#the source material being the older sonic games

[bugfable]

i had stopped caring about shadow for a while due to the sheer fandom nonsense surrounding him but as soon as i exposed myself to the source material again i was instantly reminded of how much i like him

[semi-sketchy]

Alright, since I'm at that episode, I'm gonna elaborate on my actual problem with Dark Sonic:

To be honest, I don't think there's anything really wrong with Sonic during the episode. He's angry his friends have been hurt by a villain, so he harnesses the power of the fake Emeralds (which he has a physical negative reaction to) and smashes said villain's testing robots to pieces.

I never really considered this a problem. Sonic can get angry, be antagonized, the SA2 Shadow fight in Green Forest springs to mind.

Plus, Secret Rings has Darkspine Sonic, which is about as close to Dark Sonic as it gets. Sharha just died, trading her life for his, he absorbs the Rage, Sadness and Hatred Rings and transforms.

Even after he leaves the transformation, he still seems pretty pissed at Erazor Djinn, with killing Sharha at the top of the list.

So, yeah. It's not 1:1 and I'm not claiming these are the same, X is obviously more exaggerated, but I don't really have a problem with the concept. We can talk about how Eggman comes in, tells Sonic he needs to be better and not let his emotions overwhelm him, but frankly I think that's more of an X!Eggman issue than the transformation itself.

No, my real problem is, and always has been, how the fandom interpreted it. That's it. I've read so many fics, seen so many posts about Sonic just "turning dark" when angry, as if any transformations have ever been purely emotion without an external power-source. (Super requires the Chaos Emeralds, Hyper the Super Emeralds, Darkspine was 3 of the World Rings, Werehog was Dark Gaia energy, Excalibur Sonic was the sacred swords, Wisp transformations needed the Wisps, Super Sonic 2 was Chaos Emeralds + Cyber energy....you get it.)

The way I've always saw it, is yes, Sonic is upset, but he also is being affected by the fake Emeralds.

This is the Discotek translation, I don't know enough Japanese to say how accurate it is, all I know know is "warui" means bad/sick depending on the sentence. An older translation (and the English dub) points to him feeling physically sick around them.

Far as I can tell, he's already reacting bad to these Emeralds on top of being antagonized, so he uses power that's at his disposal does what the villain wants: fuck up his shit.

If the fake Emeralds didn't exist, this transformation wouldn't have happened. Additionally, since X ended and the only fake Emerald in the games was blown up in SA2, it can't happen again. (Unless you write scenario where someone makes fake Emeralds, but that requires writing for the form instead of just slapping it in à la characters in IDW.)

Perhaps I'm being too hard on a lot of kids that never really interacted with the source material and just wanted to write Sonic fanfics. I've read so many that made it quite obvious that the author didn't know anything about Sonic besides he's fast and I'm not really out here trying to say Sonic shouldn't inspire people to create. Never said I hated reading those fics, I got a good deal of entertainment out of them. It's simply this misconception has stretched so far, it's like the original context has been entirely erased.

And that's the part of Dark Sonic that bothers me.

I've seen plenty of arguments for why the transformation was a poor choice and I don't entirely disagree with them. For me, I could take it or leave it. It was a one-off short transformation in an anime where Sonic pretends to be Star Trek for a season, it just exists to me.

Although, it's been awhile since I last saw discussion of Dark Sonic, as a whole it seemed to be a bigger thing in the early 2010s. Possibly because now we have more recent Sonic shows and movies, it's not just X being the latest thing anymore. I certainly don't read fics like I used to, so I'd be surprised if it is still as heavily used as it used to be. Maybe if I get some time, I'll look up some fics and find out.

[skaruresonic]

Unpopular take but the Shadow manga was pretty dissapointing from art wise to how different the characters behave from what we have seen in he older games. I just feel like the manga is getting overly praised because " its not idw or american or flynn therefore its good!' While not looking at the short story critical enough.

...What is there to criticize yet? People have been jumping the gun with assumptions that Black Doom retconned Maria's death when we quite literally don't know that for sure. This is the first issue. Maybe give it some room to breathe first.

I plan on reading the issue in full once I buy it, although not knowing Japanese will hinder my comprehension. I likely won't understand the dialogue, but it's not bad, at least from what few snippets I've seen. Certainly, it's no Tolstoy, but like. Does a manga need to be?

You also have to keep the Shiny New Thing(tm) phenomenon in mind. Lots of us have been asking for a Sonic manga for years and now we finally have one. Everything new will initially receive hype before people reexamine it with a critical eye.

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and IDW was just starting out, most of us were, in fact, praising the book and getting hyped for new issues. We weren't yet privy to the steep nosedive it'd take in quality following the metal virus.

---

I just feel like the manga is getting overly praised because " its not idw or american or flynn therefore its good!'

Hey now, that's not entirely true: I also enjoyed the Schadenfreude of dunking on "Shadow was tortured on the ARK" headcanons. To say nothing of the quality Shadria and that tasty Parasite Eve reference :P

Look, I know I have Shadria goggles strapped on so tight they're practically cutting off circulation to my head, but I feel like that's a little unfair to say considering we've only seen bits and pieces of issue one and have to rely on fan translations to know what's happening on any given page. It's not like we're 15 volumes in and Shadow's done nothing but brood. And just because I wasn't tempering my gushing with "Shadow looks weird in some panels" doesn't mean I wasn't silently thinking the latter. Trying to give the manga the benefit of the doubt here.

When you wander the Fauxteur Desert for years, even cloudy water will look like an oasis. In a series where the majority of fans and creators view the source material with disdain, as something to be mutilated in order to be considered "good," beggars can't be choosers. You have to take whatever Ws you can. It can be simultaneously true that I think the manga is good on its own merits and good because it's better than its contemporaries. One doesn't necessarily negate the other.

Besides, at the risk of sounding massively hypocritical... Is it so bad to feel relieved when you finally get served some decent food in this Chili's and you discover you're not as emotionally broken as everybody says you are? IDW fans gaslight you day in and day out with "you can't read," "you don't understand the characters," "you hate the series," and "you need therapy," and when you find something that brings you joy, for once, amidst the sea of phoned-in spinoffs tha pussyfoot around being faithful to the games at best and regard them with disdain at worst, something that doesn't feel like pulling teeth to read? You realize how full of shit they were.

The Shadow manga is better, objectively speaking. And I don't think it's quite fair to imply that comparisons to IDW should be off the table when we keep getting IDW forced down our throats as the cultural touchstone that defines Sonic, sometimes taking top billing before the games. I had to listen to everyone parrot "Eggman can't plan" as if it were Ohshima-given fact for three and a half years. Certainly, people can handle me going "omg Shadria <3" for a few posts.

The art is better. The blocking is better. The emotional beats land by virtue of being competently executed, instead of thinking we'll be won over by five-paragraph monologues. Sometimes the art carries the story! Wow! Compared to other media where the characters never shut up long enough to let us draw our own conclusions - a problem shared by Archie, IDW, Prime, the films, and Boom - that actually is a lot, all things considered.

And, yes, suffice to say, if fan translations are accurate, the writing is better, if only because it seems to come from a rare place of respecting the source material.

That probably sounds like I have no standards, but you have to realize the bar has been placed in hell and writers continue to cha-cha slide right on under it. IDW has Starline knock Shadow out with a freaking log, whereas in the manga Shadow stops a bullet in midair. I'm sorry I can't shut off my initial gut reaction of "holy shit that was bad ass."

It's not even like he stopped the bullet psychokinetically a la Neo, he caught that shit mid trajectory. Unlike the scene where Shadow gets knocked out with a log, nerfing him in order to hype up an OC, thinking about the logistics of the speed and precision needed to intercept a bullet in such a manner just makes it even cooler.

Good writing is enhanced by the application of thought. It doesn't punish the reader for considering the implications. The writer doesn't tell you to "go read something else" if the narrative disappoints.

This isn't even a contest.

...I know, dude. I'm aware it's not the best thing since sliced bread. It's a serial manga. Not expecting Shakespeare here. I just need it to be relatively faithful to the games and not emit an air of arrogant superciliousness towards the source material.

My standards are incredibly low considering how much higher they could be, and that's because 90% of spinoffs fail at clearing the first bar. If I maintained as stringent a standard as my adoring fans say I do, I'd have absolutely nothing to read lol.

[cyborg00-why]

3/25 Cyborg 009 The Stage Short Recap

Spoilers ahead for those who haven't watched the announcement themselves.

