"Introducing the Crystal Gems! Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl… and Steven. Steven might not know how to use the magical powers that come out of his bellybutton, but that doesn’t stop him from joining the Gems on their magical adventures!" While this description for the Cartoon Network program "Steven Universe" may not lead you to assume that it's a show with a wide-ranging audience, it's truly a cartoon that kids and adults of all ages can enjoy. Here are a few things that make "Steven Universe" a show worth watching, even if you're all grown up (as if that's even a thing).
1. Rebecca Sugar
Rebecca Sugar used to write for "Adventure Time" and is responsible for a significant number of episodes as well as a good deal of the music on the show. She brings her talents to "Steven Universe," a show which "marks the first time in Cartoon Network’s twenty-year history that they have greenlit a children’s entertainment series created by a solo woman creator." She is awesome and her gifts help to make the show unique, charming, and overall wonderful.
2. The music is amazing.
I could give example after example of the fantastic music in this series. It ranges from cute and light, to more emotional and serious, as well as just plain badass, without ever losing the whimsy that makes the show something you can't seem to pull yourself away from.
Oh, and while we're on the topic of amazing music.
3. Estelle is the voice actress of a major character.
Garnet is one of the Crystal Gems and is a fantastic character. Amazing in every way.
And she's voiced by Estelle. So I mean, like, why wouldn't you watch this show?
4. You can't help but love the characters.
Rebecca Sugar has said that the titular character, Steven, is based off her own little brother of the same name. She's also said that she feels like each of the gems are sort of different versions of her but she thinks she is most like Pearl.
WOMP WOMP.
5. The show depicts families that don't fit into the typical "TV family" mold.
First of all, this show is about a boy being raised by four parental figures, one of who is his father, the other three of whom he is not biologically related to. It's so important for children to see families in television, books, and movies made for them because most of the time there is a very specific type of family shown to them on TV and oftentimes it does not reflect that child's reality.
6. It makes the “real world” feel more magical.
"A fantasy world with fantasy characters became interested in real life, and wanted to participate in that […] and [Steven’s] like the product of fantasy having this love affair with reality, and all the imperfections of real life could be beautiful and fascinating to someone, and those are the things that are sort of exotic and foreign and interesting to these characters who are used to the impossible perfection of their fantasy world.”
Maybe this is why the show has garnered so many adult fans. Fantasy is often used by people as a form of pleasant escapism and a show that acknowledges this idea and plays with it; makes the real world feel a little bit more magical.
