RWBY: The Official Manga, Vol. 1: The Beacon Arc

RWBY The Official Manga #1

by Bunta Kinami

科学と魔法が同居する世界・レムナント。この世界は、人類の生存を脅かすモンスター「グリム」を討伐する「ハンター」によって平和が保たれていた。ハンターを目指し、養成校に入学した少女・ルビーは、同じ夢を追いかける仲間たちと出会い…？　アメリカ発の大人気3DCGアニメーション、初の本編公式コミカライズ！　日米同時連載中!!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Action, Comics, Fiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2019

Reviews

[CYIReadBooks (Claire) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay. Full disclosure. I was intrigued by the description of the book, but I had no idea as to its popularity until now. I am just blown away by the story and after watching the anime, the illustrations in this manga are spot on!

I am sure that fans of the anime series will love to have the manga series lining their bookshelves. The storyline in this book remains unchanged from the anime. There is still the same sense of excitement as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang (RWBY) battle the Grimm and the Nevermore as part of their initiation in their first year at Beacon Academy. So, of course, because it is a series, you will have that cliffhanger of an ending with Roman Torchwick gracing the last few pages. Can't wait to read Vol. 2!

A fantastic read and I am so excited that I got to experience the popularity of RWBY in manga. Thank you NetGalley and Viz Media for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I'm just the wrong person for this book: I know too much about folklore, literary fairy tales, and children's literature. As an action piece, the book is fine - lovely art, lots going on, interesting enough characters. But there's no real reason for it to base itself in folklore or classic kid lit and that just wound up being a big distraction for me. This is much more for established franchise fans or people who haven't been actively studying the aforementioned fields. (Or are better at setting things aside while reading than I am!)

[Elle❤ · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

2 stars

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!

[April Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

*ARC received from Netgalley 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.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was recommended RWBY by my brother-from-another-mother a very long time ago, but I never managed to pick it up. When I saw a version of it on NetGalley, I jumped up so excitedly and hit that request button so many times. I was so pumped to be able to grab a series that my brother absolutely adored (and still talks about frequently).

This book is FUN. It follows 4 awesome people (and some wickedly cool chicks) who fight bad guys as Huntresses and basically save the world. It's a great female led heist that will have you addicted and on for the ride.

The story itself is super fun and the art style works really well with it. I definitely can see why so many people are fans of RWBY. I really enjoyed it! I would love to see the anime adaptation because this seems like the type of book that would do really well for a film version.

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

RWBY: The Official Manga: The Beacon Arc Volume 1 by Bunta Kinami

3.5 stars

Monsters known as the Grimm hunt the world. It’s up to the Hunters and Huntresses to assassinate and exterminate these monsters from the land so that they do not harm innocent people. Ruby is a famous assassin and is new to Beacon Academy. Her sister is there to encourage her and keep her company at the new school. Weiss instantly becomes Ruby’s rival and the odd, Blake, becomes an ally. Things escalate when school drama must be put aside for their first training task as students at Beacon Academy. It will challenge their stances and opinions of each other. RWBY, which is so cute because it stands for all the females names, is a strong and female empowered manga that is encased in an entertaining fantasy setting. I really enjoyed the pace of the beat of the story. The story is incredibly strong, but the art hindered the story greatly. The art and the story weren’t a cohesive unit and so one flowed in one direction and the other towards a different story. It just needs some more cohesion and because of that it didn’t make this one an absolute favorite for me. However, I am interested in reading more volumes or watching the anime. This is apparently a huge and widely regarded fraction of the anime community and I had never heard of it before, but I can see why it is so well-loved.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 4

Character Scale: 4

Plotastic Scale: 3.75

Art Scale: 2.5

Cover Thoughts: This is a super cute cover.

Thank you, Netgalley & Viz Media, for providing me with a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

[Lizz (literary_lizard) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today I sat down and read RWBY: The Official Manga, Vol. 1 and it was incredible. This is another series that I have watched (I think I’ve seen the first three seasons?), so I was super excited to experience the story in a new format. This one is a little different though, because RWBY was a TV show first, created by Rooster Teeth. That’s right, the show came out before the book!

This story centers around four main characters: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long (hence the acronym RWBY; it’s all of their first initials). The four girls are studying at Beacon Academy to become Huntresses, and fight off Grim that try to destroy human civilization. What are Grimm? They’re a kind of supernatural monster that live in Remnant (the name of this story’s world) and feed off of sadness and despair. They’re responsible for destroying many towns and cities, and killing humans.

