I am so glad you're having a better time with existing in the world. There is a shockingly noticeable amount of underlying joy when you talk about things now and I'm all for it.
That comment on Japan's horrific crunch culture is something more people need to talk about. I've seen people actually try and argue that the abuse Japanese creators face on a daily basis is actually a good thing because "they learn to stop whining about what's fair and actually make good art" translation, "they should just shut up and allow themselves to be grinded into the dirt to entertain me"
I don't know if you've ever heard weebs talk about Japan having a "culture of overwork" but it's the most nakedly racist way to describe exploitative capitalism I've ever seen. Weebs have always treated Japan like a zoo.
@@LilianOrchard my reference point is comic chuds saying this as one of their many reasons they think "western culture is falling to the woke mind virus" while standing in front of the comic section in Barns and Nobile.
As a black woman I loved the scene we're Garnet confessed to Pearl that she's not always strong and she has moments where she falls apart and needs help. as black women were told and taught at a very young age to grow up toughen up, be strong and be about our s*** and to not let anyone walk all over us to the point where non-black people and even some black people think that we can take anything and nothing bothers us. especially in the medical industry! it's a very harmful stereotype we are not superhuman we need help and compassion and understanding just like any other person.
Good stuff Lily! The “Rose’s Scabbard” segment reminded me why I ever thought there was potentially something really good about the writing for Pearl. That episode showed a part of Pearl that frightened me a little, especially in that moment where she gives Steven a death glare and then doesn’t save him from his fall. It was tense and shocking, but the immediate aftermath where Pearl opens up and just talks, feels very hopeful, like a therapy session where you let out a part of yourself that you normally hide, and then you just dissect where those feelings came from. I remember the line “I think you’re pretty great” absolutely wrecking me when I first saw it, because it emphasized that people who are sorting themselves out and dealing with unwanted feelings and thoughts, should still be loved. That idea that others love and cherish you even when you aren’t at your best, or you just can’t see yourself at your best, is comforting.
The worst insult art can receive is not bitter criticism but yawning apathy. In this way, Lily has insulted a lot of other shows far worse than Steven Universe.
idk man lily's kinda known for constantly referencing how she doesn't like the show even if it's simply nodding towards a criticism she has without directly name dropping it
Agree, that's one reason I have more respect for Room and YiiK, as both a pretty a window in how people understand art and the way we take tropes for granted.
The concept of distancing yourself between media and yourself either when it's ended or you don't want to engage with it anymore is something that i only started practicing because i started to watch your content after dropping MLP after season 5 to the point where i have never rewatched any episode until now. And once i started to apply it for myself i became more happy and i probably wouldn't do it if i never started to engage with your work. So thanks!
I adore Steven Universe, and quite frankly I hated your video when it came out. I was 9 when the show started coming out and by 11 I fell in love with the show. I was a young boy with a dead beat hippie dad with long hair, and was raised by my older sister, mom, and grandma. Thta probably why I connected to the show so much, a young boy with a largely absent but loving father and three powerful women raising him. When your video came out I became terrified of anyone knowing I liked the show. I watched this show with my entire family and it was all I could talk about until I got to school.(my knowlege of the show got to a point where I could identify the episode by the first 3 seconds with my eyes closed 😭) I have since grown as you have and am open to your newer ideas, but I have notes hehe So granted I may be bias but here's my thoughts from a Steven Universe fan who grew with and now out of it and just watches too many video essays. I agree that the Steven perspective rule is definitely restrictive in the later seasons, when this was a show about a kid with powers goofing off, it was perfect. The shows called Steven Universe and this is what he did, divisive, yet simple 🤷♂. Steven being in "Last One Out of Beach City" was maybe a little off putting or narrative serving, however I think there is merit to be given to Steven being Pearls connection to the human world, just as rose was. The gems don't often interact with the human world and when they do it's usually with steven, so pearl wanting to show off for the "younger" two crystal gems going to a concert is cute enough for me to give it a pass. I also would have loved for a second mystery girl appearance but, I think that that episode is meant to have pearl go through this grueling chase for some one she hadn't met, and she met them. Pearl's an alien who tends to talk down to humans and this is meant to signify the first time she brings herself off of her pedestal and meets a human for real. Sure we don't see mystery girl again but we see that pearl has even more phone numbers stored in her pearl and that she meets people regularly but Steven Universe Future. We don't need to see mystery girl because we're seeing what she represented to Pearl through her ability to make new connections with humans. Name five things about Steven? I've trained for this for a decade. 1. He loves weddings 2. He feels like the gems have certain expectations that he does not meet in the beginning of the show, so he copes by cracking jokes where he has deep insecurites, hiding them feelings from the gems. 3. He was just an annoying little kid until at least mirror gem maybe later too, and thats okay. I count this as a fact because he was just a little a-hole about town saying he had magic powers a lot of the time. The way the towny episodes (we'll get back to those later) grow throughout the series shows this. In the beginning everyone is annoyed by him, or treats him like a cute kid. He learns throughout the series, watching himself die and such, and eventually becomes a staple of the town. This says loads about his character and ability to grow 4. Steven puts others above himself detrimentally, we see the beginning of this in "The Game" and the climax in Future. 5. Steven wants nothing more than to know what it's like to feel human or feel like a gem. Pearl's development is sloooowww I agree but I'm okay with the different directions they took with it as it comes up. Roses scabbord is perfect you are correct, and "Volleyball" is definitly not up to it's standards, but still has value, steven providing a stake worked for me because he was representing the pink of the past that volleyball knew. I think this was also meant to show steven's parrallels wiith his mom in an interesting way (albeit, if not rehashed) as his villain arc is ramping up. I think that is we got a scene like roses scabbord here I would've been less satisfied, as now we get to watch a more mature pearl try to help Volleyball (I hate that name tbh) through what she dealt with. I found it satisfying because is wasn't the same. Also you mention pearl not getting other development, but I think that her arc I highlighted earlier with meeting people and fostering connection and her relationship with amethyst are plenty separated from her past with rose. Also Pearl definitely was the writers favorite from the get go, I'm just kinda like oh well at least she sings good. 🤷♂ I don't think Steven Universe has the worst filler problem tbh, sure there might be too many townies, but They represent steven's human side, The show is called Steven Universe because he's a regular kid with the weight of the universe on his shoulders, he picks up donuts then fights aliens. Steven's connection to the human world and fostering those connections has incredible value. Steven's overbearing compassion would be hollow is we didn't get to see him grow alongside the townies, whilst showing the gems they're allowed to grow. Fusion is a relationship, and I know you understand that, but pearl's arc of learning consent is a vcery valuable one for kids. Consent transcends sexual relations and is required in all of your relationships. A fusion, being a representation of two people acting as one with a like minded goal being soiled by consent is gross, and receives the weight it deserves. Pearl actually get's in trouble for once and is shunned until garnet's breakdown to her. Pearl is not her abuser per se, she's her friend who was forcing her to work with her and lend her power under false pretenses, a power Garnet holds very sacred. If my friend lied to me about why I needed to come hang out and their lie was something I cared about I would be hurt too, but to claim pearl an abuser because fusion=sex feels harsh. The story does leave you to think about consent and hopefully the young children will understand the uncomfortability. Also this is not the only time garnet breaks down like this, she has a very similar breakdown while literally trying to hold herself together in front of steven when seeing the forced fusions, which perfectly set up this arc of force fusion. I have work soon and idk why I wrote all this but anyway I hope you enjoyed
Yeah. It's always weird to me how everytime Pearl screws up, Steven always jumps to her defense when arguably the things she did in comparison to Garnet, are FAR WORSE.
It always rubbed me the wrong way, watching Pearl WATCH Steven fall down into what would’ve been a pancake ending. *Especially* when she peeked down there, saw he made it, then did absolutely nothing to help him. At that time, it felt as though she didn’t care about him except for his tenuous connection to Rose/Pink.
I remember that one episode where Steven says something along the lines of: "That scared me more than that time you almost killed me!" And I distinctly remember asking out loud "Which time?" She got forgiven SO easily. She's easily both the most complex AND FRUSTRATINGLY simple character in the entire show. And it pisses me off a little the more I think on it.
Its honestly nice to have a video where you look back on who you were in the past and not just critique but support parts of what you did back then. Growth is hard and it sometimes good to realize you did some things right.
Getting to watch creators reexamine their past works and add to their analyses with clearer eyes is always incredible. This video was very well done, well written, and while I wish I had something more productive to say, I just wanted to comment some praise to get the algorithm in your favor, because the work that is done on this channel is incredibly important. I look forward to what the future will bring!
You weren’t wrong at all Lily. Steven Universe started out as a world building story driven cartoon with so much potential, but once it started centering only on Steven and began to show rather forceful messages of anti-violence and refused to kill pure evil figures such as the Diamonds, all potential storytelling practically fell apart!
For me it started falling apart in that uncle episode like I can get bad writing is ok it happens but the theme of that episode is one of the worse messages you can pass for a kid, not only Steven don't care for his uncle being racist to his family but he makes others feel bad for treating him badly after him acting like a little bigot, like it was clear that Steven should protect his family and say that is not because they are blood related it means they are family, but nope "You need to go back because we are family!!!" and don't even warn him to not treat the gems badly :I
What bothered me the most about the series is that they wanted to give us the message that there are people who do not change with a toxic partner (that their weird fandom ships) and not with dictators I'm not saying that there should have been an endgame-style war at the end, but I think that, if they wanted to redeem white diamond, they could do it if they simply erased her memory like disney did in gravity falls with the head of the cult
agreed! there were so many promising elements that ultimately were wasted. the parts that were good end up being quickly overshadowed by the parts that are just bad. lapis and her trauma being handled poorly as well as the sugilite episode always started it for me and it's obvious (to me) where all the problematic elements are. the show really doesn't let the characters actually grow and learn/develop and instead wastes way too much time with characters and stories that do nothing. that time could have been spent focussing on the important characters and their development. but no, instead the show was too busy being "cute" and doing "flashy" things instead of giving us anything substantial. that and leaving us with some bad lessons.
i’m really glad that you shared your favorite scene from the show. i almost forgot about that intimate moment that pearl had with steven, but it’s truly such a beautiful and cozy scene. i really wish more of the show had been like that. i got so bored of a lot of the other stuff
That scene is my absolute favorite from the show. I just wish the writers didn't fumble it so hard with Pearl's backstory recontextualizing the episode.
That bit about Pearl warping to Brazil for a Sapphic Tournament arc made me realize that SU could have had so many fun and colorful episodes of the Gems just warping around the globe having fun in different countries and cultures. But knowing Becky she probably would have screwed that up to.
SAME! the closest we got to this was Greg and Steven traveling through Korea (where we first see Blue Diamond), but it was essentially just a quick tourism slideshow since it wasnt the main focus of the ep. Also about the comment regarding Sugar messing up different cultures-- the Fish Stew Pizza family is Guyanese, and honestly every ep with them is so much fun even if it isnt explicitly telling you about their culture. They remind me so much of my Caribbean stepfamily that I thought the Pizzas were from Trinidad or Jamaica and it brought me a lot of comfort having them be such a fun part of the show. The beach ep starring the Pizzas is still one of my favorite SU eps ever. Im not sure if Sugar wrote for the eps with the Pizza family, but it at least shows that the Crewniverse are capable of having Black folks in their show without accidental racism lol SU includes some pretty good representation in the show BUT its particularly around Asian cultures-- specifically more like East Asian culture/influence showing the most imo Connie with strict Indian parents in STEM is pretty accurate but kinda bland; Lars is Filipino and i only learned that because in the movie he made ube cake lol. and the show is just full of anime references and Japanese/Korean pop culture, i dont remember the exact ep, but Steven and Garnet were doing morning exercises to a Korean tape, which i LOVE btw, it'd just be awesome to see more than just East Asia being the biggest culture that shines through the show. though it makes sense since lots of East Asian folks worked on the show, and i think its awesome they have the opportunity to implement their own culture in a serialized work. If the series does get another spin-off like Sugar has been discussing, I'd love to see them recruit even more of a variety of folks + someone to proof read their eps, lest we end up with another mishandling of Black characters like Garnet, Bismuth, or god forbid Concrete...
