>>35283
It's popular enough to have garnered theatrical releases for the episodes so far, have reached the 11th rank in Blu-Ray sales (at least the thousands), and be called "Wanime" by Japanese fans. At least part of the reason why RT has been pushing RWBY so hard is because of the international following it has accrued. Heck, about 40 manga artists would have contributed to the anthology by the time Vol. 4 comes out.
Yoshitoshi ABe of all people has drawn fan art of Ruby and Weiss. That should give you an idea of how popular the series is.
Actually a LOT of notable artists have acknowledged the series' existence.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2014-12-22/official-japanese-rwby-fanbook-includes-art-from-yoshitoshi-abe-range-murata-others/.82514
>For fans of Roosterteeth's RWBY, there's also an official Japanese fan book, which features illustrations from 22 different artists, including Hiroyuki Asada (Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee), Yoshitoshi ABe (Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane Renmei), Ran Igarashi (Hōzuki-san Chi no Aneki), Hajime Ueda (FLCL (manga), okama (Tail Star, Glass Fleet), Kei Toume (Lament of the Lamb), Jinsei Kataoka & Kazuma Kondou (Deadman Wonderland), Ticketchan, shihou, Shirow Miwa (Dogs: Bullets & Carnage), Range Murata (Last Exile, Blue Submarine No. 6), Yokarura, Mari Shimazaki (Bayonetta: Bloody Fate), Shou Tajima (Brothers, Otogi Zoshi), CHAN×CO (Vocaloid illustrations), TNSK (Black Rock Shooter: The Game manga), toi8 (character design MAOYU, No. 6), Nidy-2D- (Vocaloid illustrations), Rco Wada, Mitsukazu Mihara (DOLL), Matayosi, /migi.