I love the fact that deedee put her pearlussy into “it’s over isn’t it” to the point where the animators had to change the animation to match deedee’s singing

It genuinely angers me that people got so mad that Connie rejected Steven in future. She was completely in her right to. She didn't spit in his face and yell at him for being such an idiot, she lets him know it's "Not a no, it's a not now." but i guess they went deaf at that moment cause people never seem to talk about it when talking about this scene. EDIT: It's nice reading the replies and knowing there are people who see the reason in Connie, also tysm for all the likes!

I really, REALLY wish they had explored Lars being pink and those consequences more.

*[It may not be the most perfect show ever. It had it's moments. But i'm sure that, over the past decade, Steven Universe sure created something incredible: memories. Amazing memories]*

One thing I want to mention about Zach Callison's voice is that he was ~14 when they started work on the show and recorded for the pilot. As the years went on, his voice cracked and he had to change how he was acting to keep up the prepubescent Steven voice. Sometimes the strain is more obvious than others, but they did find a couple ways to utilize his natural voice well in the main series (Steven's Birthday and the "She's GONE" from CYM). I also think that's part of the reason his acting is so much better in Future, he doesn't have to keep up the falsetto (which in some clips sounds like it hurts).

A pet peeve of mine is when someone says the Diamonds were redeemed. When they were not. They stopped dominating but they never stopped being trash people. Steven tolerates them to keep them appeased. They can't kill the Diamonds. Can't banish them. Just tolorate them and hopefully try to make them a little better. But never redeemed. Edit: I've been thinking about this more and rewatching clips. And I think calling them still trash is harsh. They have been making efforts to do better and be better. They haven't been fully redeemed but they are on the path to redemption for themselves. A lot of what they did can't be forgiven by some which is very understandable. But they are trying for that second chance and that should be acknowledged.

11:22 "weird to see teens crushing on Stevonnie." that was actually the point! Rebecca Sugar has said that it's like a metaphor for puberty and the way people's perception of you changes. like, yes, you're still just a child, but suddenly because you get secondary sex characteristics, you get sexualised and ogled at. I think it's a clever way of portraying that. most girls first experience with catcalling/harrassment has been in their early teens and that's messed up.

Did you forget? Steven helped people at the expense of his own mental health. Future Steven wants to help people but he couldn't keep doing it at the expense of himself anymore. Episodes like Keystone Motel went fully into this and it still left Steven's feelings largely unresolved. The entire series just forced Steven to bottle everything up for the greater good. Future addresses this near perfectly. It wouldn't make any sense if he wasn't selfish to a degree, the other gems got to be selfish while Steven was always stuck making compromises. He was struggling mentally and wanted things to just be how he knew them to be. That was real and Future gave Steven a lot of complexity as a character. Plus, the movie definitely set it up. Steven was stagnating in a "happily ever after" mindset and was noticeably less patient with Spinel than he was with other gems.

I think the test is very important. It’s shows how much the gems are lost without Rose. And Steven realizes how much it’s struggle for the gems to raise someone as unique as him. He realizes if he spares the gems feels by pushing his down. After that, you can see many time where Steven is pushing his feels to make sure other people feels better.

I can understand people not particularly liking Future, but as someone who went through childhood trauma I felt seen for the first time, it'shard to express how much that season means to me. I cry my way through the season every time 😅.

As someone with PTSD, I think Future is a heartbreakingly real representation of how trauma can not only affect your emotions but how it can affect your sense of morality and self. Steven becoming so overwhelmed by his trauma that he ends up hurting the people around him is too real. My main issue with the season is that it’s not very uplifting for people with the disorder as it does paint steven in a very negative light and doesn’t really do much to redeem him in the end. You sort of have to have the disorder or be close to someone that does to understand his actions and otherwise it’s kind of a damaging portrayal. I do think its very well made but I just wish the ending was more than steven deciding to isolate himself from his support system.

Heavily disagree with SU Future. Steven is not unlikable, he is breaking down. He pushes people away because he thinks of himself as unlikable. He doesn't talk because he feels like a burden and is used to eating stuff up. He is rude because that makes people stop asking. The Greg episode is really good, showcasing that Greg "over-corrected" with the way Steven was raised, Steven picking up gardening because that's the only way for him to feel needed, Pearl realizing that she is in fact not over Rose and this type of trauma can take a really long time to heal, Jasper being set in her ways was the most Jasper thing to do and when she called Steven "my diamond" ...it was bone chilling.... The thing I would fault the most is the diamond powers being very goofy and they could have done it differently. But Stevens attempted murder of White Diamond was terrifying. You can clearly see his suppressed rage and anger swelling up against all of his mothers side of the family... including himself. IMO they didn't go far enough with his mental breakdown but they did show his mental instability really well. The slipping from happy to slowly loosing it one by one. Using control and rage to find oneself... Also the Conny episode... I didn't even think he was a dickhead. He wanted to be someone else so badly, that he just proposed... I didn't feel angry towards anyone in this case. IDK what people mean by "Conny is mean" or " Steven is a jerk". He loves her, asked for advice from one of the most stable couples in his life and took it as the gospel truth. All in all good video man, I liked the series too but i just felt you gave Future a bit too much of a bad rep. Many did and it feels like many misunderstood its purpose, that being not a sequel, but a conclusion or more of a " cautionary tale of child heroes" and a bit of a mental health awareness campaign.