@bradleyharris774 I don't agree with your take on the show, but you can think what you want you want. But, for the next time, please note that Rebecca Sugar is non-binary and uses They/Them pronouns. I don't blame you for not knowing about it, but even if you don't like them as a creator, you have to respect their pronouns.
As someone who started following around the legend of Korra video, its lovely to see how much you have grown. It's refreshing to see someone acknowledge the flaws of their past work and rework it
thank you for calling out the racism issue with this show. i really and truly appreciate you for making it abundantly clear how abhorent that episode with Garnet, and just Garnet and other gems of colors' treatment in the show was.
The way you lay out your points about good writing had me taking notes. Your advice really helps me because I'm an aspiring writer, and you really seem to know what you're talking about.
Just thinking about the opening, question, I think Rebecca Sugar would make a great children's horror show. Genuine, true horror. This show has Frybo the monster, it has the Cluster, Bubbled, Spinel's story, everything about the existence of Steven as an alien hybrid is FUCKED. and it's all wrapped in this cutesy bubblegum of fun. This show appeals to the same audience as things like Undertale and FNAF - mixes the childish with the creepy in a brilliant way, to the point that it makes you terrified of kitten fingertips. The main problem with the show is that it uses these amazing horror elements, and then tries to turn them into a centrist story of love. It's a waste of potential.
I’m so glad you came up with the term coercive worldbuilding, it’s nice to have a name to this awful phenomenon I’ve seen way too often, and it being so immediately understandable. The energy in this video is also infectious, this was a wonderful watch. I’m glad you’re getting better, you deserve all your happiness.
I really loved this video! It's nice to see you going back to revise your outlook on a piece of media like this, while also expressing your willingness to listen to differing viewpoints! I'm also glad you were able to heal from your past trauma! There is something I'd like to discuss about your opinions of Steven's place in the story throughout the main series and Future. I watched another video discussing how SU depicts trauma, and it demonstrated that a lot of Steven's behavior in Future was a pretty realistic depiction of PTSD. I also did my own research on the subject and also can see how that was the case. So what I'd like to get your two sense on is how Future actually fails in delivering that message? Couldn't the fact that Steven's interests outside of being the happy go lucky messiah have been an intentional choice to demonstrate the build up of his trauma overtime? Couldn't a lot of things with Steven turning into a monster just pass as metaphor for someone struggling with their PTSD? I ask this with the upmost respect and the purpose to simply start a dialogue
22:44 Thank you so much for saying this! I always found it concerning how the show goes “look at this whole music number about how Pink Diamond is bad!” but then Pink’s fascist dictator sisters/mothers go scot free with nothing more than Steven occasionally going “wow my fascist aunts/grandmas sure are weird”. I think the most frustrating thing about White, Blue, and Yellow getting no legitimate punishment is that we already know for a fact Homeworld has some kind of a legal system. Why weren’t any of the Zircons making the trial of the millennia against the tyrannical Diamonds??
Your Steven universe video made me watch the show, I didn’t watch it but I saw it recommended to me a lot and I wanted to watch the show and see what I thought. I loved it at first, it felt nice it all made sense at the moment, but the longer I’ve thought and heard people talk about the more I question it. I found your channel from that video and your uploads are always a fresh of breath air among a lot of cartoon reviews. I love your perspective on stuff and the way you break it down it’s really good.
As an abusive survivor I thank you for agreeing with my personal belief that ANYONE saying you need to forgive the abuser has no idea what they're talking about. If that's not what you meant my bad but I'm taking it as that. Cause it just pisses me off Every Time.
Y'know, now that you mention it, I can hear how much happier you are in your voice - both vocal and writing voice-wise. I've watched your stuff for a LONG time, through several different RUclips accounts. Like, when you were covering Equestria Girls 1, I was its target audience with a largely unsupervised internet connection who thought "Bhaalspawn" was a joke about sperm. And I watched you all through middle school, fell off for a while, came back, and something was different. You were talking about things you LIKED. Your recommendation of early Owl House was so positively GLOWING that I checked it out immediately because I was so used to hearing you tear shit apart (rightfully so in a lot of cases, but still). And you never shyed away from pointing out the flaws in the things you talked about (I mean, that IS part of your job), but I felt that something had changed. You were happier. And hearing you be really open about the many instances of abuse and their consequences... yeah, the angry tone of your old videos makes a lot of sense. And for whatever it's worth coming from basically a total stranger, I'm proud of you. Oh, and I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I haven't actually watched SU in a long time, but I absolutely see what you mean about it being fascinating to dissect. Someone could probably fill an entire college course just using Steven Universe as examples of do's and don'ts for writing - sometimes for the exact same thing (Rose's Scabbard vs The Clam Thing example).
So - I watched all your videos on SU and motivated by your criticism I decided to rewatch the whole series with a more critical eye... And I still love it. Maybe even more now. Like... I get where you're coming from and I guess it's one of those series you either develop an emotional connection to or you don't. But subjective stuff aside (like, animation, music and designs - all of which I really enjoy) I just think the amount of love radiating from the show is something that almost always makes me cry. Seriously, I don't know any other medium that captured the found family trope just so good. The love the characters have for eachother, the way they get trough hardships... I just can't not appreciate it. And yes, of course the show has it flaws. The whole "friendship with dictators" thing will never not make me cringe xd Like you said in your first video... it would work if they weren't responsible for *several genocides*. And I have to treat it metaphorically to enjoy the show because I actually like the Diamonds as characters. But the show tells you that they have commited such atrocities it's just silly how it circles back to "y'know, they're just a disfunctional family that discovers love and patience again after getting their dearest kid back". Still. I can't really shake off the feeling you don't understand the show and what it's going for... and I guess that's fine ^^ I like your videos even if I find them a little bit too edgy for me xd And I would love to have a conversation about the show and things I love about it with you xd But yeah, you're a youtuber and I'm an internet rando :v So - thank you for making me appreciate the show even more by dragging me out of my comfort zone and thinking about it critically. Even if that probably wasn't your intention :v
I’m so happy I was able to watch this the second it came out. I fell in love with this channel from the original video and it’s an absolute treat to see how much you have grown in your craft and your views on certain topics. Please continue doing what you are doing Lily you are amazing.
I like Steven Universe because the songs help me to regulate my moods, I can think of "Strong in the Real Way" if I need to feel stable and strong, "Here Comes a Thought" if I want to remember that I am not my thoughts and I can choose how to react to situations - it's almost like there's a song to help me through almost every negative mental state. It's my comfort show and I often treat people around me, and myself, better when I'm in the middle of or have recently completed a re-watch. I'm not a real critic, I can't really try to defend it in a multi-hour video, but the feelings that the show creates inside of me despite its flaws are overwhelmingly positive and hopeful and optimistic.
@@LilianOrchard why are you looking down on someone for finding comfort in music? or a series in general? therapy is definitely great, but theres no harm in finding healthy coping mechanisms on your own. plus, therapy is expensive and not always available to those that need it.
So, from what I understand, you want to like Steven Universe, but you feel that the story has fumbled the ball way too many times. Steven Universe is not trash, it's wasted potential.
While I absolutely plan to listen to this entire thing later, I want to stress that I appreciate the immediate answer of, "no, but here's the nuance I may or may not have missed/been able to recognize and distinguish before." Good fucking shit, nerd. I'm off to pass out and listen to this later.
To this day, I still laud Steven Universe as my go to example of why letting storyboard artists write a show instead of an actual write team will always be a bad idea. Storyboard Artists will constantly infight with one another over the direction causing different interpretations of the story, even when one gets picked as the true story, it always ends up being the worst option. With a Writers Team, you can always be assured everyone is going to be on the same page and in the same mindset when planning out the story barring any changes due to corporate interference for some reason.
I think that having storyboard artists and animators direct entire episodes could only work if there isn't much dialogue in the episodes themselves and more emphasis was given on the visuals and character expressions. But Steven Universe didn't really do that much, so that excuse from the crewniverse falls flat since they want to animate their next big stakes fight scene or omage to a scene from a 90s anime they liked.
50:48 and onwards, talking about your experiences of abuse and showing the video of Aqua finally seeing the light of day again reminded me of the fact that, despite being someone who has a hard time crying at all, I cried in that scene. Her being so down and used to the lowest ends of the worlds and being outside was hard for her to even believe. It made my face feel warm and my tears warmer, like I was looking at the sun myself. That scene also came to me before I gained the friends that actually made me feel like that. In a way, despite still reacting sorely to abuse and trying to suspect my close found-family friends of misdemeanor was me still reacting like I was in the realm of darkness. This bright island only fell to my level to deceive me, it’s not the real sun. But, I needed to get used to being at a better point in my life instead of actively sabotaging myself. Thank you for sharing your experience, it helps me feel so much less alone.
I’ve been watching your stuff for years and always maintain I could watch you talk about anything for hours, literally I’ve never played WOW and I’m a Sylvanas stan. I sent this video the way of some of my critically discerning SU fan buddies because i think they fit the mold of the kind of people you want on the podcast. I was rewatching SU with a friend not too long ago and it really blew me away how solid a lot of the show pre Bismuth was. And bismuth really marks the point where Steven and his reactions to things started to get on my nerves and sour my view of the show. A phenomenal video as always Lily!
I'm watching the segment of how Steven treats Pearls and Garnet's missteps and all the time all I can think is all the very deserved criticism of this show and it's problems when writing people of color when you have Connie basically turned into the knight for the white kid and Garnet getting the scolding from Steven while Pearl does so much worse and more often gets off the hook. I can't unsee it and its why I can't really go back into this show.
this double standard was so frustrating and just made its way into so much of the story. amethyst got the same treatment regarding the fusions. the way sugilite and sardonyx were handled so differently even though both pearl and amethyst had the same self esteem problems. pearl getting a pass despite her behavior and amethyst never having her issues revisited really left a bad taste.
Steven Universe wanted to be about healing a broken family and ending a genocidal empire and combined those two themes in the worst, most toxic way possible.
@@Hylianmonkeysyeh I tired they refer diamond as genocidal because they kill million of lifeform so we should call European and white people as genocidal because they kill or wipe out 90 % of population of native American same with Australia also a lot of animal spieces got extinct because human settlement like gem did to planet
I've always felt that Steven Universe's depiction of empathy, pacifism, and forgiveness was too naive. There's certainly nothing wrong with showing kindness, love, and understanding to others, but the problem that SU creates is that it bizarrely assumes that de-escalation is not only THE preferred solution to conflict, but that it's the ONLY solution (otherwise, you're no better than the antagonist). It never accounts for the possibility of a situation that genuinely challenges that, so reality has to warp in order for Steven (and by proxy, Sugar) to always be right. Granted, there's nothing wrong with a story about pacifism being the takeaway: other cartoons like Wander Over Yonder, Golden Age Wonder Woman comics, games like Undertale, and anime like Trigun all have this in common - but the difference is that in these examples, pacifism is ALSO paired with the important key addition of "completely take away the power from abusers/bullies" as well as exploring how pacifism can lead to destruction created by passivity (particularly in WoY S2 and Trigun's story) and how important the power of fighting back is. And in 3/4 examples listed, the character embodying pacifism is powerful enough that they can afford to embody that. That's crucial! SU meanwhile bungles it all up by going for the disgusting "if you punch the bully, you're no better than him" excuse, allowing the abusers/bullies custody of their power, and then trying to whitewash the villains of the things they did, on top of making it so EVERYTHING bad they did can be literally undone (which not only retroactively erases the tension/stakes, but makes things even more uncomfortable). And I find that disgusting: fighting back against an abuser is ALWAYS justified because an abuser will NOT STOP HURTING YOU. Allowing an abuser with power is dangerous because they not only pose a risk to you, but other people (and there's no guarantee they'll stop when your eyes aren't on them). And not every horrible thing can be undone: most of the nightmarish actions the Diamonds and their empire commit draw parallels to very real things, things that were permanent and even today leave deep scars. You can't unkill someone, ungenocide a species, or undo generational mental trauma. It genuinely disturbs me because SU isn't an honest conversation about the value of pacifism and how it can be used to help people (and where it can go wrong), but wish fulfillment/"power" fantasy about how the main character saves the day because it turns out, every antagonist is someone he can talk down (because the metaphysics are ingrained to be on his side). ATLA was guilty of something similar because it acted as if pacifism was something tangible (when really, it was incompatible with the metaphysics of the story and only existed to make Aang/the creators look better for being more moral), but it had the common sense to fucking strip Ozai of his Bending.
