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Hi guys, just letting you guys know that there will be a small break between the liveblogs of Episode 13 and Episode 14.

I haven’t had much opportunity to sit down and watch Sonic X recently thanks to ✨life✨ so the blog queue has gotten rather small, and I’ll need a little time to build it up again- plus, episode 13 is basically a mid-season finale sort of thing so it feels an appropriate spot for a break.

So for clarity: Episode 13 will be posted on the 29th of August, Episode 14 should be posted on the 19th of September!

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 11 (Part 3)

Read part 1 here and part 2 here!

Of course Rouge knows the way in. She was literally here in the first episode. In fact, are they ever gonna answer WHY she was there back then? At this point I’m guessing not.

Interesting. They’ve butted heads but it’s clear this early on that Topaz at least trusts that Rouge knows what she’s doing.

Also, I really like Topaz’s haircut. I’d want to try it myself but short of just straight-up showing screenshots of Topaz I have no clue how I’d communicate it to my hairdresser without ending up with a Karen cut

This makes me wonder again about what she was doing in episode 1. Idk maybe she was sitting in the rafters waiting to swoop down and steal the emeralds and somehow Eggman didn’t notice her? Alternatively maybe she was working for him at the time and she doesn’t want to reveal that since they already don’t trust her that much

Must be a very comfy chair

Oooooh I like this expression

Seriously, is there something special about her boots or are her legs really just that powerful

We see the noise is affecting everyone, but honestly, considering bats have sensitive hearing and Eggman specifically positioned this robot at the vault with the emerald, I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out he designed this robot precisely to be a counter for Rouge

Holy crap she just drilled straight through that robot! Even Sonic needs a ring to be able to do that!

Very humorous exchange

If he’s referring to Rouge here rather than Topaz then it’s very very interesting that he apparently doesn’t know her. It would ruin my theory of E-70 being a Rouge specific deterrent but it does add credence to my earlier idea of Rouge hiding in the base to steal the emeralds in episode 1

Badass escape!

It’s easy to point out that Rouge easily lifts both Shadow and Omega at the since time in Heroes, but if this is a Rouge who at this point in her life has mostly been flying solo, then carrying someone probably isn’t something she’s very used to, so its odd even if it doesn’t make her break a sweat

...of course this was written in the early 2000s so it was probably just meant to be a weight/fat joke

Shit, this is really really fascinating that Mr Stewart is saying this, I would think it almost risks showing his hand too much? Like it shows that not only does he know the kids were searching for the emerald, but that he practically expected them to go looking for it? Maybe he’s starting to really care for the kids as a teacher- even if it is part of your undercover assignment, perhaps he doesn’t feel great about having lead them on a wild goose chase that had them up the whole night

And that’s the end of the episode! Honestly it was actually a really great one, probably my favourite of this watch-through so far

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 11 (Part 2)

Read part 1 here!

Not the most subtle spying approach Mr Stewart could take, but innocent enough to work

Huh, I could be mis-remembering but I swore in the English dub this exchange was slightly different; Stewart asks more generally/open-endedly what he is drawing to which Chris replies that he is drawing an emerald, at which point the “aren’t emeralds green” line is the same.

It’s a subtle difference; in English it’s like Chris unwittingly volunteered the info on the chaos emeralds unprompted while in Japanese it’s almost like Stewart is purposefully trying to lead Chris into talking about the chaos emeralds. Paired with the topic of the lesson/activity, I think it’s clear the government has tasked Stewart with trying to figure out what may lure Sonic out into the open so he can be detained and arrested totally just invited for a little chat.

Mr Stewart, I’ve talked shit about your spying abilities in the past but you genuinely pulled this off pretty well.

Oh looooook at that, not only is he gathering information, he is employing disinformation to set up a trap. You took a while to find your feet but you are on a roll sir

And then Rouge comes in to one-up that since evidentially she has not just been solely spending her time stealing jewels; she’s keeping tabs on Sonic, figured out who he’s been staying with, AND figured out where the kid goes to school. No one does it like her

The mobians staying at Chris’ place really is just the worst kept secret huh?

I’m assuming Danny’s parents are happy for him to go over to Chris’ house after school, but I can’t imagine they’d be too happy with him being the passenger in what is essentially a fighter jet

I love you Rouge but this is a rather big lapse in judgement. You hear authorities found a chaos emerald at an abandoned factory and you don’t scope out if there’s any security in place? I would be expecting the place would be on lockdown, and if I turned up to no-one about I would figure they moved it to a different location.

I really really gotta do redraws of some of these screenshots someday

And hello Topaz! Among people’s favourites of the human characters introduced in X

And here’s a screenshot you guys might’ve seen before! Although you may have seen it under the slightly different translation of “so you’re into BDSM?” Similar meanings, although I think I’ve heard that play rough is the slightly more accurate translation. As you can imagine, this absolutely wasn’t gonna fly for 4Kids. From my recollection they changed it to either a joke about age or weight?

I don’t quite recall what Topaz’s voice sounded like in English, but I don’t think it was quite as youthful sounding as it is here in Japanese

A skincare queen

Look how fuckin tinyyyyyyyyyy she is compared to humans

Eyecatch time!! Okay so in X, Rouge’s age is given as 18 (fun fact her age in the manual of Sonic Heroes listed her as 17. I think that might be the only time she’s really ever listed as that age? Considering she’s possibly the most sexualised character, it would make sense to make her definitely an adult). Her weight, much like Amy’s, is listed as “secret”, and the final two points say that her special skill is her screw kick and her favourite thing is jewellery (I wonder if the Kanji use can alternatively be translated as gemstones?)

Second eyecatch and damn, I was expecting a profile for Topaz, not this incredibly sparse one for the Eggman Robot of the Week. It says it’s special skill is screaming. I’m guessing then that “noizi” is a pun on noisy

Pretty shot!

