



Last chapter dropped what is essentially the hydrogen bomb of backstory episodes with the overwhelming amount of blood, sweat and tears from every department in the CRWBY to back it up. Considering that it was only the third of this 14-episode volume, it should come as no surprise that the next episode to follow would be much smaller in scale in terms of production values.





That being said, some fans have still expressed some disappointment that chapter 4 would only be a mere 13-in-a-half minutes. Whether this is considered obvious or not, animation as a professional medium with multiple stages involves quite a bit of scheduling and management, especially for a serialized series. What I’m about to say had already been touched on in the last production analysis, but to reiterate, chapter 3 was one of the most difficult episodes to make thus far, through the script and every other department according to Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross. It was the longest episode to date (excluding ending credits), meaning that there were likely more cuts in storyboards than the average one. Roughly 30 different character models were created which had to be rigged and animated, over a dozen environment models were built, all to present the passage of time for this one episode. This is not even counting the quantity of visual effects utilized, including 2-D effects from Myke Chapman which were new to RWBY.

Having one episode with that amount of time and skill poured in would naturally follow a more conservative episode in some regard. This can be seen all the time in anime TV series depending on their production scheduling. Bleach’s 166th episode was considered a spectacle in its animation through the destructive fight between the characters Ichigo and Grimmjow only for episode 167 to follow with a cool down. Any episode of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and Boruto that featured extraordinary animation and storyboards throughout like are almost always going to have an episode following with a more standard, run-of-the-mill staff. Even My Hero Academia, despite having various memorably-presented moments such as episode 11 of season 3 will follow with whole episodes lacking in action before picking things back up at a much later one. While this practice may not necessarily be ideal to anime fans, this is how productions of long-running anime are usually kept from falling apart which is especially important in an industry where the amount of anime projects being green-lit increase each year.

Though unlike most anime that are bound to a weekly, 30-minute run-time, RWBY at Rooster Teeth Animation has a bit of a weird advantage as web series by sometimes (though not always) using minute-length to help manage how ambitious or conservative an episode can be. Though narrative beats always play a big factor, this chapter of volume 6 is a classic example of needing to take a breather though its length being roughly half of chapter 3. Pretty much everyone fans know take up screen time this episode, meaning there aren’t new models aside from probably Tyrian with a modified tail. In terms of set pieces, only two new environments were fully designed, one being the trail to Brunswick Farms while the other was the hanging bay outside of Salem’s palace.

One fascinating bit of observation was comparing certain footage this episode to the volume 6 trailer. With one clip so far having not been shown as of the time this analysis will first be posted, every other teaser footage had been in the episodes proper. However, the moments in chapter 4 are the most different. In the moment with Emerald and Tyrian, the setting itself and the lighting changed whereas in the snow trail scene, certain characters are not previously seen carrying their luggage in the trailer. And then there’s Salem delivering the same line with lip-syncing being precise but the camera shots are very different. It’s possible that by the time the trailer needed to be made to show to be publicly available on October 16th, they were not one-hundred percent done with the episode and needed to adjust things in post. which would make sense considering the overwhelming scale of chapter 3′s production. That or they were done and simply omitted moments such as the Grimm arms binding Hazel to avoid teasing too much. Either theory is likely honestly and the latter wouldn’t be the first time Rooster Teeth has done this with RWBY trailers if one were to think back to the second and third volumes.





Moving on, let’s touch on a bit of something that admittedly has not been highlighted that much in the past couple of posts: the animation. When checking the ending credits, you won’t see the usual names that have been prominent up until now. Whether this is due to them working on later episodes or juggling between working on Gray Haddock’s mecha show, Gen:Lock at around the time this chapter was in production, animators like Asha Bishi, John Yang, Matt Drury or Will Sherburne are not credited here. This is not to raise a concern or to scare fans so much as it is to provide an opportunity for newer names that may not have had a chance to show a bit of what they can do. Luckily, Kaitlin Petras is one such name, who confirmed to have done animations for some of the antagonists, including Tyrian. Combined with animation director, Joel Mann returning to do motion capture for the lovable psychopath who had not done so since chapter 11 of volume 4, fans get to see some delightful character acting. If it hasn’t been clear in previous scenes that Tyrian is the kind of character that tries to earn brownie points from Salem at other’s expenses, his moments here should cement that. The way his eyes and mouth read that he hates to see his leader displeased but loves to watch others get in trouble just emphasizes his rather childish nature. It’s too soon to fully say which sequences in particular were done by Kaitlin, but considering every second of Tyrian was pleasing to watch, her name is worth bearing in mind.

That being said, other characters were given great character acting according how they also channeled fear. Emerald has been put in a difficult state without having Cinder immediately besides her, providing an opportunity for her to feel frightened through her body language and the way the pupils in her eyes shift. There’s even a shot where she feels submissive through the way she slouches but subtly clenches her fist after she and Salem briefly face each other. Hazel was also another character to display fear but channeled it through the need to be stoic, humble and even protective. Even when pinned down, his facial expressions suggest he’s reluctantly willing to accept being punished. And then there’s Salem herself who subdues her anger and channels it into discipline by the way her teeth stay clenched. Though more of a secondary highlight, the animation on the protagonists’ scenes were also done well with Qrow and Ozpin/Oscar in particular expressing vulnerability, bitter anger, shame and helplessness.