"The hardest part about being an adult is accepting you didn't need to do that." yeah... I actually quite liked the tone of this video, and how much more generous (for lack of a better term, I need to go to bed) you were with your interpretations, especially in regards to the staff. Also more acknowledgments of which problems were symptoms of the industry. I very muc enjoy watching you talk about SU
Are we finally talking about the Sardonyx arc as an assault? Because every time I bring up how r*pey the whole this is, there's always someone there to say that I'm reading into it too much.
You're right, so eff them. Fusion is a blending of body and mind, which obviously all parties involved need to consent to, because it's a very intimate thing that needs trust. Tricking someone into it/doing it without permission the way Pearl did was just so wrong and violating towards Garnet. The fact that someone can't see that is weird
It’s weird how, out of all the videos I’ve watched from this channel over the last five years, this one, particularly the last segment, just got to me. Not in a bad way, but in the melancholic sense of feeling my heart slowly drop from my chest into my stomach. Your analysis of Utena was just beautiful, by the way. Steven Universe came around during a *bad* period in my life and became my formative years. Then your big SU video came out during another bad period of life; watching it with my younger brother was one of the last positive interactions I had with him before I became estranged from my entire family for 3 years. It’s a lot of words to say that Steven Universe and your commentary on the has been in the background of my life for a long, long time. Seeing your opinion go from someone who was nearly outraged because, “They’re stupid and incompetent,” to, “They’re unfocused and easily distracted but they’re capable of competence,” is just- It’s more sweet than bitter to hear the soft fondness in your voice compared to the disgust from five years ago. To be clear, I don’t particularly blame you or anyone for expressing that level of rage toward the show at the time your original video came out. That outrage was offset by the fact that a lot of the show’s critics were being sent death threats and hate mail with the express goal of unaliving those people, especially if they weren’t white. While I don’t think anyone who had criticisms of the show were making it while they were in a good place, that anger generated by it was a symptom of the fandom doing what it did best. I really love this video. Your commentary from this specific video is something I’ll be reflecting on whenever I write my own stories.
OK LAST COMMENT ON THIS VID, I SWEAR-- While it's more of a throwaway joke, I thought the comment about folks who make a Tumblr blog to make OCs and do nothing w them is super funny cuz a) I used to do that back in the day with making a million character bios and no story to go w it (though mostly in one of my million notebooks and library printouts) b) Im pretty private about my project brainstorming now, sharing more about creative projects once I have something past pre-production, c) the only place Ive seen a character blog and vague bio work longterm is via roleplaying blogs, where developing a character via interacting with others is kinda the point. Craft improves fandom brain so u can maintain passions beyond nostalgia. Thats all for now! Thx for coming to me TedTalk lol
You do sound less angry. I had a panic attack in the middle of the first su video and I was confused as to why I was having such an emotional response to this critique, because it generally makes good points. While I don't particularly like someone shitting on something I like, I also like to recognize the flaws, of which su has many. Eventually, I realized you sounded really angry and that it was not just a "Presentation voice" you were doing to sound clear and concise while also sounding energetic if not also mildly rude while doing a critique. My silly lil brain was responding like it used to when I was being yelled at. I am happy you are in a better place.
I keep finding people who are angry because you criticized it, and i keep reminding them you're not the only one who wasn't completely okay with everything. You're just the one who talked about it
I remember after the Sardonyx thing seeing an article calling Pearl a rapist and being really averse to that idea at the time, but as an adult I definitely see that it’s equivalent to rape-by-deception no different from stealthing.
@@kaykay8855 "Those fusions were consensual." If we're saying tht forced or coercive fusion is rape, then we're saying tht consensual fusion is sex, the opposite of rape. If so-called consensual sex happens between a minor or adult, it's just statutory rape. If you're going to say tht wht Pearl did is rape, then you're calling other fusions the same, which is ridiculous.
Same I remember being uncomfortable with that too but now that I’m older what she did was the equivalent of violating someone’s bodily anatomy there’s no way around it and the way they handled that did feel like rape culture messages
All I know is it’s not gonna be a fun day in twitter but I should say comparing this to your last video I think you’ve improved a lot in your writing and way you speak. The way you break down smaller elements and flow together in the greater thesis.
As person whose been a development editor and ghostwriter in my own writing gigs, I think that SU has the problem of a story just running off vibes and random ideas w/o any solid plans for follow-through. I've been personally frustrated by clients who give me list of tropes and vibes w/ nothing in way of a plot outline, character info story structure, etc cuz keeping it so vague implies lack of thought at best and commitment at worst. You cant just send me brainstorming notes when you want to publish this book in a month; you cant expect a cake when you send a chemical list and no ingredients or recipe. Something something, have a structure even if youre gonna make stuff up (as most writers dooo)! Something that might be fun for you to make as a creator might not be easy to market as a company or business. You should have the gist of your story done in the first ep not in episode 100.
I want to thank you for always sticking up for nonbinary people. It feels like we're never acknowledged, especially when we're masc presenting, and the fact that you bring us up and defend us really does mean a lot.
Can I just say how funny it is that you, one of the most outspoken Revolutionary Girl Utena haters on the internet, just went and gave a summation of the themes of the last episodes of the anime and why they’re so great that is better than anything I’ve ever heard from a “fan” of the series? I’d say it’s weird but it’s not, it just goes to show how not stanning something gives one an objectively better critical perspective on it.
@@LilianOrchard Funny enough I'd bet good money half of its "fans" haven't actually seen it and just know it from memes and reputation alone. Because like you said the way most shows "reference" it is surface level to the point of outright disrespect. But hey, weebs only actually like anime for the aesthetics. In other news water is indeed wet.
@@DantheManIamIamI dropped out from the series after the Black Rose saga since nothing effectively mattered from it. And it became excessively repetitive.
I think One Piece did a far better job at handling a forced confrontation with your estranged family through Sanji and the Vinsmokes. He went ahead and said "fuck you you're not my real dad" to Judge but still saved him and his siblings from being assassinated by Big Mom because despite disowning his biological family, his kind nature prevents him from letting them die. This creates a strong sense of irony because the reason Sanji's the family disappointment was his kind nature so the very thing Judge hated his son for ended up being his salvation. The moment where Judge asks Luffy why he hangs out with Sanji and then lists all the reasons Sanji's a "disapointment" only for Luffy to get confused because those are "all the things that makes Sanji great" was just *chefs kiss*.
33:15 "a lot of people might hate the idea of sharing a mind with someone, but to someone who has already _been_ sharing a mind for a very long time, being a complete individual could be just as nightmarish" - something i'd love to see explored in more stories in a positive way. that's what it's like being a DID system, and it's why so many systems seek a stable, cooperative, interdependent balance rather than "final fusion" (yes that's literally what medical professionals call it). it's just another way to exist. the one you're used to is generally gonna be the most natural and comforting.
Most of them are just shit like "yes you were next question" and got caught in the spam filter. Truth be told nobody has really had a genuinely negative thing to say, just snark
Ok, this whole video is amazing, and I'm so glad to see you're in a much better place, and that you and Mikaila are doing so well together. After all you've told us, you deserve it. I've followed you through like... 3 different accounts over the years, but... right here, THANK YOU. Thank you for calling out the lack of masculine enby rep, as one myself. I'm so done dealing with "But you're a guy and you're not feminine! How are you nonbinary?"
wonderful video, thank you! your point about most people missing your newer rewrites hit home for me. I recently commented on someone else's long video about problems with modern pokemon games and I said that they had a habit of repeating themselves a lot. they replied to me that the video was already over an year old and that they had improved in many ways since then.
I don’t really get the whole “if the diamonds were killed gems would die out” point gems are functionally immortal unless gems are actively being shattered like in the rebellion a species can’t die out if it doesn’t die and again only in a situation like the rebellion where enough gems would get injured that they would need to be healed on mass would the diamonds healing abilities be needed there are billions of active gems and killing the diamonds wouldn’t make the gems die out it would just leave only the gems that are there which will live on forever.
If it's possible for gems to die, but not possible for new gems to be born, then they'll go extinct. It might take millions of years, but it's inevitable. Because every time a gem gets shattered by an accident, or conflict, or natural disaster, the total number of gems goes down. And that number never goes back up.
@@wisdommanari6701 Aaaah, fair enough. Yeah, agreed. I too would have preferred if the Diamonds had faced the consequences of their actions - while execution wouldn't work in a kids' show them being defeated and locked up would work a lot better than their redemption imo. I was just clarifying the in-universe mechanics, not supporting an ending I disagree with.
I'm so happy to hear of your growth and that your in a better place these days. To be honest on the subject of SU I just can't be bothered, it was never my scene, but your critique of it at the time was passionate and funny and got me to subscribe, the Korra vid was even better and that one I still do wholeheartedly agree with 😅 I wish even more growth and happiness for you, keep the vids coming at your own pace! You're a talented creator and a thoughtful critic.
Thank you for acknowledging the racism for Garnet and Connie I was really sad to see how they treated the both of them and honestly I really appreciate others validating the things I saw although no one would believe me when I brought my concerns to light
@@TiredMoonRabbit Oh really then why does Garnet and Connie never get an episode where they play an integral part of the story not just “STEVEN” and that’s it and after they felt like they were done with Connie they pushed her in with the rest of the side characters and Garnet only gets a few episodes where she is the main character but again they touch on fusion but they don’t fully explore it they do that several times and by the way something can appear to be racist to me and maybe not you but I’m not the only one who has problems with the poc on this show it just feels like they never get their time in the sun and if they do it never happens again. So THANK you for trying to tell a show isn’t racist even though it is to me.
@@LilianOrchard Thank you I really do appreciate you and your voice of support I loved SU but when they treat poc of color a different way I started to lose faith in Becca
I resonated so much when you mentioned that you felt better being alone and I currently feel that way and honestly for years I have been feeling that way. The reason I feel that is because I’ve been treated like absolute shit all my life, ie victim of bullying emotional and verbal abuse. All that trauma has cause lots of social anxiety and lingering trust issues as well as impulse issues to arise. When you expressed that sentiment it enforced why I need therapy but currently I’m in limbo in my rn that finding a job is pretty difficult at least in the field I went to college for. Thank you for making this video Lily. ❤
I'm not sure what you mean by no one is talking about where steven universe succeeds, I've seen a thousand videos on why people think steven universe is a great show. But if you haven't watched those, I'll give my two cents. I think the characters are interesting, the soundtrack is excellent, the story was compelling minus the parts that you addressed in the video, it was very emotional and moving, and heck it's just fun to watch and did a lot of things that were unprecedented in cartoons at the time. Your criticisms are totally valid! but they are only a part of the whole show. I think you are focusing on a lot of flaws that are very specific and attributing them to the general quality of the show, which is overall pretty high. Maybe my standards are lower than yours, but as far as an animated show goes, it could do soooo many things worse, and I think it executes its idea better than most other shows try to.
