#boom: a film about the sonics

[greensparty]

Documentary Reviews: Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 80s Hair Metal / BOOM! A Film About The Sonics

This week I got to review 2 different types of documentaries: a doc mini-series and an indie doc that is finally getting released a few years after it's festival premiere:

Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 80s Hair Metal

I have to say, I've been digging the recent music documentaries on Paramount+. Notably, the recent doc mini-series Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza looked back at the alt-rock music festival. Best of all is that Paramount+ is able to pull footage from MTV News since MTV is a part of Paramount. So now a new 3-part music documentary mini-series has dropped this week, Nothin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 80s Hair Metal. Based on the 2021 book of the same name written by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock (he co-wrote the companion book Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, which I'm a fan of), this doc is a deep dive into 1980s hair metal. The main emphasis is on L.A. and the Sunset Strip scene, but there is a few bands from outside L.A. featured as well. The give a segment to each band and then there is intersecting of bands at various points thereafter. Just some of the bands covered include Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, Extreme, Skid Row, Vixen, and Trixter among others. There are a lot of talking head interviewees and some of the anecdotes get animated sequences to emphasize the absurdity of some of the stories.

doc poster

When I was a kid I got into metal and as a teen I was a metalhead for a while. Early tapes I owned included Twister Sister and Motley Crue. As I got older, my musical tastes evolved and some of the hair metal I was into earlier seemed ridiculous in contrast with alt rock, which seemed to have something more meaningful to say. Now as a grown up, I can look back at hair metal and realize some of it, even if it was completely over the stop, was fun and some of their songs were melodic and catchy. I've always had a special place for some of these bands. In the case of Boston's Extreme I was a big fan after discovering them on V66 as a kid I was thrilled to interview some of the members for my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66. This doc features their guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, recounting many tales. Some of these bands didn't look at themselves as hair metal, they actually wanted to be long lasting and alas then metal got wiped out by grunge and many of the bands were dropped, broke up, or imploded. I thought it was cool they had other interviewees like director Penelope Spheeris, Steve-O, and Riki Rachtman too. As a fan who remembered that scene and was fond of the scene, I dug this doc series. But it could be that I'm too close to it to be able to judge this as a documentary and clearly say how good or comprehensive it was. They definitely hit a lot of the bands and touchstone moments of that era, but I do wish they had maybe discussed MTV's Headbanger's Ball, metal press (RIP, Circus, Hit Parader, or Metal Edge) and some of the tragedies of the scene (Steve Clark of Def Leppard comes to mind). They briefly touched upon female artists like Vixen, but I think there was room to dig deeper since there was a lot of misogyny in the music and the industry at the time. Bottom line: this is good as an overview, but with so much ground to cover it only scratched the surface at times.

For info on Nothin' But a Good Time

3.5 out of 5 stars

BOOM: A Film About The Sonics

Documentaries about the "band that time forgot" is a fascinating sub-genre within the music documentary sub-genre (a sub sub genre!?!). The idea that a band never got super famous, but made just enough of a splash to influence others and amass a cult following has become quite a popular theme in the last 10-15 years. Case in point is the Tacoma, WA garage band The Sonics, who began in 1960. I didn't know them too well, but I had been hearing a lot about the documentary BOOM: A Film About The Sonics since it had it's festival premiere in 2018. It is now being distributed by the Forge with a number of indie cinema screenings including The Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA this past week.

doc poster

Formed in 1960, the quintet had a raw garage rock sound that influenced the likes of The Stooges, Nirvana, The White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem, The Hives, and more. They released two albums in the 1960s on Etiquette Records. There is a line drawn between this band and the Seattle music scene that everyone knew in the 80s and 90s. Among the featured interviewees in addition to the Sonic members are Nancy Wilson of Heart, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Mark Arm of Mudhoney, and Chris Ballew of Presidents of the United States of America. Ballew sums it up best when he pointed out that were was fun party music like The Sonics from Seattle and it wasn't all gloomy grunge.

I didn't know too much about The Sonics beforehand, but I was attracted to this mainly because of the interviewees and my love of Seattle music. As someone who didn't know them, I kind of wished they had spent a little more time on the music itself and not just on the band history. It does show some of the band's many reunions since the 60s and how many Seattle luminaries hold them in high regard (I spotted Nirvana's Krist Novoselic in a clip of their reunion show). The director did a move that can go either way, which is injecting himself into the doc with his intro and outro. There's a joke that some documentarians set out to make a film about a subject and then they just end up making a doc about themselves and their interest in the subject. Director Jordan Albertsen managed to do it effectively by not overtaking the doc but just giving a brief anecdote about discovering them through his father. Bottom line: the doc is interesting and more than anything I wanted to go out and listen to this band more after watching the doc.

For info on BOOM

3 out of 5 stars

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

i love tails' little mischievous laugh so much

[rayatii]

Depending on how the situation turns out, once I finish my filmmaking degree (which might take until I'm 30), maybe I'll make an anti-war movie actually titled "Sonic Boom Chronicles" (in Arabic, of course, which would be something like "يوميّات جدار الصوت").

[miimo96]

Things I Do and DON'T wanna see for Sonic 4

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SONIC 3⚠️ DO NOT READ yet

With the introduction to Sonic 4 being Announced, here something's I wanna see happen in the 4th Sonic movie, now keep in mind these are just things I wanna SEE happen in the 4th movie and not that I know they're GOING to happen, it's just something I think Paramount/ SEGA should decide to do if Sonic 4 is going to be PEAK

1 thing I would absolutely love to see adapted into the Sonic films is the inclusion of rail grinding, Since it's obvious that we're going to be getting a metal Sonic storyline and therefore possibly a time travel one, I think seeing Rail grinding in probably an Apocalyptic future setting would be absolutely an amazing thing to see in live action, especially since it's pretty much a staple in Sonic games and hasn't really been adapted yet. Another thing I would love to see is the inclusion of the iconic Soap shoes, since this movie was basically taking inspiration from Sonic A2, not including the soap shoes was surprisingly a shock to me, especially since they're so iconic in that game, However I understood their reasoning probably being that they're just not in style anymore and therefore wouldn't really be serving a purpose, other than just being fan service, HOWEVER, if they were to include them in the 4th movie being that we're probably going to be seeing a possible Apocalyptic setting, then seeing Rail grinding and Soap shoes would definitely be a possible thing, especially since the Soap shoes would Definitely fit in with the overall futuristic vibe

