguise is the fourth member. It’s a cute disguise. Cinder also has skill in hand-to-hand combat, in addition to archery, dual wielding swords, and lava Dust. It’s going to take a lot to stop her. On top of that, the tournament celebrating peace just played perfectly into her hand. Also, I think Cinder has some Dust infused in her body, since she popped a popcorn kernel with her bare hand.

I adored the little bit with Team JNPR and RWBY at the noodle shop. It was great to see their views on their future missions. Ruby is excited, while Blake and Pyrrha are more realistic. It’s expected, but it’s fun to see. Since it seems likely that Weiss’s father cancelled her card, there is going to be some quality Schnee family drama for Weiss to deal with. What I really loved was Ren getting a chance to goof off a bit (“Nora, that’s disgusting, but if you feel the urge…”) as well as Nora taking a break from being her usual bubbly self to reveal some insecurities. Nora and Ren, precious warrior orphans. Also a more self-aware Jaune was nice to see. I have my fingers crossed for Pyrrha and Ren being doubles partners because there haven’t been a lot of combos between them. Also, Ren seems like he’d be better than Nora at countering fighters that Pyrrha may have trouble with.