The concept of tying each character to their own specific instrument, reflective of their personality in the soundtrack isn’t new—as the video explores, it’s something animation has done for years—but it’s rare to see it executed so thoroughly and prominently in a modern cartoon series in the way Steven Universe does it. If anything, it takes it a step further when it explores the show’s concept of fusion, with character instruments being paired off with each other to reflect the respective halves of a new fusion in their own hybrid theme songs (from piano and bass for the Pearl/Garnet hybrid of Sardonyx, to the bass and heavy electric drums of Sugilite’s theme, for example).

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The way the show ties character progression and personalities to its soundscape is part of what makes it so special—and all those toe-tapping ditties that extra bit toe-tappier, when you realise the smart ways they blend character instruments together for their backing tracks.

[H/T Kai]