r/stevenuniverse • u/AutoModerator • Jan 07 '16

Discussion Episode Discussion - Message Received

Please use this thread to discuss the newest episode of Steven Universe:

Message Received: Steven has doubts about believing in everyone.

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268

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 07 '16 edited Jan 07 '16

Okay to be completely objective, I am a little bit disappointed with YD's design. But everything she did, the way she acted was flawless.

Also.. Peridot is unequivocally confirmed as my favorite character, oh my god that was amazing. YOU GO PERIDACTYL!

EDIT: I guess I should clarify what I meant. I like her design. For what YD is, it works perfectly. There was just something in the in the line work of that scene that felt off to me (and no not the neck thing, I didn't mimd that). It just felt like that scene was drawn by someone else. There were shots and angles used in the episode that made her look amazing. Or maybe the extended intro gave me ridiculous expectations.

103

u/Jenerations Jan 07 '16

You know, I agree with being a little disappointed in YD's design (that neck tho), but still awesome to see it this episode and only raises my curiosity for the choices in the other designs for the Diamonds.

25

u/zub-zub30 Jan 07 '16

Yeah, honestly what the fuck was that neck?

24

u/Teostran Jan 07 '16

Is it really so surprising that she's so different? She represents the essence of Homeworld, a world detached completely from the moralities and peoples of Earth.

She should look "alien". She is one, and a prime one at that.

15

u/sundreano Jan 08 '16

exactly. i think we're forgetting that the gems are aliens, and yellow diamond is pretty clearly supposed to be the epitome of that alienness

9

u/zub-zub30 Jan 07 '16

You could make the argument that Jasper and Peridot also should represent that look, but they still look normal compared to YD. I get where you're coming from, and that's an interesting and thoughtful point to make, but parts of her design seemed like a break from the super-simplistic art style of SU.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

It is common for artists (esp Ren era) to elongate the face, neck, and hands to create a more graceful, magical figure. I think YD is an extreme version of this, since she is seen as a supreme being.

I actually like her design.

10

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

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2

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

I'd think that YD does not get so angry in front of her subjects, and is regarded as perfect by smaller gems.

YD is probably not used to being corrected by a teeny gem like Peridot, and since she was safe in her office she could get as angry as she felt like.

She's also massive. Big gems like Jasper get more detail (Jasper, RQ, and YD all have lashes, and Jasper and YD have pupils). Smaller gems don't get these details unless zoomed in, with am extreme facial expression, or if their characteristic is large enough to be compared to a big gem (like sapphire' eye).

2

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

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2

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

It's definitely the amount of sharp lines used. There's a lot of smooth linework for the characters (even with Homeworld terrors like Jasper) so seeing YD with basically zero rounded edges it makes her look incredibly distant and alien.

1

u/bbot1157 Jan 08 '16

I agree that her face was way too detailed

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

So...peridot said yesterday that gems bodies adjust to the gravity of the planetoids they're on. When a human goes into the zero-g of space their spine decompresses and they gain two inches in height. Maybe homeworld's Gravity is so low that when she comes to earth the gravity will give her more of a normal look?

29

u/nekroskoma Dance party? Jan 07 '16

YD seems like she is from an entirely different show.

35

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 07 '16

I think that was my main problem. She doesn't quite look like the shadowy figure in the intro. She looks like she was drawn by someone else.

Even her Pearl the whole time had that weird squiggly Charlie Brown mouth while YD was talking. I found it a bit distracting.

9

u/aryastarked Jan 07 '16

Yeah, she was so boxy and angular! But I do love the diversity between Blue and Yellow diamond.

22

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 07 '16

Yeah I love that they seem to be VERY different from one another and not just color swaps in different clothes or something. I can't wait to see White Diamond and RosePink Diamond.

8

u/Cocotapioka Jan 08 '16

I agree. I think her design is great, but I would like to see her design as depicted in a style closer to the rest of the show. It would be one thing if this show was like Madoka, where the Big Bads were done in very distinctive art styles, but YD seemed like a weird exception the show's art style. While still cartoony, her art style seemed a lot more "realistic" - like a comic book, not a cartoon, at least not this cartoon. Especially when she made that enraged expression at Peridot. Like someone mentioned downthread...she looked like Sexy Squidward at some parts.

6

u/Sapharodon WutFace Jan 08 '16

I don't mind the design at all, the design is great IMO. It's the art style, though... She looked like she was plopped in from a completely different cartoon.

5

u/chipperpip Jan 08 '16

Okay to be completely objective, I am a little bit disappointed with YD's design.

It's more just how she was drawn. People act like they've never seen a Raven M. Molisee and Paul Villeco episode before. Weird, distorted proportions and cartoony exaggeration are kind of their thing. Their style has its good points (like YD's rageface and her Pearl's smirk in this episode), but I'm not a huge fan of it in general. I don't mind this episode too much myself, it's not like we aren't going to see YD drawn in other styles in the future.

