'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 45

Rose’s Scabbard

One of the best things about this show is how well it fleshes out the characters, revealing their depths and making what they go through feel real and sympathetic which makes the viewing experience beautiful and grand.  These feelings are at their strongest in this very cartoon, making it the season’s ultimate highlight.  At this point, Pearl has been shown as an emotional wreck from time to time, and the story deals with one of the main causes for this, her bond to the Gem who would become Steven’s mother, Rose Quartz.  How she describes Rose and how she was always willing to fight by her side during the Gem war really shows how much Pearl valued her, practically implying that she loved her more than just as the leader of the Crystal Gems and elaborating the deepness of the relationship.  This ties into the plot when the team finds the scabbard that held Rose’s sword while searching a Gem battlefield for weapons, and Steven and Pearl look for the sword which gives Pearl an opportunity to show Steven everything Rose shared with her and only her.  With this in mind, we have another major layer to this relationship.  Rose had to keep a lot of things secret, even to the members of her team, to protect everyone, but the fact that she was able to tell Pearl a lot of these things speaks volumes of how she valued her, and it’s easy to see how honored Pearl feels about this.  This is also why it’s easy to feel for Pearl when her view of her bond with Rose comes crashing down.  It happens when Pearl takes Steven to where she believes Rose’s sword is located, and Steven recognizes it as the armory Lion took him to way back in “Lion 2: The Movie.”  When the sword’s not there, the real kicker comes in when Pearl describes Rose’s sword and Steven remembers that it’s the same sword hidden in Lion’s mane, indicating that Lion has a connection with Rose, something even Pearl never knew.  She feels very hurt that even she, the Gem closest to Rose Quartz, wasn’t told everything and she even lashes out at anyone trying to reason with her.  Given how strong Pearl’s love for Rose has been shown to be, her reaction is completely understandable.  It’s bad enough for her that the man who would become Steven’s dad meant more to Rose, but after feeling that Rose saw something special in her for so long, realizing there were things Rose didn’t even tell her must be more hurtful than ever to her.   Through this sorrow of Pearl’s though comes a great moment from Steven as he follows Pearl to an ancient battlefield to find out what’s wrong with her, and he stops at nothing, even if it does meet him with near-peril.  What results from this is a moment that makes the cartoon as great as it is.  In a slow, quiet scene that makes the emotions easy to feel, as Pearl laments that she’ll never know what Rose really thought of her now that she’s gone, Steven comforts her by letting her know that he thinks she’s great as she is and it’s all capped off with a montage of both of them hanging out together with nothing but a smooth and beautiful music piece in the background.  It’s just a masterful way of getting an emotional response, getting you more connected with the characters than ever before.  Because of how real the characters involved feel as well as the revealed information on the big story and masterful sense of emotion, this cartoon is not just “pretty great” but also something truly amazing. 10/10

The Ranking

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

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode that stresses how different opinions should never affect friendships in "Open Book."

If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.

'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 15

Cover Girls

 

 

 

Now here’s another cartoon that demonstrates how much the Loud siblings care for each other and are always willing to help.  You can see it right at the beginning which is an awesome action-packed sequence of the girls distracting Mom and Dad as Lincoln rushes to get home so no one realizes he missed his curfew.  Their care and love continues on well into the rest of the cartoon where Lincoln returns his sisters’ favor by covering for them on spring cleaning day while they go out to do other things.  You may think that the cartoon will feature Lincoln unfairly suffering by being the only one to keep up the charade while everyone else takes advantage of him, but the cartoon wisely goes in the direction that requires all the siblings to play their part.  Their grandpa, who they call Pop-Pop (just like what my family used to call our grandpa), calls them on video chat which prompts Lincoln to cover as his sisters as best he can so no one notices that they’re not home.  As more of the sisters come home, they start posing as other siblings too, and the cartoon results in one hilarious collection of different Loud siblings posing as other siblings.  There’s a lot of passion thrown into the acting that allows the characters to successfully emulate the different characters they’re imitating, but still remaining true to themselves.  Some of my favorite interpretations include Lana as Leni, Lynn as Lisa, and Lori as Lincoln.  Leni and Luan even put on a great homage to the Marx Brothers at one point.  Then, we get an ending where the kids get caught deceiving everyone by their parents who then proceed to punish them by having them go out and do what they wanted to do while dressed in their disguises, resulting in all of them getting into embarrassing situations.  This ending does have a bit of a downer tone that honestly unfairly sours things for the kids.  I mean, was their act of deception really THAT bad?  Honestly though, despite this being a bit of an issue with the cartoon, the ending is still tolerable since I’m still able to get a good laugh out of at least a few of the scenes of the kids being forced to do what they planned on doing in their disguises.  Also, it doesn’t change the fact that we still see the great factors of the bonds of the Loud siblings.  With that in place, I personally call this cartoon a good watch. 8/10

