While RWBY Volume 4 by no means held up to the magnificence of the preceding Volume 3. It still manages to tell 2 great stories, the stories for Weiss and Yang. The other story, Blake's, was seemingly lacking in any substance, feeling more like filler because Blake needed to be in this volume. And until the end of the volume with the great backstory for Ren and Nora, the RNJR/Qrow story line was definitely lacking.
Weiss' story is by far the best of the two good stories. It shows how after her experiences at Beacon, she no longer wishes to be a part of the high rise society that is the people of Atlas. Her relationship with Klein is touching, we finally get to see Weiss sing, something she hasn't done since the White Trailer, and her relationship with Jacques brings an added weight to what she said in volume 1 "I'm a victim".
The other story that I personally liked was Yang's. Yang probably had the hardest time coping with the events of The Fall of Beacon. As she is the only member of Team RWBY to actually lose something, her arm. The first part of Yang's story shows that she is scared to move on from her past, because she developed PTSD. Then when she receives a robotic arm, she feels as though everyone is trying to get her back to "normal". She does eventually put on the arm after overhearing her fathers discussion with Port and Oobleck, feeling as though she's the reason Tai hasn't gone after Ruby. And the relationship we see between Tai and Yang is just phenomenal. There are two sides to the father spectrum in RWBY, Tai and Jacques, being polar opposites towards their respected daughters.
Aside from the four main characters, the new villains are great. We don't really see much of Hazel or Dr. Watts, but that will change in Volume 5. But the real stars here are Tyrian and Salem. Salem is terrifying, every time she was on screen, I felt chills. You know you have a good villain if their mere presence is enough to send chills down your spine. And Tyrian was, in my opinion, comical. Every time I saw him, I knew that the scene was going to involve good old fashioned maniacal laughter, and not to mention that we finally get to see two trained Huntsmen go all out on each other, via the Qrow v Tyrian fight, was one of the most enjoyable parts of the volume.
So while Volume 4 was not a masterpiece like Volume 3, it was still enjoyable seeing how Team RWBY all dealt with the Fall of Beacon, and still had plenty of great moments.
My Score: 8/10
Weiss' story is by far the best of the two good stories. It shows how after her experiences at Beacon, she no longer wishes to be a part of the high rise society that is the people of Atlas. Her relationship with Klein is touching, we finally get to see Weiss sing, something she hasn't done since the White Trailer, and her relationship with Jacques brings an added weight to what she said in volume 1 "I'm a victim".
The other story that I personally liked was Yang's. Yang probably had the hardest time coping with the events of The Fall of Beacon. As she is the only member of Team RWBY to actually lose something, her arm. The first part of Yang's story shows that she is scared to move on from her past, because she developed PTSD. Then when she receives a robotic arm, she feels as though everyone is trying to get her back to "normal". She does eventually put on the arm after overhearing her fathers discussion with Port and Oobleck, feeling as though she's the reason Tai hasn't gone after Ruby. And the relationship we see between Tai and Yang is just phenomenal. There are two sides to the father spectrum in RWBY, Tai and Jacques, being polar opposites towards their respected daughters.
Aside from the four main characters, the new villains are great. We don't really see much of Hazel or Dr. Watts, but that will change in Volume 5. But the real stars here are Tyrian and Salem. Salem is terrifying, every time she was on screen, I felt chills. You know you have a good villain if their mere presence is enough to send chills down your spine. And Tyrian was, in my opinion, comical. Every time I saw him, I knew that the scene was going to involve good old fashioned maniacal laughter, and not to mention that we finally get to see two trained Huntsmen go all out on each other, via the Qrow v Tyrian fight, was one of the most enjoyable parts of the volume.
So while Volume 4 was not a masterpiece like Volume 3, it was still enjoyable seeing how Team RWBY all dealt with the Fall of Beacon, and still had plenty of great moments.
My Score: 8/10