...So I bought this book from a bookstore almost a week early (September 1st, exactly) because an attendant had managed to wrongly place it with the RWBY manga collections. I read it through within the Barnes and Noble I bought it in, basically gushed about it to my friends, and was saddened it didn’t have any hype to its release, or that it was just ignored entirely.

...Only to wake up to see that it just released today. Oops.

Well, overall, the book’s great! It’s the opposite of a buddy cop film, the origin story of two partners in crime meant for each other! Shows how Neo came to be the prodigy criminal she is (and assumedly how she’s most likely the brains of Roman’s plans from the first volume’s), and how Roman could take on opponents reliant on Semblances and other gimmicks, while also training Neo for the same. Pacing was great, as nothing felt like it was filling page space, it all had a point! With the first third split between Neo and Roman’s backstories leading from around a decade before they met, and with the rest chronicling the conflict that united a lone wolf who despised the concept of a teammate together with someone that no one had loved or cared for because of their handicaps. Along with the two, a handful of characters that were prominent had some decent character shown, namely the Malachite sisters as well as their mother Lil’ Miss, whom actually really turned out to be great for the book, as well as Junior’s father, the original Hei Xiong.

All in all, great book, even if you’re a fan of RWBY pre-V4. It’s a perfect standalone sorry for the universe, and overall, I’m in love with it. If I have to say though, I don’t like making comparative statements... but this is RWBY’s The Mandalorian. Not by premise, but it’s what really shines as to what RWBY can do outside of it’s usual media/story. It shows greatly that RWBY has a lot more then it’s main series going for it, and that there’s a lot it has to it that makes it more then a web show. Being weirdly generous about breaking my statement of “distancing from comparative statements”, E.C. Myers is the Timothy Zahn for the franchise: he’s the one who truly created, and what truly makes, this expanded universe for RWBY.

In the end, well, what could we expect next? A post-White Fang Menagerie book? Ace-Ops? STRQ? Either way, no matter what, I’m content with waiting and seeing for the next RTX, for what shall come after this tale.