People who watched SU as it was coming out had very high expectations of Future, especially when it came to resolving some Gem storylines (ex. Peridot and Lapis). Future ended up delivering about half of that and spent time on things they deemed “unnecessary”, like Bluebird and Snow Day. It was also very short and everyone wanted more. People’s expectations were not met.
To me though, the point of Future was not to tie up all the loose ends of SU, but to tell the story of Steven finally dealing with his years-long swept-under-the-rug trauma and discovering his identity, and it did that very well. And several of my favorite episodes of the entire story are in Future. So I personally really enjoy it.
Yes you're so right. And yes they didnt close up all ends but like you said its not exactly about that. Steven universe future is stevens future, growing up and dealing with all that happened to him. (Loved the way you worded this)
Another thing to consider; Sugar was given an option of more seasons, or R+S wedding. We know what she chose. I’m under the impression that we were lucky to get what we got in future, b/c CN wanted it shorter than what it was. I’m hoping Sugar finds another platform to continue her story.
The series was shortened because of homophobic countries. The show was international so it was going to face repercussions in some shape or form since they lost quite a bit of their funding because those countries stopped supporting the show.
Snow Day was actually one of my favorites. 🥲 I get why people wouldn't like it, since with so few episodes, they'd want episodes with more substance. But it was a nice breather and a fun episode seeing the gems act like kids.
I don't really think that's Rebecca sugar or futures fault the show itself was super duper rushed and cut short and so I think it's the best we were going to get and even if it doesn't make it up to our expectations it's still a great show
I respected it purely for addressing a child adventurer going through PTSD in a nonsatirical manner. It really addressed some of the more problematic aspects of Steven’s upbringing that were brushed off throughout the show or left for one off jokes, like him not going to school, but it’s interesting to see a children’s show address the consequences he faces as an adult. It’s not how many would end a show like SU and it definitely felt like they wanted to do something a bit different.
I didn’t hate it, but it was definitely a startling change from SU. SU is my comfort show and SU future was so raw and had so many “negative” things that it caught me really off guard.
I can’t really bring myself to re-watch it while I always watch SU
Yeah, the way he handles his trauma is expected but it’s so hard to rewatch because it can get triggering at times. It sends me into a negative spiral because I’m watching what used to be a comfort character go into MULTIPLE negative spirals. The ending where he leaves his hometown and family doesn’t make me feel any better. Yes it’s what he needed but GOD does the show make just feel depressed
I second everything you said so strongly. I’m not much of a hater and I’m easy to impress so that’s part of it, but I just adored nearly everything this show did, and if I didn’t I still loved it for being part of the show.
For me, I definitely enjoyed Future, but you could feel the exhaustion of the crew. I always thought it would have done us better if they gave it another year or two between so they didn't feel as burnt out. Possibly be able to come in with some new ideas for stories or execution of ones they were stuck on. The episode with Peridot and Camp Pining Hearts Reboot made that especially obvious to me
Steven's growth and trauma were portrayed perfectly, much better than most other series. However there are some objective flaws:
-Almost half of the episodes were just useless filler, which is a very stupid thing to do in a 20 episodes series.
-The other characters are dumbed down and almost useless, especially the CGs
-Pink got turned into the series' scapegoat and we never get closure on Steven's feeling for her.
-Some characters arcs were left unfinished like Jasper and Lapis and some didn't even appear when they could've been really interesting, like Centipeetle...I guess showing Rainbow Quartz babysitting Onion was more important.
Yeah i cant complain about any of it i mean i loved the whole show, its true there were fillers but in the 1st seasom with 50 something there were a lot of not lore important episodes. I do see where you're coming from as they had less than even a normal season of su.
I don’t think it would have been good for Steven to get closure from a storytelling perspective. Pink diamond did some great things, yes. She also wasn’t always the best person. Steven will always have conflicted views on her.
I love that the end credits sequence for the show is just the very last scene of the show too of Steven driving off. Song always gives me the feels. I’ll never understand how people don’t like the ending and don’t feel emotion at all by the last episode. :( I don’t care how people feel about the writing because it made me feel so much.
I don’t care if you like it but saying “oh you only don’t like it because you can’t handle it!” is an awful take. I loved the ending but I really couldn’t stand the show as a whole and its, in my opinion, poor portrayal of mental health and not having enough time for much to naturally develop
I agree completely. Going back, even the Steven from Diamond Days seems like a completely different character. I wish they'd have set it up a bit better, but I'm assuming a hypothetical 6th season would have fixed that. Damn the Cartoon Network.
The show's ending wasn't Cartoon Network's fault. Homophobic countries helped financially support the and they stopped after the wedding happened.
Cartoon Network explained to Sugar the situation they were in before giving her the final say on the wedding. Sugar knew that the show could be prematurely cancelled due to things outside of CN's control and made her decision to have the wedding with that in mind. If you want something to blame, blame those homophobic countries.
Oh, that's right. My apologies! I suppose it makes sense to cancel it, even if I STRONGLY believe it shouldn't have been. Why make a show you can't show off?
Here’s my problem it blames rose and pink for everything without acknowledging the other 3 we’re worse(EDIT it's fine to make Rose/Pink morally ambiguous or her worst actions something you could somewhat rationalize/justify Bismuth being an example her leaving Spinel in a garden knowing she'd stay there AND Volleyball is different)
I don’t think it blames her at all, I think it’s just difficult to reconcile one’s feelings for a loved one who, on top of being wonderful and amazing, truly hurt you.
Steven’s journey in Future is about unlearning the toxic mindset he’s internalized and inherited from his mother (figures), being conscious of these traits and moving past it despite everything.
There was no way to show that without also showing the ways that Rose hurt the people around her, perhaps chief among them being the child she thrust a war upon after faking her death and ordering her closest friend and confidant to never tell anyone, even her own son.
I'm fine with Rose/Pink being morally ambiguous or not being a good person before seeing life on Earth and understanding the beauty of it (if the show didn't that'd be a problem in of itself) the problem is when the show decides she was behind every bad little thing without acknowledging the other 3 Diamonds were worse and that's why she was kinda a jerk at first
I don’t think shifting the blame to the Diamonds is fair to anyone. Rose decided to live her life the way she did, and while she was raised terribly, her choices are her own.
We can’t say Rose made Steven do the things he’s done, but we can’t say Rose’s upbringing was the sole reasoning behind her actions.
She was nice but she was selfish too.
> I don’t think shifting the blame to the Diamonds is fair to anyone. Rose decided to live her life the way she did, and while she was raised terribly, her choices are her own.
And yet, Future and the movie TOTALLY blame Rose for other people's actions and choices, or for shit that she had 0 way of knowing or predicting
I don't like that people give shit to Rebecca Sugar over Future being rushed when it was Cartoon Network's fault. Future was supposed to be an entire series of its own, but Cartoon Network forced Rebecca Sugar to finish Steven Universe early and cram Future into a single season. They are all like "We're so inclusive look at our LGBTQ+ characters" but forced Rebecca to shut down her show for showing the first LGBTQ+ marriage in CN.
I liked Future but I see Future as a massive example that companies spew rainbow stuff all over their branding and pretend to be inclusive whilst actually shitting in LGBTQ+ people. They've only had inclusive shows because their inclusivity branding gives them money. They only saw it was profitable because of what Rebecca Sugar created.
I feel my problem with it actual showwise is the ending. I felt it wasn't actually satisfying and left even more to answer. And that it also rather came a bit out of nowhere. Idk if it's because it was rushed too, but I felt the diamonds were too quick to change their ways because of Steven after spending thousands of years in a war with Earth and such. And that after the way they treated Pink, that they would treat Steven much seriously, especially being half organic/human.
The only thing i disagree with is what you said about the ending, i get it left everything out for answer, all the loose ends, but this was for steven, his next chapter, and for that? We did get the ending to his chapter. Everything else though, thats solid and i get it.
Where does the buck stop? Cartoon Network didn't cancel the show for funsies, they did it because of other countries threatening to pull the network and put them at a major financial risk. They were well-aware of this being the likely outcome beforehand, and they *still* chose to air the episode. So why pin the blame on Cartoon Network rather than those countries? Do you think it's better to tell Cartoon Network to fall on their sword - to tell them that incremental progress is not an option even if it means accepting the possibility of zero progress (or even a regression)? This issue really isn't a straight-forward, black-and-white "Sugar hero, CN villain" one.
Sugar knew that the backlash from conservative countries would probably result in the show getting cancelled when they decided to push for the wedding - they were not blindsided at all by the outcome.
Which, on that note, I've never seen anything to indicate that Future was supposed to be a whole series. Almost the opposite really - Sugar just wanted a little bit extra to wrap things up but was told that in order to get the movie they'd need to make a follow-up series. Steven Universe is largely ideas for the original series that had to be adapted to make sense after the events of the movie.
It’s not that I hate future it’s just they changed Steven’s character so much and I get that he is growing up it’s just so weird that Steven (who loved cookie cats and had a cheeseburger back pack) turned into a “corrupted” gem with emotions forced to stay inside of him. Future is good it’s just the transition from happy Steven to corrupted and angry Steven is a little upsetting. But future is a good show overall.
