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A tumblr post had me realize on why Steven Universe’s tonal mess: It’s like if a iyashikei anime that tries to be also an epic sci-fi anime at the same time
Iyashikei is a japanese genre about relaxing slice of life works with no conflict meant to be escapism for adult readers from their busy lives and it's where most cute girls doing cute things are categorized at:
Imagine if K-on suddenly has episodes like evangelion then switches back to cute slice of life the next episode cause that's Steven Universe's tonal problem:
Steven Universe like many recent cartoons don’t know what kind of show it wants: One hand it wants to be a peaceful slice of life with no conflict and bad guys but another hand it also wants to be a epic sci-fi with deep lore that covers dark topics and more
It leads the show being a horrible confused mess since the two genre really don’t mesh well at all: The only conflict in iyashikei is problems that are easily solved in one episode and the characters learn their lessons but you can’t apply that format to epic sci-fi anime
For example the Saz Massacre is easily resolved after one episode of Code Geass cause Lelouch learned his lesson after his oopsy doopsy and he's forgiven cause he didn't mean to cause it since it was just an accident! Then the next episode has him and others simply hanging out
Likewise iyashikei can get emotional but usually don't touch upon on dark topics such as abuse and other things since it would get in the way of how iyashikei is meant to be escapism for adults from their real life problems to begin with
Sora no Woto and Girl's last Tour are the only iyashikei series I know of that do touches upon dark topics that is war but both series don't delve too much on said topic and instead focus on cute girls doing their best to live peacefully as they can:
