#that’s adventures of sonic the hedgehog!!! my favorite of the sonic shows because the dynamic reminds me of me and my baby sister :) guy who

[tacit-semantics]

Wait!!!! Aosth dvd at the goodwill today!!!!!

[crowsandturtlesandbatsohmy]

Sonic and Sonic 2

So. The past two days were movie days for me. XD Here are the other two films I watched and some brief thoughts I had.

WARNING: Spoilers and a very brief rant about each film because most of my feelings are still too incoherent to put into words.

Okay, so when I was younger I watched a few Sonic shows! It was never a huge interest for me the way Batman was, but I enjoyed the shows I watched. One was the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and another was Sonic Underground, and the last was Sonic the Hedgehog (I think I’ve seen it abbreviated as SatAM?) ANYWAYS, I didn’t grow up on Sonic the way I know some people did, but I’m at least familiar with Sonic and Tails and Robotnik and Knuckles. I know of Shadow but I know nothing about him :P

Okay, context for where I’m coming at this from given, now into my thoughts on the movies!

Sonic

Okay so first I had to get over the fact that Ben Schwartz is Sonic because I kept hearing Leo XD. But now that I’m used to it, I really can’t imagine anyone else in the role? He did a great job!

Also, Jim Carrey as Robotnik? Heck yes. I wouldn’t classify myself as Jim Carrey fan because I’ve only ever seen him in one other thing, and that was as Riddler in Batman Forever. But I really enjoyed him in that, so I fully expected to enjoy him in this too, and I was right! I’m amazed at his physical comedy abilities tbh.

I admittedly can’t get super into my thoughts because most of them aren’t super coherent right now (because I loved it so much that they’re all just a jumble of positive vibes), BUT, I want to talk about it some so here I am.

I loved watching Sonic play baseball with himself, as sad as it was. And then him getting upset afterwards and running the bases to try and shake it off? Poor little guy :(

I loved his dynamic with Tom! The whole time I was like “Yeah, that’s your Son now. Congrats, it’s a hedgehog.”

The backstory for Sonic’s iconic shoes was super sweet!!

I love how they just adopted him at the end :) It made me incredibly happy!

I will say I for one thought there was a distinct lack of Tails, so I’m very glad that was remedied in Sonic 2.

Sonic 2

Tails is precious and Knuckles cracks me up XD.

So, this was definitely my favorite of the two movies. But Tails was always my favorite, even when I was younger. He just adds something I can’t quite put into words but that is so important!

Anyways, the dynamic between Sonic and Tails was super cute! Exactly what I was looking for :) Although I will say I think we should’ve gotten a second hug towards the end after Sonic pushed him off earlier (no the group hug doesn’t count)

Knuckles was hilarious. I couldn’t see him as a villain tbh. I was just sitting there going “Yeah, you go get your emerald, honey!” (Bear in mind my only experience with Knuckles is from Sonic Underground where the emerald was his to protect and his alone). The “Dot dot dot. Dot, dot, dot. Dot—” was excellent and his theatrical way of speaking was perfect and honestly I just loved Knuckles? Also the ending scene where he goes “My victory chariot awaits!” And flops onto the truck? I was dying!! The sound of him hitting the truck and watching the truck rock back and forth somehow broke me? XD I’m very easily amused, what can I say ;)

I love their little family to death and I can’t wait for Sonic 3!! Eeek!! I’m so excited for Shadow!

Tbh even though I know next to nothing about him, I’ve always loved how Shadow is designed and his general vibes and stuff. He was one of my mains in Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games just because little me loved his vibe. (My other main was Tails, if anyone was curious. Also does anyone remember that game??) ALSO THEY GAVE HIM A MOTORCYCLE AND EXPECTED ME TO NOT IMMEDIATELY FREAK OUT!?? I THINK NOT!

TLDR: I’m joining the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom because I really enjoyed the movies! I probably won’t engage in much creation because I have so many other fandoms I already do that for, but if anyone has any good Gen-Gen Fic recs or T-Gen Fic recs, send ‘em my way! My only rule is no romance :)

I feel like these definitely have comfort movie potential. Especially Sonic 2.

[ramblingguy54]

Sonic Movie 2: The Brotherly Sonic & Tails Scene I Wanted

                                SPOILERS AHEAD, DUH.

     One of my expectations going into this film yesterday was seeing Sonic take up the mantle of big brother to Tails and did it do more than deliver. It gave an emotionally charged adorable moment of fluff when they were winding down after that big dance number. Loved they put Sonic in the very same position of Tom Wachowski previously showing someone the ropes, as well as being there for Tails solitude. Sonic & Tails brother dynamic has always been one of my favorite aspects of their characterization because they both inspire each other to become stronger. Seeing the film recapture the magic I felt from it in games like Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 to say was a real treat is an understatement, naturally.

    It’s funny and meta as Hell to have Tails been keeping tabs on Sonic, since that big energy blast reading from the first film. Now Sonic gets to be in the shoes of what Tom felt like having someone being inspired by his antics for awhile, despite never knowing he was becoming a future role model to another person, or in this case two tailed genius. Sonic instantly clicks with Tails feeling so alone, despite Miles being around his own kind, due to getting made fun of for being the only fox in his village to have two tails. He was always looked at as out of place, instead of receiving fair treatment, which in retrospect is as equally painful toward Sonic’s solitude having to hide himself all those years.

     Tails had a community, who was supposed to be there for him, and they failed to ever make this kid feel included in their way of life. Keeping tabs on him in case of future dangers wasn’t his only reason obviously, as seeing Sonic embrace being who he is allowed Tails to gain confidence in asserting himself enough to go out there and protect the hedgehog from Dr. Eggman’s malicious intentions. It’s heartwarming and extremely consistent to what Tails’ personality is all about from being a shy, albeit lonely, kid toward becoming confident in who he is, due to watching Sonic from afar. Such a simple moment, but effective.

     My heart melted seeing Sonic empathize a huge deal with Tails’ reasoning for joining him in his quest. Sonic sees underneath the genius and his two tailed ability knowing he’s just a kid, who has only ever wanted companionship. I was hoping they’d go there with Tails relating strongly to this iteration’s of Sonic’s backstory feeling said sting being on their own for years. I’m happy it didn’t take long for Sonic to grow into the role big brother Wachowski more or less, since why wouldn’t he? Deep down Sonic always wanted a family to call his own after losing his mother Longclaw. Sonic may have rejected the idea of calling Tom his dad at first, but meeting Tails reminded him of the family values he holds.

     If Sonic can show Tails how Earth is and become the friend/family Miles never had, then he can in turn amend that grief of losing his mother. He can truly earn his moment of what it means to be a hero in taking responsibility for helping someone find their place. The building blocks were there for a damn great moment between these two and I’m ecstatic they didn’t choose to overlook it. This is how you pay tribute to what makes Sonic & Tails friendship inspiring.

     Like Wachowski father, like Hedgehog son. It’s absolutely sweet Sonic does for Tails, what Tom did for him before with this blanket callback to the hotel scene. Sonic’s doing his best to pass on what compassion he has experienced. The same compassion that made him choose to stay on Earth and not run away to another dimension. Now he has something new to protect with Tails as a mentor figure of sorts. Sonic wants him to know he’ll be there for him, always.

     The best and most cutest part of all from their scene together? Miles wrapping his two tails around Sonic to give him warmth. Holy shit, just when I thought this scene couldn’t get any cuter it throws me a curve ball at the end of it. It’s utterly wholesome and poetic because Tails had always been mocked for how different he was from other foxes in his tribe, but now those very things are being used to help give warmth toward another. Some part of Tails had likely hated being born so different from others and used his skills for building tech to cope with it all. However, after seeing and meeting Sonic everything changed.

     Tails embraces who he is and accepts his “weirdness”, overall.

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer, Issue #2: Fallout (Part 2)

This story follows up the last one, with Sonic continuing to smash his way through Badniks and saving another town from a Badnik. Considering how these first few Issues focus on introducing Sonic and his friends, we already know by the cover who is going to appear this time.

As expected, Amy appears to save Sonic from a Badnik, having come to this town to find him.

Now, before I continue, I want to let you guys know that I like Amy, especially how she’s portrayed in the more modern Sonic media, like Sonic Boom, where her Sonic!Fangirl tendencies have been toned down, showing more of her independent, adventurous and level-headed side.

I’m also aware that there had been several complaints on how Amy acts too much like Sally, having taken on a leadership role in the Resistance, but I feel like those complaints make absolutely no sense. Not only is this a new continuity without the Freedom Fighters (meaning that, shock! horror! someone has to step up to be a leader), but Amy and Sally act nothing alike as leaders in their respective universes. Sally was raised to be a leader, having taken the role since she was very young, meaning she also has more experience when it came to leadership. Amy, on the other hand, has grown into the leader role during this story, and in future Issues openly admits that she’d rather go on adventures with Sonic. Not to mention, Amy being a leader is nothing new. After all, she was the leader of Team Rose in Sonic Heroes, meaning that she’s more than capable for the role.

Also, don’t bother dragging me into any shipping wars. While I heavily dislike SEGA’s mandates, the one regarding there being no romance doesn’t bother me as much. I think that this is one of the better mandates, simply to avoid any unnecessary romance drama that had plagued Archie!Sonic for ages, and Amy still has her crush on Sonic, which I approve of. I’ll just add here that I support Sonamy and Knuxouge (even though my favorite OTP is neither of them) and leave it at that.

Anyways, back to the action. After some teasing between the two, Amy basically tells Sonic that she wants him to rejoin the Resistance. Sonic obviously refuses, preferring to save people in his own way which, in my opinion, is completely fine. Sonic is a free spirit who lives his life by his way. His own way. That has been his philosophy his whole life and while he will help anyone he comes across, he won’t change his way of life.

AND AMY RESPECTS THAT!

Honestly, this whole situation reminded me of that awfully written moment in Archie!Sonic. Do you guys remember “The Slap”? Yeah, you probably don’t want to get reminded of that, but to keep it as painless as possible, Sally slaps Sonic and calls him selfish just because he wanted to go back right to fighting Eggman after he went missing for a year (admittedly, she was also under a lot of stress at that point; but still, not cool!). In one panel, you saw everything wrong with Archie!Sonic until up to that point (verbally, artistically and editorially).

Compare this to Amy’s reaction and how she was written here. She tries to constantly convince Sonic to join the Resistance, but in the end accepts that she simply cannot change his mind. She has known Sonic for a long time and respects his wishes. At the same time, Sonic offers her to join him as he frees other towns, but Amy refuses, as she’s the one who keeps everything in order.

Neither of them are holding each other back, instead encouraging each other to complete their respective missions, and it is something I love about their dynamic.

By the end of the story, we also see Orbot and Cubot talking to this mysterious person, whom we’re supposed to assume is Dr. Eggman, as well as showing us an image of two new characters.

Links:

#Previous Issue

#Next Issue

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)  

[potatoes-tomatoes]

Ask ship game: Garucca and sonamy

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO TALK ABOUT MY SHIPS BRO

Garucca

 What Made you Ship it?

I shipped it because I loved the show. It was charming, fast-paced, and very very chaotic. (I’m of the mindset Sooga Village is secluded because no one with a grain of sanity dares to approach it). Anyways, I loved the show, so I loved Garu and Pucca’s chase as well. Pretty basic, but I was 6. What can ya do lol

 What are your favorite things about the ship?

