Turns out I just don't like manga. Maybe the translation's not good enough but I also just don't like the artwork in general. It's too bad because I've heard so many good things about so many manga.

In the world of Remnant, monsters known as Grimm wreak havoc. They’re kept in check by Huntsmen and Huntresses, highly skilled warriors experienced in monster extermination who utilize their special abilities on the field of battle. Ruby is a ferociously talented young girl who comes to Beacon Academy to hone her skills and serve as a Huntress herself. Alongside her sister Yang Xiao Long, rival Weiss Schnee and newfound friend Blake Belladonna, Ruby leads Team RWBY, the coolest new group at Beacon!

Ruby takes her first step on the road to becoming a Huntress by enrolling at Beacon Academy, eager to take on the battery of tests, challenges and difficulties that follow. Ruby knows her talents will take her to her goal, but is she ready to clash with Weiss Schnee, haughty scion of the Schnee Dust Company?- Goodreads

I love the fact that this book did not have a romantic interest. Granted it is only the first novel but the fact that you have these four girls learning, developing, working together as well as kicking ass made the manga on my top priority list to read.

The art work is pretty good but reading it with some of the battle scenes got a bit spotty. It didn't flow consistently like I would have liked and I also would have liked to see more physical difference between some of the characters. I don't know why everyone looks like they are related by some change.

Beyond that the pace of the story was inviting and allowed you to get to know the characters. Volume one packed a lot of information not just about the characters but some backstory. I'm looking forward to reading volume two and getting the full story.

Overall,

3 Pickles

This was pretty much the exact same as the anime. I watched that long ago and it was interesting seeing it in manga form. After the first section though it was just a recap and it got boring pretty fast. A lot of the panels were not a graphic as I would want, as coming off the anime, that always had the best action and it didn't translate to this format. I was excited to read this, but I think I'll stick to watching the anime.

It's easy to tell this is an adaptation; reading this felt like I was walking into a conversation between characters who already knew each other, their quirks, their skills, and had longstanding relationships. But this comic was supposed to be an origin story, a story of their meetings. The plot rested heavy on tropes, key aspects of the world weren't explained, and the art style was pretty bad - it was impossible to tell what was going on in the (frequent!) action scenes. Was really looking forward to this and I am pretty disappointed.

I think I'm just the wrong person for this book: I know too much about folklore, literary fairy tales, and children's literature. As an action piece, the book is fine - lovely art, lots going on, interesting enough characters. But there's no real reason for it to base itself in folklore or classic kid lit and that just wound up being a big distraction for me. This is much more for established franchise fans or people who haven't been actively studying the aforementioned fields. (Or are better at setting things aside while reading than I am!)

First off, I must confess: I have never seen the RWBY anime. In fact, I didn’t even know about RWBY until I read other articles my fellow writers have contributed to the site. But upon delving into some research, my intrigue was immediately sparked by the show’s description. The problem was that there are nearly 100 episodes to catch up on if I wanted to start the anime. Conveniently for me, the first volume of RWBY: The Official Manga is currently available to read. I decided that it might be easier to follow along with the story through the manga in its beginning stages.

The protagonist of the story is Ruby Rose, a scythe-wielding prodigal warrior with a huge heart. Written and illustrated by Bunta Kinami, the manga starts with her stopping a robbery at a Dust shop (upon further research I have learned this is also how the anime starts). Ruby is an aspiring huntress and showcases incredible combat skill and power beyond her years in dispatching the criminals. She then meets Glenda Goodwitch, who takes her to see the headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin. Ozpin praises her handling of the thieves and interviews her about becoming a Huntress. He invites Ruby to enroll in Beacon Academy, despite being two years younger than most first-year students.

Ruby starts her first day on Beacon’s campus with her older sister Yang as her tour guide. She immediately develops a reputation around the school and becomes known as the “grade-skipper”. One of the first students she meets is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and a cold girl in both personality and in Semblance. Weiss immediately takes a disliking to the “grade-skipper” despite Ruby’s best efforts to remain cordial. Other students are soon introduced, including the cat-eared Blake Belladonna, the sheepish Jaune Arc, and the esteemed Pyrrha Nikos.

