Rebecca Sugar's Steven Universe (Warning: Untagged Spoilers)

[LongcrierCat]

I wonder if the hiatus is due to the hiring of new talent to work on the show and that they're delaying to get the new work out from the new guys. 

 

I wonder if anyone's been hired yet. I saw Steven "GetVent" Bryant posting a preview of his test board just over this week. 

[Celestia]

I'm surprised it took this long to get a significant hiatus at all, and even then it's not as long as I had predicted. "Later this Summer" as opposed to late Fall/early Winter.

 

In fact, I kinda feel like they should have had a break after 1B ended rather than having a hiatus out of nowhere. Especially if it's to give some time for the new staff members to do stuff (which makes sense, if that really is the reason for this). I dunno, I guess it's not a big deal but it's a little strange. At least it's not annoying and only mildly confusing, unlike Gravity Fall's weird hiatuses.

[Rucdose]

Cool to see that this thread still runs strong.

 

So, I guess I should mention that I've done a few Art Academy: Sketchpad redraws of some screencaps from the show. Putting them in a Spoiler tag just due to better space. They're pretty crap though, but I'll make sure to update this post whenever I make a new one.

 

 

Updated last: 12/05/15

[Sapphire]

http://steven-universe.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_Guide

 

It looks like the next episode "Rising Tides/Crashing Skies" is premiering on June 4. So that's not too long of a hiatus! Thank goodness.

[Phos]

Reformed was a good episode, but to me it seems like a season 1 episode. The finale of season 1 crossed the rubicon but you'd never guess from the way these episodes have been going. There's a certain lack of proactiveness missing from the main cast considering the situation they're (still) in.

And I thought Jail Break was a much better character piece on Amethyst.

[TheGerkuman]

The finale was important but the impending war seems more of a cold war at the moment.

Also it seems that the June date was a rumour and 'Later This Summer' really is later.

[Rucdose]

 

[DaBatGuy]

Aw Fuck, I can't survive another Steven Bomb. I'm still piecing together what's left of my feels from the last one.

[Nepenthe]

Due to me coming so late in the game, I missed the first Steven Bomb. After looking up what episodes were included in that....

I'm ready. Bring on the feels and war. <3

[DarkLight]

So is each character on that chart meant to represent an episode centered around them?

 

If so, cool. I'm always up for more Garnet and Greg episodes.

[Tara]

"In other news, stock prices for Kleenex tissues suddenly and mysteriously skyrocketed during the interval of June 15 through June 19.  Inside sources trace this sudden rise to a conspiracy from this so-called 'Steven Bomb.'  Fox News speculates that Iran may be involved."

 

I'm ready for this.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

So is each character on that chart meant to represent an episode centered around them?

 

If so, cool. I'm always up for more Garnet and Greg episodes.

It looks like that yes.

 

The last one intrigues me...

[GamerGirl54321]

Another Ronaldo episode? I kinda wanted another episode about the group of teenagers, to be honest :S

[Sean]

Ronaldo is literally the worst character aside from Lars. Why are they doing this to me

[Mogtaki]

Well, he's going to be investigating whether they're safe for Beach City or not.

 

Could mean that they are threatened with exile.

[Cyrus]

WHO'S READY FOR THE BOMB TO BLOW??

[AdventChild]

NEW OPENING!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxUjksvkqz4

[Nepenthe]

The episode itself was great! Fantastic start to the Steven Bomb!

Connie is coming into her own as a fighter, which is a really great follow up and development to her reaffirming her relationship with Steven after Jail Break. It's set up for something great, with her team up with Steven during training being a badass taste for the inevitable finale.

But poor Pearl though! The episode didn't just reaffirm her idolization of Rose, but it allows us to understand just how little she actually seems to think of herself, even when Rose was around. She didn't even seem to believe that Rose would even come to protect her during battle, and indeed the implication of Pearl constantly falling in battle without Rose reciprocating hints further at a relationship that was completely one-sided to the point of delusion. It might be why Pearl seems to be the Gem most distant from Greg, the person who not only took Rose away but also experienced a love that Pearl perhaps never actually got.

Oh Jesus, I'm getting misty. ;~;

[Kevin]

Wow! What an amazing opener! I absolutely love the development in Steven and Connie's relationship and in Connie's character itself. But Pearl...oh my god do I feel awful for her! Having a feeling of Rose not even coming to protect her got me right in the feels! One thing to note is that in a recent interview, Rebecca said this is where the show really begins, and given how we already started off here, it sounds like some major stuff is about the go down!

 

Also, I'm loving the new opening!