Their chase makes for great silent comedy! In both the flash shorts and the show, I never grew bored of their chase. Garu and Pucca are CRAZY skilled and strong, so their chases always led to some cosmic and death-defying hijinks. Aside from their gimmick, the love pucca and Garu have for each other is very sweet and innocent (at least, in the flash shorts…I’ll explain that later). I love it! Garu’s just very serious and shy, and Pucca’s so energetic and full of love that it can be overwhelming, but it’s always true. I love Garu’s subtlety in expressing his affection for pucca, like caring for a tree that meant a lot to her or admiring her strength and tenacity when she isn’t looking.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Growing up I never noticed how... uninterested Garu was in the Jetix series. I think my contention with Pucca and Garu’s behavior occurred during the premiere of Full Moon Pucca. I FREAKED OUT as a kid and still remember exactly how I felt during the premiere: I fangirled when Garu kissed her back, was interested when I saw Pucca was FINALLY getting a taste of her own medicine… and then confused when the show rewarded her for setting things back to normal and her not learning a single thing. I wrote a whole post comparing 00s Garu and modern Garu lmao if I wasn’t nerdy enough.

Like, ok, Pucca’s strong affection is still there, but she never respects Garu’s privacy or space. She ignores his cues and continues to smother him and Garu DOES NOT like pucca at all, either as a friend or crush. Unpopular opinion here, but I can’t watch the show (even for nostalgia’s sake) without getting uncomfortable abt pucca and Garu’s dynamic, even though I LOVE the residents of Sooga Village. I’ll stick with the shorts for Pucca/Garu interaction.

 Sonamy

LETS FUCKING GOOOO

What Made you Ship it?

I have. A confession to make,

When I first got into sonic, I shipped sonic and blaze. Like, big time!! I drew art of them, looked up art, looked at amvs,  I shipped them pretty hard for a while. and then I got my hands on what is still my favorite sonic game to this day: Sonic Unleashed. I was completely caught by surprise when Amy appeared. I was like, “who is “Amy Rose”? Sonic has another love interest? This feels so random.” But Sonic reacted in a way I had NEVER seen before. He became visibly insecure about his werehog form, he got tongue-tied when trying to reach out to Amy, he couldn’t be cheered up when she ran away, and when he had to rescue her, Sonic the Fucking Hedgehog got shy. SHY.  I didn’t know Sonic could have these emotions.

And then I started to talk to her, and my lil 8-year-old heart loved how she encouraged Sonic. She seemed to say the things I would say to the screen while playing (“why is no one helping Sonic out? He deserves more thanks.”” Sonic! Don’t be sad about your image, you’re still Sonic!”) And I realized she was the ONLY character in the game to reassure Sonic he was still himself, that she still loved him and she was SO angry that Sonic was running around doing all this hero work and hardly anyone was thanking him enough. I fell in love with Amy’s character, and felt her asking Sonic on a date was earned. The rest is history!

What are your favorite things about the ship?

As I said earlier, Amy brings out the emotions in Sonic would never show otherwise. He grows skittish, awkward, nervous, loses that cool demeanor.  It really adds to his character and makes him seem less one-note. And I love how Sonic inspired Amy to take charge in her life. She starts out as an everyday person, someone who admires sonic. Then she starts training to solely earn his affection and then realizes she’d rather have his respect. (HUGE growth for her!) Amy is who she is today because of her own strength, yes, but Sonic inspired her more than anything else. I think the best kind of romance is when the characters inspire each other, it’s more meaningful.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

This isn’t totally unpopular, but I don’t believe it was love at first sight. For Amy it was, absolutely, she just grew more mature. But for Sonic I believe he fell slowly. In the classic era he’s annoyed by her (though definitely intrigued by her tenacity), in the adventure era he includes her, and by the time unleashed happens he’s open to the idea of dating her (as long as she’s the one asking haha. Shy boy.) They have their first date after the events of unleashed, YEARS after they know each other. My guys, this is a slow burn all the way.

By the time we’re in idw the feelings are mutual ( I’m of the belief sonic has his “italics oh no” moment when he realizes how much she’s grown in issue 2. Sonic just has issues with intimacy isn’t interested in dating and we get to reap the benefits of their playful cat n mouse chase.  I think that’s adorableeee and oddly down to earth in a series full of wacky anthro characters and casual God Murdering.

[darkqueenofshadows85]

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) Film Review

Introduction

Greetings, mortals! For today's review, we'll be looking at Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog (2020).

So, I've been thinking... since I've already covered the storylines of the mainline games, as well as the storylines of spin-off titles such as the Sonic Riders trilogy and the Sonic Boom game trilogy in my previous reviews, I've decided to write reviews of some of Sonic's adventures outside of the games as well, starting with the 2020 film.

I do plan on writing reviews of Sonic SatAM, Sonic Underground and Sonic X at some point in the future, and I also plan on reviewing Sonic Prime and the Sonic movie sequel as soon as I get the chance to do so. I may or may not review the Sonic OVA (I haven't really decided yet). I won't be reviewing Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog or the Sonic Boom TV series because A) they have no plot, B) there's not much I can really say about AoSTH other than it's just weird, and C) I've already expressed my great disdain towards the Sonic Boom branding as a whole in my previous posts (including my scathing review of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric), so by reviewing the TV series, I feel like I'd be beating a dead horse at this point.

This is part of a series of reviews in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on various Sonic TV shows and movies, and why I think they're either well written and engaging, or an absolute trainwreck (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on the character portrayals, visuals, soundtracks, voice actors (and actors in general), and what themes/messages they had to offer. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions!

Anyway, let us begin! ^^

Plot

Sonic tries to navigate the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound best friend, a human named Tom Wachowski. They must soon join forces to prevent the evil Dr. Robotnik from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination.

Characters

First if all, I LOVE how Sonic was depicted in this movie, and I personally consider this to be my favorite depiction of the character outside of the games (besides Sonic X of course). I love his design, voice, and how his personality is overall quite accurate to the Sonic we had before Roger Craig Smith and the Pontaff duo. It's like they combined the youthful, energetic cockiness of Ryan Drummond's Sonic with the earnest, good-hearted nature of Jason Griffith's Sonic and wrapped it up into one extremely adorable and charming package. His relationship and dynamic with Tom was super cute as well ^w^

Speaking of Tom, I honestly think he's one of the best human characters in the Sonic franchise, and he's a much better human companion for Sonic than Chris Thorndyke ever was. Sure, he did serve a similar purpose in the narrative to Chris (befriending Sonic, providing Sonic with a home, protecting Sonic from the government and authorities, etc.), but without any of the dislikable traits that made Chris such a reviled character within the fandom. As I said before, the relationship between Sonic and Tom is super cute and you do become invested in it.

Every good film needs a great bad guy and Dr. Robotnik is hilariously deranged, as the unhinged mad scientist on a one man vendetta to try and hunt down Sonic. After the majority of the Meta Era titles depicted him as a complete joke, I'd say this movie definitely got his character right, as it managed to make him both funny and scarily psychotic at the same time. I also like how he gradually transforms into the Eggman we know from the game series, to the point where he even does a Mike Pollock impression in the mid-credits scene he appears in.

Visuals

The CG effects and cinematography looked AMAZING in my opinion, and I especially love Sonic's new design. I have immense amounts of respect for Paramount and the crew who worked on this movie for caring about the fans and the audience. I was legitimately horrified when I saw Sonic's old design in the first trailer, and when I found out that they were redesigning Sonic due to the backlash, I was shocked. I never thought a studio would listen to our voice, and oh was our voice heard. Big respect to you, Paramount. Your love and care for the fans is greatly appreciated 👍

Fun fact: Blur Studio, who worked on the special effects for this movie, also did the CGI cutscenes for Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06.

Soundtrack

I think the soundtrack is pretty good for the most part, and the end credits theme, Speed Me Up, is actually pretty catchy. The only thing that would have made this soundtrack truly complete in my eyes are some top tier Crush 40 tracks. Maybe they'll incorporate that into the sequel, who knows?

Acting

Ben Schwartz was a great pick to provide the voice and motion-capture of Sonic himself, both emanating the character's trademark cocky attitude while also showcasing his loneliness and longing for true friendship. This, in turn, makes him more relatable to the audience and causes him to have more human traits than some of the actual people in the film.

James Marsden also gave a likeable performance as Tom Wachowski, not merely being relegated to the straight man role but also having his fair share of funny moments as well.

Jim Carrey did a fantastic job playing Dr. Robotnik, who will eventually adopt the name Eggman. He really succeeded in making him funny, scary and dangerous, all at the same time. We know that he's not physically the same from the original Robotnik, but the statements, the movements and even the humor is Robotnik and Jim made it well. Mike Pollock may be the definitive Eggman actor for the game series, but when it comes to Paramount's take on the character, I honestly don't think anyone could have pulled it off better than Jim Carrey did.

The supporting actors were all great as well. Natasha Rothwell (Rachel), Adam Pally (Wade) and Frank C. Turner (Crazy Carl) brought some nice bits of funny comedy to the picture, while Tika Sumpter (Maddie) and Melody Niemann (Jojo) brought more touching moments. Neal McDonough (Major Bennington) had one scene and to be honest, the only particularly memorable moment from that one scene is when Dr. Robotnik immediately declares himself superior to Major Bennington and mouths off to him. Also, I LOVE the dynamic and relationship between Jim Carrey (Robotnik) and Lee Majdoub (Agent Stone). These two... They bring me to near tears...

Theme/Message

There is some emotion to the movie and a theme that anyone can relate to: overcoming loneliness. Sonic feels lonely and wants a friend. When he meets Tom, a police officer, they develop a great friendship, but they have to face Dr. Robotnik who is obsessed with everything fast and wants to experiment on Sonic. In their journey, both learn that they don't have to run away from their problems. The message of this film is that friends in our lives bring us the most joy and they are the family we choose. And in my opinion, it's a really sweet, wholesome, touching and very relatable message that gives the movie depth and meaning, making for an overall cute, wholesome and heartfelt experience ^w^

Conclusion

Overall, I personally consider this to be an AMAZING movie, and one of my favorite pieces of Sonic media outside of the games next to Sonic X, Sonic Underground and the reboot Archie comics. It's cute, funny, witty, fast-paced, heartwarming, action-packed and overall highly entertaining. I think Sonic is 100% absolutely adorable and all the characters are so fun to watch. There are a lot of action scenes and fantastic visuals in the film as well. The music adds so much energy; it is catchy and upbeat. There are plenty of Easter eggs and nods to the game series, the script (in my opinion) feels like a nice callback to the Adventure Era games' writing style, and the overall narrative even took a few notes from Sonic X in a sense. Of course, there are some references to modern trends (for example, Sonic flosses at one point in the movie), but they are kept to a minimum likely so that the film will age better.

In short, Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) is absolutely worth your time and I highly recommend it to any fan of the franchise.

