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What is muay Thai?It is a combat system from Thailand that can be trained as a comprehensive fighting method, or as a traditional martial art, or as a combat sport (or as a mix, of course), depending on the school / gym.It is a complete fighting system for the stand-up phase of combat since it has all possible elements of striking and wrestling for standing use: hand/arm strikes, punches and defence; kick/knee strikes and defence; wrestling holds / throws and defence - plus a unique hold & hit system with a wide range of techniques (quite rare in combat systems). However it has almost zero groundwork, and so there is a significant gap in its coverage.Traditional gyms, though uncommon in Thailand, sometimes teach the Thai double sword (practiced mainly with sticks now) and long staff alongside the unarmed combat system. The weapons training was part of muay Thai (‘Thai boxing’) in its original form. Students may wear the traditional garments including the half-length trousers, and would not normally enter contests except for occasional amateur bouts. Police and Army training is another variant, in which amateurs will train a little differently from the regular professional gym environment. The younger and fitter or keener students may enter occasional amateur matches but this is not a fixed part of the training curriculum.Many gyms now cater for foreign tourist trainees. In the past such visitors would mostly not have wanted to fight, just to train - and would not have been able to fight since they were almost always too heavy. Today there are so many visitors that matches can often be arranged at the correct weights, especially at novice level. Boxing has become more integrated with tourism, and it is not a bad thing. Some stay on, and may compete with locals if they are under 130 pounds in weight, or close to it..How Thai boxing developedThe Thai combat system has become ultra efficient for a number of reasons:Essentially, it has no rules in the contests, except for the TV fights and so on, apart from the requirement to fight only while standing.It has existed in roughly the same form for around 80 years since the International Boxing administration system was adopted (weight divisions, rounds, ring size and type, gloves, etc.). Because it is well-run and because bets are placed on the outcome, the admin system supports efficiency and fairness, and the tough battles that result: nobody has any time for mismatches and walkovers.Due to the pressure-cooker nature of the environment and the simple fact every fight is a potential death match, the gyms train their boxers very hard to win. The fights are hard and the fighters are harder. If it works, others catch on and use it. If it doesn’t work, the boxer loses, sometimes badly. You don’t want to lose badly in a Thai ring, so effectiveness is everything. There is just no room for theories unless they produce concrete results. The two most recent changes within memory are the adoption of International boxing handwork, and the far greater prevalence of low kick in modern Thai boxing due to the Dutch influence. Before fighters from Holland showed they could beat Thais with it, weight for weight in Thailand (not an easy task), low kicks were used but not considered a major tactic by Thais - the Dutch fighters showed how a Thai move could be optimised, and the Thais responded by using it more (and using it better than they had done originally, in most cases).Life is cheap in SE Asia. Hundreds have died in Thai rings, and there have been periods in which one boxer a month died. There has even been a fight in which both boxers died - one in the ring, one later in hospital. This is not a game, it is ultimate stand-up fighting - and as a result it is unbeatable at what it does: the outright best combat system for small people when restricted to standing fighting only. In 10 fights between top-ranked Thais and others at 100 to 130 pounds, in a Thai ring and therefore without any rules to speak of, with or without gloves (challengers are often allowed to fight without gloves if they so wish), the Thais will win 9 out of 10 bouts. The one they lose would be against a star who had a good day and the Thai didn’t.Muay Thai has been improved by the addition and absorption of modern International boxing - in essence this means the hooks and angles - which has largely replaced the traditional punch/strike boxing methods common to all old boxing systems globally, including old English boxing, which all featured exclusive use of straight punches and swings. After Jack Broughton in England, this change was substantial but not within our memory, now. The Thai adoption of this method has been within living memory of the older commentators, and therefore is a little clearer to us..What Thai boxing is and isn’tYou may have noticed the reference to small fighters and there is a good reason for this. Thai boxing is a fabulous combat method for real fighting, but without a shadow of a doubt optimised for fighters around 120 pounds who are the world’s best kickers (or equal to the best); and who on average are not great punchers, and who are in any case not going to be able to punch anything like as hard as they can kick or knee, at that bodyweight. There are certain positives and negatives to these factors in its development: for example, the close-range elbow technique is unique, superb, and without peer; but the purist style works better for smaller fighters, needing adaptation to work optimally for the larger person (which may not be appreciated). The clinch-hit system is excellent, but if the fight goes to the ground then a competent wrestler will be almost unopposed. Thus the system is like any other:Good in its strong areas.In need of addition where it is weak, e.g. on the ground.In need of adaptation to local conditions / people, for ultimate efficiency in fighting (a 200 lb American should not be trying to fight like a 110 lb Thai).There is a debate about whether the Koreans or the Thais are the world’s finest kickers, and when the Koreans win a game of takraw* against the Thais then I’ll concede it’s the Koreans.