Gotta love the audacity

I should probably bring it up at some point but Rouge and Topaz are a relatively popular ship in the fandom. It’s quite interesting really, human x mobian ships generally aren’t the most popular thing but people tend to make an exception for this one. If I had to guess I’d say that X’s artstyle for the humans plus Rouge’s design being relatively human by mobian standards (her body is covered in skin or at least skin-coloured fur, she has very *ahem* womanly proportions, her ears make up a lot of the height distance etc,) means there’s less dissonance in designs than say, Sonic and Elise.

I don’t recall shipping them myself as a kid, but I’m curious to try viewing their interaction in a new light during this watchthrough

I make a joke every episode about singular shots the animators allocated the entire episode budget to, but honestly I think the budget went solely on Rouge and like, 80% of the shots she’s in

How can you not love her?

No joke, I genuinely, 100% believe that this is how Rouge ended up working for GUN in the games universe: she gets caught stealing, they offer her a deal. Like, while Rouge as a character is very pro “saving the planet from evil”, I just don’t see her voluntarily strolling up to GUN and enrolling herself.

Oh honey I could sit here all day and make jokes about what US taxpayers will and wont allow. But y’all don’t come to this blog for that

Oh that’s actually a pretty adorable expression! Not often we see cute rather than flirty from Rouge

They may have offered her a generous deal, but that’s not to say they trust her

Plenty of playful banter

And back to these guys on their wild goose chase.

(Read Part 3 here!)

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 11 (Part 1)

Got a lot to talk about so buckle in, because I’m having to divide this episode into three parts!

In case you’re wondering, I did not post this image upside down. This is literally just how the opening shot of the episode is

Rouge!!!!!!! How I have missed you! Very excited for her to start actually being involved; she was in like, three shots in the first episode and we haven’t seen her since

Gotta love it when she hangs upside down like an irl bat. I recall that X does not shy away from giving Rouge a number of bat traits

So I am hearing a bit of a saxophone motif in the music here; makes sense, her music in SA2 had a lot of it. Although hopefully they’re not as heavy-handed with it as 4Kids were; they were infamous for blaring the same sax riff every single time she was on screen

I do have to ask; what kind of a building is this that it has these flame decals all around it??

I thought Rouge would’ve been a touch more subtle in her approach to jewel heists than just walking across the floor in plain view of the camera?

There’s almost something iconic in her complete lack of subtly or haste

Dammmnnnn girlllll her kick made a cut that clean?!

First actual line we’re hearing her speak. It’s certainly not as deep or mature as the English voice we got in the 4Kids era, but it’s not not quite like the direction of the English dubs in the modern era either. Will have to listen to more to make a judgement

So we know that Sonic and Co.’s existence is no secret among the population at this point but these security guys are monumentally fucking chill about the fact that they’re being robbed by an anthropomorphic bat

Her own calling cards. Iconic

Batshit insane plan, downright implausible (surely the glass and frames were fastened somehow?) Nevertheless, I love it

Screenshots with immense aura

Okay, so her voice is a bit deeper than I originally thought from the earlier line. Again, I don’t think it’s quite as mature sounding as Kathleen Delaney’s (4Kids) take on her, but I think it’s actually very comparable to Lani Minella’s (SA2 and Heroes). If anything, that’s probably an indication of Minella being good at replicating the direction. Either way, I quite like it.

Also this shot is gorgeous. Honestly I gotta make a separate folder for my favourites

Rouge-centric episode baybeeeeeeeee! I love so many different Sonic characters but if someone put a gun to my head and told me I could only pick one favourite, I’d pick her.

Considering the value of it, you’d think the security would’ve been better than like, just three guys. Even having one of those fella do a perimeter check around the outside would’ve probably countered the whole lifting the roof plan

Not the calling card, not the fact she’s a bat, nope, just by vibes

Do you think the military is just at this point like, “we can’t beat Eggman so we’ll just let the animal people do their thing” because otherwise I can’t see them being so chill with THIS thing cruisin through their airspace

Man this show really likes baseball

I’ve gone back and forth on whether X takes in the US or even on Earth at all but come the fuck on that is literally the White House….but then again the White House also appears in Shadow’s game and the games aren’t really on Earth but then again again it’s a different design of both White House and President there than it is in this show.

...fuck it, regardless of if it’s correct or not I’m just gonna say I’m calling this THE White House, in THE United States, on THE planet Earth, just for the sake of not confusing myself anymore.

I mean, I don’t think yous have tried very hard so far

Oooh, clever idea

I think we need to appreciate how terrifying this concept actually is. One day a bunch of aliens suddenly appear on Earth and they look like weird mutated animals, and they’ve all got superpowers. Scary idea, but it turns out most of them are kids and they’re pretty chill, what a relief. However, one of the aliens makes evil killer robots that makes Earth’s technology look like child’s play in comparison; and he’s the one alien that looks human.

Lmao

(End of part 1, see part 2 here!)

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 10 (Part 2)

Read Part 1 Here!

As plot important as this episode is thanks to the emeralds, it is also very very much a comedy episode. Definitely part of the reason I liked it so much as a kid

Ok, the first of today’s eyecatches is Bokkun! A fairly sparse one, the bottom point is literally just about his purpose being to deliver messages and bombs. He is also quite a bit heavier than he appears, considering how small is is. I suppose he is a robot, lots of metal and stuff.

And another for the baseball robots. Their special skill is that their limbs can stretch so there’s your hint that Eggman isn’t going to play entirely fair.

Seeing everyone wear the baseball uniform is definitely a big part of the fun of this episode! Also, Amy using her hammer instead of a bat is simply iconic behaviour.

Holy fucking crap Amy is STRONG if her pitch just absolutely demolished the robot like that. I’m telling you, she should really be a Power type and the only reason she wasn’t in Heroes is because Team Rose needed a Speed type and Big sure isn’t gonna fill that role.

Fourth wall? What fourth wall?

Honestly this should be the team’s strat: have Amy “accidentally” wreck the robots faster than Eggman can fix them

Okay, interesting. The general public are aware by now that Sonic exists and what his name is.

Oh my god he’s the same size as the bat.

