Gamen Watch Reviews - Steven Universe

Welcome to the 6^th installment of Gamen Watch Reviews. Today, we’re going to be reviewing Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar back in 2013. Beware of spoilers.

 

This series is probably the best show on Cartoon Network currently, rivaling even Kids Next Door for its spot. However, is Steven Universe all it's hyped up to be? I'm sad to say it's not. In this review, I'll explain why!

 

 

Premise

A little boy called Steven Universe (no way that’s his real name XP) lives with three oddly-colored humanoids called Gems, who have magic powers and fight strange monsters. Members of this Gem race are based off real-life gems, such as Pearls, Rubies, or Diamonds. Steven is apparently a hybrid between a human (his dad) and a Gem (his mom), the latter of which gave up her physical form to make him. Alright, interesting concept, I’ll see where it takes it.

 

 

First impression

The first few episodes made me hungry. XP I mean, a lot of them were pretty food-based. But I heard Rebecca used to work on Adventure Time, which was pretty food-based too, and you’ll notice a lot of characters have an AT-esque design. Throughout the first season, the episodes I was mostly into were the temple adventures because of their ethereal scenery, though I had a sneaking and pretty-much-accurate suspicion about Connie having some potential.

 

Speaking of which, the Steven/Connie pairing is totally inspired from Bobby/Connie from King of the Hill. Look them up, see what I mean.

 

 

Characters

The main characters of SU are Steven Universe and the “Crystal Gems”: Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst. Steven is depicted as your lovable boy who likes to have fun and wants to feel like part of the Gems. The other Gems, as you’ll catch on quickly, have quirky personalities that are distinctive from one another. Each Gem has complex backstories and characterizations that will develop as the series goes on.
 

Aside from the Gems, there are human characters who live in the main setting, Beach City. Most of the humans are the subjects of filler episodes. Each of them has a unique design that compliments their occupation or their character. But for the most part, none of them are very distinct or interesting compared to the Gems, so these filler episodes are forgettable.

Steven Universe (the main character):

For a moment, let's discuss a major problem regarding the titular protagonist: Steven Universe is NOT a relatable character, nor is he an inspiring hero! And here are the reasons why:
- He lives in a fancy beach house and his family doesn't have to pay bills or rent. The Gems built his house into their temple and it runs on magic! Heck, even in Fairy Tail, Lucy Heartfilia was burdened with rent, and I always liked that factor about her because it was relatable.
- He doesn't go to human school. He isn't tasked with the burden of balancing between normal human life and Gem Warrior life, he practically fully embraces his Gem side! Sure, there's his combat training, but how is that not fun?
And even if money WAS a problem...
- HIS DAD IS FUCKING RICH!! 10 million dollars!! And I doubt they could've spent it all on that fancy hotel and that boat! And because they don't even let the greed affect them, his dad is pretty much set for LIFE!

Frankly, I think the reason Steven is so sweet and pacifistic is because he lives in that pretty town where everyone loves him and he lives in this life of luxury! Magical powers and prolonged lifespan aside, how can ANYONE relate to him?! The only thing Steven was guilty of is a few misadventures. And yes, his mother died in childbirth, and that deserves some sympathy, but he still has a dad, two other moms, and an older sister, so I can't even feel very bad for that. Plus, in normal circumstances, a dead parent would result in harder home life (i.e. child getting a job, single parent takes double shifts, to name a few examples), but regarding the aforementioned points, that's not a factor either.

Now, some of these factors are true in a lot of anime protagonists (Luffy being a pirate and Natsu being just 'Ok' with his shabby house), but at least those heroes still kick butt and know how to be inspiring. Steven Universe doesn't do that! I mean, I would say his greatest solo battle was with Bismuth, and he had some good Fusion fights with Jasper, but the fact that he cries over defeating someone in self-defense just ruins it for me. Like, he KNOWS he's not killing them, and the no-killing rule is fine in a hero, but seriously, his life of otherwise peace and luxury has made him too soft. Connie is WAY more epic and heroic, and she has home life trouble, so try to guess why she's my favorite character.

But one of the worst things about Steven is he's a damn hypocrite, namely in the "Diamond Days" finale. When he starts preaching about how "nothing is perfect," I immediately call bullshit simply because he lives a luxurious life; he may not be aware of the fact, but the AUDIENCE sure is! But then Steven sings a cute little song about how, "I don't need you to love me, I love me," acting as if lots of people despise him, yet he's still proud of himself, even though nearly EVERYONE loves him. That song would be better suited for Lars, Kevin, or Jasper, because it would've actually been inspiring given their negative reception.

