Sonic X


 * This article is about Sonic X, the animated series. For the comic book series about this show, see Sonic X (comics).

Sonic X (ソニックX) is an animated television series, featuring video game hero Sonic the Hedgehog based on the storylines of the Sonic Adventure series. Its rated genres are: action, adventure, sci-fi and comedy. It was animated and produced in Japan by TMS Entertainment with the partnership of SEGA and the Sonic Team. In 2003, 4Kids Entertainment licensed Sonic X for American U.S. licensing in a joint effort between 4Kids and VIZ Media (it was formerly with ShoPro Entertainment before ShoPro and VIZ, LLC merged into VIZ Media) & distributed by FUNimation. It is also broadcasted in Europe, Australia, Brazil and Latin America by Jetix, and in Canada by YTV.

Originally planned as a 52 episode series which would be inspired by the storylines of the Sonic Adventure series, Sonic X has now expanded to 78 episodes which were shown in Thailand, and France in February and March of 2005. In the 4Kids dub, profanity and sexually suggestive references were removed, since these themes were inappropriate for their planned target audience.

See also: Sonic X pilot

Plot Synopsis
Note: There has been minor debate as to whether or not the first two seasons of Sonic X take place on Earth. Episode 8 showed a map of the planet, which did not look much like Earth, but episode 38 showed a view of the planet, in which Texas and Africa are noticeable. The design of the map in episode 8 could be described as laziness to draw Earth properly, as seen in many other cartoons. In the Japanese version, it is established that Chris' planet is indeed Earth.

Series 1 (Seasons 1 and 2)
During what seems to be a routine attack on Doctor Eggman's headquarters to rescue Cream the Rabbit and Cheese the Chao, Sonic and his friends are caught in a massive and mysterious explosion that transports them to what, at first, appears to be another dimension. Separated from his friends, Sonic eventually finds himself in custody of a twelve year old boy named Christopher Thorndyke, who saves Sonic's life after he nearly drowns in his pool. Chris lives in a lavish mansion, funded by his two celebrity parents, with his inventor grandfather, Chuck. Chris aids Sonic in locating his friends, and it is not long before Dr. Eggman makes his presence known. As Sonic and Eggman race to collect all the Chaos Emeralds (Sonic wants to use them to get home to his own dimension, and Eggman wants to use them to conquer this new universe), Chris must deal with the stress caused by having parents that are too busy to bother taking care of him. The first 26 episodes focus on Sonic and the other's adjustments to Earth and eventually, all of the Chaos Emeralds are retrieved and the chaos power warped parts of their home planet to Earth (like Angel Island). On the second half, the show focuses on the plots of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and a bit of Sonic Battle. In the end, Tails and Chris' grandfather invents a dimensional portal to send Sonic and the others back to their own world, but before Sonic leaves, Chris kidnaps him because he does not want Sonic to abandon him as he feels his parents did. Eventually, with the help of Sonic, Chris comes to terms with his feelings and Sonic returns to his own dimension. However, Chris vows that one day, he will see Sonic again.

Series 2 (Season 3)
It has been six months since Sonic and friends returned to their own dimension. On Chris's planet it has been six years and Chris is now eighteen and seems to have a relationship with Helen. He has been working on repairing his grandfather's dimensional portal. In Sonic's world, a new girl named Cosmo arrives on Sonic's planet, looking for the legendary one who can wield the powers of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Sonic, having been nearly defeated in outer space by a new enemy called Dark Oak, scatters the Chaos Emeralds across the galaxy, in order to prevent Dark Oak from using their power. When Chris uses the dimensional portal, he suddenly finds himself in Sonic's world. His age has regressed all the way back to the age he was when he first met Sonic; however, Chris still has all his memories of the years he spent repairing the dimensional portal.

Chris learns that to Sonic, only six months had passed. During their reunion, Dark Oak and his Metarex Army attack Sonic's planet and steal the "Planet Egg" from it. Without the Planet Egg, all the trees and plants on Sonic's planet will wither and die. Sonic and his friends decide that Dark Oak must be stopped, and they venture into space to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds.

This series is similar to Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog such as Shadow surviving and being released with memory loss for the former and the common Metarex looking like the common Black Arms for the latter. After many run-ins with Dr. Eggman, and the pursuing Metarex Army, Cosmo's dark secret is eventually unveiled: She has been an unwilling spy for the Metarex all along, and the Metarex themselves are actually part of the same race of autonomous, anthropomorphic plants that Cosmo is of, having twisted and modified their bodies for combat after war overtook their planet. They now must depend on the energy of the Planet Eggs to stay alive. When the Metarex enact a plan that could destroy the entire Universe, Cosmo sacrifices herself in order to save everybody with the help of Super Sonic and Super Shadow; much to the grief of Tails, who had fallen in love with Cosmo during the course of their adventure. It is Tails himself who must kill Cosmo in order to release her power, which would halt the advance of Dark Oak and return him to his benevolent form. Her essence is manifested in the form of a seed, which Tails later cultivates.

With Metarex destroyed, Eggman builds an invention that sends Chris home and Chris accepts, willing to leave all his friends to return home. Soon thereafter, Dr. Eggman revives his previous rivalry with Sonic, albeit a light-hearted one. The series ends with unresolved cliffhangers, such as the whereabouts of Chris and Shadow (although the Japanese version reveals Shadow is alive, depicting him looking at Molly's memorial).

Production notes
In late 2004, production sketches, model sheets, storyboards and episode scripts of a supposed Series 2 began surfacing. Many dismissed them as a fan-made hoax as neither Sega nor TMS had officially announced continuing Sonic X beyond the original 52 episodes. It was not until early 2005 that Jetix France began to air the 26-episode "Series 2" shortly followed by a Taiwanese station and on September 10, 2005, 4Kids Entertainment began to air "Series 2" calling it "Season 3". Despite being made in Japan and dubbed into Japanese the show has not yet been aired there; in fact, currently, the only way to view "Series 2" in its original native language (Japanese) is to purchase the Chinese Video CDs, which feature Japanese dialogue with Chinese subtitles. This Video CD uses the second version of the Japanese opening theme, "Sonic Drive", and the second version of the Japanese ending theme, "The Shining Road", as well as a new ending sequence with the song T.O.P.

Rumors have also circulated about a possible fourth season of Sonic X being in development, for instance, according to SonicHQ TMS is listing Sonic X among the anime they are producing, (although this may be because the third season has not yet been broadcast in Japan). The ending of episode 78 has also fueled speculation. There were many cliffhangers such as what happened to Chris. In the very end after Sonic and the gang take off in the X-Tornado, a pot is shown with a small plant in it which could supposedly be one of Cosmo's seeds. In addition, Shadow is shown to be alive, him having put a rose next to Molly's grave. This scene is excluded from the English version, although he is certainly still alive. There are other details to support another season, including how TMS' site says "78+ episodes", but TMS said at SonicAnime.net that there are no episodes being produced.

Trivia

 * Due to some adaptations of the games in Sonic X, there has been much confusion whether the Sonic X continuity is canon or not. However, considering some relatively drastic changes between certain adaptions and the games they stem from, it can be relatively safely assumed that Sonic X is a continuity separate from the one in the games.


 * The voice actor from the Sonic games, Ryan Drummond, offered to voice Sonic for the dub - but was refused by 4Kids for not living in New York (it has also been said that Drummond even offered to re-locate to New York, and was still refused). Eventually, Drummond was removed as the voice actor for the Sonic games, after SEGA of America decided to replace the entire voice cast for the games with the 4Kids cast shortly before the death of Deem Bristow, the original voice actor for Dr. Eggman. Allegedly, he was only told when he asked if he would be needed for voice recordings in Shadow the Hedgehog from the beginning. Even though Drummond wanted to continue voicing Sonic, he was declined to voicing Sonic in the Shadow the Hedgehog game, which resulted in many complaints from fans of the Sonic Adventure voicecast, and those who dislike the 4Kids voicecast.


 * When the first thirteen episodes of Series 2/Season 3 were released on DVD in the US, they were packaged as the The Complete 5th Season (with thirteen episodes being a "season", and those episodes being the fifth division of thirteen episodes); also, the cover art to the DVD resembles the poster for the movie Firefox, with the Blue Typhoon in the same space as the MiG-31, the movie's titular jet fighter.


 * In episode 20 of the Japanese version, Cream mentions that she was raised in Green Hill Zone, a reference to the old 16-bit games.


 * Notably, several other voices for the Japanese version are famous guest seiyuu from Japan's (and America's) most popular anime and video games.


 * Sonic X is the only Sonic cartoon to include Super forms.


 * In the episodes based off of Sonic Adventure, the emerald colors do not match up with their game counterparts, however, in the episodes based off of Sonic Adventure 2, the emerald colors do match up to their game counterparts.


 * Shadow was seen removing his bracelets and receiving a huge power boost as a result in the ending of his story in Sonic the Hedgehog, a concept originally used in Sonic X.


 * In an interview, the English director of Sonic X states that he doesn't know a thing about Sonic, stating that he never played a single game, watched a single episode from any Sonic show, or even read any of the comics.

Major

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Amy Rose
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Doctor Eggman

Minor

 * Chaotix:
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Vanilla the Rabbit
 * E-Series:
 * E-102 Gamma
 * Chaos
 * Tikal
 * Emerl
 * Maria Robotnik

Pilot Exclusive

 * Nazo

Season 1, 2 & 3

 * Chris Thorndyke
 * Danny
 * Bokkun
 * Decoe & Bocoe
 * Chuck Thorndyke
 * Nelson and Lindsey Thorndyke
 * Francis
 * Helen

Season 1 & 2 (Series 1)

 * Ella
 * Mr. Tanaka
 * Topaz
 * Sam Speed
 * Jerome Wise
 * Hawk

Season 3 (Series 2)

 * Cosmo
 * Metarex
 * Dark Oak
 * Molly
 * "Dark Sonic"

Nazo
A concept art video/trailer released before Sonic X contain many things which were changed before the show was actually aired. These included a single still picture of a blue/gray hedgehog (the picture to the right). This image was then found on the official Sega website with the name Nazo.jpg. Since he has not appeared in the actual show and Sega has given no more information about him, Sonic fans popularly refer to him as Nazo, which means "mystery" in Japanese. Also because of the lack of canon information, much debate has followed about who he was to be. One theory is that he was an early design for the show's "Super" or "Hyper" form of Sonic, or the "Dark Super Sonic" that appeared in Season 3. Another is that he was in some way related to Silver the Hedgehog from Sonic the Hedgehog. Others believe he was to be an entirely separate entity. Many assume that he was to be a villain, but there is nothing to support this but one's interpretation of the image. Nazo has also spawned much fanfiction.

Comic Book Series
In September 2005, Archie Comics, publishers of the North American Sonic the Hedgehog comics started a Sonic X comic book series based on Sonic X. According to writer Joe Edkin, the first nine issues will take place in the TV continuity between episodes 32 and 33, which falls between the Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 story lines. After this, the stories' chronological positions will vary for some time, although in progressively later points in the series. The series is based off the English version, though fits the continuity established in the original Japanese version. Now Sonic X comic has ended and will continue in Sonic Universe, but an editor's note at the end of issue #40 states that Sonic X, or at least the characters, will return, indicating that it may be developed upon in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics or that they hope for the characters' returns in either Sonic X anime follow-ups or appearances in games.

Toy line
The 4Kids version of the show was backed up by a toyline. The early figures in this line were in fact re-releases of an earlier Sonic Adventure toyline, criticised by many for awkward poses and poor sculpting. The line has currently moved onto more accurate and updated figures. Taking a concept from the popular Marvel Legends toys, one wave presents each of the 5 characters in it with part of a generic E-Series robot. Fans who buy the whole wave can complete the robot as a 'bonus' figure. Further waves include the re-release the first wave with the addition of a special keychain, the Space Fighters collection and the Chaos Emeralds collection.

Leapster game
An educational game based on the series, also titled Sonic X, was released for the LeapFrog Leapster system.

Others Credited

 * Jimmy Zoppi
 * Madeleine Blaustein
 * Jeff Woodlock
 * Veronica Taylor
 * Karen Neil
 * Nappy

Program History
United States Japan
 * Fox (2003-2008)
 * The CW (Jan, 3 ,2009-present)
 * TV Tokyo (April 6, 2003-March 28, 2004)

Germany
 * Jetix (2004-2009)
 * Kabel Eins (2009-today)

Episode guide
List of Sonic X episodes

Theme songs
For the United Kingdom, much of Europe and Brazil the Opening Intro was changed to a female singer repeating the show's title over numerous times, the US ending theme was kept however.