Another banger from Lily On the subject of Steven Universe. When I saw your video I was about 17 (I'm almost 21 now) years old I think. And it fucking re-wired my brain. I think I can trace back my love for critical analysis back to that video. But the thing about that, is that back then I wasn't looking for critical analysis. I already hated SU. I only wanted someone to do my thinking for me. And half the things you said about SU I hadn't even thought of. And now that I'm older I appreciate more nuanced critique so i was excited for this video coming out.Yet I keep pondering on the thing you said about SU not being able to be defended in earnest. Now I'm not very pragamatic I'll admit. But I think there's something to be debated about the how a piece of fiction (independently of how its excuted) affects the real world. Like should we judge something by its content or by the effects it has on the world? I always come back to the comment I think it was from one of your videos on SU that was someone being like "I only defend SU sometimes cause the songs help me recover from Panic Attacks." And tbh I respect a personal reason like that more than I respect the Stan Mentality so many people have. I think it'll be interesting to conduct some sort of experiment/survey like: "Has SU improved your life at all?" And see the results. Like did it help you make friends? Did it help you come out to your parents?...etc. To see if all the bad things the show is known for pale in comparison to the people it helped. (Of course this is all hypothetical) And I say all of this at someone whose exposure to SU's lessons and it's fanbase made their life worse as an impressionable Tween.
40:13 The fandom hates bismuth? The fandom freaking LOVED her when she was introduced and upset over her being bubbled. It was moreso over the loss of a new crystal gem and feeling cheated out of that, but they still loved her.
The SU team was remarkably good at writing nothing, and remarkably terrible at writing anything. Truly paradoxical. Small quiet and almost superfluous scenes have the best character work, and anything that tries to be something falls flat on its face.
I’m just saying I like how your videos are structured, with the little sections with your characters and also the entire genuineness and funny jokes while also criticizing things.
First of all, I commend you for being big enough to admit that your initial review may not have been the most fair and was colored by your experiences and implicit biases. It takes a big person and someone who’s done a lot of growth, and self reflection to admit things like that, I still found your initial review to be incredibly insightful for me as it verbalized things about the show that I myself didn’t like, but didn’t have the vocabulary to express. That said, I still think this is the far better review. It’s certainly more even keeled of the two and offered valid/constructive criticism and insight to what made the show work and what could’ve made it better. Fair, balanced, and honest. Im glad you’re in a better place now too❤
I think Steven Universe's story (and a good chunk of stories like it) can be described as the showrunners procrastinating. They waste time with filler content. Then, when people lose interest & plan to drop the show, they put out an episode meant to give the impression of progression, development, and/or growth, some of it being real & others mere illusion. Also, if the slice of life content NEEDED to be there (it didn't, but we'll walk to that pier), it could have been better if it just anyone that wasn't Steven with a townie. At 36:36, you can also tell that the writers REALLY wanted to push the "kiss & make up" shit due to it "being a show for kids" (being very generous). Garnet should've been allowed to say, "I don't forgive you. You broke my trust and it'll take more than apologizing to fix it." But that would conflict the show's very "forgive & forget" attitude towards everything. Also, white favoritism strikes again. Something that I always found strange is how people paint you as someone who thinks Steven Universe has no value or that you don't care about. But you wouldn't have made so many videos, both before & after the big one, if you didn't care. If it was just consistently & exclusively good, there isn't much to talk about. But its failures make it something worth discussing. Briefly talking about One Piece, the creator clearly has a lot of ideas and intends to explore them as much as he can. It's why there's almost 1100 chapters & counting of the series. As someone who is an anime fan, it's so clear to me that the crew wanna make something like what they watched, but don't have the experience writing to fully get why they worked. Aside from all that, I am glad that you're in a better place from when you made that video all that time ago.
After rewatching this video like 5-7 times I think I can definitively say I'd watch that ep compared to ep breakdown. But longform videos are kind of my jam, so, 4+ hours of one video is just my cup of tea 😅
I might hate the redemption of the diamonds just a little less if they did it without steven being there and instead realized that they were desecrating pink diamond's memory by continuing their expansion. With the way they're doing it now, it's almost like steven got an unspoken promotion to white diamond's level.
As someone who is a fan of SU and held some degree of contempt towards your original video (mainly for what I thought was disproportionate outrage towards a show that I think has lots of good qualities despite its myriad flaws)-I just have to say I think this is an excellent follow-up. Really thoughtful, reasonable, fair critique, and even in moments where you didn’t highlight ways your analysis and thoughts had shifted, that energy still came across; for example, your analysis of Pearl’s character actually felt like a legitimate discussion of wasted potential/poorly paced storytelling, highlighting the interesting parts that make the writing lapses so frustrating, and not just blindly attacking the character which is kind of what I was expecting. I actually found myself agreeing with some of your critiques which I was DEFINITELY not expecting-I’ve always had my criticisms of SU, which I more consider a “beloved mess” type of fave, and I really appreciate when people are able to give this kind of thoughtful analysis that feels like they actually are responding to the show and not approaching every part of it with the most bad faith reading, which was how I felt about the type of SU takedowns like your last video. Also, as a huge Utena fan, I was equally impressed and appreciative of your REALLY accurate discussion of its themes even coming from a non-fan. It’s a deeply important show to me as a survivor and it infuriates me how much its themes are missed/misunderstood even by people who purport to love it, so I just have to say THANK YOU for explaining it so well and actually understanding it, even if you don’t like it overall (which I completely get, it is a very very weird show and certainly not to everyone’s taste lmao) I’m really really happy to hear you’re doing better in your personal life and it is genuinely inspiring seeing the growth between your original SU video and this one. I hope more people who still take umbrage with your work from five years ago actually take the time to watch this. Thanks for your updated thoughts and I’m now genuinely interested to hear more about what you have to say about this show! I wish you nothing but the best, hope you have a great day ❤
I didn’t even consider how beautiful the idea you offered at 28:26 would be. And it actually makes me mad because in the wedding episode Sapphire says something along the lines of “I guess our old friends won’t be there”
The racism in this show is just made me decide to let this shit sleep. I only accepted seeing it again because I wanna support your videos, hun. GOD I really, really, REALLY can't stand how Garnet and Bismuth were treated. It makes my blood boil beyond words.
8:09 If I’m remembering right, someone from the crew said that Mystery Girl(or Sabina, not sure where that name came from) would indeed return, only to end up as a blurry background character. And that stung for me cause I remember looking for every fanart and fanfic I could find for MysteryPearl after that episode. Shows what I know.
Your statement at the beginning pretty much sums up my relationship with Steven Universe. Sometimes "bad" art - whatever that means in the subjective hellscape of media analysis - is better than boring art because at least there's something interesting to say about what went wrong and why. The aggressive bloat of Adventure Time clones is pretty much the opposite, art that has nothing to say about it without even the audacity of being entertaining in its failure. Aggressive mediocrity.
24:13 oof I feel so bad for zamii. One of my ex’s harassed her so bad, I ended up leaving him because I was so disgusted. She ended up having to go to the hospital. I love SU but the fandom sucks so much.
I'm glad you revisited this, Lily. I understand looking back at something you've done or worked on and acknowledging that "No, I'm not proud of this, I can do better." I'm happy you're now in a place where, while still justly critical, you can appreciate the good parts too, and create something you'll probably look back more fondly on. (Hope you don't mind if I keep watching the old one though. Its a very entertaining background listen.)
Honestly I adored this video far more then I thought I would. I have been watching your videos for honestly probably around a decade now, and seeing you improve as a critic and seeing you become happier as your life has gotten to a better place was great to see. It was also really interesting to see you go through examples where the show succeeded to better illustrate how it failed. It worked really well for a vector of criticism. Great video!
I feel like the whole Gem goop thing is a reference to the Star Caldron in Sailor Moon, where Sailor Moon couldn’t destroy it to defeat Chaos because that would mean no more stars would be born, which life would be snuffed out. Except, Rebecca missed the point of that story arc completely.
I hate the fact that people use "word of god" (as if , the creator saying something outsite the show) to justify anything about the show. "But Pearl ISNT actually a child slave though, Rebecca said it herself!". Yea well, but she definitly is thought. Everything in her story point towards that direction, everything in the text clearly paint pearls as literally made to serve and obey (and the other gems too, but definitly the pearls). No matter what Becky says, the text is clear.
@@LilianOrchard add intervews , youtube videos and books to that. I dont care that becky writes a trilogy of autoanalisis books about the diamonds not being facist, they clearly still are in the show.
i’ll say this- i agree in steven universe the “protag pov” doesn’t work. there’s too many moments where steven feels forced into situations he isn’t supposed to be in. and there’s too many characters that needed to be fleshed out but couldn’t be because of this choice. **BUT** overall i don’t think having a single perspective throughout a story is bad. if you write the story explicitly with that purpose. for example- the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya has the “we only see things through the protag’s eyes” approach and i love it. there is nothing we don’t see from the main character’s perspective, because he’s our narrator. which leads to a really interesting mystery element when people are hiding stuff from him or say that they had a meeting without him. i think the best part of having a singular pov in a story is excluding them from certain things and having them discover things naturally on their own- being confused along with them and getting to be in their shoes. and another reason this works in tmohs is that it’s world building is kind of minimal, it’s very contained between our main cast of 5 and all of their relationships with the protag as he slowly begins to understand them as people and unravel the mysteries around him while simultaneously trying to figure out his place in all of this. of course the light novels do this better than the show since we get a lot more of kyon’s narration and personal biases- and it just has more content in general. (and yknow we don’t get such aggressive totally deaf fanservice in the books)
Your explanation of bubbles is very similar to why I loved *out of gas* (the 8th episode of firefly). Mal is alone in his ship after sending his crew away to safety and the likelyhood of him surviving slowly dwindles until he's all alone and dying. It's a lonely contemplative episode and its... not fun? But very enjoyable to watch.
Your original SU video was genuinely why I started watching your content, because at the time I vehemently hated the show and couldn’t exactly put my finger on why, and watching your video helped me figure out why exactly that was, and I ended up agreeing with like all of your points, so I genuinely enjoyed that video and I thought it was great
The Credits give away what the next video will be about.
Let me just say, phenomenal choice for the song. The lyrics alone make me intrigued about what you'll have to say!
I really hope that someone take you up on that steven universe nerding out session because I want to listen to it so much.
Oh rad, finally! I've been hoping you would make an episode about credits.
i not always share your opinions or point of view ut for some reason i really enjoy listening to your videos
In some way owl house Is a lot like Steven universe but better Correct me if im wrong
I am so glad you're having a better time with existing in the world. There is a shockingly noticeable amount of underlying joy when you talk about things now and I'm all for it.
It's transcendental honestly
That comment on Japan's horrific crunch culture is something more people need to talk about. I've seen people actually try and argue that the abuse Japanese creators face on a daily basis is actually a good thing because "they learn to stop whining about what's fair and actually make good art" translation, "they should just shut up and allow themselves to be grinded into the dirt to entertain me"
I don't know if you've ever heard weebs talk about Japan having a "culture of overwork" but it's the most nakedly racist way to describe exploitative capitalism I've ever seen.
Weebs have always treated Japan like a zoo.
@@LilianOrchard my reference point is comic chuds saying this as one of their many reasons they think "western culture is falling to the woke mind virus" while standing in front of the comic section in Barns and Nobile.
I actually remember a manga series about manga artists showing just how insanely overworked all of them were. One ended up in hospital
As a black woman I loved the scene we're Garnet confessed to Pearl that she's not always strong and she has moments where she falls apart and needs help. as black women were told and taught at a very young age to grow up toughen up, be strong and be about our s*** and to not let anyone walk all over us to the point where non-black people and even some black people think that we can take anything and nothing bothers us. especially in the medical industry! it's a very harmful stereotype we are not superhuman we need help and compassion and understanding just like any other person.
I felt so hard the being in a place of anger and so everything is anger inducing. It's like being a fish who doesn't understand why water sucks.
same! this was stated so perfectly.
Good stuff Lily! The “Rose’s Scabbard” segment reminded me why I ever thought there was potentially something really good about the writing for Pearl. That episode showed a part of Pearl that frightened me a little, especially in that moment where she gives Steven a death glare and then doesn’t save him from his fall. It was tense and shocking, but the immediate aftermath where Pearl opens up and just talks, feels very hopeful, like a therapy session where you let out a part of yourself that you normally hide, and then you just dissect where those feelings came from. I remember the line “I think you’re pretty great” absolutely wrecking me when I first saw it, because it emphasized that people who are sorting themselves out and dealing with unwanted feelings and thoughts, should still be loved. That idea that others love and cherish you even when you aren’t at your best, or you just can’t see yourself at your best, is comforting.