 Save the Date

The end of the cartoon, “Heavy Meddle,” suggested that the girl bullying Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, actually really likes Lincoln signaling the start of them potentially growing as friends.  This cartoon here shows that happening.  Although to get there, we start off with Lincoln being bullied by her again, this time with the kids at school teasing him about how this may mean she likes him.  Personally, I don't get why having a lover would be a reason for bullies to tease.  Finding love is seen as a great thing.  Why would bullies think otherwise?  Anyway, when Lincoln tensely rejects that, he accidentally hurts her feelings.  Following a hilarious over-the-top display of the trope of an average teenage girl reacting to a break-up from Lori whom Bobby broke up with on account that her brother, Lincoln, hurt his sister, Ronnie Anne, Lincoln finds himself roped into a double date with Lori, Bobby, and Ronnie Anne. This is part of an attempt for him to make things right with Ronnie Anne so Lori will get back with Bobby.  This is where we start to see some natural progression of Lincoln and Ronnie Anne warming up to each other.  At first, they’re not too pleased to see each other, but as Lori and Bobby start flirting with each other, clearly showing that they do not want to be broken up, the younger siblings find a common interest as they comment on the cheesy flirting.  The more they talk about this, the more Lincoln and Ronnie Anne start to like being together, ultimately going on to apologize for being such pains to each other.  This is a newly formed respect for each other that was a result of believable events, in this case, enjoying something similar, and is ultimately one worth getting behind especially since the other character pairing of Lori and Bobby, seems to be a very basic relationship established on flirting over each other, though its over-the-top tone and the clear care they have for each other make it enjoyable.  Because Lincoln and Ronnie Anne’s relationship is so appealing, it’s a bit frustrating when Lincoln goes on to hide that he’s starting to like her as the kids from school arrive at the very restaurant he’s at.  Is there seriously no reason why he can’t just tell Ronnie Anne that he doesn’t want them to tease him for liking her?  Anyway, this whole shtick ends up causing Lincoln to hurt Ronnie Anne again which seems like a sad end for what could’ve been a great relationship.  However, the cartoon remembers what greatness it set up by having Lincoln follow Lori’s earlier advice of how actions speak louder than words. Lincoln shows Ronnie Anne how he really feels about her by kissing her.  I can certainly see them as a couple, but the show is obviously pushing for Lori and Bobby to get together, so if Lori and Bobby do become a couple, wouldn’t it be awkward for Lori’s brother to end up with Bobby’s sister?  Well, I guess that’s a topic to be addressed in later seasons.  For this cartoon, we get a satisfying end that has Lincoln and Ronnie Anne remain friends and Lincoln avoid being teased for it, which is good because this cartoon really succeeded in building them up as a charming pair.  For that, I can proudly say that it left me wanting more. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      For Bros About to Rock

2.      Undie Pressure

3.      Project Loud House

4.      Space Invader

5.      Driving Miss Hazy

6.      Left in the Dark

7.      Toads and Tiaras

8.      Picture Perfect

9.      Save the Date

10.  Sleuth or Consequences

11.  Hand-Me-Downer

12.  No Guts No Glori

13.  Changing the Baby

14.  Along Came A Sister

15.  Sound of Silence

16.  Butterfly Effect

17.  A Tale of Two Tables

18.  Cover Girls

19.  It’s A Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House

20.  Overnight Success

21.  In Tents Debate

22.  Linc or Swim

23.  The Sweet Spot

24.  Heavy Meddle

25.  Get the Message

26.  Ties that Bind

27.  Making the Case

28.  Chore and Peace

29.  Two Boys and a Baby

30.  The Green House

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we really get to know Clyde's dads in "Attention Deficit" and witness one of Lincoln's worst displays of family love as he goes "Out on a Limo."