Right off the bat we got a sneak peak at the theatrical poster! Not sure how I was expecting 005 and 008 to be handled, but the brown face is disappointing and certainly alienating to global fans of color.

However, the costumes are beautiful and the contrasting pant/coat combo works great. I really love the athletic cut and quilted details on the coats. Ivan is not surprisingly, a prop doll in this production. Personally to me this means we have a 50/50 chance of him either being occasionally lifted by stage ninjas for 'levitating' effects or they just hook him up to wires and let him free like Asamov intended. Only time will tell...

We also got our first glance of the new cyberpunk redesigns of 0010+ and 0010-!

With stage adaptions especially I think it is good to treat them as their own canon. With that in mind I am curious to see how they flesh out the rest of the plot through costume design. My initial reaction was that they reminded me of Team Magma and Team Aqua grunts from older pokemon games. They are very fresh and stylish though, which I think is a good contrast to how formal and outdated Gilmore is presented.

Performance After Event Schedule:

5/18: Special Curtain Call*

5/19: Action Curtain Call*

5/19: After Talk with Nanami Hiroki x Toshiya Sakai x Hiroo Otaka

5/21: After Talk with 001, Interviewer Hiroki Nanami

5/22: After Talk Hiroki Nanami x Daisho Sakuraba x Kazuma Kawahara x Toyota

5/23: After Talk Hiroki Nanami x Minori Sonic x 001

5/24: 009/Joe Shimamura Only Curtain Call*

5/25: After Talk Shunichi Takahashi x Masamichi Satonaka x Ryo Takizawa x Rita Aizawa

5/25: Action Curtain Call*

5/26: Special Curtain Call*

*Photos are permitted at these events

It was revealed that certain performances will also conclude with character specific special events, and include character postcards as well. Very jealous of the folks who get to see this live, and more so for those that attend a photo op!

The interviews with Ivan are sure to be interesting... I am curious to see if they have Nanami interviewing the doll or Ivan's voice actor. I guess we will have to wait and see lol.

To wrap things off the main cast did a short introductory performance, and boy did I try to get some good screen grabs.

How are we feeling about twinkified 002? His lil ponytail moment was a surprise but seems more appropriate for complicated choreographed fight scenes.

Francoise seems to be the newest siri update in this canon, but damn if she doesn't make it look good.

I know the first thing the costume department is doing is adding velcro to that scarf! It just couldn't keep up lol

,':^/ I just want to know who decided the patchy brown face was fine but drew the line at his hands matching. I just want to talk

Changs actor has a few stage position issues but carried on with so much confidence it was almost a non-issue. I am also so impressed if that is a) a hairpiece or b) his real hair he committed to have for the play.

The bloke himself, had an intro as exciting as Francoise but you could tell they were also very excited to play the part. I am probably the most excited to see 007 and 009 perform from this intro alone.

,':^/ if someone doesn't take the bronzer away from him I will get the spray bottle...

Would love to hear others impressions, opinions, and thoughts! Do you like the styling of the play or is it too many degrees removed from the source material? Are you excited to see it or was the news of a play for the 60th anniversary not what you were hoping for?

[canyoufucksoniccharacters]

ilvr

Our favorite boy!! I think this is a good way to start talking about the heavy hitters for this blog, and gets us on our way to talking about the blue blur himself.

Unfortunately, I'm probably gonna be breaking a lot of hearts on this one, probably. Let's get to it, why don't we?

Can you fuck Silver The Hedgehog?

Alright, let's get started. As always, we're gonna look for an official source- and Sonic Channel is the only official source on this matter. I've got to clarify, again- these ages are no longer listed. They were removed around the time of Frontiers' release; around October of 2022, specifically. So, these are taken from the Wayback Machine.

Alright's let's see here...

This is... Our youngest yet! Or, well, allegedly youngest, anyways. Again, these ages no longer hold any weight (if they ever did, anyways, which they likely didn't.) since they're unlisted. Unlike the other ones, this one doesn't seem to be sourced from anywhere. I could check every single manual for every game Silver has been in, but that's way above my paygrade. I checked 06, and ages are listed absolutely nowhere. However...

I can tell you for sure that this age is actually not baseless. Let's quote Shun Nakamura, game designer for Sonic Team. Before the release of Sonic 06, The Sonic Stadium conducted an interview with Nakamura. One of the questions was this;

"Silver is young and a little immature, but that's also what attracts me."

Silver was, from the start, written and designed as a young and inexperienced character. It really does show, too- in just about all his depictions, he's much less mature than both Sonic and Shadow, the characters he resembles the most. He's just about always depicted as a rookie, still learning; which is admittedly not inherently a trait of a young person, as even adults are still learning every day and can be inexperienced in whatever field they're thrown into, but it's very clear Silver's youth is meant to be linked to his inexperience.

Additionally, this isn't an outdated statement at all- after all, IDW can help us out here!

This is repeated again in Issue 64, the one right after the one this is sourced from, Issue 63.

Note the different background color... Despite everything else being the same.

These profiles are used on the start of Issue recaps. Although you might question me using IDW as proof, there's good reason to believe it's either canon or pretty damn accurate to the source material. In the form of...

Confirmation from Ian Flynn himself! Reminder, he's the main writer for these games now! He wrote Frontiers, and likely will keep writing Sonic Games going forward. He also writes most of the stuff for IDW, so that's worth taking into account. So either IDW is canon, or it reflects the canon of the games.

To top it all off, a personal point that I'm bringing up purely for my own nerdy reasons- Silver's inspiration.

Here's a quote from the leaked script of Sonic 06;

"He possesses some special powers which can draw upon the Emeralds. It is unknown how he got these powers, though. Essentially, think Trunks from Dragon Ball Z."

The character being talked about here is Future Trunks, a time traveler from the future who goes back in time to warn the cast about the Androids that destroyed his future, so they can train in preparation for the invasion, as well as giving Goku medicine for a heart virus he succumbed to in the timeline Trunks comes from.

Trunks, much like Silver, is young and inexperienced- being 17 years old at the time of his arrival in the present. He does later go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, a space where one year inside the chamber equals to one day outside of it, so by the end of the arc he's older, but still- he's young, most certainly underage, inexperienced, rash, and has a very strong sense of justice. Trunks is the direct inspiration for Silver, it's has been stated as such. So, with all this, it makes sense that Silver would be younger than everyone else around him, as was the case for Trunks.

So, with all this, Silver is undeniably younger than everyone around him, and it can't really be by a slight amount, otherwise it wouldn't be considered an important part of his character. This still holds true to this day, if IDW is anything to go by. Although he does have one slight saving grace- the passage of time. Time absolutely does pass between Sonic games, with at minimum a year and a half having passed since the modern series began (1 year due to Sonic's birthday in Generations, 6 months from the Forces timeskip) as well as, less verifiably but still worth taking into account, the PSN description for Sonic Heroes saying the game takes place 5 months after Adventure 2. There's some leeway for him to be of age in modern day, and it will get more likely as the series goes on, but it's a small margin.

Conclusion:

Silver is, most likely, underage. He's seemingly the youngest non-child character, he's consistently portrayed as inexperienced and naive, and overall, it's very very unlikely he's an adult. The chance isn't 0%, admittedly; again, the passage of time in the series gives him some leeway, and that leeway will only get larger as the series continues, so there's some small chance that he's an adult, aka able to consent, but it's small. You would be playing a risky game, and I could not possibly bring myself to endorse it.

So, the verdict is;

You, most likely, cannot fuck Silver The Hedgehog. There's a small chance that you can, but it's very small, and I would not recommend risking it.

not sorry for the Dragon Ball side tangent. it's good. really good.

[crusherthedoctor]

Maybe it’s because I’m the one with said opinions, but whether you agree with them or no, I don’t think they’re all that complicated in terms of logic.

“Why don’t you like Popular Game, Popular Story, Popular Gameplay Style, etc?” Because I don’t think it’s fun or don’t think it works that well. Not hard to understand.

“Why don’t you wait and see what they do in the comic?” Because I’ve been doing that for over five years now. I think it’s safe to notice a pattern by that point. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you criticise the perfect stories of the older games?” Because they’re not perfect, and pointing out their glaring issues is part of my hope to see them learn from those issues and make their future stories even better. I like my character moments, I like my deep themes, but what I really like is when they’re actually executed well. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you dislike Eggman’s relationship with Sage?” Because no matter how they choose to interpret it, Eggman is still getting compromised to an extent for the relationship’s sake, and the fandom have pounced on it and made it very hard to find Eggman content that doesn’t involve Sage. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you criticise Eggman’s badass role in SA2?” Because he was reduced to being Shadow and Gerald’s tool throughout the whole game and was doomed to fail even if he won, and is subsequently forced to team up with Sonic, which would become a trend afterwards. Not hard to understand.

