The Point of Steven Universe || Season 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- Steven Universe and its creator Rebecca Sugar have weathered many critics and reviews over the years. I covered many of the most major critique like Lily Orchard's infamous video Steven Universe is Garbage and Here's Why. Now finally here is my analysis of Steven Universe Season 1, a methodical and episode per episode analysis. Please support my work if you want me to work faster at getting the future season's videos out. Likes and comments are always appreciated.
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Time Stamps:
00:00:00 Context
00:01:01 Beginnings
00:17:17 Ep11-20
00:41:13 Ep21-30
01:04:18 Ep31-40
01:43:56 Ep41-50
02:22:08 Ep51-52
02:26:09 Condensed Analysis
02:36:34 Outro - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
This took so long to do, I hope you all enjoy! Support the video however you can, and become a channel member for access to exclusive videos & streams- or support me
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Thank you everyone who keeps me going!
Thank you so much for making these videos.
I know it must have been really difficult to sit through those "reviews", but. Thank you so much.
I thought for the longest time I was being dumb for loving this show while growing up.
Why do they call it oven when you of in the cold food of out hot eat the food
thanks for putting the effort into this, was really enjoyable to watch
This is Amazing!! You deserve way more views!!
As someone who *did* get to experience Steven Universe proper when it first came out, but never got to see all the episodes because of his Spectrum TV subscription getting cancelled by the time season 5 was getting started, I actually forgot that season 1 ends with Steven getting back his right to watch TV. Like, we had a 3-part episode to cap off the main plot of the season and Rebecca Sugar and Ian James-Quarterly gave us 2 normal episodes end the season proper. Like, I have to wonder if that was Rebecca Sugar and Ian James-Quartey's idea a Warner Bros.' mandate to maintain the episode count, because either way it's one of the funniest decisions in a TV show I've ever seen.
Here's my theory on the reason why at first, Pearl felt uncomfortable about Stevonnie.
Back in the day, she gloated to Greg that fusion was something that (to HER) only Gems were capable of; no matter how close Rose and Greg were at that time. But here we have Steven, a half-human/half-gem hybrid, achieving the impossible by fusing with Connie. That, to her felt like a huge slap to the face on her core beliefs as well as a blow towards her initial thoughts on what Steven was capable of
I hadn't considered that before but it's a great point. I'm happy to see people discussing the show years after it ended. It still feels fresh in my mind somehow.
I hadn't 100% understood that beyond "remaining homeworld prejudice"
It also really adds to the queer interpretation of those episodes since much like fusion for gems womenhood is something a lot of transphobes try to limit it to only cis women while calling trans women inappropriate
ooooooooooooooooooo this is cannon to me now
It also serves as further proof that Rose and Greg's love was indeed valid and natural. Pearl attempted to invalidate their relationship by dangling fusion over Greg's head and in the way so far still thought it to be a half-valid argument as we know that Pearl often grasps at straws when her beliefs are challenged. So not only did Garnet say "Yes, they did fuse" back when they saw Greg attempting to do so with Rose, but NOW Steven blatantly shattered the last of her argument by physically performing the feet.
Pearl is forced to confront the fact that Greg and Rose's feelings toward each other were, in fact, just as strong if not stronger than Pearl's feelings about Rose, so no wonder it hurts like hell even if she doesn't consciously realise the reason.
Funny how I rewatched that scene many times over the years and only just now do I pick up on this.
That is how I have always interpreted her reaction too.
"A lot of this criticism just stink of right wing co-opting of progressive language without understanding context and sentiment in order to have a 'gocha' moment."
This is basically why I tend to dislike a lot of reviews on shows with political messaging or have strong female leads. It always comes across as purely reactionary and people twisting progressive ideas and concepts into a strawman or a excuse to preserve the status quo.
It's a big issue even from some creators that feign left wing aesthetics
@@HidinginPrivatethat's probably why i rarely watch reviews on recent media, they're always felt..odd with their arguments when it's about social commentary, which it only attracts bigots
Yes, exactly this!
Is like they heard "the left really doesn't want you to mess with kids" so suddenly is open season to accuse the creators of having some sort of p3dophilic agenda indiscriminately and overanalyze every detail as this confirming it and smugly folding their arms to also claim "wow, and you say Rebecca Sugar is nonbinary?? Doesn't that make the LGBTQ community look really bad???". They heard "The left wants you to respect women" and since all the characters are fem adjacent then they'll cherry pick any flaw on their characters as the creators being also secret misogynist and point out oh, how ironic it is from a "progressive" show full of so called "queer" people to portray women as anything else but perfect flawless beings (when we know that if they were portrayed as perfect they would also take issue with it and call all of them unrealistic Mary Sues or something...) In a weird attempt to go "We're not so different, you and I..." But with politics.
Is like they take any concept that's simple and easy to understand and twist it to their most shallow literal and rigid interpretation and run with it blaming the creators for not sticking to their own fun house type interpretation of what they (in their bigoted eyes) understand of the word "progressive"...
They often try to find flaws so they can say "Ha! This progressive media is actually racist/bigoted" so they can "beat them at their own game" and act like they have the moral superiority when they don't actually care about what they claim to defend.
Could you give a timestamp to when they say this?
One thing often forgotten is that in Lion: 3, that is chronologically the most recent version of Rose we meet. We see her further and further into the past each time. Less developed and more immature. Rose did a lot of bad things but people often ignore her character growth since we learn about her in reverse order.
Dang, I never even thought of that.
That was one of the most interesting parts of her character: Seeing the reverse development. Unfortunately, most people (and I sometimes feel even the writers) didn't have that kind of object permanence back when season 5 and Future came out. So Rose became the ultimate evil while the other diamonds got away with a gentle scolding.
@@frauleinzuckerguss1906 i feel like the only reason the other diamonds get away with a gentle scolding, at least from everyone except Steven, is because they are literally like gods and can't really be punished in any real way.
@@singingice Yeah, that's exactly it. And it makes me sad that people dont realise it. The CG dont trust the diamonds, Steven is still actively avoiding them and uncomfortable. They're not friends, Steven is 'blood' related to them at best. However, they're space dictators far more powerful than Steven and the CG. So if they stop their reign willingly, you go along with it. The only reason steven has any power in this situation is the familial issues.
@@singingice yeah like, they have literally tried fighting the diamonds before, and the most they were able to do was move blue diamond like, 2 feet away
I'm so glad you're keeping up the steven universe anti-slander
It's fun
The Steven Universe libel lawsuit
@@HidinginPrivateit’s fun to watch!
@@HidinginPrivate fun *and* cathartic!
Yeah. I'm glad the show takes some time to heal regardless of what those online "critics" said otherwise.
17:41 I've never heard an explanation for why Garnet was so enthralled by the game, but it's very interesting to hear it being linked to her future sight abilities. Sapphire best must be the best Osu player I just know.
She would def be the best OSU player, but without Ruby's personality she probably wouldn't find natural interest. They bring out the best in each9ther
It's really funny to think that in future Steven was really careful over what games to introduce to garnet/sapphire/ruby because if they hyperfixated too much no one would see them for weeks
Thank god we have garnet, ruby would spend all their money on gatcha games
Au where Garnet becomes the best Osu player of all time to fill all the free time she has after Steven moved out
That's what I assumed from the get go
Especially with her third eye the way ut was showed while she was playing
Steven Universe reviews where the person actually analyzes it >>>>
And yet it may be taken down for reasons
I get that some viewers didn't like Steven because he was an accurate representation of a child and just don't want to admit that maybe they were just as cringey as him when they were kids. And as someone who felt neglected by my parents, I can say that it does effect emotional growth.
Also, the thing is, Steven develops throughout the whole series. He grows more mature while still retaining his positivity and empathy. He isn't just that sorta cringe kid the whole time.
