STEVEN UNIVERSE 5X28 "Change Your Mind" Full Length Reaction
Added 2024-09-17 13:27:27 +0000 UTCHere is my full length unedited reaction to Steven Universe 5X28!
Streamer: Max
Comments
Well.... time to talk about the episode itself (Prepare yourself Mikey, cuz this is gonna be LONG xdd). The dream sequence at the beginning of the episode is a great Foreshadowing of what was to come.... because the dream perfectly reflects the fact that Steven was still struggling internally with the possibility that he was not himself, that somehow Pink/Rose was still alive and he was just a mask or a disguise. "Stop it Blue...... Stop using your Power on me" "Im Not" I love this whole scene (even if it's rushed), very emotional and humanizing. You thought it was impossible for all of the Crystal Gems to combine into a single fusion? HA! well it's clear you didn't notice..... but you have already seen Obsidian ever since Episode 1 of the show! Remember the big statue that is built around the Crystal Gem Temple and Steven's House? That was Obsidian all along, althought that version of her is obviously with Rose instead of Steven. And the Fandom had already deduced that it was a fusion of all of them together ever since the concept of Fusion was presented in the show. Oh yeah, everyone was happy when Lapis and Peridot showed up here... as i already mentioned in a previous reaction.... the moment Peridot became a Crystal Gem... everyone in the fandom was already anticipating the moment where she would get her own Star, this is in reference to the fact that all the members of the crystal gems have a Star on their outfit designs. Althought almost no one was expecting the new Lapis design to be so sick as well (and i gotta say... i love those Kamina Glasses Peridot is rocking now). But returning to the fusions..... It was great that for this finale we got to see how each fusion with the Crystal Gems would look like, i would have preferred a more intimate and personal moment for each fusion like we had with Smoky Quartz (or i guess it's Smoky Diamond now) but this is awesome nonetheless. We get Rainbow Quartz (or Rainbow Diamond) 2.0! the 2.0 is in reference to the fac that we have already seen the Rainbow Quartz Fusion before... but it was between Pearl and Rose, you saw it in the episode "We Need to Talk" of Season 2. And yes the staff of the show confirmed that his design was heavely inspired by Mary Poppins.... but also by the American Comedian Dick Van Dyke. Another Fun Fact about Rainbow 2.0 is that he's the first fusion to have a Male Voice Actor in the series (Alastair James). Yes, the new outfits the crytal gems have are fantastic......... but as a Pearl Fan i must re-affirm my devotion to her by saying that her new outfit is my favorite xddd. Sunstone's design is so.......... Wacky xddd, but i do get why the show's designers went with it... since they had to do something different from the hundreds or even thousands of fanarts of what the fusion between Steven and Garnet would look like... that the fans had already drawn. And also a Fun Fact about Sunstone: She's the only character of the series who breaks the fourth-wall to talk directly to the audience, and to give life lessons as if she was some sort of 80's or 90's after-school-special cartoon character xddd. That scene of the crystal gems landing inside of White Diamond's chamber is a fun parallel to another scene from Season 1, i believe the episode was "Serious Steven" in which all 4 of them did an identical landing to the one we see here in the Finale..... the only big difference being that in "Serious Steven" Steven falls clumsily on his stomach while here on "Change Your Mind" he falls gracefully like the rest. For the record.... even tho it isn't clear.... i don't think White is being literal when she's talking about how Blue, Yellow and Pink are "part of her", i think that's how she talks in order to rationalize her idea of perfection and how she views everyone else (including the other diamonds) as imperfect. Because... in case you didn't know.... when Diamonds in real life form with colours other than white... it means that they have other minerals or..... "impurities" within them. That whole sequence of White Diamond taking over everyone.... and then removing the Diamond out of Steven's body is sooooo disturbing, all thanks in equal parts to the people who directed the episode and to Christine Ebersole who voices White Diamond, her performance was outstanding (and creepy). And then..... it happened. What was teased back in the episode "Three Gems and