Gem Hunt (Steven Universe Season 3 Episode 17) - 'Toon Reviews 23

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Gem Hunt

For this routine Gem mission, a few things make it stand out as a charming milestone.  For one thing, with the depths of corrupted Gems now known, Steven has a whole new understanding. Inside every mindless monster is a helpless Gem hurt by the Diamonds during the Gem War. 

It also brings to light a nice dynamic from those who join him.  The reason this mission is such a milestone is that it’s Connie’s first one.  Her involvement plays to her training with Pearl from last season, so it’s a benefit to see its results.  In fact, Pearl comes along partially to ensure that Connie has remembered what she’s learned.  There’s an interesting setting for the action too in the Great North, a vast snowy environment which is wholesome and nice change of pace from the show’s usual beach setting. 

The one thing that shines the most during the search for the corrupted Gems is Connie’s determination to be a valuable team player.  It’s huge because for the longest time, the Gems have been very hesitant to get humans involved with serious magic business which can get destructive to their well-being.  Now with Connie learning sword fighting, the Gems are slowly entrusting humans to help in missions, and Connie actually wanting to help fits this concept.  Her chance to prove herself comes when the two corrupted Gems split up with Pearl going after one while Steven and Connie go after the other. 

From there, the main focus is on Connie taking charge with everything she knows, all playing to her primary character traits of being knowledgeable and statistical.  It’s not just with sword-fighting, but also with basic wilderness survival featuring believable skills relevant to the mission.  She tracks footprints in the snow, finds shelter, and makes nourishment out of any good plants in the area when a blizzard comes. Connie's also really prepared by bringing the appropriate supplies and alternate energy sources should civilization collapse.  It’s nerdy stuff for sure, but when stating her knowledge, Connie approaches everything with a youthful tone and upbeat attitude, making for a nice character to follow.  In addition, her role is enhanced by her comrades. Steven follows her survival techniques in his own way while also applying what he now knows about corruption, and Pearl gives motherly guidance through a walkie-talkie. 

For all of Connie’s training and smart survival skills though, it leads to an unexpected conclusion. They find the corrupted Gem, but the situation is too intense for her to remember her training and take it out.  It’s only when Jasper suddenly appears and brutally rips out the gemstone of the corrupted Gem when the beast is defeated. All Connie can do is simply contact Pearl for help like she was instructed to do.  There’s genuine sympathy for Connie since she failed to play as big a role as she planned, but it’s very appropriate that Pearl praises her involvement anyway.  As for Jasper, her menacingly showing those gemstones to “Rose” (Steven) brings a great show of promise for what she has in store for cartoons to come.

Ultimately, this cartoon is one of the best put together works of the season. It succeeds with a wholesome snowy setting, great follow-ups to recent reveals, and character moments bringing charm and likability to a serious mission.

A+

The Ranking

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

The next Steven Universe review is on Amethyst offering an interesting lackadaisical training approach that works for Steven and Connie, but not herself.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Down the Hatch" and "Road Rash" from Rocko's Modern Life.

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 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 9: Crystal Venom

Crystal Venom

I’m a firm believer that the best stories are those that can help you feel a wide range of emotions so to make what happens feel believable, and this episode is one that fits this criteria.  While some may believe that Sendak’s initial takeover of the team’s Castle of Lions was more of a one-and-done deal, it’s been made clear that him plugging in his crystal corrupted the power of the castle, giving what happened much-needed credibility.  The events that go on in this episode are clear results of his actions.  As the Paladins go about their day, they experience some very strange occurences from the castle like Hunk and Pidge getting attacked by food and later floating helplessly in zero-gravity, Keith getting mercilessly attacked by the training gladiator, and Lance getting stuck in a pod and later in an airlock where he’s nearly pulled into space.  There’s a lot of humorous and even intense moments that make up what goes on for our heroes stemming from them innocently starting their day, but the castle’s corruption is really meaningful in two emotional instances.  One of them has Shiro interrogating Sendak about the location of Zarkon’s base for their eventual confrontation with him, but is put through a mental breakdown when Sendak tries to convince him to join the Galra’s side prompting him to send him into space.  It leaves one to wonder if this side of Shiro joining Galra will come into play later on with a potential layer to his background, but it’s a little concerning that no one considers that Sendak roaming free could mean trouble in the future.  It could also be possible that he’ll be left for dead in the void of space, but still.  The real emotional highlight though is of Allura enjoying spending time with the projected memories of her father.  Though we’ve only seen only a little of her interactions with him, the fact that she’s lost something and someone dear to her as her planet and father understands her desire to use these memories to feel connected.  Relating to the castle corruption, she’s led to believe that everything she’s seeing with her father in her dreams is real which leads to her sending the castle towards an impending supernova under the guise of going home to Altea.  With danger imminent, when Allura snaps out of it, she decides to save the ship by destroying her father’s memories, permanently cutting off all connections with him.  It’s a mature, yet heartfelt, move on Allura’s part that can be easily relatable to anyone suffering a great loss, especially since in real life, when people are dead, they’re dead, and while it’s hard, you just have to grow to deal with it.  Because of this, this episode stands as one of the most powerful as well as inspiring when Allura is at least grateful that with her new team and Voltron, she can carry on her father’s legacy.  In spite of the possibilities of consequences of Shiro freeing Sendak being glossed over, everything else amounts this episode to an effective and relatable show of emotions. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1.      Rebirth

2.      The Rise of Voltron

3.      Crystal Venom

4.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

5.      Return of the Gladiator

6.      Return to the Balmera

7.      Tears of the Balmera

8.      Some Assembly Required

9.      Taking Flight

 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Paladins finally make their first attempt of direct attack on Galra as they set out to find the location of Zarkon's base through "Collection and Extraction."
If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.