I personally can only interpret "Space Race" as Pearl having a full blown manic episode. As a Pearl there's probably some instinctual urge to go home that, for that moment, overtook all sense and reason.
I think that makes sense as an interpretation, if that was the intent though I wish they would have made it more clear.
@@HidinginPrivate I honestly always interpreted it as homesickness over all else. I honestly adore Space Race because it's one of the first episodes that gets into the side of pearl that isn't her being obsessed with rose specifically, and more her desperate longing for the life she left behind in general. She left everything behind to be on earth with rose, but rose left her behind. Now she was stuck, she could never go back, not even to reminisce on old times. A lot of her memories of rose/pink were made on homeworld/in space, and she missed not only rose but the past in general and homeworld was a reminder of that past she longed for.
In Space Race, her whole bit is that the minute space travel gets brought up, it doesn't even have to be to homeworld, she just misses space and wants to share her passion with someone. She says that she'll "fly steven out to the nearest solar system" but she never actually intended on going to homeworld. She just despirately wanted a taste of somewhere other than earth, and got hyperfixated on the idea of space travel when she realized she could actually accomplish such a feat, and despirately wanted to share her past and experiences with steven. Idk, I never found this episode out of character, I even think it's one of my favorites of the whole season. And maybe that's just cause I'm the kind of person who easily gets swept up in my own little world/in my excitement in a similar sort of way. She wasn't willfully ignoring greg or trying to be petty, really, she was just so fixated on the thought of showing steven space that she couldn't think of anything else or the thought that perhaps this wouldn't work out perfectly like she thought it would. And the ending of the episode with steven talking pearl down from this somewhat hyped up delusion always gets me in the feels, and then the two of them floating back down to earth with pearl settling back into the reality of the situation and remembering what she *does* have on earth with steven and the gems; what she has in the present day. It's a step towards her eventually coming to terms with the past and looking away from it as she starts to live for the here and now.
it's honestly quite a beautiful episode, and I wanted to shed some light on that.
(sorry for the long comment from the aspiring video essayist; I respect the hell out of what you're doing w/ these vids 👍)
Looking back, I feel like Pearl only really became "free" the moment she stopped seeing Steven as Rose, up until then she was still serving her purpose and acting the part of a free gem.
It might have been mostly subconscious and not Rose's intention, but she still never got to think completely for herself until after Rose died, so in a sense she's had less time to develop than Amethyst.
Add in to that all the complicated feelings of abandonment and loss, and its no wonder she had an episode.
@@SophieSquid thats a wonderful comment, thanks for sharing your perspective, it really makes me appreciate more the show, the character and the episode, very well written and very well thought out 🥰👏
“I never asked to be made” said by Amethyst broke me when I heard it for the first time and still makes me tear up to this day. Pearl fumbling when trying to tell her that she never saw the kindergarten as her helped to repair Amethysts relationship with Pearl and Steven caused that to happen when saying, “You need to talk to her”. Unfortunately, just another instance of Steven fixing other people’s problems which is talked about more in future.
That part always gets me too. Being a bastard in a heavily Christian family has made me share the sentiment over the years.
10:57 Peedee should've had more focus than Ronaldo, the fans hated Ronaldo, but Peedee was likable and by telling more stories about how Peedee wants a responsible older brother to take the load off of him would've been a wonderful arc for both characters where they learn to act their age.
I agree. Peedee is high-key chill
I also agree! Peedee didn't hardly get any screen time which was a shame. Ronaldo had a *sliver* of a chance in Horror Club with his complicated relationship with Lars. Too bad that was the first and last time we saw of it! After that he just became the strawman character and the joke character,I think he had potential.But they went about dealing with him in all the wrong ways. Like he could've started off as the know-it-all- conspiracy theorist that has a poor social life, sort of lacking empathy and learned to be better. Like Lars and Sadie, but nope.
Yeah when I watched this show as a kid I liked peedee, hes a great character and when I re-watched it it was a damn shame he didn't do much
Hes a pretty cool analogy for rose but I still wish he did more 😭
Yeah I wish they showed more of peedee
@@cyruscrompton8221 wait how is Peedee an analogy for Rose???
It’s SO refreshing to hear positive Steven Universe discussion after years of the same regurgitated, unnecessarily hateful “criticism.” I’ve grown up with the show and wanted to talk to other fans about it since no one I knew personally watched it only to see just how hated it was by a large chunk of the internet. Doesn’t hurt that your videos are really well made too. Great job!
I'm the exact opposite. I refused to watch the show when I was a kid since I assumed based on the animation style that it would be this annoying and childish show with no appeal for anyone who isn't really little and I only watched it this year for the first time. I'm a huge fan now and I'd love to talk about it. The thing that stood out the most about the show is that for something that has this much of a cutesy animation style, it has some really dark and disturbing themes that do not seem childish at all if you really think about them
Me too, the show was probably the main reason i got into art and animation, so seeing so many videos just dunking on it really hurt where it stings :(
@@thevarietychannelofyoutube4769What you described isn't being the "exact opposite"
We should all start a Steven Universe discussion group (I just finished the show and I’m obsessed)
@@lucidmoth1023 Yeah, I felt the same way when I finished the show last year. I refused to watch it as a kid because the art style made me think I would hate it if I watched it but I watched it for the first time and loved it.
For episode 12 I definitely feel that opal also combines their most identifiable aspects. Pearl's perfectionism, Amethyst's carefree attitude. It creates someone who is zen. Someone that is precise and calculated while also appearing carefree, lassez-faire, and in a state of zen.
That's a good observation. I agree
Good observation
I said this before, but I will say it again!! YOU ARE HEALING A GENERATION THAT HAD TO WITNESS STEVEN UNIVERSE SLANDER AND I THANK YOU FOR IT!! I needed the positivity 😭
It needs the slander ngl
@@thomaskramer3470 Nothing deserves to be lied about.
@@thomaskramer3470 it got and it was basically dramatized for YEARS
@@thomaskramer3470 It got more than enough slander already, it's about time the show got more praise.
@@thomaskramer3470 it got slandered so bad that people just started lying about it, its flawed but its not what people have been saying it is
Hey guys so hear me out, I think the really egregious thing about Steven Universe is that pearl is blatantly bird coded, and in a way that is demeaning to the bird population due to the portrayal of her mental health (not ALL birds are high strung and hyperorganised) and her attachment to Rose long after her death (many bird species do NOT mate for life).
And see, the worst part is, Rebecca Sugar themself is the definitive reason for this. I know this because I can tell, they are secretly a birds aren't real activist, and this is blatant propaganda. I personally won't stand for it, but please reply (maybe leave multiple replies) if you disagree or have more to add to my points.
As a bird community advocate, thank you for finally bringing awareness to this issue.
This comment is incredible!
Garnet's "There are so many things that could hurt you in this world. I shouldn't have let one of them be me" line. Made me tear up a little
Yeah, tbh I never really get why people ever get so upset by Stevonnie being portrayed as beautiful. People can actually just be beautiful and confident, and others don't have to be weird and creepy about it. 💀 That's literally one of the lessons the show tries to tell via Kevin. And I think being upset about that causes one to overlook the radicalness of a character like Stevonnie (nonbinary, androgynous, intersex) being so casually portrayed as beautiful. Especially because, besides being thin and slightly curvy, a lot of their features are things society often shames and portrays as not traditionally beautiful. Stevonnie typically leans slightly more feminine-presenting, yet their body shape and their face overall are very much androgynous, maybe even more masculine-appearing at times, and this never detracts from them being portrayed as beautiful. Viewed within a feminine gender norm, they may be considered "too" tall, their chest small, and their face and mannerisms boyish. Viewed within a masculine gender norm, their hips may be considered "too large", their hair "too long", their face and mannerisms feminine, and their chest "too" big. How often do we see a character that just casually has the traits that Stevonnie has and is presented in a good light, let alone as plainly beautiful? (and not as "strangely", "unusually", or "unnaturally" beautiful)?
For me personally, as a nonbinary transfem teenager (back when the show was first airing, I'm an adult now), it was really liberating to see a character that presents pretty much as my ideal (in terms of masculinity/femininity/androgyny, and with a body shape and androgyny fairly similar to what I could expect after going on HRT) be so casually and neutrally treated as beautiful. And when they grow facial hair on the Jungle Moon, the show doesn't act like it's some bizarre, shocking, and ugly thing that detracts from them as a character or in appearance. It literally just happens, with no fanfare, and it doesn't even make them look much different let alone "uglier". It's around for a bit, and they shave it, and that's just that. Still just normal Stevonnie. They just make me feel so seen tbh. For a while they were gender envy, but nowadays they're just kinda... like me. And it makes all the other relatable story beats involving them feel that much more so, since I can see myself physically reflected in them more than I can with most characters. It's been 8 years since Alone Together debuted, and I can probably count on one hand how many characters I relate to in this way, with maybe just one or two also being nonbinary.
I do think it's kind of weird that when Steven isn't fused, he's the only navel gem who can have his gem covered up by his outfit despite the flashback with him as a baby implying that its really uncomfortable to cover up your gem but when he is fused, that's no longer the case. The way gem outfits work is really weird and confusing
I always figured the Garnets Universe episode was kind of a sudal foreshadowing nod to her being a fusion. Her 2 secret friends that are with her when she's alone on missions that Steven isn't ready to know about yet. There isn't much else in that episode and it might be a stretch, but I feel like you could count that as foreshadowing
It's 100% foreshadowing, not only for Garnet's fusion, but arguably for the death and ressurection of Lars.
It also gives the audience information in relation to the pink dimond/Rose mystery.
One thing I also like about episode 14 is it's the first time Steven actually stands up for himself. It's a nice lesson on not allowing people to be cruel to you or try to use your different life circumstances as a means of degradation or othering. The line of "I didn't even know my mom" always hits so hard especially later in the series when we find out how little anyone actually knew Rose.
It almost feels unreal every time you post a video. I genuinely thought this type of media literacy was long forgotten online. PLEASE keep making these types of videos!!!
I'll try my best!
Lars got SO MUCH HATE back in the day it was crazy. He used to be more hated than RONALDO. Personally, he was one of my favorite characters and I got to have the mother of all 'I told you so' moments when he got zombied and suddenly everyone liked him. early Lars was one of the most realistic depictions of the cringey, hyper-aware, self-conscious aspects of being a teen, which as a cringey, hyper-aware, self-conscious teen at the time the show was airing was something I related to. Also he just acts as a really good foil to Steven who otherwise doesn't really HAVE a dedicated foil (someone you're specifically meant to compare the MC's traits/behavior to) aside from Peedee who just... stopped showing up.
1:57:30 A detail I noticed on my latest watch through of this episode, is that at this moment Steven is begging Pearl to tell him what's wrong and what's going on, and once you have the knowledge of how Pink sealed her into silence you can tell that she's actively trying to answer him
Why must you make me cry
Not a fan of the 7th episode of the 4th season of Steven Universe "Onion Gang" sorry to be a hater
Same unfortunately...
Onion Gang was squad goals imo 💯
It's so wholesome and fun tho
I’ve heard an interesting defense of it in the past, but I unfortunately don’t remember anything about said defense.
That’s okay! Not many people do. Personally it’s one of my favorite episodes! But that’s because I’m someone who enjoys filler and looking into the lives of the characters, but I know not everyone is like that and onion gang unfortunately gets a lot of hate because it’s filler, and that’s perfectly okay! Not every episode is gonna be liked and that’s okay too. My least favorite episode is the uncle grandpa one- but I think everyone hates that episode especially because they put important plot details in it near the end :/
it is really nice to see someone debunking the slander on steven universe, i have never seen a show receive so much hate for being a tv show
Okay so not to get super dark but as an SA victim it has always pissed me off how people complain about Stevonnie's first episode. Because the episode perfectly captured how it feels to be objectified. It's the perfect example of "art should comfort the disturbed and disturb of the comforted."
1:46 Centipeedle is the most underrated gem, tragic soldier 😢 💔
It would have been cool to get more background into these sort of foot soldier like gems
One thing that I reacently noticed about the episode Beach Party is that the Pizzas are likely meant to be a depiction of a "fresh off the boat" immigrant family. While Jenny and Kiki speak in typical American-sounding accents, Kofi (their father) and Nanefua (their grandmother) both speak with thick Ghanan accents (a country in western Africa), suggesting that they weren't born in the United States.
I think that this adds an additional layer to the episode, as it shows the main characters bonding with a family that is probably more similar to them than they even realize: people who are simply trying to make their way in a place that is foreign to them. The younger family members are more well-adjusted as they've spent most of their lives here (Kiki = Amethyst; often mischievous but still has a heart of gold | Jenny = Steven; kind, helpful, and wants to support the family business), whereas the older family members are frequently left dissatisfied with things that are considered "normal" to everyone else around them (Kofi = Pearl; parental figure, has a tendency to complain but is only looking out for the family | Nanefua = Garnet; matriarch of the family, very level-headed even when things aren't going according to plan).
I'll never understand the level of hate that Steven Universe has gotten over the years. I think the biggest thing that deserves criticism within the show is how Cartoon Network executives treated the show. Opting for Steven Bombs over consistent weekly airings, the Summer of Steven or "Steven Nuke" as some people called it - causing HUGE hiatuses and waning interest from the target audience due to these gaps, changing the times/days that the show airs, and worst of all, cutting it short after Ruby and Sapphire's wedding. They realized their error and greenlit the movie and epilogue series, but the damage to the conclusion of the OG series was already done. Rebecca Sugar recently said that they would love to do a reboot of the series, but we as fans need to make some noise demanding it. All that to say - I'd love to see you make another video like this about the rest of the seasons of this show!
I don't know if it goes against Future or not but I feel like a (HBO) Max sequel would be interesting. I was already feeling that way a bit with the Adventure Time specials and last season of Samurai Jack, but Fiona and Cake really made me hopeful.
I feel like a reboot would be resetting progress, while a sequel would be able to continue to theme of change and show how Steven is adapting to the world around him. Idk just a thought.
I don't think they realized their error. From what I've read in interviews, executives thought a post-series movie would be popular. Then a post movie mini-series. They didn't think about wrapping things up, the terrible release schedule, or anything story related. They just wanted to milk the series while it was popular.
A symbolic point I also like to bring up about Malachite is that the mineral she is named after is literally toxic, due to its high copper content. I feel like that must also have been a deliberate choice.
I think Rebecca sugar said that she found out it was toxic some time after making the character, either way perfect symbolism
@@shadypixel4478 It really is. This show really is so much more clever than many give it credit for.
I don't think I could ever truly express how cathartic this series is. I LOVED this show for so long and I didn't even realize how sad It made me how little people thought about it. Like It's suprising how much I realized that I even knew about how much I loved this show. I kept having moments of "oh, right. That was actually real wasn't it?" Like I hadn't even noticed how much I marked off as being "just something I made up" or "Read to far into" it's nice to see how real this show's good parts were. It's lovely to see that after al this time I wasn't just "young and obsessed" with this show's good. Idk I'm rambling and I've probably written just about the same thing in the other videos but I just wanted to say it. And also do the algorithm ritual dance which commenting is a part of.
I feel the same way. I joined the fandom in season three, and since then my identity has completely changed to be farther and farther from the norm as I discover myself. This show and its message is really important to me, and having the general consensus be that it's only mediocre at best and problematic at worst, really made me question my own judgment. Watching Hiding dismantle every argument against the show and show that no actually, season one is not filler at all - it's been really validating.
