Okay, I love RWBY the show, so when I saw and ARC for the manga I just had to request it. That being said, I found I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I would have hoped. The art style is great, and its a fun revisit to the first volume of RWBY, but I felt like it was a little hard to follow sometimes, especially at points when people were speaking, and I feel like my knowledge of RWBY made it much easier for me to follow than it might be for someone who had not already seen the show. That being said, I still enjoyed it and think that it could be a decent introduction for someone who hasn't heard of the show. I'm sure the manga will get better as time goes on!

Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ Media for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed watching the RWBY series, and out of the gate, this manga is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Rooster Teeth production. I enjoyed the art style--it was engaging and had its own unique style even though the characters and setting were clearly identifiable from the show.

The pacing and storytelling in this book, however, never really quite came together. Since this is a first book, a lot of the content is taken up with story exposition that was true to the show, but extremely condensed. I found that it probably wouldn't make a whole lot of sense in parts to someone who is not already familiar with the series.

That leads me to my biggest criticism, and that was mainly that I did not think the action translated from the animated series to the page very well. In some of the action sequences, the visuals got very cluttered and disjointed sometimes even becoming difficult to track. Especially coming from the animated series, where the action sequences were an enormous part of the storytelling, this is a glaring weakness.

Overall, I think it is an attractive adaptation, but one that I don't have any interest in pursuing.

3.5 stars

Before you look at my rating and discount this book, I actually highly recommend it. As someone who knows nothing about the RWBYverse other than the amazing cosplays I see at cons, I found this a good introduction to RWBY. Could it have been better? Yes. I'm assuming since it is an established show with multiple seasons that the characters will be fleshed out more to account for some things that happened in this volume as well as general growth throughout a series.

What I wanted to see more of:

More explanation on the world, Grimms, and magic. This, like a lot of manga, does your classic info dump of exposition where a character is explained all of the general important stuff you need to know. While it gives the readers details they need to understand the world, it's never done in a way that's believable or normal in terms of how people in that world would approach the subject. While we the reader is told about all of these things, it definitely felt like--especially in the case of auras and dust--that a lot more needed to be explained to make sense. As it is, I have no real grasp of how or why they have magical weapons or abilities. They just do. Again, I'm assuming this will change as the series continues and we are given more information as the characters learn or explain concepts.

I found the characters rather cut and dry. There wasn't really anything super unique in them. You had the dark goth with a soft side/niceness, the quirky girl with unique powers who's smart, the prissy princess who has a heart of gold but won't show it, and the extrovert who loves everyone immediately. I felt the characters fit a little too well into the archetypes and didn't feel unique at all, but, again, this is something I expect to change and evolve as the manga continues.

I will say, after having read this, that I'm invested enough in the characters and plot to try out the series and definitely to continue the manga. Any fan of RWBY will most likely enjoy this, and I definitely think people unfamiliar with this world will too.

'RWBY' is such a fun and action packed manga!
Once I'd started reading I just couldn't stop, so I ended up finishing it in one sitting!

I really loved the art style and the whole idea of Huntsmen/huntresses, and I'm excited to see how the rest of the manga will develop from here. Will definitely be checking out the anime adaption along with the rest of the volumes!

Rating: 4/5
[ Thank you Netgalley and VIZ Media for providing the ARC in return for an honest review ]

This adaptation of RWBY follows the original show pretty well. There are a few points that things got a little muddled and confusing but that was partially due to the format of Manga. The artwork was a bit hard to decipher at times but overall the style was great and the storytelling was there.

Lovers of the show will truly enjoy this read. It was great getting back into this world.

I love the RWBY universe and so I was so excited to read this manga. I enjoyed it. Since it’s not a direct translation of the animated show I was a bit worried but I think it it ended up being very enjoyable!

I have to start off by saying that I want to eat this artwork. It is stunning and lends itself perfectly to the endearing story. AND I WANT TO EAT IT.