“Why did you not cheer for Eggman getting revenge on Starline?” Because one brief moment does not make up for all the shit that came at his expense beforehand, and I knew he’d go right back to getting dunked on afterwards anyway, which is exactly what happened. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you dislike Metal Sonic’s role in Heroes?” Because it’s just as much a disservice to him as it is to Eggman, and they do nothing interesting with Metal’s identity crisis beyond using it as an excuse to turn him into another usurper and then another giant monster. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you think they did not fix Tails in Frontiers?” Because using reviewer terminology, and vowing to do something he’s already done before, only serves to appease people who want you to think Baldy McNosehair has become Sonic’s catchphrase. Not hard to understand.

“Why have you not exiled yourself for liking the Pontaff games?” Because they’re video games, and because I have enough of a healthy mindset to acknowledge their faults yet still enjoy them despite that. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you consider SatAM a Sonic cartoon in name only?” Because you could change Sonic, Tails, and Robotnik into original characters, and very little would need to be changed. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you like the movies if you care about being faithful to the source material?” Because unlike IDW and Prime, they never claimed to be canon, and I’m still capable of appreciating a not-entirely-accurate adaptation if I feel the elements still work for the most part. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you think Ian Flynn is overrated?” Because someone who is commonly regarded as the Best Sonic Writer of All Time should not be making the same rookie mistakes over and over again after a decade. Or getting so many basic facts wrong in the Encyclospeedia. Or acting unprofessional along with other Archie leftovers. Not hard to understand.

“How is Sonic/Shadow showing emotion a bad thing?” Because that’s an exaggeration of what I’m actually saying; they can be sad, angry, whatever else, but not every character works the same, and it needs to be done in a way that makes sense for them specifically. Resorting to ocular gushers is not in-character for either of them. Not hard to understand.

“Why do you dislike IDW Sonic?” Because he’s a preachy and hypocritical cunt. Not hard to understand.

[prowerprojects]

If it helps, I've also played around with the thought of Tails and Sage too. What the dynamic between the two would be going forward; if we get more interactions. (Plus, I like the idea of Tails being drawn to anomalies; him being one himself, out of curiosity at first. But then he develops a genuine bond with said anomaly.)

Also, I found it strange that outside of other mechanics like Eggman and Wave, Tails rarely interacts with other experts/intellects that challenges his brain or beliefs in different ways. Even for simple hobbies like trading cards, chess, mathematics, or video games.

It does help, thanks anon! I genuinely appreciate this ask.

I think... it would be such a waste for them to not have Tails and Sage interact, because I think they set it up perfectly in Frontiers. I think their character directions are similar. Learning how to be a person in a metaphorical (growing up) and literal (AI achieving Self-Awareness) ways. The way their creator/mentor's influence impacts them, and can they grow beyond it and who they'd be if they do. Ahhhhhhh *clenches fist* Sage straight up projects onto Tails at one point, this cannot be unintentional.

But also despite their similarities and Sage's respect for Sonic, I assume she will stay by Eggman's side, and then it would be interesting to see why, how does she justify his actions and how this contrasts with Tails's own morality and worldview. This could really be an opportunity for them to challenge each other as people.

Plus they're both highly intelligent and Sage has some kind of technopathy powers, which could be a great counter for Tails's mechanical skills, so they're matched there too.

It's just so obvious to let them interact again!

And yeah, I guess I'm embarrassed because while the dynamic has the potential to be interesting, it doesn't need to be romantic, and the embarrassment comes from the fact that I don't want to come off as a person that can only interact with the source material through shipping, or thinks that romantic relationships are more interesting or important than others.

But I'm also of the opinion that romance is rarely needed in general. When someone says that "X doesn't need a relationship", to me it carries the implication that there are people who do need it and would be incomplete without it or something? Which is something that I don't agree with. (Not that I want Tails amd Sage to be in a relationship either, it's something I don't really think could work out even when they're older)

It doesn't hurt anyone if they have little crushes on each other... Though I guess I was mostly focusing on the traits that would make them interesting rivals for each other rather than the reasons why they might like each other like that, but it's just the rivalry is something I want to actually see in canon, and the crushes are well. Just shipping (Though I do have reasons as well). One of the things that the romantic angle has to justify itself is it's unlimited comedic potential. Just imagine the reactions of their family/friends.

On the other point: personally I don't find it strange, mostly because of the fact that Tails rarely gets to have interactions with anyone who isn't Sonic or Eggman in general. The one time we meet a friend of his who wasn't previously affiliated with Sonic's friendgroup they end up being a university professor (who specializes in ancient texts).

If he was the main character, or got like any character focus at all, maybe it would have been weird, as it is we can only imagine that those things do happen, just offscreen.

[jase-is-ace]

Why are you so pressed over this? This is literally the most nothing topic to complain about.

I assume some (keyword: SOME) of the people saying that might just be newer fans who haven't gotten to know all the older lore, go easy on them. Not everyone is a trend hopper, there are people who genuinely just don't know or have been informed wrong (accidental misinterpretation is a common issue, especially when sharing thoughts on social media).

Also worth noting, its been a LONG time since Sonic Adventures 2 came out (also sonic X since shadow cried on that show too). Obviously SEGA hasn't given Shadow a whole lot of room to properly express his emotion in the recent games up until now, so "Shadow is allowed to cry again" isn't the completely nonsensical take you are making it out to be.

Instead of cussing them out, maybe just calmly explain and show examples of Shadow being more vulnerable in other games and/or comics like a normal person rather than spouting idiotic solutions like resorting to gatekeeping?

I get that it is extremely frustrating when people don't actually understand the source material and make assumptions based off of loose facts (it happens in almost every other fandom) but it is honestly just better to either kindly correct them or IGNORE them all together. Super duper easy solutions that don't involve cussing everyone out and acting like you're the "superior fan" for knowing that shadow has cried in previous games.

My only exception to this is obviously when people PURPOSEFULLY misinterpret the source material just to shit on it and spread a false narrative for content sake. (tiktok commenters yapping for the sake of yapping)

"they let Shadow cry omg Shadow is allowed to cry again" Shadow was always allowed to cry he cried in SA2 what the fuck are you talking about?

literally just making shit up x3

I honestly don't understand what even goes through their minds

They're fucking tourists, honestly

Like way to advertise you're just here cuz it's trendy and not cuz you actually know or care about the franchise

These people are literally the equivalent of fucking JoJo "fans" who think Jotaro originally drew The World tarot card but was given Star because it was already taken

Chuds and posers who just gobble up the memes and never actually engage with the source material

Honestly there's so much shit that people say about Sonic that reminds me of that one in particular

Like fucktards are watching Snapcube or Jehtt videos and acting like that's a substitute for actually playing the games

This is why gatekeeping is important

The thing that gets me is they're obviously not even interested in getting into the series or playing the games at all

it's like, why tf are you here then???

[spiritsonic]

Building off on your answer to msfeleciarondo question, how do you see Sonic moral code exactly? Cause it has varied a lot between different interpretations of the character along with his moral code even being a bit inconsistent within the modern games.

DISCLAIMER: These are not any sort of "Official Rules of Sonic", it's just some guidelines I've made for myself based on observation of the source material, and what makes me happy.

My favorite touchstones for Sonic's morals are Sonic and the Black Knight, and his theme song It Doesn't Matter.

Sonic isn't interested in discovering an empirical version of morality, or with the laws and mores of society. His one and only guide is his own instinct, and his rules are simple:

You can do whatever you like, as long as it's not hurting others or the natural world.

Don't mourn or fight natural change.

Treat others with empathy (this is the one he most often falls short of, his own ego getting in the way... but hey he's trying!).

Offer second chances. If someone has even the slightest chance of becoming kinder or happier, give them the opportunity.

And of course, anybody who opposes or disregards these rules gets a shiny red boot to the face.

That's how I'd boil it down right now, and these are the rules I follow when I'm writing him for work. One more important thing is that Sonic is reactive, not proactive. He'll answer a call for help of course, but otherwise, he waits for trouble to come to him or comes upon it by coincidence.

(GOTF Sonic has some of these principles flipped; he mourns change, is very proactive, and can be quite merciless. It started as an oversight on my part, but as I got older and learned more about the character it became a very useful tool for exploring Sonic's limits).