Honestly, as we enter the age of algorithmically generated media I actually kind of appreciate the animation errors, they're a reminder that there is a real person out there who drew each frame by hand. I think there's something very human about that. Hand drawn 2D animation has been growing more and more rare over the last two decades, I think the amount of effort and care it takes is meaningful even when it's not perfect

While I also think shattering jasper should have been permanent, in its defense it serves the purpose of being another incident where steven is able to ~magically fix things~ all on his own and be the savior yet again, further leading to his huge breakdown. He mentions it in "everything's fine" in the confrontation scene, he says something like "i can fix anything, i can keep just messing things up and its fine and you never have to know about any of it" and uses the shattering thing as an example

Future wasn't really a sequel show. It was really just an epilogue show. It's made to tie off loose ends in character development instead of presenting entirely new character arcs. And since Steven had the largest loose end of "how does he process all of the trauma he experienced throughout his childhood?", that's why it is the main focus of Future.

I really liked what Future did, it came out just as I was getting ready to go to college, and his struggle of trying to figure out who he is without the people he's around, what he wants, trying to reconcile with his past, it all hit incredibly close to home. My favorite part was Connie's mom saying "You've been through so much that now your body responds to normal situations as if your life is in danger". I got diagnosed with PNES, a type of conversion disorder that turns stress and trauma into physical symptoms. His response of shock and disbelief and frustration and anger and panic and sadness is so accurate and I cried when I watched it because it was such a simple yet effective way of explaining it, it made me feel less alone and more normal. To me, the writing team did an absolutely commendable job of engaging with Steven's experiences as if he was a real person. I also think Steven's actions in Future make a lot more sense if you consider he's a traumatized 16-year-old who feels like his world is imploding around him, he has a full-on mental health crisis and it's realistic that he'd be less "likable" in that circumstance.

As someone with BPD i can tell you with certainty that stevens actions are more than justified when it comes to needing people to love you so much that you scare them away and i dont find it forced cus its literally just me 😭

I personally love this series overall and I think its worthy of the fact that it holds a special place in so many people's hearts

something interesting is how season 1 portrays the gems as more mystical figures, with temples and gem artifacts that are more spiritual than technological (like the moon goddess statue, time travel hourglass, lapis's mirror, etc). season 2 onward is when it takes a hard turn into sci-fi and the gems being aliens. i do wish they stuck with the mystical angle, the sci-fi stuff feels a lot more generic compared to the more mysterious and memorable stuff from season 1, but the two approaches are so different that it's like apples and oranges.

1:07:27 personally I think it is a very real representation of what it can feel like to lose your “purpose” and being left with all the trauma and problems you pushed to the side while you had “more important things to deal with.” It can cause immense character change (if only temporarily) while you face The Absurd and realize that life goes on and you have to find meaning in the process, not a singular thing. It’s a complex philosophical struggle that I personally feel they represented well.

I really wish they had been able to stick the landing a bit better. The end of the series felt rushed and future has its own set of problems but it is hard to shake the feeling that if CN had given them more time to flesh out the plot points that they had set up they would have been able to come to a more satisfying ending. I really feel like the biggest issues with the series were caused directly by CNs influence. The stevenbombs and the flakiness when it came to the final seasons and renewal just led to a lot of issues that didnt need to exist.

I am 17 years old and till last year it was my absolute favourite show (overthrown by The Owl House now), I still enjoy the episodes when I see them and it will always have a place in my heart. Arguments on why I loved it? I don't have any, I just did honestly, and I also think that's what this is all about, enjoy it to the fullest and then decide if you liked it or not 🤷🏻‍♂️😊

I definitely agree on the fandom bit but that’s sadly what happens when you have a bunch of chronically online pre teens and teens who think they’re right about everything. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last either every few years there’s a fandom that seems to one up the other on how bad the 1% of a fandom can be. Even though I’m a part of fandoms that have done bad things I have to remember there’s lots of good in them too. I’ve seen so many people let the choices of a small amount of people cause them to leave a fandom and that really sucks.

Man, this retrospect made me realize how hard Deedee Magno Hall carried throughout the entire series.

Steven's problems in Future isnt just his trauma from the main series. His purpose in life was helping other people reach their happily ever after, and he's finally reached it. He HAS NO purpose in life anymore and is struggling without knowing what to do now. He has everything he ever wanted and has no clue what to do.

The reason why no one helped Steven in Future until the end is because Steven didn't want them to help him. You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. He kept denying and/or projecting his issues, without actually owning them. How are you gonna help someone who doesn't even *realize* the issues themselves.

It makes perfect sense for Steven to act the way he does in Future. The entire first series/movie his self worth is derived from being helpful. Once you run out of ways to help, you make them up. He also couldn't go 2 weeks without another character having their own emotional crisis, so he learned it was important for him to always be the hopeful one who has it together and doesn't act silly or negatively. When you have a problem, just bottle it up! It makes perfect sense that once the world around Steven stops depending on him to keep it together is when he really falls apart. It doesn't quite fill the same narrative purpose, but it reminds me of the last half hour of the Lord of the Rings, when Frodo eventually succumbs to the wound from the witch king, and the weight the ring had on his heart, to the point his only course is to go into the west with Bilbo and Gandalf. It's really bittersweet.