[DarkLight]

Pearl's unconditional loyalty to Rose might also manifest itself in how she treats Steven at times. Always protecting him, always telling him to run away from the conflict at hand when he's already proved some competency/summoning his Gem powers when it happens. All because he's "special." Normally this would show she's the overprotective maternal figure of the Gems, but showing how strongly she felt about Rose prior kind of makes you think how much she really values Steven as a person and trying to ignore any ties to Rose he has to her. Like where does the line between caring about Steven as he is and still remembering Rose cross into the other? It's just an interesting if not really tragic plight for the character.

 But she at least sees how this has affected her training with Connie and is shown to be happy amongst them afterwards. But still, it's kind of like how they further reminded us that despite how cool and confident Amethyst is, deep down, it's a defense-mechanism for how she lacks self-esteem and how self-aware as to how she's perceived by her fellow Gems.

[Cyrus]

NEW OPENING!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxUjksvkqz4

 

WOAH WHAT? I missed the opening when I saw yesterday's episode. This is gorgeous, visually and musically.

[DaBatGuy]

Can I just take a moment to gush about the opening scene by scene and how it contrasts with the original one to show how the characters have developed:

 

Scene 1.

S1: The gems are all in shadow, Garnet stands alone with a poker face(ma ma ma ma), Pearl and Amethyst with their backs to each other symbolic of their conflict in personality. Then Steven jumps in out of no where surprising the group, like he isn't even suppose to be there. His arrival also brings light to the scene, has Steven's unique perspective enlightens the gems about humanity and themselves.

S2: Garnet has a massive grin and stands between a happy Pearl and Amethyst smiling as Steven appears at the bottom. Their faces are in a four point diamond formation, the symmetry showing that they are now a balanced group.

 

Scene 2.

S1: The gems stand stoic on the warp pad with their faces turned away from Steven as if they're trying to ignore that he's there. Steven stares into the distance confused as he floats aimlessly in the beam.

S2: The gems smile at Steven as he activates the pad himself and warps just as neatly as the rest. He's an official part of this team and can handle tasks himself.

 

Scene 3.

S1: Garnet pats his head and Steven gets annoyed at the gesture as Garnet seems to dismiss him as just a kid and underestimate his abilities.

S2: All the gems pat his head. While it is the same gesture the fact that all the gems are doing it it show they are acknowledging him now even if they still treat him like a child which is probably why he smiles.

 

Scene 4.

S1: Steven struggles to keep up with the gems as they run towards battle and (from his perspective) distance themselves from him. The gems once again show almost no emotion here, focusing more on the mission than Steven. Also the gems all run in sync with each other while Steven's pace is completely different, more visual representation of the dissonance between Steven and the Gems.

S2: The gems and Steven all gleefully summon their special weapons with ease. Also the appearance of all the characters is synchronized to the music, because team work.

 

Scene 5.

The changes here are pretty obvious with the extra citizens and Connie (spoiler) wielding Rose's Buster sword. Also the cool kids are closer to the foreground now, showing how they're become more important characters.

 

Scene 6.

S1: The scene ends with each of the gems standing alone. The last shot is Steven eating a hot dog, possibly an allusion to Greg's proverb "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs". Steven and all the characters are imperfect but it's fine as they can still do amazing things in spite of, or because of, their flaws.

S2: The all sit together with Steven and watch the stars. Also Greg provides a quick guitar riff for the song because the gems have accepted that while his contributions might be small they are still important and useful.

 

There are some other changes that carry through out the whole intro like the color now being a bit more saturated and the music having different instrumentation and a slightly faster tempo which makes it feel more up beat and energetic compared to the calm, almost ethereal feel of the original.

[Rucdose]

This episode was great.

 

Pearl was most likely talking about herself in You'd Do It for Him, right? That brings up a point when she says "Deep down, you know: You weren't built for fighting" then, because it makes you wonder what exactly Pearls WERE being made for back in the kindergarten. I would think that it would be for tech repairs/building as Pearl has a knack for that sort of thing, so it would be interesting to see that brought up in future episodes.

 

I'd also like for the show to delve into Pearl's devotion for Rose and why she is so obsessed with Rose the way she is. It's obvious that Pearl had some sort of a crush on Rose (the "Life after the war" line from You'd Do It for Him doesn't help) so it would be interesting to delve into that as well.

[Cyrus]

This episode hit me so hard.

We got more exposition on the gem war and how devoted to Rose Pearl was while Rose was still alive, Connie showing how much she cares about Steven and becoming a badass sword fighter who's probably fight with the Gems. This is gonna be a good bombing.

[GamerGirl54321]

You'd Do It For Him was so creepy, in regards to Pearl's relationship with Rose. It was obviously very unhealthy, but she doesn't seem to get that, and I doubt that Rose just let her do this without at least trying to intervene. It makes me wonder how Pearls are treated on Homeworld...