[segersgia]

Looking back: Part 3 - Craftworld Aeldari

The Psychic Awakening event was kind of a disappointment. Nothing really major happened within these books and the focus of most of them involved stories about Space Marines. The Xenos factions got it very bad in most of these books, but none as bad as all of the Aeldari.

I feel so sorry for what Aeldari players have to deal with in the hobby. Most of your range is either still in finecast or in metal, and you haven’t had a major model release in about 8 years. The entire Craftworld range definitely needs an update.

I must be honest; I don’t care that much about the Aeldari. I’ve never been particularly interested in elven races, save those that go full ahead with the nature aspect. This is why I prefer the Wood Elves and Exodites, over races like the High Elves or the Lumineth Realmlords. 

So I will put a disclaimer on this post; Aeldari lore is not my strong suit. In fact, I find it sometimes quite confusing. I might make mistakes or misinterpret the lore of these units. I hereby apologize for this. 

Let’s begin...

Spiritseer:

Aeldari Spiritseers are Warlocks specialized in the preservation and care of Aeldari souls. They are the ones that guide Aeldari spirits inside of Wraith Constructs. In some way, you could call them a form of necromancer.

They walk the “Path of the Seer”; one of the most dangerous Paths for the Aeldari to walk. On this path, they develop their psychic abilities and learn how to control them. They’ve also (if I’m correct about this at least) previously walked the “Path of the Warrior”, which gave them the necessary experience to control their impulses and emotions.  

This Spiritseer got released alongside the Wake the Dead box-set, which pitted the Spiritseer Qelnaris and the forces of Saim-Hann, against the Ultramarines. I can’t find what the conclusion of this battle was, but guessing from the way that the Eldar have been treated this edition, I would say they probably got stomped by the Ultramarines.

Normally, this Spiritseer is not something specifically to write home about, as he looks as you would expect a Spiritseer to look like. However, looking back upon their older model, I can see that this new version is quite an improvement. The pose is way better and the proportions seem to have been fixed in this version. 

My favourite thing about this model is the mask. I love when Eldar in any form look otherworldly and alien, and these domed masks work perfectly for that. 

8/10

Howling Banshees:

Howling Banshees are a form of Aspect Warrior; Aeldari who walk the “Path of the Warrior”. As an Aspect Warrior, the Howling Banshees embody a certain aspect of Khaine, the God of Murder. Specifically, the aspect of aggressive close quarters combat.

As the name would imply, their Aspect is inspired by the mythical Banshees, who, with their wails and cries, heralded doom and death.  

They go into battle carrying Shuriken Pistols and Power Weapons (mostly swords), and they certainly know how to use them. Howling Banshees are freakishly fast and precise, but what makes them unique is their Sonic weaponry. The mask they wear is called a Banshee Mask, and it amplifies their war-cries into some sort of psychic screech. Those that hear this become disoriented and paralyzed because their nervous system can’t handle this amount of psychic energy. 

The Howling Banshees are what I think of first when someone mentions Eldar. It would only be fair that they became the first Aspect to be updated. From what I see, it doesn’t disappoint so far. They remain faithful to the source material and the poses are overall better compared to their predecessors. They also have a more decent proportioned waste now. 

The inclusion I most of all like is the separate Aspect Relic, and I believe it is an effigy depicting Morai-Heg, The Crone Godess. The website encourages you for using it as an objective marker. I love it when the designers give us these little extra’s that can be used as set pieces. I hope every new Aspect Warrior gets a symbol like this in the future. 

9/10

Howling Banshee Exarch:

Exarchs are Aspect Warriors who specifically have become lost and trapped within the “Path of the Warrior” and become the High Priests/Guardians over their specified Aspect Shrine. Think of them as teachers who train their squad in the way of their Aspect.

Their armour is more ornate than the rest of their squad and they’ve forgone their Shuriken Pistol in favour of going fully melee focused. They then can carry either two Mirror-Swords, an Executioner Power-Glaive or, they can mimic their Phoenix Lord and carry a Triskele (the three pointed boomerang-thingie). Their overall skill- and power-level is way above that of anyone, probably capable of dueling the best warriors that the Imperium could throw at them (if GW wouldn’t be so biased in their campaign books).

The Exarch kit contains a seperate head that doesn’t wear the mask. This apparently is an Ynnari Exarch, who walks a way different path than that of the Craftworld Eldar. I can’t find much information about this, but it is at least interesting that the Ynnari don’t need to wear their War-masks.

I’ve seen discussions and complaints about the way that the maskless face looks and let’s just say a few things.

Men can become Howling Banshees, though will still wear the same type of Aspect Armour (which includes the breast plate).

Women don’t need to look feminine when they are actively at war, and it doesn’t make them any less feminine.

If the Mechanicus can have non-binary members, then the Aeldari most certainly can have them as well. 

These are technically part of the Howling Banshee kit, so the same points can be applied to these two. I do think that the Glaive looks way better on this model than the Mirror-swords. The Exarch looks a little “out-of-balance” when dual wielding. I did wish though that they got some more weapon options. The Triskele isn’t in the kit, and I also saw a concept piece for an Eldar Power-Axe, which the Aeldari just deserve to have in their arsenal. Give Howling Banshees Power Axes. That would look so cool.

8/10

Jain Zar:

Phoenix Lords are by far some of the most ancient and powerful members of the Aeldari race. They were former Exarchs who have fought for so long, that they don’t have an Aspect Shrine or Craftworld left to protect. Instead, they wander from Craftworld to Craftworld and arrive to fight alongside their kin when the need arises the most. 

Whenever a Phoenix lord falls in battle, their soul is transported inside of the spirit stone of the suit. Then, another Eldar warrior will don the suit and become possessed by the original Phoenix lord. Most Phoenix lord armour contains the souls of dozens of Eldar, all who’ve sacrificed their lives in order to resurrect their respective Phoenix Lord.

Jain Zar is of course the Phoenix Lord of the Howling Banshees. In fact, she is the founder of her Aspect and according to legend, became the first Exarch. This makes her the second Phoenix Lord to come into existence, with the first being Asurmen. She is considered one of the most active Phoenix Lords to roam the galaxy and has an active hatred for Chaos. After the rise of the Ynnari, she became one of the biggest advocates of their cause.

Jain Zar carries the Jainas Mor and Zhai Morenn. The Jainas Mor is the Three bladed Triskele, which is “Sharper than any mortal blade”. The Zhai Morenn is her Power-Glaive, and it is a relic from before the Fall of the Eldar. Her Banshee Mask was the first of its kind and every Banshee mask that has followed is a copy of hers.

During the Psychic Awakening, Jain Zar protected Yvraine from Drazhar and pursued him. This proved fatal and got her sliced in two.  A new Exarch donned the armour and Jain Zar was reborn. She then got a rematch with Drazhar and became victorious. Eventually the infamous battle of Iathglas happened, where she, together with Yvraine and the Visarch barely managed to defeat a HOLOGRAM?!? of Shalaxi Hellbane. (goddamnit Geedubs).

Jain Zar’s new model is such an improvement over her older one that I am excited to see what any of the other Phoenix Lords might look like in the future. I love her proportions, her pose, her appearance... everything is so good. I’m not even bothered by the hair and I don’t care that it is too long or impractical in combat. 

One thing I would’ve preferred though is that they would’ve kept her original paint scheme. I prefer the black/red paint scheme over the white/red one. I get why they changed it, because it fits better with the scheme of her Aspect.

10/10

--------

While the Craftworlds didn’t get much this edition, what they did get has been very good. I’m excited for what may come in the future for the Aeldari.

Games Workshop. Could you just make more Eldar models? People have been begging you to update them for over a decade now. Listen to them. Most of the Aeldari range is still finecast or metal. 

Next up: Primaris Vanguard Infantry

previous posts: Primaris Mainline Infantry, Death Guard Infantry

[sonicfanj]

I’m a big fan of AUs and the freedom that fans have to explore Sonic or any fandom in ways that diverge from the source material, but with AUs and more recent Sonic stuff being what a lot of new fans brought in from the movie will see, the possibility of providing false information is far to high if we are not careful. That SEGA also spreads misinformation only makes matter worse and it is the heart of this particular post.

