STEVEN UNIVERSE!

Good lord where do I begin with this show? I’m not great with words, but I might as well give it a try.

IN A WORLD OF GEM PEOPLE FIGHTING AGAINST THE DARKNESS ONE BOY WILL… BUY DONUTS A LOT!

The story here is that Steven’s mother and leader of the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz, has passed on. With her powers now passed on to her son, the remaining Gems have taken it upon themselves to raise him to be a warrior like his mother. The Crystal Gems as well are self-tasked with the protection of earth from very weird happenings.

These four intrepid heroes must remain vigilant as earth’s only defense against the strange and obtuse!

Okay premise is out of the way. Now lets get under the hood of this show, because let me tell you this engine is made of some pure grade A beef.

These three right here^? They’re the crystal gems.

[From left to right]

Pearl, the graceful and book smart of the gems. In the Freudian trio she fits as the super-ego.

She is very factual and dictates herself with focus. She holds herself in a graceful manner as to distinguish herself from others.

Amethyst, the party-harty, rip roaring, big head of the group. The title of Id falls to her.



She constantly follows her heart to a fault. She tends to ignore the thought of consequence for her actions which gets her in more trouble than its worth.

And last but certainly not least, Garnet, the silent giantess of raw power. In the trio she sits in the ego seat.

She if very direct, using as little unneeded energy as possible. In her case as the ego, she’s interesting as instead of attempting to compromise between the Id and Super-Ego, she becomes a sort of driving force to put their attention back on what’s currently important. To set aside differences and complete the mission at hand.

On the outside these girls seem very standard as a three person power squad, but with the help of…

…this kid right here they have become SO MUCH MORE!

Steven here is what makes these girls seem to tick in the show, the glue that keeps them together, but also gunks up the gears at times. He’s the odd end out, the unbalancing force if you will.

Steven at first glance would seem the typical bumbling character who makes everyone’s lives harder due to his own incompetence, but doesn’t learn anything from his mistakes. In other words, the worst kind of character.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. Steven is a character who makes mistakes (who wouldn’t) but he always tries to learn from them which not only creates a good character, but GREAT continuity. And sure, learning to be a gem and protect the earth is important to him, but he makes it very clear that reaching out to Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst, is his true priority. He keeps them grounded and lets them walk outside of their shells.

Because of him, we see that Pearly (let me have my nicknames) is actually squeamish and very caring about the Crystal Gems. That she’s only on that high horse to look over and out for the other gems.

Because of him we see Amethyst’s cool-dude, and hardened exterior give way to a great inner sadness, a feeling of being trapped and great hope of being freed from the prison that is her past.

Because of him we see Garnet kneel to others, being less of a tower of mysterious power and more of a big cuddly momma bear looking out for her cubs.



Outside of Steven, the Gems seem almost cold and detached, like a sort of mental battle scar they’ve left unattended for to long. It puts them in this sort of separated bubble, unaware and almost uncaring toward the very people they’re protecting. And Steven brings them back to home, gives them the dose of humanity they so desperately need to remember what they’re fighting for.

And the character designs themselves and DEAR GOT THE DIVERSITY IN THIS SHOW’S DESIGNS! The colors and contrasts and effects for each weapon, gem, and movement brilliantly executed in this visually splendid style.

And as well it radiates an extremely positive outlook on the human (and humanoid gem person) form and the very normal and natural flaws that no one should EVER be ashamed of. Its these stark contrasts that tells everyone watching: no matter what you look like, you can kick some butt, be strong, BE A HERO AWWW YISS!

And plot, OH DEAR GOD THE PLOT! So much just waiting to surface! UNF!

So need I say more? Is there any more TO say? I mean its pretty easy to see how much I’ve fallen in love with this show.

At the very least just go check out the first episode, it and its counterparts are only around 11 minutes which will take such little of your time to maybe find something you too find spectacular. And if you can, use a sanctioned Cartoon Network sight so that they can count you among the many SU fans and keep bringing such great content. C’mon, go give it a try!