by: @arkd3v

Welcome back to another RWBY episode review, with Jaundice on the chopping block. It was alright.

While it kept up the characterization train, this time focusing on Jaune, it had several tropes I disliked and disappointing characterization for the new faces we meet. Several saving graces and important information on the White Fang is introduced, so you should watch it regardless. 

I assure you, it isn’t that bad.

Jaundice Synopsis

It’s been around a month since The Badge and the Burden, and Cardin Winchester of Team CRDL has bullied Jaune Darc. Remember them? They had models in the Emerald Forest arc but had no lines. 

Jaune’s friends from Team RWBY and the rest of JNPR encourage Jaune to stand up to Cardin, but he doesn’t want to escalate things, assuring them everything is fine. However, after Pyrrah tries to help, Jaune reveals a big secret, and Cardin overhears.

I am not a big fan of random time skips as it feels jarring when events go day by day, and then suddenly, an entire month or year goes by I’m expected to know everything that’s happened. A lot can happen in one month or even a week, putting a disconnect between me and the story and characters. A montage of little story events would help mitigate this, or at least a better way of filling the audience in on what happened.

Worldbuilding: Faunus and the White Fang

This episode built on the Faunus and White Fang mentioned in the news report in episode 1. 

The Faunus are a race of humans with animal traits, such as bunny ears or a tail. Despite minimal differences between humans, there is a lot of racism between the two species. So much so there is an entire history of conflict brought up in a class in this episode.

While I wish we’d see more of this beforehand, I do appreciate RWBY going out of its way to show Cardin bullying a Faunus student and addressing the issue. 

I don’t understand why there would be a class on this subject. Although going through the scene again, it seems to be a tangent from the teacher, which is normal in classes. 

The White Fang seems to result from said conflict, a group of radical Faunus that commit terrorist acts against oppressors. It is interesting that Blake and Weiss both seem knowledgeable on the subject, and their reactions to the information and Cardin’s attitude toward Faunus could hint at a personal investment in the Human/Faunus conflict.

Characters

This episode focuses on a few characters, Jaune and Pyrrah while characterizing Cardin and introducing Professor Oobleck and Velvet. 

Jaune Darc

As the episode title suggests, Jaune is the focus of this episode, and it incites some development for him. We learn about the pressure he puts on himself to live up to the image of his warrior lineage and the lengths he went to get into Beacon to accomplish that dream. Now with Cardin, he is forced to confront his cowardice and take the next step to become that warrior.

Jaune, so far, is the most fleshed-out character next to Weiss, and he sounds like a byproduct of Remnant’s society, which is great. I can see families of generational huntsmen putting pressure on their next to become like them, intentional or not. 

His hesitance to not confront Cardin makes sense for him and hopefully, he will confront it to get out of this predicament.

Pyrrah Nikos

While Pyraah is currently Jaune’s best friend, encouraging him to stand up for himself and offering to train him, I am concerned this is all there is to her character.

Expanding on her celebrity status or why someone like her is invested in Jaune will help flesh her out.

Cardin Winchester

I am disappointed in Cardin. He had my interest with being the third team leader in the Emerald Forest arc, but he is just a generic bully. Arrogant, selfish, and spends his screentime being a jerk to everyone around him. 

The funny part is that the solution is in his name. “Winchester” sounds like a noble or wealthy family name, like Weiss’s. Cardin could have been raised in a wealthy family and became how Weiss was initially. But compared to the best girl, he doesn’t have someone like Ruby to incite change. I hope he’s expanded upon later, but I doubt that will happen.

Also, his weapon is very basic, like Jaune’s. I don’t know why it doesn’t have a gimmick like everyone else’s, according to the world, as Jaune was established as having a weaker weapon as a detriment. Maybe the crystal can in the club’s center glow and explode? That would be neat and go back to the Mages vs. Monsters idea from episode 1’s opening narration.

What I find worse about this is that this means Cardin’s team likely won’t get any development beyond being his posse. They aren’t in the episode either, which is a bad sign.

Velvet

She has little character and exists to show the discrimination between humans and Faunus. 

Professor Oobleck

He is fairly entertaining with his rapid movement and manner of speech and appears competent as a teacher. However, he is less endearing than Professor Port.

However, I am certain he is in the top three fastest characters. In the show, next to Nora and Ruby. That’s a plus.

Ruby

You might be wondering why I mentioned Ruby here when I said she isn’t the focus. That is because I feel she was mischaracterized here. 

When Cardin was bullying Velvet, I feel Ruby would have gone over and stopped them unless held back. This is based on her previous characterization.

My issue is that Jaune is taking up about as much focus in episodes as Ruby, almost like the show has two main characters. As a result, Ruby gets shafted and is mischaracterized to help enable the plot. 

 Animation and Sound

The lower animation quality was noticeable here. There weren’t many fast edits or creative direction to hide the awkwardness either. Juandice being a slow episode hurt the quality. However, the important characters each had distinct gestures that added to the story, so that’s a plus.

The voice acting was pretty good. There were a few awkward deliveries, but the cast did a solid job otherwise.

Music was there. It was mostly mundane but I did not care for the bland menacing track that played behind Cardin’s blackmail.

Grimm

This was a chill episode, so there was no new Grimm. Big sad.

Conclusion

Jaundice is okay. While Jaune got some fleshing out, I feel that would have been better for other characters, like Ruby or Pyrrah. 

The new characters could be better as well. I hope they expand on Cardin and his team.

The big stars of this episode are the introduction of Faunus and the expansion of the White Fang. They will likely be important going forward.

While I harped on the episode a lot, it does have merits. There were numerous funny scenes, and Jaune is likable here.

This episode felt like one half to a greater whole, so I hope next week will fix some of my issues. Until then, Deuces.