Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern and Vixen are transported to the strange world of Remnant and find themselves turned into teenagers. Meanwhile, Remnant heroes Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang must combine forces with the Justice League to uncover why their planet has been mysteriously altered before a superpowered Grimm destroys everything.
Review: This was a strange one for me. While I am familiar with the first Volume of the American anime-influenced series RWBY, I wouldn’t call myself a fan as I tend to prefer my anime hand drawn (with CGI only used to enhance the artwork) as opposed to RWBY’s which is a mix of motion capture and computer software. This style is what’s on display in the very wordy title Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen Part One. And while I think there are a few interesting ideas and fun concepts on hand, the overall effect didn’t work for me.
Taking Justice League characters and placing them in a Japanese-inspired story isn’t impossible mind you, and it never fails to make me smile when they take well-known characters such as Wonder Woman, Superman and Flash and present them in a different light. Here we get to see not only teenaged versions of them, but also anime takes on their appearances. My favourites were easily Batman/Bruce Wayne, Vixen and The Flash (who looks a bit like Bart Allen mixed with Wally West).
Some of the action sequences are quite inspired and they went a long way in keeping my attention, but there’s a lot of emphasis put into the world of RWBY here and I don’t think the writers did a good enough job of explaining how that world works to keep things from getting a bit confusing. You don’t need to be a DC fan to follow a JLA story but the same can’t be said for something like RWBY.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a fan of this style of animation. I think it negatively affects fluidity of motion and every character looks a bit like they’re fighting in quicksand. I also thought Superman and Cyborg came across like total meatheads, with Supes taking the reins of leading people he knows nothing about in a world he knows nothing about, and Cyborg having temper tantrums. It may all be tied back to the fact they’re teens here, but I found it annoying and too out of character for these normally charming and level-headed heroes.
So, maybe fans of RWBY will get a kick out of this one, but I think fans of the DCAU will find it to be average and not worth repeating. Maybe I’m in the wrong here and this one will be a huge hit with audiences but as a fan of both anime and DC’s animation this one fell into the “one and done” pile for me. And I hope this style of DC animation isn’t repeated anytime soon…wait a minute, the title said “Part One” didn’t it?..Dammit.
Sommer’s Score: 5 out of 10
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Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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