RWBY: Volume 7 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

RWBY: Volume 7 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 7, 2020

Here’s an idea for a so-called “crossover” between animated properties which will frankly probably never happen, but which might be fun to think about at least with regard to some of the supplements that could be included on a Blu-ray release (hey, I’m a dreamer): how about if Rick and Morty managed to port themselves into RWBY? Now, the two shows are manifestly different, of course (which for me is part of the fun of imagining what a mash up of the two might look and play like), but one of the things I’ve mentioned in reviews of both Rooster Teeth’s shows and some of the Rick and Morty seasons that have been released on Blu-ray is how the supplements have painted great pictures of what fun (if demanding) places to work the animation production houses seem to be. That’s once again the case with this latest release of the now maybe surprisingly long running RWBY franchise, where if the show can more than occasionally lapse into labyrinthine subplots, you can at least listen to appealing commentaries or see some other production material in the supplements. I have to start this by saying I’m at a bit of a loss since, perhaps due to a changing distribution environment (the show is now out on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers, whereas it was initially a Cinedigm release), I never got a review copy for RWBY: Volume 6, and so I’m having to piece together some interstitial material. That said, RWBY has often played like one of those old time serials where, despite an overall story arc being at least attempted, it is still possible to accept any given episode as its own standalone moment.

For reviews of the "volumes" of RWBY that I have done, please click on the following links:

RWBY: Volume 1 Blu-ray review

RWBY: Volume 2 Blu-ray review

RWBY: Volume 3 Blu-ray review

RWBY: Volume 4 Blu-ray review

RWBY: Volume 5 Blu-ray review

Kind of amusingly, given the fact that I never got the sixth volume of this show, the seventh volume begins much in the same way the fifth volume did, with a gaggle of characters arriving at new location, in this case Mantle, the kind of teeming, downtrodden, near fascistic environment which exists under the “sky city” called Atlas (which will no doubt remind people of everything from Elysium to Cloud Atlas). A lot of this seventh outing deals in some of the supposed political ramifications brought about by General Ironwood, and there’s perhaps a lingering suspicion implied about whether or not team RWBY can completely trust his motives. Some of the "police state" aspects may tend to remind animation fans of dystopian future entries like Ghost in the Shell 4K, though it would be fanciful to suggest that RWBY ever really wants to develop any "metaphysical" ideas, choosing instead to feature a mythologically infused context with ample amounts of female empowerment and resultant butt kicking.

The almost hilariously arcane terminology and usage of redolent names like Salem and Grimm (along with Atlas, as a matter of fact) continues apace as Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang supposedly run afoul of things in Mantle, only to be delivered (and themselves delivering the Relic of Knowledge) to Ironwood. The series continues to ply a patently wending array of subplots which tend to have an increasingly paranoiac feeling, something that's perhaps aided and abetted by a quasi-VR element that shows up, so that even supposed "reality" is questionable.

As I’ve mentioned in some of the reviews in previous seasons, part of what makes RWBY both interesting but also perhaps a challenge (especially for newcomers) is its tendency to feature so many characters and competing subplots at one time. That allows the show to feature what are more or less vignettes highlighting any given character and/or group (as in Team RWBY), but which continues to give the show a sometimes convoluted quality.

The series’ design aesthetic continues to be quite inviting a lot of the time in this volume, once again tending to push the envelope and/or CGI to a place kind of halfway between the look of a videogame and more traditional anime fare.

RWBY: Volume 7 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

RWBY: Volume 7 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. I really didn't notice any quality difference between this release and the last several from Cinedigm, but while the show continues to be quite interesting from a design perspective a lot of the time, there are occasional slightly rough looking moments where detail levels aren't especially strong this season (it doesn't look like there were any production issues with regard to the pandemic, so there may have been other exigencies at play). The series continues to mine a rather distinctive looking design aesthetic which continues to have a slightly wooden aspect with regard to movements, but which often features incredibly bright colors and where backgrounds in particular can be evocative looking.

RWBY: Volume 7 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

RWBY: Volume 7 features another nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The battle scenes offer a glut of effects, with some whomping LFE and good panning activity. Space material also provides a bit of background clamor. The series' score also spreads out nicely into the surround channels, and dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

RWBY: Volume 7 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary can be accessed under the Audio Menu and features various cast and crew (and/or cast/crew) members. It's mentioned up front that this was recorded at the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, and so everyone is quarantined at their own homes, with a warning about potential audio quality suffering as a result, but in spot checking this, I didn't notice anything horrible sounding. This is a typically enjoyable conversation that gets into both general production and episode specific issues.


• Production Breakdowns

  Ch3: Ace-Ops vs. Geist (1080p; 2:57)

  
  

  Ch5: FNKI Fight (with Commentary) (1080p; 3:19)

  
  

  Ch8: JNR Shenanigans (with Commentary) (1080p; 3:03)

  
  

  Ch11: Salem Appears (with Commentary) (1080p; 5:08)

  
  

  Ch11: Ironwood vs. Watts (1080p; 2:51)

  Note: While authored separately, the above featurettes do have a Play All option.


• RTX 2019: RWBY Panel (1080p; 1:00:29) features Miles Luna, Joe Clary, Barbara Dunkelman, Arryn Zech, Kara Eberle and Lindsay Jones.


• Concept Art Gallery (1080p; 00:31) is kind of weirdly authored with a timecode but which only has a manual advance option.


• CRWBY Photos (1080p; 1:05)


• Anim Jam

  Episode 1: Human Beans (1080p; 2:04)

  
  

  Episode 2: Postal Apocalypse (1080p; 1:41)

  
  

  Episode 3: Scale (1080p; 4:38)

  
  

  Episode 4: Lunar Farms (1080p; 2:30)

  
  

  Episode 5: Rabbitloaf & Friend (1080p; 2:56)

  Note: As with the above Production Breakdowns, these are authored separately but do feature a Play All option.


• Trailers (1080p; 14:23) kind of hilariously (given my comments above) features one touting the "least ambitious crossover of all time".

RWBY: Volume 7 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I frankly had to kind of go with the flow for this volume of RWBY, having not seen the sixth outing, but that said, the underlying plot elements of intrigue and "whom can you trust?" were easy enough to follow. As I mentioned in our RWBY: Volume 5 Blu-ray review, I was a bit surprised to have a personal interaction with someone I would not have assumed was a "typical" fan of RWBY, which may, along with the series' very survival for this long, indicate it has a rather broad based demographic interested in it. Those who have followed the story thus far will find a lot to like in this set of episodes, though once again the show features a lot of different characters in a variety of sometimes competing situations. Technical merits are solid, and for the initiated at least, RWBY: Volume 7 comes Recommended.