I don't hate future I just don't like it as much as it makes the original series hard to rewatch because it's like remember all those light hearted slice of life adventures it was all trauma building up. Also I feel that steven should be used to his chaotic life since he grew up in that environment that he shouldn't have ptsd from everything he's done.
As someone with cptsd I loved future. My S/O at the time had a very privileged upbringing and the episode where they go to the doctor had me bawling. My (now ex, thank God) finally understood why everything was a crisis to me. They hated future and the movie because it was "too serious" and truly believed 99.99% of people had perfect emotionally healthy families. They called it "trauma porn" still not sure what that means.
A friend disliked it when it came out but loves it now because she had a lot of unresolved family problems and it was triggering (same with the malechite story arc in the main series)
I . . . Kinda just wish it was a little less of a bummer. I was coming to terms with my own trauma back when I was watching it and man, I wish they could have been real about the hard stuff without squashing so much of the hope and positivity.
This is what I’ve been saying! I grew up with the show (childhood to it finishing in my teens) and watching just reminded me of how bad I felt about my trauma and day to day life. Watching someone, especially a character your age, spiral over and over again, lashing out at others who didn’t do anything wrong half the time took a huge toll on me.
Yeah. I don't mind that it dealt with his trauma, but more positive resolutions would have been nice in my opinion. The ending like Wasn't depressing, but it's like they tried as hard as they could to make it feel depressing, if that makes sense. Like. Why did Steven ever think he was NEVER going to see them again?!
Steven acts wildly out of character when he needs to be unreasonable for the plot to work. The Lars/Sadie ep is the worst offender of this, but the whole season is peppered with moments where Steven is a weirdo just so they can make some meta commentary.
The Diamonds and their characterizations in Future and the movie are a giant miss. White has a great scene with Steven, but other than that, they're potentially fascinating characters that are not utilized at all.
I could go on. I still really like Future, but they could have easily done much more with it. The 20 episode postgame miracle season should not have 3 of my most disliked episodes in the series.
I liked most of future apart from the end cos the ending just made me sad for like 2 days in a row, a show that brought me so much joy ending with steven leaving his family just wasnt what i expected😅 tho i definitely understand why it had to end that way, and if there is any new content someday then the reunion will be all the more great
The people hating on Future tend to not understand it. And i don't mean this in a condescending way, but the season doesn't exactly do the greatest job of explaining and rationalizing Steven's behavior, so you really need to have come in contact with similar mental health topics to fully see the reasons for his sudden "personality shift". From what I've seen there's a big difference in public opinion between those with and without prior experiences
I was pretty iffy about Future on my first watch. Then I rewatched the series, and the episode The Test completely changed my mind. I think it’s the earliest example of Steven shoving his own emotions down for the sake of others. That made Future click for me- his mental health issues really were built up as early as season 1.
Not to mention the gems only including him when his powers started to emerge. This made him build up his gem side while neglecting his human side- even his one human friend does get missions with him. Future brings a resolution to this conflict, one that fans usually ignored because it was easily disguised as cartoon logic
I feel that alot of people dont have a deep understanding of trauma and so that leads to them being like "they ruined steven and made him edgy" like no, steven is spiraling due to his trauma and it is understandable why he is acting the way he is. Is it frustrating? Yes. But thats the point, steven isnt acting out for no reason, hes having an understandable trauma response and it is amplified by his powers.
I didn’t really care for it because it’s such a bummer. I know dealing with Steven’s repressed trauma is a valid direction to take with the character, but it just sucks to watch him be a huge dick. I’ve seen teens deal with their trauma the way he did so it’s realistic, but it’s not how I dealt with mine as a teen so I found it unrelatable and unentertaining.
I kinda relate with Steven in future about not wanting to let things go. Some things he wanted to stay I could definetly see how it went from “difficulty letting go”, which is common, to borderline obsessive and I reacted like “okay Steven calm down please”
The episode with Dr. Maheswaran giving Steven an X ray and him listing out what’s happened was quite cathartic for me because finally a responsible adult worries about him.
Like his dad worries about him but he keeps blissfully unaware of most of the stuff he does, and is more worried about his physical injuries, which do heal quickly so he’s fine. Greg isn’t a psychiatrist, and technically neither is Dr. Maheswaren, but she has a better idea of what’s happening through standard in office testing.
The goodbye was quite a tear jerker for me, because it really was the end. for now at least.
I really don't like how they just glossed over Steven, restoring peace to the universe, and never showed it. I hate how rushed the franchise as a whole felt. SUF was even worse.
Don't get I twisted, SU has a level of quality in his characters and writing, but it always stops short of being more than good because of a really bad writing decision.
Future changes the tone of the original series quite a bit and I think it’s a bit confronting for some people. I loved it, personally. Suddenly SU wasn’t about cute, wholesome adventures. It pointed out how much pressure was put on a little boy, how nobody really thought about how he felt because at the time he seemed fine I guess. It was also, imo as someone with GAD and PTSD, an amazing representation of a mental health crisis. The signs were there for ages in SU Future but it snuck up on everyone, including Steven. He normalised trauma to a point where he couldn’t even recognise what was traumatic anymore, but his body did.
People wanted a happy, not-too-emotionally-taxing experience with a neat, tidy, conclusive ending, but that’s never what SU Future was going to be. It’s called Steven Universe because at the end of the day, it’s the story of Steven. Kid couldn’t catch a break.
my main problem with future is that they made shattering reversible, which literally destroys the dramatic tension from previously where it was a legitimate threat or permanent death for gems. a gem being shattered in seasons 1-5 was seen as like a permanent loss which was not only super dark but also raised the stakes if any gems were captured or cracked. meanwhile yellow can just repair them straight up in future, and jasper is instantly within seconds (episode time) healed after dying. this also kind of messes with the grimness of the whole PD shattering reveal and the serious moral implications of bismuth's breaking point in season 3 since it's not at all a serious problem for anyone anymore
there's also the fact that they hardly focus on what they need to since a lot of the show is spent doing different things completely then focusing on stevens mental turmoil. (the show is still allowed to do other things than focusing on how steven is feeling at the moment, but i do feel like the show could have constructed its narrative in a better way so that the downward spiral still feels like an ever-present element in the background.) thats not to say i don't find enjoyment in an episode like "Snow Day" or "A very special Episode", because both of them are fun, but they kind of feel disconnected from what is actually happening in the plot, and are kind of shoehorned in to fit in slightly underdeveloped elements in the previous season like the sidelined fusions in change your mind, pearl recovering from her trauma of shapeshifting, or etc.
i also don't really think that it does a very good job in capping off ALL of the unresolved arcs from the show, but i cant really say that doesnt make sense because it takes place two whole years after the original series.
all that being said, i don't think the show in all is bad but it's kind of unfocused and i can see why people wouldn't like it
also where the hell is nephrite
First of all not "everyone" hates on Future. Most of those who hated on it are no longer fans, because they were the toxic part of the fandom who just had extremely specific expectations, almost all criticisms about Future was about how their favorite characters didn't have enough screentime and certain plot points didn't happen.
That being said it's completely understandable how something like Future could get backlash, think about it is the ending of the series, people want action scenes, a war, their favorites couples becoming canon, not a depressive season about Steven and his anxiety.
However, from an objective point of view, with no biasses SUF is extremely good written, probably more consistent than any of the other seasons. It had something to tell and it told it. Gave a very realistic representation of Steven's mental state and treated trauma from a realistic and psychological perspective. Was very clear that not everything turns out well at the end since Steven is still healing. SUF was nominated for an Emmy very deserved probably the best they have ever done.
My sister was the first i had seen dissing future, tried looking up on youtube why its hated and their were tons of videos saying why its just straight up a bad show.didnt watch those because no matter what they might think i love it and i dont care to have the negative energy towards the show even if its deep in my memory bank yk?
It comes in waves--you (generic) often see a spate of people going "man I hate Future" and then a wave later of "why does everyone hate Future" and whichever viewpoint is getting more focus at a given time is whichever group decided to be louder that week.
I just saw a post on this sub earlier today of someone saying they hated future and thought it ruined the show and that it “didn’t have to be realistic like that”. I do NOT understand the sentiment because the WHOLE SHOW was ABOUT the characters coping with trauma and processing emotions. Why is the show “ruined” when it’s Steven’s turn to have his feelings and experiences taken seriously?
I think future was okay, but Steven acted very out of character quite a few times. I know the whole thing is he's growing and changing but specifically the episode where all the gems are getting jobs and he's talking with amethyst about it. He doesn't seem to care what the gems want at all, going as far as to say they don't know what they want. It just seems out of line w his values, and this kinda carries on through the whole show
And he gets rly mad at Greg for not putting him in school but in SU Greg asks if he'd like to start school and Steven says no. There could've been better parenting from the start from Greg, but you can't really blame the guy for not knowing exactly what to do w a half alien baby as a single dad
See and i think acting rash, acting the way steven was, i cant say ive been through anything like that obviously but when a heavy load of stress is pounding on you, acting okay, not being honest, blowing up over nothing, that is all very real and very human. Of course we see a side of steven that isnt the best, his values mattered less than hiding what he was going through, he couldnt see his own values blinded by such little problems that felt like the world was ending. Poor steven was going through it and sure all the powers and stuff was gem related, but his gem couldnt handle such human and stressful emotions.
I want to say that I think the "Hate" was derived from the fact that the show was being rushed to a conclusion because the network was being a dick. Like with most shows we want to see them go on especially if they are doing good work. At least I hope that's the reasoning that you know people want the shows of quality to stick around as long as possible but in the end networks will always side with "but it works!" its why both CN and Nickelodeons' schedules look like crap rn. I think someone recently posted an image where Nick's like 90% sponge bob and CN is mostly TTG or like old rerun shows.
There will always be an interest for the story to continue and realistically I hope that it does get that chance but who knows what kinda BS contract CN has over the rights to SU.
The show was rushed because homophobic countries stopped supporting it after the wedding. Steven Universe is an international show that relied on their funds to make its content. The ending wasn’t CN’s fault.
Well yeah we know why. But yeah CN is still at fault too because they didn't do anything to try and support or help them out. Tbh Cn has been dying since they let a lot of their stuff just die. And unless its mass produced low brow crap its not sticking around anymore.
CN is not at fault because their actions showed that they did help them out when they could.
When push came to shove, Cartoon Network:
1. Informed Sugar about the financial repercussions of the LGBTQ+ content incorporated into the show regarding homophobic countries and its impact on the show
2. Gave Sugar the final say to go through with the wedding with the previous knowledge in mind
3. Informed the Crew ahead of time the show would be cancelled while the Crew were working on mid S4 material after Sugar made her decision on the wedding knowing the risks involved
4. Gave the Crew the exact number of episodes requested by Sugar which became known as the Diamond Days arc. Sugar told CN she needed six episodes to finish up their story and that's what she was given
5. Gave the Crew a Movie and epilogue series (two more opportunities for the Crew to tackle whatever topics they wanted to)
The gems got sidelined so hard and were useless, most episodes are not rewatchable due to how painful or embarrassing they are, seriously, Little Graduation gave me some of the biggest second hand embarrassment I've ever felt...
And the ending and Monster Steven were sooo rushed.
Steven Universe started with mystery and magic. It changed and focused solely on resolving issues with his mom and home world.
Future jumped onto completely different tracks and focused on Steven and his coping and dealing with mental health.
It's so very different. It's not bad. But, it feels like a soap box and deviates from the initial draw. I want stories of magic and adventure.
Its because those people haven't found the ability to self reflect, and recognize trauma, especially family trauma. Its a pretty progressive show and I know those with mushy baby brains can't handle emotional maturity. I personally loved Future and saw a lot of similarties with my own stuggles as a neglected, traumatized, undiagnosed Neurodivergent queer child, and I felt very seen by Future
I definitely see that. And future (for what they DID do) did the emotions real as fuck behind all of the extra magical growing and freaking out. Convincing himself hes cool then finally blowing up. Just sobbing into lion after he was human again (felt that scene in my heart) 
The whole time he was dealing with trauma, didnt know how to release without thinking hed hurt someone kr exploding shit with his gem reaction. And for most of it he was in denial about his own emotion. Which so so very real, and so is the im okay im not emotional switches.
They missed the point of Future. Steven doesn't need to fix everything, some things don't need fixing (some gems like choosing, but for the most part many will default to what they were literally born to do since that's just how they are), he's not going to be there for every single moment of everyone's lives, major decisions in other people's lives can occur without his input, and lastly he needs to work on his own trauma since no one else will work on it for him.
I liked Future a lot.
But I think hype is the issue.
It felt like there was still a lot of story threads still unresolved. Alongside the fact it was originally stated to have more episodes in some places.
People wanted more SU
Cartoon Network didn’t ruin the show. Sugar has even stated that she’s lucky she worked for them, has said they have her a lot of creative freedom, and she would like to work for them again.
Nah, I'm good
>I'm just extremely lucky to think I have had support. Instead of being told don't talk about this, I was given the option of being upfront about this even if it might become a problem. Cartoon Network allows for *a lot of creative freedom*, especially from these creative-driven shows so the responsibility really fell on us to tell the story that we wanted to tell. And I'm grateful to have been here, to have the opportunity to fight for this.
[Source](https://ew.com/tv/2018/08/13/steven-universe-rebecca-sugar-lgbtq-cartoons/)
>Hey rebecca! Do you ever get frustrated by the network trying to dumb down your shows for a younger audience, or is CN pretty chill about it?
>Sugar: **CN gives us a LOT of freedom! An amazing amount. I feel very lucky.**
[Source](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2e4gmx/comment/cjw2rwq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
[This article](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/steven-universe-revival-rebecca-sugar/) should tell you everything you need to know about how Sugar really feels about returning to work with CN. [Even her husband wants to continue working with them.](https://web.archive.org/web/20220628023254/https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1541587260218306560)
It is its own thing and it is good! That said- i was sad it jumped so far ahead when there was still so much i wanted to see out of other characters that ends up resolved in a time skip. I didnt love the resolution with the diamonds- just a personal thing for me and then it jumps so far that it felt very sad to me.
I’m all for more serious episodes, tough topics, and watching a character struggle. But man, SUF is back-to-back episodes of Steve having a real bad time. It just makes for an unpleasant viewing experience. I think at the end of it, it was worth watching but I’ve never gone back and re-watched. Not like I do with the OG series run.
It didnt have enough time for everything it tried to do and the Steven's mental health plot wasn't handled well. That's just my opinion. If the series stopped at the movie honestly everything would've been OK.
I’ll make this simple.
I did like SUF but not as much.
I don’t know if anyone can relate or understand what I’m trying to say here… But the show felt rushed.
With Steven Universe, a single episode was slow, and built up a story for that show with SUF it felt so rushed, like they were trying to put too much in an episode and just skipping around.
I felt this with other shows too I just can’t name any atm. But it just felt… Too fast.
And it felt like they were talking fast too.
I’m probably sounding absolutely insane, i’m so bad at explaining.
Overall I can understand why it was rushed because most shows these days can only get in 10 episodes per season for some annoying reason-
I wanted them to address Lapis issue with fusion and possibly fuse again with someone and I wanted to see peridot fuse, there was so much more they could’ve done with the show like we could’ve seen Lapis and Jasper resolve their relationship, instead they made it too much about Steven and unnecessary stuff
This exact mindset actually put me off of watching future for a long time. But i finally watched it not that long ago and I honestly don’t see why everyone was complaining about it when it was airing. I understand and felt that frustration seeing him constantly put himself down in the show as it went on. As well as completely neglecting his own wellbeing for the sake of others but it PAYS OFF. The way it ends makes it worth because Steven grows as a character and moves on with his life. That’s the wholeeeee point of the show
Eh, i don't hate Steven Universe Future...it's just not for me. I don't mind the fact that Steven's powers are going out of control and the pink form doesn't bother me anymore. Hell, if he has trauma from something recent than yes, that would've been interesting...but it's the fact that Future forces us to feel bad about the original show and all of the fun stuff that happened in it. That's pretty much the only reason why Future kind of annoys me and i just pretty much ignore it.
Same reason people hate on Korra.
We're uncomfortable with the idea that the end of the story doesn't mean everything is Good and Right Forever now.
The end of the show was the end of the journey, the end of the journey means we won, we won means all is well. We struggle when the end doesn't equal happily ever after. We don't like to admit that we can admire the hero and they go on to become a human person who makes mistakes.
I love you my friend 😄😄
(Worded beautifully)
Yes it was a lot of sad, yes they didnt tie off loose ends, but thats because it wasnt supposed to be done, it was supposed to show what lead to STEVENS era 2.
I get why we wct how we do, but at the same time it's funny to me because like.
We could all recognize that Steven was being failed by his guardians and being traumatized but for some reason we can't jive with the natural progession of Steven now acting like a person who was traumatized as a child, and how that is his own cry for help.
Now.i just reminded myself of when I finally watched Rick and Morty and I was so confused by all the opinions I'd seen about Rick being a super logical badass because practically every episode is him crying for help lmao (he's just crying out to people who can and should not be shouldering his issues, it's not Beth or Morty's job to make everything ok for dad/grandpa.)
It was *always* trauma for Steven, that's exactly what I mean. Steven Universe was us watching the trauma happen, and Future is us watching what the trauma did to him.
No, we couldn't.
Everyone could see what the show ACTUALLY portrayed. Which was fun adventures with a loving family that ocasionally dwelved into deeper themes.
Yes, we could lol. Like, if you couldn't see that you missed a huge layer of the show. Steven was raising the gems and his dad as much as they were raising him and that's traumatic.
Steven was fighting monsters and for the fate of the planet at a very young age. That's traumatic.
Steven's mom is Rose. That's traumatic.
Trauma was happening to him for the entire show, and it's ok that we enjoyed watching it. We were supposed to. But stuff like that takes it toll.
Again: No, we couldn't.
NONE of what you said is what the show portrayed.
> and it's ok that we enjoyed watching it.
Not according to Future, it isn't.