* Takraw is a Thai game like volleyball, but played with the legs and feet only, to keep the ball in the air. It is incredibly difficult if not impossible for Westerners to do well. I suspect there are Brazilians who could get somewhere with this, but you can forget about it in England [1].That means Thai boxing, at least in the Thai styles of training and fighting (there are many different ‘styles’), is very suitable for small people who are great kickers and don’t punch as much; but less so, in its native and therefore pure form, for large people who aren’t great kickers and who prefer punching.There are good workarounds for this, especially the Fujiwara-Mejiro Gym / Jan Plas system, also known as Dutch or Eurostyle Thai boxing - as it is adapted, optimised and fully systemised for larger boxers who are good with the hands and less so with the legs [2].Because it is a boxing system (a real fighting method, honed by a vast amount of experience in real and realistic fights) with nearly a hundred years of actual fighting in the current format, it is flexible - meaning it responds well to adjustment and localisation. In other words it is not ruled by a syllabus, which must be adhered to - but instead by wins or losses in actual fights, which determine the strategy, tactics and technical content. Therefore, a coach, wherever located, can determine the best methods to employ for best results locally, and this will not impact the overall efficiency of the system.The way this works out is that initially people in a country new to thaiboxing will use the original form, in one of its variants. Then a coach finds that technique X or strategy Z suits his team, and gets wins. Other coaches see this, and also try some technical changes that might suit their people; some of these work and some don’t. After a couple of decades, the system used is visibly different from the original, mostly in some aspects of style and emphasis.Thus Thai boxing became a global combat system, much as International boxing in the Philippines or Mexico no longer looks much like its origins in another time and place..How Thai boxing is usedMany people use Thai boxing in one form or another, either as a base method or just a move here and a move there, as it is a time-tested fighting system with a grounding in real fights, with many techniques unique to the SE Asian boxing systems that were developed in real fighting in which people get KO’d, hurt, and killed. It always has the potential to work, even when done incorrectly or sub-optimally, as the basis is fighting not theory. The Thais remain the best on average under 130 pounds; the Dutch were easily the best at 147 and over during the 1980s and 90s, and beat everyone else; but who is the best at the higher weights today is a toss-up (if anyone) - possibly the USA due to the numbers.I cannot say that the technical base is unique to Thai boxing as against Burmese boxing, Lao boxing and Khmer boxing, since these systems all had a lot of contact with each other, and there were many contests between boxers from these countries over the centuries. For example there may be an elbow move that definitely originated in Thai boxing, and a jump knee that has its origins in Burmese boxing. Like everything else, they tend to be a mix now.The success of the Thai system when compared to its sister methods in Burma, Laos and so on, in terms of popularity, is the supercharged effect of adopting the modern boxing admin system eighty years ago in the 1930s. It took off and flew after that point. In the other SE Asian boxing countries, they either did not adopt the modern administration, or they had serious political upheavals and wars or the like which prevented their methods from gaining the popularity that Thai boxing did.There are four reasons for the technical success of this combat system:It has no rules of any substance. As long as the fighters remain standing, and do not get tied up and inactive, the referee has no role - at least, in the true form of the art as seen in normal, non-TV contests. It is pure fighting without any kind of skew created by rules. It is crucially important to note that the referee in a real Thai boxing match does not interfere with the bout, because there are no rules that would require him to do so. In this regard it is much like MMA refereeing: a ‘hands off’ type of approach. The refereeing mode is absolutely nothing like that in American kickboxing, or in amateur boxing. In these bouts there are so many rules that the referee is almost an integral part of the bout; in Thai boxing the referee has no role at all unless the fighters take it to the floor or take a rest. (This is probably not the case in Thai boxing overseas though.) Therefore you will see groin kicking exchanges in country bouts: one boxer hits the other in the groin, the other returns the favour, and they carry on like that for a few seconds till they get bored with it. The referee just stands and watches as there is nothing in the rules about this - every strike of every kind to every part of the body is allowed. The boxers, by convention, don’t go there unless the other guy goes there first. If you see a fight in which the ref stops groin kicks, or warns a fighter for a fast shot on an opponent who is on the floor (one quick hit is allowed by convention), then it’s a TV fight. This is not real Thai boxing.It is in some ways the equivalent of horse racing in the West: a betting sport. This has two consequences: the fight trainers do their maximum to get wins, which continually drives technical excellence for actual fighting; and the oversight / administration has to be fairly rigid to prevent cheating. Thus technical efficiency is promoted, and the fight structure is well-supported due to the money behind it. Moves are added or thrown away depending on whether or not they work in real fights; the contest support machine keeps the fights coming; the matches are usually close otherwise the spectators, many of whom bet, feel they have been robbed: mismatches are not wanted.The way it is trained is exactly the same as any pro boxing gym. The enhancing and amplifying effects of