Did they give Cheese a kids bat!??? It’s still like, twice the size of them

Lmao when did this become a shoujo show

(I do have to say though, it’s kinda weird they decided that the six year old’s baseball tactic should be...flirting with robots)

Kid… you are playing against robots designed to be stupidly unfair at baseball. I think professional baseball players would struggle in this scenario, so like, don’t beat yourself up???? Literally the only three people on the team who have actually been good at batting in this game (Sonic, Amy, Knuckles) all have super-human abilities.

This show definitely does present Sonic as an older brother figure to Chris. Honestly, with Chris being an only child, and his parents being absent a lot, is it any wonder that he becomes so emotionally latched to Sonic?

This whole sequence was great! The way that Sonic was in peril, but did exactly what Knuckles tells him to do without question. THE TRUST

Emeralds? Plural? I thought he took one, but Tails still had the other

THE USE OF STOCK IMAGES FOR THE CROWD IN THE BACKGROUND!??? I’m dying.

Wait wait wait. So this guy’s name is Emer, right? And the groundkeeper is Albert, or Al.

Emer. Al. Emerald. Most shipnames wished they fit together that symbiotically.

Also, is that a thing? Moving the actual entire turf????

Either way, a heartwarming end to the episode. Although I still don’t get how Eggman got both emeralds, unless that’s a translation error.

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 10 (Part 1)

We’ve reached ten episodes! Hooray!

We already know at this point that the government is keeping tabs on Sonic & co. Can you imagine their reaction to the X Tornado?

“What do you mean they’ve turned their propeller plane into a fighter jet?! And its powered by that weird gemstone?!”

YOOOOOOOOO IS THIS THE BASEBALL EPISODE!?? I loved this one as a kid

I do have to say, Tails has been animated quite nicely in these opening scenes, and I like the nighttime colouration going on

Oooh speaking of nice animation, here’s a lovely bit of animation where Tails’ tails are starting to spin; which, by the way, I believe is the first time in this show he’s actually flown with his tails. Only took ten episodes!

Oh jesus christ that’s adorable

Holy crap just look at how tiny he like compared to this dude! It’s funny, Tails is probably comparably closer in size to real life foxes than a lot of other mobians are to their retrospective species.

[Forgot to save the screenshot and I'm too lazy to open up the episode again to grab it]

It is quite interesting that they show Tails storing the emerald in his tails, rather than just having it magically appear in his hand for this shot. They did a similar thing in an earlier episode where he kept a screwdriving in his sock. It’s a clever workaround when your characters don’t normally wear full outfits. And I’ve read fanfictions where the hedgehog characters keep personal items like keys and stuff in their quills.

And already we find the second emerald! Although there’s still almost twenty minutes left of this episode so you know it wont just be that easy

Lmao the way these two just literally slid into frame. Also, does anyone in real life actually eat a burger with the wrap still partially on? I always fully unwrap it before eating but maybe that’s just me.

Knuckles! Good to see you again! It’s an odd detail that his backmost quill is so short but tbf I think his game models are like that too – maybe it’s to give him that iconic side silhouette? Also if it was too long it would collide with his tail

Huh. They just straight up did not draw the collar of his jacket. I mean, it’s hard to spot of the time, but it is supposed to exist.

So if Eggman had all this shit in a drawer does baseball exist on Sonic’s world?

Oh I think I know this one! Rule of thumb is you start from the outside and go inwards with each course, right?

Oh my god the teeny tiny cutlery set for Cheese. The glass!!! Would that thing even hold an entire shot!??

Meanwhile Sonic doesn’t give a single crap about etiquette

Tanaka used the -sama honorific for Sonic there. Even when chastising he is the epitome of politeness.

Eggman could’ve easily swooped in and taken the emerald by force, but no, he prefers to do his evil deeds as thematically and dramatically as possible. Good for him

Bro is seething

🫵Subtitling typo spotted.

I jest though, I’m fairly sure this is fan translated, and people who dedicate themselves to such tasks are the backbone of fandom, you can easily forgive small mistakes like this

We did see in his eyecatch that baseball is one of Chuck’s favourite things so I’m sure he’s in his element

So if Eggman already got here by the time the glowing stopped, how long were they like, just standing there with the glowing emeralds?

Bruh, Sonic may be the fastest thing alive, but you sent that message, like, 30 seconds ago

Yes! The lesser-spotted bro relationship between these two! Rare, but very much valued by me whenever I see it.

We’ve seen Knuckles in a few different episodes now and honestly...I think this may be my favourite voice for him. By a long shot.

Full baseball outfit. Tanaka really knows how to commit to the bit.

Seeing as all these events are happening so quickly, I have to imagine Eggman had these guys in storage, ready to roll in case of an opportunity for a baseball related scheme

Am I smelling hints...of old man yaoi?

Please please please tell me someone else is seeing what I’m seeing. The enemies to lovers. The possibility that in another life they could be friends...or more?

Two things to unpack here: first, that name. Was the writer perhaps a batman fan (which in of itself invites itself to a baseball bat pun). Secondly, look at those advertisement banners in the background lmao

It’s not so much that anyone outside of Chuck, Eggman, and Tanaka are enthusiastic about the baseball thing, it’s more so that this train ain’t stopping for no-one so may as well roll with it.

Hitting the Tumblr image limit, see you guys in Part 2!

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 9 (Part 2)

Read Part 1 here!

And another eyecatch for the little construction robots. Main thing of note is that they like to work in groups and they really are heavy for all the size of them – 150kg!!

Here is the shot for this episode that had all the animation budget allocated to it.

Ooooh I like the detail of the speed dragging her bangs into her face

Literally this entire line was in English. I’d genuinely be interested at this point in the ratio of English to Japanese Sonic speaks in this show

Eggman really did make the perfect kryptonite for Sonic

A funny frame

Zero fear, atta-girl Amy!

This robot may be the perfect counter for Sonic, but it sure as fuck doesn’t counter big smashy hammer

And poor Sonic just doesn’t know how to handle big displays of emotion. Honestly, I’m the same. Whenever someone says something nice about me in whether in a romantic or platonic sense I’m always like “haha thanks!” then I change the subject.

