- For the manga of the same name, see RWBY: Ice Queendom (manga).
RWBY: Ice Queendom (RWBY 氷雪帝国 RWBY: Hyōsetsu Teikoku) is an Japanese animated series co-created by Rooster Teeth Productions (who also serves as producers) and Studio SHAFT.
The Japanese language version, including English subtitles, began airing on July 3rd, 2022 and ran for 12 episodes.[1] The English dub began releasing on September 25, 2022.
Overview[]
"'RWBY: Ice Queendom' presents RWBY in beautiful 2D anime visuals. RWBY imagines a world filled with horrific monsters bent on death and destruction, and humanity's only hope is dependent upon powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long are four such Huntresses in training whose journeys will take them far past the grounds of their school, Beacon Academy. Though each may be powerful on their own, these four girls must overcome dark forces and work as a team if they truly hope to become the next generation of Remnant's protectors."
Characters[]
- Ruby Rose
- Weiss Schnee
- Blake Belladonna
- Yang Xiao Long
- Jaune Arc
- Nora Valkyrie
- Pyrrha Nikos
- Lie Ren
- Ozpin
- Glynda Goodwitch
- Peter Port
- Winter Schnee
- Whitley Schnee
- Jacques Schnee
- Willow Schnee
- Klein Sieben
- Adam Taurus
- Penny Polendina
- Sun Wukong
- Taiyang Xiao Long
- Roman Torchwick
- Nicholas Schnee (Flashback)
Original Characters[]
- Shion Zaiden
- Negative Weiss
- Negative Blake
- Negative Jaune
- Whitley Schnee (Dream Actor)
- Jacques Schnee (Dream Actor)
- Klein Sieben (Dream Actors)
- Jaune Arc (Dream Actor)
- Nora Valkyrie (Dream Actor)
- Pyrrha Nikos (Dream Actor)
- Lie Ren (Dream Actor)
- Willow Schnee (Dream Actor)
- Winter Schnee (Dream Actor)
- Little Weiss
- Nicholas Schnee (Dream Actor)
Music[]
- Opening Theme: "Beyond Selves" by Void_Chords feat. L
- Ending Theme: "Awake" by Saori Hayami[2]
"Revealed Dimensions", a mini album featuring the series' five insert songs, released on September 21st, 2022.[3]
The Original Soundtrack containing the score of the series and extras also released on September 21st, 2022.
Episodes[]
| Chapter | Episode | Title | Original Air Date | Run Time | External Link(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Red, White, Black, Yellow" | June 24th, 2022 (Premiere) July 3rd, 2022 (Japanese) |
23:50 |  Red, White, Black, Yellow (Sub) |
| 2 | 2 | "This is Beacon" | June 24th, 2022 (Premiere) July 10th, 2022 (Japanese) |
23:50 | This is Beacon (Sub) |
| 3 | 3 | "A Nightmare Comes" | June 24th, 2022 (Premiere) July 17th, 2022 (Japanese) |
23:50 | A Nightmare Comes (Sub) |
| 4 | 4 | "Ice Queendom" | July 3rd, 2022 (Premiere) July 24th, 2022 (Japanese) |
23:50 | Ice Queendom (Sub) |
| 5 | 5 | "Awaken in a Dream" | July 31st, 2022 (Japanese) October 23rd, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | Awaken in a Dream (Sub) |
| 6 | 6 | "Do You Have a Plan?" | August 7th, 2022 (Japanese) October 30th, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | Do You Have a Plan? (Sub) Do You Have a Plan? (Dub) Do You Have a Plan?
|
| 7 | 7 | "Dreams Come Rued" | August 14th, 2022 (Japanese) November 6th, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | Dreams Come Rued (Sub) |
| 8 | 8 | "Where You Belong" | August 21st, 2022 (Japanese) November 13th, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | Where You Belong (Sub) |
| 9 | 9 | "My Dream, Your Dream" | August 28th, 2022 (Japanese) November 20th, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | My Dream, Your Dream (Sub) My Dream, Your Dream (Dub) My Dream, Your Dream
|
| 10 | 10 | "Mirror of Darkness" | September 4th, 2022 (Japanese) November 27th, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | Mirror of Darkness (Sub) Mirror of Darkness (Dub) Mirror of Darkness
|
| 11 | 11 | "Light in Shadows" | September 11th, 2022 (Japanese) December 4th, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | Light in Shadows (Sub) |
| 12 | 12 | "Best Day Ever" | September 18th, 2022 (Japanese) December 11th, 2022 (English) |
23:50 | Best Day Ever (Sub) |
List of Guest Artists[]
- Erin Winn (Red, White, Black, Yellow)
- okama (This is Beacon)
- Hiroyuki Asada (A Nightmare Comes)
- Hajime Ueda (Ice Queendom)
- matayosi (Awaken in a Dream)
- Kei Toume (Do You Have a Plan?)
- Range Murata (Dreams Come Rued)
- Yoshitoshi Abe (Where You Belong)
- neco (My Dream, Your Dream)
- toi8 (Mirror of Darkness)
- Mitsukazu Mihara (Light in Shadows)
- Einlee (Best Day Ever)
Development[]
At a convention sometime during 2013-2014, Monty Oum visited the Good Smile Company's booth and, loving their products, began discussing a potential partnership with them. During this conversation, the idea of an RWBY side-series traditionally animated by a major Japanese studio was suggested. This idea would finally come to fruition as RWBY: Ice Queendom.[4]
The animation character original concept artist huke will be responsible for anime character drafts.[5]
Gen Urobuchi would be in charge of planning the anime.[6]
The trailer for the anime was released on March 25th, 2022.