All four girls enroll at Beacon because they want to use their abilities to fight Grimm and protect humans. Throughout the first volume, we learn about their individual abilities, how they work, and some of the specialized weapons that they use. All of this is built upon and expanded throughout the show, so I can only assume the manga will eventually go into more detail as well.

Of course, there’s more than just Grimm that Huntresses and Hunters fight. Organized crime is very much alive in Remnant, and we see some of it teased in the first volume as well. Suffice to say, Ruby and her team have a lot of things to deal with, and their first-year school training is only the beginning.

One of the things I loved most about RWBY: The Official Manga, Vol. 1 was the art. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but assumed it would be different from the art style used in the show (which was created by an American company). The art in the manga is stunning, and when I looked up some full color pages I nearly cried. It’s one of the most beautifully drawn series I’ve seen in a while. Even the Grimm look good.

If you’re looking for a new manga to check out, and want strong female characters, or a bit of a supernatural twist, then check out RWBY.

Thank you to the publisher, VIZ Media, for an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley. RWBY: The Official Manga, Vol. 1 comes out on August 19, 2020, and can be pre-ordered or purchased wherever books are sold.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media/VIZ Media LLC for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

I admit, I was interested in this title because of Rooster Teeth. I had heard about it, but didn't know anything about the story, so when I saw it was being offered, I requested it

While I am grateful I was granted it, my expectations were perhaps a bit too high.

The world isn't built very well, there is a magic system that has to do with dust? And there are monsters called Grimms that humans powered with dust have to fight? No clue how the humans are powered by the dust, if only special people can channel the dust or if anyone can with the proper training, but the kids at the school for training seem to already have ability to fight, as the way they are tested to see if they are worthy to go to the school is to go into a Grimm infested forest to retrieve a relic and get out alive. So failure=death? I don't know, it makes no sense, despite the attempts at info dumping.

Also, the artwork is so BUSY and all over the place, I had a difficult time following the fight scenes and had to read the dialogue to figure out what was going on. It kinda worked, but not really. This is an eARC, so maybe the final copy is in color, but having it in black and white is confusing, as there are two female characters with dark hair about the same length and two female characters with light colored hair of about the same length that are difficult to tell apart. Other than one of the dark haired girl's has a cat ear hair piece/actual ears, hard to tell.

So. Maybe I need to have some prior experience with RWBY before I can jump into the manga and understand it. I didn't understand the world, I couldn't follow the artwork and the story would jump on occasion from one scene to the next and it was difficult to follow.

I didn't enjoy this, but I may be in the middle of the dreaded Reading Slump, so please don't skip this based off my review. I can see it working for the manga readers who come to my store and I won't dissuade them from getting it. This just didn't work for me. 2, I had such high hopes, stars.

[Jinghay (these.blank.pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

'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 ]

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read the review with pictures on my blog.

Thank you to VIZ Media for providing me an advanced copy in exchange of a honest review.

RWBY is a popular animated series that has been running for over 7 years. The series is an American production by Roosterteeth and works with 3D animation and motion capture. It became so popular that now it has an official japanese dub (with some pretty famous voice actors) and it inspired several manga anthologies, adaptations and even some novels. I have been following the show from the early seasons and I was really excited to be able to read this new manga adaptation!

The manga is a retelling of the first few years of the show, as the subtitle “The Beacon Arc” indicate. We are introduced the main characters and we get some explanations about the world, so if you never watched the show don’t worry.

The first chapter felt a bit rushed, at times it was hard to tell what was happening or where our characters were, there just wasn’t a lot of background environment drawn. I knew where these scenes took place and I knew Ruby was in the store, so it didn’t bother me, but I felt it might be a bit of a confusing start for new people. However, from chapter two the story and the paneling really picks up and I enjoyed the story a lot.

We follow Ruby and her sister Yang as they are headed to their new school, Beacon, and we learn a bit about the world of Remnant, and the monsters that exists there, the Grimms. The Grimms are usually drawn by negative emotions and are a threat to humans so people train to fight them. Our protagonists are future huntsmen and huntresses. This volume covers our introduction to the two main teams the story will follow, team RWBY (“Ruby”) and JNPR (“Juniper”) and we see how their teams get assigned. The fights and the action scenes are written really well and they are really dynamic. Since the focus are on team RWBY here, I felt that some characters didn’t get a lot of time to shine. Such as one of my all time favorites, Jaune, who is present yes, but one of his defining moments was cut really short. Originally he is the one who comes up with a plan to win the fight we see and that is why he gets assigned to his future team, this felt glossed over, with only a short mention.

