If there’s one thing Monty Oum wants his audience to know, it’s that RWBY is anime.
如果有什麼是Monty Oum希望觀眾知道的，那就是RWBY是一部日式漫畫（註一）註一：一般在歐美，anime特別指的是日式風格的動畫（海賊王、死神、火影等等），動畫會用cartoon來表示，其中有些模糊地帶，不過大概就是這種分法It is July 5th at RTX, a gaming convention in Austin held by Rooster Teeth, the people behind the Halo-based web series Red vs. Blue. Monty, the creator of the Dead Fantasy shorts and director of three seasons of Red vs. Blue, is presenting his new series, RWBY. The screening is held in the ballroom, to a packed house. The audience’s reaction couldn’t have been clearer – RWBY is entertaining, engaging and, put simply, fun. Though the first episode ran three times at the con, screenings were so popular that by the end of the weekend there were still those who hadn’t been able to get a seat.
七月五日，Rooster Teeth在奧斯丁舉辦的遊戲大展RTX上，人們基於對光環/光暈系列作品Red vs. Blue的支持，Monty作為生死幻想的創作者與Red vs. Blue三季的導演，展示了他最新的作品RWBY。這次的放映受到強烈的好評，幾乎坐無虛席，觀眾的反應很清楚：RWBY具有娛樂性、富有魅力、或者更簡單的形容，有趣。雖然第一集在展示會上放映了三次，然而直到周末的最後，依然一位難求。
Later, Monty would tell me that, “Some believe just like Scotch needs to be made in Scotland, an American company can’t make anime. I think that’s a narrow way of seeing it. Anime is an art form, and to say only one country can make this art is wrong.” He may have a point; after all, France and Dubai made anime. Why not Monty?
稍晚，Monty告訴我：「如同大眾認為蘇格蘭威士忌就該是蘇格蘭製造（註二），美國公司是做不出日式動畫（anime），我認為這是狹隘的看法。anime是一種藝術形式，規範只有特定的國家製作的才能算數，這種作法是錯誤的。」他說的或許有道理，畢竟，法國與德國也在製作anime，為什麼Monty不呢？
注二：根據1988年的蘇格蘭威士忌法案（Scotch Whisky Act 1988），蘇格蘭威士忌是被明文規定只有在蘇格蘭的蒸餾廠製造的才能這麼稱呼。這裡是反諷日式動畫也被某種"法律"這麼規定，只有日本製作的才認可為"anime"
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It may not look like your traditional anime, but the principles behind it, the storytelling methods are all familiar. Of course, the Rooster Teeth fan base is more inclined to accept variation in anime style than most. They are fed a steady diet of Red vs Blue, and near-in fan worship those affiliated with the company (not without cause; those guys are riotously funny). The question, then, is will fans of anime accept a show with such a large deviation in art style as well as RvB fans do?
如果它看起來不像你傳統認知的anime，但像是在敘事方法上，原則是類似的。當然，Rooster Teeth的粉絲對於這種anime 風格的差異接受度較一般大眾高，他們早已為Red vs Blue飽餐一頓，甚至對這家公司讚譽有加（也不是沒有原因，這些傢伙實在是他媽的有趣）。然而問題是，一般anime的觀眾是否能像RvB的粉絲一樣，接受這種藝術風格上的巨大的差異？
I’m inclined to think they will. The first episode opens with a fairly stout action sequence. Ruby, our main character, interrupts a gang of bad guys (highly reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange’s droogs) robbing a shop that carries a powerful substance – dust. Dust is the fuel for magic in RWBY. Ruby fights off the bad guys using her weapon of choice, a hybrid of firearm and blade called a sniper scythe. The fight sequence is very much Monty’s style, as anyone who has seen his Dead Fantasy or Haloid videos can attest. It is dead cool, as are the characters involved.
我傾向認為他們可以。第一集開頭一連串相當搶眼的動作展示，我們的主角，Ruby，打斷了一群壞人（令人想起《發條橘子》裡的惡棍（註三））搶劫某種能量物質－－塵晶商店的行為，塵晶是RWBY世界裡的魔法能量來源。Ruby使用自己的特製的武器：一把結合熱兵器與刀身的長柄狙擊鐮刀打敗了壞人。如果看過生死幻想或銀河戰士視頻，就會發現這一連串的戰鬥十分具有Monty的風格。當所有角色通通摻和進來，這簡直是酷斃了。
註三："droogs"為該電影《發條橘子》裡壞人團體的名稱，類似常見的天x盟、天x會等等。
From our fight sequence, we learn that Ruby is a talented student at a school that teaches fighting. Her tussle with our villains earns her an upgrade to an elite academy, alongside her sister Yang (Yellow), heiress Weiss (White), and the enigmatic Blake (Black).