At the end of the day, I do think Sonic is appreciative of Amy anyway

Aww man, the voice actress is really knocking it out of the park

Once again, Eggman’s plan did not factor in Amy. Especially not an angry Amy

And Sonic dives into the water to save Amy with zero hesitation. Honestly, I wonder if Sonic’s inability to swim is less of a physical/skill based problem and more a mental one? With something important overriding his fear he seems a little more competent at it than you’d might think.

Here’s the kicker!! He repaired the bracelet and is wearing it!!! It’s so sweet.

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 9 (Part 1)

Let’s jump into another episode!

Emerald Coast huh? You can really tell the Adventure Games were still fresh in everyone’s minds. Funny enough, even though I know is basically a different universe/continuity than the games, this does make me think of the whole two worlds theory that used to be a thing.

Anyway, since we’re starting with a beach, I think I have a good idea of what episode this is

The X Tornado: suitable for travelling both to the edge of space and to the beach!

Of course the Thorndykes own a private villa at a luxury resort

Chris’ parent want him to have a normal childhood, yet are happy to send him on engagements on their behalf

You would hope they would be be understanding about that

Kinda funny to hear when some later games would allow Sonic to run on top of water

Guess Tanaka can drive Chuck’s car too.

...Actually, thinking about this car makes me pissed off about that earlier episode again – Chuck could totally drive Chris to and from school and surely it would fall within the treating Chris like a normal child thing his parents have? Having family members drive you to school is totally normal

Oh my god the inflatable toys stuffed in the backseat

As you can see, X opts for the extremely cursed option of blob feet for mobians. It’s accurate to the Adventure era illustrations this episode is clearly inspired by, but it is cursed nonetheless.

Also, wearing fabric gloves in water has to be a very very bad sensory experience

I always find it charming that animes always seem to opt for poofy princess dresses when it comes to depicting formal parties regardless of setting or era

Having just said that, Ella (who is looking fabulous!) and the lady in yellow are wearing outfits that are a lot more contemporary than the ones in the previous shot

Amy’s crush on Sonic is in full force here

Interesting that part of Amy’s daydreaming includes teaching Sonic to swim. Although considering we’ve seen him launch into a full-on panic in a inch-deep puddle, I think she might underestimate the severity of his fear.

Oh boy, I remember being twelve years old. Much in the way that in X, Cream is a realistic six year old child, Amy is very much a realistic adolescent lmao.

So far her crush has been depicted in like, a really cute and endearing way? Idk how to describe it better

Perhaps falling face first into dirt or sand is a hedgehog trait rather than a Sonic exclusive trait

So obviously this is our Eggman Robot of the Week; but it got a bump on it’s head?? The implications!???

Wearing her heart on her sleeve in regards to her crush has always been of of Game!Amy’s most notable characteristics so it’s interesting that X chooses to make her a tiny bit bashful about it

Wow, those robots work fast

See, if this wasn’t a Japanese made show, it would low-key feel pretty stereotypical that the single explicately Asian character in the show is the one who is all into martial arts and samurais and stuff, especially with the exaggerated poses.

The “what” really didn’t need to be said in English, but I’m glad they made that decision anyway

Why is this IDENTICAL to the shocked Pikachu meme?

Honestly I’m surprised Eggman doesn’t do this sort of thing more often. If I were him I’d place all my chips into water based stuff. Underwater secret base, submarines, the whole lot.

Okay, so the eyecatch is the Eggman Robot of the Week. I suppose we’ve ran out of main characters to cover. Main interesting thing is that it is made from a “special Soft Super Alloy so it can stretch and shrink”. Shit, that might actually be a decent reason why it got a bump on the noggin earlier

See you in Part 2!

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Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 8 (part 2)

Read Part 1 here!

In case the episode title didn’t already spoil the X Tornado’s existence, here it is in the second eyecatch. Alright, so I’m sure you guys can figure out based on the last one what the dimensions are. The engine this time is a “Tails & Chuck original engine”, and the top speed is again listed as, “not sure”.

Huh, I thought I remembered as kid the Tornado 2 got wrecked, hence the reason for the new plane, but looks like it’s relatively unscathed. Inaccurate memories I suppose.

That makes sense I guess

Lots of science and engineering talk between these two. I like it though, it’s fun seeing them brainstorm a solution, rather than the writers hiding the process completely in a smash cut to the finished product.

Neat! Can’t make everything in that little garage. I do have to wonder; are Chris’s parents the main money makers in the family, or did Chuck’s inventions springboard them into wealth?

I do think Chuck is very very happy to have someone to share his passion for engineering with

Now that the gang are revealed to the household, I do hope they’ve been given their own bedrooms rather than just sleeping on the sofa :/

So it’s really just the teacher plan on a wider scale I guess?

Well, it certainly involves a lot of the show’s design philosophies when it comes to machinery. I do recall as a kid being sad that they retired the propeller plane design- it’s so charming in comparison

I don’t feel like I understand this interaction. Chris asks to come along, Sonic says he can’t since the plane is a two-seater. Tails goes actually… and we get this shot. I think Tails’ statement would imply there is room for Chris but it’s still just a two-seater??? Unless there’s a secret third seat hidden in this shot that I can’t see.

So, do you think this is an old modification that came in handy or did Chuck jumble this together last night? Heck, looking at the position of the gate, is isn’t even their driveway, it’s a main road? But maybe it’s still part of their property idk

Fucking love it when the Sonic series refers to Mobians with animal terms (eg cub rather than just child here). They should do it more often

Okay so the aforementioned third seat shenanigans: what I think is happening is that Sonic’s seat has it’s own enclosed area, located behind and separate from the main cockpit where Tails and Chris sit. Honestly showing just the main cockpit earlier was a terrible way to communicate the third seat- yes it was Chris’s seat they were showing, but a passenger seat directly behind the pilot’s seat was also part of the Tornado 2’s design. They should’ve either shown the separate seat, or better yet, all three seats in one shot.

No comments, I just like this shot

A very fun way to depict shivering

Sonic can what?!!