Oh, and that post-credits scene with Tails... Hands down, one of the best parts of the movie in my opinion, and I am REALLY looking forward to the sequel >w<

My final score:

5.8/5 (Amazing)

[chaoxfix]

your ideas are so cool my pal! i especially love the themes you're exploring in your stories. i saw a text post you shared earlier about "youth adopting youth" and i had a big AHA moment. i was like, YOU'RE RIGHT. that's the exact type of flavoring in my sonic dynamics that make them SOO interesting. curious what u think of the movies? i find now that sonic has Actual Adoptive Human Parents, that part of his character where sonic is basically is tails' mom + dad + picket fence has no room in the narrative anymore.. which is a bit of a bummer? i mean it's wholesome i guess. but i think sonic was always about how found family can just be a speedy hedgehog, a two-tailed fox and friends, yknow

!! thank you so much!! i’m glad you’re enjoying my fics 🧡🧡🧡

ok first off —

so for those that enjoy the sonic movies— i did too! overall, i have a positive opinion and reception.

for those that love the movie, i really do enjoy the sonic elements to it. it’s fun, it’s cute, the voice acting was great. the writers really nailed it in a lot of areas.

but i have mixed and mostly negative feelings about the human elements of the movies.

i really did want more of a sonic movie. i don’t really… care? about the humans. i loved sonic OVA and other sonic media. i just don’t think we need a human focus or fish out of water storyline to excuse why we’re centering on a video game character. let sonic be the star of the show … in his world … (we even have a cool rock song about it lol)

so here’s my feelings about sonic having human parents vs my ‘youth adopting youth’ feelings:

you’re really right about it feeling like there’s no place for ‘you’re my mom & dad & picked fence’ relationships anymore. and i feel like we lost a lot by replacing youth adopting youth with adults adopting youth.

kids adopting kids is genuinely my favorite trope with sonic. that’s partly because i love adoption stories period… but the thing is, i already get my fill of adults adopting kids plenty with other fandoms. sonic is the only one that really scratches the itch i have for kids/teens looking after other younger kids.

so… my feelings towards the movies kinda reflect that. i’m not against a family storyline, but we already get that storyline in a lot of other non-sonic media. so it makes sonic unique for its found family, kids adopting kids story. the way sonic looks after tails in most sonic media is unique and sweet and super lowkey wholesome when well done. i really liked the stories they can tell and subtle touches they added in the games, sonic x, comics, etc, to show sonic cares about this kid and is in many ways his primary caretaker. its not the focus, sure, but it’s there and it means something to them both.

so by making movie sonic so young and irresponsible, and not making him really responsible for tails long term, instead making sonic’s … parents… responsible for sonic knuckles and tails — it loses the charm of ‘devil may care free spirit contrasted with really caring about his kid brother’. before, the care sonic shows his friends and lil brother added depth to sonics character. but now, well, sonic isn’t fully that carefree character. he’s got a defined family role as the child to two nuclear parents. he can’t just pack up and leave for whatever adventure he wants the way he can in the games, so no devil may care attitude anyway. and the depth of sonic looking after tails is especially lost as 1) sonic isn’t his primary caretaker bc tom and maddie now are, 2) sonic and tails have much more similar maturity levels bc sonic seems way closer in age to tails now, and 3) tails isn’t someone sonic makes a detour for his adventures to look out for as a contrast; there’s not really an ongoing adventure period? and he doesn’t have to slow down to look out for his kid brother if someone else is already doing it.

i also like the dynamic of ‘kids doing their best and still making mistakes’ … whereas tom and maddie are really perfect. in other sonic media and hopefully in my fics, critical analysis of sonics parenting/brothering/guardian style shows it isn’t the healthiest! bc sonic’s 15! duh! he’s gonna get stuff wrong, the important thing is yet he cares! i like the stories ‘kids parenting other kids’ can generate because its unique and fun and has a lot of built in growth and depth, as well as a fun mix of shenanigans and angst when played right.

plus. when you add adults as responsible guardians, characters usually look to them for guidance. whereas in the games… the kids were all the center of the stories. they got to be exclusively responsible for saving the world and all that comes with it, and responsible for each other in really cool and unique ways. sure tom and maddie step back a little in the movies to let their powerful alien kids do their thing, but they’re still central to getting the kids out of danger in a number of scenes.

maddie and tom seem like nice people. they really do! but by including them as parental figures, the teens and kids are no longer able to be their own authority figures. not all the way. and that’s part of what i miss, and part of what i love about other sonic media.

the story the movies tell is very generic kids movie plots meant to reinforce the idea that your parents/guardians should be there and love and support you, which is usually a good thing for kids to see on screen. but it doesn’t have the heart of sonic, because at his heart, sonic as a character is supposed to only be responsible for himself and anything he decides to be responsible for. he’s on his own and he likes it because he can chase adventure to his heart’s content. he loves running and he loves his friends and he loves chasing adrenaline highs.

movie sonic can’t do that if he has parents.

i think the problem kinda lies in one basic element of sonic 2 the movie.

the adventure kicks off while sonics home alone for the first time. after sonics adopted, the second adventure could only occur on this level (sonic can only leave and save the day and become more of a sonic movie and introduce other characters and sonic-esque plots…) because the writers found an excuse to ship maddie and tom off to a wedding and leave sonic alone. sonic doesn’t get to be sonic and go on adventures til they leave.

if the setup for the sonic themes have to only start by exiting the humans… well, maybe the humans don’t need to be there.

anyhow. i still like the movie for a lot of reasons, but at its heart, it only partly felt like a sonic movie. having parents for sonic (and making them primary caregivers for knuckles and tails) irreparably changes a LOT of what of what i love about other sonic media

[magnetothehedgehog]

Dimension’s Ridge Announcement!

Hi everyone, With all the rise in Sonic media and the great releases coming up, such as The New sonic game in 2022,the sonic movie 2, sonic prime, and literally anything Idw has been releasing including their new side series “Imposter syndrome”, I am challenged to up my game and release information on my long running project in the works. Especially Since sonic prime and Idw is literally gonna blow out all the spoilers before I do if I don't start releasing stuff first. Since its been happening constantly, I gotta be a step ahead.

So, without further ado, I introduce you to the World of Dimension's Ridge.

Dimensions Ridge is My personal Alternate Universe that seeks to combine all aspects of sonic media. In fact, its super similar to the upcoming Sonic prime, archie and Idw Comics in this regard, with it possibly being a bit more ambitious, or at least equally as ambitious as Idw.

The Series will follow a number of favorite canon and non canon characters alike, but will also their universal counterparts and alternate universe selves.

The Main overarching plot line is that a Existence level Threat is putting everything in jepoardy. This Creature Known as an Existence Eater spreads its influence to a planet by releasing its minions into it, then after enough time, it comes to absorb the planet, thus erasing it from existence entirely, as if it had never been there in the first place. This has been happening for quite a while, until a few people caught onto it. They began leaving messages and warnings to others in a attempt to save them.

Being an existence level threat, this will take the combined effort of every Version of Sonic,Tails,Sally, Eggman and everyone else if they want anything to be left in the multi-verse. This Story is about how they all come together to do just that.

However that is the main plot. The story follows many minor or sub plotlines and stories that all connect and weave into this ultimate narrative. For Stories featuring Sonic and friends, Stories start off in the classic area and work their way into the modern area as the characters develop and mature, so we get to see and live their journey alongside them. For older characters and parents, I wanted them to have a  more staple involvement in the series, even if only at the beginning. Their Adventures as the World slowly slips into chaos can be read in War on Mobius.

While there are Prequels to the beginning of the story, such as the “Rift War.”, the main storylines that kicks off all the other starts is one of my current productions “War on Mobius.”This follows the economical and political collapse following the Recent End of The Rift War and begins the Egg Empire's rise to Power.I would like to mention that The Egg Empire Now consists of the collective versions of Eggman all working together as a family. Egg Fam for short. But we have Great additions such as boom eggman, Ova Eggman, Aosth Eggman, Satam Eggman, Russian Eggman,Eggette, and a few custom additions such as Omelette and Scramble.

Things That happen in War on Mobius will be seen effecting or influencing the states of things in my Classic Era Story “Classic adventures.” and others ones such as “The Freedom Fighters.”

Alongside canon appearances of less known or scrapped characters and designs, such as Tiara and Honey the Cat, Readers can expect appearances of my own characters, both as counterparts to main characters, and also as people who drive the story forward and show interesting and dynamic opinions of their changing world. A few Such ones would be “Tribal Ties” Focusing on the Tribes of Echidnas, Bayblonians and Pangolins Tribes, all of which play a part not only in Mobius history, but also will play a vital part in its future.

After Classic adventures, comes one of my long running claims to fame and a personal favorite of mine from my early script writing days. Zone Runners. This takes place after the Events of Classic adventures and as the world has been influenced by the political unrest in War on Mobius. It follows the Group of People on the East Side of the World as they try to fight back against the Egg Empire, Newly risen Oscillators Group, and The Very lack of Sonic and Freedom Fighter there. This series will also begin unraveling some of the mysteries behind the existence eater and the ultimate narrative. Originally this concept came from the Fleetway comics, and ever since I've been completely inspired to incorporate this into my own series. If anyone was ever on Sonic Amino, they might have seen me post things related to it back in the day.

I also wish to be a more character focused series as a whole, one who focuses on the people collectively as opposed to just Sonic himself. I want it to as if each character us actually a main character and can save the day, and that the day is only won because everyone has done their part, whether powerful or powerless.

To that End, I have many characters stories intertwine, or lead to one another. Some characters will have branching off stories, while others will be closely intertwined, and always interact with each other, regardless of who the story is currently focusing on.

A few I'd like to notable mention is, Shadow's Ark, Silvers Sanctuary, and Heir of Sol. Focusing on the characters Shadow, Silver, And Blaze Respectively.

While I have a lot of other Titles for the stories respectively, I'd just to touch on a few more before I close.

Worlds collide finally answers the question in sonic media about two planets and the dimensional connundrum of sonic rush and sonic 06. While also bringing together multiple characters who were on their own paths, for the collected purpose of setting up how everyone will be needed much later.

Dimension Forces is, a reimagined Version of Sonic Forces, including a whole new team of villains to take on the heroes from our prior stories. I call them: Forever Force. The Main Three Hitters Being the Villains Infinite, Eternity, And Enigma. In this Story we'll get to see Whispers team in action, and also get to see new stories involving Gadget and His Brother Widget, and a host of other rising heroes soldiers and returning cast members.

I also had this Idea that the wisps were able to use their abilities on their own, except in smaller weaker versions then when they had a mobians help.Thus you could call in drill air strikes and other things to help you in battle, and the flew alongside you rather than in containers. I had these idea way long ago, but what do you know Idw beat me to the punch again in rise of the wisps. However I would just like to say before they do it too, that I had the idea of the wisps combining their powers, as if anyone played Sonic simulator, you would know you can actually combine wisp powers. If its the same type, its twice as strong with a bonus effect. If its different, you can combine the strengths of two different powers. Think how eggman used cube with laser in the boss nega wisp armor.

Speaking of Sonic Simulator! Thats another Story I have plans for. Following alongside the events of Sonic colors, Sonic simulator follows the group of hedgehogs abducted from Mobius and sent to eggman's interstellar amusement park as part of an organic experiment to take out sonic. Suggested by The Leader of the Oscillators, These hedgehogs will now have to work together to prove their worth to Eggman and as worthy adversaries of Sonic! But what of their past memories? What will happen if they remember? And if they do, can they escape? Find out! Also its follow up story leads to sonic lost world.

I'd also like to talk about the Idw Verse Mini series I have been working on! Getting Art from the Talented CatRage and getting to voice my Ideas to My Friends as well as My sister, I present my own Miniseries! Mimic's misadventures!

This story takes place between  the events of Idw's Bad guys, and follows mimic's operations and struggles as he tries to complete his missions, and deal with people of similar caliber to himself. Will this mercenary manipulate his way easily out of another situation? Or has the Octopus finally met the one group who will send him back to the ocean? Find out!

Currently, this miniseries has 5 canon issues and one undecided.

1.Ghost Of The North.

2.Into the Spiders Nest

3.Hunt is on

4.Jaws of a Predator

5.Belly of the Beast

undecided: 6.Seaside Escapade.

Currently I am writing the script for Part 1 of Ghost of the North and hope to finish up the Audio drama reading for it soon.

So this is all the stuff I've had in production for the past few years! Along with my co writer Pinky heart.

Please, Please! Reblog or retweet this. It would mean the world to me. Also please! Ask as many questions as you'd like. I'll answer as many as I can, and would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions, as well as questions and inquires involving the series.

[foximator-blog]

Random SONIC THE HEDGEHOG headcanons to spice up the blog a bit. Time to talk about one of my first hyperfixations since kindergarten.

