RWBY Volume 9 continues the story of Team RWBY (pronounced Ruby), who are made up of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, all of whom are huntresses (guardians sworn to protect humans from the Creatures of Grimm) on Remnant, their homeworld. At the beginning of Volume 9, the team, and a few surprise guests, have fallen into a world called The Ever After from a children’s book they are all familiar with, The Girl Who Fell Through the World. Here they are accosted by all sorts of mayhem taken fondly from the pages of Alice in Wonderland.
Episode List:
- A Place of Particular Concern: RWBY wakes up in what they believe is a fairy tale world called the Ever After from a childhood story about The Girl Who Fell Through the World. A scary beast, The Jabberwocky, is on their trail.
- Altercation at the Auspicious Auction: The team begin the search for their lost valuables. The fact that they are really in The Ever After begins to weigh on all of them.
- Rude, Red, and Royal: RWBY attends the Red Prince’s birthday party and challenge him to a game. As a result, Weiss, Blake, and Yang shrink to the size of mice.
- A Cat Most Curious: The Curious Cat begins to lead them to the tree, but first they must get past a mysterious stranger known as The Herbalist.
- The Parfait Predicament: The group make it to a market where they look for a “growgurt parfait” to make Ruby’s friends large again. They are attacked by a Jabberwocky clone. After the battle, the team run into an “old” friend.
- Confessions Within Cumulonimbus Clouds: The Cat walks away feeling like he has made a mistake helping the four heroes. Ruby gets her weapon back but doesn’t want it. Blake and Yang share an especially important moment.
- The Perils of Paper Houses: In the village of “paper pleasers” various problems arise. Jabberwocky clones return with the Neo clone at their lead. Ruby is blamed for everybody being stuck in The Ever After, and she leaves the group behind.
- Tea Amidst Terrible Trouble: Ruby enters a mysterious mansion where she discovers that Neo blames her for her death. A bad thing happens to Little the Mouse. Ruby drinks a special tea that gets her captured by the Tree.
- A Tale Involving a Tree: The loose ends of the backstory of The Girl Who Fell Through the World are tied together snugly.
- Of Solitude and Self: Little the Mouse becomes Somewhat the Guardian. The friends are united wholly with their weapons and themselves. Back in Remnant, a surprise awaits.
Bonus Features spread over two discs:
- Commentary on all ten episodes by the showrunner, head writer, and supervising producer.
- Script to Screen: Top left screen is the final product. Top right screen is storyboards. The bottom half of the screen is the script. It is a ton of information, and there are five such examples.
- RWBY Chibi: Nine episodes of the spin-off series that consist of what is collectively called “Season 4.”
- RWBY Fairy Tales: Six episodes from the spin-off Fairy Tales series.
- RWBY Round Table Complete: The head writer, showrunner, voice actors, and the art director host a round-table discussion regarding the overall story arc of Volume 9.
- RWBY Volume 9 Art Gallery: A five-minute, fast-paced, art gallery covering all aspects of the creation of RWBY Volume 9. Many of the pieces have short to detailed notes, so keep your pause button handy.
- Subtitles: English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing / French
These stories are entertaining. The season-long homage to Alice in Wonderland works wonderfully with the characters we have become so close to. Extremely well choreographed and directed fight scenes show up in each episode and add to the pressure of the story lines. You can start with Volume 9 without too much difficulty, but I recommend going back and starting this very strong series at the beginning.