...Is that like, a mobian in general thing or is Sonic just built different???

Bro is actively icing over and he completely nonplussed

Yeah mate, your tone of voice says different. (it is neat to hear Sonic sound like he’s struggling or in pain, it’s a little rare to witness)

Cool as hell but the show just kinda left us with no detail on what actually happened and why

Yeah, just because Sonic can survive -50 temperatures, doesn’t mean he prefers it

And another one for the iconic screenshots folder. See you next time folks!

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 8 (part 1)

Picking this episode’s Eggman Robot of the Week very early I see; literally the first shot of the episode

I was about to wonder out loud where exactly Eggman found the storage space for all these robots (especially since the card system implies they’re all pre-built), but looks like he wasted no time in transforming this island to suit his needs

Very funky looking title card this time. From the episode name I believe I recall this episode -this is the one where we get introduced to the X exclusive iteration of the Tornado

Interesting looking map they’ve got there. It is a world map or a more specific area? I have to be honest, I’ve been working under the assumption this whole time that the setting of X is like, the same planet Earth as reality, but perhaps it is a similar yet distinct planet populated by humans.

...this is just the climax of Spaceballs

It’s so funny that 4Kids was always so gun-ho about removing Japanese stuff from their shows, because the original shows certainly never made that easy. Just look at Bocoe and Decoe in the background here with the most casually Japanese tea set-up I’ve ever seen. Like damn, I think I’ve seen that exact hot water dispenser thing in a Yakuza game

I do have to wonder if 4Kids actually left this in or not? Maybe it was subtle enough they just gave it a pass?

The Thorndykes are stupidly rich, and the grandfather of the family is an inventor, yet the butler (not a gardener or anything like that) is mowing the lawn with that tiny thing. Please please tell me this is just Tanaka’s preference. And please please please tell me he’s just doing the area immediately outside the house and they like, call in landscapers for the rest of the estate.

While I’m sure there’s some specific Japanese show this might me referencing, the purple did make my mind immediately jump to Barney the Dinosaur

And your daily reminder that Cream is very very much six years old in this show

Damn those are some fancy apple pies, even the apple slices are arranged aesthetically

“The robot’s up on the edge of space” “yeah the propeller plane will get us there fine”

I mean? Clouds are just water vapour? I don’t see how that’s more impressive than satellites

Well that’s not good

...It didn’t occur to me that inanimate objects could get eye-catch bios. Anyway, it is 5.7m wide, 3.7m tall, and 2.1m height. It’s engine is a “Tails original CE engine”, and it is equipped with 2 25mm machines guns and a bunch of homing missiles (wow, don’t let anyone ever tell you Tails isn’t familiar with using weaponry). Interestingly enough, it also says “not sure” for the top speed.

See you guys in Part 2

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 7 (part 2)

Read part 1 here!

And now for Mr Tanaka. He’s 35, which seems roughly about right and his special skill is martial arts. If I recall correctly we do see that skill at some point.

Aww man from the way he reacts it seems the leaving suddenly thing isn’t new. Poor kid :(

With how rich the Thorndykes are I wouldn’t even be surprised if that’s a real Mondrian.

I do like how chaotic Chuck is.

Can we talk for a moment about how sweet it was of Sonic to notice that Cream had been feeling down and he went all the way out there to get some nice flowers for her? We all know Sonic is a good big brother to Tails but between this and Episode 2 I am more than willing to extend that title to his relationship with Cream

Ella having probably one of the more realistic reactions to talking animals we’ve seen so far

If you’re new to X, here is the reveal that THIS fucking guy is Chris’ uncle. Small world huh? Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if the Thorndyke family are the ones funding the stupidly impractical racecar police squad

No wonder Ella was giving him the stinkeye in the previous shots, he’s rude as hell to her

Hmm

Yeah when mr-totally-normal-teacher has this reaction you know you’re weird

Bro has beef with a 15 year old

Yeah I think Sonic recognises him

Fantastic expression and scream to go along with it

I like that boulder. That is a nice boulder

Oh Cream you sweet dear child. Lindsey feeling sorry for herself doesn’t take away from the fact that she is actively choosing to put herself in this situation.

I think Cream is really projecting her feelings of missing her mum onto Chris and his mum. Vanilla is so active and present in Cream’s life that I don’t think Cream really fully comprehends the impact of Chris’ parents being absent all the time has on him. She doesn’t understand the complexities of the situation but you also can’t be mad at her because she’s just six.

If the cat wasn’t out of the bag then it certainly is now

I’m surprised that Sam is willing to put this aside considering the aforementioned beef with the 15 year old

The animation budget of today’s episode went to: this dance!

Of course he drives a car like that

They’ve gone and accidentally gaslighted her

Well I’m very glad for Cream that she gets a foster-mother in Ella for the time being. And I’m sure it’s quite nice for Ella too- she seems the type to be a little wistful that Chris is growing up and becoming more independent so I think she’ll like having another little kid to look after.

It’ll be interesting to see Ella’s relationship with the other characters, but even Sonic himself sees that’s she’s immediately took to Cream

That’s the thing Chris, you can’t see your mum whenever you like; she continually prioritizes her job over you. The only advantage, for lack of a better word, that you have right now is that you can call her on the phone. Cream on the other hand, is away from her mother through no fault of her own or her mother’s. In fact, I recall later in the series that Vanilla in fact makes great efforts to reunite with her daughter.

I like the subtle detail that the crowns are half the flowers she picked from the garden, and half the flowers Sonic picked.

I wonder what the backstory in X is for Sonic being acquainted so well with Cream. Same backstory as Advance 2?

A lovely end to the episode

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 7

Cream is undoubtedly the character who is hit hardest by this whole thing. Like, she’s six years old, has been kidnapped twice in short succession and I bet she’s missing her mama :(

Cream and Tails are relatively close in age, but with Tails’ whole kid genius thing, it feels a bit like there’s this wider gap developmentally between them. I do think that when each of them get older that they could become very good friends – I could totally see Cream ending up being a specialist in Chao

I would murder anyone who dares to make her unhappy

I was saying in the previous episode about mobians being less reliant on their parents but I wonder where the cut-off point is? It seems, at least for Creams family, that six year olds are still considered dependant on adults. Even with Charmy who is also six, although he’s not with his biological family it’s clear that Vector is essentially his parental figure.