a Baby" when Pearl tried to pull out Steven's Gem when he was just a Baby. White Diamond finally did it just to prove that Pink Diamond was still there somewhere.............. but she was wrong. Pink Steven confirmed it, Pink Diamond is completely gone and she always has been since the beginning, and that's exactly what Steven needed to hear, the validation that he so desperately craved. He is not the shadow of Pink Diamond or a disguise created by her...... he is him..... he is just Steven. What an absolutely beautiful moment this was. Also fun fact: that REALLY SMOOTH scene of the 2 Stevens hugging each other and laughing was animated by the legendary animator James Baxter, but don't worry if you don't recognize the name........ you're gonna become well-acquainted with him soon enough...... hehehe. It was such an nice touch to see Sadie and the Suspects singing and performing the SECOND song we ever heard in this show, which is of course "Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart" which was first played in episode 2 of the series "Laser Light Cannon". Oh hey there Lars! and Off-Colours! we definetely didn't miss you in the Big Final Fight! x,dddddd That montage with a new version of the Main Theme of the show was really touching..... Steven and the Diamonds returned everyone to normal wih their Bath Water! im joking xddd. You know.... it's funny that you got to see and hear a new version of the intro..... it's funny because it almost seems like someone forgot to do a reaction to a certain extended intro. Ok i'll stop xddd, that was my last friendly jab to you Mikey. And with that... we're done with Steven Universe! (For now), it was such an enjoyable journey, can't wait to see your reaction to the Movie... some Great Songs are awaiting you.
Julio Castillo
2024-09-17 21:24:05 +0000 UTCThe "I am a child, what's your excuse" line is a call back to the pilot episode and I love it so much :')
Anait
2024-09-17 21:08:51 +0000 UTCWhile I really do understand the criticism of the Diamonds' redemption arcs being rushed, I would like to point out something that I believe Novantiuum pointed out in the Ruby/Sapphire wedding episode: that Rebecca Sugar had a whole 6th season in the works, but in order for Cartoon Network to allow her to put an obligatory gay wedding in her show, she'd have to give that final season up. A LOT of important nuance got lost in that I think, in the scramble for writers to change things around and fit in exactly what they needed to to tell the story. Personally, I also feel like SU Future falls into that same problem a bit. But all things considered, I still really enjoyed this series finale AND SU Future. I guess I'm just easily entertained?? Idk. But either way, great commentary as always, can't wait to see your reaction to the movie!!!
The Spider King
2024-09-17 20:57:37 +0000 UTCOkay, I just got sucked into the narrative again and didn't have any other things pop up in my brain while watching ahahah- so I'm just gonna do my rambles in a separate comment, here... There's honestly so many things I COULD speak on with this episode, but what I really wanna focus in on here is the conflict with the Diamonds and then that big scene with White Diamond and Steven, because I really like the character work done here with them. I echo the sentiment you made mid episode- with caring more about if a plot beat provides emotional satisfaction than how much time the narrative spends with it. Yes, these final plot beats- for all the CN issues it dealt with- had to be compressed into a shorter time frame for the crew to finish telling their story, but I genuinely think they did a wonderful job in conveying the important emotions they wanted the audience to experience. With Yellow and Blue's change of hearts in particular... they were swift turns, but they make a lot of logical sense with the way they were established as characters, and with the dynamics they hold with each other and White. Even as a first time viewer, you pointed out multiple times how the Diamond dynamic seemed like a broken family, and I believe it's THIS that is at the heart of why these characters were so open (and even Hungry) for the possibility of change. Blue Diamond was so easily convinced that she'd been hurting Pink all this time and that Pink must have been miserable on this planet because these were thoughts that Blue has had herself- suffering in silence, no one to talk to about it- many times before. Yellow Diamond was so easily convinced that the empire she's helped build isn't perfect because every