Next up is Sonic and Amy's relationship, tbh I HONESTLY do not want her to just be solely obsessed with Sonic, I get that's her character and all but there are so many different ways you can go about it, With how she's been characterized recently, I think she'll be more than just that but I really hope they actually go that route and change her, as much as I hate the show, I really love how she's depicted in Sonic Boom, her design is beautiful, her voice is on point, and her relationship with Sonic is just so damn cute because she's not just a damsel and is actually an effing fighter and leader, Also 1 more thing I whole heartily want to see, is Sonic to just be awkward around amy and actually have him experience/ fall in love for once, most Sonic games and shows like to keep him closed off from amy and kinda deny his feelings for her, i think it would be cool if they would break away from that trope and actually have him acknowledge his feelings for her instead, Maybe that's just because I'm such a huge Sonamy shipper and have been since the beginning but it's whatever lol

Finally one thing I DON'T want to see them do again for this film is bring back Dr eggman, I feel like This will be the absolute perfect opportunity to determine weather or not the Sonic movies are ONLY Successful because of Jim Carey. if they decide to not bring back robotnik and actually decide to focus on a whole New villain and are still able to succeed in the box office, then this will undoubtedly PROVE that the Sonic films are the BEST way to do a video game adaptation and were meant to be successful with or without Jim Carey, because let's be real, if it wasn't for Jim Carey's performance then the Sonic movies wouldn't be doing as nearly as good as they are now, that isn't to say they're BAD cuz they're NOT, it's just to say that they wouldn't do as good or as well if it wasn't for robotnik. Going forward without Robotnik I think would be a Great way to test the franchise and not only give a New Villain a chance to shine, but would also prove to Paramount, that they can still COOK with or without Carey, in my opinion, having Metal Sonic be the Main Villain of the next movie would not only give you the chance to adapt other Sonic villains in a unique way, but I think probably make THIS ONE the SCARIEST villain of all time, especially with Metal/NEO Sonic.

A Villain with No emotion, No motive, no remorse, No DEEPER meaning other than simply having the "I Want to KILL YOU" mindset and is just STRAIGHT UP Evil is something haven't seen done in a Long time, tbh you can probably make him the Ultron of the Sonic universe and have him JUST be evil and it wouldn't bother us at all as long as you write him well, Plus robotnik LITERALLY had the greatest character arc in this film, from wanting to take over the world, to ending up being the one who saves it, yeah it doesn't get better than that. I Guarantee you that if Robotnik DOESN'T come back and we Actually get a new Villain that will be the BEST move for the Sonic films as a whole and I think will have the chance to ACTUALLY expand on more of his cast from here out, anyway those are just my thoughts but whaddya think?

[essycogany]

Rare But Not So Rare Sonic Moments. Character Analysis.

Crying

A weird topic I’m more then happy to discuss.

Mandate: “Sonic’s not allowed to get overly emotional.”

I’m starting to think the mandates do break in a few instances. This one specifically is something I’m quite interested in because this is probably one of the rarest emotions Sonic displays. Getting sad/emotional.

Hopefully this essay will be a positive outlook on the mandate.

(Despite being a discussion about negative emotions.)

Examples Of Sonic Getting Emotional

I might not include everything, but the examples I have knowledge of will be stated. If you have anymore examples, I’d love to see them.

SATAM: Sonic cried when he and the Freedomfighters had to leave his Uncle Chuck in Robotnik’s lab.

Archie: The times Sonic cried/teared up was when the weight of a situation got to him, when something tragic occurred and all hope was lost, or when he was filled with joy after those instances ended. Those moments like others, didn’t go too far. (For the most part)

Pretty sure he never out right sobbed.

Underground: I think Sonic only cried when he was a little kid.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

X: In episode 52 Sonic allowed his tears to shed with his head turned away from us. He and Chris ran one last time before Sonic left through a portal to go home forever. It obviously crushed him even if we didn’t see his face.

Boom: Sonic cried/teared up in two episodes of the show. First when Tails was reminiscing about the Tornado and noticed Sonic wiping his eyes. Sonic replied, “What?” Then he, Knuckles, and Tails all cried when they thought the baby they took care of was gone. Also, in Archie when Stick’s rock friend broke or “Died,” everyone in team Boom morned it. Sonic included.

IDW: Sonic shed tears in the Scrapnick Island Issue. Even if it was “Mecha Sonic’s” tears I’ll count it anyways because it’s a good loophole and it came out of Sonic’s eyes.

Movie 1: It’s implied he indeed cried during the baseball scene. The sources being a deleted scene and story-board of the film.

Prime: This doesn’t really count, but Sonic teared up in the first episode when he was held captive by the Chaos Council and had light blasted in his eyes, when he was in darkness. Then Sonic actually cried in episode 7 when he ate a seadog. Either because he was home-sick or starving.

(In the last episode of season two it’s implied he might cry in the next episode. Especially with the shot of him looking on the verge of tears and then covered his eyes in the background of the last shot, but we’ll see.)

By the way. You can see the instant improvement from episode 1 to 7 of the tears animation. Just thought I’d say that.

My Overall Thoughts

Hold on because this is going to be a long ride.

First thing I’d like to discuss is the mandate itself.

I personally don’t believe it means, “Sonic shouldn’t cry.”

(Which has been stated a bunch)

If that were the case, I don’t think this majority of moments (specifically the recent ones) would’ve happened. I think the mandate meant Sonic couldn’t and or shouldn’t go too far with his emotions. I don’t think the mandate existing makes any since, but I won’t get into that.

My point is, Sonic can cry, just not in an overly dramatized way unless it’s done for comedic purposes.

(I say that because of Sonic Boom and the 7th episode of Prime examples. Which are obviously not meant to be taken seriously)

My opinions on Sonic crying.

It’s not necessarily needed, but I don’t mind if it’s done well. I do believe Sonic shouldn’t go too far unless the situation does.

One Issue in Archie when Sonic’s entire life was basically ruined, is a good example. If you’re going to have such calamities happen to him, especially since he has zero ego or mask to hold onto, I think it’s a fair enough scenario for him to react as drastic as his misfortune.

But I believe if he were to cry in something like the Metal Virus. (Just for an example) it could be like how Espio teared up after Vector’s sacrifice.