Japan/France

 * Opening
 * 1) "SONIC DRIVE" by Hironobu Kageyama & Hideaki Takatori
 * Intro Version 1 (eps. 1-26)
 * Intro Version 2 (eps. 27-78)


 * Endings
 * 1) "Mi-Ra-I" by RUN&GUN (English translation: "Future") (eps. 1–13)
 * 2) "Hikaru Michi" by Aya Hiroshige (English translation: "The Shining Road") (eps. 14–39 and 53–78)
 * 3) "T.O.P" by KP & URU (eps. 40–52)


 * Inserts
 * 1) "Kotoba ni Dekinai" by OFF COURSE (Episode 26) (TV-Tokyo Broadcast Only)
 * 2) "Live and Learn" by Crush 40 (Episode 38) (From Sonic Adventure 2)
 * 3) "Natsu no Hi" by OFF COURSE (Episode 52) (International and TV-Tokyo Broadcast Only)
 * 4) "Midori no Hibi" by OFF COURSE (Episode 52) (TV-Tokyo Broadcast Only)
 * 5) "Event: The Last Scene" by Fumie Kumatani (Episode 52) (From Sonic Adventure 2) (Japanese DVD and International Broadcasts Only)

U.S./Canada

 * Opening
 * 1) "Gotta Go Fast" by Norman J. Grossfeld and Russell Velazquez
 * Ending
 * 1) "Gotta Go Fast" (shortened version) by Norman J. Grossfeld and Russell Velazquez

Russia

 * Opening
 * 1) "Sonic X" by Jetix
 * Ending
 * 1) "Gotta Go Fast" (shortened version) by Norman J. Grossfeld and Russell Velazquez

Australia/New Zealand/UK

 * Opening
 * 1) "Sonic X" by Jetix
 * Ending
 * 1) "Gotta Go Fast" (shortened version) by Norman J. Grossfeld and Russell Velazquez

Latin America/Spain

 * Opening
 * 1) "Gotta go fast" (Spanish version)
 * 2) "Sonic X" by Jetix
 * Ending
 * 1) "Gotta Go Fast" (shortened version) by Norman J. Grossfeld and Russell Velazquez