single time she's acted out in rash anger, poofing Gems on sight, feeling pressured to enact harm on her fellow Diamond just because she fears retaliation from White, from her "mother" figure... she already KNEW it wasn't perfect. How could something be perfect when she holds so much fear within her at the mere idea of deviating from White's expectations and standards? They both KNEW these things to be true about their existence, but both feared actually speaking out about it. So for an outside voice to finally speak up about the big elephant in the room... to finally provide hope that there may be something they could Do about it... it's a miracle for them. But for White Diamond... being Told that things aren't perfect isn't enough. Because it goes against everything she believes to be true about her lived reality. She genuinely believes that she is Right about everything and is infallible in her judgement, so the only thing that can possibly knock her off her pedestal is to be irrefutably, unarguably proven WRONG about something. Which is where we get to Steven's part in this. Steven's identity... and the question of if the gem is truly a part of HIM or just his mother in stasis... or even more daunting, if HE'S literally just another form of his mother... has always been a matter the show has teased at but never really answered until now. There's a few moments that come to mind where the Crew cleverly planted this idea of "an object merely being a shell that's keeping the gem held within from reforming" into the audience's head. Lapis being held in the mirror is one. There's a corrupted Gem who was trapped within a building, unable to reform, using the building itself as its body. There's Pearl, who in a flashback episode even comes close to removing Steven's gem herself, hoping that doing so may allow Rose to reform. The show even once has Steven vocally question "what would even happen to me-?" when posed with the possibility of one of the rubies taking his gem. The point of the matter is, the show Wanted the audience to see these examples and wonder... "IS Steven merely a shell that is encapsulating Rose's consciousness, still quietly waiting to reform from within?" A lot of White Diamond's argument makes a scary amount of sense. Steven knows Way too much about his mother. He dreams about her memories. He feels a deep connection to her that might not otherwise make sense if not for the nature of his powers. White's argument is convincing enough that it almost gaslights Steven into agreeing with her entirely. Into agreeing that his own identity doesn't matter, only the identity that White herself believes to be true. But it's NOT true. Because Steven has always been Steven. Since day one. Pink, Rose- they're Gone. They're nothing but scattered, out of context memories now within that gem, and Steven is fully and wonderfully himself. What a beautiful bit of story to hinge as the ultimate climax of a show about acceptance and healthy communication and queer joy. I am by no means the first to say it and I will certainly not be the last, but as a queer individual this whole arc of the story- Steven being brought back to Homeworld, having to walk in his mother's shoes, being continuously referred to as "she" and "Pink" when he is none of those things- reads very intensely as a big extended metaphor for existing as transgender within a family who either does not yet understand (Blue and Yellow) or overtly Denies (White) your transness. With that in mind, this show exists as the ultimate queer power fantasy- the fantasy of succeeding in changing the minds of even your family members who are the most staunch deniers of your identity, and finding a means to move forward into the future with them fully accepting and loving you for who you are. Thank you very much for sharing your journey through this show, I enjoyed the smaller lil' platform here on Patreon a lot. I generally don't feel very safe expressing my thoughts or opinions out in the open on YouTube when it comes to this show, as sadly there are many, many people who are hellbent on putting words in the creators' mouths and entirely misinterpreting the story as something it absolutely is not. I am always super happy to find spaces where I feel that my input is welcomed and celebrated, instead. Can't wait for the movie and Future. FYI, I heard that Steven Universe: Future was recently taken off HBO Max (ugh, I hate how much these streaming services jerk around their shows for no reason), so if you watch through that you'll need to use Hulu instead now.
