In 2013, the world’s most popular American anime, RWBY, debuted to the world at RTX Austin and now, nine years later, the Japanese anime it inspired, RWBY: Ice Queendom, is screening at the very same event.
The first-ever theatrical screening of RWBY: Ice Queendom will take place on 30 June at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas on the eve of RTX, Rooster Teeth’s annual gaming, animation and podcasting event taking place in downtown Austin 1-3 July. RWBY: Ice Queendom is produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks, Bandai Namco Music Live, Good Smile Company, Shaft, Warner Bros. Japan, KLab Inc., and Rooster Teeth. RWBY: Ice Queendom will premiere on Japanese television on 3 July and will be available the same day to U.S. audiences on Crunchyroll and Rooster Teeth FIRST.
Rooster Teeth established RTX as a fan event in 2011 and since then it has grown to be one of Texas’ largest gaming, animation and podcasting conventions. In 2013, Rooster Teeth debuted the first episode of RWBY at RTX. Created by the late Monty Oum (Red vs. Blue), RWBY is one of Rooster Teeth’s most beloved, viewed and shared series. As the first western-produced anime series to be distributed in Japan, RWBY episodes have accumulated more than 300 million views since the series premiered in 2013. RWBY is a global phenomenon with fans around the world, and partnerships with the most iconic pop culture brands including DC, Scholastic and McFarlane Toys. Bandai Namco Filmworks, Good Smile Company and Crunchyroll licensed RWBY to create RWBY: Ice Queendom, a new RWBY story in beautiful 2D anime visuals.
RWBY: Ice Queendom will establish the world of RWBY before taking viewers on a brand new adventure that RWBY fans have never seen. RWBY imagines a world filled with horrific monsters bent on death and destruction and humanity’s only hope is dependent upon powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long are four such Huntresses in training whose journeys will take them far past the grounds of their school, Beacon Academy. Though each may be powerful on their own, these four girls must overcome dark forces and work as a team if they truly hope to become the next generation of Remnant’s protectors.
“When we premiered RWBY at RTX in 2013, I never imagined that we would be where we are today with the show,” said RWBY showrunner Kerry Shawcross. “We’re fans of anime and that’s how this all started. To see RWBY inspire Japanese artists to create RWBY: Ice Queendom is surreal to say the least. It’s only fitting that our biggest fans be the first to experience this show at the event where it all started.”
FIRST Night is free for RTX badge holders, with priority admittance given to Ultra and Platinum badge holders. Single Day and Weekend badges to RTX Austin can be purchased for $52 – $98.
RWBY: Ice Queendom stars Saori Hayami as Ruby Rose, Yoko Hikasa as Weiss Schnee, Yu Shimamura as Blake Belladonna, and Ami Koshimizu as Yang Xiao Long. The English dubbed version will star the original cast of RWBY, Lindsay Jones as Ruby Rose, Kara Eberle as Weiss Schnee, Arryn Zech as Blake Belladonna, and Barbara Dunkelman as Yang Xiao Long. The core creative team is led by Gen Urobuchi (NITRO PLUS, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero), Tow Ubukata (Mardock Scramble, Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer, Fafner in the Azure), huke (Black Rock Shooter, chitocerium, Steins;Gate), and Toshimasa Suzuki (Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne, Fafner in the Azure: Heaven and Earth), with additional collaboration from Rooster Teeth’s Kerry Shawcross, Eddy Rivas, and Erin Winn.
The series is produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks, Bandai Namco Music Live, Good Smile Company, SHAFT, Warner Bros. Japan, KLab Inc., and Rooster Teeth. The series is being animated by Studio SHAFT (Monogatari Series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica).