Review: Steven Universe Future “Little Graduation” “Prickly Pair”

Our Take:

Steven’s emotional journey continues, especially in Little Graduation. At the Little Homeschool graduation ceremony, Steven realizes that all of his friends, especially Sadie and Lars, have moved on with their lives. Things aren’t the same before they left, and time has changed them both. Sadie is in a new relationship with her partner, Shep, and the two of them are performing together. This greatly unnerves Steven, not because of what’s happening, but because he’s not used to it. Steven is used to his home remaining consistent; even if things drastically change in space, at least he knows what the city is like. This becomes a sore reminder that even Earth changes, and Steven doesn’t take well to it.

His problems don’t go away in Prickly Pair either. When he does become in charge of a life, Cactus Steven, he doesn’t really know how to react. He needs an outlet for his frustration, and he chooses what should be an inanimate object, except it isn’t. He has given Cactus Steven life, and so Cactus Steven reacts the way it was treated; with frustration and anger. Even if Steven does desperately need someone that he can be honest even about his darkest feelings to, that doesn’t mean that Cactus Steven has a choice. Cactus Steven returns what was given to him, causing chaos because that is all he was fed.

Steven once again lashes out, potentially hurting his friends and family. He is a growing person, one who is deeply confused with his own feelings and the fact that the world is evolving around him. He, at the core, is very afraid, and that’s honestly pretty understandable. It’s hard to grow up, and it’s hard to grow up as a savior figure. He feels isolated even when surrounded by people, because those that love him also rely on him.

Steven is frustrated, yes. He is growing up in a world that is uncomfortable to him. At the same time, he does have a support group, who genuinely loves and cares for him. He does have people he can rely on, but he also has to rely on those people emotionally as well- and that means accepting that he has problems instead of pretending that everything is fine until it blows up. These episodes are filled with a lot of heartache, but they’re stories that should be told.