Crazy idea. Let’s talk about Shadow for a minute.

Shadow is one of the most stoic characters in the entire franchise. He barely smiles, gets excited, or displays any overly positive emotions. While Sonic rarely cries, gets angry, or shows any harsh negative emotions. Shadow and Sonic are opposites because of that.

Sonic’s overall a positive and outgoing guy who wants to keep moving forward. Whenever he has the time to worry, he runs. Faces his problems head on. Sonic only let’s a small amount of his true emotions out when helping someone else. In general Sonic’s a pretty optimistic character.

Shadow on the other hand is a reserved and serious guy. Who wants what’s best for the world too, but in a more calculated and planned out manner. But for some reason, in Sonic Adventure 2 after Amy encouraged Shadow to save the world, (Which reminded him of Maria’s real wish) He sheds a tear.

I repeat. Shadow is the most stoic character in the entire franchise. Who rarely shows his emotions. And yet he cries.

Why can’t Sonic? To be fair, Sonic usually doesn’t have time to think, let alone worry about how he feels. But if Shadow himself can have a short moment of releasing his emotional baggage, why can’t the blue blur?

Is Sonic even as happy as he let’s on?

I’d say he’s genuinely happy half of the time. Then the other half Sonic’s internalizing everything negative in him. Everyone knows Sonic’s overall upbeat, but we’ve seen plenty of times (In the Metal Virus specifically) when he’s thinking, or enduring the chaos around him, he doubts himself. Sonic has these insecurities and emotions he barely let’s anyone see.

Besides Issue #24

Even in Sonic Prime while Sonic shows the most guilt, sincerity, anger, fear, and sadness in the show. He sometimes still puts on a front and acts like everything’s fine.

Sonic Unleashed I’m pretty sure was the first and only time we’ve seen him mope for a minute. All because Amy didn’t know who he was. So, he does have some level of insecurities lingering every once in a while.

Can Sonic crying even work?

How I interpret him crying is when he’s alone. Some people theorize in certain instances like SA2 and Unleashed with Shadow and Chip’s sacrifices, he cried a little. I’m fascinated by this idea. I believe it’s the most in character way to let him cry. Maybe even something like X when his face isn’t shown, but you know how he’s feeling.

Even if we do see Sonic’s face, him crying or tearing up could be shown without being over the top. Normalize it in a way that doesn’t fly off the handle. His expression could have a hint of frustration, anger, or exhaustion. Crying is normal and I don’t see Sonic crying as out of character because it’s been done plenty of times.

It’d be nice if it happened in order to make Sonic feel more believable and sympathetic. As long as the dude’s not on the floor whaling, I’m sure it can work.

Final Thoughts

There are other ways to show Sonic’s emotions. Again, crying doesn’t have to happen, but it does help the writing feel less unnecessarily limited of what kind of emotions can be displayed on this character.

Though there are benefits too. Like finding fun loopholes or small animated details like in IDW and Prime. Sonic not crying so much makes the times he does (or may do in the future) feel earned and impactful. The examples before prove it can be done without taking away what makes Sonic who he is. It just needs to be subtle, quiet, and quick. (Or humorous) Depends on what you think.

At the end of it all, Sonic’s a tough hedgehog. Him shedding a few tears won’t ever change that.

Stay Creative! 💜

[smallpwbbles]

Oh gosh, I think it's time for me to speak up!

I first became intimately acquainted with the Sonic franchise in 2022, just about as soon as Sonic movie 2 came out. My meet came out completely by accident, I had just watched (what I thought were) all the interesting movies, which at the time I thought were Marvel, Mandalorian, and Transformers.

I wrote "family movies" in a search engine, and went to a random site with a list of movies. And lo and behold, almost at the very end I saw the cover of the first Sonic movie and a brief description. I thought the look of the movie Sonic was weird but funny and decided to watch it. The whole day that followed was like I was missing from reality. The first movie was followed by the second one, which was just filmed on an amateur camera in a theater , with crappy sound and freezes and casino ads then.

I was puzzled: the movie wasn't serious and childish, and my media sensitivity screamed that the movie was silly and meant for preschoolers, but my imagination exploded. I couldn't stop thinking about the hilarious and explosive nature of this guy, and his story in general, I was literally IT'S STUPID, IT'S HORRIBLY STUPID BUT I LIKE HIM SO MUCH, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH GOD WHAT AM I GONNA DO, and the tragic character stories, the graphics of the movie, the cute relationship between Sonic and Tom was a pain in my brain. The second movie was just as well received. I watched them several times in a row, downloaded all the music from there and was no longer embarrassed by my "childhood fascination" and marveled.

Soon after that I started reading in Wikipedia who Sonic was, and it turned out that there were many comics and animated series about him (I didn't realize that he was a game character, and had little interest in games). I watched all of Sonic X and was impressed. Sonic's funny nature for me at the time was intertwined with seriousness and coolness then. Sonic Boom I only watched a few episodes, and the ones with Shadow in them I liked the best. After that came Fleetway comics and something similar. After a while I discovered IDW comics and Ghosts of the Future.

It wasn't until the end, after creating my Tumblr account that I started learning about Sonic games and their stories. And only in the last six months I started to notice some flaws in the plot of games, movies, but I never treated it with criticism. Sonic became for me a symbol of freedom and a ray of light leading me through life, no matter what kind of games and movies, critics and fans presented him.

Everyone sees something in Sonic that makes them love this guy! And I'm glad I didn't get into Sonic fandom before I watched and read his story from various sources and formed my own independent opinion about him :]

This just put a stupid smile on my face god I love this so much for you!

