Bismuth (Steven Universe Season 3 Episode 20) - 'Toon Reviews 23

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Bismuth

You get a good feeling that this cartoon will be huge when you notice it’s longer than usual.  This proves true, as what we see shakes up this show’s aesthetic. 

For starters, inside of Lion’s mane, there’s been a single bubbled Gem.  Steven accidentally lets it loose, and it turns out to be an original Crystal Gem, Bismuth.  The mere idea of seeing an original Crystal Gem is incredibly welcome, giving a glimpse of what the team's like beyond just Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.  What we get from this newly introduced Gem really lives up to the promise.  From Bismuth’s interactions with the Crystal Gems she knows and those new to her, her status and group devotion is clear.  A bigger example of this is when she learns what became of the other Crystal Gems.  She’s enraged that Homeworld wiped them out, and vows to avenge them upon hearing that Gems from Homeworld keep coming back to Earth. 

In the process, we learn Bismuth’s background as she takes everyone to her forge.  It was where she built towers for Homeworld elites, but Rose Quartz inspired her to make weapons for rebels there.  It shows how prized artifacts like Rose’s famed sword came to be and demonstrates Bismuth’s great talents.  Bismuth is also good for emotional support.  When Steven explains how he’s constantly trying to be like Rose, Bismuth gives the most meaningful advice he needs about how he should be his own Gem. 

Bismuth has a lot of appeal from her established traits, but what makes her truly great is her moral compass.  At one point, Amethyst tells Steven how it’s weird that Garnet and Pearl didn’t know that Bismuth was bubbled in Lion’s mane all along.  In addition, Rose never told Amethyst about Bismuth, suggesting something’s up about her.  These points prove true after Bismuth’s talk with Steven. 

Since Steven can be his own Gem, Bismuth believes he’ll want to use a weapon Rose disapproved of.  Her idea of settling Earth’s conflict with Homeworld is with violence via her own invention, the Breaking Point.  It’s designed to shatter Gems with a single blow which Rose’s sword can’t do, and Bismuth’s original plan was to use it on the Gem leaders, the Diamonds.  Bismuth is well-intended to avenge her friends and planet while believing that only violence can resolve, meaning for all her charm, she’s still deeply misguided.

Now, since shattering a Gem basically means killing a Gem, good-natured Steven is horrified by this idea and understandably doesn't want to succumb to the dire practices of the enemy.  Refusing the Breaking Point like Rose did, Bismuth is enraged that Steven may be just like Rose after all.  As she attacks him aggressively, she calls Steven a liar, believing he’s Rose lying about her “new form” just as she lied to the others about what she did with her.  This battle is investing for how Bismuth speaks from the heart of how hurt she is by Rose’s lies as she fights.  It makes her one of the show’s most emotionally-gripping characters.  

All throughout, Steven tries to settle the matter with pacifism with a good point that no matter should be settled with violence.  This plan doesn't stick though when Steven ends up poofing her with Rose’s sword, by accident yes, but it leaves an impact since he got it out on his own accord. Before Bismuth disappears though, only a promise that he’ll tell the other Gems what happened lets her know that Steven is different from Rose after all.  While this is pretty emotional, it's also fascinating that this is all she needs for relief.  The last scene where everyone decides to put Bismuth with the other bubbled Gems brings a somber tone with the truth of who seemed like a great Gem now known.  Their stance on this decision would change in time though, especially with the fact that Rose’s morals were questionable becoming more apparent from here. 

As a longer cartoon, this is very outstanding and thought-provoking.  Through the usual strong play on emotions and reveals of complexities for characters old and new, it’s a deep, poignant, greatly-staged animated work.