I can’t even articulate fully how sad this is

Mr Teacher once again doing a stand-up job of seeming like a completely normal non-creepy adult.

Sonic scouting out this place based purely on a vague poster and vibes

I think if the average real life actor heard that a fan of theirs was turning up uninvited to their house, they’d be a little less… enthusiastic

Nothing gets past Tanaka. And he’s surprisingly chill about it too

I am finding that Cream is generally...not necessarily less mature, but certainly more child-like in X compared to other versions of her. Even then, she’s never not child-like, but more accurately like an actual six year old is the best way to put it. It’s hard to imagine this version of Cream being an active part in saving the day like in Advance 2 and Heroes

What kind of unprofessional film production casts their lead actress the day before filming and demands her to drop everything and leave ASAP? And Lindsey, girlypop, please learn work/life balance. Respect yourself more.

No you don’t!!! You are a major movie star, your family is richer than God, you can turn down a project or demand them to delay things a day or at least just miss out on the press conference.

Lady, you are the captain of your fate, you are the one making the decision to be like this!!!!!

It’s one thing hearing that Junichi Kanemaru likes speaking English as Sonic, it’s a whole other thing to actually experience and hear like, every third line he says being in English. Like honestly at this I am fully 100% adopting the fandom headcanon of Sonic being bilingual or better yet, a polyglot.

Could you imagine if anyone overheard Chris going around the house just randomly shouting cream cheese without context?

Well, she’s not a great mother but her car looks cool I guess

Time for Ella’s eyecatch! No surname given, she’s 38, which is fair bit younger than I expected her to be. She weighs 102kg, which tbh doesn’t feel accurate? I was 103kg about a year and a half ago (have lost some weight since then) and I’m shorter than her yet I don’t think I was as heavy-set as she appears to be? Idk weight and body types can be odd. Anyway it also says she likes singing!

Hitting the image limit, part 2 here!

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 6 (part 2)

Read part 1 here!

Bocoe’s info is much the same as Decoe’s, although he’s shorter and heavier. His favourite food is mentaiko. Again, how does he eat?

Sweet christ they have their own helipad. ON THE ROOF not even out in the giant tracks of lands they have. Too rich to walk or idk take a car ride I suppose.

Sonic doesn’t seem impressed. Also, he’s only spoken literally one sentence in this episode so far.

So Eggman doesn’t have any direct way to give orders to this robot? He has to send a physical messenger??

Woah kiddo, language! I do imagine this might’ve been whoever was doing the subtitles getting a bit carried away though

It could’ve been easy to give Bokkun an annoying voice but it actually just sounds like a regular kid voice.

What’s wild though is when I was looking up the voice actors it turns out the English voice actor, Andrew Rannells has done a bunch of interesting stuff. In X he was also Decoe, Mr Stewart, the narrator, a few E-series robots. He also had a few background roles in Shadow’s game. Most notable is him having a major role in the first run of the musical The Book of Mormon

You start to wonder why Eggman bothers giving half his robots free will

Your guard service is doing a bad job if they haven’t notice your kid’s been taken hostage by an evil robot

Are they cooking a whole chicken in the microwave??? And what kind of microwave doesn’t rotate the plate???

And how is that exactly? The roller skates from the other episode??? He’s the young heir of an unbelievably rich family, I’m all for rich kids being raised as humbly as possible but do you not perhaps see the potential security concerns?????????

Motherfucker you are not in this child’s life even remotely enough to risk being called overbearing

I cannot believe Sonic is the only one who’s actually going to check up on the kid. Why is the 15 year old the one with most sense here?

That might be the quickest robot defeat yet

You can’t deny Sonic’s design has a strong silhouette

Eggman is surprisingly agile

?? Random vegan shop in the background

I’m sorry but just how rich and influential are these guys that they have a direct line to the president like this???

So they do all this shit and not one of them thought, hey lets drive over to the school and check?? In fact, this is the early 00s, kid could very feasibly have his own cellphone

Sonic was barely in this episode and he was undoubtedly the MVP.

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 6 (part 1)

Ok so the Thorndykes have, in addition to the mansion and the annex, some tennis pitches, two swimming pools, a big not-quite-a-hedgemaze-thingy, and a golf course. Just how rich are these people?

I accidentally stopped on this frame and it’s perfect. 10/10 no notes.

I don’t know if it’s an art style thing or an animation thing but sometimes their stares look a little blank

Last episode we didn’t get the title card until like 5 whole minutes in, but this one is snappier, only about a minute or after the OP

Good grief, the kid’s parents are away from him for that long??? At he’s basically being fully raised by his grampa and the staff.

Bottle of wine at breakfast? It’s five o’clock somewhere I guess

While, Chuck’s been feeding the kids hamburgers. Did he order fast food or are these those ready meal type you stick in the microwave?

Sonic can be so...elusive in this show.

Man, most mobians don’t seem to have the same amount of dependence on parents as humans do, yet even these guys are like “wow, they’re never around? That’s sad”

Oh I remember this episode now. I’m surprised it’s so early in the season

Depending on how early in the school year it, I could see this being a reasonable lesson for 12 year olds. Although it could be more difficult if they haven’t been properly taught order of operations yet or aren’t permitted calculators

Motherfucker is sleeping in front of the class he’s meant to be teaching. Zero remorse for him when the robot shows up

Alright so I maybe get Eggman’s line of thought of teaching kids to follow him but isn’t that a hell of a long term plan to go with? Not to mention highly inefficient if he’s only got the one robot doing this. Plus, what are the darn odds it rolled up specifically to Chris’ class?

This guy is a special agent and he’s only insulted instead of highly concerned about the robot turning up to class

Yeah this school accepted Mr Stewart turning up with zero fanfare and zero qualifications, of course he sees nothing wrong with the robot

Fantastic expression

Oh, NOW you’re suspicious of it?