I like how steven universe does side stories, people call it filler, but that’s pretty dismissive when a lot of the messages and themes of the are empathy and caring for people where they are.

I agree with so many things said here and while I disagree with a bunch of other things (mainly about future) I have to thank you for pointing out Zach's amazing performance during the show's run. I think that even in the earlier seasons Zach's voice acting was as good as it could ever get and it made the whole thing so much better in my opinion. Episodes like Storm in the Room, Reunited, Change Your Mind, Everything's Fine and many more benefit a lot from his beautiful voice acting. This might very well be biased on my part, having fell in love with this show ever since the beginning and following not only the show itself but a lot of the voice actors careers, but I still think that Zach deserves all the praise he could get(waiting for your return Zach, hope youre doing well). I thank Rebecca Sugar for all the memories and amazing times I've had watching this show, whether it be crying, laughing or just enjoying the stunning scenery and music.

Did I miss it, or did you actually not mention the premature cancellation? (I'm genuinely asking cause I mostly listened to this in the background of working on a project) I feel like the cancellation is a fundamental part in understanding most, if not all, of the show's flaws i.e. network interference. One such example is the "filler episodes" being caused by network mandates for episodic storytelling. Anyway, this was an absolutely fantastic retrospective and it's always fun to see this show get some well-deserved praise.

I like that Peridot never fused. Feel very ace representation. Which we need more of. In regards to the different character designs, Rebecca Sugar said that she loved seeing fans point out what artists drew who for this episode. She also said that she hates conformity. So she kinda encouraged the artists draw how they wanted. I appreciate the idea but it is hard to look at.

As someone who watched as an adult, Steven Universe remains one of my top examples of Western cartoons, and one of the defining series of the 2010's. It was groundbreaking for the industry to graft on a dose of 90's post-NGE anime and tell a story that was willing to explore character psyche and identity in more depth than "welp life sucks sometimes, that's the joke, roll credits" - the old go-to strategy of adult animation from the Simpsons. This kind of story has always been around, but it just wasn't being done in a cartoon format. And Adventure Time did also play a role in that, not just in sharing staff members but in setting up groundwork for how that kind of story could be told, which SU elaborated on and pushed much farther by using a soap-operatic narrative structure - to the point where fans complained with Future, because at that point the adventure mystery box stuff is over and it's just "Steven dealing with some shit". I really don't think you could have movies of this decade like Turning Red and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - stuff accessible to young audiences that addresses messy adult topics without hiding behind irony - if you didn't also have SU yanking open the door and showing that audiences will engage in those conversations, even if means some of them fall down a rabbit hole of toxicity in the process.

I think pearl is a greatly damaged person which is why her development as the series went on was so good. She started out with a lot of bad moments but got so much better and I appreciate that. She became one of my favorite characters but it took a long time.

White Diamond theme is so atmospheric, so alien, i love how otherworldly her theme is, i also like to use as background music while playing No Man's Sky, it fits perfectly.

51:06 I know sometimes the crewniverse has some inconsistencies, but I think this could be explained by the fact that while Lapis knows about video messaging (the wailing stone ep), the medium is what matters. Every single gem communicator I can remember is holographic or a projection (makes sense since they're light), so when Lapis sees Steven in a handheld device with a live video feed (not the camp pining hearts tv) on one surface I imagine the first and only thing she can compare it to is her mirror. Maybe I'm reading too much into it tho.

I rewatch Sardonyx's introduction constantly, I wish more people liked it and her as much as I did. Alexia Khadime's voice work is absolutely incredible, as is the music. I wish we had seen more of her.

10 years?!! I remember watching the first episode when it aired doesn’t even feel so long ago. I fell off near the end of the show but the lore,mystery,characters, and artstyle always brought me back.

Just so we're clear, the Zammi070 situation didn't actually play out like that. They even confirmed that their attempt to take their life was not due to harassment by SU fans. I really wish you'd've done more research on that and looked into it. It did happen, I definitely was there for it, but they confirmed that the SU fanbase did NOT push them to try and take their own life. That's blatant misinformation/lies.

even though everyone seems to hate it. (including myself when it first came out) the uncle grandpa episode is actually pretty funny with some good jokes. like uncle grandpa saying "don't worry. its not canon. but this is!" only to pull out a real cannon and shoot down a ship that lars and sadie were on. for lars to exclaim "NO!! OUR SHIP!!" as they sink into the sea. which is alot funnier knowing that they don't actually get together in the end.

So weird to me that enough time has passed for people who watched SU as kids to make videos about it. I watched it and loved it but I was 16 when it came out, didn't start watching til I was 18 and mostly watched it to *heal* my inner child. Good video, just... fuck, time flies and I'm old 😭

As someone with intense and severe ptsd, Stevens depiction is absolutely perfect in Future. That is what ptsd looks like. Anyone who says otherwise has never experienced ptsd. It makes you afraid of yourself.