Moving on, the storyboards and camera layout were once again a good highlight in both the protagonist and antagonists’ scenes. Although there’s no confirmation and no clear way to tell who did what, the various choices of composition are still noteworthy. In scenes with the antagonists, there were some great establishing and wide angle shots to help fully present the spacial aspect of Salem’s palace and the area surrounding it. The scene also helped to highlight how much Salem’s authority and wrath puts everyone in an inferior and frightened position, despite her not even being on screen in certain shots. This includes Hazel, who is often framed as small in one shot or being towered by her in another. Staying on the subject of Salem’s palace for a second, it’s nice to see how despite being in the Maya and 3DS max animation softwares for a third volume now, it’s fascinating how the meeting room alone has gone through multiple tweaks through the lighting and compositing. Switching gears back to storyboards with the protagonists this time, shots of Ozpin and Oscar are the highlight, with the former being isolated and towered by those opposing him and the latter feeling isolated due to a responsibility placed on him without a choice. Ruby of course is the only one to attempt to comfort Oscar by walking past the one tree that figuratively separates them.

As much praise as there has been given, the last bit to talk about with this episode is unfortunately critical and relates to a debate that has stood out among fans since this episode first premiered. For the record, I’m not the kind of viewer whose ability to enjoy a story is determined by how likable or unlikable characters come off. Moments where characters are in an unusually negative state are welcoming in my eyes so as long as the narrative beats warrant it. Presentation can either add to making bitter sides between characters more understandable and sympathetic or it can hinder all of that. It all ultimately depends on execution. This brings me to the way the main cast responded to Ozpin in the beginning of the episode. When taking not just the events of chapters 1 & 2 of this volume into account, but also select episodes in volume 5, it’s not impossible to see the train of thought behind the collective cast. Everyone at varied points expressed doubt and frustration with Ozpin’s roundabout way of having others involved in his agenda. Yang getting annoyed over promises broken in front of her would naturally lash out the most, with Weiss sharing similar sentiments in a more subdued manner. Blake would be upset but also much more quiet. Ruby firmly asks about the task ahead as her way of keeping her chin up and Oscar is deeply anxious and depressed.

On some level, the reactions in this episode make sense. But the reactions seem to result exclusively in the period in the sentence last episode, being that Salem can’t be killed (or that Ozpin can’t be killed or whatever potential loophole there could be, but this is not the place to debate about that) and not how Ozpin was burdened with the task he was given. The responses could have benefited from being slightly more varied when taking that to account while still expressing anger and anxiety, depending on the character. Speaking of which, Qrow was probably the biggest issue with the execution of the reactions. Never-minding for a moment that a grown man punched a 14 year-old in a manner that kept reminding me of the way Junior got clocked in the Yellow trailer, the behavior itself felt too abrupt. Up until this point, the audience was mostly oblivious to how Qrow was taking all of this in. There was one brief moment where Qrow saw Ozma for the first time in the last chapter and Qrow shaking his head in disbelief in the chapter before that. But otherwise, his anger and resentment, while very sensible in regards to his overall character story as he expressed through dialogue, lacked the proper set-up and leans a bit too heavily as being shocking.

An extra bit of the scene indirectly presenting Qrow’s psyche before and maybe even after he punches Ozpin can go a long way. If say, as he walks towards Ozpin, cuts to still arts in the form of memories of Qrow and Ozpin’s interactions such as a small tease of how they met and what was the turning point that made Qrow be so dedicated can help better sell his anger. This is the kind of thing seen in anime adaptations of popular, long-running Shonen manga and as much as the idea of cutting to flashback clips are subject to ridicule and criticism, there is a valid rhyme and reason for why those techniques are applied in visual direction. It’s also important to time tension or a particular character being emotionally charged through some sort of build-up in a scene. An example that can help illustrate my point would be a scene in One Piece:





What may seem like a straight-forward argument seen out-of-context is actually considered a fan-favorite moment in the One Piece anime. A big reason for this has to do with the contextual set-up between the straw hat captain, Luffy and injured marksman, Usopp. The latter fought tooth and nail to get the earned money stolen from him to fix the ship he and his crew ridden on until now, only to fail to do so, hence why he’s injured. Meanwhile, at a slightly earlier point, Luffy is told by the shipwrights he consulted with that their ship won’t last another voyage. Luffy initially refused to accept that, but then reluctantly comes to terms with the reality. However, Usopp doesn’t realize that Luffy reacted as strongly as he did and instead sees Luffy casually talking about getting new ships through a catalog and then acts sternly as a captain about getting a new ship. This only comes off as insensitive to Usopp after the trouble he went through to get the stolen money back. All of this results in the scene seen in the above video. And yet even with all of this set-up, the scene doesn’t start immediately with things getting physical. Usopp and Luffy’s argument escalates before it reaches that point and it’s made clear through the choice of music, lighting, and framing. While a one-sided punch is not exactly the same as an argument, the sense of anger built between Qrow and Usopp’s characters are similar enough to draw comparison to and it’s how both characters’ negative emotions are fueled and lashed out through execution. Whether or not this was something considered or doable during the production of this episode is unclear and honestly a whole other can of worms that can be speculated on at another time.

That marks the end of chapter 4′s production analysis which did admittedly bring things down somewhat with the bit of criticism at the end. But that shouldn’t take away from an otherwise well executed transitional episode. When looking at things that way, the events here did what they needed to do and the presentation and production mostly helped to present that to the best of their abilities. As for what is in store next episode, the relatively small credits among the animation team make hint at bigger things to come somewhere down the line. We’ll just have to wait and see.