We dig into authorial intent, the challenges of animation, and fan work (and entitlement) as we talk about Rooster Teeth’s RWBY and its fans! ## Episode Outline **Topics:** RWBY (obviously), Anime, Linguistics, the _Tales of_ series, authorial intent, dudebros, expectations and fan work ### Fandom Facts “RWBY (pronounced "ruby") is an American anime-style web series and media franchise created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. The show is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors (called "Huntsmen" and "Huntresses") to protect their world from monsters called Grimm. The name RWBY is derived from the four main characters' forenames: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, as well as their associated theme colors; Red, White, Black, and Yellow. Following several promotional trailers, the first episode was screened at the Rooster Teeth convention event RTX and then released on their website in July 2013.” ‒ [Wikipedia - RWBY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWBY) * A fan survey from about a year ago gives us [some idea of the demographics](https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/6ckube/rrwby_user_survey_results/) (and other interesting tidbits about the fandom) with over 700 respondents: * 86% of respondents identified as male (and a non-zero percentage as assholes: Attack Helicopter) * Almost 86% are under age 24 (67% are between 18 and 24); if we do some math, its reasonable to assume that means that folks probably started watching between ages 13-19 (i.e. five years ago) * Just over half (55%) watch Rooster Teeth’s podcast ### First Impressions #### Z: I knew absolutely nothing about RWBY before starting the research for this episode. I’d seen some cosplayers and had no idea who they were until someone told ...
Can you hear, our heart beat? No? Well, turn up the volume to hear us (and special guest, Nikola, of [YOI Wednesdays](https://twitter.com/yoiwednesdays)) talk about fans of Yuri!! on ICE! Next week, we'll be talking with a guy who literally wrote the book (well, _a_ book) on Chrono Trigger, Michael P. Williams, to talk about fans of Chrono Trigger! ## Where can I learn more about YOI Wednesdays? Would you like to learn more about Nikola and YOI Wednesdays? You're in luck! - Nikola's Twitter: [@notgneissatall](http://twitter.com/notgneissatall) - YOI Wednesday Twitter: [@yoiwednesdays](https://twitter.com/yoiwednesdays) - YOI Wednesday Podcast: [soundcloud.com/yoiwednesdayspod](https://soundcloud.com/yoiwednesdayspod) ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > Yuri!!! on Ice is a 12-episode anime series following Katsuki Yuuri in his competitive figure skating career. The series is produced by MAPPA, directed by Yamamoto Sayo [_Michiko and Hatchin_, _The Woman Called Fujiko Mine_, some episodes of _Samurai Champloo_ and _Space Dandy_] and written by Kubo Mitsurou. > — [Fanlore - Yuri!!! on Ice](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Yuri!!!_on_Ice) **Search Data / Growth:** _Yuri on Ice_ had a huge spike in interest between [October 2016 and December 2016](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2016-07-01%202018-07-31&q=%2Fg%2F11cmg5bxns) (which coincides with the release of, at the time, the only season of the anime). Interest in the show has been pretty consistent since then, though not nearly as popular as during that period. The top 10 countries for _Yuri on Ice_, by search volume, are as follows: Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Chile, Singapore, Russia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Hungary (Canada is 16th, United States is 18th, and Australia is 22nd). Looking at [redditmetrics for the YOI subreddit](http://redditmetrics.com/r/YOI), the subreddit reached 5000 subscribers in under a month, but growth has been pretty flat since then. **Fan Demographics:** - [From a fan survey run by KykyElric](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeo89_0mbccjeTrVoP2HYSvRfWGIyhTgec4YeEHcw4LjEF-Pw/viewanalytics), we do have some data about some of the over ...
[// Pregenerate link to episode ahead of time: - clicktotweet.com- sharelinkgenerator.com]: # > Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle...and wonder if we'll ever get the chance to kill him. > > — Nier: Automata Uh... we're talking about Nier this week, and hopefully we don't dive too far down the existentialist rabbithole. Plus, we've got special guest Sarah (aka SMZeldaRules) as our resident Nier-ologist to get us through it all. Next week, we'll dive into that long-running and epic fandom: Final Fantasy fans (with special guests, Dan and Ari)! ## Where can I learn more about SMZeldaRules? Do you like Cosplay? Perhaps Video Games? Good news! SMZeldaRules is a huge fan of both! If you want to follow her work, you can find her on... - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smzeldarulesartandcosplay - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smzeldarules/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/smzeldarules - Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/smzeldarules - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/smzeldarulescosplay ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** Nier... is actually a complicated game series to explain. It is definitely most well-known because of the 2017 entry in the series, _Nier: Automata_, but technically that is a sequel to the less popular _Nier_ (2010), which itself is a sequel to Ending E of _Drakengard / Drag-On Dragoon_ (2003). I think I've got that right. [// Interject and ask if Sarah can provide some additional detail without a tone of spoilers ]: # Speaking just about _Nier_ and _Nier: Automata_ (for the moment), the games are set in the far future where Earth has been left in a state of decay. _Nier_ focussed on the character of the same name attempting ...