I actually really loved Future. As someone who experienced a lot of childhood/teen trauma it was representation I’m not used to having. It’s really important, especially because the demographic of queer viewers unfortunately also experience more trauma than average. I didn’t feel that Steven was out of character. I think because I have CPTSD I understood better why he behaved the way he did, and it didn’t make me find him to be unlikable/a bad person. I also went through the common childhood trauma experience of falling apart after the fact. Before that you’re in survival mode and it’s not obvious how much the trauma messed you up until you’re safe enough to start to process it. I’m 23 and still realizing how much I’ve been impacted and hindered from what I experienced during the years that I was being shaped as a person. A lot of his behaviors don’t seem logical when you haven’t experienced the mental illnesses that cause them. Like pushing people away when you need them most, while being terrified of abandonment. I think a lot of his anger was justified, he was neglected, had way too much responsibility placed onto him, saw horrible things, was hurt so many times and had no stability for basically his whole life. His identity and self worth got tied into his heroism, so once he didn’t need to do that anymore, he didn’t know who he was or feel valuable without it. He was stuck processing his trauma while everyone else got to move on with their lives. It’s really hard to be stunted like that, seeing everyone else move on with their lives because they got to grow and develop while you had to put that on pause to survive. You get stuck in the past and people don’t understand that you still need the support that you never got when you were younger. You kind of have to parent yourself and it’s so hard to ask for the help you need because you feel like a burden and think you SHOULD be able to handle it yourself since everyone else can, but you didn’t get to develop the needed skills. I struggle a lot to function because I wasn’t taught how. Like Steven I was neglected, didn’t have a stable home, didn’t get to go to school/learn to socialize/have peers, was hurt physically/didn’t receive needed medical care, had too many responsibilities, was in constant crisis, had identity issues, and other things that have made it so I’m very unprepared to be on my own, and lack “basic” life skills. It’s very upsetting and overwhelming to realize just how much the adults in your life failed you. You never got the chance to be not okay either so it can get very self destructive and so much worse than people realize because you think you have to put on a strong front like you’ve always had to. I cried a lot watching Future, CPTSD is not a subject I’ve ever seen a cartoon touch on and Steven Universe is a comfort show for me that I watched during the roughest times of my life. It was healing to see Steven go through the same struggles I go through and still come out okay in the end. I understand that the subject is too heavy for most shows to want to touch upon it but it’s so refreshing to see a piece of media acknowledge the impact of trauma since most characters go through awful shit and are just magically fine afterwards.

I have recently rewatched all of steven universe to relive my nolstagia and to simply compelte the series as I watched it through the CN television show when I was a kid and I didn't watch watch every episode or even in order. While it is fresh on my mind, I believe that the first 3-4 seasons were really nicely well made, however due to the contraint placed on SU, the final season and future were rushed so much that it was bittersweet when it ended, I just wished there were a couple extra seasons to flesh out the diamonds, bismuth, and the homeward. Heck I even wish there were more of spinel. I really liked her, goofy and bitter. Future is incredibly rushed, while the ptsd and trauma were important subjects to talk about, I don't think having it done like like the last 5 episode does it justice. I also think that healing the shattered Jasper is also a stupid plot point, It just comes out of nowhere, like no lead up. And nobody talks about it again even though it was reviving from the dead... But even after all that, Steven Universe teaches us important lesson that while our past is a crucial to what we are, we can't let it ties us down as the future has so much possibilities.

I haven't gotten to know this show until last November I think. It was definitely the end of last year. I watched the first season because of a trade(?) with my sister. I'd watch SU and she'd read a book I kept offering her. I got hooked... I'm not entirely sure where somewhere between Giant Woman and Alone Together. I... binged the rest of the series. I couldn't stop talking and thinking about it afterward and I'm still very much submerged in it. To me, that is one of those things that separates SU from other shows. I watched the Owl House, and I loved it, but... it ended and there's not much after it. (I really wanted to actually finish the Ruby quote here, but I was completely thinking about TOH until the last ep came out.) SU somehow pulls the audience in, to a level other shows usually don't. At least that is my experience. I also knew about all the major plot twists thanks to my sister, who finished the show before me, but it didn't make the experience worse. It made it different of course, but it didn't make it bad. I also LOVED how slow it was. This was a long way of saying, thanks for making this video. I've run into the hatred this show gets, for valid and less valid reasons, and I didn't understand how such a great story can be so overshadowed by what people think. And I know a huge community loves it too, but it was kinda discouraging to see the divide.

I just watched the whole series recently (+ the movie and future series) and tbh, I can’t believe I’m 10 years late to the party lol. It’s honestly a great series with tons of funny and sad moments! 🧡

I feel like the overall lesson the show is trying to tell is kinda smudged. The diamonds did some particularly terrible things, the whole stuff with the cluster was extremely dark and basically a genocide. Yet those dark things were waved off for the sake of redeemable villains. I find it particularly unsettling because in the end there aren't really any consequences to the genuinely evil actions? I feel like it would've been more interesting to have them remain villains and also show a lesson that not everything can be saved by befriending and changing peoples' minds and forgiving every action ever, regardless of what those actions were.