hard interval training with equipment boosts the fighters’ ability to the max - if there is a better way to train for real fights, they would be doing it. There is no training system for strike-based fighting that compares with this - otherwise of course they would be doing it. Boxers train in the gym, compete in their class of fighter, and progress up through the classes.Fighting more is the only known way to get good at fighting, and you can see how fighters progress with experience - that is to say, with experience of actual fights; and boxing gym training is a targeted way to train for fighting.On the other hand, if it is not trained this way, Thai boxing can be like non-combat oriented Tai Chi or boxercise: a way of keeping fit without any relevance to fighting. In this mode, students could have armbands and gradings (or even belts) instead of a fighter’s Licence and Record Book. I think that’s OK as long as prospective students are aware the school has little or no combat relevance. This sort of topic can be a contentious issue, though, as there is only one way to develop and improve fighting ability: train for fighting and enter the fights (or work the club doors at night, for fighters over say 180 pounds).It is entirely possible that many don’t understand this at all: you can’t become good at fighting - that is to say, beating equally skilled opponents - unless you have regular, real fights with such opponents, then go back to the gym to correct your mistakes and improve what was weak. A ‘real fight’ is one in which the opponent or opponents attempt to smash your face in with punches, standing up or on the ground, or throw you hard then submit you on the ground (or rip your joints up if you have no choice). Anything else doesn’t count, as it isn’t real. It might work against less-skilled opponents, and that’s OK if they are all you ever face. Training for 1 year in Thai boxing and competing a couple of times is worth 5 or 6 years’ training without any proper fights, when it comes to the crunch. This type of training works - assuming the trainee is properly coached, in a good gym.The gym is critical: a good gym builds good fighters. A mcdojo takes the money and provides a fantasy. Any good system can be ruined by a poor gym..Thai boxing for street defenceThai boxing is a good combat system for standing combat under rules or no rules or on the street. For efficiency as a self-defence method it needs a coach with good multi-opponent strategies; plus ground work, environment adjustment (seated, stairs, tube trains etc.), and weapons training, in order to be called a comprehensive self-defence system. It has to be adapted to the local population of course, as the classic style is prioritised for small people who are excellent kickers; this will in many cases not be the profile of students outside Thailand.If you are 180 pounds and trying your best to look like a Thai at 110 lbs, you’re going about it the wrong way: Thai boxing is about efficient and effective fighting, not some kind of cultural art form that must be slavishly adhered to. It’s all about winning fights, not some kind of syllabus.Provided those areas are covered, it has relevance as an all-round combat system (as would have been the case almost universally in the past, for all boxing systems globally). The last 150 years or so has seen combat systems become less and less effective, due to the pressures of civilisation and the effect of firearms; they have become fitness routines and moving meditation, more than combat methods. Thai boxing retained its effectiveness throughout this period, and probably improved, if anything. Another way of putting this is that muay Thai is a -jutsu system with a fight testing method; not a -do system with its implicit quantity of non fight-relevant material, no practical testing method against equals, and training mostly directed toward personal development..Muay Thai in the WestIt is unclear what people overseas expect when comparing the terms ‘Thai boxing’ and ‘muay Thai’ - in Thailand it is the same thing, obviously (muay Thai means Thai boxing, and 99.9% of the time that refers to the professional fighting system and the gyms that teach it).Thirty years ago no Thai would have considered training in it unless either (a) young, broke and in need of the cash from fighting, or (b) in the Army or Police, for work. They regarded foreigners who trained in it as mad. Tae Kwon Do was more popular for the average person in Thai cities thirty years ago, for example in university sports clubs - weird as that may sound. That is gradually changing, due to foreign influence persuading them that their culture has value.Indeed many of the ‘Thai boxing masters’ teaching in the West came over as uni students here, started teaching Tae Kwon Do for some cash, and then switched when they found it didn’t work out as there were thousands of TKD clubs - but no Thai-style gyms.To make this clear: they were uni students - middle class youngsters who would certainly never have fought in Thai boxing - and originally knew as much about Thai boxing as any European knows about football training who has never played football (soccer) apart from in the park, but of course who lives in a football culture: enough to teach foreigners who know even less. Out of the dozens of Thais teaching muay Thai in England, I only ever met one who had competed in pro Thai boxing back home: ajarn Boon Riang of SW London, an old fighter of extensive experience. One or two had had a couple of junior amateur bouts, that kind of thing.To be fair, it is unlikely that any of these youngish coaches would have told their students they were experienced fighters - I hope; but you have to remember the universal truism applying to SE Asian martial arts instructors: somehow they all gain three dan grades on the airplane coming over.Perhaps the term muay Thai might be used in the West to refer to a type of training that doesn’t involve fighting and majors on fitness, drills and weapons training - pretty much like most martial arts here. In contrast, everyone knows what boxing (and Thai boxing) means: getting in there and doing it. Martial arts