Sonic X (2003-2005) 78 episode TV series

 

Overall verdict: 7/10

The Good:  Good art and animation, decent level of detail, excellent voice acting, fully develops its overarching plot, memorable characters

The Bad: inconsistent use of humour, unnecessary swearing in the japanese version, weak first season

***********Review***********

The turn of the millennium brought a whole wave of Japanese anime flooding across the globe. Transformers, Digimon, Pokémon, and yes Sonic the Hedgehog in the form of the SONIC X. At a whopping 78 episodes across 4 seasons, SONIC X does take its time to get going, but when it does it sets up a simple yet epic saga of good vs not so good.

On the side of good is Sonic and his pals against Doctor Eggman and his robotic goons. The reason I use “good vs not so good” instead of “good vs evil” is because Eggman never really comes off as much of a threat. He is an antagonist in a very cartoonish kind of way; not as cartoonish as ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG but no where near as threatening as SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. He wants control of the chaos emeralds for his own selfish gains but Sonic and pals An accident on sonic’s world transports them all to “our” world of contemporary 2000s Earth.

Season 1 focuses on the safe and familiar premise of these out of this world characters adjusting to life on earth, with Sonic befriending a local rich boy Chris. It is a very “safe” season with often repetitive episodes that do not seem to build up to anything. Sonic and Chris find another of Sonic’s friends, Eggman launches another robot attack or captures someone important, Sonic and friends save the day. Chris himself is your typical and relatively bland audience surrogate character. The creators do give him some character development surrounding his family and social life but all that does is detract from the far more interesting Sonic and pals.

Season 2 onwards is where things pick up. The conflict heads to space, a greater enemy is introduced and more of the overarching lore is fleshed out. The scale is greater, scope gets grander, all leading up to an epic final season. The series also starts to focus more on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy as opposed to Chris. Characterizations are, unsurprisingly, cliched for a typical young viewer’s anime of its time. Sonic is the fun loving main character, Tails is the plucky kid sidekick and younger brother surrogate to the main character, Knuckles is the hot headed rival of sorts, Amy is the token annoying girl supporting character; the list goes on.

Compared to its contemporaries in kid targeted Japanese anime, the animation on SONIC X is among the better ones. There is minimal use of stock footage, artwork is consistent, colours are vivid and eye catching. The animation is not the smoothest around but it seems generally free from errors and does not fall into the type of lazy animation that it’s predecessor SONIC UNDERGROUND did.

There exists both the original Japanese version and the English dub. In the case of Sonic X, the English translation retains the general story and characterizations of the original version. Even the dialogue is generally the same. The difference lies in the target audience that the respective versions were written for. The Japanese version seemed a little bipolar in that respect. It’s dialogue contains occasional swearing especially when characters taunt one another, there is more implied sexual innuendo, and more overt violence (though not to the point of being gory beyond a PG13 rating). 

The problem is that while it aims for older audience, the writing, dialogue and overall visuals of the show all point toward something more juvenile. The English version tones that all down and in my opinion is all the better for it. While I do frown on unnecessary censorship, the minor tweaks aims SONIC X squarely at the toward the younger crowd. At least it has a definite audience in mind and embraces them.

In contrast to the first and horrendous Sonic Japanese anime that was SONIC THE MOVIE, SONIC X grows it’s beard and improves as the series progresses. Yes it falls into the cliched shonen anime tropes and trappings that plague similar shows of its ilk. Yes it is juvenile at times even though the voice actors in both languages make the best of the material they got. And yes it can get repetitive. But really this is SONIC X. It does not aspire to be anything more than a simple entertaining reintroduction of the Sonic franchise to a new audience. In that respect, it succeeds.


***********Review***********

Entertainment: A
Art: B-
Animation: B-

Story: B+
Voice Acting (Japanese): B
Voice Acting (English): B-

Characters: B-

Music: C+

Replay value: B-
"Brains": D

Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie (1996) OVA

Overall verdict: 3.5/10

The Good:  So bad it's funny, moments of great art detail, decent japanese voice acting

The Bad: Bad art, bad animation, bad english dub, horrible quality control, juvenile scripting and dialogue, incoherent story

***********Review***********

Released in 1996 as two OVA episodes and edited together into a movie in 1999, Sonic the Hedgehog is a funny little animated outing for the light-speed blue hedgehog and his fox friend Tails. However, "funny" is all that this movie has going for it, and it not the actual witty type of funny mind you. It is the painfully cringe worthy funny where you laugh at how bad this movie is.  

