@hbomberguy​‘s most recent video got me thinking about RWBY, and… Honestly, its overall chara

@hbomberguy​‘s most recent video got me thinking about RWBY, and… Honestly, its overall character design ethos should’ve probably served as a sign that it was flawed from the beginning. But there’s still a running core of It-Could’ve-Been-Great-ness underneath. So, the other night, I decided to try and redesign the RWBY squad.Allow me to explain. (Long spiel ahead. Brace yourself.)Hbomb was right; most of RWBY’s problems arose from it being a Frankenstein’d-together amalgam of other anime with a thin, flaking layer of late-2000’s Deviantart-y paint on top. A lot of worldbuilding–like, so much so that the structural integrity of the narrative begins to fall apart–relies more on rule of cool than on giving a sense of setting. Monty Oum was a great guy, an excellent artist, and a phenomenal animator, but this is what happens when the other writers didn’t incorporate his action scenes organically into the rest of the plot.(Disclaimer: I’m fully aware that the latter seasons have improved on all this, and I’ll admit that I haven’t watched any of the show beyond the midpoint of Volume 4. But, just hear me out.)(Disclaimer 2: None of this is to say I, personally, am a more skilled artist than the people behind RWBY. I am 100% not, and the official character art is absolutely gorgeous. This is all about design.)The character designs of Team RWBY in particular are a microcosm of this problem. They’re built around pure rule of cool, rather than any grounded sense of what the characters do. I have nothing against rule of cool, mind you, so much as it’s lain on a solid foundation. But my philosophy for character design is, first and foremost, that it has to make sense. It should reflect who the character is, what they do, any gimmicks that they might have, and how they fit into the rest of their setting. These don’t do that.So let me break down my reasoning for each design here.RubyOkay, I’m gonna be completely honest here: Ruby’s design is the one I have the fewest problems with. We can tell she’s got a Little Red Riding Hood gimmick. We can tell she’s got a bit of a flair for the dramatic; otherwise, why else would she have built a scythe that can turn into a gun? And I have no doubt that if I searched “gothic lolita” on Etsy, I’d find tons of dresses just like this. Ruby is a goth. That’s fine.But here’s the thing: This is not an outfit suitable for running around with a giant scythe. The thing about lolita dresses like this is that they use petticoats to get that poofiness. (We can see a bunch of petticoat-like material in the model from the show.) And those things are heavy. Even with a short hemline like this, it’s gonna be more difficult to move around as much–and as fast–as Ruby does.With my version, I tried to aim more in the fairytale-y “hunter” direction, giving her a vaguely Tudors-inspired tunic and some comfortable pants. To try and preserve the goth look, I gave her some striped stockings. I also made her outfit sleeker overall, so it looks even more dramatic when her cape billows in the wind.WeissReading through the comments of the White trailer reminded me of the line “It’s not a dress, it’s a combat skirt,” which is what sparked this entire post. That would only make sense if the rest of Weiss’s outfit were actually suited for combat. Which it isn’t.She’s got this Queen Anne neckline-y cardigan with poofy sleeves, a very long ponytail, a poofy miniskirt with no visible bike shorts or tights underneath (girl, you are going to flash someone), and… *grits teeth* heels. I mean, she conveys this whole elegant snow queen vibe, but she looks more like a ballerina than an epee fencer. And an epee fencer is what she is. And anyone who has ever fenced epee (like me!) will tell you that some piece of that costume is gonna get in the way of that.With my redesign, I tried to push the “fencer” angle way more. I gave her a full chest guard, shorter hair and tighter sleeves so as not to get in the way, flat heels, and tights. But I kept the combat skirt. ;)BlakeBlake was, without a doubt, the hardest of these guys to figure out. Everyone else seemed to have somewhere I could start: Ruby is a monster hunter, Weiss is a fencer, Yang is a biker girl. But Blake?I remember watching the Black trailer, then staring for ages at her art here. I still legitimately can’t tell what her outfit is supposed to be. The closest guess I had was lingerie, and considering that all these girls are underaged, that’s gotta be a YIKES.Her weapon is the biggest oddball of the bunch, too. I have no idea what it is (sword nunchucks?) or how the hell it works. (Still sick as hell, though. Thanks, Monty.)Eventually, I settled on a Harajuku street fashion-slash-parkour kind of look, with a bunch of belts to hold up that massive scabbard. I also emphasized the cat bits of her way more, and I know it was a plot point that she was trying to hide her Faunus traits, but shhhh.YangIf Ruby’s design makes the most sense for her as a character, then Yang’s makes the most sense for what she does. She’s this sunny, big-sisterly, hotshot biker girl. She’s got a cool leather jacket, cool shades, very warm yellow color palette. But… This is undoubtedly the most sexualized of the bunch. The jacket being unzipped in weird places, the shorts being ridiculously low-waisted… C’mon, guys. If you’re gonna do this, at least have the common decency to make her an adult.Honestly, aside from that hot mess, I actually kinda love this outfit. So rather than focus on changing the outfit–all I did was zip the jacket up and adjust the waistline–I changed the body.Yang was always given all this emphasis on her *ahem* hips, but the model itself isn’t that dramatically different from her counterparts. So I widened the hips, broadened the shoulders, beefed her up, and tada! Somehow, this feels much more Yang.ConclusionAs a show, RWBY’s main problem was that it was Monty Oum’s cool fight scenes connected by a very thin plot, rather than fight scenes that grew out of the plot organically. The character designs of RWBY are similar: they’re action figures connected by a very thin world, rather than being grounded in the world by who the characters are and what they do. Once again: I have nothing against characters being action figures, and I have nothing against rule of cool, as long as it all makes sense. That is what I tried to address with these redesigns. -- source link

More pics about