practice in the West has an implicit dichotomy that few are prepared to discuss: it’s supposed to be about fighting, since that is how you attract the young adults who are the majority of customers; but some of it - perhaps most of it, in many cases - has no real application for fighting, at least when matched against equals. In contrast the various boxing and wrestling systems are all about fighting, but by necessity have a narrower focus - they need additions to be complete systems for fighting under all circumstances.The restricted nature of combat systems in the last 150 years was due to a widespread form of puritanical thinking that appears to have coincided with the civilisation of the modern era: there was no place for excessive violence even if sanctioned. However, we are now seeing the return of the Pankration - the ancient Greek all-in fighting that split into boxing and wrestling more than 2,000 years ago. Today we call it MMA, and it has more rules than the old version, which was almost identical to Vale Tudo, the modern Brazilian contest form without rules, and in which the injury rate is way too high to sustain.MMA demonstrates the split between standing and groundwork systems, and the various attempts to combine them for a comprehensive all-round system. Only the best methods that work in actual fighting between well-matched adversaries will work in this setting, so Thai boxing has received a significant boost. There are plenty of MMA champions from both sides of the argument - striking and grappling - so that it keeps everyone on their toes. If nothing else it shows that in the end it is the fighter that matters most, not what tools they use.The biggest difference I see in Thai and Western practice (apart from the different priorities over here: more punching, for example) is the noticeable lack of wrestling here. In Thailand it is one-third of the technique as a whole, and prominent in both training and fighting. It’s often called clinching here in the West, although that tends to under-represent it as it brings to mind Western boxers taking a rest; Thai clinching in contrast is a high-workrate hold/hit/throw game. Anyone can easily convert to Thai boxing from other striking-based arts, but the clinching aspect reveals whether or not a coach was taught by someone who actually knew the whole art: hold & grapple / hold & hit / takedown / throw is one-third of the technical base of Thai boxing; it does not seem that way in the West..History of boxing in generalAs a side note, it is worth remembering that all old boxing systems had more similarities than differences two or three hundred years ago. English boxing for example was taught as a striking system with wrestling holds and throws, and commonly with weapons such as the sword and buckler (small shield), short staff (the stick or cudgel) and 6-foot staff. There are reports, for example, of James Figg the English boxer throwing an opponent then choking him out on the ground, as this was permitted in the early bouts. He would have used a range of punches, strikes, and throws: we know they frequently used the hip throw and pickup & slam. Some demo fights consisted of a round with sword and shield, a round with the 6-foot staff, and a round of boxing.Boxing was a comprehensive martial art in those days. Figg’s student Jack Broughton is sometimes referred to as the Father of Boxing, due to his wide knowledge, improving of the technique, and organisation of contests.It is likely that Thai boxing, Lao boxing and so on were roughly similar to this in terms of their outline nature. English boxing had plenty of wrestling in it (the hip throw, pickup & slam, and single-leg pick-up were popular moves in English boxing), and clearly a great deal more punching (and no kicks); Thai boxing more kicks instead of the emphasis on punching seen over here, understandable considering the significant weight difference. Local, cultural variations would have prevailed in this way - but boxing is boxing, wherever it comes from. The technique and above all the combat philosophy is always similar or virtually identical - because it has to be, in order to work in real fights against equally-skilled opponents. If it doesn’t start out that way, it morphs into it over time. All stand-up fights become boxing in some form, over time - because that is what works best against equals.In natural history - how species develop - this is called ‘convergent evolution’: a parallel evolution even in geographically well-separated species that have no possible contact with each other and no common root; but which eventually end up in the same place. The animals that result from this process might even look identical - because the same space in the environment is occupied by the different lifeforms in different continents, even where no interaction could have taken place. Boxing systems are all similar - the punching or kicking or whatever is not relevant to the fact they are clearly boxing - because it is the approach that works best in real fights among equally-matched opponents while standing.The seal of approval given by many MMA competitors - perhaps the majority - is a good guide to how real fighters rate Thai boxing.…………………….[1] I suspect that people misinterpret what football (soccer) is and isn’t, and correspondingly assume the Brits are good kickers. When football was invented in England, it was a village versus village affair that took place once a year between two villages typically half a mile apart or more. It could not be played more often due to the injury rate.The ‘pitch’ was the fields and hedgerows between the two villages; the teams were 60 a side or so, but no one was counting; the match probably ended when too many participants were injured to make it worthwhile continuing and everyone went down the pub/s; there were certainly no rules of any importance, and it was in essence a massive scrum in which mobs kicked the ball down fields, or picked it up and ran with it, fighting as they went, and some were left on the field with broken bones. This is old English football. It was much closer to a kind of all-in rugby and had little similarity to the modern game. Kicking ability had very little importance except perhaps for kicking opponents if your arm was broken and you could no longer punch them.People should not attach too much importance to the invention of football in England and any possible connection with kicking ability of any form. Our kind of football was much closer to Croydon high street on a Friday night, though unlike Croydon all knives disallowed. The ball skills of a Brazilian first division soccer player are a world away from the old brutal scrum battle sport here, I’m sorry to say.[2] I’ve coached it since 1979, after converting from International boxing and assorted martial arts plus wrestling. In my gym at Croydon we developed a system that uses a mix of Thai boxing, old English boxing, modern International boxing, English catch wrestling from the period before the modern rules, and various assorted martial arts, to create a boxing system that works for street, ring or cage. It is ‘practical boxing’ for want of a better term: it’s a mix of street boxing and ring boxing, adaptable to whatever rules or lack of rules prevails. Thai boxing is a good base method because it is a system: everything works together and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (synergy is evident), and it responds well to localisation.

Review of Steven UniverseSeason one - Jesus Christ just let it be overProbably the worst show I’ve ever seen for at least the first half of season one. Mainly for the fact that Steven is just SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO annoying. I get that he’s supposed to be annoying so he can learn his lesson about the gems and all that but jesus christ.Honestly something that I’ve always wondered about the first season of Steven Universe is the art Style. After a while the character designs seemed to change. Like for most of Season one Steven was much fatter and his voice was much deeper. Garnet seemed thinner and her hair had a more extreme bend in the middle. Just to give a few examples.Either way, the stuff with Lapis was actually pretty interesting, I recently watched this show with a friend and we only really paid attention during the stuff with Connie, and when other Gems appeared. The finale was actually really well done. Them getting captured, finding out Garnet is a fusion, Lapis fused with Jasper, it was done really well. Also after this stuff, the writing for Steven got much better. He was still annoying once in a while, but I began to like his character after this.So 5/10Fusions - Yes Fusion does represent SexNow before covering the next season, I want to talk about fusion. I am gonna call out the Youtuber Toon Ruins on her video explaining Fusions in Steven Universe. She touched on the idea that Fusion represents sex but they way she seemed to interprate it was wrong. She made it seem like Fusion representing sex meant it was literally just sex for the Gems, like that’s how they reproduce. She of course said this was wrong. But what people mean by saying fusion represents sex is that the issues that can come up from the abuse, missuse, or any bad relationships formed by fusing are very similar to issues that can come from sex.Like when Lapiz almost considers refusing with Jasper because she was stuck in an abusive relationship for so long, that she’s having a hard time living without it. Also after we find out that Pearl tricked Garnet into fusing because she enjoyed it. In a sense, raping her. Fusion represents intimacy with another person, and by intimacy, I mean love. Whether that be with Stevens dad, his girlfriend, or just any other love relationship there is. I hope this cleared some things up, and here's that Youtuber I was talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs7tioagjsoSeason 2–3 - The best part of the show.These seasons are where this show peaked but it’s a lot so I'll highlight some things that stuck out to me.Peridot becomes a Crystal Gem. I have always liked peridot, even before she became a crystal gem, and seeing her go through her view of life being shattered and then realizing that she was on the wrong side, was just really nice to see.Bismuth. I like that Rose Quartz eventually was turned into a very flawed person. The fact that she lied to everyone about Bismuth is pretty much the beginning of the characters releasing this. Yes, Steven is better than her. I’m also glad they brought Bismuth back in season 5, but then they mucked that up. I’ll talk about this more in the writing section of the review.Finding out Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond. I know that we find out it’s not true, but it helps drive home the point that Rose Quartz wasn’t the perfect leader we were told about. After this I feel like this is when we start to find out that Rose Quartz might not have been that good of a person.Steven trying to connect with Lapiz after they rescue her. I’ll touch on the B team gems later but anything with them is always appreciated.Lapis missing Jasper. This stuck out to me seeing as how she abused jasper and took out all her anger on her. This shows that toxic relationships can become addictive, and it’s one of the reasons that I really like the show. It doesn’t just show that “This thing was bad, so I don’t like it.” It shows that people want something even though wanting something they know is wrong.The entire Smokey Quartz arc. I say Arc because this was lead up to through, like about 4 episodes. I have always thought that Amethyst was a bit annoying but this arc at least made me understand why a bit more.One more thing. Again with Lapis. The fact that in her fusion with Jasper, both Jasper AND Lapis were not innocent in the Malekith incident. I also like that in her abusive relationship, SHE was the Abuser. Not for the fact that I like that she hurts people, but because usually in an arc for a character recovering from this kind of relationship, the one we’d focus on is the one being abused. But no she abused Jasper because it felt good. I like that. Again not that it’s a good thing she abused people, but that they showed something like this.If there's anything that you want my opinion on that