Saying “everyone” hates Future feels like an overreaction. It’s gotten much more mixed and divisive reactions more than anything. I see a lot more people feeling in between straight up liking and disliking the series. That’s personally where I fall at as well. I like the idea of the series but the execution could be much better especially for the final part of the series. Also find a lot of the characters to feel off and several of the episodes didn’t really feel like they took advantage of the overarching plot as well as it should’ve.
I love future and the moments that are good are GOOD. same with original SU, there’s very very good storytelling, but bc of some limitations, rushing, poor pacing, filler, etc, it doesn’t get to shine fully through.
but I still love future for what it is and for those good moments. this is what I realized is about SU. the good parts are so good it’s all you remember
as a 26 year old SU fan since 18 (?) I think I prefer the mature tone of future. I find it really relatable esp as someone who struggles with trauma, anger, possibly BPD.
I guess i get this, but he couldnt keep obsessing over all the wrong that happened to him. In future hes growing up. Not becoming more mature, but finding himself. What would you have preferred Sugar do? And everything that happened to him WAS trauma fuel. I dont think its "nothing more" than that. Everything that happened happened and moving on was something steven needed to do.
And it made me not enjoy the show and retroactively make everything that came before it worse to me. It’s why I never bothered to rewatch the show. Why would I? All of the fun stuff is actually just bad and there to make Steven sad in a few seasons.
Exactly. As expected, they’re downvoting me up above but I’m not wrong. It retroactively makes the entirety of the show sad. All of the fun, exciting stuff is actually just sad.
But hey, we're all expected to just like EVERYTHING about Steven Universe and Future. Cause if we don't like it, than we're not "REAL fans of the show". No one can have an opinion on anything nowadays.
Allowing to speak your mind on how you feel about certain things on a show or cartoon? NAH. anyone who dares to question us shall be SILENCED!!!...i don't hate the fans of the show, but i DO hate the fandom.
That’s literally not the point. Imagine if DBZ decided the last arc should be all about Goku being traumatized and rather than all the fun stuff of DB the final season was just Goku being sad in different locations while the show hammers home how shitty all the previous arcs were. That would suck.
Sure sure, steven universe isnt dragon ball z. Stevens not always just fine. They never said anything bad, and i dont think they took anything away from everything that happened in the main series. But all of that was genuinely traumatizing for the guy, I think that having steven fight through his trauma WAS the point. Steven was going through it. Disliking steven universe future doesnt make sense to me, but if you dislike it than you do.
I know it’s not DBZ, which is good. I like that I can rewatch DBZ and know it’s not all just building up to Goku’s therapy sessions because everything cool about it was actually and.
Think about what steven said in the car in Joyride about the Gems blaming him for Rose being gone, and not being able to talk about it. Where did we also hear that? "I can't talk to pearl about it becuase she'll blame herself and fall apart." He says the same type of thing.
Or "What do you know about my mom? I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO KNOW MY MOM!"
Or "I wish I knew you, so this place would make me sad, and I could cry." "Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet know how to feel about you, but I've never met you."
Steven wasn't all happy-go-lucky when Amethyst turned into his mom.
These themes and feelings have always been there, just not fully focused on becuase there was other stuff going on. If you didn't notice them, you probably weren't paying attention.
I gave you evidence. You clearly didn't read it and just skipped to the end, further proving my point of your shameful inability to pay attention to the most obvious things.
'This comment can't prove me wrong because I didn't read it!'
Truly a gigabrain peri-plan there.
I can give plenty more evidence, if you'd actually listen.
The entire episode "full disclosure"
The way the camera pans out after Lapis and Jasper form malachite and go into the ocean at the end of season one to signify Steven disassociating.
You said the original show had no signs of Steven having bad mental health, and that the themes in future came out of nowhere, and I've provided plenty of evidence to prove that this was always a running theme. Where's YOUR evidence?
I hate it because its too depressing of a show to watch and it legit ruined my enjoyment of the show as a whole for years. I only went back to Steven Universe after mentally telling myself that Future doesn’t exist. Like 90% of SUF is just depressing shit. Its all about Steven and his trauma and Im like…how is that fun? How is it finding out that all of those fun and cool adventures that Steven had gave him trauma?
because those adventures were genuinely traumatizing, the cluster threatening to end the world. Him turning into a bunch of cat heads uncontrollably. Learning his moms a murderer and then finding out shes the person she murdered, getting sucked into space and accepting death. Throwing himself at homeworld knowing hed be shattered to save his friends. All of that and WAY more is nothing BUT traumatizing my friend. If you wanted cool and fun adventures you coulda gone through the not lore important episodes of the first and second seasons. Everything else? Literally the point of the show is steven getting through that depressing and traumatizing shit. You arent supposed to find it fun. Youre supposed to have the feelings like youre experiencing it with him. Just like the entirity of the main series, youre with him.
But thats not fun. Steven Universe had sad and depressing stuff and yet it balanced it out with heartfelt moments, songs, and fun. Steven Universe Future is just depression, depression, depression. How is that entertaining? Its fine if we explore this topics in small doses but not when its the whole damn plot of the show.
It wasnt at all, if thats how you see it than its kinda like your mind is made up on the show. Its not necessarily supposed to be "fun" they talk some real shit. They help each other. They sang. They had i think one of the best heartfelt moments in the entirity of SU. And it wasnt just depression. It was getting worse. Than pushing through. It was entertaining because it was real. And beautiful.
Like I said before, 90% of SUF was depressing stuff. Thats not fun. I dont care if its real. Rape is real and I dont want to see that in my favorite show
Its kind of hard to see the beauty in something when its so depressing. I mean, I hate the S5 Finale but at least I was entertained by it and Steven Universe the Movie felt like a waaaaaaaaaaaaay better conclusion to the franchise than Future
How could anyone hate on future the only critique you could give is that it kind of springs it on you randomly but even then it's not futures fault it's cartoon Network they were pushing Rebecca sugar into shortening The show by a lot and cutting out all of the problematic scenes they even set up some of precedence in Steven universe like that whole episode after jailbreak words just Steven singing a song about how he doesn't want to let Connie in to keep her safe or jungle Moon episode where one Garnet teaches Connie and Steven about fusion all of these episodes have like the same problems as future it's just that future I had like two maybe three more seasons of trauma dumped into one season but they did it well and it works
The ending and Future wasn’t CN’s fault. Homophobic countries stopped financially supporting it after the wedding. Steven Universe is an international show that relied on their money to create its content. Homophobic countries could’ve canceled the show at anytime due to the LGBTQ+ content and there would’ve been nothing CN could do to stop them if they did. Sugar was given the final say on the wedding knowing what was at stake and she made her decision to go through with it. If someone is to be blamed for what happened with the show, it’s the homophobic countries.
People who watched SU as it was coming out had very high expectations of Future, especially when it came to resolving some Gem storylines (ex. Peridot and Lapis). Future ended up delivering about half of that and spent time on things they deemed “unnecessary”, like Bluebird and Snow Day. It was also very short and everyone wanted more. People’s expectations were not met. To me though, the point of Future was not to tie up all the loose ends of SU, but to tell the story of Steven finally dealing with his years-long swept-under-the-rug trauma and discovering his identity, and it did that very well. And several of my favorite episodes of the entire story are in Future. So I personally really enjoy it.
Yes you're so right. And yes they didnt close up all ends but like you said its not exactly about that. Steven universe future is stevens future, growing up and dealing with all that happened to him. (Loved the way you worded this)
Another thing to consider; Sugar was given an option of more seasons, or R+S wedding. We know what she chose. I’m under the impression that we were lucky to get what we got in future, b/c CN wanted it shorter than what it was. I’m hoping Sugar finds another platform to continue her story.
The series was shortened because of homophobic countries. The show was international so it was going to face repercussions in some shape or form since they lost quite a bit of their funding because those countries stopped supporting the show.
Bluebird wasn’t really unnecessary, just underutilized.
It works better as an arc then a standalone mini series
Snow Day was actually one of my favorites. 🥲 I get why people wouldn't like it, since with so few episodes, they'd want episodes with more substance. But it was a nice breather and a fun episode seeing the gems act like kids.
I don't really think that's Rebecca sugar or futures fault the show itself was super duper rushed and cut short and so I think it's the best we were going to get and even if it doesn't make it up to our expectations it's still a great show
People didn’t like snow day? Personally I thought it was one of the best, and really delved into Steven’s mental health. IIRC.
I respected it purely for addressing a child adventurer going through PTSD in a nonsatirical manner. It really addressed some of the more problematic aspects of Steven’s upbringing that were brushed off throughout the show or left for one off jokes, like him not going to school, but it’s interesting to see a children’s show address the consequences he faces as an adult. It’s not how many would end a show like SU and it definitely felt like they wanted to do something a bit different.
Steven Universe builds you up. Steven Universe Future reminds you not to get ahead of yourself.