[un-pearable]

internally: decent movie. more tolerable than the previous for most parts. rewatchable. FINALLY has a soundtrack that sounds like sonic and DOESNT have gratuitous plot-irrelevant human scenes. sonic gets to do sonic stuff!!!!! characterization makes sense given previous movies and (very slightly) nudges him towards something potentially interesting. not inventive AT ALL (missing everything intriguing about SA2) but could be worse

externally: while some lore omissions make sense given the world established by the previous films, those choices are boring and others they make are completely baffling changes. rouge omission harms the whole thing. i dislike the entire direction they’ve taken with their sonic characterization and the themes and they fundamentally miss key traits for everyone involved . why did we do this. what was the point

it’s fun. more consistently enjoyable than the previous but that’s mostly bc the scenes that bothered me with the aggressive Carryness had tails in them so i could just watch him be cute.

lore change to make him another mystery alien is annoying but frustratingly makes sense given the context. i’m not torn up over it <- don’t care about shadow and didn’t expect much going in . the missing part of maria’s story is ridiculous though (why is she just there??????)

i love herrrr i love her 70s energy and outfits and i will incorporate the roller skates. its soooo cute . the godzilla movie with the biolizard is pretty funny but that’ll totally piss off diehards. i do think they do good job of showing shadow + maria as friends and why he cares so much about her but that’s mainly just the scope of a film vs a video game

COWARDS THOUGH . SAYING “THEYRE CHILDREN” ON SCREEN TO INTERRUPT A SHOT-FOR-SHOT RECREATION OF HER DEATH??? THATS THE POINT. SHES A CHILD. ITS A TRAGEDYY

the shots directly from the shadow 2005 intro…. unbelievable . hilarious

akira bike slide ON VERTICAL BUILDING is cool i’m here for it

low budget flight and actual sonic-esque music…. i accept my crumbs

knuckles is lame. literally stolen joke from sonic boom w the team knuckles stuff. i wanted him to fight sonic over the ME so bad

the wade reveal is physically painful like i knew it happened in the show but he sucks sucks and right after the only satisfying scene w the humans (shadow fuckin up tom) . ME you deserve betterrrrr

torn on the overall message. i think it’s a more coherent film than the last two and the message isn’t terrible - it aligns with sonic’s overall freedom and choice vibes. but having shadow be a tag along to eggman’s schemes is a weird choice given he was pretty explicitly the one who wanted to . yknow. blow up the earth in the first place and just gave eggman the tools in SA2. this version takes a lot of agency out of his story bc gerald is here. which is weird since the whole explicit theme is choices!!

fucking gerald. can i kill someone. mr carrey i hate him

extremely dragon ball combat. which is fine but unexciting . WHERE the fuck did the emeralds go at the end they just??? gone??? they detransform and (incorrectly) sonic falls out of super and shadow dies but the emeralds flat out do not appear in the film again after they initially transform . what happened

FINALLY giving us a heart to heart AND live and learn for the fight ONLY TO CUT AWAY TO TWO MINUTES OF CARREY SHENANIGANS. illegal . egregious. im glad he’s dead

the shift from sonic having to inspire shadow to be better and move onto his past to . shadow pulling a ‘you’re just like me’ is lame. hello again scourge .

like it’s a logical change especially given the target audience and the kind of stories that are popular rn but it’s sooo less interesting than SA2’s thing

shadow being confronted by sonic bc he challenges his belief of being exceptional and makes him reconsider what it’s possible to be -> shadow being sonic’s narrative parallel bc they both had one (1) human they liked who they would do anything for

^^^ it’s bad. not unwatchable like sonic 1 but bad change. makes sense for this established universe tho so i get it

tails is great . colleen should be paid more

WAIT THINKING ABOUT LIVE & LEARN AGAIN. I CANT FUCKIN BELIEVE IT at least they had the music still playing when they cut back to the fight scene but that bullshit w the egged men. torture

yay shadow dead!!!!! no that final endcredit didn’t happen

the moon shot was cool. sadly now sonadow fans will claim the moon <- IT WAS SONKNUX TERRITORY FIRST

rouge would have made this film 1000000000% better

why so many metal sonic???????? hi amy

at least she’s cute i’ve seen so many bad edits since 2020 at least she’s cute. i’m intrigued w the cloak choice what’s going on here. just to hide the outfit so they can change it? reference? hmm

fascinating implication for whatever 4 is going to be. in my heart carreybotnik stays dead and we get a pseudo heroes where metal is pretending to be him. but alas i fear the family focus for eggman in this film is leading up to. him making metal sonic and treating him as his kid. which could be fucked up in fun ways but i’m so tired of carreyisms

they did say 2027 though which is an extra year than the last two got…. what are you budgeting guys

why oh why is shadow consistently the only character who gets any emotional arcs or storytelling it taunts me…. can’t even hate the guy bc he’s the only one with interesting stories . this story sucks and it’s still better than what knux got . orz

sayonara shadow the hedgehog

[etaleah]

What Is the Appeal of Sonadow?

I have a lot of thoughts about this ship, what draws people to it, and why some of the criticisms of it are exaggerated or less than honest. Putting them under a cut because it’s gonna get long.

First of all, the critique of “Lol why do people ship them when they beat the shit out of each other whenever they disagree on something, they’re abusive!” is dishonest framing for two reasons. One is that it ignores the fact that Sonic and Shadow are allies far more often than they’re enemies, and even when they are enemies, it’s usually over something serious, not just a minor disagreement. The other is that it’s bad media criticism to apply real human standards to a cartoon animal universe.

When you watch the classic Looney Tunes short where Bugs and Daffy are arguing over whether it’s Rabbit Season or Duck Season and Bugs tricks Daffy into shooting himself, do you see Bugs as abusive and evil? Probably not, because the laws of physics don’t apply in cartoons and Daffy getting shot in the face doesn’t actually hurt him. He’s still completely fine afterwards because he’s a cartoon and is therefore invincible. The same is true for Sonic and Shadow. Have you ever seen either of them seriously injured after one of their fights? Has either one ever needed to go to the hospital because the other beat him up so badly? No, of course not. They groan in pain for about two seconds and then they’re fine. If the creators wanted to convey them being injured, they could show bruises or blood or have bones snapping and the characters limping, but they don’t. The fights are never meant to be taken that seriously. I find this criticism every bit as annoying and overzealous as people who insist that Pinky and the Brain are abusive because Brain bops Pinky on the head. They’re cartoons, y’all. They’re not realistic, were never meant to be realistic, and shouldn’t be treated as realistic. Different standards apply.

To the second point, Sonic and Shadow don’t actually fight that often. In all the interactions they’ve had together, it’s only been a handful of times. They’re allies in the Archie comics, Sonic ‘06, the canon ending of Shadow the Hedgehog (they’re only enemies in that game if the player wants them to be), Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and most of the IDW comics, along with the endings of Sonic X, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes. They’re allies for much of Prime as well. But hey, let’s break down the times they do fight:

Sonic Adventure 2: Shadow’s memories have been tampered with and he and Sonic are literally fighting over the fate of the world.

