“I
sure hope it won’t be long before we return to Steven’s universe.”
-
Me,
roughly 150 days ago.
I love cartoons. Always have. Really good ones have the
ability to lift you off your seat and take you into a weird and wacky world
only animation can bring you. Part of that is why I fell head over heels in
love with Steven Universe when I
first stumbled upon it in the summer of 2015. With Gravity Falls (still my favourite show of all time) coming to an
end, I was on the hunt for not just another great cartoon, but one with the
linear narrative and strong characters of Gravity
Falls that was still airing.
Enter Steven Universe.
While not to a replacement for Gravity
Falls by any means, it was darn close. This show had everything: An expansive world with
cool sci-fi elements. Well thought-out and three-dimensional characters with
intricate backstories. An awesome soundtrack with great songs composed by the
creator herself. Morals that tackled current topics like sexuality and gender
in ways kids could not only understand, but relate to. And, best of all, an
overarching story with continual character growth and mysteries o’ plenty.
After binge watching all of Season 1 and what had been released of Season 2
thus far, I was in love. I couldn’t wait to see more.
And here I am today explaining why I’m both cancelling my
review series on this blog and no longer tuning in for future episodes of Steven Universe.
There are three reasons why I can’t keep watching this show
anymore, but they all tie together.
#1. The show doesn’t know what genre
it wants to be anymore.
The warning signs were there in early Season 2, but we mostly
brushed them off as isolated incidents. Let me put things in context: Steven Universe started off as a sci-fi
show with slice of life elements mixed in with the episodes where Steven just
hung around his hometown being a normal kid. But there was a catch: every
episode had to have at least one sci-fi element to remind you of the magical
portion of the show, whether it was a cool new location, a crazy monster, or a
mysterious weapon, every single episode of Season 1 features either the Crystal
Gems or some magical element from the world.
Starting in Season 2, the showrunners began to separate the
two. Instead of walking hand in hand, more and more Beach City episodes were
being released with no Gem presence, and vice versa. The Gem stuff was being
saved for big, game-changing event episodes, leaving the Beach City episodes feeling
like filler.
Imagine if in Gravity
Falls we had an entire episode just about Mabel cleaning the local diner
and interacting with the locals and listening to their sob stories, or an
episode of Rick and Morty where Rick
left Morty behind and told him to clean out the garage. It wouldn’t be fun.
Which leads me to Season 4, and where my interest in the show
took a dramatic plunge. Nearly every episode of Season 4 is just Steven talking
to these boring people he lives with, with no Gem or sci-fi elements
whatsoever. The Gem-based episodes feel like events instead of the norm, as you
think “FINALLY! We’re seeing the stuff we watch the show for!” Steven Universe is no longer a sci-fi
show with slice of life elements. Now it’s become a slice-of-life show that goes
to space on rare occasions.
#2: Poor scheduling.
So how do you kill interest in a show
that’s already losing its fanbase after an underwhelming season? Easy. Stick
the fans in a seemingly endless stream of hiatuses with no return dates!
I kid you not, there are entire blogs
dedicated to documenting how long Steven
Universe has remained on hiatus, with the latest ranking in at a record
150+ days! It’s near impossible to stay invested in a show that takes such
lengthy breaks during a season. I’m used to cartoons being gone for weeks, even
months at a time. But half a year out of commission is just flabbergasting.
I don’t think it would be nearly as
bad though if Steven Universe was still
interesting. I remember being fine with the hiatuses during Seasons 2 and 3.
But now after the Towniepocalypse (as I like to call it), there’s no guarantee
that the wait will be worth it. When Gravity
Falls came back after hiatus, I knew I would get good laughs, crazy
monsters and maybe a bit more about the overarching mystery. When Rick and Morty comes back after their
long hiatuses between seasons I know I’ll get hilarious dark humour and crazy
alien worlds.
When Steven Universe comes
back after a hiatus, you’d be better off trying to predict what you’ll get from
a slot machine. Will it be boring townie episodes? Will it be the stuff you
actually watch the show for? Who knows! But you’d better enjoy what you get,
because after the five episodes they give you over the course of a single week,
they’re going back on hiatus for another three months!
#3. I’ve moved on.
There’s a weird thing about what
happens when a struggling show vanishes during a season with no point of return
in sight: it gives the fans ample opportunity to seek out new and better shows.
Since I can’t rely on Steven Universe for regular episodes
that are all of the same quality, I’ve just plain lost interest in the show and
moved on to other cartoons. I can guarantee I’ll be watching the next DuckTales when it premieres, but I just
plain can’t be bothered to even touch the latest “StevenBomb”. I know it’s just
more townie garbage I don’t want to see.
So that’s it. Instead of excitement, I
just feel apathetic towards Steven
Universe at this point. If you still love it, great. I’m glad you can find
enjoyment in something I can’t. I’m also still willing to come back and catch
up on it at some point in the future (preferably after it’s finished so I can
only see the episodes that matter), because despite my distaste for the
direction it went in, I still love the first three seasons.
Anyways, that’s my rant. Thanks for
reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment