Introduction
Hi, I’m Kanata, a Japanese fan of RWBY’s. I’ve been watching so many animes for a long time in Japan but RWBY is the best. Actually, RWBY is one of the reasons I’m eager to learn English. So here I am, writing this article in English, not fluently though.
My first encounter with RWBY was of course Red Trailer. I got excited about the fact that I could see such an awesome anime from US. The choreography of Red Trailer is still my best. The second is Yang vs Neo by the way. That was so cool too.
Although, the story on the other hand was not that interesting to me at that time, until Yang’s misguided shot changed everything. It didn’t just make the show darker and depressed but also awesome. Yes, it was a heart-wrenching tragedy but sometimes a tragedy makes its story more interesting, as you know, like Madoka Magica.
Then I suddenly realized why I wasn’t interested in the story at early volumes. There were so many things I didn’t catch up. This awesome show has so many deep backstories from the very first.
How many times I watch all the episodes, I always find something I didn’t realize before. For example, the mysterious narrator turned out to be the main antagonist at the end of volume 3, and her first narration was a conversation between her and Ozpin, which I had been wondering why he suddenly interrupted the narration, now it makes sense.
Narrator: So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called free world, but take heed… there will be no victory in strength.
Ozpin: But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you’ve long forgotten, things that require a smaller, more honest soul.
— Volume 1, Chapter 1: Ruby RoseNarrator: “A smaller, more honest soul.” It’s true that a simple spark can ignite hope, breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind’s greatest attribute. Which is why I will focus all of my power… to snuff it out.
— Volume 3, Chapter 12: End of the Beginning
After The Lost Fable, we now know how come they are against each other. Then I realized that when Ozpin said “you’ve long forgotten,” he was not only referring to ‘people’ in general but implicitly referring to Salem herself, like “Salem, you are apparently in a mess. Don’t you remember what you wanted in the first place?”
I assume that she does remember what she wanted in the first place and it still drives her. I’ll talk about it in this article and I can assure you that it’ll explain the grand theme of RWBY.
A woman who wants ‘fair’
The Lost Fable told us a lot of important things about Remnant, the world of RWBY. It’s literally a remnant, and also literally godless. Salem and Ozma were trying to become new gods, eventually Ozma rejected Salem, and that’s how the feud started. It was a quite interesting episode. That being said, the most interesting thing to me was just a smaller one… Salem’s claim.
She lost her love, Ozma, because of illness.
Salem: How could the gods let this happen?
Jinn: The gods, brothers of light and darkness, creation and destruction. Salem prayed they would see the injustice that had befallen her love and make things right.
So she petitioned to the God of Light.
Salem: Please… Please, bring him back to me.
Alas, he refused her demand. Do you remember what she said in anger the next moment?
Salem: But that’s not fair… That’s not fair!
“That’s not fair” sounds very interesting to me.
On a side note, Jinn is the most trusted character in the show. Some characters lie, some characters misinterpret, but she never does because that’s her role. That trusted one exactly described that “Salem prayed they would see the injustice that had befallen her love and make things right.” It must be true and perfectly accurate.
Salem thought that Ozma’s death was injustice and should be corrected. Moreover, she said that not making things right was unfair. That’s kind of hard to understand for me, as a non-native English speaker. I know her feeling, her sorrow, but I don’t understand how she had to say like that. Is it just the language barrier, or the cultural difference? I’ll talk about it in the next section.
What is ‘fair?’
You know, the Japanese language has been importing tons of foreign words. You can even say フェア(fair) in Japan and all Japanese people understand if you pronounce in Japanese accent. When you look it up in a Japanese dictionary, it says,
1: 道義的に正しいさま。公明正大なさま。「フェアな精神」「フェアな価格設定」
2: 規則にかなったさま。またスポーツで、規定の場所の内にあるさま。「フェアな試合」「フェアフライ」
— goo国語辞書
It roughly means,
1: Right in moral terms. Aboveboard. “Fair spirit.” “Fair price.”
2: In accordance with rule. Place in regulation. “Fair game.” “Fair fly.”
フェアプレイ(fair play,) フェアトレード(fair trade,) フェアユース(fair use,) those words have exactly the same meaning as English. So I can say that we know the meaning, but I’d say that we don’t know the feeling.
“Fair enough” cannot be used as Japanese and it’s kind of hard to understand for Japanese speakers. What kind of situation do English speakers say? The situation is like this. When you argue with someone about something you are against it, but eventually you are convinced, then you say “Fair enough.” Right? Even you have a different opinion, you must admit somehow, like “This is what should be.”
I think that’s the feeling, “what should be.”
Fairy tales
The characters of RWBY are based on a lot of fairy tales, Ruby for Little Red Riding Hood, Weiss for Snow White, and so on. Looks like Remnant also has its own fairy tales.
Ozpin: What is your favorite fairy tale?
