Steven Universe: Frybo Rewatch
December 29, 2014 3:21 PM - Season 1, Episode 5 - Subscribe
Trying to help his friend Peedee escape the crushing weight of his mascot job, Steven uses a Gem Shard to animate his costume. Goes about as well as you'd expect.
Written and storyboarded by Raven M. Molisee and Paul Villeco.
Written and storyboarded by Raven M. Molisee and Paul Villeco.
Beach City reminds me of FLCL's Mabase. Part of it is the brighter range pastel-ish palette and all the stylized scenic aerial shots. Part of it is that this show really reminds me of FLCL in the way it perfectly blends the mundane with the fantastic and the childlike with the adult. There's a lot more going on there than we (or Stephen) see. It's also like an idealized version of the world of my (and the show's creators') youth with all the late 90s/early 00s details littered around. I love stuff like the boardwalk, the arcade lineup, Stephen's Gamecube, the wilting existence of VHS, etc. that's in the background. A lot of the music captures that era really well, with its dreaming-of-Genesis/Gameboy-songs-chiptunespop vibe.
I like Frybo. It's way creepier than it needs to be. I like this show a lot. Sometimes I think it's better than Adventure Time. It feels like it knows who it is and what it wants to be, where AT still sometimes scrambles for a cogent identity.
posted by byanyothername at 6:43 PM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]
I like Frybo. It's way creepier than it needs to be. I like this show a lot. Sometimes I think it's better than Adventure Time. It feels like it knows who it is and what it wants to be, where AT still sometimes scrambles for a cogent identity.
posted by byanyothername at 6:43 PM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]
The Gems are strong, but they're not hugely powerful, so they fit in almost as equals when they interact with townsfolk.
I say this here, but there are other episodes where they seem much more powerful, and their alienness also kind of excludes them, although the townsfolk seem to be used to them. (Proprietorship of Fish Stew Pizza notwithstanding.)
I love stuff like the boardwalk, the arcade lineup, Stephen's Gamecube, the wilting existence of VHS, etc. that's in the background.
Heh, yeah if you need any more proof that this show is a fantasy, it's that Beach City still has an arcade.
Sometimes I think it's better than Adventure Time. It feels like it knows who it is and what it wants to be, where AT still sometimes scrambles for a cogent identity.
That's true, but I think Adventure Time is also freed up to be a lot of different things. It can tell so many kinds of stories. This week the Lich threatens to destroy the universe! Next week, a horse balancing on a beachball spreads joy through Ooo! Week after that get pounded right in the feels by a Simon & Marcy episode, then next time the Earl of Lemongrab sentences everyone to ONE MILLION YEARS DUNGEON. From Jake being a brick in a wall to Princess Bubblegum's Machiavellian antics, the show can go anywhere and still feel like itself.
But I love Steven Universe too. I don't think I could choose between them, although S.U. is edging it out at the moment because of the nuclear strength of my obsession.
posted by JHarris at 8:24 PM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
I say this here, but there are other episodes where they seem much more powerful, and their alienness also kind of excludes them, although the townsfolk seem to be used to them. (Proprietorship of Fish Stew Pizza notwithstanding.)
I love stuff like the boardwalk, the arcade lineup, Stephen's Gamecube, the wilting existence of VHS, etc. that's in the background.
Heh, yeah if you need any more proof that this show is a fantasy, it's that Beach City still has an arcade.
Sometimes I think it's better than Adventure Time. It feels like it knows who it is and what it wants to be, where AT still sometimes scrambles for a cogent identity.
That's true, but I think Adventure Time is also freed up to be a lot of different things. It can tell so many kinds of stories. This week the Lich threatens to destroy the universe! Next week, a horse balancing on a beachball spreads joy through Ooo! Week after that get pounded right in the feels by a Simon & Marcy episode, then next time the Earl of Lemongrab sentences everyone to ONE MILLION YEARS DUNGEON. From Jake being a brick in a wall to Princess Bubblegum's Machiavellian antics, the show can go anywhere and still feel like itself.
But I love Steven Universe too. I don't think I could choose between them, although S.U. is edging it out at the moment because of the nuclear strength of my obsession.
posted by JHarris at 8:24 PM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
Adventure Time is improv TV, where each team of storyboard artists composes a new riff based on what the previous ones did, with nobody having any idea of where thing will end up. And since it's animation, there are very few restraints on where it can go. The result is amazing, and something that's bigger than any one person, such that Pen could step down from running the show without it losing a beat. It took me a little while to realize this, but speculation about the show's future and looking for spoilers is kind of pointless, because not even the creators know where it's going; you just have to watch and let things unfold organically.
I get the impression that Rebecca has a plan in mind, and she knows exactly where Steven Universe is headed. Not that one is better than the other, it's just a different kind of show.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 5:47 AM on December 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
I get the impression that Rebecca has a plan in mind, and she knows exactly where Steven Universe is headed. Not that one is better than the other, it's just a different kind of show.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 5:47 AM on December 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
She said in her AMA that she has a vision for the ending, but also doesn't want to tie the hands of the writers.
posted by JHarris at 1:20 PM on December 30, 2014
posted by JHarris at 1:20 PM on December 30, 2014
I'm starting my binge of this show and just got up to this one. SO GREAT.
"As soon as I bared my butt, I knew he'd crack."
posted by numaner at 8:00 PM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
"As soon as I bared my butt, I knew he'd crack."
posted by numaner at 8:00 PM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by JHarris at 3:30 PM on December 29, 2014