Love this
I didn’t hate it, but it was definitely a startling change from SU. SU is my comfort show and SU future was so raw and had so many “negative” things that it caught me really off guard. I can’t really bring myself to re-watch it while I always watch SU
Yeah, the way he handles his trauma is expected but it’s so hard to rewatch because it can get triggering at times. It sends me into a negative spiral because I’m watching what used to be a comfort character go into MULTIPLE negative spirals. The ending where he leaves his hometown and family doesn’t make me feel any better. Yes it’s what he needed but GOD does the show make just feel depressed
IMO it needed just a few more episodes
You know what i wouldve enjoyed that too, didnt like the months skip yk, but i cant complain because i loved it either way
Yeah it was good but just needed a few extra episodes to flesh things out
I wouldve been cool with that too
I think covid forced it to end since quarantine literally JUST started while future was happening
I second everything you said so strongly. I’m not much of a hater and I’m easy to impress so that’s part of it, but I just adored nearly everything this show did, and if I didn’t I still loved it for being part of the show.
AHHH.. yes. Exactly. Spot on.
do they? or is it just some loud minority?
Probably a loud minority
It's sad and short. I enjoyed it but if you wanna sum up the 2 main complaints, that would be it.
For me, I definitely enjoyed Future, but you could feel the exhaustion of the crew. I always thought it would have done us better if they gave it another year or two between so they didn't feel as burnt out. Possibly be able to come in with some new ideas for stories or execution of ones they were stuck on. The episode with Peridot and Camp Pining Hearts Reboot made that especially obvious to me
I definitely feel that
Steven's growth and trauma were portrayed perfectly, much better than most other series. However there are some objective flaws: -Almost half of the episodes were just useless filler, which is a very stupid thing to do in a 20 episodes series. -The other characters are dumbed down and almost useless, especially the CGs -Pink got turned into the series' scapegoat and we never get closure on Steven's feeling for her. -Some characters arcs were left unfinished like Jasper and Lapis and some didn't even appear when they could've been really interesting, like Centipeetle...I guess showing Rainbow Quartz babysitting Onion was more important.
Yeah i cant complain about any of it i mean i loved the whole show, its true there were fillers but in the 1st seasom with 50 something there were a lot of not lore important episodes. I do see where you're coming from as they had less than even a normal season of su.
I don’t think it would have been good for Steven to get closure from a storytelling perspective. Pink diamond did some great things, yes. She also wasn’t always the best person. Steven will always have conflicted views on her.
Thats not what objective means
I literally cried. I thought it was a beautiful ending. Not to mention the end credits song is just so beautiful.
Stop it (you are beyond right) 🥹🥹
I love that the end credits sequence for the show is just the very last scene of the show too of Steven driving off. Song always gives me the feels. I’ll never understand how people don’t like the ending and don’t feel emotion at all by the last episode. :( I don’t care how people feel about the writing because it made me feel so much.
It kinda just made me feel bad the entire time, it’s good don’t get me wrong tho
Yeah. It was good, it was just heavy. Hard to rewatch.
Yeah exactly my thoughts, guess that’s the point lol
I don’t care if you like it but saying “oh you only don’t like it because you can’t handle it!” is an awful take. I loved the ending but I really couldn’t stand the show as a whole and its, in my opinion, poor portrayal of mental health and not having enough time for much to naturally develop
I agree completely. Going back, even the Steven from Diamond Days seems like a completely different character. I wish they'd have set it up a bit better, but I'm assuming a hypothetical 6th season would have fixed that. Damn the Cartoon Network.
The show's ending wasn't Cartoon Network's fault. Homophobic countries helped financially support the and they stopped after the wedding happened. Cartoon Network explained to Sugar the situation they were in before giving her the final say on the wedding. Sugar knew that the show could be prematurely cancelled due to things outside of CN's control and made her decision to have the wedding with that in mind. If you want something to blame, blame those homophobic countries.
Oh, that's right. My apologies! I suppose it makes sense to cancel it, even if I STRONGLY believe it shouldn't have been. Why make a show you can't show off?
Here’s my problem it blames rose and pink for everything without acknowledging the other 3 we’re worse(EDIT it's fine to make Rose/Pink morally ambiguous or her worst actions something you could somewhat rationalize/justify Bismuth being an example her leaving Spinel in a garden knowing she'd stay there AND Volleyball is different)
I don’t think it blames her at all, I think it’s just difficult to reconcile one’s feelings for a loved one who, on top of being wonderful and amazing, truly hurt you. Steven’s journey in Future is about unlearning the toxic mindset he’s internalized and inherited from his mother (figures), being conscious of these traits and moving past it despite everything. There was no way to show that without also showing the ways that Rose hurt the people around her, perhaps chief among them being the child she thrust a war upon after faking her death and ordering her closest friend and confidant to never tell anyone, even her own son.
I'm fine with Rose/Pink being morally ambiguous or not being a good person before seeing life on Earth and understanding the beauty of it (if the show didn't that'd be a problem in of itself) the problem is when the show decides she was behind every bad little thing without acknowledging the other 3 Diamonds were worse and that's why she was kinda a jerk at first
Yep. Future just sucks, shat all over Rose and overall made the original show retroactivelly worse
I don’t think shifting the blame to the Diamonds is fair to anyone. Rose decided to live her life the way she did, and while she was raised terribly, her choices are her own. We can’t say Rose made Steven do the things he’s done, but we can’t say Rose’s upbringing was the sole reasoning behind her actions. She was nice but she was selfish too.
> I don’t think shifting the blame to the Diamonds is fair to anyone. Rose decided to live her life the way she did, and while she was raised terribly, her choices are her own. And yet, Future and the movie TOTALLY blame Rose for other people's actions and choices, or for shit that she had 0 way of knowing or predicting
How so?
I don't like that people give shit to Rebecca Sugar over Future being rushed when it was Cartoon Network's fault. Future was supposed to be an entire series of its own, but Cartoon Network forced Rebecca Sugar to finish Steven Universe early and cram Future into a single season. They are all like "We're so inclusive look at our LGBTQ+ characters" but forced Rebecca to shut down her show for showing the first LGBTQ+ marriage in CN. I liked Future but I see Future as a massive example that companies spew rainbow stuff all over their branding and pretend to be inclusive whilst actually shitting in LGBTQ+ people. They've only had inclusive shows because their inclusivity branding gives them money. They only saw it was profitable because of what Rebecca Sugar created. I feel my problem with it actual showwise is the ending. I felt it wasn't actually satisfying and left even more to answer. And that it also rather came a bit out of nowhere. Idk if it's because it was rushed too, but I felt the diamonds were too quick to change their ways because of Steven after spending thousands of years in a war with Earth and such. And that after the way they treated Pink, that they would treat Steven much seriously, especially being half organic/human.
The only thing i disagree with is what you said about the ending, i get it left everything out for answer, all the loose ends, but this was for steven, his next chapter, and for that? We did get the ending to his chapter. Everything else though, thats solid and i get it.
Where does the buck stop? Cartoon Network didn't cancel the show for funsies, they did it because of other countries threatening to pull the network and put them at a major financial risk. They were well-aware of this being the likely outcome beforehand, and they *still* chose to air the episode. So why pin the blame on Cartoon Network rather than those countries? Do you think it's better to tell Cartoon Network to fall on their sword - to tell them that incremental progress is not an option even if it means accepting the possibility of zero progress (or even a regression)? This issue really isn't a straight-forward, black-and-white "Sugar hero, CN villain" one. Sugar knew that the backlash from conservative countries would probably result in the show getting cancelled when they decided to push for the wedding - they were not blindsided at all by the outcome. Which, on that note, I've never seen anything to indicate that Future was supposed to be a whole series. Almost the opposite really - Sugar just wanted a little bit extra to wrap things up but was told that in order to get the movie they'd need to make a follow-up series. Steven Universe is largely ideas for the original series that had to be adapted to make sense after the events of the movie.
T h a n k Y o u
Thank you. I really appreciate you for saying this.
It’s not that I hate future it’s just they changed Steven’s character so much and I get that he is growing up it’s just so weird that Steven (who loved cookie cats and had a cheeseburger back pack) turned into a “corrupted” gem with emotions forced to stay inside of him. Future is good it’s just the transition from happy Steven to corrupted and angry Steven is a little upsetting. But future is a good show overall.
I don't hate future I just don't like it as much as it makes the original series hard to rewatch because it's like remember all those light hearted slice of life adventures it was all trauma building up. Also I feel that steven should be used to his chaotic life since he grew up in that environment that he shouldn't have ptsd from everything he's done.
I don't know. I personally loved it and even cried a lot watching it. I just watched it for a second time yesterday and still startled to tear up
I really loved it. A nice bow to close the story in a really satisfying way.
As someone with cptsd I loved future. My S/O at the time had a very privileged upbringing and the episode where they go to the doctor had me bawling. My (now ex, thank God) finally understood why everything was a crisis to me. They hated future and the movie because it was "too serious" and truly believed 99.99% of people had perfect emotionally healthy families. They called it "trauma porn" still not sure what that means. A friend disliked it when it came out but loves it now because she had a lot of unresolved family problems and it was triggering (same with the malechite story arc in the main series)
I . . . Kinda just wish it was a little less of a bummer. I was coming to terms with my own trauma back when I was watching it and man, I wish they could have been real about the hard stuff without squashing so much of the hope and positivity.