The characters were a lot of fun. Each character uses their personal aura to help them fight, and these manifest in unique ways. Some are granted speed, some gain super strength. Other than this, they all also have their own style of dressing and fighting and have their customized weapons. These are represented well in the manga and I appreciated where we get a little bit of explanation about auras and powers in the story.

Overall, I found this an enjoyable read after the rocky start. The art is great and the pacing is really good once the action starts. I am surprised how little progress we made in terms of the story, but since there was a lot of lore and plenty of characters that needed introduction I can understand that we only got to see the initiation.

I feel like this is a great read if you feel nostalgic about the early RWBY days or if you want to see if the story is something you could be interested in. As this is an introductory volume, it barely hints on the character developments and the complex and engaging story the show has. I will keep an eye out for the next volume, hopefully it will cover more of RWBY’s plot.

Short update:
I love RWBY and I am so happy that I was granted an ARC! Definitely a highlight of my year!
Review to follow soon! ✨

[Aymee]

Ever since I first heard about the anime several years ago, I've been wanting to get into RWBY.  Due to life and all that comes with it, finding this manga was my first opportunity to dive in.   All I can say is that I wish I had found a way to read and/or watch this sooner.

I was drawn into the story right from the beginning.  Stories and manga/graphic novels about monster hunters are one of my favorites, so discovering Ruby Rose wants to be a Huntress was an instant draw for me.  Add to that she's about to attend a hunter/huntress boarding school of sorts and I was 110% sold.  

Fast-paced and action-packed, this manga doesn't slow down at all.  You're rushing and racing alongside the characters from page one until the very end.  My one complaint is that there were too many characters introduced at one time.  It would have been easier for me to remember who they were if their introductions had been spaced out a little bit more.  However, that is fully on me.  I love Ruby Rose and her sister, Yang.  While Yang is a total manga character (right down to glomping her sister repeatedly), she's a good balance to the more serious Ruby.  Weiss was a bit annoying and grumpy in the beginning, but she's starting to thaw a little by the end.  Blake's an interesting character as well and I'll be waiting to learn more about her and the others in the next volume.  

The artwork was the finishing touch on this already enjoyable story.  I loved how the first few pages were in full color and then switching to black and white.  Those color pages really popped and set the tone for the rest of the manga.  Now I need to track down the anime while waiting for the next volume of this manga to release.  

*Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for a copy of this manga in exchange for a fair review.  

[Geoff · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's easy to tell this is an adaptation; reading this felt like I was walking into a conversation between characters who already knew each other, their quirks, their skills, and had longstanding relationships. But this comic was supposed to be an origin story, a story of their meetings. The plot rested heavy on tropes, key aspects of the world weren't explained, and the art style was in my opinion pretty confusing - it was impossible to tell what was going on in the (frequent!) action scenes. Was really looking forward to this and I am pretty disappointed.

**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Luna's Little Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know nothing of RWBY so have no context for how well this works as an adaptation.

What initially drew me in was the artstyle. I've not read Manga is a while and this is exactly the kind of visual style I enjoy. It's clean, cute but not too chibi.

The storyline itself is not groundbreaking but interesting enough. I am very much a sucker for anything drawing on fairytales and fables.

Book 1 is the introduction to the main characters and how RWBY is formed. I certainly want to see how the story progresses and will most likely check out the animation that inspired it.

[Yub Yub Commander · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw RWBY The Official Manga volume 1 appear on NetGalley I thought it’d be the perfect chance to get into something I’d seen listed on Netflix. I imagine I’m not the only one to presume that this franchise had followed the “normal” route of being a manga series in Japan first before being […]

[DeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

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.

[kerrycat · Rating 4 out of 5]

this art is a lot simpler than what we're used to from RWBY, but it really captures Ruby Rose's wide-eyed innocence and excitement.

[Isaac Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga series — 3 books in total — covers volumes (seasons) 1 & 2. This is going to be a review of the entire series, so that people thinking about picking it up can get a feel for what they're in for.

For people who haven't seen RWBY: this manga series does a very good job of summarizing volumes 1 & 2. If it's the only interaction you have with the IP, you're in for a good time. If the animation style of the early volumes puts you off and you're looking for supplemental material, this will do a good job of giving you the basics as far as plot goes but you may also want to look at the wiki and get a summary of volumes 1 & 2 before jumping into volume 3.

