RWBY Official Manga Anthology Graphic Novel 2 - "Mirror, Mirror" cover image

Based on the animation from Rooster Teeth Productions; RWBY created by Monty Oum

“RWBY” is an American animated series that is streamed on the World Wide Web.  “RWBY” was created by the late Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth Productions (an American company), which is known for its streaming and web animated series.  “RWBY” is produced in a Japanese anime style, although some consider it to be an actual anime series.  It is the first western-produced anime series to be distributed to Japanese television.

“RWBY” is set on the world of Remnant, which is beset by “Grimm,” horrific monsters bent on the destruction of humanity.  The kingdoms of Remnant have risen to combat these monsters by training powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses at academies around the planet. “RWBY” focuses on Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, four such Huntresses-in-training who are collectively known as “Team RWBY.”

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology collects original short manga and comics set in the world of RWBY.  Each graphic novel in the series showcases a particular member of Team RWBY.  RWBY The Official Manga Anthology, Vol. 2 is subtitled “Mirror, Mirror” and focuses on Weiss Schnee, sometimes called “the Ice Princess.”  The stories reveal how Weiss initially struggles to work in a team, and how she comes to think of her teammates as friends, although she still sometimes feels out of place.  The stories also reveal how close she is to her older sister, Winter, and how the dynamics of her powerful family affects her as a child and still do.  Most of all the stories are about how Weiss becomes a part of the family known as Team RWBY.

[This volume contains commentary one-panel cartoons from the cartoonists that contributed to this volume.  It also includes “Message from Ein Lee” and “Message from Kara Eberle.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  I had not heard of “RWBY” until I received a VIZ Media press release that it was going to collect Shirow Miwa's 2015-2017 manga adaptation of the anime.  My VIZ Media press rep has sent me both volumes of the RWBY The Official Manga Anthology manga published to date.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Graphic Novel Volume 2 is, in tone and style, similar to the first volume of the anthology.  The stories are mostly humorous, and they are lighthearted vignettes that focus on the relationships between the members of Team RWBY.

RWBY The Official Manga Anthology Volume 2 – Mirror, Mirror is a good way to let readers see various aspects of the character of Weiss Schnee.   According to the press release that accompanied the first volume's release, the mangaka (creators) that contribute to this anthology are new artists.  That shows in the fact that these stories feel like amateur press comics or “dōjinshi.”  The stories in “Mirror, Mirror,” are about relationships and friendship, but very few are about RWBY's continuity or about the series' internal mythology.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the “RWBY” anime will want the VIZ Signature title, RWBY The Official Manga Anthology.

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6 out of 10