user1908: We just got a question on rwby (cf. Wikipedia). Is RWBY on-topic? 
Relevant facts:

RWBY is not anime, because it is not Japanese.
RWBY is (or claims to be?) inspired by and/or patterned after anime.
We accept questions on avatar, which seems similar to RWBY as far as "anime-ness" goes. 
There was an old meta thread on this topic. It is not authoritative, but it does contain some opinions that may be of interest.
There was also a more recent meta thread that has a very good breakdown of the issue by LoganM. 

Having never seen RWBY, I have no opinion on this matter myself.

user1530: I think the fact that it's in the anime section of Crunchyroll and is anime-styled, like Avatar means that it should on topic. 
If you didn't know it was an American production, it'd be a pretty safe guess to say it'd originate from Japan, whereas many other Western animations are easier separated visually.

user1587: I'll post up what i have researched, it should be noted that this is incomplete as i tried to limit spoilers as i have yet to see the series (it has been bumped up on my "to watch" list to be watched after Katanagateri)
RWYB is sold in Australia by anime distributor Hanabee, that being said, Hanabee also sells Red VS Blue which is another production by Rooster Teeth which is clearly not anime however RWYB is also simulcasted on Crunchyroll which is focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content but i don't watch Crunchyroll so i have no idea what other exceptions they have made.
Now to quote Logan M's Post in the Maid Café (メイド喫茶)

IMO for the purposes of this site, we should think of anime/manga as a subculture rather than as media. It's a question of whether RWBY fits into the interests of that subculture.

Thing brings up a very good point, if we look ad Anime as a media then we can only accept animated series made in japan which means Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Aang and The Legend of Korra shouldn't be accepted anymore.
But if we look at Anime as a subculture then we can accept Avatar cause it contains the same feel that an anime carries, ofcause purests would disagree to that. The Boondocks on the other hand looks like anime, both the comic strip and the cartoon were influenced by the creators love of anime and manga and Huey has fantasies which seem quite reminiscent of Afro Samurai (at least from the few episodes i saw), doesn't have the same feel as what Avatar has.
Appleseed which is anime doesn't the same visual style as we normally associate with however it does have that feel which shows that the visual styles is not what make an anime feel like an anime. in RWBY's case it does have that feel of it being an anime (from what i've seen in the trailers) so in my opinion i do believe it should be on topic.

user2044: I skimmed the trailer for it and would say that it should qualify as on topic. 
The characters are pretty anime-poi.. most of the time. The backgrounds are not, and reminds me of samurai jack, but then it's a web series, and I'd say the style has to do more with production constraints.

user63: It's hard to say whether or not RWBY is on topic for the site by definition alone. The series itself is very derivative of anime culture, but it stands out on it's own as a genre... in the West at least.
If anything I think we should count it like a self-published work similar to doujinshi works from Japan. Now I'm not saying or claiming RWBY is doujinshi (a self-published work). While it's unique on it's own being the first published web series of it's kind by an American production company, it like the many forms of self-made doujinshi content from Japan, RWBY was made and developed by fans of the subculture just like Touhou and Vocaloid developed in Japan.
We mustn't necessarily dismiss RWBY or works like it as "not anime" simply because it's not from Japan. Sure, in a purely technical sense RWBY is not anime because it doesn't come from Japan. This doesn't mean that it can't become a part of the subculture because it's not from Japan. The subculture has become what it is today not solely, because of Japan (although it is responsible from much of the content) fans from all over the world have made anime what it is today by talking, sharing, parodying, and creating their own content. Some do it by emulation, while others use it for inspiration. It's thanks to the fans anime has become what it is today. Much like sports, it'll never get anywhere without it fans.
RWBY may see cheesy and "unanime-like" at first, but people worked hard on it -- let it grow and develop, perfection is an art yet to be mastered by people. We're already in agreement that doujinshi is on-topic for this site. So instead of arguing whether or not it's anime in a technical sense, why not give RWBY a chance and see if it belongs in the culture? If it's something we like we can keep it, if it's not what we wanted we can shelve it. Don't just think about anime and manga just by where it's from or who it's by, think about anime and manga as a culture. While opinions may vary, it the voice of the community as a whole that determines it's culture. 
tl;dr Let's see RWBY for the culture it represents not where it's from and see how it goes from there.