A+

The Ranking

1. Mr. Greg
2. Bismuth
3. Monster Reunion
4. Crack the Whip
5. Gem Hunt
6. Greg the Babysitter
7. Alone at Sea
8. Gem Drill
9. Super Watermelon Island
10. Too Short to Ride
11. Beach City Drift
12. Steven vs Amethyst
13. Barn Mates
14. Hit the Diamond
15. Same Old World
16. Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service
17. Steven Floats
18. Restaurant Wars
19. The New Lars
20. Drop Beat Dad

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode that mostly exists to just introduce Lapis and Peridot's general life together as well as Jasper's origin place, the Beta Kindergarten.

If you would like to check out other Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

Monster Reunion (Steven Universe Season 3 Episode 14) - 'Toon Reviews 23

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

Monster Reunion

At first, it may seem jarring that we go from light-hearted fun cartoons to cartoons all about Gem lore filled with promise for things to come.  However, the way the tone shifts is ingenious and the lore that follows is great expansion on everything we know. 

We start with Steven doing playing with his favorite bear toy, MC Bear-Bear.  Then, his simple gesture of noticing the bear has a tear and kissing it while promising to fix it, magically heals the tear. A big moment of lore that shapes events to come for the season has come from a simple moment fitting for the current stretch of light-hearted cartoons.   In other words, Steven has regained his special healing spit lost way back under the influence of his dad’s lie.  Some could say that this happening now is convenient, but Steven’s powers have always worked when he showed genuine love for people and things in life. Him caring for his toy bringing this power continues the trend. 

Because of the return of his healing powers, Steven convinces the Crystal Gems to have him try to heal the Gems turned into monsters during the Gem War.  The chosen monster is the first one ever seen in the series and the only one so far Steven has some sort of connection with, Centipeetle.  While Steven’s healing spit does help Centipeetle regain her arms and legs, it doesn’t completely work as she still has a monster-like face and can’t talk.  This leads to huge insights on what’s up with the monsters.  It was mentioned before that the monsters used to be humanoid Gems who became “corrupted and broken.”  At the time, it felt like they meant the same thing even though they were different words.  However, the meaning of the description turned out to be purposefully vague so Steven could get a clearer meaning based on his attempt.  Broken Gems are those with a crack on their gemstones such as those he’s previously healed.  Corrupted Gems are much different.  Their minds became damaged by the Diamonds during the Gem War. 

The reveal of the fascinating information continues when Steven decides to take Centipeetle in since his healing worked part of the way.  She doesn’t seem to remember him, but charming interactions get her to realize her bond from Steven humming the jingle of her favorite chips to communicating with crayon drawings. 

Actually, the use of crayons turns out to be a great and unique way to explain heavy Gem history.  Simple stick figures reveal Centipeetle’s background such as how she was a commander with her own army. She also makes for an effective use out of her simple drawings which depict the Gem War.  Crew members getting crossed out represent those killed in battle.  Ripping a drawing of her and her crew represents how she got separated.  Finally, a big white scribble represents the flashing light that corrupted her and many other Gems who were left behind.  The light was seen in full form in an earlier cartoon, but while these are mere crayon drawings, it’s put into context better here.  It’s a move so primitive revealing huge information, yet it still brings an emotional response. 

While you’re taking in the details of the Gem War’s effects, emotions still ride high as the memory causes Centipeetle to turn back into a monster as she tries to find her old crew.  The reverting goes so fast that it’s a mad dash to get to her old ship.  They eventually make it just as Centipeetle completely reverts, so she ultimately remains a monster and forgets her identity. It’s at least heartwarming that she’s reunited with her crew who are also monsters. 

Through a simple moment of leisure, Gem lore is greatly welcomed back to the forefront in this cartoon. Here though, it stands out for the interesting expansions on what’s known, creative ways of showing it, and especially stronger endearment for the monster characters.

A+

The Ranking

1. Mr. Greg
2. Monster Reunion
3. Gem Drill
4. Super Watermelon Island
5. Too Short to Ride
6. Beach City Drift
7. Barn Mates
8. Hit the Diamond
9. Same Old World
10. Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service
11. Steven Floats
12. Restaurant Wars
13. The New Lars
14. Drop Beat Dad

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where another big Gem lore element is set up for expansion in the rest of the season as Steven and Greg take Lapis for a boat ride.

