Believe in Steven (Steven Universe)

[Bard The 5th LW]

Steven Universe just went on Hiatus, so now would be a nice time to catch up on it if you're curious about it!

The show has a bit of a rocky start - a lot of the early episodes seem a bit dumb or pointless (and a couple actually are) but it all builds up to a surprisingly interesting show. Later episodes have a level of emotional maturity that really surprised me, with 'On the Run' in particular hitting close to home. It has a fairly broad appeal while still being safely in the realm of a children's cartoon. Its a really cute show that has enough deep/important moments to make it feel worth watching. The hints of continuity also make rewatches fairly rewarding. The fandom is rather annoying/alienating but that's really something that applies to every fandom ever I think.

Also the soundtrack is amazing. I could listen to the end credits alone non-stop. The show has a great sense of character design too - you can read a lot about a character really quickly just by their appearance.

Overall it's a really good cartoon that I could recommend to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Some of the early episodes might seem a bit off-putting, but there are still some good ones. For someone who hasn't watched the show at all but is curious, I'd recommend watching "Laser Light Cannon", "Bubble Buddies", and "Steven's Lion". They're all early ones that are relevant to continuity and can offer the viewer a chance to see if they'd like the series or not.

[mauve]

Yeah, I saw one or two of the more random episodes some time ago, figured it was just another non-sequitur-filled random fantasy cartoon and dismissed it. Then later I saw "Steven's Lion" and a few of the later ones, and they changed my mind. It's actually a very charming, interesting, and surprisingly emotional cartoon when it wants to be.

[Bard The 5th LW]

I believe its on Hulu+ now if anyone wants a legit way to watch it. It can be found elsewhere online of course, just like any other cartoon/show, but I don't think it'd be in good form to link those sites since they're only questionably legal.

[shiney]

Jail Break. 'Nuff said. Damn, that song.

[Bard The 5th LW]

The voice acting choices ARE pretty interesting - there are a lot of musical talents. Estelle is a recurring cast member but they took 52 episodes to have her sing. Not to mention they had Nikki Minaj for an episode and she never sang at all.

[Aerozord]

It seems to take the Adventure Time approach to world building (not surprising considering the creator worked on the show). It avoids outright stating information about the series and just has it come up relatively naturally. Which creates alot of mystery as you speculate about things and of course makes it easier to retcon and alter information for plots.

[Bard The 5th LW]

STEVEN BOMB PART 2: THE SECOND ONE HITS JUNE 15 SO HOLD ON TO YOUR PANTS

[shiney]

oooOOOooo

[Bard The 5th LW]

The creators of this show seem a bit too attached to this format for my liking!

Nevertheless, those were 5 solid episodes.

[Aerozord]

still kicking myself for missing the fifth one.

Though the one about forcing gems to fuse made me realize that is incredibly dark if you consider what its analogous to for gems. Its meant to invoke a deep intimacy between people, a deep personal bonding. So its kind of the gem equivalent of shoving people into a hole, mutilating them, and forcing them to rape each other