One of the biggest misconceptions of Sonic that SEGA perpetrates both through retcons and from Sonic Generations onward is that Sonic before the Sonic Adventure (Adventure henceforth )rebranding back in 1998/1999 is that “Classic Sonic “ as he is dubbed these days is possessed of an age of around eleven and is even shorter than Sonic’s 1 meter/3′3″ height. The height can actually be sourced to a profile of Metal Sonic’s that lists him at around seventy something centimeters as well as Generations making him shorter to account for the difference in proportions. But the truth is, Sonic was always listed at 1 meter tall, both before and after the Adventure redesign.

[Character height chart for reference - http://info.sonicretro.org/images/9/99/Classic_character_heights.svg]

Age on the other hand is where things get really strange. Again, a retcon for Generations makes sense to an extent, especially when you consider that the characters had their ages shuffled around as it was with the Adventure redesign. Amy aged up from 8 to 12 and Knuckles aged up from 15 to 16. Tails remained the same but Sonic actually received a subtle change. Bios that listed Sonic’s age before Adventure typically listed him at 15 to 16 years old. That would actually make him the same age or older than his Adventure onward counterpart. But it gets even weirder. According to the Sonic Technical Files (currently hosted by Sonnic Fansite Sonic Retro here - http://info.sonicretro.org/Original_Story) Sonic was actually originally thought about to be even older, around 18 years old. Suddenly, Sonic from his typically dubbed Classic Era is actually definitively older than his modern counterpart, yet is portrayed as a younger bubbly child from Sonic Generations onward. And I assure you, this is a retcon.

If you grew up in the 90s like I did and were introduced to Sonic when he debuted back in 1991, then you will remember the western advertising over embracing his teenager with an attitude description. And it wasn’t just in game ads, it was in all Sonic media available in the west. The US cartoons, the Archie and Fleetway comics, and so on, portrayed Sonic as an uppity teenager with an attitude problem (some cases being far worse than others). That teenager of a high school age mentality was the backbone for why the Archie Sonic comics were littered with teenager romance drama, which would look rather distasteful if you think about it post retcons now. But they were not at fault for portraying Sonic based on being high school age. The material and information they were provided told them as such and so they based their interpretations off of that available information.

But it wasn’t just a western mistake either. If not for input from key members of SEGA of America (henceforth SoA) Sonic would be rather different and would even have had a human girlfriend by the name of Madona who was anything but a child.

[Pic here - https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/d/dc/Madonna.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090313035151]

Madonna was not the only time it happened either as one of the last pieces of pre-Adventure release Classic Sonic material is the Sonic OVA or Movie produced by Japanese animation studio Studio Peirrot where a catgirl (read human girl with cat ears and a tail) was the main love interest and whom even Eggman/Robotnik wanted to marry (it’s weird, I don’t argue that). But more importantly, two of Sonic’s primary creators, Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima, were listed as Production Directors for the two episode Original Video Animation (OVA) and were rumored to be involved quite a bit with the film. You can typically find it on youtube though I recomend the subbed version, bad video quality and all, to get a better representation of the Japanese perspective. It’s really eye opening and was very nostalgic in when I first watched it post Sonic Generations release.

The thing is though, the OVA released in 1996, years before the Adventure rebranding, and is strongly believed to be how Naka and Oshima see the character. This is actually reflected in the Sonic Adventure redesign as Yuji Naka on record (a shame I can’t find the link) has stated that Sonic was redesigned to bring him closer to the original character idea and to erase the growing cute identity that he was developing due to marketing. He even goes on to say that Sonic was never intended to be cute and that being a cute mascot character would inevitably pit him against Hello Kitty which would not have ended well. Yet, SEGA retconned the Naka/Oshima Sonic into being a bubbly hyperactive kid who was much shorter and generally hyper cute compared to his more modern interpretation of the character. This retcon is only made even more complicated when SEGA decided they didn’t like their “New” Classic Sonic being treated as the same character as their Legacy Sonic and even retconned that come Sonic Forces to say that he was actually from a different dimension. Years after Sonic Forces release that decision still riles up many more dedicated fans as it breaks the series continuity. Arguably, it has too. After all, if Naka/Oshima Sonic is older than Legacy/Modern Sonic and has the same height yet New Classic Sonic is shorter and strangely mute then something had to be changed or it just starts to fall apart for a cohesive narrative. Of course Amy’s four year gain already threw things into question but on it’s own was fairly harmless considering her role in the franchise as the main female lead and primary love interest. But New Classic Sonic’s muteness is what this post will be carrying on from.

One of the biggest misconceptions of Sonic before the Adventure redesign is that he did not speak. The primary reason for this misconception I usually attributed to him not speaking in the classics. this is actually a false statement as Sonic speaks in Sonic the Hedgehog CD, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, and is quite the chatterbox in a Japanese only popcorn machine. Admittedly, these are all difficult to experience items, especially pre-Adventure, but by the time of Soinc Generations’ release a good deal of these could be researched and Sonic CD was readily available to the public again thanks in no small part to Christian Whitehead of Evening Star Studios. but even outside of the games SOnic was shown to talk quite a bit before the Adventure redesign. Again both the western comics and cartoons and even numerous Japanese comics all showed him speaking quite a bit before the Adventure redesign. Of a more canonical nature however, the Japanese instruction manuals for most of the games from the original onward will show Sonic talking.

So, where did this misconception gain enough steam to become a retcon? It’s hard to say, but there are a lot factors that could lead to it. Major fan backlash was threatened when Generations was first revealed if they got Sonic’s voice wrong and hat it’d be better if he didn’t talk at all. SEGA is known for overreacting to negative feedback at odd and seemingly random times and this appears to me to be yet another case of it. But his muteness only got weirder when people started latching on to him being mute as a matter of shyness. I don’t know where that one originated from, but Sonic’s shyness is actually a trait of his, but it is specifically tied to how he feels about his self-proclaimed Amy Rose. When asked about, Yuji Naka once said that Sonic does likely like Amy deep down, but is too shy to act on those feelings. Naoto Oshima expands further on that stating that Sonic has a boyish immaturity in regards to his feelings and thus won’t act on them but should he mature in that regard he would end up with Amy. In other words, boyish immaturity and shyness are part of Sonic’s character, but they only reflect on certain facets of his character. His shyness and immaturity of his feelings for Amy though were instead stretched out to cover most of his character resulting in New Classic Sonic being a mute, when Naka/Oshima, Legacy/Modern, BOOM! (just to throw in another iteration where he is shy about his feelings for Amy), and even Movie Sonic are all rather talkative.

So that there is three misconceptions about pre-Adventure Sonic that are perpetuated officially by New Classic Sonic effectively being placed over Naka/Oshima Sonic. Again, I don’t aim to bash fanfics and AUs as I love them and the way they explore the characters in new ways, but for the sake of new fans not being overly confused, it should be noted if your Classic Sonic is New or Generations based, or the Naka/Oshima, pre-Adventure version. There are hugely massive differences between them with things like height, age, and talkativeness being hugely noticeable. Otherwise, keep writing, drawing and having fun, and may all of the movie’s fans who find their way into the fanbase enjoy themselves

[wonderfromdownunder96]

"Where's Rouge Now?" (My Version)

Note:

This was originally a Deviantart picture blog thing from 2010, made by D.A. member Gregarlink10. I've basically done my own take on it. I know that we're currently in the year 2019, but some of the things I added that he didn't are written to sound like it would've been written in the same year as the original.

Here is a link to the original version:

Anyway, on with the blog.

Why isn't Rouge The Bat in Sonic games anymore? 

Here are some possible reasons:

1. She's A Bad Example For Kids:                      As Rouge generally goes around trying to steal jewelry - especially the Master Emerald - children, being impressionable and easily influenced, will see it and might think it's a fun, harmless thing to do, because they don't know any better due to their gullible, naive nature. This possibly could have led to some of the burglars and thieves we have in society today. Good job, Sega. Good job(!) No wonder your flagship franchise is seen as a garbage dump nowadays.

2. No Dramatic/Interesting Past/Backstory:        Let's take Knuckles for example; he was given the position as guardian of The Master Emerald, which is further detailed in Sonic Adventure 1, shedding light on the Echidna tribe and Tikal, Knuckles' ancestors. In addition, Shadow had arguably the most dramatic and interesting backstory out of every Sonic character to date, having been, in his own words "A research experiment gone deadly wrong" (As said in his own game from 2005), holding a grudge against humanity, but warming to them later on. Rouge, on the other hand, hardly has any sort of backstory. It's just "I'm gaga about jewels, I wear makeup, la-de-da-de-daaaaaa."!