Its first most obvious flaw is its animation, which for all intents and purposes seems worse than some of the episodes in 1993's Sonic the Hedgehob TV series. It boggles the mind how an OVA, which is meant to have a higher animation budget than a TV show, can look worse than TV animation from years ago. The animation and artwork can only be classified as "lazy". For example, Tails no longer flies by spinning his tails like a helicopter. His tails disappear and in their a brown and white disc forms over his head which gives him the ability to levitate. 

Similarly, whenever Sonic runs, you do not see a blur of feet but a simple red ribbon-like object that is meant to represent his feet.(at times those said "feet" are not even attached to his body). A couple of scenes do stand out such as Black Eggman chasing sonic and tails through the streets of "EggmanLand" and some scenes involving Metal Sonic, they look really good. But overall, the artwork and coloring is flat and the characters lack a sense of fluidity. Some off-model art does creep in, possibly due to poor quality control.

Depending on one's expectations, the story could be seen as either a flaw or a boon. But either way, one cannot deny the childish nature of the story nor the absurdity the plot. Dr Eggman has kidnapped the president and his daughter in order to enlists the help of Sonic and Tails to destroy "Black Eggman" who has taken over his realm of EggmanLand. However, it is all a ruse to trick Sonic into being an unwilling subject in Dr Eggman's latest evil plot. One involving the might Metal Sonic. Sure the games were not exactly shining examples of good storytelling either, but an anime deserves to be compared to others of its kind. And sadly, it falls short in the comparison.

Most fatal flaw of all is the portrayal of the characters. Despite many claims of the superiority of the Japanese version over the English version, it does not do justice to the characters at all. The character of Sonic has always been a smart mouth and a braggart, but in this movie he definitely crosses the line and comes across as a truly unlikable jerk. This impression is further amplified by the Japanese script which as a good bit of harsh language coming from both Sonic and Tails (tails screaming at Sonic to "Go to Hell" kinda kills the whole innocent perception of the character). As villains go, Dr Eggman is a complete idiot and the President's daughter, Sarah, is one of the most irritating damsels in distress in anime history.

Fans of the game, do check out the much superior Sonic the Hedgehog series from 1993(Known in fan circles as "Sonic satAM), or the Japanese version of Sonic X. This so called "movie" is not even worth the time to stream on youtube.
***********Review***********

Entertainment: C-
Art: C-
Animation: C-

Story: C-
Voice Action(Japanese): B+
Voice Acting (English): C- 

Characters: D

Music: C-

Replay value: C
"Brains": D-

Sonic Underground (1999-2000) 40 episode tv series

 

Overall verdict: 5/10

The Good:  Sonic is front and centre in the mythos, good voice acting, some catchy songs

The Bad: lazy animation, juvenile scripts, the Sonic siblings' voices, the other cringe worthy songs and MTV style sequences 

***********Review***********

Near the start of the new millennium, sega launched a new round of heavy advertising for its main franchises, one of which was sonic the hedgehog. To enhance the hype, they commissioned a new cartoon from DIC entertainment, the same company that did the previous 2 Sonic cartoons. The result was SONIC UNDERGROUND, a curious little series with many questionable Creative decisions.

For a start, they got the head writer of the more serious SONIC THE HEDGEHOG cartoon on board for plotting SONIC UNDERGROUND. Instead of continuing that cult classic, which many fans were clamouring for, they incorporated broad strokes events and loose elements of that story into a whole new story unrelated to past animated series or games. In this new continuity, Sonic and his siblings Sonia and Manic are the heirs to the throne but the evil Doctor Robotnik launches a coup and took over the royal capital of mobotropolis. Instead of establishing a pollution spewing all powerful empire of machine Troops and servants created from roboticizing civilians, Robotnik in this show is content to let the rich and powerful civilians remain untouched so long as they do as he says and do not get in his way. Only the lower castes were roboticised. As such there are populated towns and much more in the way of talking critter side characters contributing to the plots of episodes.

In terms of tone, it is no where near the comedic camp of ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG but it is also much lighter than the post apocalyptic dystopia of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. The stakes are not as dire, the villains are still evil but not as monstrous, and the world is “friendlier” with the episodes consisting of the 3 Hedgehog siblings travelling the globe in search of allies, clues to locate their mother and to fulfill a prophesy to take back their kingdom.

