'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 22: The Answer

The Answer

In “Jailbreak,” it was briefly mentioned that the Crystal Gems were waiting for Steven’s birthday to introduce him to Ruby and Sapphire.  While he met them before then, Garnet still has something interesting to share at the stroke of midnight on Steven’s birthday.  It’s all about how Ruby and Sapphire first met, and it’s an incredible story. 

For one thing, it’s very welcome to see how Ruby and Sapphire grew to love each other after seeing them fused as Garnet since the beginning.  In the process, we further see the past of the Gems regarding the rebellion for Earth.  The first part is uniquely shown visually with near-white backgrounds and most characters seen in silhouette form except for those Steven knows.  Even the voice work has creativity with all the characters Steven knows having their own voice while everyone else is voiced by the narrator, Garnet.  This composition gives what we see a nice childlike perspective which gives the story a style all its own, and it’s very engaging. 

The story is on how Sapphire, part of a breed of highly revered Gems, was called to use her future vision to predict the outcome of the Crystal Gems interfering with Earth’s colonization. Enter one of the leaders of Homeworld, Blue Diamond.  She gives a strong first impression of the highest authorities, serious, calculating, and menacing, representing the scale of what the Crystal Gems were up against during the war, and it gets bigger later on.  Sapphire predicted that the rebellion would end after the Crystal Gems took out two of three Rubies guarding her, as well as herself.  However, one Ruby accidentally bumped into Sapphire, ultimately befriending her not fully understanding why they wouldn’t be able to see more of Earth. 

When the Crystal Gems arrived though, everything was understood.  Even if Sapphire would just reform later, Ruby couldn’t bear to let her be taken out, so she rushed to protect Sapphire from the major blow, and the bodies of both Gems fused into Garnet. 

An interesting thing to this occurrence is Garnet’s design.  It’s a mess of reds and blues all over and a hodgepodge of elements of Ruby and Sapphire’s clothing.  It represents this moment as the first Gem fusion with a lot needing to be worked out. 

Speaking of the first fusion, it becomes appropriate that this story is after two cartoons centering on the prejudiced views of Homeworld.  When the Homeworld Gems first saw Ruby and Sapphire fused, they didn’t look on it kindly, which is relatable to how prejudice works in real life towards anything against the social norm such as same sex couples which Ruby and Sapphire basically are now.  Blue Diamond was especially angry that Sapphire’s prediction was false and wanted to shatter Ruby for interfering. 

After Ruby and Sapphire escaped destruction from Blue Diamond’s court, the remainder, whose art style is more in line with the show’s norm, shows their time alone on Earth, learning about the planet and each other, while growing closer.  It may seem like they unnaturally fall in love in such a short time, but given the staging of the accompanying montage, you don’t really know how long this took.  It could’ve been weeks, months, and maybe even years which gives enough reason to believe their love formed naturally.  There’s even a nice song of Ruby and Sapphire’s feelings on their fusion and their relationship, set up like a normal conversation set to song, and it sells the power of what forms between them, ending with them forming Garnet for good. 

The story ends with Garnet found by Rose, who ensures them that in spite of endless questions on why she turned out this way, what matters is that she can choose her own path and is the answer to her own questions, and considering the most recently aired cartoon at the time I'm posting this review, the path she chooses is more impactful than it already is.  This moment brings the whole story together as something special with a message that not only made Garnet a Crystal Gem, but also gives something positive for prejudice victims in real life.  It makes what we see a visually-interesting, character and history-building, and all-around powerful work of animation. 10/10

The Ranking

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

The next Steven Universe review covers the actual event of Steven's birthday while also giving interesting insight to his aging process.

Tomorrow for the Fourth of July, we're finally continuing with Hey Arnold Season 3 reviews with a look at a special about Thanksgiving in which it's mistaken for the Fourth of July.