Sonic X: Same thing for season 2, and in season 3, they’re fighting over whether Cosmo should live or die. Sonic says killing her is wrong, Shadow says stopping the Metarex is what’s most important and if that means little Cosmo has to die, well, them’s the breaks, pal.

Sonic Prime: Sonic has broken their world, Shadow is trying desperately to save it, and Sonic is valuing the Shatterverse inhabitants over Green Hill.

IDW: Shadow says Eggman is too dangerous to leave alive and if that means Mr. Tinker has to die too, well, them’s the breaks, pal. Sonic says killing anyone is wrong no matter the reason.

You see a pattern here? Most of the time what they fight over is literally life and death. They’re not going at each other’s throats over petty bullshit like who gets the last slice of pizza or who gets to pick the film for Movie Night. They fight over serious moral differences. I would argue that Amy and Knuckles have gotten angry at Sonic for way less than what Shadow does.

Now, there are a few instances where their fights are stupid, namely Sonic Boom and Sonic Heroes. But I think it’s pretty universally agreed that Shadow is out of character in Boom, and honestly, all of the fights in Sonic Heroes are very forced. There was no reason for Team Dark or Team Rose to fight Team Chaotix; their goals don’t contradict each other in any way and it’s clearly just manufactured conflict to give the player another boss fight. And these are the exception; most of their fights are over serious ideological divides.

Those serious ideological divides are exactly what makes Sonadow so interesting. I personally prefer ships where characters can learn and grow from each other, where their differences can clash until they learn to reconcile them. I don’t find a ship like, say, Sonamy nearly as interesting because I don’t think there’s many (if any) moral stances Sonic would have that Amy wouldn’t. They already agree on the important things. I’m not bashing anyone who likes that ship; if that’s your thing, good for you. It just doesn’t appeal to me because I think Sonic and Amy already having a lot in common morally means they can’t really grow and change from interacting with each other in the same way.

Sonic can bring out the best in Shadow, teach him to trust others and lighten up and learn how to live in the moment rather than being tethered to the past. Shadow can teach Sonic how to think before he acts, to view the world more realistically, and to consider the impact that his insistence on moral purity will have on others. That setup makes for some amazing stories.

Also? These guys love fighting each other. They’re both athletes and very competitive. Look at how much they smile when they fight:

Like…they love this. It’s so much fun for them. Sonic and Shadow are both competitive athletes who love pushing themselves, but in terms of speed, no one is any competition for them except each other. No one else can beat either of them in a race. Imagine spending your whole life winning so easily that there was no accomplishment in it, and then suddenly this guy comes along who’s actually as good as you or maybe even better. Finally you have a challenge and can really enjoy the feeling of being the best. That’d be amazing. They give each other something no one else can, and to me, that’s what good romances are made of.

And all of that is combined with the fact that Sonadow offers an Odd Couple setup, which is always fertile ground for fun, comedic situations that require opposite characters to work together. Plus the Enemies/Rivals to Lovers aspect, which adds a bit of “forbidden fruit” to the mix because we all know that the most tempting and appealing relationships are the ones that are Forbidden (TM). That’s literally the premise of Romeo and Juliet, people who aren’t supposed to be together but end up wanting to be anyway.

I wouldn’t want Sonadow to be canon, but I definitely enjoy exploring it in fandom. It’s a fun ship that offers a lot for a writer or artist to work with. And while I would never force it on anyone, I wish the criticisms of it weren’t quite so shallow and disingenuous.

[bring-cringe-back]

Okay I might just be reading too much into this. But while I was watching the episode *cough cough* procrastinating *cough cough I realised that they don't show how the Doctor and Ruby got there.

And I know that it's probably just meant to be vaguely like 'they just went for fun'.

BUT this is the third episode in a row where we haven't seen them arrive. And for 73 yards it was clearly a doctor who episode when it started but it immediately gets rid of the doctor. ( I know that for 73 yards and for dot and bubble it was because Ncuti Gatwa was filming other stuff but let me cook) In Dot and Bubble you could effectively be forgiven for assuming that it was a random Black Mirror episode or something similar until the Doctor turns up, and tbh if you were just flicking through channels and haven't been watching Doctor Who you could probably basically not know for much longer. In Rogue they are just there, except for the title screen (the same for dot and bubble) you could basically watch it as a Bridgerton episode until the Chuldur turn up.

(And there's whole other rant about how the Chuldur fits into the theory about this basically being a TV show within a TV show, I don't know the name for this theory)

But anyway these episodes are increasingly separated from the Doctor and Ruby as plot points particularly in the beginning of episodes. They are more and more like an excuse to tell the story or explore the topic that the writers want to explore. Which isn't totally different from the occasional episode of previous series, but this is a lot more in my memory at least from previous series. So it feels a lot like they are skimming over the more sci-fi doctor who elements. Which fits in in my mind to the idea that the 'One who waits' is a representation of story telling. I've seen theories that it's Ruby but she doesn't know it which makes sense, I think it would also make sense for it to be her parent(s) who left her, or alternatively just it's own thing all together. But it feels very like that bit where Amy is living a life and starts to realise it's all fake.

The narrowing down of these episodes into not showing them arriving, and at least in Rogue - I can't remember in the others - not showing them leaving the story, feels very different.

It feels more and more like story telling. They have covered fairy tales, Period pieces/Romance, Dystopia, War/SciFi, Musicals, Political Drama. They are also showing the doctor playing his role, something that we see companions doing often enough but we seldom see the doctor doing it.

In Space Babies he is scared of a new creature. In the Devil's Code he sings a song that makes little sense in the story, he doesn't question the road making noise. In Boom he's more himself but it's also the closes to his 'normal' environment. In 73 Yards they just fully remove him from the story, which I realise was done for filming requirements but would have been so interesting to see the doctor in a Political drama. In Dot and Bubble he plays the role of the outsider bringing information to those living under a Dystopia, how is he UNABLE to access the inside, sure he plays a role that's fairly similar to himself but Doctor Who is really Dystopian.