I honestly hadn't heard of RWBY before they/Rooster Teeth teamed up with Smite/Titan Forge Games, so when I saw ViZ's gracious offer to read their first manga, I thought, 'Sure, why the heck not?' I wasn't disappointed and am, in fact, now hooked. Bring in the other installments that cannot come sooner, as well as the anime, which doesn't have the drool-inducing artwork, yet appears just as fun. I adore the references to other wonderful bits of culture (Glynda and Ozpin, Arc and Nikos, etc) and the naming of the specific Grimms (hello, Nevermore, why yes, I do love you so). The concept is straight up my alley, my cup of tea, including favourite things and nice chemistry and four badass ladies being badass without the demeaning tropes - my goodness, the sisterly relationship between Ruby and Yang is, to quote Yang, deliciously adorable.

I recieved a free digital edition in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and given freely.

I enjoyed this one it was fun and exciting and it seems to have a great plot, I can't wist to see where it goes. I did find it a little hard to distinguish between a couple of character but that could be because it was on my phone so it was really small 😔 also the watermark made it harder to read some of the panels.

I did like to read about the budding friendships between the characters and I'm looking forward to seeing how they grow and develop as a team and individuals 😊

I have always wanted to get into the RWBY series but was never sure where to start. This manga is the perfect starting point for people new to the series and a run read for fans as well. I loved the characters and their developments. They were each a joy to get to know. The artistry of the series is excellent. There was the perfect balance of action and the battle scenes are exciting. I love the premise and the world. This is a super fun read. I highly recommend it.

A faithful adaptation to the animated series, this volume retells the beginning through a lively and lovely art style. Looking upon it as someone's potential first introduction to RWBY, it does miss some key parts that affect the flow somewhat, but for a fan of the series, I think this would be a wonderful adaption to re-experience the story through again.

Thanks to Netgalley and Viz Media for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

I thoroughly love and enjoy this show very much and I was extremely surprised to receive this! Unlike previous Manga of these characters this follows the show, at least this volume.

It’s been years since I’ve watched the first volume but reading this took me back. It was such a simpler happier time.

I really enjoyed the art style. I definitely recommend if you didn’t enjoy the graphics of the t first volume of the show, as this was off putting to me when I first attempted to watch the show.

I will say that following along with who is talking is a bit confusing, which wouldn’t be great for newcomers who don’t have previously seen the show.

Overall, I think it’s nice to have as a fan of the series and the girls.

I was super excited to see a new manga version of RWBY coming out, especially since it's starting out where the show started. Fans of the show RWBY will recognize this story arc as it starts off at the same point, with a robbery being committed and foiled by Ruby.

This is a great introduction to the main set of characters as well as the setting and world. That being said, a lot of the action sequences were a little hard to follow in the manga format. It's understandable as action can be hard to portray, but if I hadn't watched this part of the show already I may not have been able to follow the action sequences and what was happening.

Still, if you're a lover of the series, this will definitely be something to add to your collection.

The referential elements were distracting as it does not at add to the narrative, The characters were not super engaging. And, the world building was just okay. Not bad but not my cup a tea.

<I> Thank you to VIZ Media for providing me with an eARC of this graphic novel via NetGalley. This book is currently set to be published in August 2020 </I>

<U> RWBY </U> is an action packed manga with a heavy female lead. It is based on the apparently famous anime series which I have personally not heard of previous to spying this book. If you are in the same boat as me, the gist of it goes as follows: Ruby Rose (the main protagonist for this volume) is prematurely admitted to Beacon Academy, a school for hunters/tresses where students learn to fight Grimm (monsters who are committing all kinds of atrocities in the world). Through some school sanctioned event she is forced to team up with three other huntresses. The four of them form an official cohort which is then expected to go out and protect the world from Grimm together.

