Thursday, May 3, 2018

'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 1: Full Disclosure


This review set is bringing back another previously reviewed series which is simply a Gem:

Steven Universe (Season 2)

Basic Premise
While it’s always great to find new animated shows to talk about on this blog, I’m also excited to talk about other seasons of one’s I haven’t touched in a long time, especially if it’s a show I really love.  Steven Universe is one of those shows I love in which everything from the storytelling, to the characters, to the music, to especially its creativity leave a positive impact that resonates with me very well, coming off as a great example of how well animated products can turn out when a lot of effort is put into them. 
This is a show with an imaginative concept on alien beings called Gems with a huge story and fascinating tidbits about their inner workings and their past slowly revealing themselves, and they’re all set against the daily lives of a young boy named Steven.  It gives us a relatable representation of life in which fun light-hearted moments can lead to bigger, serious, and all around intriguing moments with lovable characters and well-constructed moments at the forefront, coming off as a big package of animated greatness.  This is precisely why I’m ecstatic to review this show again, not to mention, since the previous set of a set of reviews was on my favorite animated series of all time, it only makes sense that the following one would be on my second favorite animated series of all time.
The first season of this show was mainly used to give basic introductions to Steven and the world he lives in, which came with a lot of cartoons about him doing a fun simple activity in his hometown of Beach City.  They were fine on their own, but little bits of information about Gem culture spliced into them made them really interesting.  By the time we got to the middle of that season, the ways of Gems and their pasts started getting more focus in the cartoons helping the show to stand as the amazing achievement it is.  It all culminated in an exciting finale with our first big invasion from the Gem planet, Homeworld, the reveal that Garnet is a fusion of the Gems, Ruby and Sapphire, and the invading Gems, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli and Jasper fused as Malachite, escaping for the time being.  This combined with the fascinating bits of Gem lore gathered prior left a lot for the rest of the series to follow up on, and now we’re going to look at how the second season of Steven Universe does that. 
We’ll see more development from Steven and the Crystal Gems, new paths for Steven to take with his best friend Connie, looks into the past, new fusions, new songs, what became of Malachite, and the mysteries behind Peridot coming to Earth.  With all this said, we’ll now return to Steven Universe’s universe, and further discover why this is THE animated series of this current generation.


Now on with the reviews:

Full Disclosure
How do you follow up such a nonstop thrill ride as the finale to the previous season?  Well, literally picking up where it left off is a start, and this brings an amazing cartoon that develops the characters and plays on the emotions. 
It’s just after Steven and the Crystal Gems escaped Peridot’s ship and got back to Earth.  They may be victorious, but there’s wreckage everywhere, Lapis and Jasper are fused as Malachite somewhere underwater, and Peridot is loose.  Clearly a lot of damage has been done, but while cleaning it comes later, we realistically start with the harsh effects it has on others.  Steven, being easily blown away by big adventures as usual, eagerly tells his dad everything that happened since he left to help the Gems, including how the Homeworld Gems beat him up and abducted him and the others, and Greg is put into a nervous frenzy. 
After mostly being naïve and putting more focus on the adventure aspect of the many Gem missions, seeing this reaction from someone he’s close to has Steven start understanding how genuinely dangerous Gem stuff is.  It’s not all about a lot of action in various magical places. It’s also about life-threatening situations which can be disturbing, and that’s a big lesson for someone like Steven to learn. 
As for people he’s close to, a problem arises with Steven having planned to tell Connie about the Homeworld invasion, but after telling his dad about it, he’s hesitant to do so.  It’s hard to blame Steven for feeling this way.  For such a great friendship he has with Connie, of course he wouldn’t want her to freak out too. 

This conflict isn’t just understandable, but it’s also creatively presented.  This show has had a strong connection with music through some characters having talents for playing instruments and songwriting, dancing being part of Gem fusion, and songs being a primary source of character development.  The third point to music usage is on display with a song Steven sings about the difficulty to tell Connie what happened as well as protecting her, and it even has the benefit of being backed by the sound of his phone’s ringtone as Connie continuously calls him. 
By the end of the song, Steven decides to make a drastic move of ignoring his best friend.  If you look at the situation logically, this is a good way to keep her safe physically and figuratively, but as Steven forces himself to stick to this mindset, it’s easy to tell that it’s not the best thing to do emotionally.  As a result, the following sequence of Connie chasing him desperate to know why he’s avoiding her is full on engaging drama, investing you in what could be the end of such an endearing friendship.  The drama grows when Steven finally texts Connie that they shouldn’t be friends anymore, and Connie won’t believe it unless Steven says it to her face.  In the end, Steven’s true emotions overpower his good intentions when he admits that he still wants to be friends with Connie. 
Then everything works out when he tells her all about what he was put through, and Connie responds not with fear, but compassion for Steven, grateful for being a part of his universe.  The power of this gesture is more apparent through what's done with Connie later on, but that's another cartoon. 
Even if this cartoon isn’t action-oriented, it’s one of the show’s most powerful for the relatable, mature, and cleverly staged drama and character development, and charm from the relationships present.  It’s the best thing to happen after such heavy stuff. 10/10
The next Steven Universe review will follow Steven regaining his sense of fun after the Homeworld invasion as influenced by the Cool Kids.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, we'll be looking into the first episode of Hey Arnold Season 3.
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