3. Deep Manly Voice: Specifically, the voice of actress Kathleen Delaney, who first voiced her in the Sonic X anime, and continues to voice her in the games to this day, but mostly in spin-offs, such as Sonic Rivals 2. Some people say she makes the bat sound pretty manly for a female animal, and go as far as saying she sounds like a hooker, adding to the "Bad Example for kids" section. Totally a fantastic way to promote woman to innocent minors, Sega(!)

4. She Has Big Boobs: Indeed, great for milf material. This goes back to her being a bad example for kiddies; For boys, if they arn't keen of the breast size, they'd likely grow up thinking they will meet girls, or worse, end up with girlfriends that have that breast size! As for girls, they might be worried that they, themselves, will end up growing boobs that same size as they get older. Oof...😫 But for either gender, they could think that literally every woman has boobies the same size as Rouge!!

5. No Super Form: Almost every Sonic critter has a super form of sorts; Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Silver, Blaze etc. Not Rouge. Granted, not literally every character in the Sonic franchise needs a superform, but in my opinion, if more of them did, Rouge included, they'd be that bit more useful.

6. Many Change Of Clothes:

It's been said by a small amount of YouTubers and Deviantart members that the reason the Bat Girl got re-designed in Sonic Heroes was because Sega got letters from parents complaining about a "sexy" or "obscene" character in a game for their kids and demanding they tone her down. I personally haven't come across any official sources that say this, so I don't know whether or not this is true. 

[eyebright-iris]

Review: Detective Pikachu

I step outside the cinema, having just witnessed Detective Pikachu in 3D.  The streets look half empty with the lack of Pokémon companions tagging along with their human counterparts.  I feel like I’ve been robbed of a partner that never existed.

I want a god damn Pokémon.

[mild spoilers below the cut!]

Detective Pikachu is a sheer delight, a love letter to every Pokémon fan who ever closed their eyes and wished their battle-ready team of all their favourites could appear in front of them.  Seeing Pokémon come to life and be exactly how they’re supposed to is such a weirdly emotional existence; I almost cried because Pikachu has little whiskers.  I’m not going to pretend I’ve been there from the very beginning – my first console was a DS Lite and my first core game was Platinum when I was about 9 – but I’ve been hooked since I first got my hands on the series and my love has just grown more and more as I’ve gotten older.  It’s a beautiful system of numbers and statistics; it’s a fun adventure; it’s an immersive world of unique levels of connection.

Detective Pikachu sees us.  It sees those who love Pokémon and says here, this is for you.  This is what you’ve waited for all this time, for so long.  And we take it with both hands because it’s everything our hearts want.  What really sold this movie for me was that, despite the copious amounts of nostalgia it plays on – I’d say upwards of 80% of the Pokémon that appear are Gen 1, from Mewtwo to the Kanto starters – it also works Pokémon from across generations into its worldbuilding, such as Comfey, Morelull, Torterra and Greninja.  These later-Gen Pokémon make the film feel more like a tribute to the world of Pokémon as a whole, rather than just a heavy indulgence for 90s kids who were there at the beginning (though I recognise it does this too); putting Bouffalant on a rural farm when you could have easily chosen Tauros just made me smile because this movie is more than a nostalgia-fest for those who were there when Red and Blue launched.

I massively appreciate the movie’s dedication to making this feel like a functioning Pokémon world, rather than lifting religiously from the games and anime.  One thing I noticed was the distinct lack of more anime-like moments, such as catching Pokémon: though we open with an attempt to capture a Pokémon like we would in the core game series, the iconic Poké Balls actually make very few appearances because they’re a dynamic that works better in anime than in a live-action movie. Also, as a Brit I definitely appreciated Ryme City, being a clear cross between London and Tokyo (I see you, Tube signs and The Gherkin being fused with Pokémon’s Japanese roots).

In terms of plot: yes, it’s a little simple (and by ‘a little’ I mean ‘a lot’), and there’s more than enough convenient moments used to push it forward that almost make you say “um, how many of these lumps of information are you planning to drop in front you our characters?” but it doesn’t freaking matter.  This movie wasn’t about its plot, its characters, its themes (though I appreciate the villainous roles of overreaching capitalist monopolies on an entire city).  This movie was about one thing and one thing only: seeing Pokémon in a real life situation, seeing Pokémon as if they could still be there when you walked outside, seeing Pokémon in a way that throws up the same colossal middle finger as Pokémon GO to the edgelords who pushed the “no, real Pokémon would be super DARK and TERRIFYING” for years.  I kind of saw the final twist coming (I was super aware of how we never saw Harry’s face, or even his hands) but honestly, who cares. I went there to see a real life Pikachu and god dammit I got one.

Verdict:

A tribute to the unique heart and soul of the Pokémon series, realised into a pseudo-realistic, functional world that made me vibrate with joy with every background Arcanine and casual Dodrio that happened across the screen.  Proof that a video game (and anime!) movie can be beloved if they just stick to what makes the source material great (looking at you, Sonic the Hedgehog, whose trailer embarrassingly preceded Detective Pikachu today).  This film is nothing short of a delight and it wants you to feel it with every inch of your Pokémon trainer heart.  Like Pokémon GO before it, it brings the joy of Pokémon a step closer to us and leaves reality sorely wanting.

8/10

[purple-comet-hurricane]

you know i find it super strange

first real transformers, real pokemon, now real sonic. the thing all of these have in common is their base material is very cartoony and well, for kids right. not saying adults can’t enjoy these but the target audience is still children. all kids want to see their favorite video game characters or toys or cartoon characters in a movie, just the idea of sonic in a movie was so appealing to me as a child that i wrote my own crude scripts in 4th grade one day hoping to direct my own sonic movie where i was the main protagonist and sonic came to my world. sonic sonic x but i’m there. but the thing is i didn’t want it to be viscerally realistic. i just wanted it to just be sonic... but in a theatre.

the thing that seems to happen with film makers is that they make them real complicated in design, and im pretty sure it’s just so it can appeal to older audience so they make the money back in ticket sales but at the same time. the people who want these movies, who want to see their favorite cartoon characters on the big screen. they really just wanna see the character as they are but in a feature length film. i mean the detective pikachu movie is so cute, i loved those artist renditions of the pokemon as real animals. but the thing about detective pikachu is that despite the characters’ realistic designs they are still heavily reminiscent of their source material. i guess the thing i’m trying to get at here is when they make realistic versions of character for movies and stuff they always like... over complicate stuff in the process? take transformers for example. there’s many iterations but i’m gonna go to the basics and talk about G1 and Bayverse.

this is the 1980s generation 1 optimus prime. he’s pretty simple in design

this is bayverse optimus. in the process of making optimus realistic to the live action movies they also over complicated him in a way that makes him look visually jarring? in a way? there’s no reason the above design couldn’t been translated way easier

take the new Bumblebee movie.

pardon the crude screenshot but this is Optimus from the new Bumblebee movie by Travis Knight. he managed to re-translate optimus to be realistic but still keep his core design. he looks like the optimus prime i loved as a child which has made me more excited for bumblebee then i ever had.

so why is it that travis knight is able to make optimus look like his source material but bayverse optimus looks like a bag of kibble.

i believe it has to do with trying to appeal to what film studios think ‘older’ audiences enjoy. a lot of films marketed towards adult and older teens are like. war films and YA romance or whatever. which is what the bayverse transformers was with 90% explosions and shia lebouf and megan fox making out on top of bumblebee. michael bay looked at what audience he was trying to impress and instead of staying with the source material he tried to craft something under those 2 genres that would attract young to teenage boys but ended up making films that aren’t that worthwhile. however travis knight seems to realize that the target audience likes the idea of a real life transformer, but with designs closely reminiscent of the ones they grew up with.

but the reality is people don’t need convincing to see a movie. if they love the source material then they’ll be more than excited to see a live action remake of the movie that resembles the designs and characters they all fell in love with in the first place. kids want to see real life versions of their favorite characters, teens want to see real life versions of their favorite characters and adults want to see real life versions of their favorite characters. but they want to see them as they are, not a whole new design that’s jarring at best.

as for the topic of the new sonic movie, we only got a teaser of what it possibly could be and so far my feelings are pretty mixed. while the design silhouette leaves a lot to be desired, if they stick to the source material then i think everything’ll turn out okay at the end of the day.

EDIT: i want to mention that there’s nothing wrong with visually complicated designs for realistic characters, some people like that. i know a lot of my friends like the bayverse designs and granted i do like the bayverse designs too. however this rant is about my personal observation and my love for the original cartoonish designs of my favorite characters being lost in translation also + movie sonic is endearing in his own way however im not gonna lie i’d much prefer just regular sonic but with realistic fur physics where his fur would be.

