Following extensive leaks out of Anime Japan and online this week, Rooster Teeth has officially announced RWBY: Ice Queendom. An anime spin-off of the beloved webtoon RWBY, which premiered on Rooster Teeth’s website in 2013, will be animated by studio SHAFT and release simultaneously in English and Japanese on Rooster Teeth FIRST and Crunchyroll.
With the official announcement comes a new trailer showing off character designs, new outfits, and voice acting from a familiar cast. Both RWBY’s English and Japanese casts will reprise their roles on the anime, starring Lindsay Jones and Saori Hayami as Ruby Rose, Kara Eberle and Yoko Hikasa as Weiss Schnee, Arryn Zech and Yu Shimamura as Blake Belladonna, and Barbara Dunkelman and Ami Koshimizu as Yang Xiao Long.
Based on the new trailer, Ice Queendom will begin with the familiar story of RWBY’s first season, before departing on “a brand new adventure that RWBY fans have never seen.” The show also features 2D animation, a departure from the original. And while the original series has already seen its own manga adaptation, a manga adaptation of Ice Queendom has already been announced.
Toshimasa Suzuki will direct the series, while the altered character designs are thanks to the chief animation supervisor Nobuhiro Sugiyama. Gen Urobuchi is credited with leading the core team, which includes Chief Director Kenjiro Okada, scriptwriter Tow Ubukata, and “additional collaboration” from Kerry Shawcross, Eddy Rivas, and Erin Winn of Rooster Teeth.
“Through a lot of trial and error, we continue to improve and aim for a beautiful imagery through graphic processing and hand-drawn action,” Suzuki said in a staff interview.
Shawcross, RWBY’s showrunner, said in a press release:
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. 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.
Roosterteeth promises new episodes will release simultaneously in English and Japanese weekly, alongside the original show on streaming services Rooster Teeth FIRST and Crunchyroll, but did not mention any release date.