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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 12: Keystone Motel

Keystone Motel

After a major shakeup from Pearl’s major betrayal in “Cry for Help,” the following cartoons show its effects on each Crystal Gem.  This one features how Garnet deals with the matter as if snapping viciously at Pearl wasn’t enough, and does so the most interestingly if only for her status as a fusion thrown in. 

She volunteers to join Steven and Greg on a road trip that requires them to stay at a motel.  You can tell from her attitude that something unnerving is clearly up as if Garnet is having an internal conflict akin to a married couple's argument going on inside.  Since Garnet is a fusion, this statement is literal, and the internal conflict makes her fall apart into the Gems who form her, Ruby and Sapphire.  If fusion experiments didn’t break her, these Gems arguing about whether or not they should forgive Pearl does.  It goes to show that people's greatest enemy really is themselves.

These Gems are two different parts of a whole, and they have their own emotions and ideas as personified sides of an internal conflict.  Ruby is extremely hotheaded and wants to stay mad at Pearl.  Sapphire is the exact opposite.  She’s unemotional all throughout as she pushes towards forgiving Pearl right away.  They both represent the appropriate feelings for when you don’t know how to approach a situation, especially one as big as forgiving someone for something really bad.  With two colorful and creatively designed characters to represent these feelings, this alone is a great example of how to properly utilize the animation medium.  Ruby and Sapphire are also creative representations of individual coping methods taken to the extreme.  Ruby is very loud and open about how she feels right down to getting so hot with anger she evaporates water out of an entire pool.  Sapphire claims she’s fine and that the conflict will be resolved in the future, but her freezing the entire room shows otherwise. 

In addition, the cartoon portrays exactly how much of an issue being too open or too closed with a problem can be.  It’s sad to watch Steven have to put up with Ruby and Sapphire’s turmoil ruining the fun time he’s trying to have.  Greg does offer meaningful advice on how conflicts can be resolved if both sides have some space and lightens the mood with reminders of other fun things to look forward to.  When Ruby and Sapphire's argument ruins those things too the following day, the tensions thankfully come to a noteworthy end.  Steven finally has enough and lashes out at Ruby and Sapphire about how bad everything has been for him lately.  This makes Ruby and Sapphire realize that their conflicted feelings are making others miserable.  The emotional weight is even more apparent when Ruby and Sapphire admit to each other how wrong they were and get a proper understanding of the other’s feelings.  They fuse back into Garnet and reach a healthy conclusion of agreeing to forgive Pearl, but only when they're ready which isn’t now. 

This ending makes everything in the cartoon work with the best way conflicts can resolve.  After being tolerated for a while, something’s done to stop it when it goes too far, and a mature, heartwarming compromise bringing out the best of the lovers results.  This and the inventive way of portraying one of the most relatable occurrences in life make this a standout entry for this season and the series. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Sworn to the Sword
2. Keystone Motel
3. Chille Tid
4. Cry for Help
5. Keeping it Together
6. Full Disclosure
7. We Need to Talk
8. Reformed
9. Joy Ride
10. Say Uncle
11. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
12. Love Letters

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode which covers how Amethyst deals with the aftermath of the Sardonyx episode while also standing as the most tolerable Onion episode of the series.

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.

'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 52 + Final Thoughts

Jailbreak

Continuing the trend of “The Return”, this last cartoon explodes with excitement all the way through, making this a truly epic finish.  It all happens when Steven recovers from Jasper’s blow to his head and easily gets out of his cell which apparently wasn’t equipped to hold in humans as opposed to Gems.  While searching for everyone else as the ship holding them as prisoner heads for Homeworld, he comes across two completely new Gems.  One is the fiery and temperamental Ruby and the other is the calm and collected Sapphire.  They’re both likable and appealing characters by themselves, but during the escape, they both appear desperate to find each other.  Once Ruby and Sapphire finally find each other, we see the reason for their desperation.