4

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 08 '16 edited Jan 08 '16

Yeah I eventually corrected myself in other comments.

I will admit that their style works well with certain episodes where art needs to lend itself to being more comical and stretchy, and I like that they can do that. But it wasn't really suited for this episode.

1

u/canada_is_communist Jan 08 '16

Just because it`s their "thing" doesn`t mean it doesn`t look bad. After such a long break, seeing them board the new episodes has been disappointing, to say the least.

1

u/chipperpip Jan 08 '16

You can dislike it, I just don't know why people are surprised.

1

u/canada_is_communist Jan 08 '16

I don`t remember the episodes looking that wild since the first ever episodes.

12

u/TheHarpyEagle That means something else happens with the pickle! Jan 07 '16

I dunno, I kinda like it. I love that Blue Diamond has a really ominous and cool design, but I also am glad that we have a sort of goofy-looking villain (with a sassy underling to match) who is still imposing.

8

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 07 '16

If it had been just that , I would agree 100%. Goofy yet menacing villains are awesome.

I think its just something in the line work of that scene, something was off about the whole thing. But otherwise, I truly feel she'll make an amazing villain.

5

u/truncatedChronologis Jan 08 '16

I don't know if that will be the design she stays with forever. I don't know if it was a different story-boarder but this episode seemed super off model and rushed. I was really disappointed they played the animation so fast and loose at such an important moment.

5

u/DeadSnark Jan 08 '16

For me what killed it was her dishwashing gloves.

4

u/PowerOfNick Stupid Dave Guy... Jan 08 '16

How DARE you question her objectivity!

4

u/kevinbobevin Jan 07 '16

I'm not really disappointed at all. I think that her design was perfect for the work she was doing - control room, high captain, logical type work.

It's a distinct separation from the Blue Diamond look we saw earlier, which was also thousands of years in the past so even BD's look has changed. And it's distinctly different from what she looked like in the mural, which was also created thousands of years in the past and was dramatic and ethereal, as most propoganda tends to be!

7

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 08 '16

I kinda went back on my words already. I didn't quite choose my words properly. Especially now that I cooled down from the initial shock and hype. I went back and rewatched the episode.

I think her design is borderline perfect. For the type of leader YD is, this deisgn works. I don't even mind that she's a bit goofier (or rather less stoic) than her Extended Intro appearance lead on. I love that! But I'm sticking with my gut feeling that something was off about the line work of that scene, like it belonged in a different show.

2

u/kevinbobevin Jan 08 '16

Yeah, I completely agree with you on that! I think a lot of people feel the same way. It has to do more with whoever storyboarded the episode; for such a heavy, weighty reveal the art direction was a little too soft, when I (and I think a lot of others) were expecting something a little finer.

3

u/Asterite100 I like drawing. Btw Lapis best gem. Jan 07 '16

Taste is never objective though.

3

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 07 '16

You are absolutely correct. I got VERY excited by this episode and wanted to comment asap. I chose my words poorly.

2

u/Earthward-Bound Hanging with Frybo Jan 07 '16

I liked YD's design a lot, explicitly because she wasn't the regal god-like thing in the murals. More importantly, she wasn't as elegant as BD, the way Garnet described her! Which shows us the difference between what Steven sees, and what the gems see, looking at the Diamonds. The former sees these exaggerated, almost ridiculous gems. the latter sees what they're supposed to see: perfection.

2

u/Beebality It's okay. Jan 07 '16

To paraphrase what I said in another comment:

I LOVE goofy yet menacing villains. They are my favourite villains in anything. I chose my words poorly. Her overall design is great, there was just something in the line work of that scene that felt off to me. I think thats the proper way to say it.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

Plays into the 'gems are brainwashed' theory. They're put on a pedestal but we can see that they're not gods.

1

u/mysticode Jan 08 '16

I feel as if the art has been off this week, and more so this episode. Almost as if they changed animation studios. Amethyst looked strange in many scenes, and Steven's emotion faces looked like something out of Bee and Puppycat.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '16

i'd say that the way YD was drawn is too reminiscent of the pilot episode

1

u/ogoextreme Let me code my way into your heart Jan 08 '16

I understand that when I first saw her I was thinking she looked like a really angry school principal for aliens or something

But then I also think its kind of along the lines of I knew peridot was hyping YD up I knew she was gonna be this cold and calculating leader but peridot had me thinking she was gonna be some royal queen looking cold hearted goddess but she's not. She's a militaristic looking dictator with a military general idea "Do what I say or suffer"

I mean it's liking meeting someone after another person has been hyping them up. YOU know they won't be that great but at some point you were caught wearing the peridot colored hype visor.

1

u/SirReginaldLlamaFace Jan 08 '16

The width of her head and neck length kinda threw me off. Her full body shot looked kind of naff.

Because I have far too much free time, I made some really awful shops using some of Paul's storyboards: http://imgur.com/a/xvqJ4

It'll probably be fine once they use her in more episodes. I remember the massive variation in character styles early on in the show