At Anime Japan 2022, a new trailer for RWBY: Ice Queendom was just revealed featuring the new animation of the series. The trailer also features the new Japanese dubbing and some teasers of what’s coming up next for the series.
An English-subtitled version of the trailer shows of the new RWBY: Ice Queendom ED (opening) theme song music used for the series. The ED song will be “Awake” by Saori Hayami, while the OP song “Beyond Selves” will be performed by Void_Chords featuring L.
The trailer also confirms that RWBY: Ice Queendom is a complete retelling of RWBY from volume 1, not just an alternate-universe retelling of the series. The series is set to be quite different from the original, including some changes to core story beats, Weiss’s origins and her relationship with her team, and some slight changes to Ruby’s personality.
A PR statement sent to Anime Geek confirmed that RWBY: Ice Queendom “will establish the world of RWBY before taking viewers on a brand new adventure that RWBY fans have never seen.” RWBY: Ice Queendom will be streaming on Rooster Teeth first and then it will come to Crunchyroll at an unspecified later date with an English dub and in Japanese audio with English subtitles.
“It’s difficult to put into words just how honored and thrilled we are to see the show that we imagined into the world inspire a Japanese anime,” said RWBY’s showrunner, Kerry Shawcross. “I’ve been a fan of anime all my life, so to see RWBY in this new medium is surreal. I can’t wait for fans to see this show, I think it’s going to blow them away.”
You can also see the trailer at the timestamp below (@8:15), which happens to come with English subtitles:
What is the plot of RWBY: Ice Queendom?
Through the trailer, it’s been confirmed that RWBY: Ice Queendom is a complete retelling of RWBY in anime form, with some changes made to the story in reference to Weiss and her backstory, the season focusing more heavily on the relationship between Ruby and Weiss. It’s set to follow the adventures of them through their first year at Beacon and re-establish the setting of the world with some changes made as the Japanese team sees fit, with Rooster Teeth giving their blessing and mild oversight to the project.
Some changes that can already be seen are changes to scenes and dialogue of the show, with the most notable being an expanded relationship between Weiss and Yang, a duo that didn’t interact too much in the initial season of the show. Another interesting thing to note is the difference in soundtrack between the two studios, with the longtime composer of RWBY not returning to compose RWBY: Ice Queendom.
The snow outfits shown off on the announced figures also suggest that we might be headed to Atlas, the snow kingdom of RWBY, which would fit with the title of Ice Queendom. It’ll be interesting to see how the series pans out!
What other announcements were made during the presentation?
During the presentation, it was also announced that there will be a new line of Nendoroids in Team RWBY’s winter outfits, featuring their costume changes later in the season. A Twitter campaign for a signed poster featuring the autographs of the voice acting cast (limited to residents of Japan), full-size figures of Team RWBY in their winter outfits, and the ending song was also performed during the event.
All of these can be viewed in the broadcast above (and it’s dubbed in English!) so be sure to check it out if you’re interested!