The second and most divisive creative decision was....the songs. No this is not Sonic The Musical, though it might have been better if it was. In every episode, at least one of the sibling Hedgehogs will whip out their magical instrument (electric guitar for sonic, drum set for manic, and keyboard for Sonia) and start this late 90s MTV music video sequence full of cheap visual tricks like multiple split screens, fade ins, cross dissolves etc. 

Again, I have nothing against a good musical but the transition between the episode story and the sudden music video is so jarring. There are a few catchy songs but the majority are a cheesy dated mix of 90s pop and rock tunes which border on cringe. A pity since they are generally well sung and with voices that sound much better than the characters’ speaking voices. Namely because Sonic, Sonia and Manic are voiced by Jaleel White, Jaleel White doing falsetto, and Jaleel White doing surfer dude.

Having the same guy doing all 3 main voices, including a female character’s voice, really does not work especially when at times the voices seem to slip into each other like Manic would suddenly talk like Sonic or Sonic himself would have that higher Sonia pitch. The other characters’ voice actors do a decent job with the cheesy material they are given, and fan favourites like Knuckles do appear later on. 

However some of the casting choices just do not seem to fit. Like Doctor Robotnik is played by Garry Chalk, sounding exactly like his Optimus Primal role from BEAST WARS. For Knuckles he is played by Brian Drummond and one would expect a gruff warrior type voice similar to his Zechs Merquise role from GUNDAM WING but he sounds like a whiny teenage geek.

The animation on SONIC UNDERGROUND is equally hit or miss. Other traditional animated contemporaries in 1999 include series like Redwall, Big Guy and Rusty, and Batman Beyond in the west, along with Digimon, Monster Rancher, and Zoids in the east. No matter how you compared, SONIC UNDERGROUND’s animation does not hold up. While the character models are much more consistent and there are some exceedingly well animated sequences, these are far in between. There are a fair share of animation mistakes, mostly in compositing, and A lot of the animation comes across as lazy. For example, in past SONIC cartoons when sonic ran they would animate his full body motions of running with at most his feet being a blur. In SONIC UNDERGROUND the typical portrayal of Super speed is to reduce Sonic to a glowing blue smear streaking across the screen. There is also reused and looped animation which pop up most frequently in the previously mentioned music video segments.

The series itself ended with no resolution to any of the ongoing plot lines. Though there is a Small segment of fans who do like the unorthodox approach, it never got the level of fan following that SONIC THE HEDGEHOG did Nor did it achieve the memetic status of ADVENTURES. Between the indecisive tone, juvenile writing that did not match the epic fantasy setup, and the comparatively mediocre visuals I would consider SONIC UNDERGROUND less of a classic and more a mere curiosity.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B-
Art: C-
Animation: C-

Story: C
Voice Acting (English): B+ 

Characters: C-

Music: C-

Replay value: B-
"Brains": D

Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog (1993-1996) 65 episode tv series review

Overall verdict: 6/10

The Good: Genuinely funny at times, wacky animation style, fitting voices

The Bad: Sonic's abrasive personality and speaking style, lack of animation quality control, 

***********Review***********

The first ever audio/visual adaptation of video game icon “Sonic the Hedgehog” owes a lot to Looney Tunes. Heavy on juvenile slapstick humour, THE ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is an unabashedly fun, crazy series that is less like the games it is based on and more like Bugs Bunny against Yosemite Sam or Road Runner against Wile E Coyote.

The titular speedy blue hedgehog is the Bugs Bunny analog. He is a fun loving fast talking little critter embodying the smart mouth slacker type which somehow appeals to kids of that era. Ever ready with an annoying boast or a silly roast directed towards his enemies, Sonic is voiced by Jaleel “Urkel” White in a fittingly nasal voice. 

Peppering his dialogue are catchphrases like “I’m waaaaiiiting” or cravings for chilli dogs or some other quip making him sound like a cross between an impatient spoiled brat. As you can tell by now, I am not too big a fan of his. Accompanying Sonic is his twin tailed baby fox pal Tails, who is much more level headed and comes across as childlike and innocent.

To Sonic’s Bugs Bunny, there is the Yosemite Sam in the form of Doctor Ivo Robotnik and his two mechanical minions Scratch (robot chicken) and Grounder (robot drill thingy). Now this trio is actually funny. The outrageous plots to get back at Sonic, outlandish inventions and crazy capers are not exactly comedy gold but at least they are funny and not annoying. Their voice actors do a reat job with the material they are given, imbuing the baddies with unique albeit exaggerated voices befitting their personalities and appearance.

