As many know, I am a huge fan of the Cartoon Network show Steven Universe. Steven Universe is a show about a young boy named, believe it or not, Steven Universe. Steven is joined by his friends Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, the Crystal Gems. As a team, the four of them go on many adventures to protect the world from evil monsters.

That right there, my friends, is a very bare bones summary of the show. What isn't explained there is how emotionally invested you get from watching the show. Every character has unique traits that make him or her incredibly lovable. That includes side characters. Characters that most shows would sweep over are given their own episodes in Steven Universe, characters such as Lars, Sadie, Ronaldo, and Kiki among others. This show has risen up to even top Adventure Time as my favorite show. Now, I would like to look at my 10 favorite episodes of the show that explain why I love it so much.

Notes before I start: There will be spoilers. If you haven't watched the show, you might not want to read this article. In addition, these are just my opinions. If you like an episode better than the ones I've listed, please leave a comment and tell me why. I would love to hear about your favorite episodes as well. All gifs are from Giphy.com as well.

Now, without further ado, here's my list:

10. Island Adventure

To kick off the list, let's look at the Season 1 episode "Island Adventure." In this episode, Sadie, Lars, and Steven all get trapped on a deserted island. They quickly lose their way of getting back home, so they set out to survive on the island. Now, let's establish something: I hate Lars. Lars is absolutely my least favorite character in the show, but in this episode, for a brief moment, I love him. Him and Sadie have a very cute chemistry in this episode. In addition, he doesn't act like a jerk when no one else is around, allowing us to see him for who he might actually be. Of course, this is all ruined later when we find out that Lars sabotaged their escape so he could get close to Sadie. *sigh* So close, Lars. Regardless, for that brief moment, as well as the awesome song from this episode, I give it my 10th spot.

9. Hit the Diamond

This is a silly little episode that has a very misleading title. I won't go too much into the background, but let's just say that fans of the series expected a very intense episode. Instead, they got a baseball game between the Crystal Gems and a group of Gems from the Homeworld. Long story short, Steven and crew are trying to distract the Homeworld Gems away from one of the other Crystal Gems that is hiding in a nearby barn. Silly antics ensue, and the Crystal Gems are revealed to the Homeworld Gems. Instead of attacking, though, the Homeworld Gems reveal that they have a completely different target in mind. The Crystal Gems tell the Homeworld Gems to try looking on Neptune, and the episode ends on a silly note. I love the humor in this episode, as well as Lapis Lazuli's complete lack of care for what's going on. Lapis is my favorite gem in the show, so seeing her at her full-on most lackadaisical was a special treat. All-in-all, the humor and creativity of this episode get it the 9th spot on this list.

8. Mr. Greg

For this one, all you have to do is ask my best friend which episode I freaked out over the most. This episode starts with Greg, Steven's father, coming into quite a bit of money. Steven and Greg decide to go to Empire City, an allusion to New York City. Before they leave, Steven decides that Pearl should come along too. Through the course of events, it is revealed that Pearl and Greg have had tension between them for a long time. Steven, knowing this, decided to make sure Pearl went with him and his dad so that Greg and Pearl could work out their problems. I love the music in this episode, and that's good because most of the episode is told in song. The genuine emotion that is portrayed in Pearl's voice during the song "It's Over, Isn't It?" gets me every time. All of this combined deserves the 8th spot on my list.

7. Same Old World

As I mentioned before, Lapis Lazuli is my favorite gem in the show. So, an episode that is all about Lapis discovering the Earth's beauty is certainly going to appeal to me. Having only known the Earth as a prison, Lapis doesn't want to stay on Earth any longer, but she can no longer return to Homeworld either. To help her out, Steven acts as Lapis' guide through some of the local sites. Steven shows Lapis how the Earth is always changing and that the prison she once knew is no longer the same. At the end of the episode, Lapis decides to stay on Earth and learn about this mysterious world that always changes. I love this episode so much because it is absolutely beautiful. The settings that Lapis and Steven explore are gorgeous, and it's wonderful to experience the world through their eyes. In addition, I love watching the slow progression in Lapis' eyes. You can see her warming up to the Earth slowly but surely. Because of the beautiful animation and Lapis' journey towards accepting the Earth, this episode gets the 7th spot on my list.

6. Message Received

This one might be obvious for anyone who has seen the show. Basically, this is the grand reveal episode in season two. When the creators of Steven Universe dropped an extended edition for the theme song, we were given a brief glimpse of Yellow Diamond, the great yet distant evil dictator. Up to this point in the show, we had never seen her in an actual episode, though. This episode finally showed her and gave an interesting character arc to boot. Basically, there had been a long build up to whether or not Peridot, a former villain, had changed her ways or not. As this episode unraveled, fans believed for a brief time that Peridot had finally betrayed the Crystal Gems, but instead, Peridot ends up telling off Yellow Diamond herself. Because of this, Peridot officially becomes a Crystal Gem by betraying Homeworld. This episode is simply amazing. The suspense on whether or not Peridot was good got to me, and I was truly scared that she was gonna throw away all of Steven's friendship. Luckily, the script was flipped, and now, we have an awesome addition to the Crystal Gems. For the sheer amount of tension and excitement in this episode, it gets the 6th spot on this list.

Now, this list is getting long, so I'm going to post part two next week. Stay tuned, and again, if you disagree with me, please tell me why in the comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts!