The fairy-tale-futuristic world drifts towards the police state – review of the seventh season of “RWBY”

Season six followed the adventures of the heroes as they travel through snowy forests and small towns. We were not able to see the final destination of the expedition – the capital of the traversed country, although it was mentioned many times throughout the series, which fueled the atmosphere of anticipation. In the latest season, we finally reach our goal and – as always – that’s when the real problems begin.

A bit Victorian, a bit futuristic, and at the same time still fabulous

Atlas, both as a city and a country, is a specific settingwhich we are visiting for the first time in the history of the series, with the exception of a few flashbacks of the inmates inside the Schnee family villa located there. Most of the plot that drives the plot of the new season is primarily based on the nature of the place and the tensions in the local community. Broadly speaking, the city of Atlas and the nearby smaller town called Mantle present themselves as a fairy-tale version of a country stuck in the industrial age. We have easily recognizable, smoking factories, tightly packed, high tenement houses and the omnipresent “greasy” darkness, which consists of coal smoke hanging in the air and depressed, overworked residents. On the other hand, it is all guarded by sterile white combat robots,

While there are occasional clashes with the stray hordes of Grimm beasts, the Kingdom of Atlas seems well guarded. The real threat seems to lie within its safe limits. In the society of the two mentioned cities it boils like a hive. On the one hand, it concerns the rivalry between the capital subordinated to the military and scientists and the marginalized and mainly inhabited by workers Mantle. On the other hand, the entire state is torn by three different forces – the army led by General Ironwood, the rich, represented primarily by Jacques Schnee, and the working class led by Huntress Robyn Hill (modeled on Robin Hood). In addition, Atlas is also penetrated by villains known from previous series – the envoys of the sinister Salem, Arthur Watts and Tyrian Callows, as well as Cinder and Neopolitan operating on their own.

A long-awaited breath of fresh air

Season seven offers viewers a much-needed change of pace. After a long journey, sudden plot twists and quite intimate interpersonal games between the main characters in the fifth and sixth series, a moment of some change finally comes. The protagonists are given a little time to relax and perfect their skills in controlled conditions, and the viewers, in turn, can take a break from following the relations between them, and in return look at the new characters and the realities of the Kingdom of Atlas.

In addition, the visual side of RWBY has also been refreshed . Our little ones receive new outfits, still reflecting the individual character of each of the heroes, but at the same time showing the internal development that has taken place in them since the last such makeover in season four. I liked some of them more (Ruby, Jaune), others less (Blake), but with the naked eye you can see that the creators have contributed to all the projects and none of them is banal or simply ugly, and some change was definitely needed. This is not the end, as well, as their weapons have also been improved, which broadened the combat potential of each of them. Consequently, new tricks in combat scenes are as pleasant to look at as fresh clothes and hairstyles.

Fighting is still keeping the level

The strongest side of RWBY , i.e. the choreography of the fights, does not fail either . In the latest season we will not experience anything that would overshadow the fights from the beginning of the series (which were supervised by the creator of this universe, the late Monty Oum), but compared to the competition, they do not lack anything. While I am concerned that Oum’s artistry will remain an unsurpassed goal for his successors for a long time to come, the animations of the next battles and their overall layout seem to be constantly improving. If any of you abandoned RWBY during the fourth or fifth season due to the decline in the quality of combat scenes, I assure you: it still only gets better!

Availability in Poland

Writing this text, I am aware that a large part of you probably have no idea what RWBY is , and this is due to the lack of any distribution strictly aimed at the Polish market. It is not for one simple reason – the series is not broadcast by any large TV station that would attempt to undertake wide-ranging marketing activities and product localization for the use of foreign audiences. RWBY is the so-called web series , i.e. an internet series published only on the web.

From our point of view, this has its advantages and disadvantages. We can undoubtedly consider the fact that the series is available for free to anyone who has access to the Internet – and it is 100% legal, as Rooster Teeth studio itself publishes episodes in HD quality on its official website. You can pay a subscription for them by creating a premium account there, but it is not necessary – each new episode becomes free one week after its premiere. The downside is, of course, the limitation to the original language version, in this case English. However, I think that for many people it will be a minor problem, and for the rest of them an opportunity to practice their English, because the vocabulary used is not the most complicated, and the characters speak clearly and without problematic accents.