It’s no secret that Ross and I like our animated shows. I mean, come on, we met dressed as My Little Ponies, as evidenced by the following slightly blurry photo of us from Gen Con 2013:
How many people can say they met their partner thanks to a cartoon? 😛
Not only do we share a mutual love for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but we also both really enjoy Steven Universe (in case you hadn’t noticed, hah) — in fact, if it weren’t for Ross stumbling onto the show while I was busy one weekend, we probably never would’ve ended up becoming such huge fans.
I named my car Lapis, and stuck Lapis and Peridot decals on the back of it. And have a plush Lapis as a permanent passenger in the car. I think it’s safe to say I’m a huge Steven Universe fan.
Ross and I are both pretty big anime fans, too, although Ross might be more into it lately than I am. Plus, I like my old-school anime a little more, while Ross watches more recent stuff. (More recent than Sailor Moon and Cowboy Bebop, anyway.)
So, it’s only natural that when Ross stumbled across Star vs. The Forces of Evil, we’d both end up obsessed, right? I mean, it’s silly, upbeat, with a great storyline that really pulls you in, which is starting to become more of a thing in animated shows lately. How could we not love it?
For those of you who haven’t heard of it yet, Star vs. The Forces of Evil follows the adventures of Star Butterfly, princess of Mewni, who’s been sent to Earth so she can learn to use her magic powers without getting into too much trouble. However, this is Star — if she doesn’t find trouble, it’ll find her. And she’ll kick trouble’s butt, that’s for sure! She’s often fighting the monsters of Mewni, led by Ludo as he tries to take Star’s magical wand for himself.
While Star’s enjoying her time as an intergalactic exchange student, she’s living with the Diaz family, and becomes friends with Marco, who’s labeled the “safe kid” at Echo Creek Academy (a title that Marco’s not all that fond of). Together, Star and Marco go on all sorts of adventures through all sorts of dimensions — I think the best way to describe this show is a lighter-hearted, sillier, kid-friendly Rick and Morty. There are some serious moments, sure, but it doesn’t get as dark and effed up as Rick and Morty. Star is what I watch to recover from those really messed up episodes of Rick and Morty, haha.
The story is great and the characters are fun and relatable (for example, Star is totally Ross if he were a girl, while I’m pretty sure I’d be Marco), but that’s not the only reason Ross and I love this show. For one thing, Star vs. The Forces of Evil has so many references to other shows we enjoy that it’s ridiculous. Like, for example, Sailor Moon. The entire show has so many Sailor Moon references sprinkled through it. Star’s transformation sequences, anything involving her wand, and so many other little things are very reminiscent of Sailor Moon.
And then we have Mina.
You can’t get any more obvious with the Sailor Moon references than Mina Loveberry.
Mina’s probably the most blatant Sailor Moon reference in the whole show, haha. She’s a little ridiculous as a character, but I love the fact that she’s in the show, hah.
And I’m pretty sure the members of the Pony Head family are a subtle reference to My Little Pony.
Those little marks they’ve all got look an awful lot like cutie marks…
Not only are there so many references to shows we already love, there are so many famous voice actors in the show that it’s become a game between Ross and I to try and figure out who voices whatever new character that pops up in a particular episode. Not an episode goes by where one of us says “holy crap, that’s so-and-so from this other show we love!”
Mina and Blue Zircon from Steven Universe? Same voice actor.
I knew Mina’s voice sounded familiar…
Ludo’s brother Dennis and Peedee from Steven Universe? Same voice actor.
This one was a little harder to pair up, but eventually I blurted out “holy crap he’s Peedee!” during one episode with Dennis.
Miss Heinous and Malory Archer? Yup, same voice actor.
This one was almost TOO easy!
Prince Rich Pigeon and Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks? You guessed it, same voice actor.
When Ross figured out who Rich Pigeon’s voice actor was, he got all flaily and was all “HE’S UNCLE RUCKUS OH MY GOD”, hahah.
Ludo and King Candy from Wreck-it Ralph? Same voice actor — and it’s Alan Tudyk, no less!
Alan Tudyk, how is your voice so freaking versatile?! I only caught that he was Ludo by seeing his name in the credits!
I could go on and on with this, haha. And there are so many other big names in the cast, like…
- Maurice LaMarche (who hasn’t he voiced?)
- Michael C. Hall (playing a villain, I would expect nothing more than the man who brought Dexter to life)
- John DiMaggio (voice of Bender, Jake, and a bunch of other characters we know and love)
- Tress MacNeille (again, who hasn’t she voiced?)
- Weird Al Yankovic (yes, even Weird Al was in an episode)
… and those are only the ones I can think of off the top of my head!
This show is just a delight all over, from the great story to the talented voice acting cast. If you haven’t watched it yet, you can find seasons 1-3 on Hulu.