Novantinuum
2024-09-17 20:48:00 +0000 UTCOk im gonna say it..... i don't think this was a good finale, not because i think the episode was bad... but because the whole conflict with White Diamond was very rushed, and also because of how they chose to "defeat" her. Not gonna lie... even if it's just an exaggeration and a joke.... i completely understand why some fans started drawing fanarts of Steven alongside people like Adolf Hittler or Joseph Stalin, with Steven saying stuff like "It's ok guys, he says he's sorry", given how he handled White Diamond xddd. And yes, i know the whole theme of the show is Love, Tolerance and Understanding.... but i think there were better ways to resolve the conflict with the being that was the CAUSE of all the suffering in the show. But still... it's no wonder why all of this was so rushed... the Cartoon Network executives cancelled Season 6 which was definetely gonna be focused on building White Diamond as the final Antagonist as well as giving Blue and Yellow Diamond more time to make their change of heart feel more earned. Heck.... the way they wrote Lars in Season 5 and his new-found partnership with the Off-Colour Gems heavely suggested that he was gonna play an important part in the final conflict but....... the writters did nothing with them in the end. And this is what i wanted to point out in the "Reunion" episode.... it is true that CN Executives were the ones who cancelled Season 6.... but the information that got out also seems to suggest that Rebecca Sugar did have a say on this.... and that the reason they cancelled S6 it's because she insisted on portraying the wedding of Ruby and Sapphire. Look.... im not trying to claim that i know all that happened during the production of this last season, all im saying is.... if it's true that Rebecca did have a choice... and she still chose to sacrifice season 6 in order to make the wedding happen...... then that makes me incredibly disappointed. Im all about representation in animation (im bisexual), but (if the information is correct) Rebecca knew that making the wedding happen would considerably affect the narrative of her show in a negative way.... and she went with it anyways. Of Course.... in a perfect world Rebecca would've been able to do both things, give us a beautiful gay wedding and keep the quality of the narrative intact. But given the circumstances..... it's disappointing what ended up happening. This whole ordeal makes my mind remember a phrase i heard some time ago in a Youtube video....... "GOOD MESSAGES DON'T JUSTIFY BAD WRITTING" And i agree.
Julio Castillo
2024-09-17 19:10:52 +0000 UTCCommenting on a few things as the ep goes- I will add to this comment over time, and then probably do a big blurb after- Dang, I'm sorry you had to have the ugly side of the SU fandom show up on your Twitter feed. Yeah, people enjoy bashing the animation a lot, and this sentiment never made much sense to me either. The specific animation thing with this show that I find some don't like is that it's a board driven show- which means the storyboarder's style is often retained within the final animation, as opposed to it being molded strictly back to the ref sheets. I think this aspect gives it a lot of fluidity in its emotional moments that many other shows don't fully get to explore, but some disagree and think it's TOO off the model. To each their own- an opinion is an opinion- but often folks on twitter get TOO heated about it, to the point where I'm like. Please, lol. For someone who dislikes the show, you're talking about it more than I do. Get another hobby. _ "I know my purpose isn't to be happy-" This part of Blue Diamond's line to White makes me so, so upset. What a miserable and upsetting existence, believing that being happy isn't even in your core purpose. :(
Novantinuum
2024-09-17 18:14:26 +0000 UTCFirst of all.... while i also grew up watching Regular Show and i do admit it's a very entertaining series.... the truth is... i really don't have any interest in watching reactions of it (same as The amazing World of Gumball) since the show is like 90% random episodic shenanigans and just 10% overarching plot... which is not something that makes me feel particularly engaged. It also has to do with the fact that im too attached to the latin spanish dub of those shows, so watching them in english on top of not being serialized makes it really hard for me to enjoy others reacting to them. But on the other hand... im soooooo happy to hear that you're also gonna be watching Bojack Horseman in the future, it is in my humble opinion.... the best written animated show of all time (not to say that it's my favorite tho), or at the very least... it's the best Adult-oriented show of all time.
Julio Castillo
2024-09-17 17:52:25 +0000 UTCThe character development from starting this show with "I hate Lars, fuck Lars" to going "Where's Lars? :(" every 5 seconds is genuinely one of my favorite things about watching this series with you LMAO.This was a great ride to take with you! I can't wait to see what you think of the movie and the miniseries and I'm ESPECIALLY excited about you starting regular show which is my personal favorite CN show. Great vids keep up the great work!
DeadHubris
2024-09-17 16:54:49 +0000 UTC