The English and Japanese voice cast would reprise their roles for the anime.
The English and Japanese versions of the anime would be released on Crunchyroll and Rooster Teeth FIRST in 2022. While they originally were meant to air at the same time, the English dub was delayed to September 25th, 2022.
The launch date for the series was released on May 27th, 2022.[7]
The first three episodes of the series were streamed on YouTube for a limited time from June 24th-26th, 2022, exclusive to Japan. The English dub of the first episode, "Red, White, Black, Yellow", premiered during the First Night event at RTX 2022.
The fourth episode premiered at Anime Expo 2022.[8]
On July 1st, 2022, Kdin Jenzen revealed that the last project she worked on at Rooster Teeth before she left was Co-Voiceover director and Co-Director of casting for RWBY: Ice Queendom.[9] Kdin also revealed that she voiced Shion Zaiden in the English Dub of the anime.
On July 3rd, 2022, Mason Lieberman announced that he had returned to the RWBY franchise as the featured cello soloist of RWBY: Ice Queendom.[10]
A "mini album" featuring the insert songs from the series was released on September 21st, 2022.[11]
Voice recording sessions for the English dub concluded on October 14th, 2022.[12]
An updated version of the series Opening was released on March 24, 2023. This new opening will replace the original opening on the Blu-ray releases and all subsequent broadcasts of the series.[13]
In Other Media[]
The manga version of the anime has been announced and will run in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh magazine.
RWBY: Ice Queendom cafe collaboration[]
RWBY: Ice Queendom collaboration cafe is held at Cure Maid Cafe in Akihabara, Japan. It began on August 19, 2022 and ended on September 4, 2022. When ordering the collaboration menu, the customers received a limited collaboration bonus. Customers also received one reward card for each item on the collaboration menu.[14]
Links[]
Trivia[]
- According to Rooster Teeth, the anime was not an alternate universe or a reboot. While the story was set in the same universe as the main show, they are calling it “canon adjacent”.[15]
- The first three episodes recaped Volumes 1 and 2 before moving to an original story that includes new characters, settings, and Grimm.[16]
- Most of the scenes would had easter eggs or callback to the main RWBY series throughout Ice Queendom.[17]
- Ice Queendom was occured during the Beacon Arc after Volume 2.[18]
- Weiss would had a more central role in this story.[19]
- The alternate outfits are mostly the work of the Japanese studio, with oversight from Erin Winn and Kerry Shawcross.[20]
- Despite Rooster Teeth's previous claims that the first three episodes would cover Volumes 1 and 2, after the episodes aired, they only covered Volume 1.
- The original story started on Episode 4 instead and was set after Volume 1.
- The final episode of the anime "Best Day Ever" however covers the first episode of Volume 2.
- Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams were not involved in the composition of the music for Ice Queendom. They had a new composer and new songs for the anime.[21]
- All of the original songs from Volume 1 were removed completely and replaced with new songs for the anime.
- In the English dub, Casey reprised her role as Weiss’ singing voice for Negative Weiss in “My Dream, Your Dream”.
- Originally, Billy Kametz was cast as the voice of Roman Torchwick in the English dub of the anime. However, he was later recast to be voiced by Christopher Wehkamp after Billy was forced to go on hiatus from voice acting and later died on June 9th, 2022, from stage IV Colon Cancer.[22]
- Jaunedice, Pt.2, Forever Fall (episode), and Forever Fall, Pt.2 were removed completely.
- Several minors or support characters from Volume 1 and Volume 2 do not appear in the main storyline of the anime.
- Team CRDL (except Cardin), Velvet Scarlatina, Bartholomew Oobleck, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, Neptune Vasilias, and Tukson were removed, given cameo appearances or indirect mentions in the anime. For example, Cardin only appeared in two episodes and he never spoken.
- Cinder appears in one episode and her appearance was never shown.
- Sun indirectly mentions Neptune and his team and the reason why they had not yet arrived at Beacon Academy in "Best Day Ever".
- Team CRDL (except Cardin), Velvet Scarlatina, Bartholomew Oobleck, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, Neptune Vasilias, and Tukson were removed, given cameo appearances or indirect mentions in the anime. For example, Cardin only appeared in two episodes and he never spoken.
References[]
- ↑ TeamRWBYPrj_en Twitter
- ↑ TeamRWBYPrj_en Twitter
- ↑ Team RWBY Project Twitter
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ TeamRWBYPrj_en Twitter
- ↑ TeamRWBYPrj_en Twitter
- ↑ TeamRWBYPrj_en Twitter
- ↑ Anime Expo on Twitter
- ↑ Kdin Jenzen Twitter
- ↑ Mason Lieberman Twitter
- ↑ "Capabilities Unseen" Official XR Live Music Video YouTube Description
- ↑ Kerry Shawcross on Twitter
- ↑ EMOTION Label Channel - "RWBY: Ice Queendom [ Beyond Selves ] Uncredited OP" on YouTube
- ↑ https://anime.team-rwby-project.jp/en/news/557/
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ Rooster Teeth website
- ↑ Chris Wehkamp Twitter
| RWBY: Ice Queendom | ||
|