I mean, if you were certain it was Eggman’s then that wouldn’t necessarily be the worst idea, provided there was no collateral damage

Another example for the collection of totally-not-mcdonalds found in anime

Dude is still eating that burger.

My observation from both this and some other anime is that Japanese people don’t have high opinions of American police. Can you blame them tbf?

Oh! Did not expect the robots to get eyecatches too. Decoe is listed as specifically an Eggman Robot rather than just robot, age and gender are even listed as unknown, they’re just question marks. Most interestingly his favourite food is uiro kishimen. Bro is a robot and he doesn’t even have a mouth, how is he supposed to eat???

Image limit again, see you in part 2

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 5 (part 1)

Ok so although Sonic Drive and Gotta Go Fast are completely different songs, you do gotta give Gotta Go Fast credit for at least maintaining the same vibe as the Japanese OP y’know? Like 4Kids could’ve ended up doing the same thing they did for One Piece where, although the Pirate Rap is fun in it’s own right, it is not even the same genre as We Are.

Poor Knuckles. Going from serene Angel Island to a dirty littered city street on Earth

...Also is he sitting on a paint can?? Bloody hell he’s small

The most majestic creature I have ever laid eyes on

And here we have the Knuckles being fooled by Eggman plot that everyone’s already seen twice by this point in the franchise. Three really, if you ever read the Fleetway comics. Wouldn’t be surprised if this type of plot was in Archie too.

Hmm, I think I heard Eggman use the “Washi” personal pronoun (often used by old men). At first I was wondering if this was possibly part of the act he’s putting on here but a quick google tells me this is the one he normally uses.

Honestly the whole thing of Japanese technically sorta not really having third person pronouns but having like a billion options for first person pronouns is super neat. It’s like; “myself and no-one else will set the tone for how I wish to be perceived”. Idk if what I’m trying to say makes sense?

And again: look how friggin’ tiny Knuckles is!!!!

There’s a whole like, minute here of footage from the first episode being played in black and white. Gotta pad out the runtime cheaply some way I guess.

Ok so unless he’s fibbing here (about the homeland thing, he’s obviously lying about living quietly) then it seems like Eggman was born on Sonic’s world? By the way, I wish this show gave it a better name than that. I’m very very close to saying fuck it and just calling it Mobius for simplicity’ s sake even though it’s never called that in this show.

In fact, I wish the games or IDW would give the planet an actual name too.

Oh Knuckles, you poor child you are too innocent and gullible for this world.

I do admit, there are times where the way they write Knuckles’ gullibility toes the line into stupidity. Like it makes sense in the Sonic 3&K story right, since he’s been alone his whole life, but by the time you get to this point in the timeline idk, I feel like Knuckles should have a better sense of Sonic’s actual character by now y’know?

Five minutes in and only now getting the title card. I do quite like this title card though, very S&K

I mean, it’s glowing so idk about that Chris…

And we meet Ella for the first time! Her Japanese voice actress has a pretty distinct voice, and an interesting filmograpghy

Ella refers to Chris as “bocchan” which is a fair bit more formal than just using his name like the subtitle has opted for.

The beginning of the running joke of the mobians pretending to be stuffed animals to hide in plain sight. I mean, if it works it works I guess?

We’re two-for-two today for meeting the other members of the household

Okay so Tanaka refer to Chuck as “Chuck-sama” Assuming Chuck is short for Charles, then that is a very interesting mix of an informal nickname and an extremely polite honorific.

Man, that’s probably the reason you look like you have one foot in the grave despite being 55

I mean, I know we know this is Earth but uh, existence of Christianity and the concept of the sabbath confirmed for the universe of Sonic X I guess?

Oh hey, this shot! I once did a redraw of this with one of my ocs for funsies.

The most unique thing about the X version of Sonic is that fucking balcony. He’s never not napping on it. It’s practically like that trope in Dragon Ball where they gotta write Goku out of the plot temporarily by having him be sick or travelling in a rocket, or like, returning from the dead, just so all the secondary characters can have a go at fighting (and promptly being defeated by) the big bad of the arc. Except here it’s the Eggman Robot of the Week and Sonic’s just chilling here.

There are times where the mobians are drawn great in this show, and then there are times where they look like whatever the hell is going on with Amy here. And check out how small Tails' ears are too

To be fair, large plushies are indeed awesome.

Oh hey, it’s this kid

Like your grandma who doesn’t know how webcams work

Oh Tails you have no idea...

A violence-happy Amy is always a little fun

Ooooh now this is fun, this impact frame makes her quills look a little like her Classic era design

Look at that smug, smug face

If I were to make a collection of the most iconic Sonic X screenshots, this would go in it for sure.

Ooooh I hear a little “kisama” there, Knuckles is very pissed off.

Interesting thing about kisama, if you notice it’s similarities to -sama, that’s because it did start off as a polite honorific, but over time it got used sarcastically and eventually became considered rude.

Just hit the image limit, so see you guys in part 2!

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 5 (part 2)

Read Part 1 here!

Forget what I said earlier, THIS is the even more iconic screenshot

Even in universe they’re like… really? Again??

Background music is interesting for this fight, it’s kinda like a spanish acoustic guitar? Maybe it’s supposed to be like a cowboy movie sort of thing

Wow, five episodes to get Chris’ eyecatch. Let’s see, full name is Christopher, makes sense I guess. He’s 12, which surprises me, I kinda thought he was 10, especially since he sounds so young in Japanese. And his favourite thing is animals. Honestly, Sonic couldn’t have crash landed into a better backyard.

Again, I am surprised we are only getting Tails’ eyecatch now! First off, he weighs 20kg. That’s just a little heavier than a typical water cooler jug, so not as light as a feather, but uh, quite impressive that Chris can carry him around like it’s nothing.

Bottom two bullet points are nothing new to Sonic fans; his special skill is flying with his tails and his hobby is tinkering with machines.