1908: <p>We just got <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/7572/will-there-be-a-second-season-of-rwby">a question</a> on <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/rwby" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;rwby&#39;" rel="tag">rwby</a> (cf. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWBY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>). Is RWBY on-topic? </p>

<p>Relevant facts:</p>

<ul>
<li>RWBY is not anime, because it is not Japanese.</li>
<li>RWBY is (or claims to be?) inspired by and/or patterned after anime.</li>
<li>We accept questions on <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/avatar" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;avatar&#39;" rel="tag">avatar</a>, which seems similar to RWBY as far as "anime-ness" goes. </li>
<li>There was an old <a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1/is-animation-or-comics-inspired-by-japanese-culture-or-styles-considered-on-topi">meta thread</a> on this topic. It is not authoritative, but it does contain some opinions that may be of interest.</li>
<li>There was also a more recent <a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/415/should-we-expand-our-scope">meta thread</a> that has a very good breakdown of the issue by LoganM. </li>
</ul>

<p>Having never seen RWBY, I have no opinion on this matter myself.</p>
 1530: <p>I think the fact that it's in the anime section of Crunchyroll and is anime-styled, like Avatar means that it should on topic. </p>

<p>If you didn't know it was an American production, it'd be a pretty safe guess to say it'd originate from Japan, whereas many other Western animations are easier separated visually.</p>
 1587: <p>I'll post up what i have researched, it should be noted that this is incomplete as i tried to limit spoilers as i have yet to see the series (it has been bumped up on my "to watch" list to be watched after Katanagateri)</p>

<p>RWYB is sold in Australia by anime distributor Hanabee, that being said, Hanabee also sells Red VS Blue which is another production by Rooster Teeth which is clearly not anime however RWYB is also simulcasted on Crunchyroll which is focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content but i don't watch Crunchyroll so i have no idea what other exceptions they have made.</p>

<p>Now to quote <a href="http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/13900620#13900620">Logan M's Post</a> in the <a href="http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/6697/maid-cafe-">Maid Café (メイド喫茶)</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>IMO for the purposes of this site, we should think of anime/manga as a subculture rather than as media. It's a question of whether RWBY fits into the interests of that subculture.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Thing brings up a very good point, if we look ad Anime as a media then we can only accept animated series made in japan which means <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/tags/avatar/info">Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Aang</a> and <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/tags/avatar-legend-of-korra/info">The Legend of Korra</a> shouldn't be accepted anymore.</p>

<p>But if we look at Anime as a subculture then we can accept Avatar cause it contains the same feel that an anime carries, ofcause purests would disagree to that. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boondocks_%28TV_series%29" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Boondocks</a> on the other hand looks like anime, both the comic strip and the cartoon were influenced by the creators love of anime and manga and Huey has fantasies which seem quite reminiscent of Afro Samurai (at least from the few episodes i saw), doesn't have the same feel as what Avatar has.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appleseed_%28film%29" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Appleseed</a> which is anime doesn't the same visual style as we normally associate with however it does have that feel which shows that the visual styles is not what make an anime feel like an anime. in RWBY's case it does have that feel of it being an anime (from what i've seen in the trailers) so in my opinion i do believe it should be on topic.</p>
 2044: <p>I skimmed the <a href="http://roosterteeth.com/archive/?sid=rwby&amp;v=more" rel="nofollow">trailer</a> for it and would say that it should qualify as on topic. </p>

<p>The characters are pretty anime-poi.. most of the time. The backgrounds are not, and reminds me of samurai jack, but then it's a web series, and I'd say the style has to do more with production constraints.</p>
 63: <p>It's hard to say whether or not RWBY is on topic for the site by definition alone. The series itself is very derivative of anime culture, but it stands out on it's own as a genre... in the West at least.</p>

<p>If anything I think we should count it like a self-published work similar to doujinshi works from Japan. Now I'm not saying or claiming RWBY is doujinshi (a self-published work). While it's unique on it's own being the first published web series of it's kind by an American production company, it like the many forms of self-made doujinshi content from Japan, RWBY was made and developed by fans of the subculture just like Touhou and Vocaloid developed in Japan.</p>

<p>We mustn't necessarily dismiss RWBY or works like it as "not anime" simply because it's not from Japan. Sure, in a purely technical sense RWBY is not anime because it doesn't come from Japan. This doesn't mean that it can't become a part of the subculture because it's not from Japan. The subculture has become what it is today not solely, because of Japan (although it is responsible from much of the content) fans from all over the world have made anime what it is today by talking, sharing, parodying, and creating their own content. Some do it by emulation, while others use it for inspiration. It's thanks to the fans anime has become what it is today. Much like sports, it'll never get anywhere without it fans.</p>

<p>RWBY may see cheesy and "unanime-like" at first, but people worked hard on it -- let it grow and develop, perfection is an art yet to be mastered by people. We're already in agreement that doujinshi is <a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/q/267/63">on-topic for this site</a>. So instead of arguing whether or not it's anime in a technical sense, why not give RWBY a chance and see if it belongs in the culture? If it's something we like we can keep it, if it's not what we wanted we can shelve it. Don't just think about anime and manga just by where it's from or who it's by, think about anime and manga as a culture. While opinions may vary, it the voice of the community as a whole that determines it's culture. </p>

<p><strong><em>tl;dr</em> Let's see RWBY for the culture it represents not where it's from and see how it goes from there.</strong></p>
