Steven Universe Season 1

(SPOILER WARNING!!)

Along with being an advocate of Tokusatsu, I am also becoming more interested in modern cartoons. Stuff like Avatar and Gravity Falls are obvious examples, but one that has recently grabbed my attention was Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar and aired on Cartoon Network. Rebecca is still in the spotlight for her writing talents, as she is also working on the equally popular Adventure Time (which, for the record, I have not watched yet).

The general story focuses on... well, Steven Universe, a little teenager who has a love for live and always wants to see the best in other people. However, his life is anything but ordinary, as he is half-human and half-Gem. What is a Gem, you may ask? Well, the Gems are a race of "polymorphic sentient rocks" (the shows words, not mine), creating humanoid bodies in order to get around. Steven lives with the Crystal Gems, a small rebellion who faced off against the Gems of Homeworld over 6000 years ago. The three rebels that Steven lives with are Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl (though Amethyst came around a while after the Gem War was already over). They fight to protect the Earth from any threat in memory of their leader and Steven's mother, Rose Quartz, who also gave up her physical form in order to give birth to Steven. However, as the series progresses and Steven starts gaining control of his powers, we start to see that not everything is not as black and white as one would believe.

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into this show initially, primarily for two reasons:

1. Most, if not every, episode runs an average of about 11-12 minutes long, so some stuff might feel a bit rushed early on and there may be instances where someone watching will have to pay attention to as many details as possible. Granted, a lot of the episodes focus is on Steven and his interactions with the Gems and other people of the town, Beach City. However, this does kind of lead into:

2. Most of Season 1's episodes are virtually filler. When I say most, I mean roughly 35 episodes of a season that lasts for 52 episodes. Granted, many of them are focused on Stevens interactions with people and discovering newer abilities (such as summoning a shield or literal healing spit). And newer characters introduced through some of these episodes do come back to play a bigger role, namely Connie Maheswaran, an initially shy bookworm who later becomes a valued member of the Crystal Gems and Steven's best friend/potential love interest.

However, there are some episodes that they play up as important, but are still ultimately filler, such as "So Many Birthdays". The only major detail revealed in this episode is that while Gems are immortal, they can still feel pain and die. Otherwise, this episode adds nothing else to the grand scheme of things, instead just being a bizarre story of Steven rapidly ageing then turning back to normal... that's about it. Or even "Together Breakfast", where the focus is just on Steven trying to get the Gems to try out a new breakfast he made... that's about it.

But when the show starts to pick up, it REALLY picks up, with episodes like "Giant Woman", which reveals that Gems have an ability called "Fusion", where two more Gems can combine their individual essences into a singular being. This made for great lore expansion as we get the idea that back on Homeworld, this is kind of a taboo thing. Not Fusion itself, but when two different Gems fuse, which also ties back to Garnet's character (I'll discuss this later). This also leads to a lot of great characters created from Fusion, such as Opal from Amethyst and Pearl, Sardonyx from Pearl and Garnet, or Sugilite from Garnet and Amethyst.

Other episodes, such as "Marble Madness" and "Mirror Gem" also gives a massive clue to other storylines that were yet to come, the former allowing us to see updated Homeworld tech and the latter allowing us to meet a future main cast member, Lapis Lazuli, a Gem who was stuck in a Gem mirror for 5000 years and was kept prisoner by the Crystal Gems, though they were apparently unaware that Lapis was even in there. "Marble Madness" also introduces us to Peridot, another future main character who gets a surprising story arc in the next season, but we'll climb that rock when it comes.

As for the main characters we have right now, they are really entertaining while also having a lot of layers to them. For instance, it's revealed in the episode "Rose's Scabbard" that Pearl has been by Rose Quartz's side since before the war, falling in love with her, making it devastating for her when Rose fell in love with a human, Greg, and gave up her physical form to have a child with him. Pearl lost her chance at happiness with the woman she loved, and constantly reminds herself of that whenever she looks at Steven. She feels horrible whenever she treats Steven as if he's Rose, but can't help herself as that is in her nature, not helped that she is also overly protective of Steven because she doesn't want to lose someone she loves again.

But it's not just Pearl; Amethyst has a surprisingly tragic backstory as well. For most of the show, she acts as kind of the generic trouble maker, cracking jokes at every opportunity and generally getting on Pearl's nerves. But all of that, as revealed in "On The Run", is just a facade, a mask that Amethyst wears to hide how she feels.  I said earlier that Amethyst came long after the war was over, but it's more than that. Amethyst was created in what the Gems call a "Kindergarten", a place where Gems are mass-produced for Homeworld's goal of planetary conquest. However, Amethyst stayed in the ground for too long and came out overcooked, not only being weaker than most Amethyst's, but also being shorter. This formed a MASSIVE inferiority complex for her, as she hates seeing herself as weak. She wants to be strong and wise like Garnet, or elegant and sophisticated like Pearl, but she's just blinding herself under the delusion that she has to be like other people in order to be appreciated.

