Steven Universe Reviews: Season 1 (Arcade Mania/Giant Woman)

In this episode, the Gems discover the joys of video games! Well, sort of. After Garnet single-handedly defeats a monster on one of their missions, Steven takes the gang to the arcade to celebrate. He sets Pearl up to racing game, which she does horribly at because she misses the point of the game and drives cautiously. He shows Amethyst skee ball which she enjoys, but she soon starts cheating to get prizes. He tries out a few games with Garnet but both end badly, so finally he shows her a a rhythm game (the game is called “Meat Beat Mania”… I’m just… I’m just not going to say anything about that) that she takes to immediately. Too much, in fact. She won’t leave when it’s time to go and doesn’t even seem to hear anyone. Later, the Gems and Steven are attacked by a monster that they need Garnet’s help to defeat. Steven must tear Garnet away from her game, which she seems to have been hypnotized by, and he eventually ends up needing to break it. He gets in trouble with the arcade owner for it, but it does snap Garnet out of her trance so she can defeat the monster.

So basically what I’m getting from this episode is that everyone would be helpless without Garnet.

Okay, but seriously, we do learn a little more about Garnet’s place in the Crystal Gems and how important she really is. Since she’s normally the one to announce new missions and often goes on difficult ones by herself, it’s pretty obvious that Garnet is the closest thing they have to a leader. She’s also, so it seems, the strongest and most skilled Gem, which is probably because she’s a fusion but of course I’m not supposed to know that yet. I can understand why Garnet would be the leader. She does seem to be the most stable, and I don’t think Amethyst and Pearl would be happy following orders from each other.

Watching the Gems react to video games is pretty funny. I mean, I find it a little surprising that Amethyst has never gotten into them before, but I like Pearl’s confusion over why she’s doing badly at her game and her horror when she finds out what the actual objective of it is. Garnet taking the first couple of games she tries (which were fighting games) way too literally and breaking them is funny too. It’s just exactly how you would imagine Pearl and Garnet reacting to games for the first time.

Rating: 7/10

We learn about fusion in this episode. While Pearl and Amethyst are playing checkers, they get into an argument about why they “don’t form Opal”. Steven asks them what they mean, and they explain that Opal is their fusion form.

• Steven: *jumps in between them* Guys! Guys! What is Opal?
• Amethyst: Oh it’s the two of us, mashed together.
• Pearl: *scoffs* Is water just Hydrogen and Oxygen “mashed” together? *Amethyst and Steven look clueless*…analogy wasted. Look here Steven *manipulates the sand to demonstrate* When we synchronize our forms we can combine into a powerful fusion gem named Opal.
• Amethyst: *stomps sand* Except I don’t dance like that.
• Pearl: *annoyed* Amethyst.
• Steven: Wow, that’s so cool! But tell me more about Opal!
• Amethyst: Well Steven, she’s an ultra powerful, stone cold Betty. That part’s me. And she’s like, kinda tall, *whispers* that part’s Pearl.
• Pearl: What Amethyst is attempting to say is, Opal is an amalgam of our magical and physical attributes fused into a single entity.

So, at least now I understand what a fusion is a little more.

Later, Garnet sends Pearl, Amethyst and Steven on a mission to retrieve the Heaven Beetle from the Sky Spire while Garnet goes alone to retrieve the Earth Beetle. While on their mission, Steven attempts to keep the peace between Pearl and Amethyst while also trying to convince them to form Opal. He’s been obsessed with seeing Opal since he found out about her. Pearl and Amethyst are both adamant about not forming Opal unless absolutely necessary, but of course by the end of the episode they end up needing to fuse.

… Is it me or is Opal pretty hot?

When Opal and Steven return to the house, Garnet asks them if they have the Heaven Beetle. Opal realizes with horror that she doesn’t have it, and the emotion forces Pearl and Amethyst apart. Defused once again, Pearl and Amethyst begin to bicker about who’s faults forgetting the Beetle was, but luckily Steven has the Heaven Beetle.

This may change in the future, but at the moment Pearl and Amethyst are tied for my favorite character. Which I suppose it kind of funny since they’re foils to each other. (I’m also aware of how much hate Pearl gets in the fandom because of later episodes, but this wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve loved a female characters who gets a lot of fandom hate and it certainly won’t be the last. Sigh.)

I would have liked this episode anyway just for being all about Amethyst and Pearl, but the fact that it introduces the concept of fusion makes me like it even more. Fusion sounds pretty interesting. I like the idea that a fusion can only work if both gems (can a fusion consist of more than two gems?) are fully compatible and willing. Pearl and Amethyst’s first attempt at fusing in this episode didn’t work because neither was truly willing to work together or adapt to each other. Steven being in danger forced them to get over that, but they’re forced apart easily after a small disagreement. So I guess certain fusions are less stable than others, depending on how well the gems involved can cooperate. Pearl and Amethyst are probably too different and too prone to arguments with each other for Opal to be stable for long.