This series was my childhood, and I’ve rewatched it recently and come to the conclusion that it has the highest highs of any animated show I’ve ever seen and some pretty low lows. At its best it deals with extremely heavy handed emotional topics like love, abandonment, acceptance, ptsd, the effect of lies on children, parenthood, even SA in one very thickly veiled instance, with some amazingly written character like Lapis, Garnet, Connie, Greg and especially Pearl, as well as some like Yellow Diamond, Bismuth and Jasper, some absolutely STELLAR music, obviously the vocal tracks like It’s over isn’t it, full disclosure, Stronger than you, what’s the use of feeling blue, and Comet, but also instrumental tracks like Alone Together and I’m Still Here, and the iconic Escapism, not to mention the iconic Love Like You. It can have some extremely compelling stories like the climax of season 1 or the pearl/pink diamond stuff, with an amazing ambience in beach city with side characters that you care about like Jaime, Lars/Sadie, the cool kids, Petey, and Mayor Dewey. Greg provides an amazing character, a failed musician turned car wash owner who is content to live a simple life in the moment with his son, the gems provide the perfect balance between mother/family figures and source of mystery and tension, Connie is an amazing addition the perfectly walks the line between romantic interest and wholesome friendship as well as keeping Steven grounded in his humanity, and Steven is a great protagonist that we can see grow and develop, deal with issues of loss, pressure, and pain from his mother and the gems, as well as homeworld. It even manages to display a message of acceptance without being in your face about it and can be ignored by young children. At its worst it’s a preachy show with quickly written episodes that feel very cartooney, sinking far below the standards the series has set for itself. Steven can be an almost comedically over sensitive character that can’t stop crying, garnet can be a device simply to promote gay rights (which I have no problem with when done right, as the show has proven it can do), the show becomes reliant on childish tropes and feud ex machina rescues, with unearned conflict resolution that feels shoehorned in because they can’t have Steven end a conflict with violence (looking at you White Diamond). In short, for every amazing episode like: Rose’s Scabbard, Jailbreak, Full Disclosure, Giant women Sworn to the Sword, Mr. Greg, Indirect Kiss Alone together Keeping it Together Winter forecast Lion 3: Straight to video, We need to talk, Ocean Gem Alone at Sea Storm in the Room Same Old World Bubbled It Could’ve been Great and many more, you have an episode like Hit the diamond The Question (Ruby Rider) Rocknaldo Back to the Barn Future Boy Zoltron The new crystal gems Dewey wins Love Letters Know your fusion Historical Friction Restaurant Wars Lars of the Stars Sadie’s song Too short to ride Kindergarten Kid Doug out Back to the Moon

Ah "Too short to Ride", the episode where Amethyst of all people throws a fit that Peridot doesn't overcome her inferiority issues the SECOND Amethyst orders her to, despite taking multiple SEASONS to deal with her own, and then actually literally abuses her and tries to destroy her tablet, then proceeds to stand around with her arms crossed and a smug expression, like she's trying to say "A job well done !" and never, literally never proceeds to apologise. For contrast, Peridot apologised to Amethyst despite 1. Just saving Amethyst's life 2. Amethyst egging her on to make fun of everyone else, including Steven, TO HIS FACE but then was not able to take it herself 3. The thing she was insulted by was literally a *compliment*

I miss the era of cartoons of fandom. That era of cartoons in the 2010s where people would OBSESS over all the minor details in blurry, zoomed-in screencaps of a scene to try and figure out some future reveal in the show. All those shows where the fandom is so invested and theorize about XYZ and what this means in the show. Where every animation channel is making fan content breaking down "top 10 things you missed in the new episode" and what this single line from this character is implying and how all of these black obelisks form this conspiracy. It seemed at the time everyone was so connected just by these shows, like how it could've been back when everyone watched the same thing on TV. It was a beautiful time of genuine human bonding that we just don't have anymore because everyone hates each other now. We were all just so focused on this great show and trying to unravel its secrets and talking about how much we loved it.

so overall the issue with steven universe comes from a planed 8 season show with a finale movie being condensed and rewritten. with the wedding episode pushed into production, cartoon network cancelled the show. Rebecca then persuaded them to greenlight a few more episodes (diamond days) to conclude the show. this then altered the supposed ending of the show to fit the final few episodes. after seeing fan reception, CN then greenlit the movie, but refusing it finality and inability to advertise more content, it was contracted that Rebecca then create more episodes.(SU future) unfortunately, the crewniverse and budget was slashed, so rebecca now had a rushed and concluded story with less help and resources to create its successor. its a really sad story.

The main issue with the last seasons and it's troubling flow are because of the many "hiatuses" imposed by cartoon network to the crewniverse, there was a time you could go a whole year waiting for the next episode to air, and because of that the releasw of said episode in other countries would be delayed too. I even had to learn english by watching the newest episodes online because they took more than a whole year to be aired in Argentina lolol

I remember very well how much this show had an effect on me. Me and my friends would always talk about the latest episode the day after it aired, I would listen to all the cast interviews, and play the songs on repeat, I went as Steve for Halloween, and it helped coming to terms with myself with what I was going through every time. I am forever. Thankful for Steven universe.