The worst insult art can receive is not bitter criticism but yawning apathy. In this way, Lily has insulted a lot of other shows far worse than Steven Universe.
idk man lily's kinda known for constantly referencing how she doesn't like the show even if it's simply nodding towards a criticism she has without directly name dropping it
Agree, that's one reason I have more respect for Room and YiiK, as both a pretty a window in how people understand art and the way we take tropes for granted.
@@tbdotwav6963 Congratulations: You can't read
congratulations! I ran out of ideas for this part
@@LilianOrchard You just got your cheeks absolutely clapped by that 2hr video from Sai, you gotta post a response
The concept of distancing yourself between media and yourself either when it's ended or you don't want to engage with it anymore is something that i only started practicing because i started to watch your content after dropping MLP after season 5 to the point where i have never rewatched any episode until now. And once i started to apply it for myself i became more happy and i probably wouldn't do it if i never started to engage with your work. So thanks!
I adore Steven Universe, and quite frankly I hated your video when it came out. I was 9 when the show started coming out and by 11 I fell in love with the show. I was a young boy with a dead beat hippie dad with long hair, and was raised by my older sister, mom, and grandma. Thta probably why I connected to the show so much, a young boy with a largely absent but loving father and three powerful women raising him. When your video came out I became terrified of anyone knowing I liked the show. I watched this show with my entire family and it was all I could talk about until I got to school.(my knowlege of the show got to a point where I could identify the episode by the first 3 seconds with my eyes closed 😭) I have since grown as you have and am open to your newer ideas, but I have notes hehe So granted I may be bias but here's my thoughts from a Steven Universe fan who grew with and now out of it and just watches too many video essays.
I agree that the Steven perspective rule is definitely restrictive in the later seasons, when this was a show about a kid with powers goofing off, it was perfect. The shows called Steven Universe and this is what he did, divisive, yet simple 🤷♂. Steven being in "Last One Out of Beach City" was maybe a little off putting or narrative serving, however I think there is merit to be given to Steven being Pearls connection to the human world, just as rose was. The gems don't often interact with the human world and when they do it's usually with steven, so pearl wanting to show off for the "younger" two crystal gems going to a concert is cute enough for me to give it a pass. I also would have loved for a second mystery girl appearance but, I think that that episode is meant to have pearl go through this grueling chase for some one she hadn't met, and she met them. Pearl's an alien who tends to talk down to humans and this is meant to signify the first time she brings herself off of her pedestal and meets a human for real. Sure we don't see mystery girl again but we see that pearl has even more phone numbers stored in her pearl and that she meets people regularly but Steven Universe Future. We don't need to see mystery girl because we're seeing what she represented to Pearl through her ability to make new connections with humans.
Name five things about Steven? I've trained for this for a decade.
1. He loves weddings
2. He feels like the gems have certain expectations that he does not meet in the beginning of the show, so he copes by cracking jokes where he has deep insecurites, hiding them feelings from the gems.
3. He was just an annoying little kid until at least mirror gem maybe later too, and thats okay. I count this as a fact because he was just a little a-hole about town saying he had magic powers a lot of the time. The way the towny episodes (we'll get back to those later) grow throughout the series shows this. In the beginning everyone is annoyed by him, or treats him like a cute kid. He learns throughout the series, watching himself die and such, and eventually becomes a staple of the town. This says loads about his character and ability to grow
4. Steven puts others above himself detrimentally, we see the beginning of this in "The Game" and the climax in Future.
5. Steven wants nothing more than to know what it's like to feel human or feel like a gem.
Pearl's development is sloooowww I agree but I'm okay with the different directions they took with it as it comes up. Roses scabbord is perfect you are correct, and "Volleyball" is definitly not up to it's standards, but still has value, steven providing a stake worked for me because he was representing the pink of the past that volleyball knew. I think this was also meant to show steven's parrallels wiith his mom in an interesting way (albeit, if not rehashed) as his villain arc is ramping up. I think that is we got a scene like roses scabbord here I would've been less satisfied, as now we get to watch a more mature pearl try to help Volleyball (I hate that name tbh) through what she dealt with. I found it satisfying because is wasn't the same. Also you mention pearl not getting other development, but I think that her arc I highlighted earlier with meeting people and fostering connection and her relationship with amethyst are plenty separated from her past with rose.
Also Pearl definitely was the writers favorite from the get go, I'm just kinda like oh well at least she sings good. 🤷♂
I don't think Steven Universe has the worst filler problem tbh, sure there might be too many townies, but They represent steven's human side, The show is called Steven Universe because he's a regular kid with the weight of the universe on his shoulders, he picks up donuts then fights aliens. Steven's connection to the human world and fostering those connections has incredible value. Steven's overbearing compassion would be hollow is we didn't get to see him grow alongside the townies, whilst showing the gems they're allowed to grow.
Fusion is a relationship, and I know you understand that, but pearl's arc of learning consent is a vcery valuable one for kids. Consent transcends sexual relations and is required in all of your relationships. A fusion, being a representation of two people acting as one with a like minded goal being soiled by consent is gross, and receives the weight it deserves. Pearl actually get's in trouble for once and is shunned until garnet's breakdown to her. Pearl is not her abuser per se, she's her friend who was forcing her to work with her and lend her power under false pretenses, a power Garnet holds very sacred. If my friend lied to me about why I needed to come hang out and their lie was something I cared about I would be hurt too, but to claim pearl an abuser because fusion=sex feels harsh. The story does leave you to think about consent and hopefully the young children will understand the uncomfortability. Also this is not the only time garnet breaks down like this, she has a very similar breakdown while literally trying to hold herself together in front of steven when seeing the forced fusions, which perfectly set up this arc of force fusion.
I have work soon and idk why I wrote all this but anyway I hope you enjoyed
Yeah. It's always weird to me how everytime Pearl screws up, Steven always jumps to her defense when arguably the things she did in comparison to Garnet, are FAR WORSE.
It always rubbed me the wrong way, watching Pearl WATCH Steven fall down into what would’ve been a pancake ending. *Especially* when she peeked down there, saw he made it, then did absolutely nothing to help him. At that time, it felt as though she didn’t care about him except for his tenuous connection to Rose/Pink.
I remember that one episode where Steven says something along the lines of:
"That scared me more than that time you almost killed me!"
And I distinctly remember asking out loud "Which time?"
She got forgiven SO easily.
She's easily both the most complex AND FRUSTRATINGLY simple character in the entire show. And it pisses me off a little the more I think on it.
@@JohnSmith-bn5mi in that spaceship episode, Pearl goes "I almost got us killed" and Steven just replies "I'm used to it"
Its honestly nice to have a video where you look back on who you were in the past and not just critique but support parts of what you did back then.
Growth is hard and it sometimes good to realize you did some things right.
Getting to watch creators reexamine their past works and add to their analyses with clearer eyes is always incredible. This video was very well done, well written, and while I wish I had something more productive to say, I just wanted to comment some praise to get the algorithm in your favor, because the work that is done on this channel is incredibly important. I look forward to what the future will bring!
You weren’t wrong at all Lily. Steven Universe started out as a world building story driven cartoon with so much potential, but once it started centering only on Steven and began to show rather forceful messages of anti-violence and refused to kill pure evil figures such as the Diamonds, all potential storytelling practically fell apart!
For me it started falling apart in that uncle episode like I can get bad writing is ok it happens but the theme of that episode is one of the worse messages you can pass for a kid, not only Steven don't care for his uncle being racist to his family but he makes others feel bad for treating him badly after him acting like a little bigot, like it was clear that Steven should protect his family and say that is not because they are blood related it means they are family, but nope "You need to go back because we are family!!!" and don't even warn him to not treat the gems badly :I
What bothered me the most about the series is that they wanted to give us the message that there are people who do not change with a toxic partner (that their weird fandom ships) and not with dictators
I'm not saying that there should have been an endgame-style war at the end, but I think that, if they wanted to redeem white diamond, they could do it if they simply erased her memory like disney did in gravity falls with the head of the cult
agreed! there were so many promising elements that ultimately were wasted. the parts that were good end up being quickly overshadowed by the parts that are just bad. lapis and her trauma being handled poorly as well as the sugilite episode always started it for me and it's obvious (to me) where all the problematic elements are. the show really doesn't let the characters actually grow and learn/develop and instead wastes way too much time with characters and stories that do nothing. that time could have been spent focussing on the important characters and their development. but no, instead the show was too busy being "cute" and doing "flashy" things instead of giving us anything substantial. that and leaving us with some bad lessons.
i’m really glad that you shared your favorite scene from the show. i almost forgot about that intimate moment that pearl had with steven, but it’s truly such a beautiful and cozy scene. i really wish more of the show had been like that. i got so bored of a lot of the other stuff
That scene is my absolute favorite from the show. I just wish the writers didn't fumble it so hard with Pearl's backstory recontextualizing the episode.
That bit about Pearl warping to Brazil for a Sapphic Tournament arc made me realize that SU could have had so many fun and colorful episodes of the Gems just warping around the globe having fun in different countries and cultures. But knowing Becky she probably would have screwed that up to.
SAME! the closest we got to this was Greg and Steven traveling through Korea (where we first see Blue Diamond), but it was essentially just a quick tourism slideshow since it wasnt the main focus of the ep. Also about the comment regarding Sugar messing up different cultures-- the Fish Stew Pizza family is Guyanese, and honestly every ep with them is so much fun even if it isnt explicitly telling you about their culture. They remind me so much of my Caribbean stepfamily that I thought the Pizzas were from Trinidad or Jamaica and it brought me a lot of comfort having them be such a fun part of the show. The beach ep starring the Pizzas is still one of my favorite SU eps ever. Im not sure if Sugar wrote for the eps with the Pizza family, but it at least shows that the Crewniverse are capable of having Black folks in their show without accidental racism lol
SU includes some pretty good representation in the show BUT its particularly around Asian cultures-- specifically more like East Asian culture/influence showing the most imo
Connie with strict Indian parents in STEM is pretty accurate but kinda bland; Lars is Filipino and i only learned that because in the movie he made ube cake lol. and the show is just full of anime references and Japanese/Korean pop culture, i dont remember the exact ep, but Steven and Garnet were doing morning exercises to a Korean tape, which i LOVE btw, it'd just be awesome to see more than just East Asia being the biggest culture that shines through the show. though it makes sense since lots of East Asian folks worked on the show, and i think its awesome they have the opportunity to implement their own culture in a serialized work. If the series does get another spin-off like Sugar has been discussing, I'd love to see them recruit even more of a variety of folks + someone to proof read their eps, lest we end up with another mishandling of Black characters like Garnet, Bismuth, or god forbid Concrete...
@bradleyharris774 I don't agree with your take on the show, but you can think what you want you want. But, for the next time, please note that Rebecca Sugar is non-binary and uses They/Them pronouns. I don't blame you for not knowing about it, but even if you don't like them as a creator, you have to respect their pronouns.
Wikipedia says she/her and they/them pronouns tho @@xeldrine66
As someone who started following around the legend of Korra video, its lovely to see how much you have grown. It's refreshing to see someone acknowledge the flaws of their past work and rework it
thank you for calling out the racism issue with this show. i really and truly appreciate you for making it abundantly clear how abhorent that episode with Garnet, and just Garnet and other gems of colors' treatment in the show was.
The way you lay out your points about good writing had me taking notes. Your advice really helps me because I'm an aspiring writer, and you really seem to know what you're talking about.