[brendancorris]

Thundercats Roar thoughts...

So a friend of mine showed me this trailer a few weeks ago, and for a second I didn’t believe it was real. But, before I get further into my thoughts on this thing everybody else on the internet has already covered, let me go into my history with Thundercats.

Despite never drawing much fan art for the series, Thundercats is a property I love, and one of the biggest parts of my life in my earliest years. Born in ‘86 with three older siblings, I was just in time for the original Thundercats. My family already consisted of die-hard fans, so it was naturally one of the first franchises I got into. From the time I was born to when I was about 4, Masters of the Universe and Thundercats were what it was all about. It wasn’t until ‘89 that I got my first TMNT toy, and about a year later that was literally all I cared about. 

But before my TMNT obsession, there was Thundercats. While I do have many fond memories of watching the show, my most beloved memories of it are simply being a fan. Collecting the action figures, listening to my siblings talk about the show, and playing Thundercats. Not a video game, though. On nights when my Mom was out, my Dad would host He-Man or Thundercats games where he’d be either Skeletor or Mumm-ra, my oldest sister and brother would be She-Ra and He-Man or Lion O and Cheetarah (while my other sister would be... somebody) and I, being the baby, would always get stuck being Orko or Snarf. All us kids would wrestle our dad and beat up on him as he’d try to defeat us. Epic stuff. Some how the younger of my two sisters would usually end up horribly injured after each game, though...

Simply put, Thundercats was the real deal with my family when I was little. The action was great, the evil beasts were awesome, the toys were a blast, and Cheetarah, along with the He-Man girls, made me feel things my tiny self wasn’t yet ready to feel. 

It wasn’t until I was in high school that I revisited the show, and, honestly, I was surprised how much it held up. Especially considering in high school I was “too cool for everything” yet I still acknowledged its quality. Yes, it was corny in the way all old children's’ shows were at the time (I have nothing but love for that tone, but I can see how it would be hard to digest for later generations), but it still had great, smart, sophisticated writing for its time, amazing animation and artwork, good characters, and one of the most hype intros ever.

In 2011 a reboot was made. This reboot was far darker and more built on political commentary. It was an understandable progression. The fans had grown up, so the franchise did too. While I wasn’t a huge fan, I can respect the quality of the writing, art, and over all work that went into it. It was a sophisticated piece of art. I felt it went a bit too extreme with the tone it was pushing, and as a long time fan of the original, found lots of the changes and design choices hard to digest. But again, it was a good show, and I respect what it attempted to accomplish. 

However, the show was canceled before season 2 could air. This left a lot of fans mad, confused as to whether it was low ratings, low ratings as a result of its switched time slot that was far from ideal, or just a business decision to sacrifice a popular show just to make way for a potentially more popular future show. While I can understand the upset from fans 100%, I didn’t feel it as I wasn’t a regular viewer. 

So, fast-forward to earlier this month when my friend shows me this trailer. As I said, at first I thought it was a joke, like College Humor or something. Then when the realization sunk in that it was real, I hated it. But, quickly I told myself that I don’t know enough about it yet to fully judge. I haven’t seen an episode. Sure, it looks awful from what I’ve seen, and I can clearly see the “monkey see monkey do” going on here with the copying of other successful modern cartoons. But, again, I haven’t seen it. Before I get into my final thoughts thus far, I need to address the elephant in the room...

...the similarities everybody has seen in this and Teen Titans GO!

While I wasn’t a die hard or anything, I did watch the entire first two seasons of the original Cartoon Network Teen Titans series when it was new, and I did like it. I thought it was very well-written, well-acted, had great characters, great character development, great stories, and great action. The characters worked off of each other beautifully. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I had some issues with it.

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS AHEAD - PREPARE TO HATE ME

Since its release I have always found the art style to look very under-developed and unappealing. It looked like an awkward imbalance of the (already bland in my mind) Justice League cartoon style and a newbie anime style. The best way I can describe it was it resembled the artwork of a junior-high kid who just started drawing anime. Also, I found a lot of the anime-inspired elements to feel forced. When characters would mutate into chibi disasters or tropes like sweat drops scrolling down their faces would happen, it was always a bit cringy and out of place. It felt like it was shoehorned in rather than rightfully fitting in.

But the most notable thing about the show was it was a pretty huge departure from the original DC comics. Gone was the realistic art style of the comics. Now the characters all had big, round heads, twig-like limbs, huge hands and feet, and big anime-eyes. Everything was very simplistic, sharp, and jagged. There was far more comedy, some great, and some that cringy chibi stuff I mentioned. The integration of anime tropes and far more kid humor was a huge departure from the comics. So, basically, despite being a good show, Teen Titans, the show, was a huge departure from its source material.

Then comes Teen Titans GO! and overnight it becomes one of the most hated (and most popular) cartoons of this age. I didn’t quite hate it, but wrote it off as crap without seeing it. It is a shame that the original show was canceled before it got to be finished, but putting fans’ anger towards that aside, the creation of TTG makes perfect sense. The characters proved extremely popular and marketable, largely because how comedic they could be when bouncing off each other (and the original show had been canceled. Continuing a canceled show years later is a difficult task, regrouping the team, dancing through the legal BS, and finding enough staff and people to fund it to be on board, as well as a network to accept it). More simplistic art styles were becoming more popular, and after the post-Adult Swim days, hyper, wacky, odd comedies have become the norm.

To be honest, any time I have seen Teen Titans GO!, which has only been about three episodes or so, I laughed. I don’t care what people say, the show is legitimately funny. Is it the greatest show ever? Not by a long shot. Is it better than the last TT show? Probably not. Is it a shame it exists while the original never finished? Kinda. But is it a bad show? Honestly, no. 

TTG knows exactly what it wants to be and delivers. It may not be the sequel show old fans wanted, but if you put aside the hatred, you’ll see it’s not only a funny cartoon bursting with energy and very well-defined and appealing character designs reminiscent of shows like Dexter’s Lab, but also a huge love letter to the Titans, the last show, and all things DC. It is clearly made by DC fans. I may be biased because I love Weird Al and The Golden Girls, but, man, this is funny right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ICmOMLX3rQ

Admittedly, even the movie trailer looks funny, and I’ll likely see it, despite not really being a fan of the show. Just like the 2011 Thundercats, I see what the TTG team is intending to do, and I appreciate how well they do it, despite not being a regular supporter of it.

And, well, that brings us back to ‘Roar’. Will I like it? Based on what I’ve seen so far, likely not, but who knows. It could end up being the next Sonic Boom. I do strongly dislike the art direction for Thundercats Roar, and the footage shown thus far did not make me laugh (except Mumm-ra learning about the cats being on Third Earth by reading it in the newspaper. That actually got a chuckle from me). But, as much as my gut is telling me to hate this show, I won’t pass judgment until I’ve at least seen a couple episodes. It’s definitely not the Thundercats I love, but to be honest, I didn’t want a TC reboot. I was fine with it just being as it is. So if somebody’s going to reboot it for a new generation, I’ll be glad to see my favorite franchises get passed down, so long as it is done lovingly. If the show truly is a love letter to the history of the franchise as it claims to be, and if it’s a decently quality product that obvious care went into, I’ll be fine with it.

It would be so easy to tear it apart and hate it, but as I get older I find myself growing more accepting of such change. I’m not EXPECTING to like it, but who knows, I also wasn’t expecting to like Sonic Boom. Basically, so far I’m not digging what I’ve seen, but I’ll keep an open mind and stay hopeful. Here’s hoping they can change my mind with the final product.

The End

[atopfourthwall]

State of the Wall: 12-2-17

New State of the Wall post! Lotsa stuff happening, so click under the cut to see what's happening!

Schedule of Upcoming Episodes 12/4 – Clive Barker’s Hellraiser Dark Holiday Special 12/11 – Sensation Comics #14: The Story of Fir Balsam 12/18 – Steam Wars Christmas Special 12/25 – Christmas with the Superheroes #2 1/1 – My Top 15 Favorite Episodes of AT4W 1/8 – PATREON: Legion of Superheroes: The Great Darkness Saga 1/15 – Patreon Viewers’ Choice (NFL SuperPro #2, Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos #3, or James Bond, Jr. #1) 1/22 – PATREON: JLA/Avengers 1/29 – PATREON: Homestuck, Act 2

As always, the schedule is subject to change for any number of reasons, I’m pretty locked down with these choices… aside from MAYBE my Top 15 Favorite Episodes. I keep waffling on it, but for now it’s what we’re going with.

