Steven Universe

Smashgoom202

Dry Bowser
Retired Wiki Staff
Steven-Universe-Premiere-post.jpg



Steven Universe is a new Cartoon Network animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar, former storyboard artist, writer, and composer for Adventure Time. This will be the very first original series on Cartoon Network to have a female creator and showrunner.

The show is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of Steven, a chubby and happy-go-lucky boy and the youngest member of an intergalactic team of warriors called the Crystal Gems. Together, the Crystal Gems fight and protect the Universe, while Steven strums up a cheesy tune on his ukulele.

Why yes, I DID just rip that director from Wikipedia. It's a decent description. Here's more of an inside look from the creator herself:


So yeah, the series premiere just happened Monday November 4 at 8:00 PM. Here were my personal thoughts on the two episodes that premiered then:

I REALLY liked it! I thought it was a solid first two episodes, setting up things to come later on. The biggest appeal of this show that I like is how cute and sweet it can be. Sometimes it feels a bit TOO sweet, but then again, when the creator's last name is "Sugar", I think that was to be expected.

Hard for me to get into what I really liked, I just really liked the whole thing. There were moments I really enjoyed but going into them when there are so many of them... I just don't have to brain juice for that right now.

I'll say this, though, the premise and set-up is what has me intrigued the most. These Crystal Gems seems to be this group of defenders, though the episodes don't explain WHY they're defenders or how they came to be. They're seeds planted, and I intend to see them grow, and show bit by bit how we've reached this point. All we know is that each of the members have gems on their body, and Steven's mother seems to be connected to them somehow. Also, apparently, there are monsters and when they kill/defeat them, they get their cores or something. It all has me so intrigued and yearning for more!

Another thing I like is how the other Crystal Gems treat Steven, in that even though Steven doesn't help fight (at least not yet), they know he'll be of great help eventually and are supportive in their own unique way... Though I get the feeling this is more out of respect for his mother, but then again, we'll have to watch more and see if that's the case. Not to mention, I just like their characters right off the bat. Each one is clearly defined and none of them have any obvious "vices". Steven is endearing without being annoying, Pearl is dedicated and serious without being a stick-in-the-mud or stern, Amethyst is fun-loving but isn't as naive as Steven and knows when to be serious, and Garnet... Well, Garnet's just a badass leader. Steven's dad, Greg, is also really cool. He seems like kind of a loser dad who live sin his van and doesn't seem to have much of a successful day job, but hearing about how he and Steven's mother met, and getting to know him through his interactions with Steven, he just seems like a really cool, possibly sensitive guy, rather then the big doof the other Crystal Gems make him out to be.

If there's one thing I don't like about the series so far, it's this one character called Lars. He seems to poke fun at Steven a lot, which I guess makes sense, but he also makes fun of the Crystal Gems as a whole, despite the Crystal Gems literally saving the town every other day! What kind of an ungrateful douche is this guy?!

But yeah, overall a really solid start, and somehow each episode manages to end on a heartfelt, sweet note... I wonder if this will be the trend in every episode? Because if so... well, I dunno, I hope it doesn't become a pattern. Sweet endings like that work, and I enjoy seeing them if only because TV shows are getting so cynical and mean-spirited these days, but I think having a contrast ever once in a while would be good... Again, the series just started so I wouldn't know one way or the other, that's just what I hope.

Yeah, awesome show. Got another show I'll be watching on a regular basis!

BTW, I managed to catch part of the original pilot on YouTube, but I don't know where to watch the whole thing... Would anyone mind, you know, pointing me in the right direction?
 
The look of it reminds me a bit of Scott Pilgrim. I'll give it a shot sometime.
 
Well the only other premieres were Ben 10: Omniverse and Uncle Grandpa. Not much competition.
 
So hey, I managed to find the original pilot on YouTube. For those of you who haven't seen it, check it out here (while you still can):


Again, I'm not a big fan of how the pilot looks compared to the original series, though it still looks pretty cool.
Not sure if I liked the ending, though with time travel stuff like that, I typically hate it when they go back and make the entire plot useless.

Also, there's a sneak peak of the next episode:

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/steven-universe/video/cheeseburger-backpack-preview-clip.html
 
So I watched the first pair of episodes, which are on YouTube in high quality (yay).

It's okay. I want to watch more of it, since I feel it has potential. But for the 11-minute format, I'm not sure how much I like them setting things up to be discovered in later episodes.
 
Huh, I would think this show would be more popular around here.
Given the last major episode, I've, for the second time in so many months, found myself smiling at the though of One Million Moms being up in arms about a cartoon. Particularly one like this (and the last one) that is at a level of popularity where anything they could do would have little to no effect.
 
So, I blame tumblr for this, but...

I just binge watched the show in the past 36 hours, and my god, why have I never stumbled upon this show sooner. Like honestly, this show is so amazing, and the fact that it's on Cartoon Network (where most of today's show are either meh or completely terrible) just completely blows my mind.

Like, this is honestly one of my favorite shows now. There are a lot of great things, a lot of action, a lot of heartfelt emotions, a lot of silliness, but they know how to just be cool without forcing jokes or stuff like that. I feel that a lot of what plagues CN shows is trying to force memes to happen from it or try to appeal to tweens/older kids by trying to make a lot of innuendo, but this show takes it's innocence and just rocks on like there's no tomorrow. It is just so entertaining to watch. I mean, the writer is from Adventure Time (probably one of CN's other shows that I enjoy), so there are a lot of moments where you can see Adventure Time inspired-things, but I feel like this show goes so much deeper than any of recent CN shows, and actually has a plot that really streamlines well together.