I didn’t mention, comment it down below and I will answer you.Season 2 8/10Season 3 9/10Season 4Before I touch on season 5 I want to comment on season 4. This season was the second worst season all together, and I say that because the ending to season 5 doesn’t make the entire season bad, even though it lowers that season to have a lower score than this one.The reason this season isn’t great is because we get so little plot. We only get 6 plot episodes out of the whole season. The rest is boring filler, and this filler was just not enjoyable unlike seasons 2, 3, and 5 filler episodes.The plot we do get is enjoyable enough, but it seems that the plot itself has filler episodes in it. The choosening was not a fun episode, the new characters were annoying and just so stupid. The stuff with Holy Blue and all the Amethysts are pretty funny though. It’s just that this season doesn’t further the plot and even the plot itself somehow feels like filler.6/10Season 5 - Yeah This is awso- Wait that…. That'S HOW IT ENDS!!!Listen. All Steven Universe Fans might agree with me, but some might hate me. Season 5 is a good season. Mostly. This is mainly because of “Change Your Mind”. Change your mind is good, like really good. Until the last, like, 5 minutes.First off, I’m gonna Review each arc in this Season. Which I consider to be three.Arc #1 - The Redemption of LarsNobody ever liked Lars. I feel like I’m talking for everybody when I say this. So at the beginning of Season 5 was a good turn around for the character. Him meeting the off colors and becoming their leader was just really well done. His death was really well handled, BUT. His turn around felt a bit, like just a smidge to quick. Though Lars has shown that he does somewhat care for people in the past.I feel like this arc should have been a 5 parter. This might sound weird but what if there was a filler type episode where Lars and Steven were just stuck with the off colors and just got to know them. This would make it so Lars risking his life would feel just a bit more justified. Either way I give this Arc a solid 8.5/10.Arc #2 - The Reveal of Pink Diamond/Ruby’s Separation/Bismuth's ReturnOkay. People will probably get mad at me for this but, anyway. Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz is a nice person. BUT does awful things to people that cannot be excused.1.She fakes her death causing her empire to go into chaos.2.She didn’t do this because she was unhappy with the empire, just because she wanted to be on Earth.3.She then rebels against her family causing more kindergartens to be built and the destruction of Earth even more.4.She refuses to give her army the best chance to win. Then BUBBLES BISMUTH because she just showed her the weapon. She doesn’t tell any other Crystal Gems this. She says she lost track of Bismuth at the Battle for the Zigorat.5.She does this because she doesn’t want to hurt the other side BECAUSE she still cares about them.6. This means that she is sending people that are risking their lives for the rebellion, to fight for something that she doesn’t want to actually fully win.7.Because of this entire thing, everybody she knows is then hit by the diamonds. This corrupts or shatters them all.8.She didn’t do anything to allude to the fact that she could maybe help heal the corrupted Gems.9.She then fell in love with a man she clearly didn’t respect.10.She then leaves all the problems she’s created, all the crimes she’s committed, basically everything wrong she did, she leaves to her son.Remind me again how I’m supposed to sympathize with her.I Like this. Her being a very flawed leader is a breath of fresh air for this kind of thing, “a child trying to live up to the legacy that their mom or dad left behind.” I also like that once Garnet finds out about this, Sapphire is the one that splits away from Ruby. Sapphire had always been the more confident one when it came to fusing, and that’s because of how Rose/Pink Diamond supported it and told her to be herself and not what others wanted her to be. So when she finds out that Rose had lied to all of them, she becomes impulsive. This is in character. But something else I like is that Ruby is actually(after talking with Greg) perfectly fine with this. She says that she doesn’t know who she is without Sapphire, and she wants to find out. But she realizes after all is said and done, she wants to be with sapphire. So she goes back, and after Sapphire apologizes Ruby Proposes.This is great from both a narrative perspective and just in general. 1. This is a good way to basically push forward Ruby and Sapphires relationship. 2. It’s the first Gay/Lesbian wedding in a kids cartoon. This is really a good thing. Even if you don’t like Steven Universe, this is still a really good thing for the entertainment industry. It broke down barriers and it’s well appreciated. Plus this wedding leads into the next part of the arc. The Return of Bismuth.The B team gems. They are my favorite characters after of Garnet, and I feel their characters just aren’t done the justice they deserve. Here’s why.After the arc of Peridot becoming a crystal gem, she helps out with the Cluster and- that's it. She basically after this, serves no “narrative” purpose. Keep in mind that I put emphasis on narrative. Seeing as the only reason Peridot became a Crystal Gem is because they(the writers) needed her for- nothing. After she served her narrative purpose, she is no longer needed in the plot, so they just stick her on the barn. This also happens to Lapis. The “narrative” purpose of the barn it seems, is to just dump characters that the Crewniverse doesn’t want to deal with anymore. It is also a problem that Lapis doesn’t have any curisma, she really only exists now for one-liners and making sarcastic remarks.Bismuth is probably the worst of this, she is the one B team gem that has never contributed to the plot at ALL. Actually no, I’m wrong. If she wasn’t back, then who would have received Stevens help message. Oh and she gave Connie a new sword. >:(That doesn’t mean I don’t like Bismuth, Peridot, or Lapis. Again they are my favorite gems after Garnet. But the main reason I think these