on cartoonage

[xparrot]

Just finished catching up with Steven Universe, after naye and doctorskuld introduced us when they were visiting (for far too short a time, siiigh!)

I feel sorry for the kids growing up on this. Anyone who sees SU as one of their first formative TV shows is going to have far too high standards to enjoy most adult TV - they'll be expecting thoughtful, consistent world building, with coherent character development and nuanced conflicts with satisfying resolution. It's setting them up for a lifetime of entertainment disappointment (or else, gnine and the bro argue, it will lead to a demand for better TV writing...)

Seriously though, great stuff, and I love how much pleasure the show takes in being a kid's cartoon, in telling its story in that format.

I love how there's at least one person on the writing team who clearly loves DBZ and thought fusion was the most interesting thing about the story, but realized it was criminally underused and dedicated themselves to fixing that. Garnet was my favorite even before the first season finale reveal, which was just WOW *___* I love reveals that are carefully laid out such that when you get them it makes everything make more sense, and yet you don't see them coming. --Or at least none of us did, even though it explains half the mysteries, like why there are 5 gems in the star and Garnet's size. And everything about fusion, and what it means to gemkind, and how it's an analogue for sex and children and can be used to explore those themes in a children's show without being directly either, and how Garnet feels about it...I love a lot of things about the show, from the slowly uncovered explanations of gemkind, to getting all these different female characters (and female bodytypes!) in a cartoon, to how surprisingly likable and understandable Greg Universe becomes as you get to know him - but what they're doing with fusion, that element is just, ahhh, it satisfies me deep in my fangirl soul.

Comments

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

A couple of people have mentioned how J.J. Abrams having Episodes 4,5,6 in his youth formed how he saw the Star Wars universe and what he wanted from Episode 7.

That's when I thought...in 20 or 30 years, we're going to have filmmakers who feel the same way about Cartoon Network's programming like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Steven Universe and more...and I'm excited about what the results might be.

Already, it's the younger ones who are demanding more women, more people of color in their media.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

It is true, that the standards for entertainment do seem to be rising, and I do wonder what the young audiences today will make when they're the ones producing! For that matter, SU is already product of the next generation (Rebecca Sugar is a decade my junior!)

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly, I can't wait to see what happens...especially since they're less likely to let No stop them. If they can't get money for what they want to do, they just Kickstarter!

She's 4 and a half years younger than me.

[naye]

YESSSSSSSSSSSS you liked it!!! ♥ I am so thrilled you ended up falling for the same things we did - like Garnet! And the reveal! Which is so beautifully done. I was spoiled for it (Tumblr loves Garnet), but Skuld wasn't, and it was such a WOW moment. (And then one of the most recent episode that goes into Ruby and Sapphire's backstory OMG YES.)

The fusion as sex/relationship thing is so clever in that it explains things that you can't really talk to younger kids about (and that older kids in some conservative environments don't get to hear about) in real world terms. Like how fusion should always be voluntary, and you need both parties to want it, and how the forced fusion is the most repulsive, evil thing that can be done to a person and... yeah, all of that. And the emotions! OMG, for a kid's show this goes so dark? Forced fusion. It's so horrifying! And a strict caste society where some gems exist just to serve others? Whoa.

If you can go find some interviews with the creator, Rebecca Sugar, DO. She is amazing, and listening to her is so much fun! She most definitely knows what she's doing and where her story and her character are going and it is SO SATISFYING to see someone take storytelling for kids seriously like this. Plus it's adorable.

...Steven Universe has made me cry.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I haven't been on Tumblr enough to be spoiled, and am very glad for that, because yeah, that was a brilliant reveal - she's called an abomination and her gem is split and we were like ??? and then the next ep starts and you meet Ruby and we had to stop the video to shriek OMG SHE'S A PERMA-FUSION! And it makes so much sense, not just the details like the 5-gem star but also Garnet's whole personality, and how supportive and encouraging she was for Steven and Connie to explore themselves when they fused - Garnet comes across as the most alien of the gems in some ways, but then it makes sense, as she's something different even among her people. And Garnet's reaction to non-con fusion, her horror which is so chillingly portrayed for all it's a surreally animated cartoon.

And the recent ep with Ruby and Sapphire's backstory was so fascinating - is that how Rose managed to win their war? Because it seemed like even Rose and Pearl weren't used to cross-gem fusion, when they witnessed it, but if they learned it from Garnet, to make the 5-gem super-being (which the temple seems to be representing)???

I'll have to look up Rebecca Sugar! (Also I love her name, it's like, what choice did she have but to make kid's cartoons? :D)

Also Steven, Luffy and Aang totally need to get together and sparkle-eyes at one another's awesome powers and ride animals!