57:09 My interpretation was that Pearl is going to show Steven some diamond's colony, since we now know there are places they do not keep great track of. I think more than people, Pearl wanted Steven to connect with their culture, because that's the aspect of Homeworld she seems to miss the most.
I think you're probably right. Thank you for this comment.
Can't wait to see you talking about Uncle Grandpa episode and how it despite being non-canon does the progress for Steven's powers by making shield activate when he wants to, which I heard made a lot of fans pissed off at the time (that or they just hate uncle grandpa)
I was so happy when they ate Pizza Steve. It was symbolic.
Not only that! But the fact Uncle Grandpa hints at Rose being Pink via the throwaway line of Steven's gem cut is crazy awesome! So much foreshadowing in such a funny crossover episode.
@@4zumarill from what i've heard, it was pure coincidence and the writers did not think that much through. uncle grandpa has more knowledge than people writing lines for him.
@@justdenys1421 "Character is accidentally more intelligent/insightful than their writers intended" is not something I ever thought I would attribute with Uncle Grandpa.
Re Space Race: My reading was never that Pearl was going to go to Homeworld. She was only planning on showing him the beauty of the cosmos, and maybe looking at Homeworld from a distance. (The actual time and resources necessary for space flight were a total delusion tho )
But at the core of it, I think it speaks to while the CG are introduced as the all powerful defenders of Earth, they're actually the sad little remnants of a band of refugees on the run from a galactic empire.
To go from traveling the infinite cosmos to being stuck on one little planet for the rest of your very long life must be hard to come to grips with. I think it would engender a lot of complicated feelings towards Earth, both their only fragile safe haven and their prison. For Pearl, Earth used to have Rose, and that was pretty explicitly the entire reason she was here and had done just about anything. But now it doesn't.
I guess what I'm trying to say that while Pearl's actions were delusional and kind of twisted, I think the episode makes sense b/c she was operating entirely on emotions and emotional logic. The fact that she breaks so strongly with her normal behavior patterns is imho the point, its showing how her normal behavior starts to break down in the face of her pain-when Pearl is in pain, at the start of the series, she kins of forgets about the feelings of other people in the room (think "you never even met her!" And like all of rose's scabbard.) She's a pretty damaged person who had very few outlets at the beginning of the show, it's not surprising her instability surfaced like this.
If anyones bothered to read all of this, please lmk what ur opinion is I love pearl and I love su meta and character theory this is bringing back some good memories
I think you're spot on, insofar a Pearl's mindset goes.
Concerning space travel in this series, it's just a mess and makes little to no sense. You can tell the priorities where on emotional resonance of any given plot line and things just kind of moved around that as needed.
Same thing, in fact, with Earth history as the level of disruption possed gems was not really considered fully either.
I have to come to conclusion of why most people dislike this show.
*THE GAY AGENDA*
In all seriousness, I absolutely adore this show and how Rebecca Sugar was able to make something wonderful of her own creation, all the while having people who have these feelings be heard. hell she is even a lot of the reason why Marceline and PB got together from talk of behind the scenes.
actually, you’re genuinely right. it is ALWAYS queer focused shows getting an extreme amount of criticism.
It’s something I’ve noticed and is heavily offputting. Southpark is right there and everyone is okay with it? Yet, TOH, HB, SU are bad because.. queer and dark themes??
I hate that people just shit and criticize anything that have anything remotely queer ,like ppl want good queer stories ,but they do not want it to be queer?? Ppl shit on adventures time final because it has a gay kiss☠️☠️☠️
@@meh4294 at, su, hh, hb, toh.
all perfectly good shows with normal mistakes. yet they get hate trained… wonder why
@@palemeadows don't forget the legend of korra
@@palemeadowsbecause it's shoehorned in there. next!
“I don’t wanna bAaaAaaaAnnnNngG Bmo” idk it kinda got me laughing, not sure if that was intentional but hilarious. - About the video!!!! I love how you went through it all and didn’t try to throw the creators under the bus for messages people have a hard time comprehending. Great video ❤
It was intentional lol
Im only 20 minutes in and I have never wanted to kiss someone more in my entire life. Discussing SU is so… frustrating, because of the lack of understanding people have for the basic plot structure of a cartoon or a character arc or idk, anything in the show? Everything in S1 is laid out for a reason so it boggled my mind that I considered skipping it based on people recommending that I do… Thank you for giving the show an honest and well considered retrospective that isnt periodically backtracked by “oh but the show still isnt perfect” or “oh I know it has its flaws” in attempts to distance yourself from liking it. Highly appreciated.
Agreed! I say embrace the flaws. Flaws are a necessary part of groundbreaking art. I'm a Trekkie, and I think most Trekkies agree that Star Trek is extremely flawed and every series has garbage episodes. Hell, even the most acclaimed show yet of the 21st century, Breaking Bad, has flaws. We don't have to justify liking something with flaws!
Unpopular opinion, season one was the best at delivering it's story
I heavily agree with this. Had some of the best emotional moments here, too! Season 2 doesn't slack off either!! Full Disclosure and We Need To Talk are actually in my Top 3 favorites.
this is an almost surreal level of media literacy, not because it was particularly hard to get at least the surface of these concepts (and at some point people were just purposefully being obtuse-) but you going into such detail and analysis AND good faith a nd so thoroughly that really gets the point accross. i could probably watch you talk about ikea beds if it's this level of precision my dude!!!.
1:09:56 seriously. cause there is s o much groundwork and character being put into just season 1 in a way that doesn't even require major plot happenings, just 'regular' adventures that build things up so seamlessly some people don't even pick it up as anything but filler. It's insane how thouroughly and methodically crafted the story was, introducing many elements in varying, subtle ways and lessons for kiddies. of course when i was a kiddie i enjoyed the action and cute songs, but now that im older it kind of sucks how overglossed by undercooked takes it was, cause when i have the cognition to understand it properly ; it really is an intelligent show, even if just by intent. and it just got into the wrong hands i feel. Iike, the actual worst kind of hands; the hands that praise the 'background character inclusion' of other shows and the balancing 'episodic-narrative' of adventure time or begging for 'nuanced' characters but shatting on pearl or lars without any sort of understanding of their character. it just feels like..very surface level and almost intentional , i dont even know how it got to this point.
"A lot of this criticism just stink of right wing co-opting of progressive language without understanding context and sentiment in order to have a 'gotcha' moment." as a black girl, this felt really cathartic to hear tbh. People used to push a whole 'you shouldnt like it' thing on me, sometimes flat out telling me i have internalized racism, it hurt..and was really discouraging at the time so i just stopped mentioning the show at all to people. Obviously i didnt agree, as i always intepreted sugilite as a mix of garnets strength and cool with amethysts recklessness. or at least ruby and amethyst outnumbering the one sapphire. The l*ly orchard video really summarized everything that felt wrong with these types of arguments, trying to dissect something that could be interpreted in a bad way and amplyfing it to discredit the 'woke' show by saying 'oh look its actually not WoKe get dunked on feminists!' while themselves being incredibly racist and sexist while executing their point, it feels so hollow and gnawing. I feel like it happens more and more nowdays tbh.
the whole stevonnie bit.. didn't even realise all that. the disco ball scene, it hits different. I remember it being a jarring episode for me back then, cause i was a bit terrified sometimes(for reasons that i didnt understand yet) but it also was rlly comforting!. ugh gender-horror needs to be a genre already.
you hit the nail on the head with all the characters! as well as the narrative complains like "we only see stevens pov", basic things like it being a mystery narrative not even coming up in alot of minds. Not that the show doesn't have flaws of course, but i do appreciate you discrediting the criticisms that arise from bad-faith or are just plain wrong and have obvious answers. kind of erasing the moot-points, which unfortunately are inflated as 90% of what people complain about lolol. SUPPORT THIS PERSONS KOFI YALL!
