Steven Universe

***Steven Universe*** is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network.

## Plot

The Crystal Gems are a team of magical beings who are the self-appointed guardians of the universe. Half-human, half-Gem hero Steven is the "little brother" of the group. The goofball is learning to save the world using the magical powers that come from his bellybutton and he goes on magical adventures with the rest of the Crystal Gems, even though he's not as powerful -- or smart -- as fellow group members Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. Despite his shortcomings, Steven usually finds a surprising way to save the day.

## Why It Rocks

1. The background design is simple yet unique and visually stunning. And the character designs and color palettes are fitting for each character.
2. Fluid animation and character expressions that are either emotional or comical when they need to be, especially when they are overcome with grief about a lost loved one.
3. Realistic, empathetic and likable characters that develop over time, adding to the plot of the show.
	* For example, Steven is an extremely sympathetic character, being a teenager trying to live up to the expectations of everyone while being hunted by villainous gems from Homeworld for things that his war criminal mother Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz did, who faked her death on her own planet and gave birth to Steven, now existing in his gem. Despite all of this, he still generally holds an optimistic but grounded attitude.
4. The background music fits perfectly for the mood, whether sad and emotional, funny and peaceful or epic and action-packed.
5. The songs the characters sing are adorable and well-written, and the way they sing the songs is beautiful, especially Pearl's song "It's Over, Isn't It", where she sings about how much she liked her diamond and she chose Greg, leaving Pearl with their son, or "Familiar", where Steven is on Homeworld and feels as though he is recognizing how his mother lived as a diamond.
6. The writing and pacing is amazing, because like Teen Titans, it is a serious and mature show that also manages to be consistent by balancing it out with humor and comedy, mostly thanks to Steven himself.
7. Plenty of beautiful and very true morals for children and even adults. One of its main morals is that if something doesn't turn out the way you want it to, this gives opportunities for other good things to happen. *"If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs".*
	* It also teaches the moral that people are still people and no-one is truly evil, which is represented whenever Steven is trying to solve a problem someone else is causing.
8. The battle scenes get more intense as the series progresses. One example is when Bismuth tries to destroy Steven out of the frustration his mother's actions brought to her.
9. The voice actors are exceptional, especially Estelle, Deedee Magno Hall, Michaela Dietz and Zack Callison, who managed to abide by Steven's growing up.
10. The storyline, while seemingly complicated at first, is very endearing, emotional and overwhelmingly original.
11. It managed to handle mature topics very accurately, most notably abusive relationships and the grieving of deceased loved ones.
12. It brings back the idea of fusion, executing it in a new and exciting way, allowing gems to join together and form bigger and stronger gems. The fusions are even some of most hyped and anticipated moments in the show.
13. It earned a phenomenal movie based on the events after the Season 5 finale. As well, gaining an limited epilogue series, both within the same year (2019).
14. Good guest Stars like Cristina Vee (who previously voiced Homura Akemi from *Puella Magi Madoka Magica*, Cerebella in Skullgirls and recently Ladybug in Miraculous Ladybug), Nicki Minaj (who also voiced Pinky in The Angry Birds Movie 2) and more.

## Bad Qualities

1. The pilot wasn't great. Through, the creator, Rebecca Sugar, recognized the pilot as an alternative continuity from the canonical version of her show.
2. The first half of Season 1 didn't really start the show off all that great, as it looked like another overly peppy Cartoon Network show, but using both modern generic Magical Girl and (low) urban fantasy clichés. However, the show did get better in the second half of Season 1 through Season 3. Season 4 focused more on the residents of Beach City than the Gems, the Crystal Gems got very reduced screen time and focus, and the animation got constantly off-model.
3. Many visual inconsistencies, the most notable instance is when a scene looks peppy and silly where it's supposed to be a very serious scene. This is very noticeable in the first-half of Season 1.
4. Lots of unnecessary filler is used; it does improve in later seasons though.
5. Some say that the evil Diamonds are unrealistically too easily redeemed in the end, despite committing mass genocide across the cosmos and experimenting with the shards of gems that were shattered.
6. Rough Draft Studios produces subpar, off-model animation for the show (compared to the much more polished Sunmin Animation), which is odd considering Rough Draft is known for its high-quality animation on other shows.

## Reception

Steven Universe was heavily judged after the first episode, but as the series went on, it was considered one of, if not, the best show of Cartoon Network by a very wide audience. It has a rating of 8.4 out of 10 on IMDb, with episodes with much higher ratings than the show itself on the same site.