Actually, looking back at Kevin, I think Kevin is the ONLY human Steven claims to legitimately "hate." And that's where his hypocrisy shows the WORST. First of all, the only thing Kevin did was try to hit on Stevonnie--that's literally the ONLY reason Steven hates him. And because a God-child like Steven hates him, Kevin must be treated like scum of the Earth. Yet, Steven goes singing about "Changing your mind" in order to love people... so is Steven himself planning to "change his mind" with Kevin? Or does he only think it should be the other way around, where only the "negative" person should think in a positive light, and not the positive person trying to understand why the negative person behaves this way.

I would respect the show a lot more if Steven could experience the more negative aspects of the world: paying rent, corrupt governments, dealing with bullies who discriminate him for what he is, because these things exist in the world! If Steven could experience those things and STILL sing about how the world is great, THEN he would be a great hero! But NO! He grew up in luxury and is acting under misguided thoughts that the world is flawless!

And also, Steven's voice is unbearable. Like, he's voiced by a male, but he sounds like a girl trying to sound like a boy. (And I thought it was a girl at first.) Given everything I've come to dislike about Steven, hearing that whiny voice scrape against my eardrums doesn't help one bit. Hell, one of the worst episodes was "Onion Gang," where Steven was fucking narrating Onion's life, and he was basically the ONLY one that talked for the WHOLE episode! It was like they were trying to TORTURE people who didn't like Steven's voice! Ugh... Still, the voice is just icing on the cake.

However, some of Steven's best moments arise when he wants to learn more of the "dark side" of his heritage, to which his friends deny him the privilege. An angered Steven would then seek to find out on his own. These are good character moments for Steven, and I wish we had more of them.

Garnet (aka Ruby and Sapphire):

For a time, Garnet was my favorite character. She was badass, had good lines, and learning she was a Fusion Gem of two lovers, Ruby and Sapphire, made her all the more awesome! I wanted to learn their backstory and find out how the couple became one and why they left Homeworld. Then, we got their backstory in "The Answer." It was utterly disappointing. Basically, Ruby and Sapphire fall in love at first sight, become a Fusion by accident, and they have to run away because none of the other Gems like what they became. It had the potential to be more than what it was, but it didn't! Ruby and Sapphire have the romance of an old Disney couple; it may have worked back then, but in these modern days, couples have more development. Ruby and Sapphire had none!

And basically, the only reason the two can remain as "Garnet" is because they're supposedly a perfect couple who know nothing but love. I find this whole concept to be unrealistic. Garnet can only last as long as Ruby and Sapphire are always together and scarcely fight. In the real world, a romantic relationship wouldn't be like that. The couple would want a break from one-another and would definitely get in their own fights. I mean, why do Ruby and Sapphire love each other to begin with? Sure, they saved each other's lives - but any friend would do the same thing, and Fusing was nice - but none of the other characters are Perma-Fusions. One of my favorite episodes is "Keystone Motel," where Ruby and Sapphire actually have conflict in their relationship and they're actually likeable in that sense, but for every other appearance, all the two are is just lovey-dovey. If the writers were trying to make "The Answer" like a fairytale, I think that was a bad decision on their part, especially given Amethyst's backstory and how the show's conflicts are usually like. And having pretty graphics and music doesn't make up for the fact! (However, my own theory is that "The Answer" isn't the true backstory and Garnet told a different story to appeal to Steven.)

Pearl is NOT a renegade slave-girl!

The series implied earlier that Pearls were apparently a slave race to the Gems, with Pearl herself being a unique case because she rebelled against her rulers. But as we learned, this was also a lie. The other Pearls we've seen seem to have NO qualms serving their Diamonds--hell, Blue Diamond lets her Pearl draw, and Yellow carries both of them while they sing! And the main Pearl, herself, only rebelled because HER master rebelled! So it was hardly a true rebellion on her end! But the point is, the Pearls don't even seem like slaves, they're ROYAL GUARDS! And the Diamonds show no visible discrimination toward them!


Lapis Lazuli:

Lapis was one of the most disappointing characters on the show. At first, she's quite a mysterious character, having been trapped in a mirror for thousands of years and furious at the Crystal Gems for leaving her in there. And with the power to steal the ocean, she's not only intriguing, but powerful! Yet, she was noble enough to contain herself along with Jasper under the ocean to protect Steven as thanks for helping her.