The Road to 500… and the 10th Anniversary 2018 will mark the 10th Anniversary of Atop the Fourth Wall! Needless to say, it’s going to be a big year for the show. If everything goes according to plan, there will be two storylines within it – the Contest of Champions arc that began in October as well as a shorter 10th Anniversary storyline whose name I shall reveal once we get to it, likely ending October 29th (if not the 22nd to coincide with the 10th Anniversary episode).

To celebrate this momentous time, every review that is not a Patreon-sponsored episode will be a follow-up to something from the past ten years! This would include sequel episodes to previous material, like another issue of something covered previously, a thematic follow-up like, say, from the same creators as a popular episode or could be thought of as following the same ideas as that episode. However, thankfully some of the Patreon-sponsored episodes themselves will be follow-ups, as indicated by the January 29th episode being the second act of Homestuck (which should hopefully make the many Homestuck fans asking for me to cover the next act happy).

Along those same lines, we’ll be doing the second Patreon Viewers’ Choice episode! The official announcement for the poll on that one will likely come at the end of the Top 15 Favorite Episodes of AT4W, but I’m letting you see the choices now to start thinking about it. The choice will be between three goofy tie-in comics I’ve covered previously – another issue of NFL SuperPro, another issue of Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos, or going all the way back to James Bond, Jr.’s first issue. I did return to James Bond, Jr. for a live show that hasn’t been put up yet, but we haven’t seen it on the show proper since the end of 2009. A comment on that issue is the source of the infamous “You’ll never be as popular as the BeeGees!” comment that is now immortalized on the back of the second DVD.

But of course there’s even another big even happening in 2018 as part of the 10th Anniversary – we’re going to hit the 500th episode! I definitely want to do some special stuff this year for the 500th, most especially being another livestream like we had for the 300th. It’ll take some time to plan, but here’s a list of ideas I have currently for it: -More testimonials, trivia, and anecdotes like in the 300th -Showing some otherwise-DVD exclusive content from all my DVDs, including the Movie -Showing the previous “100th episodes” – Sonic Live #1, Spider-Man: One More day, Holy Terror, and Marvel Super Special #7: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band -A live showing of the conclusion to Pokémon Omicron, where we’ll take on the Elite 4 -Various Longbox of the Damned episodes -Special guests -Live-riffing some shorts

These are all just ideas for the time being, so if you have any of your own, feel free to let me know! We’ve got 5-6 months until the 500th and I’d love to know what people think!

Platform Change 4: The Revengeance of the Whils VidMe has announced that they are shutting down their services as of December 15th. As such, there are going to be some changes in how things are handled around here. This is the FOURTH time that a platform has failed and I have had enough. We hadn’t even really finished replacing the vidme embeds on the LAST embed player change, so screw it: we’re going all in on youtube. There might be an option for Vimeo down the road, but for now, here’s in the broad sense what’s going to happen: -All Atop the Fourth Wall videos, from here on, will be thumbnail images of the title card that you click through to go straight to youtube. -All Longbox of the Damned embeds will be made into youtube embeds. Next year’s Longbox videos are currently up in the air, but hey – we’ve got ten months to figure that out and maybe have a tried and tested system in place. For now, it makes more sense to make them youtube embeds because of people’s nature in marathon-viewing videos and Longbox videos are short enough as-is. -New videos like vlogs, side content, and Let’s Plays will follow the title card thumbnail process being used for Atop the Fourth Wall. Old videos are up in the air, but they will likely be embedded videos just to make life easier on us as we once again replace everything. -History of Power Rangers… well, that’s a bit of a beast all on its own. Refer to the History of Power Rangers section below for more details.

As always, I ask for patience during yet another period of transition. Plenty of videos will be unavailable during this time (including crossovers in particular), but we’ll try our damndest to get things back to working order as soon as possible.

History of Power Rangers I’m happy to report that FINALLY, all of History of Power Rangers is back up after so many months of being down due to ContentID striking many of them from VidMe. Minor edits have been made due to the lengths of certain clips used…

…And you can only enjoy them for another 13 days because VidMe is shutting down. Or rather you can DOWNLOAD them for another 13 days using a third-party downloader.

Simply put: I’ve had it. These videos were made for a different time, when Blip was the main video host and longer usage of video clips wasn’t an issue. The platforms have dwindled and it’s down to youtube and I’ve already tried to upload these videos to youtube once before and it didn’t end well. The audio quality of these videos isn’t that great compared to my current standards and many of them utilized low-quality pirated versions of episodes recorded off of TV. I own all of Power Rangers on DVD now and new Power Rangers content that I put out has to come from legitimate sources like DVDs anyway. I simply cannot make these older versions work anymore. Don’t bother trying to suggest another video host like Vimeo or DailyMotion. Aside from both having their own ContentID systems, I am tired of trying to accommodate an inferior product.

Work will begin anew on the revised History of Power Rangers videos. While I had wanted to work on them in order, it took forever just to get the SLIGHTLY-edited versions back on VidMe due to my busy schedule. As such, I’m going to release them on youtube out of order, starting with Overdrive through RPM (Samurai, Megaforce, and Dino Charge already exist on youtube) because of their already-decent audio quality. If you want the old versions (and sadly that will now include the SLIGHTLY-edited versions that I have put up more recently), feel free to download them however way you can, because I am no longer going to try to support it. Let it not be said that I didn’t TRY to keep them up after so many years of fighting with various platforms over them.

I had planned to announce that it was likely the In Space History of Power Rangers would be delayed as it is simply due to the busy schedules of others needed to work on the “Under Pressure” section, but, well, here we are. Hopefully we can see HOPR restored to something better than it was once the dust completely settles.

Let’s Play Pokémon Omicron As stated in the last State of the Wall, the Pokémon Omicron streams are on hiatus due to finally reaching the Elite 4. Due to the various things I’ve had do to these last few months (not the least of which being concluding a storyline, Longbox, AND getting married) I’ve had little to no time to work on Omicron videos. As I’ve said before, I’d like to do a major stream for the Elite 4. If you look above, I’ve suggested fighting the Elite 4 as part of the 500th AT4W Episode Celebration Live Show and would like to hear some feedback on that.

Storyline Compilations In case you haven’t been following the youtube channel (which you probably should be at this point given what’s going on with VidMe – link HERE), the Game Show Reviewer (who does a lot of the special effects for the show) has put together compilation videos of the AT4W storyline! They feature JUST the storyline segments and occasionally a clip or two from a review for context (or because he felt a joke was funny enough to include). At this time, everything through the “His Blue Soul” arc has been released. The other compilation videos are done and uploaded, but I’m currently waiting for some ContentID claims on the Royalty-Free music to pass before I release the rest. Otherwise, you can enjoy the compilations currently available thanks to this hand-dandy playlist.

DVDs and T-Shirts Sale In honor of the holiday season, IT’S SALE TIME! All INDIVIDUAL volumes of Atop the Fourth Wall DVDs have been reduced to ten dollars (until December 26th), including the most recent – Volume 3: Character Reboot. In addition, Shark Robot is still running their Black Friday sale through December 6th – just use the promo code “BLACKFRIDAY17” on the two Atop the Fourth Wall t-shirts – “I am a Man” and “Because Poor Literacy is KEWL!” You can find those shirts HERE!

I’m working on getting some other sales ready for both the Screenwave store and the T-shirts, so feel free to keep checking back here for any updates on additional sales!

Event Comics Month II The first Event Comics Month was such a big success we’re doing it again next year! As before, it’s a vote by patrons at any level picking two DC and two Marvel event comics! You can check it out HERE, become a Patron, and make your vote known about what you’d like to see reviewed next year!

Patreon As a reminder, the Patreon-sponsored review tier for Patreon is still closed for the moment, with details you can read HERE. While I still don’t have a date yet as to when I plan to reopen them, I’ve been taking your feedback about it into consideration. A common train of thought is that any non-comic review should at least be in some way linked to comics, be it about superheroes or, at the very least, linked to something I actually regularly do/am in some way interested in (for instance, the occasional sentai reviews are fine given History of Power Rangers, or video games could be Star Trek or Pokémon or the like). I don’t think that’s too unfair a compromise given what people are thinking, but I wouldn’t mind getting more feedback about it during this time, so feel free to make your feelings about it known if you haven’t already!

That’s all I’ve got for now! Feel free to let me know your thoughts/concerns/questions for everything going on!