Now on to Garnet, who is hands down my favourite character. She is basically the de facto leader after Rose left the Gems, having to be strong for the others and be by their side through the various missions they go on. She also seems to be the most like a mother towards Steven, never being too stern or too uncaring, just balancing out both enough to remind Steven that she does care, but her stoic nature just makes it hard for her to be personally approachable. However, it's more than just her being a great role model for Steven, she is also quite a savage badass in battle, using her own ability of "Future Vision" to help her arrive to the best possible outcome for the scenario.

Now, remember when I said that Fusion ties to Garnet's character? Well, here's why; SPOILERS!!!

Garnet, as revealed in the season finale "Jailbreak", is a Fusion herself, of the Gems named Ruby and Sapphire (insert your own Pokemon jokes here). It's revealed quickly in the episode that the two are in love with each other and prefer to remain as a "Permafusion", as their love for each other keeps them together as Garnet for a long time. But it's not just Garnet being one half Ruby and one half Sapphire; it's more of the best aspects of both Gems coming together to form a basis for Garnet's personality. This is made all the more ironic when viewers remember that Ruby and Sapphire are complete opposites to each other. Ruby, as later expanded upon in future episodes, is hot-headed, protective of people she loves and can be lost when she doesn't have someone to guide her. In comparison, Sapphire can come of as stoic, closed off and subtly confidant that she is always right with her Future Vision. But either in spite of or because of that, the two of them are uncontrollably adorable together, whether fused or separated.

And now, for the main star himself; Steven Universe. He is sweet, compassionate and always has an optimistic point of view in the most dire of situations. But even he is flawed. He can be unbelievably naive, sometimes he can be a bit overbearing with how he always wants to be on a mission with the Gems. But as the show progresses, we see what makes Steven such an endearing character. Throughout the series, we see him learning more about his heritage as a Gem and what he is capable of. His first fusion, for instance, is not with any of the Gems; it's with Connie, creating the endlessly entertaining Stevonnie. This is not only a great experience for them both, but it also brings to mind stuff like puberty or personal connections, which are themes that are dealt with in a surprisingly mature way. And I don't mean "raunchy for the sake of a bad joke" mature, I mean "dealt with in an intelligent but understandable manner" mature. Steven is a great character not because he's a super badass, but because he's still written and developed as a normal human boy who happens to have extraordinary abilities.

Now, of course, not every character in this series is as great as others. For instance, I really did not like the character of Lars, a boy who works at the local doughnut store. Lars is an egocentric jackass who keeps on trying to act like a cool kid when really he's just a poser looking for attention. I already don't like this kind of character archetype, so it just grates on my nerves whenever I have to watch an episode where he is part of the major focus. But even if I don't like Lars, he is a saint in comparison to easily the worst character on the show; Ronaldo Fryman. Ronaldo is a self-righteous, sanctimonious, egocentric, condescending asshole who only cares about his blog and is willing to put ANYONE in danger if it means giving him even an ounce of attention. He's a conspiracy nut and an utter insult to nerds and Bloggers everywhere. He's the focus of easily the worst episodes of the show and a large part why I hate those episodes is because of him. Trust me, I have a larger rant planned for when I get to Seasons 2 and 4.

Otherwise, there are plenty of human characters I really enjoy. Of course, Connie is an obvious one, but I also grew to appreciate Greg, Steven's father. He's a former amateur rock star who washed out and stayed in Beach City after meeting Rose and the Gems. Now, after his rock days are over, he mainly spends his time living in his van and owning a car wash. From that description, one would automatically think that he's the generic lazy dad who hardly ever acknowledges his son's existence.

And if you thought that, then congratulations, because YOU'RE WRONG!!

Greg Universe has to be one of the best dads in the history of animation. He listens to what his son has to say, takes him seriously and will give out any advice that he thinks can help Steven's growth. But he also shows that he loves Steven on the simple fact that, outside of his van and car wash, Steven is the only thing he has left that reminds him or Rose. He doesn't try to treat Steven as if he is Rose, but is willing to always be there for his son whenever he needs him. He even proofs himself useful on several occasions, such as helping the Gems decipher a message that Lapis is trying to sent to Steven from Homeworld, or later on on the series when Steven has questions about Rose. He may a flawed human being, but that's what also makes Greg such a likeable character.

Steven Universe is a show filled with interesting and colourful characters, beautiful animation, great mythos, wonderful musical numbers and a mature mindset when talking about issues that need to be talked about in a serious manner. It's not perfect, especially with how rocky the show starts off, but over time it grows on the viewers and is very charming. I almost don't want the show to end, especially now that, as of writing this, we are in the show's fifth season. Let's hope that show keeps going for as long as it can.

Overall rating: 9/10 (Awesome).

Until next time, this is Callum Lewis, the Media Man, signing off!