Just thinking about the opening, question, I think Rebecca Sugar would make a great children's horror show. Genuine, true horror. This show has Frybo the monster, it has the Cluster, Bubbled, Spinel's story, everything about the existence of Steven as an alien hybrid is FUCKED. and it's all wrapped in this cutesy bubblegum of fun. This show appeals to the same audience as things like Undertale and FNAF - mixes the childish with the creepy in a brilliant way, to the point that it makes you terrified of kitten fingertips. The main problem with the show is that it uses these amazing horror elements, and then tries to turn them into a centrist story of love. It's a waste of potential.
I’m so glad you came up with the term coercive worldbuilding, it’s nice to have a name to this awful phenomenon I’ve seen way too often, and it being so immediately understandable.
The energy in this video is also infectious, this was a wonderful watch. I’m glad you’re getting better, you deserve all your happiness.
I really loved this video! It's nice to see you going back to revise your outlook on a piece of media like this, while also expressing your willingness to listen to differing viewpoints! I'm also glad you were able to heal from your past trauma! There is something I'd like to discuss about your opinions of Steven's place in the story throughout the main series and Future. I watched another video discussing how SU depicts trauma, and it demonstrated that a lot of Steven's behavior in Future was a pretty realistic depiction of PTSD. I also did my own research on the subject and also can see how that was the case. So what I'd like to get your two sense on is how Future actually fails in delivering that message? Couldn't the fact that Steven's interests outside of being the happy go lucky messiah have been an intentional choice to demonstrate the build up of his trauma overtime? Couldn't a lot of things with Steven turning into a monster just pass as metaphor for someone struggling with their PTSD?
I ask this with the upmost respect and the purpose to simply start a dialogue
Send a brief thesis to my email if you want to talk and we'll see
@@LilianOrchard Alr! I'll do my best to send you something in due time!
22:44 Thank you so much for saying this! I always found it concerning how the show goes “look at this whole music number about how Pink Diamond is bad!” but then Pink’s fascist dictator sisters/mothers go scot free with nothing more than Steven occasionally going “wow my fascist aunts/grandmas sure are weird”. I think the most frustrating thing about White, Blue, and Yellow getting no legitimate punishment is that we already know for a fact Homeworld has some kind of a legal system. Why weren’t any of the Zircons making the trial of the millennia against the tyrannical Diamonds??
Your Steven universe video made me watch the show, I didn’t watch it but I saw it recommended to me a lot and I wanted to watch the show and see what I thought. I loved it at first, it felt nice it all made sense at the moment, but the longer I’ve thought and heard people talk about the more I question it. I found your channel from that video and your uploads are always a fresh of breath air among a lot of cartoon reviews. I love your perspective on stuff and the way you break it down it’s really good.
This video has inspired me to write.
As an abusive survivor I thank you for agreeing with my personal belief that ANYONE saying you need to forgive the abuser has no idea what they're talking about. If that's not what you meant my bad but I'm taking it as that. Cause it just pisses me off Every Time.
Y'know, now that you mention it, I can hear how much happier you are in your voice - both vocal and writing voice-wise. I've watched your stuff for a LONG time, through several different RUclips accounts. Like, when you were covering Equestria Girls 1, I was its target audience with a largely unsupervised internet connection who thought "Bhaalspawn" was a joke about sperm. And I watched you all through middle school, fell off for a while, came back, and something was different. You were talking about things you LIKED. Your recommendation of early Owl House was so positively GLOWING that I checked it out immediately because I was so used to hearing you tear shit apart (rightfully so in a lot of cases, but still). And you never shyed away from pointing out the flaws in the things you talked about (I mean, that IS part of your job), but I felt that something had changed. You were happier. And hearing you be really open about the many instances of abuse and their consequences... yeah, the angry tone of your old videos makes a lot of sense. And for whatever it's worth coming from basically a total stranger, I'm proud of you.
Oh, and I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I haven't actually watched SU in a long time, but I absolutely see what you mean about it being fascinating to dissect. Someone could probably fill an entire college course just using Steven Universe as examples of do's and don'ts for writing - sometimes for the exact same thing (Rose's Scabbard vs The Clam Thing example).
"Pearl is a better version of Snape" was definitely not a take i was expecting today, but god damnit now i can't ever unsee that.
I never said 'better.'
My interpretation admitedly. But she's not actively and deliberately terrorizing Steven. Usually.
Not a big improvement, but credit where it's due.
So - I watched all your videos on SU and motivated by your criticism I decided to rewatch the whole series with a more critical eye... And I still love it. Maybe even more now.
Like... I get where you're coming from and I guess it's one of those series you either develop an emotional connection to or you don't. But subjective stuff aside (like, animation, music and designs - all of which I really enjoy) I just think the amount of love radiating from the show is something that almost always makes me cry. Seriously, I don't know any other medium that captured the found family trope just so good. The love the characters have for eachother, the way they get trough hardships... I just can't not appreciate it.
And yes, of course the show has it flaws. The whole "friendship with dictators" thing will never not make me cringe xd Like you said in your first video... it would work if they weren't responsible for *several genocides*. And I have to treat it metaphorically to enjoy the show because I actually like the Diamonds as characters. But the show tells you that they have commited such atrocities it's just silly how it circles back to "y'know, they're just a disfunctional family that discovers love and patience again after getting their dearest kid back".
Still. I can't really shake off the feeling you don't understand the show and what it's going for... and I guess that's fine ^^ I like your videos even if I find them a little bit too edgy for me xd
And I would love to have a conversation about the show and things I love about it with you xd But yeah, you're a youtuber and I'm an internet rando :v So - thank you for making me appreciate the show even more by dragging me out of my comfort zone and thinking about it critically. Even if that probably wasn't your intention :v
My intention is always to get people to think critically, I don't care what conclusion you come to.
Garnet is my favorite character, and I think you're right Lily. She often deserved better.
I’m so happy I was able to watch this the second it came out. I fell in love with this channel from the original video and it’s an absolute treat to see how much you have grown in your craft and your views on certain topics. Please continue doing what you are doing Lily you are amazing.
Dude. Watching your videos is so comfortable. Like ur having a conversation about whatever the video is and I love it. Thank you
honestly, ik it's not the point of the video, but your recovery story really touched me :') i wish you nothing but the best
I like Steven Universe because the songs help me to regulate my moods, I can think of "Strong in the Real Way" if I need to feel stable and strong, "Here Comes a Thought" if I want to remember that I am not my thoughts and I can choose how to react to situations - it's almost like there's a song to help me through almost every negative mental state. It's my comfort show and I often treat people around me, and myself, better when I'm in the middle of or have recently completed a re-watch. I'm not a real critic, I can't really try to defend it in a multi-hour video, but the feelings that the show creates inside of me despite its flaws are overwhelmingly positive and hopeful and optimistic.
Neat. I got the same thing from therapy.
@@LilianOrchard why are you looking down on someone for finding comfort in music? or a series in general? therapy is definitely great, but theres no harm in finding healthy coping mechanisms on your own. plus, therapy is expensive and not always available to those that need it.
@@ricepopp I didn't look down on anyone. You made that up.
@@thelingeringartist That's funny, given I said I got the SAME THING from therapy. Learn to read, and stop making shit up.
So, from what I understand, you want to like Steven Universe, but you feel that the story has fumbled the ball way too many times. Steven Universe is not trash, it's wasted potential.
Rose’s Scabbard is one of greatest pieces of animation I have ever seen. I appreciate you going over it in this video.
While I absolutely plan to listen to this entire thing later, I want to stress that I appreciate the immediate answer of, "no, but here's the nuance I may or may not have missed/been able to recognize and distinguish before." Good fucking shit, nerd. I'm off to pass out and listen to this later.
To this day, I still laud Steven Universe as my go to example of why letting storyboard artists write a show instead of an actual write team will always be a bad idea. Storyboard Artists will constantly infight with one another over the direction causing different interpretations of the story, even when one gets picked as the true story, it always ends up being the worst option.
With a Writers Team, you can always be assured everyone is going to be on the same page and in the same mindset when planning out the story barring any changes due to corporate interference for some reason.
I think that having storyboard artists and animators direct entire episodes could only work if there isn't much dialogue in the episodes themselves and more emphasis was given on the visuals and character expressions. But Steven Universe didn't really do that much, so that excuse from the crewniverse falls flat since they want to animate their next big stakes fight scene or omage to a scene from a 90s anime they liked.
50:48 and onwards, talking about your experiences of abuse and showing the video of Aqua finally seeing the light of day again reminded me of the fact that, despite being someone who has a hard time crying at all, I cried in that scene. Her being so down and used to the lowest ends of the worlds and being outside was hard for her to even believe. It made my face feel warm and my tears warmer, like I was looking at the sun myself. That scene also came to me before I gained the friends that actually made me feel like that. In a way, despite still reacting sorely to abuse and trying to suspect my close found-family friends of misdemeanor was me still reacting like I was in the realm of darkness. This bright island only fell to my level to deceive me, it’s not the real sun. But, I needed to get used to being at a better point in my life instead of actively sabotaging myself. Thank you for sharing your experience, it helps me feel so much less alone.
I’ve been watching your stuff for years and always maintain I could watch you talk about anything for hours, literally I’ve never played WOW and I’m a Sylvanas stan. I sent this video the way of some of my critically discerning SU fan buddies because i think they fit the mold of the kind of people you want on the podcast. I was rewatching SU with a friend not too long ago and it really blew me away how solid a lot of the show pre Bismuth was. And bismuth really marks the point where Steven and his reactions to things started to get on my nerves and sour my view of the show. A phenomenal video as always Lily!
I'm watching the segment of how Steven treats Pearls and Garnet's missteps and all the time all I can think is all the very deserved criticism of this show and it's problems when writing people of color when you have Connie basically turned into the knight for the white kid and Garnet getting the scolding from Steven while Pearl does so much worse and more often gets off the hook. I can't unsee it and its why I can't really go back into this show.
this double standard was so frustrating and just made its way into so much of the story. amethyst got the same treatment regarding the fusions. the way sugilite and sardonyx were handled so differently even though both pearl and amethyst had the same self esteem problems. pearl getting a pass despite her behavior and amethyst never having her issues revisited really left a bad taste.
Steven Universe wanted to be about healing a broken family and ending a genocidal empire and combined those two themes in the worst, most toxic way possible.
@@Hylianmonkeysyeh I tired they refer diamond as genocidal because they kill million of lifeform so we should call European and white people as genocidal because they kill or wipe out 90 % of population of native American same with Australia also a lot of animal spieces got extinct because human settlement like gem did to planet
I've always felt that Steven Universe's depiction of empathy, pacifism, and forgiveness was too naive. There's certainly nothing wrong with showing kindness, love, and understanding to others, but the problem that SU creates is that it bizarrely assumes that de-escalation is not only THE preferred solution to conflict, but that it's the ONLY solution (otherwise, you're no better than the antagonist). It never accounts for the possibility of a situation that genuinely challenges that, so reality has to warp in order for Steven (and by proxy, Sugar) to always be right.
Granted, there's nothing wrong with a story about pacifism being the takeaway: other cartoons like Wander Over Yonder, Golden Age Wonder Woman comics, games like Undertale, and anime like Trigun all have this in common - but the difference is that in these examples, pacifism is ALSO paired with the important key addition of "completely take away the power from abusers/bullies" as well as exploring how pacifism can lead to destruction created by passivity (particularly in WoY S2 and Trigun's story) and how important the power of fighting back is. And in 3/4 examples listed, the character embodying pacifism is powerful enough that they can afford to embody that. That's crucial!
SU meanwhile bungles it all up by going for the disgusting "if you punch the bully, you're no better than him" excuse, allowing the abusers/bullies custody of their power, and then trying to whitewash the villains of the things they did, on top of making it so EVERYTHING bad they did can be literally undone (which not only retroactively erases the tension/stakes, but makes things even more uncomfortable).
And I find that disgusting: fighting back against an abuser is ALWAYS justified because an abuser will NOT STOP HURTING YOU. Allowing an abuser with power is dangerous because they not only pose a risk to you, but other people (and there's no guarantee they'll stop when your eyes aren't on them). And not every horrible thing can be undone: most of the nightmarish actions the Diamonds and their empire commit draw parallels to very real things, things that were permanent and even today leave deep scars. You can't unkill someone, ungenocide a species, or undo generational mental trauma.