Now that Season 2 has started, and that I'm all caught up, I'm really enjoying it. The earlier episodes were okay, but as the season progressed, it got a ton better, and it really has gotten awesome these last 10 episodes or so...
 
ive seen a ton of this on tumblr and it looks pretty great but i never got around to watching more than five episodes and now I feel there are too many for me to catch up
 
Nabber said:
ive seen a ton of this on tumblr and it looks pretty great but i never got around to watching more than five episodes and now I feel there are too many for me to catch up

Well, honestly you can jump in just about anywhere and it would make sense. However, there are a few episodes that you could do without seeing in order. Ones that I suggest you definitely watch in a certain manner are as followed:

Episode 7 - Bubble Buddies
Episode 10 - Steven's Lion
Episode 12 - Giant Woman
Episode 17 - Lion 2: The Movie
Episode 19 - Rose's Room
Episode 24 - An Indirect Kiss
Episode 25 - Mirror Gem
Episode 26 - Ocean Gem
Episode 35 - Lion 3: Straight to Video
Episode 36 - Warp Tour
Episode 37 - Alone Together
Episode 39 - Future Vision

And basically Episode 40 to the end of Season 1 you need to watch in order as well. Those are the main episodes I think that really cover the things that you need to make sure to watch in order. Saves you from feeling like you have to watch all 49 episodes, and cuts it down to about half of them.
 
Wally said:

lol me too

guilmon was reblogging a whole bunch of shit about it yesterday. it captured my attention with garnet's new song and the nature of her relationship with
herself.
so then i had to watch everything
 
So I started watching this because I was bored, and just got done with the episode called Cat Fingers.

Holy shit, this is pretty fucked up.
 
So I binge watched this and watched it all within 48 hours. Now if only I can do that with anime.

Anyways, this show is good. Actually it's great. It has great characters, great plot, lots of feels and emotions, and most of what they try to do, they do it well. I'm pleasantly surprised. I don't think this is show is as good as what it's trying to replace (Adventure Time), but it has the potential to be better, and give it another season or two, I think it will.
 
EDO said:
So I started watching this because I was bored, and just got done with the episode called Cat Fingers.

Holy shit, this is pretty fucked up.

Actually, that is probably the most messed up episode, so just know it doesn't really get any weirder than that.
 
Yeah, I know. I watched the whole thing.

It's a pretty good show.

EDIT:
Ok, I decided "It's a pretty good show" is an incredibly lame thing to say and doesn't really do the whole thing justice.

I like this show. It's obviously comedic in nature, but it stays true to its characters and thus feels more believable. A bunch of very zany things happen and they are quite absurd, but never does it feel like a character is compromised to make the plot possible. I like that. I really like that. It's something that a lot of other comedic shows have forgotten over time, like Spongebob and whatever. The characters stay themselves.

Also, when the show decides to be serious, it absolutely delivers. There is an element of underlying mystery to the show, and it's legitimately intriguing. It also has lots of emotional moments, most of which seem natural and not cringeworthy. The birthday and full disclosure episodes come to mind here, but they aren't the only ones, just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

Out of the characters I think Garnet is the funniest, but I guess I find Pearl the most enjoyable (plus she has the best weapon because polearms are awesome). Steven I didn't quite like at first. He seemed annoying, unfocussed, and constantly causing problems. But he matures pretty quickly and starts pulling his weight, becoming a fairly competent member of the team in his own right. The only one I am completely on the fence about is Amethyst. She's got a legitimately tragic backstory and feels sympathetic, but on the other hand she is just so mean-spirited a lot of the time, it feels hard to root for her. Plus there's that one thing she does at one point that kind of made me detest her.

I do have to say though: For all the things I like, I'm not really the biggest fan of the puffy lips drawing style. Everything else is fine, but like, the emphasis on the lips isn't really doing it for me. This is just a nitpick though, and it becomes less goofy the more you get used to it.

All in all, really enjoyable show. Excited to see more, especially if they're going to show the elusive fusion of Pearl and Garnet at some point.
 
Whoa, I didn't realize there was a thread for this.

I pretty much binge watched everything that's out now (no regrets) the day after BMB changed his theme, definitely one of, if not, my favourite cartoon now for reasons already mentioned. Also, for a cartoon, the music is really good, and wow the outside references are everywhere.

Oh, and I really appreciate the punning aspect of Stephen's personality (oh man that "fifth Stephen" joke).

Lapis Lazuli said:
*music videos*
>current display name
>not posting this


Wow, okay then.
 
nngh i want to watch this but there are way too many episodes and not enough time to binge

where can i find episodes in high quality
 
I binge watched the entire series from the beginning today. Gotta say it is a really well put together series. Some very well thought out characters, comedy, continuity, etc.

Thumbs up from me for sure. ^^
 
Tiz Arrior said:
Whoa, I didn't realize there was a thread for this.

I pretty much binge watched everything that's out now (no regrets) the day after BMB changed his theme, definitely one of, if not, my favourite cartoon now for reasons already mentioned. Also, for a cartoon, the music is really good, and wow the outside references are everywhere.

Oh, and I really appreciate the punning aspect of Stephen's personality (oh man that "fifth Stephen" joke).

Lapis Lazuli said:
*music videos*
>current display name
>not posting this


Wow, okay then.


Well, why post Lapis' theme when I have it automatically linked in my sig?

Though Lapis' tower is great. I just love Lapis' theme too much.

F#-G#-A-C#, C#-B-A-G#, G#-A-G#-F#

 
Northern Verve said:
I binge watched the entire series from the beginning today. Gotta say it is a really well put together series. Some very well thought out characters, comedy, continuity, etc.

Thumbs up from me for sure. ^^
best gem is pearl am i right?
 
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