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- The correct title of this article is Project: Shadow. It appears incorrectly here because of technical restrictions.
"Project: Shadow", originally titled in Japan as "The Mystery of Project Shadow", is the thirty-third episode of the anime series, Sonic X, as well as the seventh episode of the second season. It first aired on 16 November 2003 and 30 October 2004 in Japan and the United States respectively.
Synopsis[]
Japanese title card
As he hacks GUN's computer database, Dr. Eggman discovers his grandfather's mysterious "Ultimate Life Form" project named Shadow.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Amy Rose
- Big the Cat (flashback; Japanese version only)
- Bocoe
- Bokkun
- Chaos (mentioned)
- Perfect Chaos (mentioned; Japanese version only)
- Cheese
- Christina Cooper
- Christopher Thorndyke
- Chuck Thorndyke
- Cream the Rabbit
- Danny
- Decoe
- Director of Central Intelligence
- Dr. Eggman
- Ella
- Frances
- Froggy (flashback; Japanese version only)
- Gerald Robotnik (first appearance)
- G.U.N.
- Gun Beetle (first appearance)
- Laser Hunter (first appearance)
- Rouge the Bat
- Shield Hunter (first appearance)
- Topaz
- Helen
- Jim (only appearance)
- Knuckles the Echidna
- Lindsey Thorndyke
- Maria Robotnik (first appearance)
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Mr. Stewart
- Mr. Tanaka
- Nelson Thorndyke
- President
- Sam Speed
- Scarlet Garcia
- Shadow the Hedgehog (first appearance; silhouette)
- Sonic the Hedgehog
Races and species:
Locations:
- Sonic X Zone
- Earth
- Angel Island
- Altar of Emerald (flashback)
- Prison Island (first appearance)
- United States
- Angel Island
- Sonic's world (mentioned)
- Space Colony ARK (first appearance) (photo)
- Earth
Items:
- Chaos Emerald
- Gerald's Diary (first appearance)
- Master Emerald
- Piko Piko Hammer (flashback)
Vehicles:
- Blue Eagle (only appearance)
- Egg Mobile
- Rhino Cannon (only appearance)
Misc.:
- Chaos Control (mentioned)
- Eggman Empire
- Project Shadow (first appearance)
Plot[]
| This section requires an expansion. |  |
The episode starts with Sonic running through the ruins of Station Square following Perfect Chaos' destruction of the city when he suddenly hears crying sounds from the debris. As the residents of Station Square repair their city, Guardian Units of the Nations begins mass production of its own Hunter series robots to counter Dr. Eggman. Using a spy robot, Eggman examines their progress and notes with annoyance that "all they did was copy (his) designs." As he hacks GUN's computers for more information—displaying pictures of several GUN robots—he finds a database entry for his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. Eggman concludes that he was born on Earth, rather than in Sonic's world, and that the two are parallel dimensions. As Eggman continues his search, he uncovers Gerald's diary that reveals he has finished the final product of his "Ultimate Life Form" project, named "Shadow". Transferring it from GUN's computers alerts them to his activities, and the President assigns Rouge and Topaz to monitor him.
Rouge and Topaz secure a Chaos Emerald to use as bait to gain Eggman's trust—as well as the Master Emerald itself, which Rouge is unwilling to leave behind although Knuckles tried to stop her. Meanwhile, Eggman fights his way into GUN's base on Prison Island. He reaches the capsule containing Shadow and releases him, astonished to see the silhouette of a hedgehog in the cryogenic vapors.
Eyecatch cards[]
Regional differences[]
- The following scenes have been cut/edited:
| Gallery |
|---|
 When Chuck explains that Sonic and his friends have settled into the new home, this flashback was edited to remove Amy vacuuming, as well as the next two scenes.  Big the Cat fishing is cut from the flashback.  Cream helping Ella with the dishes is cut from the flashback.  Comparison of the Japanese/original (left) and English/edited (right) versions of the same scene. The signature in the unedited version reveals that the President's name is "Michael. K" (which is firmly confirmed later in episode 45).  Comparison of the Japanese/original (left) and English/edited (right) versions of the same scene. Note that G.U.N. has never been mentioned in the English version of the show and the style font of the text  Comparison of the Japanese/original (left) and English/edited (right) versions of the same scene. Note that the text on the right is entirely replaced with white dots except Shadow in the center due to the text on the left containing two swears. |
- The word "Passward" in Japanese version is corrected to "Password" in the English dub.