If you would like to check out other Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 26: Log Date 7 15 2 + Final Thoughts

Log Date 7 15 2

Here’s some interesting behind the scenes info.  This season was originally meant to have 52 cartoons like the previous one, but for little to no known reason, Cartoon Network decided to split it, and a planned third one, in half so the show could have a 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th season.  As a result, the cartoon we’re going out on is not the strongest season end with low-key moments, no big reveals, and plot points like stopping the Cluster put on hold until the start of the third season, i.e. the start of what was intended to be the second half of Season 2.  Other season finales would better adjust to this setup with great concluding material, but considering the major power and drama of Peridot becoming a Crystal Gem in the last cartoon, it’s disappointing that this doesn’t even match that magnitude.  Still, it’s great for what it does for Peridot. 

Steven listens to her logs recorded on the tape recorder he gave her, intending to find out how she got on good terms with Garnet.  This is a fitting motivation since Garnet is the only Crystal Gem we haven’t seen Peridot bond with.  The logs reveal even bigger things about Peridot.  When it comes to Earth, we know that the Crystal Gems are aliens dedicated to protect Earth, but, with the exception of a few moments of Ruby and Sapphire exploring its wonders in “The Answer”, we never really saw how the Crystal Gems became dedicated to it (at least not at the time this cartoon aired).  With Peridot, her logs contain observations about various elements, offering firsthand a believable interpretation of a Gem properly being exposed to the planet.  There’s a charm to how Peridot studies the elements of Earth most of us take for granted. 

Some include seeing fascination of some organic lifeforms that can fly, which leads her to see if other beings can too, including humans like Greg.  Some observations allow Peridot to move past the Gem mindsets enforced onto her by Homeworld.  She finds appeal in human clothes when finding alien-themed boxers and trying them on, and walking around with paint cans she got as a gift to look taller.  Other things Peridot learns expand on her desires to understand Earth, like when she asks Amethyst to shapeshift into certain things to help her to find certain jokes funny.  The things Peridot studies aren’t just of Earthling customs and behavior.  They’re also on Earth’s ways of entertainment like TV shows when she gets hooked on the show, Camp Pining Hearts right down to making obsessive theories common to those of any show’s diehard fans.  Her obsession especially grows since she still talks about the show today. 

Going back to her feelings on Garnet, the logs contain many frustrations of how she’s a fusion all the time.  However, all her time observing Earth brings a nice scene where Peridot joins Garnet in stargazing and attempts to get why she’s always fused by fusing with her.  It doesn’t work, but Garnet is still proud that Peridot made the attempt to get her, and grants her an understanding through connecting to one of Peridot’s Earth studies. 

In the end, this collection of logs is an entertaining perspective on Earth that develops Peridot.  There’s an understanding of her growing accustomed to Earth that tie into her drive to protect it stated in the last cartoon as well as her officially ending up on good terms with all the Crystal Gems.  While it’s not the most exciting basis for a season finale, how the logs add to her greatest change make me consider Peridot my favorite character of this show.  After spending many cartoons with her, on a personal level, I’m satisfied with how we wrap things up with this review set. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. The Answer
2. Sworn to the Sword
3. Message Received
4. Keystone Motel
5. When it Rains
6. Too Far
7. Friend Ship
8. Nightmare Hospital
9. Chille Tid
10. Cry for Help
11. Keeping it Together
12. Full Disclosure
13. Log Date 7 15 2
14. It Could’ve Been Great
15. Catch and Release
16. Back to the Barn
17. Steven’s Birthday
18. We Need to Talk
19. Reformed
20. Historical Friction
21. Joy Ride
22. Say Uncle
23. Onion Friend
24. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
25. Sadie’s Song
26. Love Letters

Final Thoughts

When a show has creative fantasy elements, using new seasons to expand upon them plays to said show’s strengths.  This is the case with the second season of Steven Universe which not only plays to the strengths of the first season, but also builds upon them which makes the experience even better.  Almost every cartoon offers something new and interesting to the creative setup, the history of the established world, and the layers of the characters.  As a result, everything we get is at some level of good with nothing lower than an 8/10 in fact, which is an impressive feat for an animated series.