In Rogue he is becoming more and more his role, he is playing the role of a sort of Elizabeth Bennet style character, a strong romantic interest for the brooding man. Which is great, he makes fun of the genre, but he is hyper aware of the genre and still ends up in its pitfalls. He trusts a man so quickly he ends up handing over his sonic, he gets proposed to and basically immediately accepts. Now I am really hoping that Rogue gets to stay around I really liked him as a character, regardless of which theory of his identity if any are true. But the Doctors reaction to him is still a little out of character, he is feeling what he is SUPPOSED to feel and he is acting how he is SUPPOSED to act.

It just feels to me like an increasing number of these episodes are more and more story like and more and more separated from the more Doctor Who elements. And the lack of an introduction of how they get there, and the lack of them leaving in the TARDIS is so unusual to me and stands out to my brain so much.

It feels like they are removing elements that don't fit the genre. Anyway not sure if that makes any sense but I'm vibing with it.

[zombiebastian]

Talking about the Sonic 3 movie, so if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to be spoiled don't click below

Anyways. So at the end of the movie there are 2 end credit scenes, one where we see Metal Sonic and Amy Rose for the first time. But there is also one at the very end where we find out Shadow is alive. When I went to the cinema to see this film literally everyone in the theatre other than me, my family and like 2 other people had left before this second end credit scene with Shadow, heck at least half of them had also left before they got to see Metal Sonic and Amy

So I'm starting to wonder how many kids who aren't familiar with Sonic game lore (because come on even if that end credit scene wasn't a thing, those familiar with Sonic lore know Shadow would probably come back next movie cause he came back in Heroes after "dying" in Adventure 2) actually think Shadow is dead and gone forever and will never come back in the next movie

I pity those kids man, if I thought Shadow was dead forever I'd cry my eyeballs out he's my favourite Sonic character in both the games, movies and the cartoons (well Knuckles is actually my favourite in Sonic Boom cause Shadow doesn't show up often in that series but you get my point)

[sonicjustbecause]

Sega mandate one by one - what I think

Game characters cannot have relatives unless they're established in the game canon (Cream the Rabbit, Battle Kukku XVI, Eggman and Shadow the Hedgehog being the only exceptions, as they're the only game-related characters to have physically present parents (Black Doom, Great Battle Kukku XV, Gerald and Vanilla)). (SatAM characters are unaffected by this mandate, which may explain why Tundra Walrus aka the post-SGW version of Sherman Walrus is a thing)

I can live with this... Though I like Uncle Chuck

Sonic cannot get overly emotional (which is often paraphrased or misinterpreted as "Sonic can't cry."), since Sega considers it completely out-of-character for Sonic to act like that. (Though we did see Sonic cry in some instances such as Scrapnik Island #4 (albeit with Mecha MK. II's tears) and Archie STH #254).

This one is a bit extreme if not too much extreme. Crying Sonic happened in games (SA2), Sonic X, Sonic Prime... the issue is that eyes had to stay dry (even if this don't make sense). Or that we could not be allowed to see his face. This applies on Japanese media too (and is not a Japan issue since lots of character cry in japanese media, is just Sonic)

Sonic seems to be allowed to cry only when he does it comically

I don't say Sonic must pull his quills when desperate, that would be stupid. But if the contexts requires him crying, he should.

I strongly disagree with this mandate.

The planet cannot be named, as "Mobius" cannot be spoken or mentioned as the name of the planet, and it is not allowed to be called "Earth" either—The only name SEGA confirms that it's simply "Sonic's world". (Though Mobius is used in the Paramount universe)

I'm neutral about this. But Moebius is a nice name, it should stick around the fandom.

Characters restricted to one of the two different time periods cannot appear in the other time period and vice versa. As Mighty, Ray, the Hooligans, Trip, Battle Kukku Army, and possibly even Tails Doll and Metal Knuckles are restricted to the classic time period and are banned to appear in modern material. And even though the infamous "Two Universes" mandate being retconned since November 2022, the characters restricted to certain time periods are STILL unable to appear in the other time period and vice versa.

This one is fair. There are already too many characters in the sonic franchise, most are not even interesting. I would even cut off more characters (In reality I would do nothing with this , that would be unfair toward the fans)

Sonic always has to win. Even if Eggman does get the upper hand for a short period, Sonic has to immediately overcome him.

It is not what happens in most stories? (not only Sonic's)

None of the game characters can have a steady relationship, and Amy cannot like anyone but Sonic. Sonic and Amy cannot date at all as they would lose their dynamic. (SatAM characters are unaffected by this mandate)

This is fair.

Characters and material from other licensed properties and past incarnations of the franchise (Sonic the Comic, Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Sonic Underground, the OVA and Sonic X) cannot be used. This is due to a combination of legal issues (at least in the case of the nasty legal battles regarding the Archie Sonic comics, since their entire character roster and the SATAM cast are now hanging in legal limbo) and, per word of Ian Flynn, Sega simply not being keen on giving attention to past incarnations of Sonic that aren't their own and wanting to keep the focus on Modern Sonic product, and have thus forbidden using them. Elements and characters from the Paramount films and even the Sonic Boom universe (except Sticks) are also forbidden.

This is also fair, too much is too much. (personally I would save uncle Chuck and Stone, but here things are more complicate than just mandates)

No characters can be killed-off.

Fair

None of the cast are allowed to change their wardrobe or wear any different wardrobe at allunless approved.

At least they should change according to the outside temperature.

According to Ian Flynn, Sega says that Team Dark are not a consistent thing and the name is strictly a marketing term. In other words, the three of them are not an organized team and often spend most of the time doing their own things, and seem to work for G.U.N. as freelancers as opposed to agents in their employ. Shadow apparently also doesn't consider Rouge and Omega "friends" (though Sonic Battle shows that he prefers to call them his "allies" instead, given his emotionally distant personality).

Disagree. They, at least Rouge and Shadow, have been shown to be friends. Rouge in games tried to cheer up Shadow many times and to stay on his side in his bad moments. Shadow also did something like this once.

Omega is a machine that is learning how to recognize emotions. in Snic 2006 he felt guilty when he aknowledge what the would do un the future.

Male characters that aren't humans, can't wear pants.

Quite extreme.

Naming the animals Mobians is banned.

Already talked about Mobius. Same applies here

Characters and elements from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood are off-limits too, likely due to a combination of the game taking elements of the Archieverse, the game being non-canon, SEGA keeping Knuckles as the last echidna, the lawsuit of Electronic Arts/EA and SEGA by Ken Penders from 2011 and to not to get into trouble with Ken Penders despite him not owning the characters.

