I have to say CRWBY deserves ALL the props for just how they handled the whole ‘become a real boy’ element of Penny’s Pinocchio story. Namely, the fact that they essentially sidestepped the whole ‘transformation’ aspect of the story entirely.

Penny becoming the Winter Maiden is not her ‘becoming a real girl’.

Rather, Penny’s ability to receive the power of a Maiden in the first place is an AFFIRMATION, beyond all doubt, that she was always a real girl.