1. The chaos emeralds share the same energies as both Light and Dark Gaia, hence their connection to the earth. Their balance of positive and negative energies is also why they can be used indiscriminately for both good and evil.

2. In ancient times, the Hedgehogs were a highly respected race who built the ancient ruins found in Marble, Labyrinth, and even Aquatic ruin zones. They ended many wars and settled many rivalries between other species, hence why today humanoid animals and humans live in harmony.

3. The previous headcanon ties into why Gerald Robotnik chose to create Shadow as a hedgehog, because the Hedgehogs were his favorite civilization to study alongside the Echidnas.

4. Sure, the kissing scene between Sonic and Elise was weird to us... but short humanoids with animal characteristics aren't common in our world, so no one on mobius gripes about a mobian cat marrying a human woman for example.

5. Sonic was one of the few who remembered the events of 06 before time was altered in the ending, so that's why memories of Crisis city still show up in generations.

6. Sonic is Ace. That doesn't mean he doesn't love anyone though. He's just not intrested in the traditional type of romance or relationship.

7. Sonic does have a house like described in the Sonic labyrinth manual, he just spends so much time adventuring he kind of jumps between his actual house and Tails's workshop in mystic ruins whenever he's ready for a break. His house is in Green hill zone.

8. The Zeti have two civilizations, the warfaring Hex dwellers and the peaceful Under dwellers, who live underground instead of in open skies. After the Deadly six split up, some of them crawled to the under Landers vowing to change their warfaring ways so they could live more comfortably.

9. (Personal headcanon about the OC I made in forces)

Buddy the Shepard is a seeker of adventure now after fighting in the war with Sonic, he travels around helping smaller towns and villages with rebuilding, and was too busy to compete in Dodanpa's race despite being formally invited.

10. If Sticks ever shows up in the main canon, I think it should be as the speed type character in a team with Mighty and Ray. I see a very cute family dynamic with this trio, Mighty being the pacifist but strong dad, Sticks being the sweet but absolutely feral mom, and Ray being their adopted son, wide eyed and along for the ride.

[cutegirlmayra]

What do you think the new sonic cartoon is about

There’s not really a lot of news yet, yeah?

My hope... is that it’s either by the Japanese team who made Sonic X (hopefully a continuation) or following the train of reboots, it’s either Sonic Boom or Sonic X remastered something XP

I’m hoping it’s not a ‘entirely new thing’ UNLESS it’s based in the realm of actual canon.

SOA posted that “everything is canon” thing and it really ticks me off sometimes how they follow a trend that is fading, about keeping everything so unserious, but I’m over here with the Japanese GIANTIC lore fountain like-

Oh hey y’all, SOA, did you know SOJ-

HAS ACTUAL CANON LORE???? -There is so many quotes I want to write but due to having NO ACTUAL IMAGES of some of these stated I’ll simply write-

BUT NOT THIS LORE:

Don’t let America tell Japanese Hedgehog lore, okay? They don’t get the culture sometimes and it leads to really bad rewrites of the Sonic characters and storylines--Just ask their creators, get the facts, it’s not that hard, SOA PLEASE there IS canon lore and it’s so good and underdeveloped because no one goes back and expounds upon it like-

Half your villains never return

Your casts doesn’t age or go through actual character building drama

Your stage building is great, why not add exploratory mechanics like they knew they should do in SA1 and SA2? Heck, Even Sonic Heroes and Unleashed had moments to go explore.

You’re not Mario, so quit advertising to younger audiences and realize that kids like to watch what their older siblings are into, we want actually compelling content please!

Sorry, I went off, I just know there's so much potential if you just took the time to go back, research/re-learn it, and develop from there. It doesn’t need to be as complicated as Kingdom Hearts, just BUILD FROM WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. It’s so simple. Zelda has an official timeline, doesn’t always make sense, but Sonic has something similar and even the creators have stated that Classic Sonic is from his own universe and isn’t young Sonic of the past. Do you know what that means???

You can have Modern Sonic diving into his actual past to stop someone from taking over, you could have a Sonic X cartoon showing what happened after Cosmo and going into further games that released just like when they did those arc specials for when SA1&2 were a thing, what about a feature that simply shows Sonic’s world and his adventures and his friends and a big evil they’ve encountered previously, I don’t know--NEO METAL SONIC? But this time, Neo has a new way to rebel, and it’s shown that he’s ALSO separate from Classic Metal Sonic who still serves Eggman?

I mean, pitch some things to Japan and word it in a way that works with their culture and CANON Sonic Lore, It’s so easy to make a new thing, new character, yadda yadda, but what makes a TRUE skill and marketable franchise is taking what is already there and building a firm establishment on it.

Pokemon. Pokemon has evolved but never forgotten the basics. (Pun intended)

If you want to be like any other franchise that is THE one to think about.

What are their shows like? Introducing a time-old favorite or new pokemon to add to your ‘pokedex’ which you have been building upon since the start.

How to make that a Sonic Cartoon thing..?

Every few episodes, you introduce another time-favorite CANON character. They have a few episodes and arcs SPECIFICALLY to re-introduce, re-live background, and then SHOW real developmental change and progression, then a few episodes later you couple that with them reappearing and having some significance in the over-arching theme.

Example? Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are the main casts.

This one episode, they say goodbye to Team Chaotix (who will return for a significant role later) after having their few episodes arc of their team, who they are, and what they do before they suddenly meet and are introduced to Shadow (who they already know but the audience -if younger- might not until now) and the episode is showing G.U.N after Shadow. We realize Shadow’s past with Maria and G.U.N, and realize that G.U.N are being manipulated by a higher power. Enter the puppet master role of Black Doom which further explains the story of Shadow The Hedgehog after SA2. Then we have his arc after a few episodes and the team are ready to say goodbye to him as well before he drops a plot hint that ties him into the season finale as well, which means we’ll see him again. In that arc, we see him develop from what he once was, to what he was when the team found him again, and finally to what he is now... it shows that he’s still a growing character and by the end of the season arc, we see his ‘new form’ and ranged characterization from a fully rounded character arc that was perfectly executed in the main plot dynamic arc.

POKEMON. Introduce a character, have a specific few episodes of character growth with that character, and have them appear again to reinforce said characterization growth.

If you really need a new thing, and not a reboot, just let me pitch a few concepts and I’m SURE we’ll have a successful BRANDED feature for you. It’s only a matter of time before Sonic is taken seriously enough again by the company to have a massive Sonic BOOM in popularity and satisfying media. I just want to hopefully contribute if I can...

Yes, not very neutral writing, but I’ve seen a lot of ‘call to arms’ writing recently and I kinda jumped on that bandwagon, so if this is unprofessional, I AM A HUMAN WITH EMOTIONS AND SONIC NEEDS, GRAB YOUR SWORDS, YOUR BOWS, AND YOUR POETIC PROSE CAUSE ITS ACTION TIME PEOPLE.

Seen and not heard, is now heard and please be seen T-T

[pedanticat]

My Thoughts on Sonic Comics Mandated

This mandate is really weird and makes no sense. Like, why can’t certain characters from the games be used in the comics? The Sonic comics utilize the characters better than the actual games. Until I started reading the Archie Sonic comics, I’ve never even heard of characters such as the Hooligans, Honey the Cat, Mighty, and Ray. I was even more shocked when I learned that they actually originated from the Sonic games and weren’t original characters for the comics due to the fact that they haven’t appeared in any games in over a decade. 

This one is pretty dumb. Like seriously, what’s the harm and issue with giving Sonic world an official name? Most fans still refer to Sonic world as Mobius and its characters similar to Sonic as Mobians since its much easier than saying “Sonic World” and “Sonic Species” all the time, so so what’s the issue?

Another bizarre mandate.  I’m not angry about this mandate, I just find it to be such as a weird rule. 

I really hate this because it results in a lot of the characters having to stay static. However, it's hard to say if this is still the case or not since in the IDW Sonic comics, Amy, while still having a crush on Sonic, isn’t Sonic crazy. So I’m not sure if that counts as character development or not. 

This is probably my least favorite mandate of all of them. I understand the idea of wanting a hero always appears calm and collected who’s never afraid of anything, but do you know what makes that kind of character better? Seeing their vulnerable side. Seeing that despite the brave face they put on, they are just like everyone else and have their own insecurities and fear. A really good example of why this mandate is dumb is how Sonic acted in Sonic Forces. Sonic was imprisoned for six months with him being helpless to save his world and not even knowing if any of his friends were even alive yet he’s still cracking jokes and acting like nothing wrong.  Like come on, I’m not saying he needs to completely break down, but show us Sonic doubting if he can defeat Eggman. Show us Sonic shedding tears of joy overseeing his friends again since he thought he would never see them again!

I’m not a big fan of this mandate mainly because I grew up watching Sonic X and for years I always thought to myself “Where are all of these characters parents?” So when I discovered the Archie Sonic comics, I was thrilled to finally learn and meet the parents of various characters from the Sonic sega. Almost every character's parents were terrible but still. Though another thing I hate about this mandate is how it robs the franchise of many interesting stories. Like, of all the characters parents I’m most interested in, I’m really curious about Blaze the Cat parents. Like, did either of her parents have fire powers? What happened to them that resulted in Blaze becoming the ruler of her home? At what age did Blaze have to step us as a ruler? Blaze is an interesting character and I would love to know more about her parents and her past.  I’m also curious about Silver past with how he developed his powers and who took care of him when he was younger.

I actually have no problems with this mandate honestly. 

Pretty understandable mandate. Just like the one above, I have no issues with this one. 

I find this mandate to be a shame since there are characters from those series that I would love to be reinvented. Though it's strange how while characters from Underground, OVA and Sonic X can’t be used, Ian was able to retool characters from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog such as Breezie the Hedgehog. I also find this mandate not only dumb since I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want to give past incarnations any attention along with it being ironic when you consider how much Sega has been focusing on Classic Sonic and shoved him into Sonic Forces Story.

I find this mandate annoying more so because of how Sega will keep on teasing a relationship between two sega characters but won’t actually act upon it. Of all the ships, its especially frustrating with Sonamy since they know that a good portion of the fandom ship Sonamy but instead of just having the two hook up, they’ll keep on rickrolling the fan base! The second part of the mandate is also such a weird paradox and incredibly dumb. Not only does Sega think that if Sonic and Amy got together, they would lose their dynamic (which they wouldn’t cause Amy would still adore Sonic with Sonic caring for her)  but the fact that they think Amy losing interest in Sonic would make her a less interesting character or lessen their dynamic is ridiculous. 

I mean, this makes sense and I don’t really have an issue with it since of course Sonic always has to beat Eggman.

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff Ultimate: 1st Quarter

2020 has certainly left us already crawling for next year, but I say we shouldn’t leave all the good things behind. Time for a lightning roundup, no holds barred! 3. 2.. 1…

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

I couldn’t help but describe this as “Baby’s First Fantasy Adventure” like The Dragon Prince. It looks good, colorful, imaginative enough, but nothing about the story or characters pushed me to watch past episode 3 because I’ve no doubt seen stuff like this before but more interesting. It’s a good watch no doubt, but hardly groundbreaking to me. (Grade: C+)

The Owl House

Now this was more my speed. I definitely enjoyed the various designs of monsters and average Boiling Isle citizens far more. Eda immediately became my favorite witch character. While it reminded me a little too much of Gravity Falls, I was honestly hooked for more than just it’s otherwise eye opening demonic aesthetics. (Grade: B+)

Dorohedoro

Now THIS is a post apocalyptic series I’ve been waiting for in a while. Q really put together a world worth checking out, seeing its nooks and crannies, while giving us characters worth exploring with at every angle. She especially does a great job manga-wise where the black and white makes the edgy details pop in a meaningful way. The anime itself is just as good. Brought down by some wonky action scenes and movements, but the blend of 2D and 3D worked better than the Beastars anime. (Grade: A)

Keep Your Hands Off the Eizouken!