What stood out to me the most about this show is that Rebecca Sugar actually ended up writing the reaction that real world homophobes had to Ruby and Sapphires relationship into the story and basically made Stronger Then You as a diss track against them. That's pretty awesome
And there's people with the audacity of saying the representation is """bad""", like, did we watched the same show?
@@nicoleflores2054Yeah, I've read dozens of TH-cam comments from LGBT people saying that the show helped them realize their identities and helped them feel confident in who they are when they were younger. The representation seemed to resonate with people really well.
@@thevarietychannelofyoutube4769right? SU personally introduced more about the LGBTQIA+ community than i've ever knew before and in such a normalizing way as well
@@nicoleflores2054 Yeah, the show really does a good job at actually being empowering to LGBT people in a meaningful way. Rebecca Sugar got into a lot of conflicts with the people who work at Cartoon Network over it
@@nicoleflores2054I think that's because some people want LGBT stories to be sterilized so they can go to straight people and say look, we're just like you. Instead of showing the nuances of being LGBT that straight people might see as bad.
I think the coding on Pearl as Asian, from her voice actress, to her mannerisms in how her tidiness and strictness manifests, and the actual concept of Pearls being a subservient cut of gem which can be read as a parallel to the submissive Asian women stereotype, and how Pearl's story revolves around evolving past that, is incredibly powerful to me and something that shouldn't be ignored if we were to bring in the topic of racial parallels into the show. It means a lot to me personally that a character like Pearl exists, and to have her overshadowed as "white because she's coloured white" by people is disappointing when they can recognise black coding on characters like Garnet. Great video BTW!
I’ve always thought of her as asian too! Mostly because of her VA but those are all great points
That’s valid, but to mostly list regressive stereotypes as a reason for her coding is kinda…
I just realized that there is a parallel between the fake Connie in an Open Book and the mind controlled Pink Pearl. Both are in white, have a damaged/covered left eye, and are being controlled by a diamond. Do you think this is intentional?
🏐
I was wondering if that part would ever get followed up on. I really need to go rewatch it as I kind of overlooked it at the time.
Thanks for making this series. I decided to watch steven universe after your first video and I loved it. Now I get to hear some actual discussion of the series without all that baggage those critisisms brought in their videos.
Well I'm glad to hear it. I was mainly brought to be interested in defending the show by the sheer disconnect in the show itself and the claims people made about ut
@@HidinginPrivate that was the main thing that sold me on it. Despite never seeing a single episode of the show I had all these preconceptions about it. Preconceptions that originated in part from videos like those ones. I thought it was crazy that I had biases about a show I had never seen, and the best way to fix that was to give it a shot
@@JustAnderw That’s the unfortunate thing about criticism. If it’s inaccurate, it can cause a lot of people to develop a false perception of the show, leading them to miss out on an actually great story filled fun and important life lessons that can stick with you after the show is over.
Maybe this is a minority opinion in the fandom, but given the mystery, charm, gentleness and deeply unsettling+cute atmosphere... S1 SU will always be consistently the peak of the show for me. Other seasons def improved and emphasized on alot of things, but I liked all the stuff they were building on earlier on more than revelations or growth.
That and I also wished they they integrated the human complexity + gem nuisances more, or atleast made more of the beach city citizens play more of a role in the final confrontation towards the end of the show instead of either forgetting about them or giving up completely. But that's just me looking back on things being somewhat invested in Ronaldo's hinted stuff with Lars + his interactions with the corrupted gem in horror club and the show doing absolutely nothing with it later on.
That being said, early SU does have more than a few moments that allowed me to admire the potential directions that show could have took, and while it didn't venture in certain areas I can still appreciate thinking of the possibilities.
I agree with you, season 1 remains one of my favourites of the show due to the wonder and the mystery it still gives me when i wacth. I also (unpopular opinion) really like early steven's personality, how goofy innocent and playful he is, and it makes his growth ten times better
@@simonebressanin2012 I like cute steven too, and I don't think it's an unpopular opinion. I like how he was... underestimated, but still prone to make mistakes.
these videos genuinely bring me so much joy and you’ve actually brought things to my attention that i’ve never noticed before that makes me appreciate and love this show even more ♥︎♥︎♥︎
your thoroughness and thoughtful approach to this series of videos is a breath of fresh air that i needed in my life, so thank you :)) ♥︎
Thanks for the nice words. I'm glad I could bring attention to some of the more subtle details
I just watched Lily's new video on Steven Universe the other day. Been looking for a palate cleanser. Thank you for this
Also, Lily mentioned at the end that she would love to do a podcast with someone who genuinely loved Steven Universe and could defend it. I was thinking you would give the show a great defense. But I also totally understand if you didn't want to be on a podcast with her. Just wanted to put this out there if you were interested because I would *love* to hear a debate between the two of you
Sure thing! She sh*t talked my defense of video without even apparently watching it and she only approves comments that agree with her, as well as spreading that I misgendered her (which anyone can prove for themselves isn't true) so honestly I don't think she would want to talk. If she had someone on who liked the show it would almost certainly be someone who wouldn't challenge her or would be very agreeable to all her bad criticisms.
@@creditsong7369 With everything I know about Lily, I really don’t see a conversation between her and *anyone* trying to defend Steven Universe being civil at all.
@@missminglesYeah, it's a terrible idea. Especially since she implied people who like SU can't defend it coherently. HiP is better off debating a brick wall.
ah yes, lily orchard's "Doubling Down: The Video"
I think the main point of the show was to empower marginalized groups and to speak out against socially conservative ideals. I watched the show for the first time as an adult and I can say that by the end of season 2, this becomes really clear
I'm very happy to see more analysis of Steven Universe by you! Thanks for taking the time to delve into this show and give it the attention it deserves.
It sure has taken a lot of time! Lol but it's been enjoyable and my interaction with SU fans so far has been really pleasant
@@HidinginPrivate There’s another false perception about this show regarding its fanbase specifically. Due to terrible actions made by a small group of people years ago, the entire fandom, made up of millions of people, has been generalized as one of the most toxic fanbases out there, when in actuality most SU fans are really chill and just happy to see more people appreciate a show they love.
@@Mr.DelicateTouchI will have to say I disagree with the sentiment that there aren't toxic fans, since unfortunately there are still some pretty toxic and nasty people in the fanbase. Though it does depend on what platform and which space within the fandom you find yourself in.
I've unfortunately gotten a lot of nasty encounters in mainly the AU side of the fandom, such as death threats, harassment, stalking and seeing others bully each other, lashing out on each other and this all happened in these recent years way after the show had already ended. And these aren't the ones who critique the show, they love the show but harass and quite literally lash out others over the most minor stuff (such as others showing off their OCs or for other people simply drawing Connie and Steven together, I've even gotten lashed out at for not leaving a comment on every single artwork and that's not even a single person but several unconnected people behaving like that).
Of course, this again is dependent on which space in the fandom you happen to find yourself in. I believe the more casual part of the fandom is quite nice actually! It's just sad that I do think the casual part of it did get discouraged by all the SU negativity, so having these recent positive and defence videos of SU helps creating spaces where people who love the show can freely discuss and engage with it. I think the "normal" and casual part of the fandom had just been kind of becoming a bit more inactive which makes sense that the show is over and that people tend to focus on other interest, plus the negativity leading to less open spaces to find the casual fandom.
Interestingly enough, I do find the SU fandom on youtube to be the nicer ones (given that you of course don't go to the critics videos but rather works created by fans who love the show), and I see a lot of creative work done for SU here! Also the fanfiction crowd also seems like a nice place too.