Pyrrha: Well, there’s The Tale of The Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower…
— Volume 3, Chapter 6: Fall
Obviously, the last one is Salem’s, but I doubt that it’s the same story as what truly happened, because fairy tales must be fair, things “what should be” must happen in fairy tales. Honesty pays. Good things come to those who wait. It is a fairy tale, isn’t it? The words themselves literally say “fair-y tale,” don’t they? You might think it’s mere verbal play, but I think that what Jinn said in the show proves I’m right.
Jinn: The two fell deeply in love, planned adventures around the world, and lived happily ever after… or at least that’s what should have been.
— Volume 6, Chapter 3: The Lost Fable
“That’s what should have been.” That’s the reason Salem said “That’s not fair.” She just wanted to live happily ever after, just wanted to live in a fairy tale, the fair world, but sadly, she just lived in the real world, the unfair world.
Blake: Unfortunately, the real world isn’t the same as a fairy tale.
— Volume 1, Chapter 3: The Shining Beacon, Pt.2Roman: The real world is cold! The real world doesn’t care about spirit!
— Volume 3, Chapter 11: Heroes and Monsters
RWBY, the show itself and the song lyrics, is always telling, repeatedly, “The world isn’t fair.”
Qrow: Sometimes bad things just happen.
— Volume 3, Chapter 8: DestinyYang: Sometimes bad things just happen, Ruby!
— Volume 3, Chapter 12: End of the BeginningRuby: You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn’t want to listen, but you were right, bad things do happen, all the time, every day.
— Volume 4, Chapter 12: No Safe Haven
This is one of the most important phrases in the show. It says a lot about what I’m talking about, that the real world doesn’t make sense at all, I mean, bad things always come from nowhere. It’s not related to anything in the past nor the future. It won’t be paid. It won’t get even. It won’t make sense at all. Bad things just happen. Because the world is not fair. That’s all. I guess that the reason Qrow said the phrase is going to be told in an episode about Team STRQ since you can certainly see the picture of them when Ruby says “Bad things do happen.”
Her mess
It is clear that Salem used to want to live in a fairy tale, the fair world. What about now? I think she still does.
She’s not a pure girl anymore but evil, obviously. She threatens others, manipulates them, uses as pawns. However, she’s not a dictator but reasonable. When Watts insulted Cinder, she protected Cinder. When she found Cinder’s feeling about Ruby, she changed her plan. When Tyrian failed his mission, she didn’t scold him but just told him that he disappointed her.
She’s never upset, she’s always calm and reasonable, but something looses her temper.
Salem: Who is responsible for your defeat?
Hazel: I take full responsibility.
Salem: But that wouldn’t be fair now, would it?!
— Volume 6, Chapter 4: So That’s How It Is
Did you notice the word? Not being fair looses her temper.
Note: She lost her mind after she heard about Ozpin, but she told everyone else to leave before happened. It’s reasonable, isn’t it?
Then she said,
Salem: It’s important not to lose sight of what drives us: Love, justice, reverence.
She’s not joking. She means it. Those things, essentials for fairy tales, still drive her.
Well then, what is her plan now? I guess that she tries to destroy the world and create a new one that she’s been longing for, the fair world. If “the real world isn’t the same as a fairy tale,” that’s the only way she can get what she wants.
I do love all the characters, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Qrow, and even Raven, but Salem is my best, because she’s a human human. I know that just wanting simple things leads you to such a mess. I know that the more honest you are to yourself, the worse things you end up getting. This is real life. This is human. We all know, don’t we?
Conclusion
Thus, I can say that RWBY is a story about people who want a fairy tale in the unfair world. I’m not just talking about Salem but also Ruby.
Ruby: I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed, stories of heroes and monsters… They’re one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress.
Blake: And why is that? Hoping you’ll live happily ever after?
Ruby: Well, I’m hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books, someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn’t protect themselves.
Blake: That’s… very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn’t the same as a fairy tale.
Ruby: Well, that’s why we’re here, to make it better.
— Volume 1, Chapter 3: The Shining Beacon, Pt.2
Someday Ruby, a smaller, more honest soul, would face Salem, a complicated, messed-up soul. What will happen at that time? Will Salem finally learn the importance of life and death then rest? That’s what the God of Light said, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy like that. I just hope that Salem would say “Fair enough.” from the bottom of her heart at the end.
The story isn’t even halfway through yet, I guess. There are still a lot of uncertain things. Why did Salem instruct her men not to kill Ruby even though suspiciously she had been killing other Silver-Eyed Warriors? Salem said “Know that you send her to the same, pitiful demise.” in End of the Beginning. Who is ‘her?’ What happened to Team STRQ? What happened to Summer? I’ve been thinking that Summer is the most important key in the show, but I don’t know. I don’t know anything, but there’s one thing I know:
“Unfortunately, the real world isn’t the same as a fairy tale.”
That’s why RWBY is here, to make our world better. I believe so.