Talked about it plenty of times before, but this is that series that just speaks for itself, manga and anime. Smooth pacing, no contrived drama bullshit, hardly leaves any loose ends, easily accessible for anyone. It's the DMC5 of anime, meaning it is the most 'anime' anime I've seen thus far. (Grade: A++) 

Duncanville

Surprisingly not a wack family sitcom. The characters are what really sell the comedy, except for Duncan himself who’s not terrible but isn’t great as the star of the show, especially compared to his mom; and it’s weird cuz they share the same VA. Plus it’s actually well animated and stylized compared to the average Family Guy knockoff. It’s worth a check out in my book. (Grade: B)

Thundercats Roar

Oh wow, a nostalgia cartoon reboot that everyone will argue over but at the end of the day, is about as average as it gets. While I can appreciate the animation when it gets dynamic during its action scenes, I came out every episode remembering nothing and moving on. If I wanted a half hour centered around safe memes or forgettable punchlines, I would’ve subscribed to Jimmy Kimmel or ankle-beez by now. (Grade: C)

Harley Quinn series

This was a left fielder for me; the trailer gave a far different impression than expected. I can definitely appreciate how they treated not only Harley’s character, her relationship with Joker vs Ivy, but the rouge gallery of DC villains and heroes. What other DC product got me to love King Shark as much as this? Plus, Harley x Ivy are the OTP, but I appreciate them giving Kite Man some respect. (Grade: A-)

Birds of Prey

I didn’t mind the movie, but it lacked that dry punch that Harley’s series gave me. It was kinda the reason why I’ve seen people say Harley was becoming DC’s Deadpool type. even when Harley was a good star of the film. Didn’t help that Black Canary and Huntress were the only other characters I liked, and I don’t wanna get into the implicating homophobia. I want to say Sionis was great, but he doesn’t work when you have both the villain and protagonist be unhinged. All in all, I’ll give it the same score I gave Deadpool 1. (Grade: C+)

Dolittle (2020)

The movie’s climax was a long dragon fart and I wanted to die. (Grade: D)

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

A live action video game movie about an animated character. Let me put it like this: references and fanservice is not substance, taking place in the human populace does not help the escapism, reminding me that Olive Garden sucks ass is not funny, and only being half animated is cock and ball torture. If I don’t care for realism in my video games, this DOESN’T help. It has a couple good moments, but this is mostly unimaginative, by the book, and not worth going back to. Works as a Flash movie, I guess.  (Grade: C-)

Sonic Rebuilt

Sincerely the chad Sonic film of this year. Even when it’s a reanimated version of the 90s film, the creativity every artist applies for their respective scene brings better life to the original film like with Shrek Retold. Yeah, there’s live action segments in it, but it’s part of the gag not a crux of the film’s visuals. It isn’t fully original since they use the original’s voice work and music, but everyone involved gave a genuinely good spin on the pretty overlooked feature. Plus it has a Sonic that gets shit done and has the better voice. (Grade: A-)

Ishuzoku Reviewers

Kono anime wa igaito shinsendesu. Bōru o korogashi tsudzukeru hōhō o shitte imashita. Sore wa yoi owarai de, kesshite mumide wa arimasendeshita. Itsumo mitakatta ano etchina shirīzudeshita. (Grade: A-)

Meggy’s Destiny

The plot has its low points, but this is still an entertaining short film. The characters were what kept the ball rolling and the ending was that coup de gras on the main character’s overall story arc. (Grade: B+)

Trolls World Tour

This film works better than the first to me mainly because we can focus on Trolls and their musical world rather than the Bergens who didn’t offer much. The plot is simple, but it being a multi-genre musical kept me hooked. The finale especially was that cherry on top of this bouncy film. Also Poppy is still the best. (Grade: B+)

Glitch Techs

It stands to say Men in Black meets Captain N and Pixels works well as a premise for a show, and this certainly delivered by actually being ANIMATED. I’m sorry, but can corporations soon understand that premises and ideas that work better with animation stop trying to make it live action? Also, it brought Fanboy and Chum Chum back from the dead, and that is a worthwhile achievement. (Grade: A)

Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons

They’re honestly the same game from what I got to play. AC was a little more stressful than Doom, especially with managing my stalks, but they were both nonetheless an all around great time so they get the same score. (Grade: A)

Steven Universe Future

Had some shit episodes, had some delightfully fun episodes, and had a half shit/half delightful finale. Pretty on par for Steven Universe but I say it’s elevated above most of the original series with the grown Steven himself. Much as I wish his character was dealt with better, I was still invested in his story nonetheless even when the fixed perspective honestly fucked over most else in this series. It’s far better than season 5, not as good as seasons 1 & 2. So yeah, I liked it and I’m gonna miss this show. (Grade: B-)

Onward

The ending doesn’t make up for a pretty middle of the road film. If I wanted a film about familiar bonding in a goofy fantasy world, I could’ve just watched A Goofy Movie. The world feels creative enough, but it’s like Pixar has been losing their touch or mostly peaked when it comes to imaginative premises. I’m hoping Soul can bounce ‘em back cuz while this isn’t the worst, certainly didn’t feel like their best. (Grade: C+)

【ＡＮＤ　ＴＨＡＴ＇Ｓ　ＴＩＭＥ！】

Well that’s all for the first quarter of 2020. Quite above average all around, certainly some worthwhile things to keep your busy while this pandemic is upon us, except Dolittle. Were there any that I missed? Probably. Let’s see where the 2nd quarter provides as we carry on into the Spring months. 

Stay safe out there, and see you in June.

[ducklooney]

My opinion on the Quack Pack episode in Ducktales

I should have written two more days ago, but never mind, there is definitely time for everything. This is probably my first time making some comments regarding the Ducktales episode, given the new episodes, and I also have some free time for it. I know my opinion won't be that relevant or maybe relevant, but I have to comment, because that episode was about one of my favorite Disney series, Quack Pack, but also Goofy Trop, Ducktales movie and Goofy Movie. I do not know what to say. Warning: Before I go with the comments, I pray for those reading this not to be offended by what I'm about to say and this is addressed mostly to those who are over 15 years old, because they should understand, so everyone who is younger than that, and they like the Ducktales reboot, please don't read this what I'm going to say now. And something else this is not directed against the Ducktales reboot, because there is no reason to attack something or aim against something without proof, and it's silly for me too. This is not aimed, as I partly like the Ducktales reboot, there are really good things and I like it, but there are things that just disappoint me and unfortunately partly annoy me. So related to this episode as well, so let's get started. I hope you understood what I said a while ago.

Ducktales reboot, you might say is the first of the successful Disney reboots (probably the only one), which is quite popular and had a great pilot episode and good moments, adventures and new characters. I also like the references used from comics and other series, especially from Disney afternoon. However, in the first season, and even later when I watched it, it was slowly disappointing for me. Although I don’t like the style used in that series, they have a good story, but in some things they use some jokes that are clueless in that story. Maybe this will be subjective, but I'll try to be objective about it. That disappointment was also reflected in the Quack Pack episode. Although season three has already started and started well, there are things that should not be so, at least in my opinion. My impression of that episode is, how can I say, partly satisfying and surprising and partly disappointing and a little irritating to me. Yes, I also made a meme about it: https://ducklooney.tumblr.com/post/614508014432550912/eh-now-warning-before-you-attack-me-for-this

Yes, if you want to comment, you can feel free, just please no offense and please with arguments and good ones. Already at that meme, I have talked about my impressions and I agree with others who have given me good arguments about some things, so feel free to criticize this, but please with arguments. I know many people liked the episode and I'm glad about it, but unfortunately I don't. To say this, I will certainly say what was positive and what was negative in that episode (+ will be positive, and - negative, in the articles I will cite). Here are my impressions:

Positive:

+ What surprised me, and I expected in part from earlier, was the appearance of Gene the Genie. He was really great, although more fun to me was Genie from the Ducktales movie, yet in the reboot it turned out to be good, one can also say a good reference on the occasion of 30 years from the Ducktales movie. The voice actor (Jaleel White) was ok and I can't believe that actor previously played Sonic in earlier series (like The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, in the series where Dr. Robotnik was incredibly funny) and now plays Genie , who has experience with this. But certainly for me, Rip Taylor is better, considering that somehow the original Gene the Genie was more funny. When Genie appeared, Merlock the Magician should also appear and see what dangers the McDuck family would face. 

+ Yes and Gene was good with promoting the 1990s, kind of like it to my taste.

+ The appearance of Goofy in the Ducktales. And Goofy was typically Goofy. I like that they used the Goof Troop quilt again, it kind of works out for him. I thought it was just Donald's dream, but Goofy can still be seen again. There should be more to see the friendship between Donald and Goofy.

+ A Goofy who tells his friend Donald how great a parent he should be, although Donald is certainly a great parent, but there are things he unfortunately doesn't appreciate about him. Goofy is certainly a great father, and I have to say he is a great uncle (in the comics, Goofy has his nephew named Gilbert, for those who don't know). + The appearance of Max Goof and the family photos delighted me. Yes, references from Goof Troop and Goofy Movie were used and I guess Max Goof would probably be older than Huey, Dewey and Louie, though I wanted him to be more like Max Goof from Goof Hull, or be the same age as triplets, but well now what is there. At least after a long time, he showed up again and he was definitely back.

+ Roxanne and P.J. (Pete Junior) also appear in the photos, as well as a Powerline costume worn by Max. I don't know if those in the series and Pete, Peg and Pistol will appear, it would be good to see them again.

+ Scrooge always has some stunts that fit for him.

+ Launchpad McQuack and his saxophone playing, though better with Darkwing Duck, but good. Also his addition to the ladies, somehow he is really attractive to many girls.

+ Outfits from the original Ducktales wearing Scrooge, Mrs Beakley and Launchpad, and Della Duck also wearing good clothes.

+ Huey Duck always gets along well, and what I liked about him was that he respected his uncle, unlike his brothers, which partly didn't make me happy, but I put it positively, lest Donald be totally rejected. + Dewey and Louie wear those outfits worn by Huey, Dewey and Louie in the classic short "Mr Duck steps out”(1940). It would have been better if they had worn those clothes and Huey, but now again.

+ Imitating the good and bad sitcoms of the 1990s and today, especially as Disney releases the pitiful and stupid sitcoms, which I absolutely dislike. You can see that ridicule here, so it's good, though there are bad things.

+ The good thing is that it's just a dream and Donald's wish.

Negative:

- I don't know, but somehow it seems to me that that Quack Pack reference was actually a mockery of that series. I know it's partly a sitcom as well as a Goof Troop (still doesn't have a crossover between Goof Troop and Quack Pack, which still annoys me, Disney and its stupid politics), but totally different from other sitcoms, where there are actually quite a few moments associated with classic shorts (Donald and Goofy had really great classic shorts) and there was no laughing in there. 

- The Quack Pack was one of those, and I can say the only Disney Duckverse series where a dynamic Duck family with good dynamics was done well. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that in this episode.

- I don't like how Huey, Dewey and Louie are dressed in that episode (I don't mean kid's navy clothes, but outfits for their Quack Pack), somehow it doesn't stand, and Huey has a little goofy hat too. Sorry about this, but I'm just a little disgusted. Although they were good in part, I don't understand why they couldn't use Quack Pack outfits?! Not personalities, I mean outfits. I mean, it would cost them well, and it would be a good parody for that. And why not have Louie Duck wear backwards hats? I think it would be good for him. Why can't he wear it? Otherwise it would be good to see a crossover between two versions of Huey, Dewey and Louie from Quack Pack and Huey, Dewey and Louie from Ducktales reboot, I don't see why that would be a problem for some? In my opinion, it would be good to see that encounter, and even the voice actresses who played the triplets in the Quack Pack are still alive today, it would be good to use them once again for that. 