Yeah that's the word to describe it as personally, growing up with it too: "Good", it has some great moments and smaller things like music and color palettes that stand out. And it's easy to get inspired by it artistically too! :)

Thanks for the hard work seriously the amount of time and effort but in this video is insane and it made me relive some good childhood memories so thank for that too

this video kind of lost me around the season 5 point. the season was rushed because it was cancelled due to ruby and sapphire's wedding. rebecca sugar has talked about it extensively, and to ignore that point completely, by this point in time, feels like either lack of proper(or even mild!) research, or purposeful ignorance. sugar has said that if they wanted to have the wedding they would have had to accept they'd lose international funding, which would subsequently lead to the end of the show; therefore they had to wrap things up with the second half of season five. discussion of future is just annoying to listen to, because it's so blatantly ignorant and almost feels intentionally dense. i can understand just... not liking the specific type of character steven is now, but to claim that his actions are out of character is kind of ignoring how his trauma has affected him. steven's need to retain his position as the therapist friend is not out of character, and he tries to retain this position by causing problems that he can(or at least tries to) fix. his purpose throughout this entire series has been to help fix other characters' emotional problems, and now he feels unneeded, which why he constantly fears being left behind. i do agree that at points the rest of the cast seem dumbed down, but its probably to emphasize how emotionally stunted steven feels when everyone around him seems to be completely happy and satisfied. they also don't get extensive arcs because they just... don't need them. garnet, amethyst, pearl, peridot, lapis and bismuth's developments have reached their natural conclusion. jasper is really not back at square one. she puts on a tough facade, and she doesn't make an effort to differentiate steven from pink diamond, but like... she's also joined little homeschool, something she was very vocally averse to at the beginning of the series, showing that she's willing to make some kind of effort to get better and develop as a person. her growth is much more subtle, and clearly still a work in progress, but to insinuate that she hasn't changed a bit since her debut is just wrong. connie not playing a bigger role is a fair criticism though, and i do agree she could have been utilized much better (when future was coming out i was also really upset about her being basically written out of the show) you mention the movie and steven not having/showing these toxic traits, but the movie gives steven a clear problem that he can fix in spinel and her injector. steven isn't purposeless, he still has to fix someone else's emotional trauma instead of confronting his own problems. THIS HAS BEEN a really long and pettuy rant. i'm very passionate about this show, and it's a bit frustrating to see certain points being so frequently misconstrued, but this isn't a bad video by any means. i still enjoyed your analysis and opinions on earlier seasons, and i agree with a lot of your points about i.e gem harvest. THUMBS UP

Deserves more views man This video is well structured

Something funny about Garnet's World is that it actually physically demonstrates how a diamond-like gem looks like a quartz-like gem when oriented from the top. When ring-o takes the ultimate power gem and puts it in his hair ring.

s1 e38 was kind of like the first ever sign of steven hiding his emotions/bottling them up to me. and the fact it was so early in the show really makes you realize how much he went through and had to keep all to himself because nobody else in the world is like him.

I really lile that this video isnt overly negative or overly positive. It talks about the stregths and flaws without letting one overshadow the other. This is one of my favorite shows and its nice to see someone enjoy it while still having a critical eye.

1:29:00 Jasper being fixed is part of the point imo. Steven never had to face any consequences for his actions, he never had to process guilt from being wrong not only because he was always righting wrongs but because even when he did they were usually fixed within the episode. Even when he did the worst possible thing he could do in shattering a gem it was fixed. This inability to process guilt is one of the reasons he breaks down

in this year i have rewatched steven universe 3 times and im on my 4th rewatch now. so as you can probably tell, I love steven universe.

24:30 Nahhhhhhh as an animator myself, I think it's inexcusable. There's a design guide for each character, prop etc that the animators have to follow and reference. As an animator you're expected to be able to copy the show's style EXACTLY. Shouldn't be major inconsistencies like that.

I know its the not the best cartoon, Idk if it my favorite cartoon, but this show will always have a special place in my heart. It really helped me get through some mental barriers and hard times in my life and I'll always be grateful for that.

I'm really glad you mentioned the value of the show mentioning concepts that come back way later on, whether they be seeds for something else or just a basic idea to come back. This show should definitely be rewarded for having some elements planned out from the start, especially when other shows get inappropriately more credit for retconing concepts into existence (like what? why?).

Man I also grew up with this show, and I remember being OBSESSED with the movie once it came out. I was so excited to view it for the hundredth time in theaters until the pandemic hit, and then once Future came out I made sure to watch every episode when they aired. Though, when the last Future episode came out, and I watched those credits roll, it was like a switch was flipped inside my brain. I had instantly just… stopped caring about this show I had followed for years, and I didn’t start caring again until just a few days ago when I had a dream related to one of the original episodes. I’m thinking of rewatching the whole series again, and this video is kinda making me want to even more lol