They’re a romantic couple, and given that all the Gems we’ve seen take on the form of females, this makes this reveal a solid form of LGBT representation.  What’s more, it’s proven to be a big piece of representation for the group when we see that Ruby and Sapphire fused together equals Garnet explaining her three eyes, two Gem powers opposed to one, and her regularly balanced demeanor; she’s a fusion.  This means that even though we’ve never seen Ruby and Sapphire themselves before, them forming one of the main characters means we’ve seen them be a couple since the beginning.  This newly revealed information of Garnet and the Gems who form her leads to a fight with Jasper.  Like most fights, this one has a lot of action with punches, fast movements, and even a few explosions, but it also comes with an awesome song entitled, “Stronger Than You.”  It has a catchy tune that matches the pace of the fight and never feels out of place, and works as an anthem for Garnet’s status as a fusion.  As Jasper shows disdain towards fusion, the song greatly illustrates her pride in who she is and how she benefits as a Gem made of love.  It’s thanks to Garnet that the jailbreak is a success, but things remain intense even when the cartoon’s nearly finished.  For one thing, Peridot escapes in a pod as the ship crashes down to Earth, leading to a major plot thread for the next season, and Jasper survives the crash, as does Lapis.  Jasper convinces Lapis to fuse with her to finish off the Crystal Gems, and when Lapis accepts, it seems like a nasty betrayal to everyone, especially Steven.  Then, at the last moment, it’s revealed that Lapis’ acceptance was a ploy to trap her and Jasper, both of whom fused as the more powerful Malachite, at the bottom the ocean which is both brave, and further painting Lapis as a tragic character.  She spent so long trapped in a mirror, and now under her own power, she’s trapped again.  She really can’t get a break.  I think the final moment of Steven and the Crystal Gems starring blankly at what happened with only the sound of Connie calling Steven who had left her a message earlier is a perfect reaction.  The whole cartoon closes the season with one exciting moment after another that it’s hard to take it all in, with Garnet’s reveal as a fusion, the awesome song set to a battle, and intense moments full of things to expect in the future.  It really shows the evolution of the story and cements the series’ status as a major experience. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Rose’s Scabbard
2. Jailbreak
3. Ocean Gem
4. The Return
5. Lion 3: Straight to Video
6. Alone Together
7. Coach Steven
8. On the Run
9. Story for Steven
10. Maximum Capacity
11. Mirror Gem
12. An Indirect Kiss
13. Space Race
14. So Many Birthdays
15. Steven the Sword Fighter
16. Lion 2: The Movie
17. Bubble Buddies
18. Monster Buddies
19. Laser Light Cannon
20. Winter Forecast
21. Giant Woman
22. Lars and the Cool Kids
23. The Test
24. The Message
25. Steven’s Lion
26. Horror Club
27. Watermelon Steven
28. Gem Glow
29. Steven and the Stevens
30. Marble Madness
31. Warp Tour
32. Open Book
33. Island Adventure
34. Rose’s Room
35. Cheeseburger Backpack
36. Future Vision
37. Political Power
38. Secret Team
39. House Guest
40. Serious Steven
41. Joking Victim
42. Beach Party
43. Cat Fingers
44. Tiger Millionaire
45. Together Breakfast
46. Fusion Cuisine
47. Frybo
48. Shirt Club
49. Onion Trade
50. Arcade Mania
51. Garnet’s Universe
52. Keep Beach City Weird

Final Thoughts

People often say that life is like a box of chocolates which means that you never know what you’ll get.  From this first season, this concept is easily true for Steven Universe, though in that case, I should be saying that life is like a bunch of gems.  Every cartoon that makes up the season is not only different from each other, but they also manage to come off as good and appealing like a gem would.  Even the weakest cartoons have something good to take from them which further demonstrates the show’s status as something special.  We have simple slice-of-life cartoons that stand out with top-notch humor and character interactions, character-building cartoons that are big on heart and interesting information, and dark and serious cartoons that bring about major new directions for the main story to take.  Even when the cartoons aren’t the best, they’re all enjoyable in their own way, and that’s a rare thing for any series.  There’s always something good to take away.