Professor Ozpin instructs the students to report to Beacon Cliff for their first lesson. He asks them to descend into the Emerald Forest below and collect relics from the temple ruins. He also informs them that the first person they make eye contact with upon their arrival will be their partner for the next four years. Ruby hopes that she sees her sister first so that they will become the perfect pair. Ozpin further warns the students that the Emerald Forest is home to Grimm: monstrous creatures that take various shapes and forms and are capable of nothing but destruction. Despite this looming threat, Ruby is still more afraid of locking eyes with Weiss Schnee than any brainless beasts. Ruby must soon learn that she has to overcome all her fears if she aims to be a Huntress.

The first volume of RWBY: The Official Manga fantastically highlights all the familiar faces for fans of the anime while formally introducing them and the world of Remnant to newcomers. The black and white artwork brings the story to life in a new perspective from the anime’s colorful style. As I understand, the soundtrack is an especially beloved feature of the anime, which is obviously absent in the manga. However, it packs enough charm, character development, and action into its five chapters to treat readers to a similarly fun and heartwarming experience. I look forward to reading upcoming chapters and joining Team RWBY’s adventures. Hopefully, after the third volume, I can jump in discussions with the seasoned RWBY veterans at AAOG.

RWBY is a fantastic anime that is produced by Rooster Teeth. I've watched the show and actually know some people who work on it.

The manga doesn't distract and I've absolutely enjoyed it! From what I can remember from watching the first volume of the anime, this is an adaptation that is almost spot on from it. I feel like there were times that needing to know the anime was needed. The art was beautiful like normal, and almost flawless.

Loved it!

I know nothing of RWBY so have no context for how well this works as an adaptation.

What initially drew me in was the artstyle. I've not read Manga is a while and this is exactly the kind of visual style I enjoy. It's clean, cute but not too chibi.

The storyline itself is not groundbreaking but interesting enough. I am very much a sucker for anything drawing on fairytales and fables.

Book 1 is the introduction to the main characters and how RWBY is formed. I certainly want to see how the story progresses and will most likely check out the animation that inspired it.

In a world where monsters known as Grimm walk the planet and terrorise civilians, a hunter or huntress is a dangerous job to aspire to, but ever since she was little, Ruby has had a dream of becoming just that. Due to her exceptional battle skills, she skips a few school years and is able to join Beacon Academy, an elite school where trainees learn to become the greatest hunters and huntresses in the world. Ruby hopes to join the school with little fanfare, just keep her head down and learn the ropes. But with the heiress Weiss Schnee, the distant Blake Belladonna and her larger-than-life older sister Yang Xiao Long – it’ll be anything but!

Let’s clear up some confusion you may be having before we dive into this volume. There are technically three different manga adaptations for the web-original series RWBY. One is a four-part anthology of centred around the main cast (which I reviewed three out of four books here), there’s a one-off volume released back in 2018 which is a collection of stories set around Volumes 1 and 2 of the original show, and then there’s this – marketed as ‘The OFFICIAL manga’ – which tells the story from the very beginning, with the aim to be faithful to the show rather than spawn new stories from the original material.

Read the full review at Anime UK News: https://animeuknews.net/2020/07/rwby-the-official-manga-volume-1/

It’s the familiar opening of the main story. Which is a good thing because the art is lacking in detail it’s hard to tell what’s going on sometimes. Hopefully this was just an issue with the ARC.

I admit that I have never watched the RWBY animated series, so I walked into this manga completely blind. Whether that was a good or a bad thing is unclear to me after reading this volume, though.

RWBY is set in a magical world known as Remnant, which is split into four kingdoms and plagued by creatures known as Grimm. Academies have been established to train students to become Hunters and Huntresses that battle with the Grimm.

At the beginning of the volume, there are Dust thefts taking place in the kingdom of Vale, which is the kingdom that RWBY is set in. From what I picked up in the manga, the Dust is refined powder of various powers that can take the form of the elements. Basically, the Dust seems to work as weapons for fighting with the Grimm.

Ruby Rose, our main character, is still training at one of the lower academies when she takes on Roman Tochwick, one of the most vicious criminals in Vale, when he tries to steal Dust. Because of her actions, she is able to skip two grades and join her sister, Yang Xiao Long, at Beacon Academy to train to become a Huntress.

When Ruby goes to the academy for her first day and readers are introduced to a character named Glynda Goodwitch, I swear she looks a lot like Henrietta from Log Horizon. Oh, and speaking of Glynda Goodwitch, her name, along with some of the others, made me groan a little. I know they were meant to be references to other things, but I thought they felt a little on the cheesy side. But maybe that’s just me, though.