Episodes are less like stories and more like a series of crazy misadventures designed just for laughs. This craziness extends to the look of the show which, for all intents and purposes, work. Simplistic character designs, trippy background art, all harkens back to its source of influence. It’s classic style only just makes up for its lack of quality control. Characters’ proportions vary wildly within each episode, animation mistakes and scenes where action, foreground, and background don’t seem to be completely integrated happen once too often.

At a whopping 65 episodes Long, the series had Long since overstayed it’s welcome with repetitive scripts and recycled jokes. There is a guilty giggle to be had at its corny comedy which is often so bad it’s good. In a way, this forgettable format makes ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG highly rewatchable and accessible. One could just pop in on any episode and be entertained. It is easy lowest common denominator type entertainment to pass the time but little else beyond that.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: A
Art: C-
Animation: C-

Story: C
Voice Acting (English): B+ 

Characters: C-

Music: C-

Replay value: A-
"Brains": D-

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) movie review

Overall verdict: 7.5/10

The Good: Jim Carrey's performance, simple easy-to-follow storyline, relevant relatable themes, excellent special effects on Sonic, keeps focus on titular character, great music.

The Bad: some shoddy compositing of CGI, cliche ridden plot, serviceable supporting cast,  

***********Review***********

The pre-release Hoo haa surrounding SONIC THE HEDGEHOG was legendary and had all the earmarks of a panic stricken studio rushing to appease angry fans after tepid reception to its first trailer. The studio reworked Sonic’s design and the end product was much better received. It seemed to take a leaf out of last year’s POKÉMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU by retaining his more cartoony video game anatomy but given a level of detail that would fit in with the visuals of live action actors and real world backgrounds.

I am glad to say that the hard work paid off. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG delivers a fun family film with a simple message, great comedy, and a straightforward plot. Not to mention tons of nostalgia fuel. Let’s start with the plot. I was terrified that it would be one of those “cartoon character comes to the real world to be a supporting character to help bland protagonist with personal problem” type of cliche which we saw in the likes of SMURFS. Thankfully this movie sidesteps that cliche by having Sonic clearly be the main protagonist and focus of the story.

Hunted on his home world for his extraordinary speed powers, Sonic has been in hiding on our Earth in the forests near Green Hills town. He likes it here but has kept a Low profile for fear that he would be hunted once again and be forced to escape to another world. As such, Sonic is one lonely individual. A mishap with his powers exposes Sonic’s presence in Green Hills and sets the eccentric tech genius Doctor Robotnik on his little blue tail. Now stranded on earth due to having lost his means of inter-world travel in San Francisco (it makes sense in the context of the movie) Sonic must enlist the help of Sheriff Tom Wachowski, the one person he thinks he can trust, to get him to across the country while evading the mechanical minions of Robotnik.

Here is a simple story cobbled from “person befriends non human creature” movies like ET, and “bonding through a road trip” movies like PAUL. The underlying theme of an outcast desiring friendship and a sense of belonging is also often used in such movies. Not the most original idea, but the decision to keep it simple and even simplify the franchise’s often convoluted lore ensures this movie is accessible to even the most casual viewers.

Sonic himself is distilled, retaining his recognisable confident personality but downplaying His sometimes annoying arrogance from the games, replacing it with a child-like curiosity and innocence. This coupled with his tragic backstory and character development as the plot progresses makes this version of the beloved video game character one of the most relatable and (wait for it) three dimensional incarnations ever. The special effects used to bring Sonic to life on the big screen is top notch but one gets the impression that most of the Budget was pumped into this and not much else. 

 Robotnick’s robot drones are created in CGI too but some scenes have the lighting or the composting feel slightly off, especially since most of the movie takes place in broad daylight. Most egregious is a scene involving sonic and a tortoise early in the movie with the compositing on the tortoise looking particularly shoddy. Ultimately, the special effects aside from those on Sonic come off as just serviceable.

While most of the human cast are just as serviceable, high praise goes to Jim Carrey as Robotnik. This is classic manic, old school crazy fun Jim Carrey of the 90s, obviously having the time of his life with the role. The energy he brings and the way he plays off the rest of the cast is such a delight to watch.