But then Lapis joins the Crystal Gems... and her character derails completely. First off, her backstory was horribly rushed and sudden. I think some Homeworld Gems trapped her to gain information, then Pearl kinda finds her--I don't know, it was overall a disappointing backstory. But it gets worse! In one episode, we were given the plot twist that Lapis actually misses being with Jasper, which was quite surprising, given past circumstances! ...But then Jasper shows up 10 seconds later, wants Lapis back, and she quickly decides she wants nothing to do with him. Seriously, what was the point of HAVING that plot twist if they were IMMEDIATELY going to shoot it down, with no conflict whatsoever?! Everything about Lapis was completely slapdashed! They slapdashed her backstory, slapdashed her conflict, slapdashed the Malachite conclusion, and after all that, Lapis is just a BORING character. All she does nowadays is farm crops with Peridot and watch TV in their new barn.


The Diamonds - Utter Disappointments

I cannot BELIEVE what they did with the fucking Diamonds! First off, the entire point of Pink Diamond's rebellion was that the Diamonds were genocidal conquerors! That's why hundreds of Gems supposedly gave their lives protecting the Earth! BUT THEY COMPLETELY ERASED THAT FACT! They changed it so that Yellow and Blue were actually over-controlling parents! Same with White Diamond! And the conflict ends with the Diamonds learning to accept Gems for their flaws! Greeeeeeat! BUT THEY'RE STILL FUCKING ALIEN CONQUERORS! They're still DANGEROUS! Oh, so Steven doesn't care if they conquer other planets, so long as they leave Earth alone? Scratch that, do they even NEED to conquer other planets? Did they even to begin with?! The entire backstory was complete, total bullshit!

I seriously cannot BELIEVE they went that route with the Diamonds, from the "controlling mother" plotline to the predictable "perfection isn't everything" plotline!

Story pacing and Theme

Steven Universe takes a while before it provides us some form of deeper story, and most of the episodes feature an adventure or a crazy antic Steven gets involved in. However, almost each episode introduces a notable or important fact, either something minor like the Gems’ lifespans or something major like Amethyst’s backstory. SU introduces its grander story in a careful, one-step-at-a-time sort of fashion, but come the Season 1 finale, the step is so sudden and dramatic, it will keep you enthralled.

 

Then Season 2 becomes a bit more story-heavy, though we still make time for fun adventures. There was an arc where Peridot was helping the Crystal Gems… I think this was when the writers start to write too quickly. The arc mainly focused on Peridot adjusting to life on Earth, and the Gems trying to teach her Earth’s peaceful ideals. Given Peridot’s loyalty to her Homeworld, she was having a hard time understanding, and they were pacing this conflict well. …So I find Peridot’s ultimate decision to talk back to Yellow Diamond hard to believe. I think she reached that decision too quickly, especially given the previous episode where she thought destroying the Earth was a good thing. In fact, not long after, Lapis Lazuli also becomes a member of the Crystal Gems with little debate. I feel like Peridot and Lapis are only in the Crystal Gems because the fans wanted them to join, but even if the writers planned to do so, I don't feel like we got enough reason for them to do so, so it just doesn't feel satisfying. (Heck, Lapis's supposed backstory was kind of slapped on like it was nothing.)


This brings me to one of my biggest issues with the series: a lack of danger or suspense. At least in the newer episodes. I remember earlier on when we learned the Crystal Gems are apparently rebels to their corrupt Gem Homeworld, and now it seemed like more Homeworld Gems (like Jasper or Peridot) were going to start attacking... but the danger has been seriously deteriorating since then. For one thing, with Peridot and Lapis happy with their new lives as Earth farmers, and almost any Homeworld Gem we encounter turning good (i.e. the Amethysts in that Human Zoo), is there really anything to worry about? Granted, there are some serious battles, like with Jasper or Bismuth, but there's never been anything that truly gave the heroes trouble.


And going back to what I said about Garnet and Lapis's backstories, the show began to SERIOUSLY disappoint in terms of its conflict resolutions! It builds up hype or intrigue for something, only to provide an unfulfilling resolution. The Malachite battle was sudden and ended quickly, Peridot quickly abandons her Homeworld virtues with almost no contemplation, and then there's everything with Lapis. And like I said, the Diamonds were a fucking waste of potential.
 

