It's been several months since the Fall of Beacon, and the world of Remnant is still recovering. Tensions are high, lives have been lost, and the members of Team RWBY... are divided. Each of our heroines now faces a journey of their own.
Reviews
bondricka - 2017-05-29 04:18:52
Delet salem
mbergstrom - 2017-02-08 06:39:52
So compared to Volume 3, RWBY IV was a bit of a disappointment. I like RWBY and will continue watching, but this volume didn’t really go anywhere. It’s mainly a transition period, dealing with the aftermath of Volume 3 as we learn more about the World of Remnant and are introduced to new characters.
Since Team RWBY is separated, this volume switches between the four main POVs, allowing us to see how the fall of Beacon has affected each character differently. On one hand, this structure broadens the scope of the story, no longer limiting our perspective to just events in Vale by introducing us to other major cities. But this division of screen time also results in an inconsistent pacing, where we might see one character for a scene and won’t see them again until a few episodes later, and where time skips occur and interrupts the flow of character development and storytelling. We get some backstory, but there isn’t an adequate amount of time spent on each character to flesh them out properly. It’s only 12 episodes long, so most of the events are either quickly skimmed over, or dragged out for too long. Overall, we get some foreshadowing but nothing really happens to advance the plot. It’s at a standstill, a transitioning period to build up for the next volume, which is hopefully more exciting and action-packed.
I did like the improved animation, as it generally looks nicer and smoother. I have heard some fans complain about the fight scenes, stating that they’ve become more dramatic and less realistic. I’m no expert in animation, but overall I enjoyed the fight scenes and anything that bugged me wasn’t a huge deal. There were a lot of World of Remnant videos this time, which I enjoyed.
In the end, I enjoyed RWBY IV because I’m already invested in the story and the characters. I mainly had issues with the pacing, which hindered the character development and slowed the progression of the plot. I’m skeptical but will remain hopeful for Volume 5.