One major strength for this season is how it adds to the world building, further showcasing a wide range of reactions to the fascinating customs of the Gems.  Some of them are fun and enjoyable, such as new fusions like Sardonyx with an energetic personality from the attributes of the Gems forming her, or the humorous ways Gems can reform as opposed to just getting upgrades in “appearance modifiers.”  Most of the creative additions, however, are much more serious which, give big reasons to care for Gems and what they went through and what they’re going through now better than before.  Early on, there’s major development to the purpose of Gem shards with a reveal that during the old Gem War, Homeword used some of them to create their own artificial fusion experiments just as they start emerging resulting in scary mutants of Gem limbs designed to attack people.  The three cartoons these Gem mutants appear in alone make for some of the show’s most frightening moments.  In addition, these Gem mutants also tie into the biggest artificial fusion experiment of all, the Cluster which becomes the focus of the season’s second half with our heroes spending a lot of time at the barn that’s only appeared once before constructing a drill to stop it.  With an established look at what fusion experiments typically look like, and reveals on how it will be big enough to destroy Earth when it forms, there's a huge sense of urgency to stop it.  In addition, the season’s first reveal of the all-powerful Gem matriarchs, the Diamonds, add to the horror factor of the Cluster with Yellow Diamond making it clear that she wants the Cluster to destroy the planet and nothing more while also presenting them as heartless destructive monsters despite getting more depth later on.  Now, this season does feel a bit empty in regards to the Cluster since it isn’t dealt with here.  It is one of the first things the following season deals with albeit in one quick cartoon, but that’s a topic for when we actually start reviewing that season. 

There are also tidbits on how Gems like the Crystal Gems are viewed by the society of their enemies which add a heart to their cause as they essentially break from the prejudicial norms of where they come from such as Pearl being a servant to powerful Gems and Amethyst being a small outcast when other Gems of her kind are much stronger.  Garnet, on the other hand, is a different oddity entirely.  Her being a fusion, in fact what seems to be the very first fusion of different Gems, is looked on with disgust by Gems of Homeworld, much like how victims of prejudice are in real life as shown in the beautiful and artistic, “The Answer” which ends with powerful inspiration to be proud of who you are despite society’s views.  Overall, the ways this season adds on to the lore not only makes its creativity shine more than it already does, but also develops the characters and their cause up to the point of becoming relatable to our own world.

This isn’t to say that how these creative plot points are presented perfectly.  Many cartoons in a row focus on a certain topic like cleaning up the remains of the invasion from the previous season, a shakeup between the Crystal Gems after Pearl tricks Garnet into fusing with her, and stopping the Cluster.  It gives the season various story arcs to follow as the Crystal Gems’ protection of Earth as well as Steven’s role as part of the team continue to grow.  The problem is that there are a couple times when during the arcs, an unrelated cartoon shows up that disrupts the flow.  Sometimes they can be of something informative like one of Greg’s stories of his time with Rose that comes between cartoons of the Crystal Gems looking for Peridot and Malachite, or Garnet’s story and a cartoon tying into the mystery of Steven aging appearing in the middle of the Cluster arc.  However, they’re also of rather frivolous things that tend to distract from important aspects of the story like Jamie having a crush on Garnet, or Sadie entering a music festival, or a play about Beach City that tries to tie into the Sardonyx conflict but mostly sticks out like a sore thumb.  Stuff like this is not only not as interesting as the Gem stuff, but since this show is putting clear emphasis on storylines, drifting away this much is an issue worth pointing out.  Fortunately, detouring as some of these cartoons may be, they do give the characters some development helps make them more interesting, and thanks to future cartoons, the things we learn about the characters in this season are more relevant than before.  At the very least, there’s good entertainment to get out of them, even if they do get in the way of the main issues of certain arcs and the show as a whole.  After all, a great show is not one without flaws, flawless material is really nonexistent, but one that can still easily be enjoyed despite them, and two seasons in, Steven Universe has proven to be just that.

