Steven Universe Premieres
Monday, November 4 at 8:00 p.m. (ET, PT)
You can see the first episode free on iTunes
Steven Universe comes from Rebecca Sugar an alumni of of Adventure Time and a favorite of the fans for writing catchy tunes. Now she's become the first female animator to get her own show on Cartoon Network.
The silliest part might be is the show is based on her real life brother Steven Sugar, who by reading the credits after the first episodes is a background artist on the show. That's got to feel a little weird.
For new comers the show stars or shines on the Crystal Gems. Each is a butt-kicking babe and then there's Steven, a little boy with a gem in his belly. With the help of Garnet, tough-as-nails leader with a voice so cool you'll wonder why cartoons don't have better voice actors; Amethyst, not the DC comics video game warrior that should have gotten her own series, but a wild child up for anything; Pearl, a stoic ballerina-like big sister.
The form a family of sorts, all big sisters to their baby brother whose the heart of the group and without him they couldn't seem to be whole. The show is sweet and there are scenes that are adorable, and heartbreaking. The song about Cookie Cat is both funny and heartbreaking and a little bit inspired by Superman.
In the first episode Steven's favorite ice cream sandwich is discontinued. Making two thing happen: 1. I now want a Cookie Cat ice cream sandwich and will have to wait until the Internet creates them. 2. An array of emotions shown by Steven of wanting to help his team in danger through a delicious ice cream treat. Both childish and emotional is a boy trying to summon his inner power through a catchy little tune and cramming ice cream treats down his mouth. Crying.The show will have soundtrack albums or at least get Sugar work in the adverting industry selling treats.
On interviews online Sugar has stated she wanted to create a show with magic that still has some reality to it and she has created that. I look forward to seeing the world get bigger and episodes not always having to center around Steven, even though he's the titular character. The dynamic of team work down the line of three female fighters seems to be engrossing enough. The show seems to spawn a monster of the week vibe, but it looks like episodes can be about just daily occurrences.
The second episode out a week from the premiere "Laser Light Cannon" blends the love of mega weapons with Steven's subtle origin. We meet his Dad owner of the local car wash and see the beauty of when a girl grows up watching Sailor Moon and becomes an animator replicates that love.
The show is obviously somewhat a homage to Sailor Moon, but not in a direct enough way to have a lawsuit.
The Crystal Gems mission is to protect humanity from an odd array of dumb looking monsters. Sorry, but Kevin Dart designed monsters are so generic it's sad in this series. Not to spoil anything, but a giant one-eyed monster fought traces back my mind to Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girl's and other past CN shows and even Evangelion. Monster designs may be poor, but everything else in the show has a distinct style. Let's not forget Titan Maximum, those monsters were boring and stolen ideas from too many animes. I hope monsters get a better look and maybe some real villains come up later in the series.
The show will have to grow fast to be liked, but fans have already created Halloween costumes online?
It should have come out on Halloween to really get those who like the taste of Sugar's work.