This manga is all action and banter. It is light-hearted, but from this small sample I foresee a tonne of bickering. It was a quick, entertaining read and I found that my lack of background experience did not detract from my understanding of the plot, but I am not sure that I loved it enough to pursue reading the subsequent volumes. Nothing was wrong with it in particular, but I think my personal tastes are a little less fighting and a little more comedy.

Reading this reminds me of why I love the show so much. The art is absolutely amazing, and the characters are still some of the best out there. I had a little trouble following along with how the panels were placed, but I figure that was just how the arc looked and it’ll probably look better in the final product.

I cannot wait until we get more into the series. Will definitely follow this series.

It's been a few years since I have watched RWBY volume one, but if my memory is correct, I think this manga adaption had a few small differences from the original series. (I think a few scenes were shortened/cut since the manga felt much shorter than the show.) I enjoyed this adaption, but I have a few thoughts to express.

First, I thought the strongest part of the story was definitely the art. The action scenes were well drawn, the characters looked like they did in the original anime, and everything looked nice. The once critique I would have is that some scenes would get a little bit messy and it was hard to perceive what was going on.

The characters were fine, they kind of seemed a little bit flat here compared to what I remember from the anime. This is only the first volume though, so I think with a little development in the rest of the series could fix this.

Overall, I think that the anime did a better job at conveying what was happening in the story. Several times, I felt quite confused as to what was happening and some parts of the story really just felt rushed. For instance, I wish that Ruby's arrival at Beacon had been drawn out a little more (like in the anime) instead of just the quick introduction that they threw in. The majority of the manga felt like it was just one big fight scene, so I think it would have been better to focus on some of the other parts of the story to make it more cohesive.

To Conclude, while I think this adaption of RWBY was well done, I would recommend this to someone who is a fan of the series and who would understand what is going on, as if one was going in blind I think certain parts of the story would come off as confusing. So if you want to read this but haven't watched the anime, I would do that first to avoid confusion.

*Thank you to the author and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

<b>2 stars</b>

Listen!! I'm not saying I didn't like this manga - it's a personal preference of mine that I don't enjoy reading action packed books/scenes, but I do love watching this kind of thing and this manga was action non-stop, so I wont continue reading this series but I'll definitely look out the anime version to watch!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

I guess I should start by saying I'm not at all familiar with RWBY apart from some things I heard online. I'm guessing that knowing about it would have changed how I read the manga. Coming in as a newcomer, I found it pretty enjoyable. The artwork was nice and the action scenes were drawn well. I am a bit more interested in watching RWBY now, and if I do I might read this again to see if my opinion changes.

Having seen trailers for the RWBY anime, I was interested to know more about the story and jumped at the chance to read this first volume of the manga. Overall, I loved the story premise and thought the characters were original and engaging. There was plenty of potential for lots of action and adventure, and I could see myself getting caught up in the world and its events. However, I wasn't completely taken with the drawing style in this manga. It had an 'unfinished', minimal look that didn't appeal to me, so that was a little off-putting as I was reading. Obviously that will be a personal thing for each reader, though, so if you like fantasy adventure mangas, I would recommend giving this one a try. I probably won't rush to read on myself, but I may check out the anime. 3.5 stars from me.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For starters, I really like the art style, which is honestly one of the most important features of any comic or graphic novel, for me. However, it was sometimes difficult to tell who was saying what or what. I had to go off of context clues and my knowledge of the series from watching Volume 1 of the anime, and even then I couldn’t always figure it out.

The story is a faithful adaptation, at least from what I can remember. I haven’t watched RWBY Volume 1 since it came out in 2013. But the characters and setting are the same, and the plot is the same, except where it’s been condensed to fit sixteen episodes into a single book. A lot of this first volume was exposition and world building, as you might expect, but there was enough action mixed in that it was never boring.

Speaking of action, it definitely came across better in the anime than in the manga, which I think is just a limitation of the medium. Overall, I would recommend this to fans of RWBY who have already seen the show and who like the manga’s art style. It was a fun little nostalgic revisit to Volume 1, and it’s convinced me to go back and watch it again.