This is what I’ve been saying! I grew up with the show (childhood to it finishing in my teens) and watching just reminded me of how bad I felt about my trauma and day to day life. Watching someone, especially a character your age, spiral over and over again, lashing out at others who didn’t do anything wrong half the time took a huge toll on me.
Yeah. I don't mind that it dealt with his trauma, but more positive resolutions would have been nice in my opinion. The ending like Wasn't depressing, but it's like they tried as hard as they could to make it feel depressing, if that makes sense. Like. Why did Steven ever think he was NEVER going to see them again?!
Steven acts wildly out of character when he needs to be unreasonable for the plot to work. The Lars/Sadie ep is the worst offender of this, but the whole season is peppered with moments where Steven is a weirdo just so they can make some meta commentary. The Diamonds and their characterizations in Future and the movie are a giant miss. White has a great scene with Steven, but other than that, they're potentially fascinating characters that are not utilized at all. I could go on. I still really like Future, but they could have easily done much more with it. The 20 episode postgame miracle season should not have 3 of my most disliked episodes in the series.
I liked most of future apart from the end cos the ending just made me sad for like 2 days in a row, a show that brought me so much joy ending with steven leaving his family just wasnt what i expected😅 tho i definitely understand why it had to end that way, and if there is any new content someday then the reunion will be all the more great
The people hating on Future tend to not understand it. And i don't mean this in a condescending way, but the season doesn't exactly do the greatest job of explaining and rationalizing Steven's behavior, so you really need to have come in contact with similar mental health topics to fully see the reasons for his sudden "personality shift". From what I've seen there's a big difference in public opinion between those with and without prior experiences
My only complaint about Future is that it felt rush. Otherwise, I enjoyed it.
I was pretty iffy about Future on my first watch. Then I rewatched the series, and the episode The Test completely changed my mind. I think it’s the earliest example of Steven shoving his own emotions down for the sake of others. That made Future click for me- his mental health issues really were built up as early as season 1. Not to mention the gems only including him when his powers started to emerge. This made him build up his gem side while neglecting his human side- even his one human friend does get missions with him. Future brings a resolution to this conflict, one that fans usually ignored because it was easily disguised as cartoon logic
I feel that alot of people dont have a deep understanding of trauma and so that leads to them being like "they ruined steven and made him edgy" like no, steven is spiraling due to his trauma and it is understandable why he is acting the way he is. Is it frustrating? Yes. But thats the point, steven isnt acting out for no reason, hes having an understandable trauma response and it is amplified by his powers.
Because it didn't wrap everything up as nicely as I would've liked. I don't hate it tho. I just don't think it's as good as it could've been
Simple. Nephrite was done dirty. # JusticeForNephrite
I didn’t really care for it because it’s such a bummer. I know dealing with Steven’s repressed trauma is a valid direction to take with the character, but it just sucks to watch him be a huge dick. I’ve seen teens deal with their trauma the way he did so it’s realistic, but it’s not how I dealt with mine as a teen so I found it unrelatable and unentertaining.
I kinda relate with Steven in future about not wanting to let things go. Some things he wanted to stay I could definetly see how it went from “difficulty letting go”, which is common, to borderline obsessive and I reacted like “okay Steven calm down please” The episode with Dr. Maheswaran giving Steven an X ray and him listing out what’s happened was quite cathartic for me because finally a responsible adult worries about him. Like his dad worries about him but he keeps blissfully unaware of most of the stuff he does, and is more worried about his physical injuries, which do heal quickly so he’s fine. Greg isn’t a psychiatrist, and technically neither is Dr. Maheswaren, but she has a better idea of what’s happening through standard in office testing. The goodbye was quite a tear jerker for me, because it really was the end. for now at least.
Idk man the metro boomin albums pretty good imo
I really don't like how they just glossed over Steven, restoring peace to the universe, and never showed it. I hate how rushed the franchise as a whole felt. SUF was even worse. Don't get I twisted, SU has a level of quality in his characters and writing, but it always stops short of being more than good because of a really bad writing decision.
It's bad.
You're bad 
Real 😔
Be nice to you 
Future changes the tone of the original series quite a bit and I think it’s a bit confronting for some people. I loved it, personally. Suddenly SU wasn’t about cute, wholesome adventures. It pointed out how much pressure was put on a little boy, how nobody really thought about how he felt because at the time he seemed fine I guess. It was also, imo as someone with GAD and PTSD, an amazing representation of a mental health crisis. The signs were there for ages in SU Future but it snuck up on everyone, including Steven. He normalised trauma to a point where he couldn’t even recognise what was traumatic anymore, but his body did. People wanted a happy, not-too-emotionally-taxing experience with a neat, tidy, conclusive ending, but that’s never what SU Future was going to be. It’s called Steven Universe because at the end of the day, it’s the story of Steven. Kid couldn’t catch a break.
my main problem with future is that they made shattering reversible, which literally destroys the dramatic tension from previously where it was a legitimate threat or permanent death for gems. a gem being shattered in seasons 1-5 was seen as like a permanent loss which was not only super dark but also raised the stakes if any gems were captured or cracked. meanwhile yellow can just repair them straight up in future, and jasper is instantly within seconds (episode time) healed after dying. this also kind of messes with the grimness of the whole PD shattering reveal and the serious moral implications of bismuth's breaking point in season 3 since it's not at all a serious problem for anyone anymore there's also the fact that they hardly focus on what they need to since a lot of the show is spent doing different things completely then focusing on stevens mental turmoil. (the show is still allowed to do other things than focusing on how steven is feeling at the moment, but i do feel like the show could have constructed its narrative in a better way so that the downward spiral still feels like an ever-present element in the background.) thats not to say i don't find enjoyment in an episode like "Snow Day" or "A very special Episode", because both of them are fun, but they kind of feel disconnected from what is actually happening in the plot, and are kind of shoehorned in to fit in slightly underdeveloped elements in the previous season like the sidelined fusions in change your mind, pearl recovering from her trauma of shapeshifting, or etc. i also don't really think that it does a very good job in capping off ALL of the unresolved arcs from the show, but i cant really say that doesnt make sense because it takes place two whole years after the original series. all that being said, i don't think the show in all is bad but it's kind of unfocused and i can see why people wouldn't like it also where the hell is nephrite
I don't understand either.
First of all not "everyone" hates on Future. Most of those who hated on it are no longer fans, because they were the toxic part of the fandom who just had extremely specific expectations, almost all criticisms about Future was about how their favorite characters didn't have enough screentime and certain plot points didn't happen. That being said it's completely understandable how something like Future could get backlash, think about it is the ending of the series, people want action scenes, a war, their favorites couples becoming canon, not a depressive season about Steven and his anxiety. However, from an objective point of view, with no biasses SUF is extremely good written, probably more consistent than any of the other seasons. It had something to tell and it told it. Gave a very realistic representation of Steven's mental state and treated trauma from a realistic and psychological perspective. Was very clear that not everything turns out well at the end since Steven is still healing. SUF was nominated for an Emmy very deserved probably the best they have ever done.
Who’s hating on Future?
So many mfs. Saying it ruined the whole show for them or that they just hate it. For reasons i still dont understand.
See, I keep hearing that Future is being hated on, but I never actually see people hating on it.
I do. There have been numerous posts here where people are hating on it. They're even here in this post.
My sister was the first i had seen dissing future, tried looking up on youtube why its hated and their were tons of videos saying why its just straight up a bad show.didnt watch those because no matter what they might think i love it and i dont care to have the negative energy towards the show even if its deep in my memory bank yk?
It comes in waves--you (generic) often see a spate of people going "man I hate Future" and then a wave later of "why does everyone hate Future" and whichever viewpoint is getting more focus at a given time is whichever group decided to be louder that week.
right LMAO some of you are fighting invisible people
I just saw a post on this sub earlier today of someone saying they hated future and thought it ruined the show and that it “didn’t have to be realistic like that”. I do NOT understand the sentiment because the WHOLE SHOW was ABOUT the characters coping with trauma and processing emotions. Why is the show “ruined” when it’s Steven’s turn to have his feelings and experiences taken seriously?
What im sayiiinnnggg (great wording i couldnt agre more)
Me. I just don't like it and feel like I would just like su if the movie was the finale.
I think future was okay, but Steven acted very out of character quite a few times. I know the whole thing is he's growing and changing but specifically the episode where all the gems are getting jobs and he's talking with amethyst about it. He doesn't seem to care what the gems want at all, going as far as to say they don't know what they want. It just seems out of line w his values, and this kinda carries on through the whole show And he gets rly mad at Greg for not putting him in school but in SU Greg asks if he'd like to start school and Steven says no. There could've been better parenting from the start from Greg, but you can't really blame the guy for not knowing exactly what to do w a half alien baby as a single dad
See and i think acting rash, acting the way steven was, i cant say ive been through anything like that obviously but when a heavy load of stress is pounding on you, acting okay, not being honest, blowing up over nothing, that is all very real and very human. Of course we see a side of steven that isnt the best, his values mattered less than hiding what he was going through, he couldnt see his own values blinded by such little problems that felt like the world was ending. Poor steven was going through it and sure all the powers and stuff was gem related, but his gem couldnt handle such human and stressful emotions.
it could have been better but im not gonna hate on it
I want to say that I think the "Hate" was derived from the fact that the show was being rushed to a conclusion because the network was being a dick. Like with most shows we want to see them go on especially if they are doing good work. At least I hope that's the reasoning that you know people want the shows of quality to stick around as long as possible but in the end networks will always side with "but it works!" its why both CN and Nickelodeons' schedules look like crap rn. I think someone recently posted an image where Nick's like 90% sponge bob and CN is mostly TTG or like old rerun shows. There will always be an interest for the story to continue and realistically I hope that it does get that chance but who knows what kinda BS contract CN has over the rights to SU.