characters are sidelined is because of these reasons. Bismuth has a very heavy personality, so too much of her and it becomes too much. Lapis again, doesn’t have any curisma, and only exists now for one-liners and making sarcastic remarks, and Peridot, I just think that the writing team doesn’t know what to do with her after she fulfilled her “narrative” purpose.Despite all this I do think that Bismuth's return is still handled well. That’s all I’m gonna say.So about 8/10Arc #3 - Home World A.K.A. The Shittiest ending to anything ever.I’m sorry. But this is a good arc ruined by the last 5 minutes. But first I’m going to explain why this is a good arc without the last five minutes.Reason #1 - The Stakes ExistFor most of the arc, there are not much stakes. But when they do appear(in the last 10 minutes), they do actually make you feel some dread. Especially when STEVENS GEM LITERALLY GETS RIPPED FROM HIS BODY. All the Gems are possessed, including Diamonds and it is all, somewhat well done.Reason #2 - It Has a Great Set-UpWhen Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond join Steven it has the potential for an amazing follow up. I mean, they don’t do anything with it but either way it’s still there. I was hoping, it wouldn’t be the end but it was.Reason #3 - The FusionsIt’s nice to see Rainbow Quartz 2.0 and to see Sunstone. I like that sunstone is literally just a 90’s PSA cool Kid. “Remember kids, if you’re being bullied, be sure to tell an adult,” it even has like the cheesy line reads from the 90’s.Reason #4 - The MysteryAT FIRST, White Diamond was built up really well. At this point in the series we have only ever heard of White Diamond, and then we finally meet her. She doesn’t pay attention to anything Steven says and just gets rid of him, I know it doesn’t sound like much but she is intimidating through most of the arc. Until the ending.The End of Steven UniverseI’m gonna be honest, I still really like this show. It has some of my favorite episodes of anything ever. I.e. “Alone Together”, “Sworn to Sword”, “The Awnser”, “Bismuth”, “Catch and Release”, “Back to The Barn”, “Made of Honor”, “Beta”, “Earthlings” and so much more. This show has incredible highs, but it sadly went out on a low.The Last Five minutes are the worst of the show, IF, you only look at this show alone. I am of course talking about the movie, and Steven Universe Future. The movie SOMEWHAT fixes this ending but not fully.So Steven escapes the imprisonment that blue diamond put him in with the help of Blue Diamond. They come across yellow, and the Diamonds fight. Eventually Yellow becomes good because she admits that she is suffering along with Blue Diamond.HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE.Blue Diamond says that she knows that Yellow Diamond is suffering along with their people. Ok, give me a second. Okay, okay, okay. huuuuuuu haaaaaaa,WHAT THE FUCK.BLUE DIAMOND DOES NOT CARE ABOUT HER PEOPLE, AND AS A MATTER OF FACT NEITHER SHOULD YELLOW DIAMOND. THEY SHATTER OTHER GEMS.THAT'S LIKE IF THE PRESIDENT OF AMERICA KILLED AMERICAN CITIZENS IF HE WAS JUST SAD THAT DAY. BUT THE ENTIRE TIME HE IS PRESIDENT HE KNOWS THAT THIS PEOPLE ARE UNHAPPY WITH HOW THE COUNTRY IS RUN.YEAH DOESN”T SOUND TO GOOD IN THAT CONTEXT DOES IT.I just want to say that this scene is some glorified horse shit. But okay, maybe they need these motivations, so Yellow Diamond and Blue will team up with Steven for the next arc and they just needed a reason for them to join Steven. It’d be a means to an end that isn’t good but if the end is good enough.So what is the endgame. Ha. Ha. Ha Ha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.It’s shit. So the diamonds get mind controlled by White Diamond, and we get 3 new fusions. Rainbow Quartz 2.0, Sunstone, and Obsidian. See here is a another thing the show is good at. Build up and payoff. But it’s not build up like it’s all in your face, no it’s subtle. Want an example, look at how they show us that Garnet has two gems. But they never point it out, it’s just there. So people who notice it, might figure out she’s a fusion. It’s good and they do this with obsidian as well. The statue in the temple it turns out is obsidian. Witch is nice. But then again, they even fuck this up with White Diamond.So Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet are mind controlled so Steven is alone. THEN, White Diamond RIPS OUT STEVEN'S GEM. She thinks it will release Pink Diamond, but it doesn’t. It releases Pink Steven (which is something that's followed up in ST Future so I’ll touch on it later), and he reforms and then the WORST PART OF THE SHOW is HAPPENS.White Diamond “Why are you acting like a kid”Steven “Bitch, No YOU”White “ oh no I’m embarrassed, I guess I’m good now.”It’s just bad writing for your endgame villain to be good because of one line, and it takes like 10 seconds.So they go back to earth and heal all the corrupted gems ANNNNNNNNNDDDDDDD thats it.This season would have been a 10/10 but now it’s a 6/10 just for the ending alone.Steven Universe: The MovieI’m gonna make this real quickSteven Acts out of character to much in this movie. Spinel is Best girl. The entire thing about them remembering doesn’t make sense. They somewhat fixed the diamonds by revealing they are only doing this stuff for Steven ‘cause he’s Pink Diamond. Steg was awesome. Connie is written out of the movie in the worst way possible. The animation wasn’t any better than the show. Other friends, Happily Ever After, Independant Together, No Matter What and Change are all bangers. All the other songs are boring or forgettable. And the last thing, MORE B TEAM GEMS PLEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSEEEEE we barely got any in this movie and I miss them.7/10 an above average mess.Steven Universe FutureSince this show is so recent I’ll review each episode in order -Episode 1 - Little HomeschoolThis episode of course serves as a quick re-introduction to this world. Steven is clearly written differently in this show which makes sense, and sorta fits. The reason this is a bigger issue in the movie is because that is a direct continuation of the show, while this is a direct