Differences between American and Japanese Versions

 * During the adaptations of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, in the Japanese version, Open Your Heart plays when Sonic is fighting Perfect Chaos and Live and Learn plays when Super Sonic and Super Shadow are fighting the Final Hazard. In the American version, no such songs play.
 * In the Japanese version, all firearm sound effects had a bullet sound effect from a gun. In the American version, it was completely replaced with laser sound effects in any use of handguns was removed as well.
 * There is blood, violence, death, and gunfire in the Japanese version that were removed by 4Kids. Although when Shadow is chasing Cosmo and Tails, he gets a cut above his left eye and is bleeding in the American version. It's possible that the staff didn't see it.
 * In a Japanese episode, Amy becomes possessed by King Boom Boo, Sonic chops her in the neck making her fall unconscious into his arms. In the American version she just falls unconscious into Sonic's arms for no reason.
 * In the Japanese version, Eggman's messenger robot is called the "Messenger Robo". In the American version, he is called "Bokkun".
 * In the Japanese version, the characters (mostly Sonic) will say lines in Engrish, like "Thank you" or "No way", in which the mention other languages. In the American version, the only mention to other languages is Mr. Inteligente which is Spanish for smart.
 * Cream mentions she was born in Green Hill Zone in the Japanese Version. In the American version, she doesn't mention where she was born or where she lived.
 * Police men are seen shooting at Chaos in the Japanese version. In the American version, it was removed completely. Ironically, the same scene appears in the game itself in the North American version, even with the gunshot sound effects.
 * Shadow's flashback ends when Maria was shot in the American version, but in the Japanese version, Maria's body was actually seen hitting the floor, also seen in the Shadow the Hedgehog video game.
 * In episode 67, Black Narcissus stabs Chris in the stomach in the Japanese version. In the 4Kids dub, he simply punches Chris in the stomach and he passes out.
 * Molly sacrifices herself in the Japanese version; her ship is struck by a laser beam and obliterated as she is killed instantaneously. Shadow then builds a memorial for her with Rouge by his side. In the English version, her ship suddenly disappears, seemingly fleeing from the Metarex and never coming back. Shadow then mentions how she's alone "out there" all by herself. Her memorial was edited out, as 4Kids censored her death. In the Japanese version, however, Shadow is seen as a shadow by Molly's grave, having placed a pink rose by it. In the American version, he disappears and his fate is unknown, though it is hinted that Eggman knows of his whereabouts
 * In the Japanese version, after Zelkova loses his armor and falls into a lava pit Knuckles goes in to save him but fails. In the American version, the whole part was edited out and only showed Knuckles standing over the edge.
 * Tails, overcome with emotion, is ultimately forced to kill Cosmo at her own request. It is apparent that the Japanese version retained far more emotional depth, seen when Tails, on the verge of pressing the fire button of the Sonic Driver, instead slams his head on the control panel and begins crying hysterically. This scene is substantially cut down in the English version for unknown reasons. When Tails finally manages to press the button, the Japanese version portrays him in a deep state of distress and sadness, epitomized when he screams in horror when the Sonic Driver beam strikes the Metarex planet. The English version shows him in a more relaxed and accepting composure, even going so far as to say a calm "goodbye" to Cosmo as he presses the button.
 * In the Japanese version, Tails reveals that he loves Cosmo. In the American version, Tails only states that she was his friend.
 * When Sonic is fighting E-99 in episode 26, A minor fighting scene was cut out of the American version. When Sonic (injured) walks up to E99 telling Eggman to return Chris to him E99 attacked Sonic, Sonic dodged it but E99 was quicker than Sonic at the time and punches him into the ground E99 then viciously beat Sonic into the ground and continues to plummet him, The scene in America was cut to when E99 knocked Sonic into the ground when he dodged E99's first attack then it cuts to Rouge as she notices that Eggman was using the six emeralds to power the robot.
 * After Emel falls into the ocean after getting kicked by Cream, Emel learns to cry. In the Japanese version, he cries oil, while in the American version, he cries actual tears.
 * In "Infiltrate! Area 99! (Sonic to the Rescue in America) Sonic says "Sh*t!" in Engrish when lasers appear on top of cameras. This is one of the times that involve swearing. Characters have also been known to say words like "Damn" and "Hell" in the Japanese version despite being made for kids. In the American version, all swearing was removed to better suit kids.
 * After Eggman comes to Sonic's aid and Decoe and Bocoe hold Black Narcissus, Bokkun comes in and yells "Bokkun Kick!" when kicking Black Narcissus despite only being called "Messenger Robo" throughout the series in the Japanese Version.
 * In the Japanese version, Zelkova sometimes yells random lines. As shown when he was destroying things, he yells "Spicy Curry Power!" (in Engrish) for no real reason.
 * Despite removing the use of guns and other firearms, in one episode, Rouge was seen holding a gun to Eggman's face. This was even in the American version.
 * In the very first episode, when Sonic is riding on Sam's racer, Sonic breaks the fourth wall, by warning kids after Sam tells him that children are watching. In the 4Kids dub, he tells kids not to use specially formulated race cars to catch speeding hedgehogs. In the original version, he tells kids not to try such a thing at home.
 * During the third season, Rouge bribes Bokkun with a pendant. In the Japanese version, it was revealed that a picture of Cream is inside the pendant, thus revealing that Bokkun has a crush on Cream. In the English version, the insides were never seen for unknown reasons.
 * In episode 52, Sonic gives Amy a flower and says something to her. What he says differs. In the English version, Sonic said he'll never leave her. In the French version, he says that he loves her. And in the Japanese version, the audio was removed for some reason.
 * In the same episode, there is a sign next to Amy's house. In the Japanese version, the sign reads "Amy's House", but in the English version, the text was removed for unknown reasons.
 * In the English version of Sonic X when Shadow was trying to kill Cosmo he comes across Knuckles who was trying to hold Shadow off from getting to Tails and Cosmo when Knuckles says "I've always wanted to shadow box!" before Shadow replies "As you wish" then using his spin dash to ultimately beat Knuckles. In the English version Knuckles is knocked out and Shadow looks down to him and the scene switches to Tails and Cosmo running to another part of the blue typhoon, in the Japanese version of the Knuckles is knocked out and Shadow collapses to his knees and was shown to have removed the rings from around his wrist. While he was the rings back on Rouge came in the hall where the fight took place she then asks Shadow a question in which he replied and set off to find Cosmo and Tails again. Rouge then stayed behind looking after Knuckles (this scene also shows why Rouge came into the room looking after Knuckles in the first place while in the English version she was randomly looking after him).

Official English sites

 * SONIC CENTRAL Sonic X website
 * 4Kids TV Sonic X website

Official Japanese sites

 * Sonic Team Sonic X website
 * TV Tokyo Sonic X website

Other links

 * VIZ Media
 * teamARTAIL (Sonic X) - Sonic X Release information and Episode screenshots.
 * Sonic X entry; Internet Movie Database
 * Sonic X; TV.com