I have been very excited for this volume. Heck, the entire reason I have continued to watch RWBY as well as write these reviews is to make it up to volumes such as these, the ones that are constantly plagued as the "black sheep" of the franchise. Even while watching Volume 1-3, I kept wondering what this specific volume would have in store for me. Was it really that big of a mess and not worth the watch at all? Or is it as some nowadays have been claiming, "underrated"?
Well, let me quickly start off by saying... this isn't as good as Volume 2 and 3. If you saw my reviews on them, you would likely notice from the star rating I gave. Does that mean this is secretly bad? Honestly, not in the slightest. In fact, I don't just think this volume was much better as I expected, but I'm with that strange part of the fandom that finds this specific volume not only special, but I would even go as far as to claim that it might even be on par with Volume 1.
One major pro that I would like to point out is this Volumes soundtrack. I haven't spoken about the music in RWBY yet (which is strange since it's all I've been listening to lately), but this shows soundtrack is incredibly addicting! It's a certain kind of style that not many other anime's have explored. Most of the shows music really screams "bring me the horizon" or "three days grace".
I don't exactly know what it is, but I genuinely think this volumes soundtrack is the best as of yet. Sure, the first 3 volumes had amazing music, but this in particular felt great in certain ways! Every scene perfectly matched the music, it gave me a bittersweet rare feeling which really fits the sense of dread in this season.
That's another thing, not much (if any) comedy is relevant throughout this volume. While many fans are mixed on this (and so am I for the most part), I don't exactly think it's a bad thing. I think this season mainly wanted us to build a stronger relationship with the characters, to understand their backgrounds, purpose, goals, and history. It would be difficult to pull this off while still maintaining the iconic comedy throughout volumes 1-3, so while it is hard to get used to, it does make sense why this was done.
But if all sounds so good so far, why did I rate this a 7? Why not an 8, 9, or even 10? Well, for starters, one major flaw that plenty of fans have discussed are the characters becoming "weaker". Not just in terms of combat, but becoming much more sensitive in general. I won't spoil anything at all, but if you watched volumes 1-3, you would've noticed that Ruby is great when it comes to fighting grim! She could take down some of the toughest with ease!
Well, the problem is that here, she doesn't have that same power. In fact, if it wasn't for her teammates, Ruby wouldn't be as powerful as she usually is, which is not only confusing, but really breaks the whole "young but determined" personality she is known for. As for sensitivity, there's a lot more scenes of the characters expiriencing PTSD, scenes of them crying, or having anger issues. For Weiss's story, I could understand her troubles, but Blake's character noticeably fell into this, which sadly made her not as likeable as she was before.
Then there's the new characters, which many people are mixed on. In my eyes, they're all hand in hand. On one hand, introducing the members of Weiss's family, More of Rubys/Yangs father, and Blake's town were all genuinely interesting and fun to watch. However, some of the new villains personally weren't my cup of tea, as well as the depiction of Blake's family (although, that could be interpreted as more a personal opinion)
So yes, all in all, RWBY has Definetly changed. There was a specific charm in the writing of the first 3 chapters, and this feels much more different than anything I've seen from the show so far. Because of this, I almost see this as a "Volume 1 2.0", like a whole new beginning for the show, and I think it's even aware of this.
This season focuses heavily on self discovery, family, and character development, something that was mostly either hinted or used lightly in Volume 1. That's not to say Volume 1 was bad, I think it's great, I just mean that Volume 4 is basically Volume 1's "edgy emo little brother" is how I put it. It's by no means bad, by no means terrible, but Definetly doesn't give you the same feelings you had from the previous seasons.
In terms of RWBY volumes, it probably is a 5 or 6/10, but in terms of a whole new beginning and not comparing at all, then I would say it's a 8 or even 9/10. To balance, I've gone with 7, as I find most 7/10 media to be termed as the "great, but could use some adjustments".
Is Volume 4 good? Absolutely, and I'm excited to see where the other volumes go from here. Should you hype yourself up for it? Not at all, because while great, it certainly won't be as charming as the first 3.
