I agree that Steven wasnt that great of a protagonist, he was better as our self insert to explore the world of the gems. I mean, the show had tons of interesting mysteries, I really love Mirror Gem and Ocean Gem because of how much of a fairy tale it felt and how many questions those episodes brought to the table, but as the show focused more on Steven, the mistery and exploration got lost as every secret began to unravel, and then, nothing really extraordinary hid behind those mysteries. Everything was about Steven and the other characters lost protagonism. And the problem with that is that Steven is a really simple character, not interesting enough to carry the show by himself. His human adventures were boring teen drama and his gem escapades were underdeveloped. Not saying I didnt enjoy the show until the very end, but as soon as the focus shifted to Steven, something was lost. The movie was so much fun and a perfect epilogue. Future should have been something diferent, after all, the whole point of the last arc was for Steven to leave Rose's identity and mistakes in the past and move on. And it treats his character as if he was some kind of war orphan, but he had Greg, the gems and the whole town as a system of support, he had some fights, but he never really was in a war. So, his breakdown seems a little redundant and exagerated and the direction it was going to take became very predictable from the beginning. Maybe Future would have worked better as a quirky action comedy about what the gems and the other characters were doing. It would have been cool to have an episode dedicate to White Diamond trying to find a place in the new era, or Peridot just having fun in an anime convention. The whole season arc really hurt future, most of the plot points of the show had already been solved and they only had one season. I think individual stories would have been a lot better suited for what they had to work with. Maybe ending in a two parter about Steven deciding what he wanted to do with his life, revisiting old friends and foes to make that desicion. Stupid long post, cant sleep lol. Finally, something that should have happened never did: Steven finally understanding that what her mother did was not completly right, nor completly wrong, after all, her choises disbanded the gem empire and freed the Gem race. I think that was the most important issue Future could have dealt with Steven, accepting her mother legacy while trying to understand why she did what she did. At the end, I can see Steven remaining in beach city, being happy with a simple life and surrounded by the people that love him. I dont think him leaving is such a bad idea, leaving your home to explore new horizons is a natural part of a lot of people's life, but the events preciding it really soured it for me. Emo Steven Universe turning into pink Godzilla. He really lost nothing and it wasnt a new dilemma. Maybe if he had given his diamond powers away it would have been a more impactful ending. Finally leaving the gem stuff behind to be fully human, after all, if you have a nervous breakdown and become a literal monster, it would be a very irresponsible choice to leave your support network behind and venture into a world unprepared for what you can do considering that healing a severe trauma can take a lifetime.
Again, sorry for the long post cant sleep.