Fair. I liked Sonic Chronicles personally, but Penders seems to be uncontrollable over the echidnas. His stories in Archie often get a little bit too weird.

[tobiasdrake]

As a Sonic fan since as far back as i can remember, i don't care for the Sonic Movies. I didn't mind at first but learning that Paramount is Pro-Israel made me rethink a lot of Sonic's character in those movies. Sonic is one of my favorite characters in the franchise (along with Amy) so i can be particular about how Sonic is portrayed (i don't like IDW Sonic). I don't mind different takes but if you don't get him right where it counts i'm gonna complain. I also don't like Knuckles at all in the movies and Tails feels unbelievably tacked on.

I can understand that. I do like... well, Sonic 2, specifically. I think that one has more good than bad, though I'm less fond of Sonic 1 and the Knux show. But I do have my beefs with all of them.

Like. I love Jim Carrey's Eggman, but he's also definitely more Jim Carrey than Eggman. He's very entertaining, somehow managing to be even more of a cartoon character than the CGI anthro protagonists.

Knux is... complicated? Like. I think there's a lot of pushback in the Sonic environment right now against the idea of Knuckles as a dim-witted brute, because that was a popular portrayal for a while. Sonic Boom comes immediately to mind.

Sonic Movie Knux was hailed as a brilliant portrayal because they didn't play him as stupid, but instead focused on him as a proud warrior clan type. But also... they kinda did play him as stupid? It's just that they were making "Knux doesn't get it because of culture shock" jokes instead of "Knux is just stupid" jokes. Which is really just a different angle on the same thing.

I think Idris Elba's performance carried a lot of his reception. Also that a lot of his stupid moments are funny. But. Like. The complaint was never that he wasn't funny. Boom Knuckles is funny too. It still sucks to see him reduced to a comical goon.

Contrast his portrayal in Frontiers. Frontiers Knuckles actually gets to express his knowledge and expertise. He talks at length about Angel Island history and architecture, comparing them to the current environment; Things that would reasonably be within his field of expertise.

And then there's Tom....

...

...

...existing, honestly? I don't like Tom. He's here because Paramount has no faith in the Sonic IP to carry a film and thinks the audience really wants to see a relatable self-insert in order to be invested in the film.

You're not really supposed to be rooting for Sonic as "the protagonist". You're supposed to be rooting for Sonic as "my kid". The films are made from the P.O.V. of cheering from the stands while your ten-year-old hits a home run in his Little League game. You're meant to be proud of Sonic, not to relate to Sonic.

Which kinda sucks by itself but also the guy they think is a relatable self-insert to project onto? Is a smug white rural cop who yearns to be a Big City Police Officer and has conspicuously unexplored drama with his wife's sister.

Like, Rachel violently despises him for reasons that the films refuse to examine, because they just want to use her to make Sassy Black Woman jokes. And haven't really thought through how it looks when Maddie is married to a fucking cop that her sister ambiguously but firmly insists is the scum of the earth. The implications there went straight over the filmmakers' heads.

It's all just... There's a lot. They made bad decisions with Sonic 1 but managed to find enough success at the box office to justify sequels, and now those bad decisions are baked in. Paramount thinks that's what people want to see. They think people want a Knuckles series that's about another white cop with an alleged heart of gold battling the feds and confronting his personal family drama, guest-starring Knuckles the Echidna.

I like the movies enough to check them out. The second one was a fine enough "Turn your brain off and just look at the lights and sounds" film. I actually had a blast with the "Maddie and Rachel beat the shit out of a bunch of cops" scene that everyone hates. The fights between Sonic and Knux were a lot of fun. Carreyman and Stone steal every scene they're in.

But it is all very not-Sonic.

[the-starlight-project]

About the answers to the theory ask- WDYM?? DOES SONIC/NIKKY HAVE SIBLINGS?? IS IT SONIA AND MANIC??

Wait r the games the only thing that they’re filimng or did they also film stuff like Sonic Underground-? ANYWAY I RLLY LOVE THIS COMING HUHBLINJSFGLUIGGSRJLRSGBH(UBDG;SHET :O00 ^^ <333💖

We're glad you're enjoying it! I can't say any more about Sonic's (potential) siblings, but I can tell you that TV shows (such as Boom, Underground, SatAM and Prime) were not filmed in this universe! It's mainline (mostly) games only :D

[cozidreamsreimagine]

The Impact of Grunge

Forget polished pop and hairspray-laden hair metal, the early 90s saw a seismic shift in music and culture with the arrival of grunge. More than just ripped jeans and flannel shirts, grunge was a raw, unfiltered expression of angst and disillusionment that resonated with a generation. But what was its lasting impact?

Sonic Boom

Grunge's distorted guitars, raw vocals, and melancholic lyrics challenged the prevailing musical trends. Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden gave voice to a generation feeling alienated and unheard. This sonic rebellion infiltrated mainstream music, influencing countless artists and shaping the soundscape of the 90s and beyond.

Cultural Shift

Grunge wasn't just about the music; it was a cultural phenomenon. It challenged the consumerism and superficiality of the 80s, embracing authenticity and anti-establishment ideals. This "slacker" attitude, with its emphasis on individualism and self-expression, permeated fashion, film, and even literature.

Check out my shop for unique designs and gifts:

A Legacy of Authenticity

While the grunge era may have faded, its impact is undeniable. It reminded us that music can be a powerful tool for social commentary and personal expression. Grunge's legacy of authenticity and raw emotion continues to inspire artists and individuals to embrace their true selves, flaws and all.

[usafphantom2]

Sonic booms certainly had its place in history. David Peters recently told me about flying over Cuba when a Soviet friend of the Cubans was arriving they just happened to be the right place at the right time to leave the signature boom boom. I applaud the X 59 and its effort for passenger air travel mission. But let’s also remember the sonic boom had its place in history,

“No one could believe that we came within two seconds of the mark,’ Colonel Richard “Butch” Sheffield, SR-71 Blackbird RSO.”

The Sound of Freedom. 51 years ago, on May 2, 1972.