We don’t get to see a whole lot of Opal, but I like that in the short time that we do see her we can see ways in which she’s like both Pearl and Amethyst. She has Pearl’s grace and sophistication but she seems to have Amethyst’s playfulness as well. Her design, too, has elements of both Amethyst and Pearl. Amethyst’s lips and amazing hair with Pearl’s tallness and cute bird nose makes for a nice design, it turns out.

I hope we’ll see Opal again in later episodes, she’s so cool-looking it would be a shame if we never saw her again.

Rating: 9/10

Steven Universe Reviews: Season 1 (Tiger Millionaire/Steven’s Lion)

The episode begins with the Gems returning from a mission, and Pearl is yelling at Amethyst for being too childish. Garnet doesn’t yell, but she does calmly tell Amethyst that she needs to act more like a Crystal Gem. Honestly Garnet’s comment is more devastating than Pearl’s yelling, I don’t blame Amethyst for storming away. Later that night, Steven sees Amethyst sneaking out and follows her. She goes to a wrestling match (she transforms to look more like your typical wrestler and apparently calls herself “Purple Puma”) and Steven watches her win her matches with ease. Afterward Steven comes forward and asks Amethyst about her secret wrestling. She explains that she does this because in the ring she can do whatever she wants and no one can yell at her. It’s a way for her to vent and to have fun without being treated like a child. She asks Steven to keep this secret from Pearl and Garnet. Steven agrees, but he also wants to join Amethyst’s secret wrestling.

So, Steven’s persona is “Tiger Millionaire”, and basically he just acts like a rich asshole. He and Amethyst do well together, but Steven’s persona starts to get a little out of hand. He doesn’t mean for it to, he thought it was all in good fun, but one of his interactions with a fan goes a little too far. Steven immediately feels horrible and is unhappy that everyone hates him (or at least his persona), though Amethyst tells him it doesn’t matter.

Garnet and Pearl show up to Amethyst and Steven’s last match and they scold Amethyst for using her Gem powers on humans. Steven tells Garnet and Pearl (as well as the crowd) about Amethyst’s “backstory” to give them a better understanding of why Amethyst wrestles. Realizing how important it is to her, Garnet and Pearl decide to play along and let Amethyst win against them in a wrestling match. Steven is forgiven by the crowd and Amethyst, Garnet and Pearl make up and it all wraps up nicely.

I guess this episode is our first look at what will probably be a big part of Amethyst’s character development. I like how at the beginning of the episode, when Pearl and Amethyst are arguing, it’s only after Garnet makes her comment that Amethyst seems to really be effected. Pearl scolds Amethyst all the time, at this point it’s probably easy for Amethyst to ignore it or at least to see it as just Pearl being Pearl and nothing more. When Garnet, who rarely scolds her, says in her blunt, straightforward way that Amethyst needs to get her act together, it holds a lot more weight.

Pearl and Garnet do sort of have a point, Amethyst is childish and irresponsible. But at the same time, Garnet and especially Pearl often treat her like she’s an out of control child  or even a pet so I can’t help wondering how much of her behavior is Amethyst acting out against them and how much of it is actually who she is. It’s probably half and half. Either way she needs some kind of outlet, and I like that Pearl and Amethyst realize that in the end.

This is a good episode for Amethyst, and the wrestling homages are pretty amusing too.

Rating: 8/10

Steven and the Gems are walking through a desert, one with a bunch of sandstone columns that crumble and rebuild at random. The Gems leave Steven on his own to go and investigate something, and during their absence a mystical pink lion appears. Steven is frightened of it at first, but soon realizes that the lion isn’t interested in attacking him and in fact seems gentle. Steven befriends it, but when the Gems come back (with a pillow that was previously powering something known as the Desert Glass) Steven must say goodbye to it.

Later, Steven finds that the pink lion has followed him home. Steven is overjoyed and tries to play with the lion as well as show it to everyone in town, but the lion seems unwillingly to participate in any of these things. It soon becomes apparent that the lion was trying to get the Desert Glass. Hurt by this, Steven throw the Desert Glass off the balcony and onto the beach. The moment it touches the sand, sandstone columns start to appear around it. Steven ends up trapped inside it and realizes he must remove the Desert Glass from the top of the tower. The lion appears at his side to help him, as it turns out the lion was really trying to protect them from the Desert Glass all along. Once the Desert Glass is retrieved, all the sand structures crumble. Steven asks the Gems if he can keep the lion as a pet and they sort of agree? At least they don’t give a direct no. So I guess Steven has a pet now.

Hey, so, we learn something about Gems from Amethyst in this episode: they don’t need to sleep. They can sleep and Amethyst enjoys napping, but they don’t need it.

Another thing to note is that joke at the end about how Garnet and Pearl “kept Amethyst”. Like she was their pet. Just pointing that out.

Aside from those two notes, this is the first Steven Universe episode that I don’t like all that much. Not that it’s bad per se, it just wasn’t very interesting. It felt slow and there’s not a lot going on, it was easy to feel bored with it.

The ending with Steven and the lion trying to reach the Desert Glass at least was kind of fun to watch, and the scene in the pizza restaurant was kind of funny, but aside from that this episode is basically just watching Steven hang out with a pink lion. I get the feeling that this lion is going to end up being really significant in a later episode, but we’ll see.

Rating: 5/10