Also for those curious where the negative spaces I've personally experienced the SU fandom on, it's mainly on tumblr and specifically the AU side of it. It's kind of a thing where it seems nice and innocent on surface, but then when getting to know these people and interacting with them, they're surprisingly quite toxic. I guess it can draw parallel to Undertale's AU stuff where it's simply a symptom of being too deep in and that can possibly attract a certain extreme crowd? Unfortunately these experiences were quite harsh for me that it did made me afraid to be in the SU fandom and so much I've even needed therapy for it. And that's just a shame because I do love the show a lot and I do desire to have a space where I can talk about the show without having to feel that discomfort, because of having plenty even recent encounters with toxic fans who do love the show but are mean to each other.
Sorry for the wall of text here. I just kind of wanted to share my experiences and maybe even heed or inform others that there are some pretty bad spaces in the fandom. I do hope that these videos that talk about the show in a positive light and try to heal the wounds the fandom has can make space for the more casual/relaxed side of the fandom too!
@@Bananabread-and-Icecream I wasn’t trying to say there aren’t any toxic fans out there since that’s obviously not true. I was more so saying that most fans from what I’ve seen seem pretty chill. Sorry that happened to you tho. Harassing people and sending them death threats is insane no matter what, but especially so over a cartoon.
@@Mr.DelicateTouch Thanks for your kind words. I also do get what you were trying to say that there are people who are chill in the fandom and that is important to remember! I think that's true with a lot of fandoms that there are people who enjoy it and are chill and then there are toxic parts of it, and with each fandom it varies with the frequency of how many are chill or toxic and how widespread or active each of these types of people are.
I was moreso trying to comment that it's not quite accurate to say that the fandom has its toxic reputation from just how a small group of people acted years ago (it's actually surprisingly quite complicated with what happened to SU, and interesting to go into the history of SU's fandom during 2015-2018, which was probably the peak of the SU discourse online. There are quite a lot of different factors in play there and there wasn't one group of vocal but multiple different things happening for multiple reasons (there is of course the critics that nitpick everything, there was the bleed-over of the political situation in the US in 2016 which coincided with episodes that were dealing with the politics of the gem war which caused a big stir in the fandom back then since a big part of the fandom weren't happy with the direction and this caused quite a rift and negativity in the fandom, the long hiatus that soured a lot of peoples feeling over the show and so much more that I can't give a proper introduction to without going on a whole essay). I remember seeing a good post about it that went into detail of everything that happened and why so, but I don't think youtube allows links. I've really wanted a youtube video breaking down just what happened in SU's history because it really is something that deserves its own essay, since what happened to SU was pretty special.)
I do understand why SU's fandom back then got a quite negative press since it was unfortunately victim to all of this heated discourse and whatever, and I've heard several members of the Crewniverse getting harassed by fans for several different reasons and across several different times, whether it was early or late in the show's runtime. (There is of course Rebecca's constant harassment she received, but also different storyboarders and even voice actors receiving heat for simply voicing characters people didn't like.) I guess I just wanted to clarify or not undermine that the fandom had some pretty bad apples and that it wasn't a small group but quite many different people for different reasons but they all did get encouraged by the negative environment there was around SU.
And because of that I wanted to share that even nowadays there are still quite toxic fans out there that aren't small groups but multiple different people and groups and even pretty popular people in that part of the fandom, so much so I even got bullied for speaking up that I had been bullied by these popular people until others also got bullied themselves. I guess in my perspective, it was important to address this part of the fandom, since it's doesn't feel like a small incident but it is a problem in the fandom? But it is one that indeed can be counteracted by a positive wave like these videos that address what has previously been harped about and letting a space for the relaxed discussions of SU exist and letting the positive and rational side thrive.
SU has a quite complicated history with its fandom, and I know there are many wonderful people out there and I really do want to see the positive side of the fandom flourish! Usually it surprises me to find some hidden gems of videos on here that lets fans get excited or happy to watch.
Its nice to see an SU review from someone who actually watched the show
I completely avoided the discourse the first time around.
People are mad that characters went over the line with their character flaws... in a children's show? It's a fucking cartoon, it exaggerates things so children don't miss them
This series is unironically good
I'm gonna interpret that as my videos and say thanks
@@HidinginPrivateyour vids are too good!😂
It actually surprises me how much is in season 1! Somehow I was sure much of these developments were in later seasons. Awesome video
Yeah, season one was really dense and packed with a lot of stuff regarding character exploration and worldbuilding while simultaneously never feeling overwhelming, which is definitely helped by the 52 episode count.
Ah yes, my favorite characters. Lasper and japis
The thing about Sugilite being characterized as a black woman makes zero sense to me- like it's seriously reaching and it's ridiculous that people took it and ran with it. If people would do a bit of reading they'd know that her design is clearly based on the Japanese Mythological demon known as an ONI!!! She's based off of the oni because the stone sugilite was discovered in South Western Japan in 1944 by Japanese petrologist Ken-Ichi Sugi. Like look at her concept art- She's clearly meant to be a monster and has features of the oni such as sharp teeth, extra eyebrow skin? Muscle? (The thick layers over her eyes lmao), violent, HUGE, forhead eye, lots of dark hair, her weapon is literally a Flail A MELEE WEAPON and onis used things like spiked clubs Sugilite is my favorite fusion in the show and just now finding this out sucks bc I didn't know people even said stuff like that- like what?? I never got that weird impression from her design- 😮💨😮💨🌌🫰💗💗
Also I meant to mention this but her design also took inspiration from the hindu goddess Kali the hindu goddess of destruction and destroyer of evil but still known to go overboard with her chaos hence why sugilite is the way she is and had a strong resemblance to her, she has a really fascinating story highly recommended checking it out 💗💗🫰
@@rotten_eyeballs6513
Apparently, Rebecca said that coding was used intentionally in the show. That's why people criticize the racial implications of the show very heavily.
I’m really glad people are making videos like this. Been really tired of hearing purely negative things about this show; it’s nice to hear people talk about the good of it again :)
Ooooh I love this analysis! Especially (ep 45) Pearl holding on to Rose's sword as a representation of her idealized version of Rose- can't believe I never thought of that-
You're really clever, seriously.
I feel like Ronaldo is perhaps the only character that i feel like, maybe there was not a good idea what to do with him or maybe some plans just changed along the way. He seem to lacks significant development or perhaps some satisfying end point that i would normally expect in this show for a character that took center stage in couple episodes. Horror Club seem like a moment that could develop him and i think its pretty interesting episode (that weirdly hits kinda close to home for me in some parts) but then it dosn't seem to go anywhere later. Which is a shame.
Also i guess Onion doesn't have that much going for him for how much he appears but Onion is more vague character wise i think, and also, i find his antics funny.
But anyways, love Your videos on the show. I started watching the show i think somewhere around the beginning of fourth season and i was much younger back them so some points i perhaps would understand better now flew over my head so this is very nice way to rediscover this show again, and some interpretatations i wouldn't even realise now, in general, its always nice to see a new perspective. Shown by my little Ronaldo rant, Steven Universe maybe wasn't a perfect show (but what piece of media is without flaws really) but it still one my fauvorites, watching SU always made me think how happy i am that viewers, and specifically younger viewers, could watch something that was talking about acceptance, tolerance and importance of kidness in such amazing way.
Ronaldo was seriously fumbled, not sure why really. They spent all that time in Horror Club just to shelve it, but maybe they felt other characters needed more airtime? IDK.
Something to add about episode 45 is that Pearl is the holder of Rose's greatest secret. Looking back at this episode after learning about it really recontextualise why Pearl freaks out so much when she learn that Rose still kept secrets from even her.
wake up babe, HiP's Steven Universe analysis is starting for real
It has arrived
I love this!!! I was harassed a lot for enjoying SU because ‘justice warrior libtard blah blah blah’ but as an intersex demiboy, I’ve never felt more seen by any show during that time. Love your videos and can’t wait to see more!!!
