Fans of RWBY can finally stop holding their breath, as the RWBY: Ice Queendom anime release date has finally been announced!
According to the anime’s official Twitter, the new series will begin broadcasting during the Summer anime season, with a projected July 2022 release date.
While the post does say that times are subject to change, at the time of this article, the RWBY: Ice Queendom release date in Japan is on July 3, 2022. According to a post from Geoff Yetter, Head of Licensing and Consumer Products at Rooster Teeth, the studio plans to release the series on Crunchyroll and Rooster Teeth FIRST the same day. It seems that they anticipate releasing both the RWBY: Ice Queendom English dub and the subtitled versions on the same day.
The anime project was first announced earlier this year. The new series is being produced by Rooster Teeth Productions and Studio SHAFT, with additional input from BANDAI NAMCO Arts, Good Smile Company, Crunchyroll, Warner Bros. Japan, and KLab inc.
Is RWBY: Ice Queendom canon?
If you’re a fan of the original series, or just getting into it, you may be wondering how this new series fits in with the already established world of Remnant.
In the same post by Geoff Yetter, he addresses this saying:
First, the world of RWBY: Ice Queendom is NOT an alternate universe or a reboot. While the story is set in the same universe as the main show, we’re calling it “canon adjacent”. The new show is incredibly faithful to the original, while also taking some fun new liberties to switch things up a bit. The first two episodes of RWBY: IQ will recap V1 – V2 before kicking things off into a bold new adventure, full of new characters, new settings, new surprises, and (of course) new Grimm. Not only that, but you’ll also see a ton of familiar faces, too. While changes made to the existing RWBY content are not technically considered canon, it’s a story that absolutely could exist alongside other RWBY content — we just wanted the Japan team to be able to have as much fun with it as they wanted. Now as to what the story of the show is all about….well you’ll just have to wait and see!
Canon or not, the RWBY: Ice Queendom release should still be exciting for fans of the series eager for more RWBY content.
Will the original RWBY cast be reprising their roles?
With these new changes, it’s hard not to wonder if the actresses’ fans already know and love will remain the same. Luckily for them, it has been confirmed that the original Rooster Teeth voice actresses will reprise their roles. For dub fans, the original Japanese voice actresses will also reprise their roles for the new anime series as well.
That means that Lindsay Jones will reprise her role as Ruby Rose. Barbara Dunkelman will return to play her sister, Yang Xiao Long. Kara Eberle will continue to play heiress, Weiss Schnee, and Arryn Zech will voice faunus character, Blake Belladonna.