What makes the season’s strengths overcome the flaws so well are the characters who stand out more through dynamic reveals and developments.  Steven himself is a much more valuable and competent member of the Crystal Gems, often playing a big role in missions and using his powers better.  There are also new anxieties for him to overcome which reveal the magnitude of his role.  In fact, the season’s first cartoon, continuing from the end of the previous season, features this with him witnessing how freaked out people get over serious dangers he gets into which makes him hesitant, to talk about them to anyone else, even his best friend.  It’s only fitting that his big shift in usefulness follows from here.  Other things Steven deals with like him possibly not aging and knowing who to trust are also engaging conflicts to build his character, especially the latter conflict which appears a few times in other seasons. 

Time is also spent on revealing depths to the Crystal Gems.  Amethyst’s vulnerable side is developed through being too conscientious of her own reform, needing to be with an old friend to get through the stresses of a conflict, and getting offended when learning she’s not supposed to be small, giving believable reasons for her main traits.  Pearl opening up about feeling worthless is one of the emotional highlights of the season, especially when she puts up a strong fight proud of who she is just a few cartoons later.  Garnet even reveals her own weaknesses mostly relating to being a fusion such as freaking out at the forced fusions, splitting apart during her conflict with Pearl, and the reveal of her initial anxieties when fusing for the first time.  Through it all, Garnet remaining collected overall makes her more interesting than before with these weaknesses. 

Even if they’re not as interesting, the human characters stand out very well for the new things done with them.  There’s Connie becoming a skilled sword fighter and eventually getting on good terms with her mom, Greg explaining his deeper understandings of Gems, and the reveals of the talents, passions, and home lives of minor characters like Jamie and Sadie. 

However, the big standout character of this season is Peridot.  When she first appeared, it was anyone’s guess what she was like, being so cold and calculating, but also agitated with interferences to her work, and the trend continues into the this season as the Crystal Gems constantly try to catch her.  When she is caught, her more endearing, and occasionally humorous side start standing out through reluctantly teaming up with the Crystal Gems out of fear of the emerging Cluster.  In the process, she forms genuine bonds with everyone on the team one by one, moves past her preconceived prejudices, and even see some wonder in what Earth offers via her fascinating logs.  She still has some mystery to her when she holds loyalty to the destructive Diamonds, which makes you question if she really is changing.  However, it’s this mystery that makes the moment where Peridot tells off her leader for the protection of Earth one of the show’s most powerful.  The fact that so many cartoons are devoted to Peridot’s greatest change really sells how engaging it is to see her warm up to the planet she’s talked down to so much, making her a monumental example of there being more to a character than meets the eye and my personal favorite character of this show.  With how well utilized and developed the characters are used in this season as a whole, impressions like these are certainly great ones to be left with.

While the first season of Steven Universe is strong for introducing the characters and their world, the second one greatly shows what it can do though expanding on its biggest strengths, the lore and the characters.  Ultimately, the season helps prove why it’s one of the absolute best animated series out there, and one that must be seen by anyone looking for a great work of TV animation to get into.

Highly Recommended

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

If you would like to check out other Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

That's all I've got for this set of Steven Universe reviews, and there's still more reviews of this show to come.  In the meantime, stay tuned for reviews of other great animated series, such as those for the last two episodes of Hey Arnold Season 3 coming in the next two days. Until then:

Stay Animated Folks!