pink pearl

Steven Universe: The Movie Impressions

On the next episode of Steven Universe…

Parallels between Hōseki no Kuni  and Steven Universe

I was thinking about Hōseki no Kuni (Land of the Lustrous) and White Diamond reminds me a bit of Kongo. He turns out to be a robot made by humans to pray for their souls when no humans were left. He is supposedly broken and thus will no longer pray for the moon people. Essentially when humans died they broke apart into bone (the Gems), flesh (Admirabilis), and soul (Moon People). In order to try and coerce him into doing so, they attack the Gems and destroy them over time thinking it will upset him enough to make him pray for them to send them on (thus they would stop attacking the Gems).

What is interesting to me, is why he doesn’t just pray for the moon people to save the Gems not only from being destroyed but from the agony and sadness in losing those they love. He seems to be able to do it for the dog and the game board. I think that he either knows something we the readers don’t (maybe for beings from bone to exist the souls have to or something, or he simply can’t help them if he has no compassion for them). According to the leader of the moon people, there is something he emits that causes those around him to adore and love him. So the Gems follow him without questioning him, besides the story’s protagonist.

It got me thinking of the parallels between the anime/manga and Steven Universe (SU). What if White Diamond is a machine of sorts (an AI) that is broken and can no longer perform its original purpose? She and the other diamonds are adored by the gems and rarely questioned, but our protagonist (Steven) does question the way things are and seeks to change them. Phos (the protagonist) in Hōseki no Kuni actually loses her eye at one point in the story, which is something we’ve seen in SU (the kitten, Eyeball, etc.). She also loses her head and gets a new one (like how PD becomes Steven, though much more gruesome). So I am just curious if as we find out more about WD, the parallels will increase.

I’m curious to know what others think. :)

I want to explain more about this idea.

My original post (7/25):https://www.reddit.com/r/stevenuniverse/comments/91on90/the_key_to_being_whole_just_an_idea_i_had/

Body: Yellow Diamond (YD) represents the body as her power causes gem bodies to fall apart. She healed Centi’s body to a point, but as her power can only heal the physical damage there was something missing (her sense of self).

Soul: I feel that Blue Diamond (BD) represents the soul based on my understanding that the soul represents the sense of self. There is research to show that many animals do not possess a sense of self, but those who do (e.g., dolphins) are considered sentient similar to humans. I also like the representation of souls in the Harry Potter books. Dumbledore explains that without at least 1 piece of soul Voldemort would have no sense of self and the Dementors can destroy a person but leave the body alive by sucking out the soul. When BD attempted to heal Centi, she had a sense of self again though she had lost control of her emotions.

Heart: To me, Pink Diamond (PD) represents the heart as she, and Steven, have powers related to emotions like compassion and empathy. Steven represents empathy, compassion, and love. He helps others understand themselves at an emotional level while in terms of BD the sense of self is more related to “what” they are.

Mind: The mind ties everything together in our bodies. It can control our physical form but also our emotions and sense of self. So while the other 3 could allow Centi to fully form, they couldn’t keep her together. They needed White Diamond (WD).

If gems lose their sense of self (the soul), they could still think and move as their mind and body survive. They would have little sense of who they are outside of their intended purpose. Think about a depressed person who can still feel happy or joyful (heart), but have a dead feeling inside. From my own experience, there is this piece of me that is missing and I forget how to do things I knew before because I don’t know who I am anymore. I can still feel happy and excited, but the emptiness doesn’t go away. The compassion of others and what I feel for them helps to fill that void, so I see BD as living in a severe depression that she couldn’t escape without PD. A gem without the heart would be an unfeeling drone with no care for others or even themselves. So in essence, the HEART gives them compassion and empathy while SOUL gives them individuality.

Again this is just my thinking and I appreciate others’ input and opinions as well. :)

- Jen