Volume One is a volume meant to introduce the reader to the story’s world and to the characters. Although right at first, I was getting a little confused by who some of the characters were, since it felt like the designs for some of them felt a little too similar to other characters.

Of course, Ruby develops a rival once she enters Beacon Academy. What good shonen story wouldn’t have the protagonist have some kind of rival? Ruby’s rival is named Weiss Schnee, a stuck-up princess type and heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Their meeting shows their conflict right away, and of course when we get to the section of the story where the new students are being initiated, these two ended up being paired up together.

Jaune Arc is the token male of the story, and he turns out to be a scaredy-cat with no real presence. But again, in true shonen fashion, the initiation causes Jaune to evolve as a character. We are also introduced to Blake Belladonna, who comes across as a mysterious fighter. I wish I could truly say more about her character, but, at least in my opinion, she felt like the least developed of the main cast. Perhaps future volumes of the series will help develop Blake as a character.

The initiation makes up the main progression of the story in this volume, and it ultimately leads to the formation of team RWBY, which is made up of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang Xiao Long. Jaune becomes part of another team, which consists of three other members who we basically only really saw in passing in this volume. Hopefully, team JNPR will receive more character development as the story continues.

When it comes to the story and to the characters, at this point in the series, they’re hitting all the typical shonen series tropes… except for the fact that the main characters are female instead of male, and that there’s a token male character instead of a token female character. Hitting the shonen series tropes isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. A lot of shonen series tend to start out that way to establish their characters and their stories, and many of them find ways to progress beyond the tropes or to find ways to make the tropes feel a little more unique. Hopefully, RWBY finds a way to distinguish itself besides focusing on female characters. Unfortunately, since I haven’t watched the animated series, I don’t know how closely this manga follows it to be able to know how this manga series could potentially progress as it continues.

When it comes to the art, I was impressed by the action panels and sequences. However, I’m not sure I’m entirely sold on how the characters are drawn in the volume. It just feels like the faces and features look kind of washed out, and I find myself wishing there was more of a definition to them. And there are times when the backgrounds just feel kind of sparse. When they aren’t sparse, they look decent, but the sparseness of many of the panels stand out more to me than the ones that aren’t.

All in all, RWBY: The Official Manga shows a lot of promise with its story. I wish the art was a little stronger, though. But if you like shonen stories and enjoy female protagonists, then this series might be worth checking out.

I really enjoyed RWBY (pronounces Ruby) and plan to watch the web series. Reading about a bunch of badass girls training to become Huntresses was refreshing and I definitely want more. The world can be cruel for girls and women and having the tools to fight back and help those in need is necessary. I hope more young girls get to read this series so they can feel empowered.

I loved this way more than I thought I would, honestly. The idea of RWBY was always something that appealed to me, the lore is cool and the characters are awesome, but the art style of the show made it impossible for me to get into it. This is an amazing compromise though! From what I remember of the first arc it's super accurate to the plot and characters, without the weirdness of the motion capture animation. Definitely a recommend from me, if you like RWBY or even just the idea of it but can't really get into the show itself.

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media/VIZ Media LLC for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

I admit, I was interested in this title because of Rooster Teeth. I had heard about it, but didn't know anything about the story, so when I saw it was being offered, I requested it

While I am grateful I was granted it, my expectations were perhaps a bit too high.

The world isn't built very well, there is a magic system that has to do with dust? And there are monsters called Grimms that humans powered with dust have to fight? No clue how the humans are powered by the dust, if only special people can channel the dust or if anyone can with the proper training, but the kids at the school for training seem to already have ability to fight, as the way they are tested to see if they are worthy to go to the school is to go into a Grimm infested forest to retrieve a relic and get out alive. So failure=death? I don't know, it makes no sense, despite the attempts at info dumping.

Also, the artwork is so BUSY and all over the place, I had a difficult time following the fight scenes and had to read the dialogue to figure out what was going on. It kinda worked, but not really. This is an eARC, so maybe the final copy is in color, but having it in black and white is confusing, as there are two female characters with dark hair about the same length and two female characters with light colored hair of about the same length that are difficult to tell apart. Other than one of the dark haired girl's has a cat ear hair piece/actual ears, hard to tell.

