User blog comment:Varzan Deodinm Beldinm/Volume 2: Will the Fan Feedback Pay Off?/@comment-7370418-20140704212527/@comment-3146930-20140705001029

However even outside of anime, there are still tons of clishes within the story. Things like Character being picked on by a bully (and later blackmailed), the lovable idiot, the snobby rich girl ice queen, special place to learn how to use your skills, ninjas wear black, there is always that one person that is good at everything, and tons of others.

If you have seen a large amount of anime, then these cliches become much more obvious and from there, the show becomes a slowly growing pile of cliches and shout-outs. A good example of a shout-out is the Yellow Trailer, as to most it looks like a really cool trailer and may seem original. To me, it just reminds me of that scene from Kill Bill when she attacks Lucy Liu's club. Yang's color is even yellow and she rides a motorcycle there, much like the Bride in Kill Bill. I have also heard others talk about how it reminds them of other things as well.

However this doesn't mean that cliches are always bad and can be entertaining if done well. As you said, Volume 1 is there to set up the basics and eventually RWBY will be able to stand on its own two feet. As of right now however, RWBY may be using cliches and shout-outs like a crutch; relying on a person's love of something else to make them like RWBY more.