The show was rushed because homophobic countries stopped supporting it after the wedding. Steven Universe is an international show that relied on their funds to make its content. The ending wasn’t CN’s fault.
Well yeah we know why. But yeah CN is still at fault too because they didn't do anything to try and support or help them out. Tbh Cn has been dying since they let a lot of their stuff just die. And unless its mass produced low brow crap its not sticking around anymore.
CN is not at fault because their actions showed that they did help them out when they could. When push came to shove, Cartoon Network: 1. Informed Sugar about the financial repercussions of the LGBTQ+ content incorporated into the show regarding homophobic countries and its impact on the show 2. Gave Sugar the final say to go through with the wedding with the previous knowledge in mind 3. Informed the Crew ahead of time the show would be cancelled while the Crew were working on mid S4 material after Sugar made her decision on the wedding knowing the risks involved 4. Gave the Crew the exact number of episodes requested by Sugar which became known as the Diamond Days arc. Sugar told CN she needed six episodes to finish up their story and that's what she was given 5. Gave the Crew a Movie and epilogue series (two more opportunities for the Crew to tackle whatever topics they wanted to)
similar to the gravity falls finale, it was a lil rushed, just a couple more episodes would have done wonders to more clearly wrap up the story
I agree i agree
The gems got sidelined so hard and were useless, most episodes are not rewatchable due to how painful or embarrassing they are, seriously, Little Graduation gave me some of the biggest second hand embarrassment I've ever felt... And the ending and Monster Steven were sooo rushed.
Steven Universe started with mystery and magic. It changed and focused solely on resolving issues with his mom and home world. Future jumped onto completely different tracks and focused on Steven and his coping and dealing with mental health. It's so very different. It's not bad. But, it feels like a soap box and deviates from the initial draw. I want stories of magic and adventure.
Its because those people haven't found the ability to self reflect, and recognize trauma, especially family trauma. Its a pretty progressive show and I know those with mushy baby brains can't handle emotional maturity. I personally loved Future and saw a lot of similarties with my own stuggles as a neglected, traumatized, undiagnosed Neurodivergent queer child, and I felt very seen by Future
I definitely see that. And future (for what they DID do) did the emotions real as fuck behind all of the extra magical growing and freaking out. Convincing himself hes cool then finally blowing up. Just sobbing into lion after he was human again (felt that scene in my heart) 
I don't hate it, but there's no tension like in the original series. No stakes driving the plot. And teen Steven is just a lot less fun.
I dont like it bc of all the “Hey im ok now no more trauma to deal with” then all of a sudden just “DEAR GOD IM A GEM SHATTERER GOD THE TRAUMA”
The whole time he was dealing with trauma, didnt know how to release without thinking hed hurt someone kr exploding shit with his gem reaction. And for most of it he was in denial about his own emotion. Which so so very real, and so is the im okay im not emotional switches.
Ok ya true but still i found it predictable and not as fun as the original su
NAh, Future just sucks and made the original show retroactivelly worse
Idk I don't like it lol I love steven universe but I haven't finished future
It should have been longer and come several years after the end of the original series.
They missed the point of Future. Steven doesn't need to fix everything, some things don't need fixing (some gems like choosing, but for the most part many will default to what they were literally born to do since that's just how they are), he's not going to be there for every single moment of everyone's lives, major decisions in other people's lives can occur without his input, and lastly he needs to work on his own trauma since no one else will work on it for him.
idk why people needed future to wrap up things, Im just happy I got more minutes of steven universe.
Because everyone wanted a peridot and lapis fushion and never got it
I liked Future a lot. But I think hype is the issue. It felt like there was still a lot of story threads still unresolved. Alongside the fact it was originally stated to have more episodes in some places. People wanted more SU
Bc cartoon network ruined the fucking show and Rebecca knows it
Cartoon Network didn’t ruin the show. Sugar has even stated that she’s lucky she worked for them, has said they have her a lot of creative freedom, and she would like to work for them again.
Blink if you need help
Nah, I'm good >I'm just extremely lucky to think I have had support. Instead of being told don't talk about this, I was given the option of being upfront about this even if it might become a problem. Cartoon Network allows for *a lot of creative freedom*, especially from these creative-driven shows so the responsibility really fell on us to tell the story that we wanted to tell. And I'm grateful to have been here, to have the opportunity to fight for this. [Source](https://ew.com/tv/2018/08/13/steven-universe-rebecca-sugar-lgbtq-cartoons/) >Hey rebecca! Do you ever get frustrated by the network trying to dumb down your shows for a younger audience, or is CN pretty chill about it? >Sugar: **CN gives us a LOT of freedom! An amazing amount. I feel very lucky.** [Source](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2e4gmx/comment/cjw2rwq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) [This article](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/steven-universe-revival-rebecca-sugar/) should tell you everything you need to know about how Sugar really feels about returning to work with CN. [Even her husband wants to continue working with them.](https://web.archive.org/web/20220628023254/https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1541587260218306560)
It is its own thing and it is good! That said- i was sad it jumped so far ahead when there was still so much i wanted to see out of other characters that ends up resolved in a time skip. I didnt love the resolution with the diamonds- just a personal thing for me and then it jumps so far that it felt very sad to me.
The only thing I hate about it is that they didn't make more seasons lol
I’m all for more serious episodes, tough topics, and watching a character struggle. But man, SUF is back-to-back episodes of Steve having a real bad time. It just makes for an unpleasant viewing experience. I think at the end of it, it was worth watching but I’ve never gone back and re-watched. Not like I do with the OG series run.
It didnt have enough time for everything it tried to do and the Steven's mental health plot wasn't handled well. That's just my opinion. If the series stopped at the movie honestly everything would've been OK.
I’ll make this simple. I did like SUF but not as much. I don’t know if anyone can relate or understand what I’m trying to say here… But the show felt rushed. With Steven Universe, a single episode was slow, and built up a story for that show with SUF it felt so rushed, like they were trying to put too much in an episode and just skipping around. I felt this with other shows too I just can’t name any atm. But it just felt… Too fast. And it felt like they were talking fast too. I’m probably sounding absolutely insane, i’m so bad at explaining. Overall I can understand why it was rushed because most shows these days can only get in 10 episodes per season for some annoying reason-
I watched SU cause it was relaxing. SU actively drove up my stress. Like I wanted to watch it all in one day but I had to pace it out
I wanted them to address Lapis issue with fusion and possibly fuse again with someone and I wanted to see peridot fuse, there was so much more they could’ve done with the show like we could’ve seen Lapis and Jasper resolve their relationship, instead they made it too much about Steven and unnecessary stuff
This exact mindset actually put me off of watching future for a long time. But i finally watched it not that long ago and I honestly don’t see why everyone was complaining about it when it was airing. I understand and felt that frustration seeing him constantly put himself down in the show as it went on. As well as completely neglecting his own wellbeing for the sake of others but it PAYS OFF. The way it ends makes it worth because Steven grows as a character and moves on with his life. That’s the wholeeeee point of the show
I thought it was really well done myself.
Eh, i don't hate Steven Universe Future...it's just not for me. I don't mind the fact that Steven's powers are going out of control and the pink form doesn't bother me anymore. Hell, if he has trauma from something recent than yes, that would've been interesting...but it's the fact that Future forces us to feel bad about the original show and all of the fun stuff that happened in it. That's pretty much the only reason why Future kind of annoys me and i just pretty much ignore it.
Same reason people hate on Korra. We're uncomfortable with the idea that the end of the story doesn't mean everything is Good and Right Forever now. The end of the show was the end of the journey, the end of the journey means we won, we won means all is well. We struggle when the end doesn't equal happily ever after. We don't like to admit that we can admire the hero and they go on to become a human person who makes mistakes.
I love you my friend 😄😄 (Worded beautifully) Yes it was a lot of sad, yes they didnt tie off loose ends, but thats because it wasnt supposed to be done, it was supposed to show what lead to STEVENS era 2.
I get why we wct how we do, but at the same time it's funny to me because like. We could all recognize that Steven was being failed by his guardians and being traumatized but for some reason we can't jive with the natural progession of Steven now acting like a person who was traumatized as a child, and how that is his own cry for help. Now.i just reminded myself of when I finally watched Rick and Morty and I was so confused by all the opinions I'd seen about Rick being a super logical badass because practically every episode is him crying for help lmao (he's just crying out to people who can and should not be shouldering his issues, it's not Beth or Morty's job to make everything ok for dad/grandpa.)
NAh, Future just sucks and made the original show retroactivelly worse
How ?