- Certainly in that episode they could have used those clothes, I don't know why they needed to change that? It looked awful this way and I didn't like it.

- Why didn't you invite both Gladstone and Fethry in that episode? They are members of the Duck family and they would fit more in the Quack Pack than Launchpad and Mrs Beakley. Excuse me, but simply the Quack Pack has a good and funny family dynamic, much like the comics, so it would be preferable if they were there.

- Far be it a parody on the Quack Pack. I'd rather make a mockery and hardly that episode has anything to do with the real Quack Pack series. References from Ducktales originals, Ducktales movie, Goof Troop and Goofy Movie were better used than from Quack Pack. I don't know if Ducktales crew can use originality or not. I don't mind the changes, but they should be tied to the original and not deviate from it. Similar to the comic book references. Although I said that they have been using comic book references for the most part, however, lately, except for some moments (the reference to Scrooge's childhood has turned out well), it has been misused. Rockerduck and Jeeves are an example of this. Although Rockerduck looked good, his features were poorly utilized, and I would not comment on Jeeves. If they know the comic books well and use their references, then they should use it in a good way, and we didn't put it and that's it and it will be bad afterwards. It seems to me that it's been done with the Quack Pack and they don't quite understand it, except for Daisy Duck. Too bad she didn't appear in that episode and I hope when she does, that her characterization will be good. It's not okay to just make that pose, you need to understand the very essence of that series. If you are unable to understand it, then you better not put those references. This not only applies to the Quack Pack, it also applies to other series of references used in the Ducktales reboot. I love references, but it should be used in a good way and should not be used too much. That's the problem with that series.

- Their Quack Pack intro is far from the original Quack Pack intro. If you want to know how it sounds, listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SO-RLWEwEk

I don't know, but it's far from the original for me. It's more of a reference for Flash Prince and other sitcoms than it is for the Quack Pack.

- Attack by bad-looking humans. I don't know what to say, even though it is a different universe and what is not in the real Ducktales reboot universe, they were better able to represent humans and should not be as a sign of attack on the Quack Pack they used in that series of humans, because there are others series that have humans, and partly Donald comics also use humans. It is somehow more natural for deities, aliens, witches and wizards to have human forms than animal ones.

- Donald's treatment. Not only in that episode, but almost throughout the series, Donald Duck has a bad treatment. I know it's Ducktales, not DonaldTales, but if Donald is used, don't use him for bad luck and he's like a black sheep. That's not right. The episode shows that Donald wants a normal life and a normal family and only has a problem that his family can't say he doesn't respect him, they respect him, but they constantly scold him and avoid him, which in my opinion is very sad. Donald taking care of his nephews for 10 years, lest his nephews look for him until the Lunarians have invaded Earth, that's too much for me. And his sister is more fortunate than he is in better treatment than he is, which in my opinion is also wrong. If they are twins and if they have to experience a similar fate, then they should be the same, not completely different. I hope Daisy knows how to appreciate Donald, but I think Donald's family should apologize to him and thank him for everything he did for them, not treat him like a black sheep. I apologize for this, although Donald has a great parenting role and is really great in the series, unfortunately many do not appreciate him for that. I know Goofy said that Donald accepts the family as it is, but if Goofy lived with them longer, he would not speak like that. Donald should accept his family as it is, but that family should appreciate him and not reject him and treat him rude. I apologize for that, but it's my impression.

- And finally, the worst. Donald's voice. Let me understand first, I don't mind Don Cheadle, but that kind of acting needs someone to be able to really play him with a duck-like voice (much like the voice of Mickey and Goofy), to be funny and understanding, when many they do not understand what he is saying. But he needs to know that he's such a duck, with his duck voice and I don't think he's bad with that, just that he has jokes joking about his voice and I think they should understand that he's like that, he's Donald Duck. Imagine Daffy Duck not talking with his duck voice, with spit or with SpongeBob talking without his squeaky voice. They would not be the same characters. So is it with Donald. And really, I don't understand why changing his voice unnecessarily, when his problems can be understood without that. I know it's Donald's wish, but I don't think the real Donald Duck would want such a voice, so normal, if it wasn't natural for him. By the way, Donald has had a problem with this before, and this classic short shows it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdOOXUH6uZU

It is unfortunate that everyone is talking so normally except Donald that it is not normal actually. And yes, I know, he already has comments on this, where I also gave my opinion on this:https://ankkalinna.tumblr.com/post/614589474900459520/i-apologize-for-disturbing-but-i-would-ask-one

That includes problems with actor Tony Anselmo, where he complains that he has no treatment when he plays Donald in the Ducktales reboot. So it's strange that Donald can be very well understood in the Quack Pack and in the Legends of the Three Caballeros rather than the ducktales reboot, and in those series they focused well on Donald Duck. It is unfortunate that it turned out that way and I could read more about it, but it would be quite a report. Otherwise, I don't think Donald's voice in comics can be the same as in animation. It can be pretty much the same if you know how to play duck voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DtGlS4NuVc

If Don Cheadle is already used, it should be used in a way that Donald Duck would be a different personality (like Paperinik or Double Duck or Maui Mallard) rather than just a duck with such a normal voice, which to me is totally unnatural. In the Quack Pack series, Donald did not change his voice or people made fun of him. So if you want to list the problems Donald Duck is having, then work in the right way and without changing his voice, without being able to understand people, not by changing his voice.

I could still, but this is quite enough.

Conclusion: Although there were some good moments, the episode is quite disappointing and partly depressing (I don't know if Ducktales wants to be an adventure or comedy or drama or telenovela series), especially around Donald. And Donald Duck needs to have more focus in that series, but he shouldn't change his voice and he should have better treatment and more luck. Then one would see that the series was going in the right direction. And I would say better use the references and better originality. I hope the episode with Daisy Duck is much better, but I'm not sure. I apologize for this, you are free to refute me, but with good arguments, please. And I don't mind if you liked that episode, but it's not really for me. I'm really sorry about that.

[ramblingguy54]

Sonic & Tails R: A Love Letter To Miles Tails Prower’s Characterization

     Warning: This will contain massive spoilers for the short radio play series of Sonic & Tails R. If you haven’t listened to the radio play yet on Youtube, I’d highly recommend any hardcore Sonic fan who hasn’t seen it check it out. It’s one Hell of a treat.

     For as far back as I can remember in my childhood, Tails’ story of trying to step outta Sonic’s shadow has been such a resonating one for myself. Even when I was a much younger kid playing my Dreamcast, during entries like Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, there was some idea lingering about why Tails just stood out more emotionally in his journey to grow beyond depending on Sonic all the time for help. Now here I am a young adult in my late twenties having such a deeper appreciation of this little two tailed genius kiddo because he’s got an important element that’s made him so beloved for good reason.

     In spite of his genius being a rival to that of Eggman’s high IQ and of course proving to surpass it plenty of times when scenarios boil down to being a high stakes battle, Miles Tails Prower beneath it all is still just like any one of us. We’re all trying to find our place in this world about what defines us for who we are as unique people. He wants to be more than just seen as someone who’s alongside Sonic The Hedgehog’s never say die attitude, but prove he’s plenty capable of standing on his own two feet to protect everything the kid holds dear to himself. Underdog stories, when they’re naturally executed very well, can reel me in so easily. They are very much my bread & butter trope I adore seeing.

     To no one’s surprise, the two Sonic Adventure’s iterations portrayal of Tails’ characterization are hands down some of my favorite writing for the two tailed fox, regarding what the 3D era has done toward him, development wise. It gave him more of an existential struggle to endure like, “What happens when Sonic isn’t around to help stop Eggman? What if I’m not strong enough to accomplish what he can?”, making Tails plight to be seen as an equal all the more endearing when stopping Eggman in his climatic battle against the Egg Walker in Station Square. This here is a great use of a timeless lesson you can apply in life that if you set you heart and mind on anything, there isn’t a thing you can’t accomplish on your own, which is why many fell in love with Sonic Adventure 1 & 2′s writing for Miles Tails Prower’s journey of independence.

     As someone who comes from a large family tree of relatives, I feel the weight of my existence on my shoulders at a number of points more than I’d care to count, admittedly. Seeing Tails struggle with his sense of purpose, in contrast to observing how much Sonic has accomplished with his carefree, yet deeply compassionate attitude, means the world to me in watching another trying to comprehend their value as a whole on how much they matter, overall. This is a big part of why my fondness for SA1 & 2′s quality has never wavered over these years, besides still obviously enjoying most of their game play mechanics. People can try to debate to their heart’s content on whether the Adventure games still hold up in their own eyes, but I’ll always respect them for how they tried to develop certain characters, such as Tails, Gamma, and Shadow The Hedgehog notably, to attempt expanding upon their characters, as well as world building.

     I won’t bother going into a rant about how Sonic’s recent 3D games have butchered Tails’ personality & relatable nature, due to the current writers in charge of handling the cast of characters. More or less, I greatly empathize toward the notion many have already stated about Tails being so cowardly and God forbid, looking at Lost World, downright severely mean spirited. Rather, I’m obviously writing this lengthy post to breakdown why Sonic & Tails R succeeds, where these certain 3D games have greatly faltered in exploring Tails’ emotional dilemmas as an insecure, yet still having the courage to prove himself, talented boy full of hidden potential he doesn’t quite realize, until his back is against the wall in life threatening situations.

“That day, I realized I couldn’t depend on you forever. Not that I can’t depend on you, but like, “What happens when Sonic isn’t here?”, you know?”

     Sonic & Tails R further delves into this fundamental rule of what has defined Tails in Sonic Adventure 1 & 2′s stories of events where Sonic wasn’t there to aid his best bud in taking down Eggman’s evil efforts for global domination, most importantly his fear of defending the Earth without his role model. Besides what I already stated in SA1′s events in Station where he stopped the Egg Walker, as well as the missile Eggman launched from detonating before their climatic battle, Tails watched Sonic blow up in ARK’s capsule presuming him to be dead after Sonic imparted how much faith he has in the kid’s abilities to be truly strong in the face of any foe. Sonic & Tails R manages to use fan service in a way that doesn’t feel like “pandering” for the sake of it, using this past canon material to do more of an in-depth study about Miles’ anxieties of existing without Sonic.

     Wouldn’t put it past them if EmuEmi & crew were using SA2′s Sonic death fake out scene in that space capsule to further add trauma to Tails’ psychological attachment to Sonic, as well as his insecurities of depending on him too much, to boot. While it’s never obviously outright stated in their radio play, I definitely believe they were factoring this element into adding dramatic exploration for why Tails is so self-conscious about the worst case scenario of permanently losing Sonic. Watching Sonic supposedly die put Tails into a deeper state of self-reflection, so I very much enjoyed how they went using these past events to create a thorough exploration about him learning just as it’s important to realize you need to stand up for yourself without using someone else as a crutch all the time, it’s doubly important to remember there’s nothing wrong about asking someone for help when you’re about to be down and out with little options left.