follow up to the movie (kinda) so in this show the writing is consistent with the movie, while the movie isn’t consistent with the old show. The Jasper stuff is well written and fits her character perfectly. We get to see more of Pink steven as sort of a state that Steven can enter. A good start to the show.9/10P.S. I didn’t explain my point about the movie well. It makes sense for Steven to be more arrogant in this show based off of the events in the movie. But in between the original show and the movie, not enough has changed for Steven to become so arrogant.Episode 2 - GuidanceMainly just a comedic filler episode and doesn’t change anything in the end. It does hint at the future stuff with Steven trying to move on from helping everybody, but only at the end. Shows us some new stuff with stevens pink form, and fusion is always appreciated. But is it just me or does Smoky Quartz’s voice actor sound different.7/10Episode 3 - Rose BudsSomething I noticed is that these first few episodes mainly wrap up stuff from the previous show instead of starting its own new thing, which is fine I guess. This episode wraps up how Steven feels about all the things his mom has done. Learning to move on from it. The three rose Quartz we meet are nice and fun except for the one that doesn’t really talk and just looks like Stevens mom. Stoner Quartz (that’s my nickname for her) is chuckle worthy with her lines but Hyper Quartz (my nickname for her) is the one that got thw out loud laughs from me. Nice episode is funny but not amazing.7/10Episode 4 - VolleyballThis is the stuff I love. The way they handle Pink Diamonds Pearls psychology is very good, and it’s just really well done. They comment on how she was also in love with Pink Diamond and still is. It’s also a good way of wrapping up Pearls character arc. It’s a very beautiful and touching episode. Something I wonder though is, are they trying to write Volleyball and Pearl as in love with each other. Because I really liked the fact that Pearl was gonna have a relationship with mystery girl.10/10Episode 5 - BluebirdI like that this episode goes into how some gems (similar to Jasper) aren’t gonna be happy with the fall of the Gem empire and Steven being praised. We finally get a line from the B team Gems and it’s Peridot (thank you). The comedy in this episode isn’t as strong as it could be but the line with pearl in the bathroom scene and when the Gems form Alexandrite made me laugh out loud even on rewatches. Also, I don’t know why but I was really sad when Greg had to cut his hair, and I don’t know why. This is a good episode that I feel is a setup for some comedic villain later on.8/10Episode 6 - A Very Special EpisodeThis episode is pure fan service. The thing that makes the episode not amazing is that the entire episode is a setup for a punchline that just falls flat. It’s still a funny ending but I feel like it could have been really, really funny. I liked Onion in this episode, he was pretty funny. But how did he not age at all. Whatever, I still love how Sunstone is just a 90’s PSA Cool Kid. Rainbow Quartz 2.0 is nice but she seems to just act like a boy version of Pearl. This a good episode literally just created for the fans. So if your a fan you’ll like it.7/10Episode 7 - Snow DayAn early dive into Steven trying to be more adult and grow up. This episode is again just more filler but it does develop the characters somewhat. He clearly wants to move on from being treated like a little kid but at the same time doesn’t realize that he’s not really happy. We finally get to see Pearl shape shift which is a subtle closer to a very subtle arc in the original show. Pearl always felt the guilt of what she did to fake pink diamonds death, so she wouldn’t shape shift due to this guilt. We also get to see Opal, Sardonyx, Sugalite, and Alexandrite all shapeshift into steven. This episode is (to me at least) sort of a setup for episode 9 and 10.8/10Episode 8 - Why So Blue?Finally, A B TEAM GEM GETS SOME ATTENTION YEEEEESSSSS. But honestly it’s nice to see Lapis and Steven interact again. She actually seems to have some curisma with Steven now. The two other Lapiz are a well done allegory for how the shifting of power means that certain things that were okay before, aren’t. The moment of Lapiz snapping is actually troublesome, with her getting pissed and describing her power as not herself being powerful but her being weak. It makes sense if you saw the episode.8/10Episode 9 - Little GraduationI loved this episode so much. Anything with current Lars and Steven I love. The way they act kinda reminds me of Dustin and Steve from stranger things. This sorta younger brother older brother relationship. I like Sadie’s new look and, wel Shep is nice but since we only got like 30 seconds of him/her (I don’t know if she’s a boy or a girl, I’m sorry but she looks like he/she could be either and they never refer to them as a specific sex), he/she doesn’t have much of a personality. This episode is all about how things can’t stay the same forever and things have to change, whether you’re ready to accept that or not.10/10P.S.and yes I did check and no episode doesn’t specify Shep’s gender.Episode 10 - Prickly PairAfter Lars and Sadie leaving, Steven starts coping with this loss. This episode touches on how coping with something in a poor way can manifest itself and be very problematic. In this case being pretty literal. It’s disappointing that this is the last episode we get from the series for a while and I don’t like how the Steven doesn’t talk with the gems about his problem at the end. It’s minor but it does sorta ruin the episode by the end. A disappointing place to leave the series for a while but it wasn’t bad, just not amazing.7/10So all in all ST Future gets a 8/10 from me CURRENTLY. Again this show isn’t finished but it is on a hiatus, so I’m reviewing the first batch of episodes we got.FINALLY. I’m done. I’ve been writing this since the middle of November so I’m sorry this took so long to finish. I wasn’t originally gonna review ST Future but it came out before I finished so that delayed this. Thanks for reading like comment and do something I don’t care.