During the Vietnam War, the word was out that the prisoners that the Vietnamese had captured were being tortured. They were struggling to find a plan to rescue the POWs. Attempts to escape had been met with beatings for the entire camp of prisoners of war if one person attempted to escape. In May 1972 a new plan was installed telling the POWs that if they hear the sound of thunder that they were to escape and run down to the river where there would be Navy SEALs waiting to rescue them. There was disagreement among the inmates about whether to risk another escape. A senior POW convinced them that it wasn’t right to make everyone in the camp suffer if they were captured during the escape. Without knowing that the POWs were not going to escape the plan went forth.

The plan was for two SR-71 Blackbird spy planes to fly over the Hanoi Hilton.

The flight plan was to fly the SR‘s so close that their sonic booms would be only 30 seconds apart. On May 2 and May 4 this happened. POW signal, May 2, 1972, SR-71 number, 979, first of three aircraft. The first indication I had that we might fly a mission like this, (where two SR-71 would crisscross over North Vietnam thirty seconds apart), was when one of the planners asked me at the OL “how close, in time, can you come over a point on the ground?” I told him, “as close as you want.” I don’t think he believed me because he said, “can you come to the point within thirty seconds to two minutes?” I said, “of course, we can control airspeed and reach the point at the time you want us to be at the point in space.”We had this capability because we had insisted at Edwards’, in 1965, that we know the time to the next point, (time to go) something the computer experts and engineers at Edwards’ never thought about and never understood why we needed this information.

Flying the mission was easy. All we asked for was a destination point be placed in the computer where they wanted us to be and the time to be there.

The mission planners told us to make it as close to thirty seconds as we could and they realized that would be very hard to do because we would be closing on each other at a combined speed of Mach six. Bob Spencer and I, Richard “Butch” Sheffield we were the senior crew in the wing at the time, and Chief of the Standardization Division; were selected to lead both the missions and take off first. Darrel Cobb and Reg Blackwell was the spare crew and took off later to position themselves to replace either aircraft. Tom Pugh and Ron Rice took off about an hour later and met us over Hanoi.

After refueling over Thailand, we climbed to altitude and heading north along the China boarder. Once we reach the speed were our inlets and spikes programmed properly, we clicked our mike to single Cobb and Blackwell that we were OK and going on to the target. They flew a random course back to Kadena. About three days after we landed back at Kadena, the staff decided to look at Cobb and Blackwell’s film collected on the random course back to Kadena. A POW camp was found.

On May 4, 1972 we did it all over again the same exact mission (SR-71 number 980, first of three).

Same results, but we shaved one half second off the separation time to thirty-one and one half second.

I am proud of my father that he participated in and helped in the planning of the mission of the sound of freedom.`Linda Sheffield

@Habubrats71 via X

[michdoodles]

mmk, so my thoughts on Sonic movie 3

I very much enjoyed myself watching this movie although I did find that the jokes were pretty darn corny but I knew they would be corny heading in and I still laughed at them so corny but funny. Jim Carrey had no right having so much chemistry with himself in a silly goofy dance scene no less. It was annoying watching eggman/Robotnik call Gerald anything but grandpa like a normal person but I also cringe inside when Boom!eggman tries to use "hip" language so that's just me not liking boomers and early gen x trying to sound like stereotypical gen z teens lol (and I've personally never heard teenagers say stuff like that so come on, writers. Get off of tiktok please). Gerald as a character was also weirdly wacky in this but he was being played by Jim Carrey, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything like the game characterization lol. Speaking of characterization, Shadow's was great! I am stealing that revenge guac line. But seeing him dream with Maria and relive the ptsd of her death and the relationship they had with each other was very good, better than what Sega did to him during the 2010s (good thing I was out of the loop then). That moment where he sees Sonic's reaction to injured Tom and has the flashback to Maria... yeah. But boy still had his mind on revenge and we needed the movie to be nearly two hours long so he doesn't let that change his trajectory, yet. Rewriting his backstory so that he was not made by Gerald but discovered inside a meteorite is alright, his canon backstory in the games isn't realistic in any way so I get it, and this will likely lead up to introducing the Black Arms to the SCU.

But since I am on the subject of Shadow here, what I did not like was that they don't give you time to let it sink in that Shadow has um, "died". I say it in quotes because we saw no body but the explosion is meant to make you assume he's dead. Also, if the games didn't kill off Shadow for good, what makes you think these lighthearted comedy films for the family will? I mean, the end credit scene introduces Metal Sonic, who can only really have been made by Robotnik so I'm assuming neither he nor Shadow are really dead cuz he probably used Shadow's quills as a power source now that they're talking about Chaos energy. But anyway, instead of the movie giving you the time to realize oh wait, Shadow sacrificed himself and just let you sit on that feeling of this poor alien hedgehog who had everything taken away from him dying for the good of humanity because that's what his human sister would have wanted, Tails did an exposition and just... tells you. And then Team Sonic has their moment or whatever, it just... didn't feel quite right. Whereas in Sonic Adventure 2, you have the whole cast just being like "wow, that just happened", Sonic gifting Rouge Shadow's inhibitor ring, the image of Shadow superimposed over the earth... I get emotional thinking of that part and I haven't reached it in my own gameplay. There was like literally no time to get emotional during the movie. It's like Tails pretty much said "Shadow and eggman died" and they move on even tho Sonic was the one that had the moment with Shadow that helps turn him around, that they teamed up to save the earth, they had a BONDING MOMENT. WHY AREN'T YOU MOURNING HIM MORE??? Probably just the executives butting in and saying "nooooo, don't make the kiddies cry, they're here to laugh and make us money enjoy themselves with silly talking superpowered animals!" They did Shadow so much good for his characterization in this movie and then just sweep him under the rug like that? Nawwwwr

I have more thoughts on the movie but I ranted enough lol. Still think it was worth going to the theater for, and like I said, it was a fun watch and I liked it. Just kinda mad with how they ended things with Shadow... for now. And I was quite excited to see them introduce both Metal and Amy, yay! Am I excited for Sonic movie 4? Not really, as this is starting to look like the mcu and I say that as someone that was a big fan of the mcu back in the day and had a freaking crush on Tom Hiddleston because of it. But, I'll probably watch it anyway cuz there's no way three movies can condense the vast amount of history, stories, and characters that exist in Sonic's universe[s]. As long as they don't make another Knuckles show that focuses more on human OCs than the titular anthropomorphic character, we should be fine.