- The names of the GUN robots and part of Gerald's diary are erased in the English dub, likely due to the language it contains.
- The Laser Hunter's picture is never shown in the English dub.
- The text "Prof. GERALD ROBOTNIK" is replaced with a picture of Gerald in the English dub.
- In the Japanese version, when Christina Cooper talks to Sam, she calls him "Intelligence Commander." Sam says that was his name yesterday, and his current name is "Farewell Young Headlight." In the English dub, Christina says that Rouge and Topaz are leaving, so Sam can stop the car "here", to which Sam says he does not want to break the law so he will wait.
- In the Japanese version, there is a shot of Cream putting down a cup, which was removed in the English dub.
- In the Japanese version, there is an eleven-second scene of Bokkun where he is startled by something and looks over, only to see Jerome roaming through garbage, whom he scares off. This scene was removed in the English dub.
- The report on Project Shadow has its cover shortened from "The Secret of the Project Shadow" to just "Project Shadow" with a different font in the English dub.
- In the Japanese version, there is a three-second shot of an extra lighthouse shining light over Prison Island, looking for the explosion. That shot was removed in the English dub.
- In the Italian version, the recap of the last episode was completely cut.
- The same happened with the episode 37.
- The recap has been restored in the publication on Netflix, however, having never been dubbed, this is only available in English while the rest of the episode is in Italian.
Title in other languages[]
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | プロジェクト・シャドウの謎 | The Mystery of Project Shadow |
| Chinese | 夏特計劃之謎 | The Mystery of Project Shadow |
| French | Le projet Shadow | The Project Shadow |
| German | Projekt Shadow | Project Shadow |
| Greek | Το μυστήριο του πρότζεκτ Σκιά | The mystery of Project Shadow |
| Hebrew | תעלומת פרויקט שאדו | The mystery of Project Shadow |
| Italian | Progetto Shadow / Attacco al laboratorio | Project Shadow / Attack on the laboratory |
| Korean | 프로젝트 섀도우의 수수께끼 | Mystery of Project Shadow |
| Polish | Tajemnica "Projektu Shadow" | The secret of "Shadow Project" |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | O quebra-cabeça do Projeto Sombra | The puzzle of Project Shadow |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | Projeto Shadow | Project Shadow |
| Romanian | Misterul Proiectului Shadow | The mystery of Project Shadow |
| Russian | Загадка проекта «Тень» | The mystery of "Shadow" project |
| Spanish (Latin America) | El misterio del Proyecto Shadow | The mystery of Project Shadow |
| Spanish (Spain) | Proyecto Sombra | Project Shadow |
| Thai | ปฏิบัติการลับ โปรเจ็กต์ชาโดว์ | Covert operation Project Shadow |
| Vietnamese | Dự án Shadow bí ẩn | Mysterious Project Shadow |
Trivia[]
- The Australian DVD gives the name of the episode as "Shadow".
- This is the fourth and final episode to be rendered in the progressive 30fps.
- Knuckles does not recognize Rouge in her costume even though he saw her in the same costume in "Beating Eggman, Part 2".
- Although it is established that both Sonic and the human's worlds share in both the time and space making them parallel in this episode, yet in Cosmic Crisis, it is made clear that one year in the human world equals one month in Sonic's world.
- Eggman concludes that he was originally born on Earth, but how he ended up on Sonic's world is never explained or brought up again.
Differences from Sonic Adventure 2[]
- In the scene where Knuckles and Rouge fight over the Master Emerald, the Master Emerald was stolen by Rouge instead of being shattered by Knuckles in the episode. Also, Eggman was absent from the scene.
- Gerald Robotnik's diary was different in this episode than the one used in the games, as it omitted any references to Maria's death or his resulting insanity. In this episode, the diary indicated that the main reason he wanted Shadow released was as vengeance against GUN for the measure of immorality he found intolerable in regards to a conspiracy involving taking over both his Artificial Chaos project as well as the Eclipse Cannon.
See also[]
Video[]