And worst of all, the morals of this show were utter hypocrisy! "You can't expect everything to be perfect, nothing is perfect!" So says the FLAWLESS protagonist who lives a glamorous life! "Everyone should be accepted for who they are!" Then why do you constantly bash negative characters like Jasper, Lars, or Kevin?! Because they have a more "negative" way of going about things, they need to be treated like trash, meaning you're not accepting them at all! No, you only meant that message for the lesbians--and only the FEMALE lesbians, no MALE gay characters!

Misleading titles:

One of Steven Universe's most annoying issues is its misleading titles. Several episodes have received titles that make them SOUND important (i.e. "Hit the Diamond" sounds like a Diamond will appear), when they are ultimately a pointless filler episode that may or may not add anything relevant to the plot. It wasn't so annoying at first, but as more recent episodes started doing it, it became worse, because in reality, all these episodes are are fucking ratings traps! "Last One Out of Beach City" - ooo, I bet the Homeworld's gonna attack, there's gonna be an evacuation! No, it's just Pearl, Steven, and Amethyst driving to a fucking concert, along with MORE homosexuality fanservice. Another bad episode was "Gem Harvest", which aired after a short hiatus and was supposedly a half-hour special. It makes you think it's gonna relate to something Peridot mentioned in an earlier episode, but no, it's just a family dinner with Steven's random visiting uncle... Seriously, the only point of those titles is to attract more viewers, fooling them into thinking it's gonna be epic or story-relevant, only to shoot down our hype like a gun through the heart. Heck, the episodes themselves aren't even that great, we learn a couple interesting things, but not enough to keep us engaged.

To further this issue, Steven Universe has way more filler episodes than actual plot or story development. Certain arcs like "Jail Break" or the "Human Zoo" will keep you engaged, but in-between those GREAT episodes are a bunch of happy, casual, "Steven is helpful" fillers that do nothing but kill the hype! With other series, fillers are meant to cool down from the action before they throw you into even more action, not the other way around. I think even the fans will agree that they don't care about the human characters as opposed to the Gems; no one cares about the feud between the Restaurant Families, or Onion's Gang, or Smiley's conflict with Frowny or whatever. The writers have made it clear there is a bigger story with the Diamonds and whatnot, so that's ALL people will wanna hear about, not these pointless side adventures!

  

Animation and graphics:

At first glance, it appears like your average children’s cartoon, however Steven Universe takes place in a very beautiful, atmospheric, and ethereal form of what is apparently Planet Earth. One could almost place their selves in SU’s locations and feel the very atmosphere. The graphics in Season 2 are a great improvement over Season 1, with one of my pieces of evidence being the blue sky.

 

The creators of the show draw inspiration from many sources, such as anime, videogames, or even other cartoons. Their form of storytelling is comparable to that of several anime, and in some episodes, and they use classic anime double-sided screens. (Connie’s outfit in “Sworn to the Sword” is even similar to a certain DBZ character’s outfit.) Fans of the N64 or Gamecube will recognize those consoles in Steven’s room, not to mention dolls of Sonic or other characters. I found Peridot to be similar to Jenny Wakeman from the cartoon, Life as a Teenage Robot (keyword: “Cluster”), and like I said before, some characters bare Adventure Time-like appearances.

 

 

Music

I don't really care for the music. It's not really terrible, but there's no variety. A lot of it is way too gentle and one-sided, which perfectly reflects the show's tone.

 

Verdict

While Steven Universe had a good start that kept me engaged, everything started to fall apart after Peridot's reform. All the conflicts that are set up get resolved in an unfulfilling manner, the overarching conflict with the War between Earth and Homeworld gets scrapped, and overall, the show is sexist, predictable, and has blatant hypocrisy in its morals.

You guys might say I'm being too critical, this being a kids' show, but considering the hype and praise this series gets, especially when I've watched shows that deserved MORE hype, then Steven Universe needs to earn it, but with careful analyzing, it's not that amazing. Another reason I'm so critical is because I think the show has potential. I mean, there is clearly a story in this show, and it can be a great story, but it seems to limit itself too much.

 

PROS

• Beautiful graphics
• Beautiful music
• Good story and worldbuilding

 

CONS

• Series gets kind of predictable, as it seems like the writers tend to do what the fans want them to
  
  Ruby/Sapphire's relationship isn't developed
  
• 
  
• Not enough important male characters
  
  The main character isn't very relatable or inspiring
• Hypocrisy in the morals
  
  Misleading titles
  
  Backstories are disappointing and side-plot conclusions are disappointing
  
  Too many fillers, not enough plot development
  

 

Rating: 7.5