     Sonic & Tails R beautifully builds upon the foundation these two games’ stories left behind years ago, creating new damn great material to explore with the most iconic characters of this cast, Sonic & Tails brotherly dynamic. I’ve been praising Sonic & Tails R out the wazoo for how well it captured Tails underdog story of overcoming death defying odds, but it managed to remind me how simply adorable and outright wonderfully endearing their brotherly chemistry is as a whole. This is a big friendly reminder Sonic isn’t all about being cocky wise cracking character making meta jokes left and right, but he can be plenty capable of showing serious compassion to anyone he values as an ally and friend. This is no greater evident, than with him verbally lifting Tails up in his time of need when he’s self-depreciating his own significance. It can be seen in Episodes 2, 4, and 7 giving Tails motivational pieces of advice.

    Episode 2 In Adabat’s Cavern

-Sonic: Wasn’t it your radar that helped us find these Emerald shards in the first place? How could you be slowing us down when you’ve gotten us this far?

-Tails: But, I...

-Sonic: I could never make something like that. You’re the smartest person I know, Tails. One way or another, we’ll figure this out, count on it.

         Episode 4 In Holoska After Helping Silver Save The Chao

-Sonic: So, what was that back there? At the cave, in Adabat? -Tails: What do you mean? -Sonic: Frozen stiff. Confidence shot. It’s not like you. It was more than feeling like you were “slowing us down”, right?

        Episode 7 Inside The Egg Carrier 3

-Sonic: Let’s split up! I’ll distract them and you can go after the energy source. -Tails: You’re gonna take them on all by yourself!? Let me help, Sonic! -Sonic: No time for this, Tails. Stop overthinking and just go! If I can get their attention, I’ll take the heat off of you and that room you’re going to probably won’t have any security. Take this emerald and I’ll take the other one we have. It’ll lead me right to you after I beat these guys. -Tails: O-Okay... -Sonic: Hold on, Tails! Listen to me. Don’t stop moving and be careful. I’ll be fine and so will you!

     Sonic & Tails R remembers the most crucial detail of their important relationship. One isn’t better than the other and needing to always rely upon that notion for helping one outta a jam, but instead showcases how they’re equals as a team/bros. Sonic may be super fast and strong, however Tails has his intelligence to analyze situations in a different angle Sonic wouldn’t necessarily consider, per say. Which isn’t to say Tails couldn’t put up a fight either, as we’ve seen in SA1 & SA2′s stories where he faced Eggman one on one with no outside help to best him at his own game of wits & strength.

     We get see the apex of this idea through Tails facing Eggman in his super improved mecha walker. Although Tails may get thrown for a loop here at first by Eggman, it’s his villainous speech about winners and losers in their world that ironically does the exact opposite of what he intended. Eggman wanted to crush Tails’ sense of self worth before finishing him off, but all it did was reignite the very lesson Sonic told him earlier before running to distract Eggman’s robotic minions. That said lesson of he’s more than capable of facing dangerous threats

-Eggman: Poor boy. We all have to learn this lesson, sooner or later. In every game there’s no one you can depend on. You’re all alone and you’re either a winner, or a loser. And as you know, loser’s lose all of their lives. Say goodbye, fox!

-Tails: You’re wrong! I can depend Sonic! I won’t let him down! I can’t because...Because he’s depending on me! And because of that I won’t lose to you!

     This radio play strikes a good balance in utilizing the grey moral area about depending on someone vs it being an unhealthy display of attachment derived from serious insecurity. Word’s can’t begin to describe how much I loved this moment to pieces because it’s oh so important for writing Tails’ characterization. If you’re going to tackle him being super self conscious about his reliance on Sonic, then you gotta remember why they are so close to one another to begin with. Sonic & Tails have an unbreakable connection, considering they’ve brought out their best qualities in themselves from being together as individuals. For Sonic, it’s his older brother compassion to Tails to bring him outta feeling melancholy. For Tails, the kid finally understands there isn’t anything wrong with depending on Sonic when he needs it most.

     After all, that’s what a real healthy friendship is all about. Whether you’re giving someone a dose of tough love, or simply a piece of motivational advice, it defines how much you truly care about someone, period. Sonic & Tails have this very same power from their bond, which is why new emeralds form from their compassionate friendship that hasn’t been shaken after all the years they’ve been together. Another detail worth noting is it adds to the lore in an impactful manner when Tikal expresses in Episode 8 about positive connections and thoughts from users of the Chaos Emeralds having a strong will & heart. Using the ideas they had for encapsulating Sonic & Tails’ dynamic to create new emeralds from their love for each other as brothers adds an emotional weight.

“So, Sonic’s not the only one who harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds? I can too!?”

“Yes, you have a strong heart! There is a power waiting to be unlocked within you, as well.”

          I’d always daydreamed about in my childhood seeing Super Sonic & Tails take down a threatening villain, whether it was Eggman or different powerful creature such as Chaos or the Biolizard. You can imagine how fucking giddy I was beyond belief to see this artwork of Episode 9′s cover for the radio play. Tails not only got to have another one on one with Eggman, but a team up with Super Sonic in his own respective Super form? Sign me the Hell up! Talk about an all you eat buffet of good writing for Tails’ journey reaching its climax. Getting to hear this play out, alongside the amazing song of Fly With Me, made it authentically feel like something straight outta if there were an installment of Sonic Adventure 3 being brought into reality, which certainly feels like it now.

     Episode 9 has so much awesome stuff with Sonic & Tails working together in their super forms. Particularly, my favorite scene is at the beginning when Sonic teaches Tails how to navigate his newly acquired speed in his respective Super form. My heart melted hearing Sonic help Tails through it all, while he was overjoyed about how fun this new form is for himself. Wholesome Sonic & Tails content is the perfect daily serotonin for me, easily. It’s an awesome fun fact to know they used a scrapped boss from Tails Tornado segment in SA1 for Eggman’s flying dragon three headed robot in their big final battle, once again using old canon material in a very effective manner to boost the quality of their fan made story.

     It’s been a real thrill to hear Mike Pollock play a straight forward serious Eggman making my day in more ways than one, considering that’s another thing I’ve been yearning for desperately besides Tails being a competent character again. His performance in Episode 9 when Eggman gave that speech about how long he’s been at odds with Sonic & Tails stubborn will power was simply excellent. The moment he told his mechanical dragon to crush them I got serious chills. That’s the Eggman I remember and grew up with. He could be a hammy villain sure, but Eggman wasn’t a doormat that could be swiftly beaten. Robotnik can be considered a serious threat in his own right and this radio play nailed it down to the very letter with how much he predicted their actions.

“Sonic, all I ever wanted to do was be like you. You’re not scared of anyone or anything. I could never be like that. At least, so I thought. I grew from that, but then I got so caught up in trying to prove it that thought it wasn’t okay to depend upon anyone, especially you. I just didn’t want to be that scared little kid in Station Square anymore, but now I understand. It’s okay to depend on your friends. It all means is that we’re stronger together, so the next time Eggman comes back and wants to start any trouble with you, or any of my friends. Emeralds or no emeralds, he’s gonna have to get past me and he won’t!”

Sonic By Episode 1′s End: Aww, yeah! Adventure, here we come!

Tails By Episode 10′s End: Aww, yeah! Adventure, here I come!

Turn your thoughts into power. Be all that you can be.

     The ending legit got me choked up because what of they decided to do for wrapping up Tails journey in a poetic fashion. Having Tails go off on his own separate journey to grow more independence pulled on my heart strings perfectly. Very much so, as I’m transitioning slowly, but surely, into gaining more freedom to go out into the outside world in my own life. Concluding the story, by Sonic & Tails holding onto the two Emeralds their bond had formed from positive energy, due to their powerful friendship, was so heartwarming. This is how you write an overview of what makes Sonic & Tails chemistry work so well as it does.

     Sonic & Tails R’s ending represents while some things never change, like Sonic and Tails bond for each other, it also shows there’s very much a necessity for people to grow, hence Tails’ whole solo journey in the epilogue. People can’t stay in the same place forever and will need go about finding their own path, even if it means saying “goodbye” periodically for a notable amount of time.

     It’s for these reasons I’ve listed in great explanation above throughout this detailed post cement Sonic & Tails R high on my list of favorite Sonic fan projects. They captured the magic of what made the Adventure games so beloved. Gonna be looking back on this passion project for many years to come. Everyone involved in this year long effort of a project dating all the way back Summer of 2020 ought to be immensely proud for how much their hard efforts paid off in the long run.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts here! 

Hope you enjoyed. 

[mobius-prime]

228. Sonic the Hedgehog #160

Birthday Bash! (Part One): Giving and Receiving

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

Welcome to the beginning of Ian Flynn's reign, everyone! As many of you will know, Ian is a fan favorite amongst readers of the comics, and for good reason. Objectively, I'd say he has a much better sense than any previous writer of how to construct dynamic and interesting stories, as well as a great head for writing dialogue. Every character has their own unique voice when speaking, and as someone who takes a particular interest in dialogue in her own writing, it's something I admire a lot, especially given how stilted and unnaturally formal a lot of dialogue by Karl and especially Kenders often sounded, regardless of who was speaking. That said, I think that it took a good year or so for him to fully come into his own as head writer for the series, so some earlier issues are a bit strange and not up to par with a lot of his later work. Some of this, to be fair, is due to him essentially playing clean-up for this first year, untangling a lot of the bizarre leftover plot threads that Karl and Kenders left behind, and generally trying to make the world of the comics conform a little better to that of the games. All that aside, anyone reading the comics will likely notice an immediate and apparent improvement in the overall quality of the work starting with this issue. This is helped along, in addition, by none other than the very talented artist Tracy Yardley! who always (well, almost always) introduces himself in the story credits with an exclamation mark. It's kind of his calling card. Tracy took a while to really improve his art as well, so while his earliest issues sometimes have some strange proportions and poses, later on his style became easily one of the most visually attractive and recognizable ones in the series, simplifying a lot of the inconsistencies that many character designs had as well as doing away with the strange pseudo-human proportions that some artists tended to favor, particularly with the female characters. All this said, I will say that Ian isn't going to be immune to my criticism, as while I do recognize his skill as a writer and the good things he brought to the table, there are definitely some problems I have with the way he handled certain things. We'll cross those bridges when we come to them, however, so for now, let's dive into the new world he's creating and see how he does!

Elias and Sonic are walking on the outskirts of Knothole as Elias explains why his father approved the Metal Sonic troopers from last issue. We don't even really get to hear the explanation, but to be fair, we hardly need one, as the idea was so insane to begin with that the only true explanation is that Kenders needed a plot device. Sonic tries to make Elias promise that "you royals" won't hit him with any more weird surprises, and Elias says they only have one more, leading him to a building next to where the Great Oak Slide into the village ends.