從這一系列的戰鬥中，我們可以得知Ruby是個就讀某所戰鬥學校的優秀學生，與這些反派角色的打鬥使得她獲准進入更高等級菁英學院就讀，與她的姐姐Yang（黃色）、女繼承人Weiss（白色），謎一般的Blake（黑色）一同。
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It’s certainly an anime-esque story. The familiar elements are there; adorable girls, killer fight sequences, impossible hair and weapons. In episode two, Ruby pops into a chibi form while excited. Yang’s outfit is designed after a gender-swapped cosplay of Final Fantasy VIII’s Squall (and, of course, FFVIII featured gunblades). There are easy callbacks to Fullmetal Alchemist and Black Rock Shooter.
這是個十分anime型的故事，相似的元素諸如：可愛的女孩子、迷人的戰鬥鏡頭、不真實的頭髮與武器。在第二集中，當Ruby一興奮就砰的一聲變成了Q版形象，Yang的造型參考了FF8 Squall的性轉cosplay（註四）（當然，還有FF8裡代表性的槍刃），這些都讓人十分容易聯想到鋼之鍊金術師與黑岩射手。
註四：Squall的 gender-swapped 性轉 cosplay，版權為原作者所有
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There are other elements, however, that leave no doubt RWBY is a western-made anime - notably, references to western culture and literature. RWBY gives us references to fairy tails, The Wizard of Oz, and Harry Potter. “They look like characters you know - Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Snow White - but that’s as far as it goes. We will do something original with these characters,” Monty said.
然而其中另一個元素，RWBY毋庸置疑是西方製造的日式動畫，諸如西方文化與文學。RWBY給了我們一些童話的線索，綠野仙蹤、哈利波特。「你知道的，角色形象難免讓人聯想到小紅帽、三隻熊、白雪公主，不過淺嚐即止，我們對於這些角色想加入更多的原創要素。」Monty表示。
He does plan to deviate from the anime formula. “For RWBY, there will be dark-skinned characters who aren’t wacky loudmouths.” He also adds that the show won’t feature upskirt shots or sexualize underage girls. “I’ve done my tenure in fan service. You can only recycle something so many times before it becomes stagnate.”
他也計畫使其脫離anime的常態。「對RWBY來說，存在著一些不會高談闊論的黑皮膚角色。」他同時補充道將不會出現任何裙襬上飛的鏡頭或是某些性意義的未成年少女。「對於服務觀眾的鏡頭我已經盡了我的職責，有些東西重覆的太多次只會成為一攤死水。」（註五）
註五：" dark-skinned characters "我不確定指的是什麼，所以猜測說的是影片中常見黑影路人的詼諧說法。
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The first episode is 11 minutes long - long enough to whet our appetite, but short enough to leave us wanting more. This is actually a lengthy episode in the RWBY-verse; most will clock in around five minutes, though the important episodes - the mid-season build-up and finale - will run at 11. Attendees at RTX got a peek at episode two and the beautiful opening sequence. The show, which premiers July 18th on Rooster Teeth's website, will run until the second week of November (followed by a DVD release).
第一集有11分鐘的長度，長的足夠釣我們胃口，卻也短的令我們心有掛念。這集在RWBY裡算是較長的集數，除了一些特別重要的集數外－－像是期中與期末，其他大約會坐落在5分鐘左右。RTX上的出席者窺伺了第二集與美麗的片頭曲。RWBY將會在七月十八日在Rooster Teeth的網站上登場，並且連載至十一月的第二個禮拜（接下來則是DVD的發行）
After talking with Monty it becomes clear that the world of RWBY, as it exists in his mind, is vast, rich, and goes far beyond the scope of a single season. This is a good thing; the show is quick-witted, exciting, lovely to look at and something I think anime fans will enjoy for (hopefully) a long time.
跟Monty談過後，對RWBY也有了更新的認識，在他的腦海裡這是十分巨大的、豐富、遠超過一季能概括的範疇。這是件好事，這部作品有些機智、興奮、令人喜愛的事物，我認為anime的粉絲很非常樂在其中。
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另外一個好消息是，RWBY也將同時在Crunchyroll的網站上連載播放：
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創作內容
Inside Rooster Teeth's "RWBY" 採訪翻譯
【RWBY】心得與感想 (16)