So. Maybe I need to have some prior experience with RWBY before I can jump into the manga and understand it. I didn't understand the world, I couldn't follow the artwork and the story would jump on occasion from one scene to the next and it was difficult to follow.

I didn't enjoy this, but I may be in the middle of the dreaded Reading Slump, so please don't skip this based off my review. I can see it working for the manga readers who come to my store and I won't dissuade them from getting it. This just didn't work for me. 2, I had such high hopes, stars.

Smart Ruby, princess Weiss, athletic Blake, and Ruby’s older sister Yang are roommates at Beacon Academy hoping to become huntresses to kill Grimm in RWBY: The Official Manga Vol 1.

Who doesn’t like a school setting where the students are training to be something extraordinary? Harry Potter and the X-Men have both used it very successfully. And RWBY: The Official Manga Vol 1 is no different. Each girl has her strengths and weaknesses. But they will have to work together to pass the school initiation and battle the monstrous Grimm.

Overall, this is a beautiful manga interpretation of the famous anime. However, the plot is shortened in this version. I really liked the anime better but you may enjoy this version more. 3 stars.

Thanks to VIZ Media and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

RWBY: The Official Manga: The Beacon Arc Volume 1 by Bunta Kinami

3.5 stars

Monsters known as the Grimm hunt the world. It’s up to the Hunters and Huntresses to assassinate and exterminate these monsters from the land so that they do not harm innocent people. Ruby is a famous assassin and is new to Beacon Academy. Her sister is there to encourage her and keep her company at the new school. Weiss instantly becomes Ruby’s rival and the odd, Blake, becomes an ally. Things escalate when school drama must be put aside for their first training task as students at Beacon Academy. It will challenge their stances and opinions of each other. RWBY, which is so cute because it stands for all the females names, is a strong and female empowered manga that is encased in an entertaining fantasy setting. I really enjoyed the pace of the beat of the story. The story is incredibly strong, but the art hindered the story greatly. The art and the story weren’t a cohesive unit and so one flowed in one direction and the other towards a different story. It just needs some more cohesion and because of that it didn’t make this one an absolute favorite for me. However, I am interested in reading more volumes or watching the anime. This is apparently a huge and widely regarded fraction of the anime community and I had never heard of it before, but I can see why it is so well-loved.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 4

Character Scale: 4

Plotastic Scale: 3.75

Art Scale: 2.5

Cover Thoughts: This is a super cute cover.

Thank you, Netgalley & Viz Media, for providing me with a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

Can I just start with....THAT ARTWORK. I am drooling just thinking about it, BEAUTIFUL (the fight sequences were done wonderfully). I am certainly new to the RWBY-verse, but this is a can't miss read. Even if you have not watched the series, this manga introduces you perfectly to the world of RWBY. Not to mention, the reader gets more insight into the characters and their personalities (dare I say more so than the show?). If there was any doubt that Jaune and Ruby should be leading their squads, they were thrown out the door with this read.

Happy to say, I ate this up in one sitting and am now eagerly awaiting the second installment. Two words: Roman Torchwick.

This was a fun read! I've watched the series RWBY and enjoyed it so this experience was no different. The art is stylized so that could be a make it or break it for some intense manga fans but I think it's fairly accessible! The story is going to be more for teens, probably in the 13-17 age range. Story deals with the themes of found family, friendship, overcoming hardship, and adventure. It's not a super deep and moving piece but it's fun, imaginative, and very female power oriented!

Our teen room in the library will be stocking this series!

I have always wanted to get into RWBY having heard so much from friends. I see the appeal now, but I don’t think it’s my thing. All the good elements of a story I’d love are there, sisters protecting each other, enemies to friends (to more?), and yet I just didn’t feel the story pull me in.

My thanks to Viz Media for a temporary digital edition of ‘RWBY: The Official Manga, Vol. 1 The Beacon Arc’ by Bunta Kinami in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the description of this manga though had no experience of the original series apart from my brother, who is a huge fan of anime, recommending it. I also did a little reading to familiarise myself with its origins. I then settled in and enjoyed this tale of four young women, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, training to be Huntresses at the Beacon Academy in order to fight the monsters known as Grimm.

I felt that Bunta Kinami’s art work captured the action sequences well and also the interactions between its various characters. I have also now added the anime series to my Prime watchlist.

I would imagine that this official manga will be a hit with fans of the series; providing another dimension to the original story.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.