I used to hate future, especially the ending. But during the height of my first big manic episode, that was triggered by my childhood trauma where I needed to be the rock for all my family and friends, Steven universe future came to mind, the ending in particular. I damaged one of my closest friendships at the time, maybe irreversibly, I don’t know yet, and I was my own monster. All of this effort I put into helping other people damaged me resulting in a struggle with addiction and collapsing my sense of self. In the end I was hurting everyone around me by feeding into their own delusions and negative energy because I was telling them what I thought they wanted to hear, not what I really believed. I became someone that as a child I thought I would never be, that I hated even, just like Steven became more like a diamond. I think to understand some aspects of future you have to have gone through, or been close to someone, who has had a complete collapse in mental health as a result of parentification like Steven did in the show. Of course I know many people who have still don’t like it, and that’s completely valid as it has many glaring issues, but the message that it’s sending out to those of us that have undergone this sort of specific childhood trauma is so kind. I think it’s a very important series and I’m so grateful to rebbeca for creating it. The ending of future used to really bother me as I interpreted it as all of stevens trauma getting solved by a group hug, which in my opinion at the time was straight up offensive. But now I see that it was that his support system saw the monster within him, finally saw all of his struggles with morality and his insecurities, and they still chose to support and love him. I think it makes the song change your mind all the more powerful because once you’ve gone through a mental collapse like that it changes the way people see you, often in a really negative way, and once you start picking up the pieces all you can do is hope that other people change their minds about you, without forcing it to happen yourself, the ball is in their court now to accept you or not and if they don’t that’s okay, that’s on them. But it’s also because of shows like Steven universe future that I’m learning to have compassion for myself in that manic state where I lost my ability for empathy. She deserves love just as much as my previous people pleasing self did and just as much as this current version of myself does too. So do all of you out there, you may be your own monster, but that monster deserve love, understanding, compassion and above all you deserve to be seen and heard. I hope all of you stay safe out there and just know there is no one else like you, you are your own creator and you are here for a reason.

steven universe was a haven for me, falling into it during a really hard time was like a soft blanket , the messaging I took from it helped me keep going through living with an abusive parent and i watched future a couple years after moving out, it felt like the show was mirroring the ptsd , realizations and behavioral changes i experienced. i sobbed from the hospital episode till the end of future. the show def has problems but i feel that the situations and messaging can be interpreted in so many different ways depending on the person . the soundtrack and art stye literally transport me. and intentional or not there is so much room so theorize and analyze the plot and characters. overall a very personally important show

feel pretty lucky to have stumbled across this channel in its infancy. keep going, man. this video (and several others of yours) was good as hell.

I honestly love this show so much. I wish this show had been around when I was a kid. It would have been good to know feeling your feelings is valid. At least it's here now!

I feel like a lot of whether a fan does or does not like Steven in future is based on whether they've had the kind of mental illness problem's he's showing/has had a similar kind of meltdown (I have and let me tell you, my heart went out to the kid every second of the show)

Has anyone realized the the score albums for seasons 1 - 5 actually connect to make one picture?

Future Boy Zoltron is the absolute peak of this show having it's priorities utterly backwards. Instead of devoting the time to developing some of the lesser seen, relevant characters (Lapis), it dedicates an entire episode to cheering up the local arcade owner's former comedy duo partner, a character of such massive importance, he never shows up or is mentioned ever again. Meanwhile, outside of yelling at the CGs immediately after gettting out of the mirror, Lapis had exchanged ONE WORD with the Crystal Gems in the entire rest of the series. While Peridot never interacted with Greg for example. But why would we want to see our interesting characters develop and have some sort of rapport with other established characters, when we can just sequester them in a barn offscreen for 90 % of the show instead, and have episodes about this guy or devote two entire episodes to Sadie Miller's ultimately irrelevant garage band ?

It starts good, gets even better, stays great for a bit and then ends badly. I think after Steven get kidnapped by Aquamarine it starts to decline and it's all downhill from there. A lot of narratives just fall apart in the last season.

Why does everyone hate the uncle grandpa episode? It was funny and had a lot of iconic moments

reading the title and immediately dissolving into dust as i become aware of the passage of time. great video btw

My overall opinion on Steven Universe will probably land on "flawed but good".

i love The Test because it just shows Steven’s emotional maturity, and being able to put the Gems’ own feelings above his own. Tbh I think I think I’ve cried about it, the way he lies to protect them in a little way, instead of blowing up at the gems for lying themselves. He’s able to see where they were coming from and that makes him such a “strong” character.

Steven Universe is a show that will live in my heart forever. The way a lot of the episodes covered things had me a sobbing mess after reevaluating my tramas and learning more about myself. My friend and i used to paint and listen to the music for hours. Some parts really stick with you.

You may hate on Say Uncle, but it's canon. Steven unlocks a new power, and Uncle Grandpa gives the earliest series hints of Rose being Pink Diamond.

This was great!! I love listening to things in the background while im working on a drawing, especially when its like an hour long rant about shows and cartoons. I really enjoyed listening to this in the background!! :D

Steven Universe was definitely a product of its time in some respects and had its flaws but overall the show was good and it touched a lot of people in meaningful ways. It’s probably not something I’ll ever do a full rewatch of but it still holds a spot in my brain that won’t ever go away.