It genuinely disturbs me because SU isn't an honest conversation about the value of pacifism and how it can be used to help people (and where it can go wrong), but wish fulfillment/"power" fantasy about how the main character saves the day because it turns out, every antagonist is someone he can talk down (because the metaphysics are ingrained to be on his side). ATLA was guilty of something similar because it acted as if pacifism was something tangible (when really, it was incompatible with the metaphysics of the story and only existed to make Aang/the creators look better for being more moral), but it had the common sense to fucking strip Ozai of his Bending.
As someone who’s been following you since 2019 because of seeing this and the Korra video, it’s satisfying to get a long addendum. Thank you, Lily.
"The hardest part about being an adult is accepting you didn't need to do that."
yeah...
I actually quite liked the tone of this video, and how much more generous (for lack of a better term, I need to go to bed) you were with your interpretations, especially in regards to the staff. Also more acknowledgments of which problems were symptoms of the industry.
I very muc enjoy watching you talk about SU
Are we finally talking about the Sardonyx arc as an assault? Because every time I bring up how r*pey the whole this is, there's always someone there to say that I'm reading into it too much.
You're right, so eff them. Fusion is a blending of body and mind, which obviously all parties involved need to consent to, because it's a very intimate thing that needs trust. Tricking someone into it/doing it without permission the way Pearl did was just so wrong and violating towards Garnet. The fact that someone can't see that is weird
It’s weird how, out of all the videos I’ve watched from this channel over the last five years, this one, particularly the last segment, just got to me. Not in a bad way, but in the melancholic sense of feeling my heart slowly drop from my chest into my stomach. Your analysis of Utena was just beautiful, by the way. Steven Universe came around during a *bad* period in my life and became my formative years. Then your big SU video came out during another bad period of life; watching it with my younger brother was one of the last positive interactions I had with him before I became estranged from my entire family for 3 years. It’s a lot of words to say that Steven Universe and your commentary on the has been in the background of my life for a long, long time. Seeing your opinion go from someone who was nearly outraged because, “They’re stupid and incompetent,” to, “They’re unfocused and easily distracted but they’re capable of competence,” is just- It’s more sweet than bitter to hear the soft fondness in your voice compared to the disgust from five years ago.
To be clear, I don’t particularly blame you or anyone for expressing that level of rage toward the show at the time your original video came out. That outrage was offset by the fact that a lot of the show’s critics were being sent death threats and hate mail with the express goal of unaliving those people, especially if they weren’t white. While I don’t think anyone who had criticisms of the show were making it while they were in a good place, that anger generated by it was a symptom of the fandom doing what it did best.
I really love this video. Your commentary from this specific video is something I’ll be reflecting on whenever I write my own stories.
OK LAST COMMENT ON THIS VID, I SWEAR--
While it's more of a throwaway joke, I thought the comment about folks who make a Tumblr blog to make OCs and do nothing w them is super funny cuz a) I used to do that back in the day with making a million character bios and no story to go w it (though mostly in one of my million notebooks and library printouts) b) Im pretty private about my project brainstorming now, sharing more about creative projects once I have something past pre-production, c) the only place Ive seen a character blog and vague bio work longterm is via roleplaying blogs, where developing a character via interacting with others is kinda the point. Craft improves fandom brain so u can maintain passions beyond nostalgia. Thats all for now! Thx for coming to me TedTalk lol
I hope you all enjoy this one. I had an absolute ball drawing and voicing Bonnie @29:49 XD
Your Bonnie voice is adorable.
You do sound less angry. I had a panic attack in the middle of the first su video and I was confused as to why I was having such an emotional response to this critique, because it generally makes good points. While I don't particularly like someone shitting on something I like, I also like to recognize the flaws, of which su has many. Eventually, I realized you sounded really angry and that it was not just a "Presentation voice" you were doing to sound clear and concise while also sounding energetic if not also mildly rude while doing a critique. My silly lil brain was responding like it used to when I was being yelled at. I am happy you are in a better place.
I keep finding people who are angry because you criticized it, and i keep reminding them you're not the only one who wasn't completely okay with everything. You're just the one who talked about it
Alright. Writing my 17 hour video essay on why I love Steven Universe now.
I remember after the Sardonyx thing seeing an article calling Pearl a rapist and being really averse to that idea at the time, but as an adult I definitely see that it’s equivalent to rape-by-deception no different from stealthing.
@@kaykay8855 "Those fusions were consensual." If we're saying tht forced or coercive fusion is rape, then we're saying tht consensual fusion is sex, the opposite of rape. If so-called consensual sex happens between a minor or adult, it's just statutory rape. If you're going to say tht wht Pearl did is rape, then you're calling other fusions the same, which is ridiculous.
Same I remember being uncomfortable with that too but now that I’m older what she did was the equivalent of violating someone’s bodily anatomy there’s no way around it and the way they handled that did feel like rape culture messages
All I know is it’s not gonna be a fun day in twitter but I should say comparing this to your last video I think you’ve improved a lot in your writing and way you speak. The way you break down smaller elements and flow together in the greater thesis.
You sound so happy now Lily and that makes me so happy!
As person whose been a development editor and ghostwriter in my own writing gigs, I think that SU has the problem of a story just running off vibes and random ideas w/o any solid plans for follow-through. I've been personally frustrated by clients who give me list of tropes and vibes w/ nothing in way of a plot outline, character info story structure, etc cuz keeping it so vague implies lack of thought at best and commitment at worst. You cant just send me brainstorming notes when you want to publish this book in a month; you cant expect a cake when you send a chemical list and no ingredients or recipe. Something something, have a structure even if youre gonna make stuff up (as most writers dooo)! Something that might be fun for you to make as a creator might not be easy to market as a company or business. You should have the gist of your story done in the first ep not in episode 100.
I want to thank you for always sticking up for nonbinary people. It feels like we're never acknowledged, especially when we're masc presenting, and the fact that you bring us up and defend us really does mean a lot.
As a semi masculine presenting enby true
Love love love this vid and your analysis! Would sacrifice a small Victorian child for the video talking about the racism in SU frankly
Can I just say how funny it is that you, one of the most outspoken Revolutionary Girl Utena haters on the internet, just went and gave a summation of the themes of the last episodes of the anime and why they’re so great that is better than anything I’ve ever heard from a “fan” of the series?
I’d say it’s weird but it’s not, it just goes to show how not stanning something gives one an objectively better critical perspective on it.
People think me not liking this show means I haven't seen it.
@@LilianOrchard Funny enough I'd bet good money half of its "fans" haven't actually seen it and just know it from memes and reputation alone.
Because like you said the way most shows "reference" it is surface level to the point of outright disrespect.
But hey, weebs only actually like anime for the aesthetics. In other news water is indeed wet.
@@DantheManIamIamI dropped out from the series after the Black Rose saga since nothing effectively mattered from it. And it became excessively repetitive.
@@DantheManIamIamI tried watching it but everything about it is so damn slow, so I only got a couple EPs in before I bailed
I think One Piece did a far better job at handling a forced confrontation with your estranged family through Sanji and the Vinsmokes. He went ahead and said "fuck you you're not my real dad" to Judge but still saved him and his siblings from being assassinated by Big Mom because despite disowning his biological family, his kind nature prevents him from letting them die. This creates a strong sense of irony because the reason Sanji's the family disappointment was his kind nature so the very thing Judge hated his son for ended up being his salvation. The moment where Judge asks Luffy why he hangs out with Sanji and then lists all the reasons Sanji's a "disapointment" only for Luffy to get confused because those are "all the things that makes Sanji great" was just *chefs kiss*.
33:15 "a lot of people might hate the idea of sharing a mind with someone, but to someone who has already _been_ sharing a mind for a very long time, being a complete individual could be just as nightmarish" - something i'd love to see explored in more stories in a positive way. that's what it's like being a DID system, and it's why so many systems seek a stable, cooperative, interdependent balance rather than "final fusion" (yes that's literally what medical professionals call it). it's just another way to exist. the one you're used to is generally gonna be the most natural and comforting.
Where are the rest of the negative comments? It kinda feels like I'm only seeing one side here.
Most of them are just shit like "yes you were next question" and got caught in the spam filter. Truth be told nobody has really had a genuinely negative thing to say, just snark
@@LilianOrchard Oh, alright. Thanks.
Ok, this whole video is amazing, and I'm so glad to see you're in a much better place, and that you and Mikaila are doing so well together. After all you've told us, you deserve it. I've followed you through like... 3 different accounts over the years, but... right here, THANK YOU. Thank you for calling out the lack of masculine enby rep, as one myself. I'm so done dealing with "But you're a guy and you're not feminine! How are you nonbinary?"
wonderful video, thank you!
your point about most people missing your newer rewrites hit home for me. I recently commented on someone else's long video about problems with modern pokemon games and I said that they had a habit of repeating themselves a lot. they replied to me that the video was already over an year old and that they had improved in many ways since then.
I don’t really get the whole “if the diamonds were killed gems would die out” point gems are functionally immortal unless gems are actively being shattered like in the rebellion a species can’t die out if it doesn’t die and again only in a situation like the rebellion where enough gems would get injured that they would need to be healed on mass would the diamonds healing abilities be needed there are billions of active gems and killing the diamonds wouldn’t make the gems die out it would just leave only the gems that are there which will live on forever.
If it's possible for gems to die, but not possible for new gems to be born, then they'll go extinct. It might take millions of years, but it's inevitable. Because every time a gem gets shattered by an accident, or conflict, or natural disaster, the total number of gems goes down. And that number never goes back up.
@@wisdommanari6701 thermian argument?
@@wisdommanari6701 Aaaah, fair enough.
Yeah, agreed. I too would have preferred if the Diamonds had faced the consequences of their actions - while execution wouldn't work in a kids' show them being defeated and locked up would work a lot better than their redemption imo. I was just clarifying the in-universe mechanics, not supporting an ending I disagree with.
The diamonds are technically the only ones who can heal corrupted gems, so that's reason enough to keep them around, at least temporarily.
I'm so happy to hear of your growth and that your in a better place these days. To be honest on the subject of SU I just can't be bothered, it was never my scene, but your critique of it at the time was passionate and funny and got me to subscribe, the Korra vid was even better and that one I still do wholeheartedly agree with 😅
I wish even more growth and happiness for you, keep the vids coming at your own pace! You're a talented creator and a thoughtful critic.
I always said that naming your own story after the main character would always limit you to writing the story around the character.
Thank you for acknowledging the racism for Garnet and Connie I was really sad to see how they treated the both of them and honestly I really appreciate others validating the things I saw although no one would believe me when I brought my concerns to light
@@TiredMoonRabbit Oh really then why does Garnet and Connie never get an episode where they play an integral part of the story not just “STEVEN” and that’s it and after they felt like they were done with Connie they pushed her in with the rest of the side characters and Garnet only gets a few episodes where she is the main character but again they touch on fusion but they don’t fully explore it they do that several times and by the way something can appear to be racist to me and maybe not you but I’m not the only one who has problems with the poc on this show it just feels like they never get their time in the sun and if they do it never happens again. So THANK you for trying to tell a show isn’t racist even though it is to me.