I mean, canonically he's supposed to be turning seventeen here, even though realistically he should be turning eighteen, because remember, for him to have turned sixteen in StH#68, had the Robians be deroboticized in early June in StH#123, and still have managed to spend close to a year in space before turning seventeen, literally everything in between the two aforementioned issues would have had to take place in the span of a few weeks - yes, that's counting the month-and-a-half time span that Sonic was confined to Knothole, as well as major events like Eggman's return and the entire Green Knuckles saga. You can see why this huge discrepancy still bothers me, right? Hmph. Anyway, no sooner has the party begun than an explosion destroys the door, and two new players enter the scene - Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear from Sonic the Fighters! Nack's been part of the comic for long enough now, so it's cool to see these two make their first appearance. Bark is totally silent - as far as I remember, he never says a single word during the entirety of the comic - but Bean, in the absence of an obvious personality to draw from in the game, has subsequently been given the personality trait of "criminally insane" in the comics.. He's erratic, he talks to himself, he cracks jokes where jokes really shouldn't be cracked, and most importantly of all, he loves his goddamn bombs. Bean starts chucking said bombs left and right at the various Freedom Fighters in the base, while Sonic tangles with Bark. He seems to think these guys are only after him due to something Evil Sonic did in his place, something which he has by now apparently finally explained to all the women of Knothole, and manages to break away from Bark to stop Bean's bombing spree by pinning him to a wall and asking about Evil Sonic. However, Bean happily insists there's been no mistake and he wasn't even aware of Sonic having an evil twin, nor does he particularly care. Oh, speaking of Evil Sonic…

Huh, it seems that Evil Sonic has actually explained his true identity to Rouge in between their previous failed attempt and now. I'm surprised she hasn't outright abandoned him by now due to Rouge not exactly being evil-aligned to begin with, but I guess the pull of the shiny is just too strong for her to resist. And as it turns out, Bean suffers from a similar insatiable need! Fiona pulls out a ring of keys and shakes them around, completely distracting Bean from his current activity of bashing Sonic's head in, and throws them out the hole he made in the wall, prompting him to immediately abandon everything to chase after them. Fiona then advances on Bark, who by now has gotten himself cornered by every Freedom Fighter in the room, and convinces him to stand down as he's outnumbered. Outside, Bean plays with the keys and talks to them, seemingly convinced that they're a beautiful woman with an "adorable accent" who wants his number, when a suspiciously-Shadow-shaped shadow converges on him, prompting him to try to invite him into smashing Sonic as well. Good luck there, buddy, I don't think Shadow usually runs with crazy…

Geez, Sally, cut Fiona some slack. Not everyone had a squeaky-clean record - hell, just look at Shadow! Back in the Chaos Chamber, Rouge and Evil Sonic begin to battle Locke, who tosses Evil Sonic to the side as he perceives Rouge to be the bigger threat. However, that turns out to be a bit of a bad idea, as with Rouge tied up in the fight, Evil Sonic takes his chance to go after the Master Emerald without her, obviously recognizing it as more than just a shiny trinket.

Back in Knothole, Shadow explains that he's only here to thank Sonic for saving Hope, as he knows he wouldn't have been able to do it on his own, and reminds him that as soon as he leaves this building they're back to being enemies, as Shadow's still aligned with Eggman for now. Sonic, to his credit, seems to recognize that Shadow is only allied with Eggman because he doesn't yet know better, and cheerfully invites him to come back here whenever he cuts out on that deal in the future. It's at this point that everyone realizes Bean has quietly snuck into the brain trust's comms room to casually let Eggman know that he and Bark failed to take Sonic down, and when Fiona ushers him back out of the room, Eggman is only too happy to let Sonic know personally that he wishes him a happy birthday and he's sending him a new, more metallic present. Within seconds a thud outside alerts them to the arrival of this present, and everyone rushes out to see a strange figure emerging from an egg pod - a figure which resolves itself into the combined forms of Crocbot and Octobot, now merged into the singular entity of… Croctobot! (Don't worry, Ian knows just how silly this is and even acknowledges it next issue.) But what of Evil Sonic and Rouge? How is their fight faring against Locke after the former got knocked aside? Well, Evil Sonic takes his chance to dramatically emerge from behind the emerald as the other two get ready to continue their fight…

Plot twist! How many people actually didn't know by now that Evil Sonic and Scourge were the same person? I'm guessing there had to be at least a few of you. You can actually already see Ian's new plans being put into action - it's very telling of his intentions when the very first issue he ever pens immediately makes a point of distinguishing a rather tired and boring character into a new and improved version of himself, with a unique name and new, visually distinct look. Apparently Kenders, who if you recall is the original creator of Evil Sonic, never liked this and continued to insist on referring to him as Evil Sonic, but screw that, Scourge is a much more interesting character and this was a change that sorely needed to be made.

Sonic Rush (Part One of Two)

Writer/Pencils: Tania Del Rio Colors: Ben Hunzeker

So unfortunately, Sonic Adventure 2 isn't the only case in the preboot of a partial adaption of a game being included without any actual ending. Sonic Rush, the game, introduces Blaze, a cat from an alternate dimension that is controlled by the Sol Emeralds rather than the Chaos Emeralds, and most of the plot revolves around the Sol Emeralds ending up in Sonic's dimension and her trying to recollect them to bring back to her own world. However, things are a bit different in the comics universe. In this story, Blaze comes to Sonic's dimension because, apparently, she's been having nonstop dreams about him, dreams which show her visions of Eggman threatening the Sol Emeralds and Sonic helping her protect them. She's frustrated that she would have to rely on anyone else to help her protect the emeralds at all, believing them to be her sole responsibility, but nonetheless she's tracked Sonic to Knothole. However, while deliberating her next move, a squad of swatbots - yes, ordinary ones, it's been a while since we've seen them rather than shadow-bots - happen upon her and decide that they should take her in for interrogation.

Yeah, I guess Blaze doesn't understand the dangers present in this universe yet, does she? An hour or so later, Rotor sends for Sonic, informing him that they caught the aftermath of Blaze's capture on their video surveillance. Neither of them know who she is, but they decide she can't be from their village, since she left several disabled swatbots behind, while most people in Knothole are noncombatants and those that aren't are accounted for elsewhere. Sonic rushes out to find their trail and tracks them to a nearby facility set up amidst the trees, and while he begins fighting his way in, the scientific robots in the building go about studying their new specimen.

Sorry, but why the hell would Eggman be looking to add some random Mobian to his team? He only likes robots anyway, and tends to either betray or enslave every living being that comes to him. Blaze suddenly awakens and becomes furious - not that she's been captured, mind you, but that they took off her coat while studying her. She must be really goddamn attached to her coat, because she starts absolutely trashing the place, exploding into flames and screaming so loudly that Sonic becomes genuinely worried about her wellbeing, rushing to where he last heard her. The door of the lab she's in is completely blasted off its hinges by the force of Blaze's explosions, but thankfully after this she seems to have found her coat, because the blasts subside and she appears in the doorway wearing it once again, staring down at an utterly shocked Sonic with a look of fiery fury (the literal flames coating her entire body probably help with the "fiery" bit). Uh… good luck dealing with that, buddy boy!

[dizzydennis]

I translated Nintendo Dream Web’s Team Sonic Racing Article - an interview with Team Sonic!

Under the cut, I translated the entire article that was an in-character interview with Team Sonic! I hope you enjoy it. Lots of cool stuff in here!

Team Sonic is the first team for this unique car racing game, Team Sonic Racing. The characters are inherently drawn to each other.  So we interviewed the Sonic racers "directly"!

Team Sonic Racing has adopted a novel gimmick, in which teams of three work together to gain points and to also finish first. These factors will determine who is the winner of these races. There is also the fact that the team members cooperate with each other. During the race, they have conversations that are dynamic and lively! In addition, many characters who have had few opportunities to show their faces in recent years are also participating in the game. Moreover, they are all active in "Adventure Mode" where you can enjoy the story that challenges a "Grand Prix Race" sponsored by the mysterious "Dodonpa".

Therefore, we have conducted “direct” Q&A interviews with the characters who are taking part in the “Grand Prix Race.” Here, we will deliver the interview every Tuesday on a team-by-team basis for all 5 teams.

We hope that Sonic fans and newcomers who are not very familiar with these characters will enjoy this Q&A!

By the way, this is an interlocking project with the Nintendo Dream’s June issue. There are also questions published only in this journal, so don't miss out on anything.

The guest this time is “Team Sonic.” It consists of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Speed ​​Type) A blue hedgehog who moves at the speed of sound. Usually he’s in good spirits. While often carefree, he gets serious when he witnesses something crooked. He’ll be in a car this time to race with his friends in the “Grand Prix Race!”

Miles Tails Prower (Technique Type) A kind-hearted young fox with two tails.  He loves tinkering with machines, and has developed a variety of mechanisms to support Sonic on his adventures. Of course, he’s the one who’s behind these racing cars.

Knuckles the Echidna (Power Type) The long time rival and friend of Sonic.  He is proud of his power and he’s a good fighter, but he often works well in a team with Sonic and Tails.

Q) What do you think about this unusual rule of racing as a team?

Tails: The only condition specified by Dodonpa was that it was a competition for teams of three. I thought something was curious about that, but now we can cooperate as a driving team and I’m grateful to him!

Sonic: If it was all about speed then these races wouldn’t be interesting. Looks like I’ll have to give myself a handicap to make it fair. (laughs)

Knuckles: Watch yourself, Sonic!  You better not be saying that I am a handicap to you!

Sonic: (chuckles) I'm kidding, Knuckles (laughs).  If it’s about teamwork then we are the best! We won’t lose to any team!

Q) What’s your favorite part of your machine?

Sonic: The sleek blue body, red wheels, and a lightweight high-power engine specializing in high-speed performance are the features of my car. Doesn’t it resemble me when I’m zooming down the track?

Tails: I like my car’s simple design that pursues function over beauty and with all of that it makes it look like a classic race car. Contrary to the appearance, the high power engine works well on bad road surfaces; so my performance shouldn’t be hindered. Knuckles: Sonic may have said he likes the colors, but my car’s strength is it’s... strength! Even rocks and ice are nothing when I pound them down!

Q) Among the many items that can be used in the race, which do you like?

Sonic: Items in the race?  Ah ... you mean the Wisps?  A lot of wisps help us in our race, but I like the White Wisp the most.  You can seriously speed up with a strong "boost"! Tails: Yeah! I like Orange Rocket Wisp.  It’s really fun to shoot it forward and I love it when I get a hit!  I'm sorry for the person I hit, though... (worried smile) Knuckles: I like Black Bomb Wisp.  It's hard to land a shot, but when you blow up several cars together in a big explosion, it feels awesome!

Q) What’s your favorite course?

Sonic: Courses, huh... Every course has a great flow and is interesting, but the first course,  The Wisp Circuit is entirely paved and I can enjoy my full speed! I like it. Though... only half of the whole track is actually paved (laughs). Tails: Yeah, I like the Wisp Circuit too because it’s easy to go through. My machine can handle the grass on the sides of the road! No slow down at all! So I can dominate the course unlike anybody else! Knuckles: On the contrary, I can’t say I’m a fan of "Boo’s House"  within the pyramid.  King Boom Boo and the other ghosts he makes are stupid and bring back bad memories!

Q) Which racers or teams do you consider your rivals?

Sonic: Rivals, hmmm ... if we’re talking about rivals in this race, it's definitely Shadow.  That guy is known as the  "Ultimate Life Form" and is said to be the "fastest.” So I'm going to step up to the challenge and take him on!  Oh, but I'm always confident about my racing, so it's just good to have a “playmate” (laughs). Knuckles: There’s one racer that I have in mind.  If it’s about strength then I better be on my toes when taking on Eggman! Tails: Really? Don’t you think you should be more focused on Team Dark’s Rouge? Knuckles: Wh-wh- uh, shut up!  Well, I  guess I have to worry about her too!  (sweat) Tails: Oh yeah, sorry about that.  I wonder if Amy’s team is worth worry about.  I'm sure the race will be more aggressive if she’s involved.

Please share your words of enthusiasm about the race!

Tails: It's still a mystery as to why Dodonpa is holding this race. However, I’m interested in the fact that teams are working together. For everybody reading this article, please experience the very best in team racing! Knuckles: You have to be sure to win the race. Otherwise, you might forfeit your ride! If you stick with me, you can use my car, “The Land Breaker!” Sonic: Well, seems like everybody is in the race for their own reasons, but I am happy to team up. This time the other teams will also have strong rivalries, but we will show they can’t beat the three of us and our power of teamwork!

Last, but not least

This is “Team Sonic Racing” where Sonic and his friends work in teams in high speed races! A variety of courses composed of new and past stages, music that’s a must-hear for fans, customization options for cars with dozens of colors, and more! All Sonic fans and racing fans in general will enjoy this wild ride. It will be released on May 21 (Tuesday)!