Steven Universe Future

Tl;dr: This is a mediocre miniseries, with a beautiful ending, and is a wonderful send off to one of my childhood favorites. If the show was as good as the last 5 episodes, this would get a 9/10. Steven Universe is one of those things from my childhood (high school) that I always had fond memories of, but as I got older and thought more about it, the less it appealed to me. It's corny and cheesy and childish and overly sentimental, even for me. But, there is a beauty in it's simplicity. There are some truly powerful moments, stories, and lessons in this silly children's show. There is a reason I regularly think about it, and am constantly frustrated by it. There's plenty to hate and be frustrated by in this show, but there is so much more that I love about it. I discovered Steven Universe 5 years ago. My best friend from childhood, Peyton, found it and became obsessed with it. He tried for almost a year to get me to watch it. I thought it was just some dumb kid's show and I didn't understand why he loved it so much. I couldn't tell you what finally convinced me to watch it, but once I did, I was hooked. I watched it on an illegal website called KissCartoon, which was constantly being taken down for copyright reasons, but I loved this show so much that I would seek out the back up websites with my friends and barely avoid loading my computer with viruses. (Kudos to KissCartoon for being so dedicated to crime, they're my heroes) I remember so many times when I would spend an entire afternoon ignoring homework and watching Steven Universe. It took me about a month to catch up with the show, and then came the waiting. Season 2 had just finished airing, so I had to wait through the infamous release schedule and "Steven Bombs" for more episodes. In the meantime, I rewatched episodes, found fan communities on the internet, theorized with my friends about stories and plot lines and characters. (Peyton was right about a lot of things very early on, including the biggest twist in the show!) I also found the entire soundtrack pirated on Tumblr, before there were any official releases (I still can't listen to Giant Woman without expecting the goat), and I found sheet music to play the songs on piano. The first song I learned on ukulele was the Steven Universe theme song. I was officially obsessed. And it stayed that way for the next 3 years. Through moving and new jobs and college and new friends, Steven Universe was a constant in my life. I scoured the internet for information about new episodes and talked to my friends back home about it constantly. Until finally, in May of 2019, I watched Change Your Mind. A five part event, with a full hour long finale, that was to be the epic conclusion of the entire show. And it was incredible. I cried, I cheered and clapped, and I watched it over and over again. And then the initial shock of it all wore off, and I realized that was it. There was a movie coming, but the show was over. I started thinking over the past 5 seasons of this show I had devoted so much of my life and time to. And I was disappointed. Steven Universe is not a masterpiece of television. It's not even one of the best children's shows out there (see: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gravity Falls, Over The Garden Wall, Phineas and Ferb, etc.). The 2nd and 3rd seasons are truly great, but the rest of it is a little underwhelming when seen as a whole. There is greatness and beauty, and some really enjoyable television there, but it's not something that you could imagine spending 3 years obsessing over. But the show isn't what possessed me. It was the experience of having this thing that I could enjoy and obsess over with others, to use in fun conversation, and in real life situations. Steven Universe is not a perfect show, but it is a perfect execution of its own mission statement: Empathy. All of the lessons taught in the show are told simply enough for a child to grasp, but are powerful enough for an adult to learn from. They all center around love, understanding, and empathy, and the relationships that are made surrounding it, breed just that. Real bonds with people over a stupid kids show, with cheesy writing and hokey sentimentality. But it's sincere and genuine, and that shines through, resulting a beautiful piece of art, meant to be appreciated for it's intentions more than it's merit. Then there is the movie, and the sequel mini series. They're not too great. They take a lot of what I said about this show not being perfect and double down on it. It was a slog to get through and it took me over a year to watch a 90 minute TV movie, and twenty 11 minute episodes. But the last few episodes of Steven Universe Future reminded me of what made me fall in love with the show. Wonderful characters, a fascinating sci fi world, and empathy. Steven Universe Future is even further from perfect than the original show, but in those last 5 or 6 episodes, it strikes the same chord that made it's heart shine through in all of the best moments of the show. I will probably always be frustrated by Steven Universe. I'm frustrated by Cartoon Network for burying the show and making it almost impossible to keep on the air. I'm frustrated by Rebecca Sugar for wasting so many episodes on stories that didn't matter. And I'm frustrated that I spent so much of my life obsessing over a children's show. BUT I will always love Steven Universe. I cherish the anticipation of new episodes, theorizing with friends and strangers. I cherish the stories that Sugar chose to tell, even the ones that seemed meaningless. And I cherish the time I spent falling in love with something as simple and powerful as Steven Universe. Steven Universe might not be my favorite TV show of all time, but it is probably the one that means the most to me. I will always love Steven Universe, and be grateful for everything it taught me.