This video is making me want to binge the series again
It can be a vibe
"Cherry patch"
>shows strawberries
Jokes aside thanks so much for this video! I've been watching the persona videos waiting on it (and really enjoyed them! I think the ultimate P4 video took me 4 or 5 sittings). I enjoy your deeper analyses that get into the complexities of the characters, who they are within the story, what they represent or convey to the audience, and what we can take away from them. Thank you for your work!
Could we perhaps give Garnet's Universe the foreshadowing tag, as it showed us that diamonds from another perspective look rose quartz shaped...
Great video! Watched the whole way through!
Glad you are keeping this up, I hate saying this about media but this show really did receive a huge amount of hate just for being LGBT, but a good portion of the hate got disguised as "criticism" from people who didn't actually watch this show.
I watched it as it first came out, but with absolutely no outside influence (I never watched reviews / commentary videos, not even social media about SU including fanart. literally just watched it.) and I have to say, my first viewing was overwhelmingly positive and I LOVE the way they set up little details from the start, and I enjoyed the feel good vibes with the focus on the characters.
I'm one of the few people who is pro steven POV, because he knows NOTHING and we as the audience also know nothing, so it is a great way to explore the world and unravel the story naturally, while also being very relatable to the target audience in the way topics are handled. (my fav is how they handle steven realizing that the way people remember / know someone isn't always the complete story, and people have many different sides)
also my perspective of the steven only POV is that it is relatable to how kids see the world, the only often think about what is happening to them and not what others are thinking or doing behind the scenes, it kind of goes with the plot of steven growing up and learning to navigate relationships. I do agree that storywise sometimes it would've been better to not be there sometimes, but I also appreciate that they sort of framed the world through the eyes of steven in a lot of ways. And you can see the animation/energy and framing of characters change as he gets to know them better, also highlighting how the show is framed around his POV. At least that is how I see it!
interesting take on the Steven POV thing.
I watched Steven universe when I was a kid without any outside influences too! (Mainly cuz I got a bad feeling from those "criticism" videos AND IM SO GLAD I DID) Steven universe fan til the day I die 😎
Same here. Maybe it was because I was young and had no idea what “fandoms” were + nobody at school liked it but my enjoyment of the show was at it’s highest when i didn’t interact with anyone else who watched it. Once I got older I will admit I did really enjoy posting in the SU amino and once I got a little more older, the subreddit. But I started to see all the discourse and it made me start to lose interest around the time Future came around. But I still love the show and it’ll always hold a special place in my heart. I still have my cheeseburger backpack
Thank you so much for making these videos! It's a breath of a fresh air to see someone FINALLY defend this show's phenomenal writing, music, etc (I'm a writer and composer and every watch of Steven Universe has me floored in both departments)
I watched your defense of videos, and they were wonderful. The only downside is that Lily Orchard decided to respond with a video of her own, because to this day she cannot seem to shut up about it, because it's what really made her blow up. You making this video serves to indirectly debunk her points overall. Congrats on doing the world a great service!
Its so great to see someone actually go through the show episode by episode and point out all the character development. That seems to the thing people miss most when they criticize the show. I've always really enjoyed SU's way of showing characters making mistakes and needing and struggling to grow from those, that has always been the hardest hitting part of the show for me (and arguably the point of the show). I also really love you keeping a focus on the fact that this is a kids show and pointing out all the great lessons for kids in the episodes. Kids shows can be really good, but its still important to remember the target audience. When I first started watching SU it was still in the middle of season 1 and part of the reason I enjoyed it so much from the start is that when I went into it all I wanted was a fun silly kids show to watch and I really didn't have any expectations of it being grand or deep (I also watched wander over yonder around then for similar reasons, which while being more on the silly/fun side than SU ends up being, I also really enjoy), so it really blew me away to see the character depth from the start (I started watching before Mirror/Ocean Gem so there hadn't even been any big story beats yet). Then as the first season progressed and it grew from what initially appeared to be an episodic kids show to reveal so much more. I agree S1 is probably the weakest season overall but also vitally important to setting up the show, and I still think it was well done (and just very nostalgic for me).
All that to say, thanks for doing these videos, I look forward to seeing more in this series
Comparing SU to ATLA is so grating, because they’re drastically different shows despite both being cartoons. “SU doesn’t do stuff like Avatar!” And why should it? Why do you want them to be the same and follow the same rules and plot beats and character progression?! It’s like comparing shoes. Doc martins and Converse are both great for different reasons. I wouldn’t want either of them to look like the other.
I think that something people miss about Alone Together and its subject matter is the fact that the term "romanticization" is thrown around so much nowadays. The show never goes "What Kevin did was okay, look how okay Stevonnie is with it!". Stevonnie KNOWS it's not okay and treats it as such now and in future episodes. For some reason, though, we've gotten to a point where portraying these subjects AT ALL is seen as an evil, which…honestly leads to silencing people who need outlets for expressing how these sorts of things have affected them. I feel like there are MANY kids, especially AFAB, who can relate to Stevonnie in that they developed faster than average, resulting in people being weird to them and not caring that they're a kid. I KNEW some people in that situation when I was younger. Those experiences are sympathized with, and yet when expressed in the form of allegory, it's suddenly some _bad thing_ to bring attention to it, even if it's not seen as good? It just doesn't make sense.
I dunno. I have a lot of feelings about Stevonnie in general and how people honest-to-God REACH for reasons to dislike them and their portrayal. They're not androgynous enough to be good enby rep, the showrunners sexualize them (where? The scene after they fuse? Where they do the equivalent of going through puberty and being like "HUH??"), etc. Like…Stevonnie is great and provides a great vehicle for the messages they're used to portray. Period.
Incredible work. Seriously made me tear up, this show meant and means so much to me and to see its reputation defended so eloquently, and with such a thorough analysis, is beautiful. Please keep it up. Your read on Alone Together particularly moved me. That episode has always affected me for reasons I couldn't quite put into words. Now I can.
It’s just so endlessly refreshing to get your long form videos speaking so positively of this amazing show. I appreciate seeing it so much!
I didn't grow up with SU. In general, I haven't watched that many American cartoons as a kid. I watched SU when I was in high school and honestly? Despite the flawed finale, it might be my favorite American cartoon I have ever watched. Anything that even comes close is Gravity Falls (and I guess maybe MAYBE rottmnt but for completly different reasons). From music, to the art to the characters, God! the characters!!! it's just unlike any other show. Truly exceptional. Pearl and Rose are characters I would never expect to see in a kids cartoon and I love them to bits. So complex and flawed! So well explored! And the WORLDBUILDING?Let me tell you, I'm not a sci-fi gal, but I'm absolutely in love in SU's world. The mystery with which it was built... God, the mystery in this show in general! The foreshadowing it did was just...!!
TLDR: SU is amazing and trying to I refuse to pretend otherwise.
These videos are so cathartic to me. I’ve never had a piece of media deeply resonate with me as much as this show and I can’t wait to see your thoughts on Future. As someone who was an isolated homeschool kid the things Steven dealt with, his neglect and parentification, being addressed and showing the effects it had on him hit me so hard. Finally seeing someone correctly analyze this show and the messages it was getting across just means so much.
(Spoilers for SU and SU Future)
It was both fascinating and horrorifying seeing it gradually go from Steven being this energetic fun loving kid, to a troubled depressed adult with PTSD.
At first I found it so relatable but didn't think much of it. So when they went back and went "actually that's not good parenting and a traumatic childhood" it really hit hard. Then when rewatching the show you see all the signs Steven was struggling with low self esteem and parentification long before it loudly boiled to the surface.
I don’t know if you’ve come across the Steven universe podcast while researching but I’d recommend it if anyone who hasn’t! Hearing from multiple crew members on how and what they were thinking while making the show is amazing!
After watching this video and your two defense videos and it made me view the show again with all my weird mixed feelings and just seeing it all together within this retrospective reignited my love for it!! I hope you’ll be able to release the next four parts without too much trouble, you have my utmost support and gratitude!!
One small thing in episode 28, Pearl doesn't necessarily want to go to homeworld, just be able to be in space again. She would still run the risk of running into homeworld gems, but i feel like this isn't as crazy it could be
What an incredible video! As someone who grew up watching SU as it came out, I really appreciate your efforts to set the record on the more recent misinterpretations of the show. Steven Universe, I feel , is a very important show, a small window of time every week where youth like me at the time could be reminded that they're special, unique, and have inherent value just by being alive as themselves. That they deserve a life of happiness, growth, freedom and acceptance. The way you broke down the meanings of each episode, and how they feed into each other brought me back to those days where I would sit and watch with my eyes glued to the TV, only beginning to understand why I felt so strongly about what I was seeing. Many of the beautiful lines you shared in the video are still seared into my memory.
The fact that youtubers a few years later would completely run Steven through the mud, misinterpreting its messaging and calling it cringe or secretly regressive or whatever completely undermines the positive impact that show had.
Whenever a new cartoon like this comes out, I feel so happy for the kids of today that may only have TV to give them some of those valuable life lessons.
This REALLY makes me wanna rewatch this whole series again. Thanks for rekindling that :)
Oh man this was so fun to listen to!!! I always love it when discussions of media arent just summaries, but genuine analysis
what a great video ending, that chart is incredible. i love seeing things laid out like that and im so excited to see your season 2 analysis next!
when i first started this video the length made me assume it was an analysis of the whole show, and i have never been happier that this was just a first part!
Love what you do man, great job. Also love revisiting my childhood in the show in what I would claim to be extremely formative to my emotional intelligence and empathy. (And this video wasn't boring, it was super fun!)
Is it weird that I refused to watch the show until this year, as an adult, and only became a big fan this year? I refused to watch it as a child since I thought the animation style made it look like it was just going to be meaningless, hard to sit through and annoying. I'm not kidding. I was expecting something completely different until I read the TV Tropes page about the show
I am so excited to watch this and future videos to come, this is genuinely so refreshing
"I can unlock my superpowers if I learn to express my emotions healthily" is actually extremely accurate
Seriously, well done! I can hardly wait for your similar takes on the following seasons. I am so excited. 😍
This video is everything I've wanted and more as a long-term Steven Universe fan (been here since season 2) thank you so much for it. I also loved seeing someone finally parrot my thoughts about why Steven's acted like so in the really early episodes of season 1! As someone who lived a similar upbringing, I noticed immediately that the neglect he was experiencing made him overeager and it was fantastic seeing such a thorough analysis on it. I also ADOREEE your colour analysis on the show, never before have I experienced such awe realizing how it even relates to Jasper and Lapis' relationship. I'm glad I just so happened to be in the middle of rewatching SU as I'm definitely going to keep this in mind going forward in how this applies to all the gems and their respective dynamics
I will eagerly wait for the next video and will definitely watch your other stuff in the mean time, it's hard to find such good media analysis in this time!
“that’s right, we’re halfway through” like a third of the way thru the vid is killing me haha this video is incredible thank you.
I always have trouble sorting out why I liked this show so much, everyone I ran around with for a bit HATED it and whenever I defended it I couldn’t ever formulate why I liked it or respond to common criticisms… I’ve long since cut those people off for unrelated reasons but it’s nice to see something that really puts into words the true meaning of this show beat by beat
I started following with your Persona 4 series but I was so happy to see this as well. I still rewatch Steven Universe to this day and I couldn't explain why compared to others I liked it.
I got into the series midway through the Summer of Steven. I heard the raving about Mr. Greg being a fully musical episode and got curious. So I wasn't able to react to the earlier episodes live, but did see season 4 onwards live. I saw some of the theories, the waiting for bombs, some episodes that felt frustrating in the moment. I did feel like some plot lines got dropped or unfinished, and even if some of it was intentional it still stings a bit.
What I'm trying to say is Steven Universe definitely had flaws. But it surprised me just how much of a hatedom it got. There was so many people bashing it with things like "the animation wasn't good enough", "the characters were too inconsistent!", "the ending ruined it!". And then more recently the anti Steven memes that framed him as this constantly crying character who forgave anyone. LGBT fans saying it wasn't enough rep when cartoons before this had near zero rep.
I was confused because I loved the show. Loved the movie. Loved Future. My feelings hadn't changed after it ended. I found myself quoting it, rewatching certain episodes, going back to different arcs as I was changing as a person and seeing it in a new light. The music, the colors, I always thought it looked so beautiful. Why was my reaction so different from the internet? Why did they hate it so much?
So thank you for doing this series. I've been seeing a resurgence in people reviewing the show and it's been refreshing hearing new things I hadn't noticed before.
This was super interesting! It's nice to have an analysis/debunk of Steven Universe and its common misconceptions. Will totally be watching your future content!! :)
2 and a half hours? Goddamn. I’ll look forward to this. Congrats on finally finishing this!
Thanks! It sure took a while
This video dropped pretty soon after I finished the prelude video, which was great. The video, the way you speak, and the analyasis honestly reminds me of a combination of Big Joel and José. Both content creators who I enjoy watching their videos. I can't wait for more.
I watched your previous examining on the Test Episode, and I appreciate your going into it again. There's something really wonderful and beautiful about that episode and how Steven handles the situation with such maturity and understanding. I felt like if I was at his age, I would've been reacted harshly and lashed out due to my own insecurities of not feeling good enough. At that age I would've felt insulted, and offended that they didn't trust in your own abilities to do something. It's really impressive that he was able to see how the Gems felt about being inadequate parents, and pushed aside his own feeling for theirs. It's rather inspiring, even if we see how that self-sacrificing nature of his comes to blow up in his face in SU Future
Im so excited for this video to finally come out and discovering that it's gonna be season by season and episode by episode is the best surprise I could have asked for
Amazing work! I’m so excited this was everything I wanted from the beginning of this review!!!! Cannot wait for the next ones!
this video is absolutely wonderful!! as a fan of the series from the beginning (at least when it finally started airing in my country, haha) listening to you talk in depth about the characters and themes and analyzing the world building + story threads from a perspective of someone who watched the show after completion is both fascinating and really refreshing. so many people either dismiss the show's idea of compassion or twist it in the worst way possible, but your analysis reminded me of what really made me love steven universe and just how clever the writing was all along. in other words, i'm very excited for videos about the other seasons and what you'll have to say about them (and pointing out things that i never caught personally - like the color coding!), but i hope you don't overwork yourself! take your time :>
I think the reason why people criticize SU for mixing episodic and linear storytelling is because they think that’s the cause behind a lot of the story issues from the townie episodes not adding overt story relevance. Personally, I don’t think the mixing of the 2 storytelling styles are the problem, but rather that most of the townie episodes don’t really add to the main story in anyway. I still like them, but I would’ve liked if more of them gave us little tidbits or metaphors for main story plot points. It’s been a while since I’ve watched the show, so I could very well missing a lot of stuff, but this is just my opinion
Awesome job with this! Excited to see someone honestly appreciate this show so much that you want to take time to briefly talk about each episode. Looking forward to more!
I absolutely loved this video. It took me a few days to get through bc of my own busy schedule, but I enjoyed every second. I really hope you can make one for every season ❤️
really enjoyed listening and you get your viewpoints across really well!! I’d love to hear you talk about other seasons and especially SUF
Been listening to this video in my downtime and I really appreciate how comprehensively you are able to break down the themes of each individual episode.
I’ll be happy to watch more of these types of vids :)
i always get so excited seeing a new Steven Universe video from you. i'll sit down for however long the video is and just listen to it without interruptions. i also use your points in defense of the show when discussing it with my friends. keep up the good work!
Eu não conhecia o seu canal até dois meses atrás e hoje ele é com certeza um dos meus favoritos em todo TH-cam.
Parabéns pelo trabalho.