For those, like me, who have seen the show: understand that while the major story arcs are intact — first day, initiation, team member struggles, etc — the author takes many creative liberties and the result is a little bit of a different teams RWBY & JNPR. I think some of these changes are very much for the better but the changes can be a little bit off putting to people used to the characters and story arcs. If you keep that in mind, you'll be in for a treat. There's nothing here that isn't already in the show so if you really aren't interested in it, you can safely skip it.

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Viz Media for reaching out to me about reading this title for them.

This volume is based on the popular anime of the same name. I have not watched the anime, but was asked to read this and share my thoughts.

This darker spin on a magical girl manga was honestly a treat for me. I really enjoyed the art style for it, as well as the characters. Ruby is a character that you can't help but root for. She just wants to be a hero to those around her, and protect her people from the Grimm, or monsters of her world. Her sister Yang wants to support her, while also protecting her. Ruby's rival Weiss is a very aristocratic character, and has a certain way of looking at their world because of it. Blake is the character that stuck out to me, because I feel like we learn the least about her in this first volume. I am ready to get to know her.

The journey of this first volume was splendid, and I am honestly looking forward to the next volume.

[Flavia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

While the cover and the premise of RWBY: The Official Manga seems like something I would be very into, something about it just didn’t quite click with me. I didn’t feel close to any of the characters, the plot was only so-so for me as well. I will say, however, that the plot might get more interesting for me if I were to continue reading the series since I find it to have that potential. As for the characters, I suppose I could get closer to them as well if I were to “spend more time with them” so to speak.

There are typically 3 things that I look to that could hold my attention when it comes to a book...

Read the rest of my review here: https://flaviathebibliophile.com/rwby...

[Tigris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good show to manga adaption! It's really just an almost scene for scene adaption of the show itself, so not any new content exactly, but that makes it work as a stand alone manga for someone who has never heard of RWBY whilst giving long time viewers something to interest them in the show again. Sometimes the pacing, sketchier art style and formatting can make it a bit confusing what was happening, and it lacks a bit of the sillier and random tone that the show has. However, the visuals are awesome and it's mostly just fun to see the girls in another style, one that works really well for them! Fun read but I would recommend watching the show first as it's a classic, and this series seems to only cover the first season.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend and I were reminiscing about this show a few weeks ago, and how much it meant to us in the time that we found it. And then I randomly ran across this manga adaptation in the library and decided this would be a really fun way to revisit it. And I was right. I'm sure it's also fun if you haven't seen the show, and I'm looking forward to getting the other volumes from the library and going back through the show, and maybe even further than I ever got with it.

[Grace Arango · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first experience with anything RWBY related and I'm intrigued so far. I did enjoy this first volume and I'm looking forward to seeing where this series will go and also look more into the RWBY franchise as a whole :)

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this on Goodreads, it's the first volume of a manga series based on the anime. I haven't seen the anime, so this was my introduction to the characters and the story. It was a fun introduction.

[LYDIA · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know it’s good when you buy the second volume straight away.

[Rio · Rating 3 out of 5]

monster killing ladies yeehaw

[Hannah Noëlle Redwine · Rating 4 out of 5]

RWBY!!!!!!!

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just didnt enjoy this at all and wont be reading on. Not a fan of the artwork, its so crowded it can be hard to follow and I dont love the facial expressions on the characters a lot of the time. Ill stick to the animated series instead.

[Laura Newsholme · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun introduction to the world and the characters, but there were places where I felt the narrative was a little hard to follow. It tells the story of Ruby Rose, a young prodigy who is accepted into the Beacon school two years early to train as a Huntress. Once there, she must team up with some unlikely partners and fight monsters all to protect the city of Vale. I always enjoy a training school set up where a character learns to use their powers, and this is no exception. Conceptually, I love the ideas at play here. I also really liked that our main characters are all women and while there are conflicts between them, so far there doesn't seem to be the natural antagonism between the girls that we see so often, which I really appreciated. Instead, this seems like a team of women who will support each other no matter what, which is fabulous. With that being said, I did find the story a bit choppy in places, which made the action a bit hard to follow at times. Coupled with this was the art style, which is quite impressionistic and consequently added to the disjointed feeling of the narrative. Overall, I thought this was an entertaining introduction and I think that now all of the characters and set up are in play, the story will get better and better.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Carrie (The Butterfly Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed! Great art! Cute moments and even a few funny ones. I've never seen the anime and now I really want to change that!

Thanks to NetGalley for this title.