Usually I try to refrain from talking about stuff I don't care about, but oh my word this is probably one of the most excruciatingly uneventful series of episodes of anything I have ever seen. To put in perspective, I'd rather watch Endless Eight from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya all over again, in its entirety. But anyway, onto the actual volume.
I honestly thought the ending to Vol. 3 was a little bit of a bad omen. The worst thing about that was that when it seemed there was going to be a big fight with Ruby and Cinder, but then Ruby witnesses Pyrrah's death, she basically goes super saiyan and the screen fades to white. Then, we cut to Ruby waking up in her bed, where Qrow informs her what all has happened since she went "super saiyan". A scene or so later, we see Yang in her bed, and we quickly see that her arm is missing. Furthermore, Weiss and Blake were nowhere to be found. Then, Ruby sets off with (the remaining) members of JNPR, venturing to Haven. Cut to this demonic narrator lady named Salem who's foreshadowing all the evil and chaos she's gonna execute and that's basically where Vol. 3 ends. I know this isn't about Vol.3, but it's essential to talk about the end of Vol. 3 to understand Vol. 4's problems.
One of the first things we see in this volume is Cinder and her gang basically under new management, this time they're basically just Salem's little puppets. OK, so we're only a few mins into this and the big baddies who caused so much destruction last volume are basically trying not to piss Salem off. This might've been to give the idea that Salem is going to end the world if Cinder and her gang just killed a kingdom, but when we were just introduced to Salem and she doesn't do anything all that threatening to give you the idea that she means business. Vol. 4 is really just 2 things; half of RWBY on a journey, and the other half lingering around their respective households. Ruby is basically on a road trip during the entire volume, with the other members of JNPR. Blake's arc was actually fairly interesting, where she ventures back home and... basically lingers around her house. Well, even so, it was a lot more eventful than the some of the other storylines, and you get quite a bit interested because it sets up for something to come of her unfinished business with Adam and the White Fang. As for Weiss and Yang, they really didn't have much of a purpose aside from as stated, lingering around their house and acting rather displeased a lot of the time. Fortunately by the end of Vol. 4, they come around and get back into their living. As for Ruby, she still is venturing with JNPR all the way to Haven, on FOOT (like seriously Yang was seen riding a motorbike at the end of this volume, did they not have anything for quicker transport?). Eventually they came across a creepy scorpion/human hybrid dude working with Salem, and severely wounds Qrow, even though it looked like a flesh wound when you actually saw the fight. Not too long later, we end up in the home village for two of the members of JNPR a climactic final fight of the volume, which was destroyed a longtime prior. Ruby and JNPR fight with this absolutely insane Grimm creature, which is like the Headless Horseman, but with a head, and creepy as heck. This was absolutely the highlight of the volume, because it is genuinely a great fight. Of course RIGHT after they kill the Grimm, military personnel arrive in ships and escort Ruby and JNPR to Haven Academy, how convenient!
I didn't hate this volume because there are redeeming moments, but I obviously didn't like it, and thought it was really just filler. But as I implied throughout the post, part of the problem of Vol. 4 is that it tells us all these things that happened at the end of Vol. 3, but it never showed us a lot of these things that happened, and it expects us to just go along with everything that is made out to be a big deal this volume. It really just feels so disconnected from what the previous volumes have led up to here.
I honestly thought the ending to Vol. 3 was a little bit of a bad omen. The worst thing about that was that when it seemed there was going to be a big fight with Ruby and Cinder, but then Ruby witnesses Pyrrah's death, she basically goes super saiyan and the screen fades to white. Then, we cut to Ruby waking up in her bed, where Qrow informs her what all has happened since she went "super saiyan". A scene or so later, we see Yang in her bed, and we quickly see that her arm is missing. Furthermore, Weiss and Blake were nowhere to be found. Then, Ruby sets off with (the remaining) members of JNPR, venturing to Haven. Cut to this demonic narrator lady named Salem who's foreshadowing all the evil and chaos she's gonna execute and that's basically where Vol. 3 ends. I know this isn't about Vol.3, but it's essential to talk about the end of Vol. 3 to understand Vol. 4's problems.
One of the first things we see in this volume is Cinder and her gang basically under new management, this time they're basically just Salem's little puppets. OK, so we're only a few mins into this and the big baddies who caused so much destruction last volume are basically trying not to piss Salem off. This might've been to give the idea that Salem is going to end the world if Cinder and her gang just killed a kingdom, but when we were just introduced to Salem and she doesn't do anything all that threatening to give you the idea that she means business. Vol. 4 is really just 2 things; half of RWBY on a journey, and the other half lingering around their respective households. Ruby is basically on a road trip during the entire volume, with the other members of JNPR. Blake's arc was actually fairly interesting, where she ventures back home and... basically lingers around her house. Well, even so, it was a lot more eventful than the some of the other storylines, and you get quite a bit interested because it sets up for something to come of her unfinished business with Adam and the White Fang. As for Weiss and Yang, they really didn't have much of a purpose aside from as stated, lingering around their house and acting rather displeased a lot of the time. Fortunately by the end of Vol. 4, they come around and get back into their living. As for Ruby, she still is venturing with JNPR all the way to Haven, on FOOT (like seriously Yang was seen riding a motorbike at the end of this volume, did they not have anything for quicker transport?). Eventually they came across a creepy scorpion/human hybrid dude working with Salem, and severely wounds Qrow, even though it looked like a flesh wound when you actually saw the fight. Not too long later, we end up in the home village for two of the members of JNPR a climactic final fight of the volume, which was destroyed a longtime prior. Ruby and JNPR fight with this absolutely insane Grimm creature, which is like the Headless Horseman, but with a head, and creepy as heck. This was absolutely the highlight of the volume, because it is genuinely a great fight. Of course RIGHT after they kill the Grimm, military personnel arrive in ships and escort Ruby and JNPR to Haven Academy, how convenient!
I didn't hate this volume because there are redeeming moments, but I obviously didn't like it, and thought it was really just filler. But as I implied throughout the post, part of the problem of Vol. 4 is that it tells us all these things that happened at the end of Vol. 3, but it never showed us a lot of these things that happened, and it expects us to just go along with everything that is made out to be a big deal this volume. It really just feels so disconnected from what the previous volumes have led up to here.
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