The music by Tom “Junkie XL” Holkenborg of TERMINATOR DARK FATE and BATMAN V SUPERMAN fame also deserves praise. His score on this movie is very unlike his past work, eschewing the loud brass sounds and heavy percussions for a more whimsical cartoony tune with light strings and woodwinds that feels right at home with the family friendly nature of this movie.

There is much to love about SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. The passion of the creative team is clearly evident and it delivers simple entertainment without too much pandering. Between this and last year’s POKÉMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU, I feel video game movies have a bright future ahead.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: A

Story: C+

Acting: A-

Characters: B+

Music: B

Replay value: A-

"Brains": C+

Sonic The Hedgehog (1993-1994) 26 episode TV series

Overall verdict: 7/10

The Good: Consistent animation and art for most episodes, darker story elements, well rounded and developed protagonist Princess Sally, good voice acting, menacing main villain.

The Bad: Sonic's jarring personality, Cliched story for most episodes, dip in quality near the series' end, generic 90s cartoon music

***********Review***********

In the 1990s, there was a cool little cliche permeating Saturday morning action cartoons: dystopian future resistance group against megalomaniac and his legions of disposable troops. It started as episodes in ongoing cartoons where the main characters get shunted into a bad future but soon it became the premise that entire shows were built on. One of such shows was SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.

Deviating entirely from the video game source materials, this Saturday morning cartoon had the titular Super speedster join a resistance group led by one Princess Sally. The evil doctor Robotic has taken over the kingdom of Mobotropolis (renamed Robotropolis) and has turned most of its anthronorphic animal populace into subservient robots. Episodes typically involve incursions into the mechanized city or exploring the often deadly countryside for some means to defeat the machine empire and return its people back to normal.

Operating out of the secluded Knothole village, the resistance is a collection of characters with unique and sometimes exaggerated personalities. Aside from the childlike twin tailed fox named Tails, Sonic’s best pal from the games, the others are original characters which would occasionally get an episode focused on their development, and them overcoming whatever personality shortcomings they may have whether it’s An arrogant one learning humility, an aloof one learning to count on friends or the trusting one learning to be more discerning.

The episodes may seem formulaic after a while but a few of the standout ones do contain a fair amount of tragedy and are surprisingly dark for a kids cartoon. And that’s where Sonic himself becomes a bit of a problem. 

The stakes are dire, the situation is grim, but here comes Sonic with his “totally radicool” speech style, ever ready with an unfunny quip or cringe pun. His fast talking comical overconfidence stands as a stark contrast to the bleak atmosphere of the plot. A skilled writer could have written his jokey demeanour as a coping mechanism to deal with tragedies he has faced. But alas, it is just passed off as Sonic being Sonic.

The series gets better when it has Princess Sally front and centre. She is a leader, an emotionally vulnerable individual dealing with the loss of her family and kingdom but having to present a strong front to her followers. She is the one reining in Sonic’s wild side to get things done; the burden of leadership and the hopes of an entire world weighing down on her petite shoulders.

Another great character for me is Doctor Robotnik. This is not the bombastic boisterous baddie from the games. This guy means business. His rotund character design is offset by inhuman demonic looking eyes and a voice oozing with menace that elevates him from funny fatty to a truly devious devil.

On the quality side of things the animation is more consistent than its sister series ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. There are cool visuals like the polluted dystopia of Robotropolis or the mysterious wilds of mobius, as well as moments of standout animation. Generally it is a tad better than typical outsourced Cartoons of its time but still no where near the level of detail as Japanese anime.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG saw a bit of changes after the first 13 episodes giving us slight design tweaks, stories that were less dark and Robotnik lost some of his menace. By the time it was cancelled after 26 episodes, quality had dipped to the point of repeating or looping past animation to pad out the run time. At very least it ended on a satisfactory though rushed and cheesy conclusion (power of love saves the day) leaving enough teases to spawn an entire franchise continuing in comic form.

Considering the time period of its debut, and its contemporaries catering to the same pre teen target demographic , SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is above average. It lacks the clever scripting of the BEAST WARS, the solid character development in various DC Animated series or the quality control of the Disney cartoons, but it is certainly a better cartoon based off a video game than the likes of Legend of Zelda or Double dragon. 

The standout episodes especially the two parter taking place in the past hit all the right pointers for engaging animated stories while the episodes in between feel like mediocre run of the mill filler held up purely by the characters and cast.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: A
Art: B-
Animation: B-

Story: C+
Voice Acting (English): A-

Characters: B

Music: C-

Replay value: B-
"Brains": D