Steven Universe “Gem Harvest” Review

It’s been 63 days since the last episode of Steven Universe, but today, November 17th, has brought a special 30 minute episode. How does it stand up to the formula, and how does it bring the series back to the air?

Story

The basic premise of Gem Harvest is that the gems make a Thanksgiving-esque meal and celebration. The reason that they’re making the meal is because Steven’s Uncle Andy is back at the barn, and he said he’d have to be made the best family meal to let Lapis and Peridot keep it. This leads to a few very sweet scenes of all of the gems helping out and preparing dinner. When the meal happens Andy feels left out and flys away, leading to a very heartfelt scene of him speaking with Steven, and then coming back to stay with everyone.

Animation

Gem Harvest has a new art style, which feels weird. Steven Universe switches its artists per episode, and this is the introduction of a new style. The art style looks great, and some scenes look better than they would have in a different style, but some scenes felt a bit off. The only time it’s shown is the beginning however, and gets smoother throughout. The beginning does seem off, but then the style seems to come into itself more, and looks great.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think Gem Harvest was just the type of episode to bring Steven Universe back from its hiatus. It had a relatable yet sweet and lighthearted tone, and introduced to a new character. There were many scenes that probably seemed very close to home for some families, including family arguments and being left out on inside jokes at the Thanksgiving dinner, but also brought some very sweet scenes such as the gems being overprotective of Steven, and Greg and Andy making up. There was also a huge character growth with Andy, as at the beginning of the episode he was very close minded and not accepting, but grow to be sweet and open by the end of the episode. We also learned that Greg got his last name changed to Universe, as it used to be DeMayo.

9/10

Pros

• Very sweet and relatable
• Nice animation
• Great comeback episode
• Introduced new character

Cons

• Didn’t have big reveal like fans wanted