Steven Universe Season 1 (2013)
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Steven Universe Season 1 Review
Steven Universe is a fantasy comedy animated series from Cartoon Network. Its first season consisting of 52 episodes premiered in 2013 and it was a strong start for the show.
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“Steven is not just a Gem.
If there’s never been anything or anyone like Steven…
we don’t know what he needs“
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Having in mind that the first season has a whopping 52-episode count, I am only going to highlight the best episodes in this review and maybe highlight its flaws in the weaker episodes as well. But first and foremost, as this is the very first season, let’s talk about the overall, general aspects of this show.
First off, the animation. I loved it. Yes, it features that typically modern, very simple character design and overall look, but because it’s so colorful in approach and because some characters such as the Gems look really cool and different, the show manages to be super atmospheric and even enchanting. I particularly loved the production design and all of the settings were beautifully brought to life, managing to really transport you into this world.
The characters are strong across the board, though some are more interesting admittedly so. Steven himself is overly naïve and good-natured, but his goofiness is amusing and his character interactions with the Crystal Gems are uniformly great. Speaking of them, Amethyst is the cool Gem and she is a lot of fun for sure. Pearl is the more boring, more serious one, but she got some terrific, emotional episodes for herself.
As for Garnet, she was the most subdued Gem and the most underutilized until she got that final episode where it was revealed that she is a fusion between Ruby and Sapphire, a lesbian couple. That was well hinted before thanks to her different and higher stature, and the LGBT angle here is very inspired and subtly handled.
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Other characters are less interesting. Connie as the girlfriend is fine, and their friendship/romance is quite sweet in many episodes. Rose the mother got some terrific backstory episodes and the father is overly goofy and stupid in my opinion. I loved Steven’s pink lion, though. He looks and acts so cool.
As for the story itself, it is obvious to me that the season finale would act as a change for the show that was here rather childlike, but it would become more serious from now on. And though I like the humor here, for the most part it was intended too much for children so I am all for this maturing of the show. Most of this season felt disconnected with very little arcs and too many goofy, comedic episodes.
Gem Glow with the ice cream “drama” very much felt like that. It was an overly goofy, childish introduction to the series. Onion Trade is also one of the worst episodes here as it deals with those uninteresting supporting characters and their stupid bickering. Garnet’s Universe is overly imaginary and like a filler. So those are the show’s problems: too many goofy episodes that are unimportant in the bigger scope of things, too many which deal with less interesting personalities and too many episodes that deal with imaginary, detourish plots.
But let’s talk about this season’s best. As I’ve sad above, the season’s finale Jail Break is absolutely phenomenal, very serious and very epic in scope. Together Breakfast is just the right amount of goofy silly storytelling, and the same goes for ridiculous, but fun Cat Fingers.
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Bubble Buddies is the best storyline involving Connie and I loved their relationship throughout this episode and the underwater setting was gorgeous. Space Race is excellent in featuring the ambitious aspirations of Pearl, Fusion Cuisine is a wonderful familial story and Lion 3: Straight to Video is the most original, visually striking of the bunch.
The first season of Steven Universe has its goofy, almost filler episodes, but most of it is very endearing and/or magical with the character interactions being the standouts along with animation and world-building.
Worst Episodes: Gem Glow, Onion Trade and Garnet’s Universe.
Best Episodes: Jail Break, Bubble Buddies and Fusion Cuisine.
