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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