Monty Oum, an inspiration I never met

I found out today that Monty Oum of Roosterteeth passed away. I didn’t know Monty personally and have never met him in real life or even online, but I didn’t need to in order to understand his impact on the anime and gaming community. His work on RWBY at RoosterTeeth in particular, has pushed the envelope a little further for me and many others in our fields. What once seemed impossible or a dream came true with the series he worked on.

Last year, RWBY became the first American anime series to be imported in Japan, something we could have only dreamed of a few years ago.  The show has potentially trail-blazed a path for the future, for more anime series to get not only created in the US but to also make their way to Japan and beyond.

On RosterTeeth’s website, they suggest we honor Monty by doing something creative. Which is why I will animate tonight with him in mind, knowing that if I ever am fortunate enough to have Cosmic Rage someday turn into something larger, that he probably helped pave the way with his work at RoosterTeeth. My dream has always been to have Cosmic Rage develop into a series, to see people cosplay as my characters and have their own action figures, all dreams I have had could potentially be easier to achieve after Monty and RoosterTeeth proving people wrong.

You will be missed Monty, and thank you for all of your contributions and hard work, I regret that I never had the chance to met you, but maybe someday.

If you want to donate to his family, you can check out his gofundme page here.