@TiredMoonRabbit SU stans will praise all the metaphors and symbolism until those symbols are criticized, then they suddenly can't read
@@LilianOrchard Thank you I really do appreciate you and your voice of support I loved SU but when they treat poc of color a different way I started to lose faith in Becca
I resonated so much when you mentioned that you felt better being alone and I currently feel that way and honestly for years I have been feeling that way. The reason I feel that is because I’ve been treated like absolute shit all my life, ie victim of bullying emotional and verbal abuse. All that trauma has cause lots of social anxiety and lingering trust issues as well as impulse issues to arise. When you expressed that sentiment it enforced why I need therapy but currently I’m in limbo in my rn that finding a job is pretty difficult at least in the field I went to college for. Thank you for making this video Lily. ❤
I'm not sure what you mean by no one is talking about where steven universe succeeds, I've seen a thousand videos on why people think steven universe is a great show. But if you haven't watched those, I'll give my two cents. I think the characters are interesting, the soundtrack is excellent, the story was compelling minus the parts that you addressed in the video, it was very emotional and moving, and heck it's just fun to watch and did a lot of things that were unprecedented in cartoons at the time. Your criticisms are totally valid! but they are only a part of the whole show. I think you are focusing on a lot of flaws that are very specific and attributing them to the general quality of the show, which is overall pretty high. Maybe my standards are lower than yours, but as far as an animated show goes, it could do soooo many things worse, and I think it executes its idea better than most other shows try to.
Another banger from Lily
On the subject of Steven Universe. When I saw your video I was about 17 (I'm almost 21 now) years old I think. And it fucking re-wired my brain. I think I can trace back my love for critical analysis back to that video.
But the thing about that, is that back then I wasn't looking for critical analysis. I already hated SU. I only wanted someone to do my thinking for me. And half the things you said about SU I hadn't even thought of. And now that I'm older I appreciate more nuanced critique so i was excited for this video coming out.Yet I keep pondering on the thing you said about SU not being able to be defended in earnest.
Now I'm not very pragamatic I'll admit. But I think there's something to be debated about the how a piece of fiction (independently of how its excuted) affects the real world. Like should we judge something by its content or by the effects it has on the world?
I always come back to the comment I think it was from one of your videos on SU that was someone being like "I only defend SU sometimes cause the songs help me recover from Panic Attacks." And tbh I respect a personal reason like that more than I respect the Stan Mentality so many people have.
I think it'll be interesting to conduct some sort of experiment/survey like: "Has SU improved your life at all?" And see the results. Like did it help you make friends? Did it help you come out to your parents?...etc. To see if all the bad things the show is known for pale in comparison to the people it helped.
(Of course this is all hypothetical)
And I say all of this at someone whose exposure to SU's lessons and it's fanbase made their life worse as an impressionable Tween.
40:13 The fandom hates bismuth? The fandom freaking LOVED her when she was introduced and upset over her being bubbled. It was moreso over the loss of a new crystal gem and feeling cheated out of that, but they still loved her.
The episode I mean
The SU team was remarkably good at writing nothing, and remarkably terrible at writing anything. Truly paradoxical.
Small quiet and almost superfluous scenes have the best character work, and anything that tries to be something falls flat on its face.
"It's not a glamorous job, but then again neither is yours" you cut me deep. you cut me real deep 😭
I’m just saying I like how your videos are structured, with the little sections with your characters and also the entire genuineness and funny jokes while also criticizing things.
First of all, I commend you for being big enough to admit that your initial review may not have been the most fair and was colored by your experiences and implicit biases. It takes a big person and someone who’s done a lot of growth, and self reflection to admit things like that, I still found your initial review to be incredibly insightful for me as it verbalized things about the show that I myself didn’t like, but didn’t have the vocabulary to express.
That said, I still think this is the far better review. It’s certainly more even keeled of the two and offered valid/constructive criticism and insight to what made the show work and what could’ve made it better. Fair, balanced, and honest.
Im glad you’re in a better place now too❤
I think Steven Universe's story (and a good chunk of stories like it) can be described as the showrunners procrastinating. They waste time with filler content. Then, when people lose interest & plan to drop the show, they put out an episode meant to give the impression of progression, development, and/or growth, some of it being real & others mere illusion. Also, if the slice of life content NEEDED to be there (it didn't, but we'll walk to that pier), it could have been better if it just anyone that wasn't Steven with a townie.
At 36:36, you can also tell that the writers REALLY wanted to push the "kiss & make up" shit due to it "being a show for kids" (being very generous). Garnet should've been allowed to say, "I don't forgive you. You broke my trust and it'll take more than apologizing to fix it." But that would conflict the show's very "forgive & forget" attitude towards everything. Also, white favoritism strikes again.
Something that I always found strange is how people paint you as someone who thinks Steven Universe has no value or that you don't care about.
But you wouldn't have made so many videos, both before & after the big one, if you didn't care. If it was just consistently & exclusively good, there isn't much to talk about. But its failures make it something worth discussing.
Briefly talking about One Piece, the creator clearly has a lot of ideas and intends to explore them as much as he can. It's why there's almost 1100 chapters & counting of the series.
As someone who is an anime fan, it's so clear to me that the crew wanna make something like what they watched, but don't have the experience writing to fully get why they worked.
Aside from all that, I am glad that you're in a better place from when you made that video all that time ago.
After rewatching this video like 5-7 times I think I can definitively say I'd watch that ep compared to ep breakdown. But longform videos are kind of my jam, so, 4+ hours of one video is just my cup of tea 😅
I might hate the redemption of the diamonds just a little less if they did it without steven being there and instead realized that they were desecrating pink diamond's memory by continuing their expansion. With the way they're doing it now, it's almost like steven got an unspoken promotion to white diamond's level.
As someone who is a fan of SU and held some degree of contempt towards your original video (mainly for what I thought was disproportionate outrage towards a show that I think has lots of good qualities despite its myriad flaws)-I just have to say I think this is an excellent follow-up. Really thoughtful, reasonable, fair critique, and even in moments where you didn’t highlight ways your analysis and thoughts had shifted, that energy still came across; for example, your analysis of Pearl’s character actually felt like a legitimate discussion of wasted potential/poorly paced storytelling, highlighting the interesting parts that make the writing lapses so frustrating, and not just blindly attacking the character which is kind of what I was expecting.
I actually found myself agreeing with some of your critiques which I was DEFINITELY not expecting-I’ve always had my criticisms of SU, which I more consider a “beloved mess” type of fave, and I really appreciate when people are able to give this kind of thoughtful analysis that feels like they actually are responding to the show and not approaching every part of it with the most bad faith reading, which was how I felt about the type of SU takedowns like your last video.
Also, as a huge Utena fan, I was equally impressed and appreciative of your REALLY accurate discussion of its themes even coming from a non-fan. It’s a deeply important show to me as a survivor and it infuriates me how much its themes are missed/misunderstood even by people who purport to love it, so I just have to say THANK YOU for explaining it so well and actually understanding it, even if you don’t like it overall (which I completely get, it is a very very weird show and certainly not to everyone’s taste lmao)
I’m really really happy to hear you’re doing better in your personal life and it is genuinely inspiring seeing the growth between your original SU video and this one. I hope more people who still take umbrage with your work from five years ago actually take the time to watch this. Thanks for your updated thoughts and I’m now genuinely interested to hear more about what you have to say about this show! I wish you nothing but the best, hope you have a great day ❤
I am so glad you are feeling better through your tireless efforts at healing. Also, I love your videos, angry and reformed tones!
I didn’t even consider how beautiful the idea you offered at 28:26 would be. And it actually makes me mad because in the wedding episode Sapphire says something along the lines of “I guess our old friends won’t be there”
The racism in this show is just made me decide to let this shit sleep. I only accepted seeing it again because I wanna support your videos, hun.
GOD I really, really, REALLY can't stand how Garnet and Bismuth were treated. It makes my blood boil beyond words.
8:09 If I’m remembering right, someone from the crew said that Mystery Girl(or Sabina, not sure where that name came from) would indeed return, only to end up as a blurry background character. And that stung for me cause I remember looking for every fanart and fanfic I could find for MysteryPearl after that episode. Shows what I know.
Sabina comes from the kevin party episode. They tend to enjoy planting seeds and watering with acid
Your statement at the beginning pretty much sums up my relationship with Steven Universe. Sometimes "bad" art - whatever that means in the subjective hellscape of media analysis - is better than boring art because at least there's something interesting to say about what went wrong and why. The aggressive bloat of Adventure Time clones is pretty much the opposite, art that has nothing to say about it without even the audacity of being entertaining in its failure. Aggressive mediocrity.
24:13 oof I feel so bad for zamii. One of my ex’s harassed her so bad, I ended up leaving him because I was so disgusted. She ended up having to go to the hospital. I love SU but the fandom sucks so much.
I'm glad you revisited this, Lily. I understand looking back at something you've done or worked on and acknowledging that "No, I'm not proud of this, I can do better." I'm happy you're now in a place where, while still justly critical, you can appreciate the good parts too, and create something you'll probably look back more fondly on.
(Hope you don't mind if I keep watching the old one though. Its a very entertaining background listen.)
glad i found this this is gonna help with my own writing thank you!
Some artist like looking at their old work and having a good laugh at what they once considered good work
Honestly I adored this video far more then I thought I would. I have been watching your videos for honestly probably around a decade now, and seeing you improve as a critic and seeing you become happier as your life has gotten to a better place was great to see. It was also really interesting to see you go through examples where the show succeeded to better illustrate how it failed. It worked really well for a vector of criticism. Great video!
I feel like the whole Gem goop thing is a reference to the Star Caldron in Sailor Moon, where Sailor Moon couldn’t destroy it to defeat Chaos because that would mean no more stars would be born, which life would be snuffed out.
Except, Rebecca missed the point of that story arc completely.
A truly amazing vid as always Lily. Its so amazing seeing how much you have changed for the better and having such a better life
I hate the fact that people use "word of god" (as if , the creator saying something outsite the show) to justify anything about the show. "But Pearl ISNT actually a child slave though, Rebecca said it herself!". Yea well, but she definitly is thought. Everything in her story point towards that direction, everything in the text clearly paint pearls as literally made to serve and obey (and the other gems too, but definitly the pearls). No matter what Becky says, the text is clear.
I have a rule regarding analysis: I will only take the material into account. Twitter posts don't matter.
@@LilianOrchard add intervews , youtube videos and books to that. I dont care that becky writes a trilogy of autoanalisis books about the diamonds not being facist, they clearly still are in the show.
i’ll say this- i agree in steven universe the “protag pov” doesn’t work. there’s too many moments where steven feels forced into situations he isn’t supposed to be in. and there’s too many characters that needed to be fleshed out but couldn’t be because of this choice. **BUT** overall i don’t think having a single perspective throughout a story is bad. if you write the story explicitly with that purpose.
for example- the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya has the “we only see things through the protag’s eyes” approach and i love it. there is nothing we don’t see from the main character’s perspective, because he’s our narrator. which leads to a really interesting mystery element when people are hiding stuff from him or say that they had a meeting without him. i think the best part of having a singular pov in a story is excluding them from certain things and having them discover things naturally on their own- being confused along with them and getting to be in their shoes. and another reason this works in tmohs is that it’s world building is kind of minimal, it’s very contained between our main cast of 5 and all of their relationships with the protag as he slowly begins to understand them as people and unravel the mysteries around him while simultaneously trying to figure out his place in all of this.
of course the light novels do this better than the show since we get a lot more of kyon’s narration and personal biases- and it just has more content in general. (and yknow we don’t get such aggressive totally deaf fanservice in the books)
Your explanation of bubbles is very similar to why I loved *out of gas* (the 8th episode of firefly). Mal is alone in his ship after sending his crew away to safety and the likelyhood of him surviving slowly dwindles until he's all alone and dying. It's a lonely contemplative episode and its... not fun? But very enjoyable to watch.
Your original SU video was genuinely why I started watching your content, because at the time I vehemently hated the show and couldn’t exactly put my finger on why, and watching your video helped me figure out why exactly that was, and I ended up agreeing with like all of your points, so I genuinely enjoyed that video and I thought it was great
BONNIE CAMEO HECK YEAH! Love that gremlin!
this video really does perfectly show how much you've grown as a person. It's awesome.
symbolism and knives: yeah that's utena
Maybe the Steven was the Universe we made along the way
Loving the new style of comedy coming from your new vids lily!! Ur Pokémon review was especially entertaining ❤❤❤
7:12 I’m laughing my butt off at this it’s so true through 😂 its like those fanfictions where they have to include their OCs into the story