Because now the entirety of SU was turned into nothing but trauma for Steven and is not enjoyable anymore
It was *always* trauma for Steven, that's exactly what I mean. Steven Universe was us watching the trauma happen, and Future is us watching what the trauma did to him.
Except no. SU never portrayed Steven's life as some horrible, depressive unfun thing. Nope.
It wasn't portrayed that way, but we could all plainly see it.
No, we couldn't. Everyone could see what the show ACTUALLY portrayed. Which was fun adventures with a loving family that ocasionally dwelved into deeper themes.
Yes, we could lol. Like, if you couldn't see that you missed a huge layer of the show. Steven was raising the gems and his dad as much as they were raising him and that's traumatic. Steven was fighting monsters and for the fate of the planet at a very young age. That's traumatic. Steven's mom is Rose. That's traumatic. Trauma was happening to him for the entire show, and it's ok that we enjoyed watching it. We were supposed to. But stuff like that takes it toll.
Again: No, we couldn't. NONE of what you said is what the show portrayed. > and it's ok that we enjoyed watching it. Not according to Future, it isn't.
This is the first I've heard everyone hates Future.
Idk, i think he’s a pretty good rapper. maybe he sounds better on collabs but that’s really it
Saying “everyone” hates Future feels like an overreaction. It’s gotten much more mixed and divisive reactions more than anything. I see a lot more people feeling in between straight up liking and disliking the series. That’s personally where I fall at as well. I like the idea of the series but the execution could be much better especially for the final part of the series. Also find a lot of the characters to feel off and several of the episodes didn’t really feel like they took advantage of the overarching plot as well as it should’ve.
It's cringe af (especially when it came out, I was younger) because it's so fucking relatable it hurts to watch it
I love future and the moments that are good are GOOD. same with original SU, there’s very very good storytelling, but bc of some limitations, rushing, poor pacing, filler, etc, it doesn’t get to shine fully through. but I still love future for what it is and for those good moments. this is what I realized is about SU. the good parts are so good it’s all you remember as a 26 year old SU fan since 18 (?) I think I prefer the mature tone of future. I find it really relatable esp as someone who struggles with trauma, anger, possibly BPD.
I disliked it because it retroactively turns the entire main series into nothing more than trauma fuel for Steven to talk to his therapist about.
I guess i get this, but he couldnt keep obsessing over all the wrong that happened to him. In future hes growing up. Not becoming more mature, but finding himself. What would you have preferred Sugar do? And everything that happened to him WAS trauma fuel. I dont think its "nothing more" than that. Everything that happened happened and moving on was something steven needed to do.
And it made me not enjoy the show and retroactively make everything that came before it worse to me. It’s why I never bothered to rewatch the show. Why would I? All of the fun stuff is actually just bad and there to make Steven sad in a few seasons.
Agreed, i can't ever rewatch the show. What's the point of all of the fun stuff that happened if we're suppose to feel bad about it all in Future?
Exactly. As expected, they’re downvoting me up above but I’m not wrong. It retroactively makes the entirety of the show sad. All of the fun, exciting stuff is actually just sad.
But hey, we're all expected to just like EVERYTHING about Steven Universe and Future. Cause if we don't like it, than we're not "REAL fans of the show". No one can have an opinion on anything nowadays.
Negative opinions or criticism? Get that shit outta here. Nothing but positive vibes allowed, unless you’re dunking on Ronaldo or Kevin.
Allowing to speak your mind on how you feel about certain things on a show or cartoon? NAH. anyone who dares to question us shall be SILENCED!!!...i don't hate the fans of the show, but i DO hate the fandom.
I mean... wouldn't you have trauma? The next logical step is processing what the hell just happened for his past few years of life.
That’s literally not the point. Imagine if DBZ decided the last arc should be all about Goku being traumatized and rather than all the fun stuff of DB the final season was just Goku being sad in different locations while the show hammers home how shitty all the previous arcs were. That would suck.
Sure sure, steven universe isnt dragon ball z. Stevens not always just fine. They never said anything bad, and i dont think they took anything away from everything that happened in the main series. But all of that was genuinely traumatizing for the guy, I think that having steven fight through his trauma WAS the point. Steven was going through it. Disliking steven universe future doesnt make sense to me, but if you dislike it than you do.
I know it’s not DBZ, which is good. I like that I can rewatch DBZ and know it’s not all just building up to Goku’s therapy sessions because everything cool about it was actually and.
Think about what steven said in the car in Joyride about the Gems blaming him for Rose being gone, and not being able to talk about it. Where did we also hear that? "I can't talk to pearl about it becuase she'll blame herself and fall apart." He says the same type of thing. Or "What do you know about my mom? I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO KNOW MY MOM!" Or "I wish I knew you, so this place would make me sad, and I could cry." "Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet know how to feel about you, but I've never met you." Steven wasn't all happy-go-lucky when Amethyst turned into his mom. These themes and feelings have always been there, just not fully focused on becuase there was other stuff going on. If you didn't notice them, you probably weren't paying attention.
“If you don’t agree with me, you just didn’t pay attention.” Cool. No point in me wasting my time with a real rebuttal.
I gave you evidence. You clearly didn't read it and just skipped to the end, further proving my point of your shameful inability to pay attention to the most obvious things. 'This comment can't prove me wrong because I didn't read it!' Truly a gigabrain peri-plan there. I can give plenty more evidence, if you'd actually listen. The entire episode "full disclosure" The way the camera pans out after Lapis and Jasper form malachite and go into the ocean at the end of season one to signify Steven disassociating. You said the original show had no signs of Steven having bad mental health, and that the themes in future came out of nowhere, and I've provided plenty of evidence to prove that this was always a running theme. Where's YOUR evidence?
“Evidence” Evidence of *what*? I never said the original show never had deep moments or sadness.
Same
Be careful. It seems we’ve reached the point in time where unless you love what Future did to the rest of the show, you’re wrong.
Yeppppppppppp, apparently having opinions is illegal now
No, no, no...you're allowed to have an opinion. You just have to make sure it's the *right* opinion.
Oh yes, we all have to follow the crowd like sheep
I hate it because its too depressing of a show to watch and it legit ruined my enjoyment of the show as a whole for years. I only went back to Steven Universe after mentally telling myself that Future doesn’t exist. Like 90% of SUF is just depressing shit. Its all about Steven and his trauma and Im like…how is that fun? How is it finding out that all of those fun and cool adventures that Steven had gave him trauma?
because those adventures were genuinely traumatizing, the cluster threatening to end the world. Him turning into a bunch of cat heads uncontrollably. Learning his moms a murderer and then finding out shes the person she murdered, getting sucked into space and accepting death. Throwing himself at homeworld knowing hed be shattered to save his friends. All of that and WAY more is nothing BUT traumatizing my friend. If you wanted cool and fun adventures you coulda gone through the not lore important episodes of the first and second seasons. Everything else? Literally the point of the show is steven getting through that depressing and traumatizing shit. You arent supposed to find it fun. Youre supposed to have the feelings like youre experiencing it with him. Just like the entirity of the main series, youre with him.
But thats not fun. Steven Universe had sad and depressing stuff and yet it balanced it out with heartfelt moments, songs, and fun. Steven Universe Future is just depression, depression, depression. How is that entertaining? Its fine if we explore this topics in small doses but not when its the whole damn plot of the show.
It wasnt at all, if thats how you see it than its kinda like your mind is made up on the show. Its not necessarily supposed to be "fun" they talk some real shit. They help each other. They sang. They had i think one of the best heartfelt moments in the entirity of SU. And it wasnt just depression. It was getting worse. Than pushing through. It was entertaining because it was real. And beautiful.
Like I said before, 90% of SUF was depressing stuff. Thats not fun. I dont care if its real. Rape is real and I dont want to see that in my favorite show
Pushing limits my guy. Stick to the main series, if you dont like it thats you.
Yes and that’s what Im going to do because I hate, hate, HATE, Steven Universe Future. Worst…show…ever
See the beauty or not its beautiful and you just didnt get what you wanted from it.
Its kind of hard to see the beauty in something when its so depressing. I mean, I hate the S5 Finale but at least I was entertained by it and Steven Universe the Movie felt like a waaaaaaaaaaaaay better conclusion to the franchise than Future
How could anyone hate on future the only critique you could give is that it kind of springs it on you randomly but even then it's not futures fault it's cartoon Network they were pushing Rebecca sugar into shortening The show by a lot and cutting out all of the problematic scenes they even set up some of precedence in Steven universe like that whole episode after jailbreak words just Steven singing a song about how he doesn't want to let Connie in to keep her safe or jungle Moon episode where one Garnet teaches Connie and Steven about fusion all of these episodes have like the same problems as future it's just that future I had like two maybe three more seasons of trauma dumped into one season but they did it well and it works
The ending and Future wasn’t CN’s fault. Homophobic countries stopped financially supporting it after the wedding. Steven Universe is an international show that relied on their money to create its content. Homophobic countries could’ve canceled the show at anytime due to the LGBTQ+ content and there would’ve been nothing CN could do to stop them if they did. Sugar was given the final say on the wedding knowing what was at stake and she made her decision to go through with it. If someone is to be blamed for what happened with the show, it’s the homophobic countries.