One major thing to praise the show for is its creative premise in how much there is to the alien race of Gems.  In just about any cartoon, including those that feature Steven doing a fun activity, we see some aspect of Gem lore that adds to their engagement.  We see how they summon weapons, how they access rooms, their main goal on Earth, how they handle the monsters they fight, how they go through life and death, how they get their certain appearances, and many more.  In addition to all the insightful and creative elements of Gems, we also get a lot of emotional points to them such as how badly their forms and minds are altered when their gemstones are broken or corrupted.  Knowing that this is the reason why many Gems turned into monsters really adds a tragic tone to how they work.  Also, considering that there was a war between Gems that resulted in many corruptions and casualties makes the lore all the more enticing, so it’s always great to learn more information about the war, and we’re still learning more about it right into its current season.  True, the first half of the season doesn’t have many cartoons big on Gem information this deep and the big stuff doesn’t come through until the second half which makes this season less interesting than what’s to come, but even when it’s not dealing with heavy stuff, the Gem information we do get is still a true testament to this show’s vast creativity.

This great lore really works because of the characters we follow all throughout.  Our three main Gems, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl each have their own personalities that make them distinctive from one another allowing them to work off each other very well.  At first, they may seem like your average super hero group through always taking on anything harming Earth, but as we see more of the show, we see how their role is deeper than it seems.  Aside from their past of breaking from their rulers and starting a war, their characters have heavy reasons behind them that explain their reason to fight.  Amethyst’s creation being part of Homeworld’s destruction of Earth allows her to make herself be of good use to where she was made, Pearl’s past with Rose Quartz brings about something for her to get over as she fights for what Rose believed in, and Garnet being a fusion explains so much of what we see of her through the season namely her pride in being who she is in a world that accepts it.  All these Gems are great characters to follow, and what we learn about them and their past is effectively shown through Steven himself.  He’s literally present for everything in the cartoons allowing him to observe everything there is to know about Gems in his own childlike way.  In the beginning though, he really can be somewhat of a nuisance by focusing more on frivolous matters, doing boneheaded things with dangerous artifacts, and getting in the way when others are doing something important.  Thankfully, very early on, he actually starts learning from his escapades and matures little by little through starting to take things like Gems and their powers, living up to the things his late mother did, and his status as a member of the team, seriously, up to the point of dealing with Gem monsters without his guardians’ help.  It’s also great to note that this development really sticks for the rest of the series.  We also have interesting characters in the other Gems we meet this season like the tragically sympathetic Lapis Lazuli, the mysterious Peridot, and the ever-threatening and seemingly unstoppable Jasper, with each one we meet demonstrating the mystery and menace of Homeworld.  As for everyone else, while we see a lot of great ones with interesting depths and strong relationships with Steven like his dad Greg and best friend Connie, everyone else isn’t nearly as interesting, making the cartoons focusing on them noticeably weaker than others.  However, what makes them work regardless is Steven’s connections with them in which we see that even the least pleasing people have a lot of good in them so they’re all worth watching, even the likes of Lars or Ronaldo.  Ultimately, no matter how strong they are, it’s possible to get something to like through this whole cast who add their own appeal to the creative lore and storytelling.  Plus, through enhancing the enchanting environments of Beach City, the many Gem-specific locations on Earth, and even space, soothing synthesized jazz piano and guitar music that fit every scene, including the intense ones, and the occasional well-constructed song numbers, it makes for a truly unique feel you can’t get from any other show.

Although this is only the beginning of the greatness that comes with it, Steven Universe really proves to be one of a kind in its first season.  I’m really glad that I decided to check it out since its story, characters, creativity, and atmosphere successfully all leave a strong impact that leads me to name it as one of the top-tier animated shows off all time.  Check it out if you haven’t already via online streaming, digital download purchasing, and the occasional reruns.  It’s truly a gem you won’t regret watching.

Highly Recommended

This concludes our look at Steven Universe Season 1.  Next time, we'll be returning to reviewing Hey Arnold, this time focusing on episodes of the 2nd Season.  Until then:

Stay Animated Folks!

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