Repeated animations everywhere

Running vs climbing up a cliff is a very fun set piece though

New quip every other second with this fella

Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how strong Knuckles is

Considering the amount of shit Sonic can destroy by spinning, it’s impressive Knuckles can withstand it.

Sonic X isn’t the first show to depict Sonic’s fear of water; that honour goes to Underground I believe, but it’s always neat to see it whenever it pops up. Like, for a character as confident and cocky as Sonic, it’s good to see moments where he goes “oh shit”. It balances things, like how a pinch of salt makes sweet baked goods all the more sweeter

Do you think the animator knew they’d be zooming in this close on Sonic and Knuckles for this shot?

I mean, the obvious question is where was he keeping that? To be fair though, I could totally see Tails being the type of person who hides things in his shoes, or maybe in the wristband of his gloves?

I gotta address the elephant in the room of how this show has a shitty habit of occasionally up-skirting Amy, which is like, pretty fucking weird considering she’s 12. I feel like some people might argue it’s difficult to avoid due to the design of her dress but idk I feel like it’s always an option to change the angle of the pose, or the position of the skirt, or use a dark shadow or something.

Also while not an issue exclusive to X, I’ve always felt the panties were the worst possible option, even more so than straight up no underwear since all the guy characters walk around with just shoes and gloves so we know design-wise there is nothing to hide. If you’re an artist and you want alternatives to the knickers, while not otherwise altering the design of the dress, here’s a few ideas off the top of my head:

Safety shorts

Old-timey bloomers

Incredibly frilly petticoat

Okay so I know from my irl god that breathing in smoke sucks ass but really? That’s just like, a six foot drop and you can’t get down? What about Tails, can’t he just fly. Actually thinking about it, we haven’t seen Tails fly with his tails yet in this show have we?

Bro, you just plopped them down on the other side of the lake. Sonic can cross continents with ease.

Yeah, even the show knows how silly that was.

Another one for the iconic folder. Honestly all the fan content I saw online for this ship when I was a kid is just like, ingrained in my DNA

I think the entire episode’s animation budget went on this shot.

Knuckles’ voice certainly has range, he’s soft spoken generally but as heard here he can definitely get shouty and loud when needed

Eggman’s blasting off againnnnnnnnnnnnn

snoot

And Knuckles goes off on his own again.

It was a good episode, but I do have to admit Tails and Amy being made to seem incompetent by not being able to jump down from the robot was frustrating. I mean, I think I could make that jump and I am wholly un-athletic. Granted I’d probably break an ankle in the process but I’d still give it a shot. Plus again, Tails can fly; it was whole-ass bulletpoint in his eyecatch this episode.

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic X Liveblog: Season 1 Episode 4 (Part 1)

Starting off this episode, we can see from this overhead angle where Chuck’s workshop is on the Thorndyke estate. I recall there being living space on the upper floor of it though, maybe annex is the better word to use?

Yeah this is interesting, because in the games universe the characters are introduced to the concept of Chaos Control in SA2 through Shadow using it, but in X’s universe they must’ve learnt of it another way

Very insightful Tails thank you

Very interesting phrasing here. Honestly this is one of those times where the series very openly wears its Dragon Ball inspirations on its sleeve

Sonic coming in as the surprising source of knowledge. Although I guess if X takes the classic games as canon events, then yeah, Sonic has gone super a few times at this point and has the hands-on practical knowledge

It’s odd to hear then saying Chaos Control needs all seven emeralds, but I guess they are talking about the big world travel version of it rather than the small teleportation version that only requires one, or zero if you’re Shadow

I’ve said before the setting of X is probably supposed to be America, but would you look at that, this construction worker’s helmet is clearly based on the stereotypical Japanese design

Interesting plane design. While jet planes with partial second passenger decks have been a thing since the 1970s, the first jet plane with a full second passenger deck was the Airbus A380 which wasn’t really in full use until 2007. I suppose the animators designed this plane to look futuristic, but also like, not too futuristic

Oh shit if we continue my assumption about this being the US, is that plane meant to be Air Force One??

Okay, first of all, I’m surprised the government knew their location this early on, I recalled it taking it a bit longer than this. Secondly, interesting to know that Chris officially lives in Station Square.

Thinking about it, it’s kinda a stupid name for a city, sounds like it’d just be the name of like, one area in a city.

Well shit, they know Eggman’s location too

And we see Chris’ class for the first time! Some faces I recognise from previous viewing of the show. Honestly, considering how Chris’ dad was freaking out about security few episodes ago, I’m surprised they don’t send Chris to like, an ultra-bougie boarding school. This place seems pretty regular.

Yep I remember this guy

And already he’s doing a real shit job of being inconspicuous on this undercover job. Who starts a conversation with a child like this?

Imagine you are a kid and your new teacher says this to you. Idk about you but I’d be thinking “oh my god a crazy stalker fan is trying to get to my mom via me”

Ok so this is an infinitely more normal question to ask an elementary school child but when you know the context of him being a spy it’s so fucking obvious what he’s trying to do? Also, the government already knows Sonic is crashing at Chris’ place, so what’s this achieving exactly?

What are the fucking odds that the tines of this excavator lands right on the emerald

Ok, so the power of the emerald sends the excavator into overdrive, I can follow that logic. But surely that power reduces again as soon as it stops making contact with the emerald? Unless chaos energy is like, REALLY residual

Aww, she’s reading a book! Did someone go out and buy that for her?

It’s wild that the chaos emeralds can do that

Today’s Eggman Robot of the Week is...this bird thing!

It’s Eggman’s turn for an eyecatch! Let’s see..his species is human, he’s 185 cm (about 6’1”), and weighs 128kg (282 lbs). His age is unknown, his bloodtype is B, and he likes mechs.

Honestly I’m really surprised this is the first character we’ve seen a bloodtype for? That stuff is basically like horoscopes in Japan, it’s why it’s so commonly seen in character profiles.

Shit, from looking it up, it looks like different animals species have different systems for blood types, could this imply mobians are more animal-like than human-like in regards to this part of their biology? Fascinating.

Hitting the image limit again, so see you in Part 2