Honestly I blame most of the hate on CN! Steven Bombs were the worse! Like we’d be waiting months for small batches of episodes and then the crewniverse didn’t help either! I’m sure the combination of the two made most hate both Steven Bombs and Townie Episodes. Like I remember when Lars was stuck in space! THEY ENDED IT THERE AND THEN MONTHS LATER WHAT HAPPENS? Steven is trying to get Mayor Dewey Relected. I swear this was the first episode back and I was just so frustrated. They really should’ve doubled down on the space opera aspect after Steven escaped Homeworld. But no. Let’s go hang out with god damn onion and his weirdo baby friends instead of save Lars. Insanity. I loved most of the show. But it just fumbled at the end. Why? Because it was hella rushed. I would’ve preferred all the townie episodes be turned into them exploring and expanding on home world. But no. HERES ALL THE FUSIONS AND LOOK OBSIDIAN. Also the whole thing being solved with a “lol no u” just felt off. Movie was perfect honestly. Future I had issues with. Same problems mainly, not enough focus where needed. Like that finale should’ve been like 6 episodes vs 3. Cause we get cool monster Steven, him finally cracking. And we don’t even get a cool fight with the Diamonds. Just. “It’s all my fault!!” As everyone tries to make it about themselves while a literal kaiju is in the background. Loved how it ended ended though. SU has its ups and downs, but on a binge most of the problems don’t exist. Just. I Hate that the crewniverse loved so much filler. I hope CN doesn’t pull this shit ever again, Steven could’ve been so much greater! Instead of like a meme.

Man this was so well made!! Watched through it all no problem, so entertaining and well structured, loved it :)

this might sound like a weird compliment, but thank you so much for having sections of you irl. it was an oddly personal touch to the video essay

I feel like even though this show kinda fell off towards the end, overall it's still a really great watch and holds a special place to me. Totally agree on the soundtrack being amazing! I wouldn't say it has my favorite songs in a cartoon ever (that credit easily goes to Tangled the Series lol) but it's pretty solidly in my top 3.

I saw that someone said "the test" was somewhat a turning point for steven, the episode was when he started to push his feelings and concerns aside and start to put others before him

thanks for putting time into this!

I turned this on for background content, ended up focusing solely on the video and stopping my second activity, and now I’m crying, reliving the feeling of my favorite childhood show, one I very much relate to, ending.

S1 Ep38, The Test, is my favorite of the whole series. Steven puts aside his own feelings and un-confidence because he realizes that the gems are the ones that actually need reassurance that they are raising Steven correctly. Even though there is no story/plot progression, the character development is through the roof and really shows who Steven is as a character.

Hi! this is a great retrospective on the series. The show definitely got more hate then it deserves at the time. Also, i'm an animation student and i can shed some more light on some more technical aspects, like the designs. In general, I adore the steven universe designs. However, the inconsistencies in those designs are, for some reason i can't understand, intentional. What happened was every episode is directed/written/storyboarded by a different member of sugars writing team, and they each had their own "style" when drawing the characters. This isn't suppose to ever happen in a studio, every show has a design bible (documents will all the dos and don't of the show's visual style) and there should always be multiple character sheets showing every animator how to draw every character/prop/location (with some leeway for stylized visual gags, but even those will get their own little design sheet). Obviously as a show goes on and evolves those designs can change, but they'll always update those design sheets and the bible. Having consistent designs and solid drawings is one of the bare minimums for an animation of any kind. Long story short, it isn't actually excusable

Thank you for going through the effort of making this video, this kind of high-effort content is incredible.

Love the video. I watched the entire thing, holy smokes. I loved hearing about SU again. Thank you for the insights!

man im still just so mad we didnt even get a centipeetle episode in future!!! like, what!!!!!!! she didnt even have a single line post-uncorruption!

This actually came out right as I was going into college and I loved it as an 18 year old, I felt seen with the characters all being what I thought at the time as gender neutral. The fact that yes some gems had higher voices or other gems had feminine voices I felt seen. The relationships and the constant norm that queer people are present in the world made me feel like finding myself and identifying my queer identity stronger. Ontop of that the stellar voice cast ESTELLE AND NICKI MINAJ. And on top of that two of the four main characters are voiced by Asian people made me feel more seen. When I tell you representation matters at younger ages I’m so serious and can’t stress it enough.

As a 20 something year old, this cartoon helped me out of a funk. The emphasis on self love and the music was enough to soothe me. The song "Here Comes a Thought" holds a special place in my heart. I shared SU with a friend who enjoyed Marceline in Adventure Time because of her singing, but he wasn't into it. I think if you're an adult who enjoys cartoons and needs an extra shot of wholesome joy in life, Steven Universe is a good choice. The interesting plot was a bonus.

Great Video! Really appreciate all the work you put into this.

lets not forget that if you was a fan of the show when it was airing for the first time that they diddnt release episodes the way other showes would. They would do these "Steven Bombs" which is where they would release a hand full of episodes then go on hiatus for a few months to almost a year at times. so when a Steven bomb had nothing but Filler episodes mixed in with super important story episodes it was really frustrating to be a SU fan it was realy bad in season 4.

In a book by Rebecca Sugar about fusion, Peridot is revealed to not want to fuse with anyone and that's ok. Twitter later confirmed Peridot is Ace.

The whole "Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond" reveal was single handedly the biggest 'Oh FUCK' moment I've ever experienced with a show.

I think pushing the animation inconsistencies to “too many people” being unable unable to keep it consistent” is way to forgiving. If that was the case any hand animation would be inconsistent, anime, the OG Disney movies. even if we are going with the exact same studio, we have legend of Korrah… it isn’t nearly that inconsistent. It’s all due to the story boarders not keeping it constant. Or at least not going back and Reboarding the episodes post finishing the writing. I think the overall inconsistency isn’t supper important, it ain’t the end all be all, but it kind of taints just how beautiful the show can get.