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Good night, have a sweet dreams~!


Sonic in the Japanese version.

Sonic X (ソニックX Sonikku Ekkusu?) is an anime series loosely based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. It was animated and produced in Japan by TMS Entertainment with the partnership of Sega and Sonic Team. It was first broadcasted in Japan in April 2003 by TV Tokyo. During that same year, 4Kids Entertainment obtained the license to localize and broadcast the show in America.

Originally planned as a 52 episode series which would be inspired by the storylines of the Sonic Adventure series, Sonic X expanded to 78 episodes between 2005 and 2006. These additional episodes (53 to 78) were never aired on Japanese television but they were streamed on rental services.

As of June 2012, the copyright and branding of Sonic X in America was passed onto Saban Brand's Kidsco Media Ventures following 4Kids Entertainment's bankruptcy due to a lawsuit.[3] Despite this, the show did not receive significant differences from 4Kids Entertainment's changes.

Plot synopsis

Sonic x countries

Countries that aired Sonic X (Blue).

The 78 episodes in Sonic X are split into eight sagas:[4]

  • New World Saga (episodes 1-13)
  • Chaos Emerald Saga (episodes 14-26)
  • Chaos Saga (episodes 27-32)
  • Shadow Saga (episodes 33-38)
  • Egg Moon Saga (episodes 39-41)
  • Emerl Saga (episodes 42-46)
  • Homebound Saga (episodes 47-52)
  • Metarex Saga (episodes 53-78)

Season 1 (1st half of Series 1)

SonicXposter

First series' main characters from Sonic X.

New World Saga

At the beginning of the series, Sonic accidentally gets hurdled though space from his unnamed home planet to Earth via Chaos Control. Sonic met Christopher Thorndyke, becoming friends with him. Sonic quickly learns that his other friends from his planet got caught in the Chaos Control and ended up on Earth as well, along with his arch-nemesis Doctor Eggman and his army of robots. Once Sonic rounded up his friends, they agreed to settle into the Thorndyke Mansion as their new home in Earth. They mainly had to hide from the public because of their unique characteristics but were accepted by Chris' family and friends. Soon, they learn that the source of the Chaos Control, the seven Chaos Emeralds, have also been transported to Earth, and scattered across the planet. Figuring that they may be the key to getting back home, Sonic and friends begin searching for them. But Dr. Eggman vows to achieve world domination over Earth with his robots. Over the course of a few weeks, Sonic and his pals get one of the Emeralds, while Eggman gets two. The President, however, is greatly concerned with Eggman's threats to the public society and issues the military to attack Eggman's base. Sonic and his friends aid the military and manage to take Eggman's Emeralds away from him. At the end, Eggman's base is destroyed and Sonic is praised as a hero to the human population.

Chaos Emerald Saga

Now being hailed as heroes, Sonic's friends are able to get out of the house more often and went on vacations. But Dr. Eggman is quickly able to build, as a replacement base following the destruction of his tower, a flying fortress called the Egg Fort, and resumes his diabolical attempts to achieve world domination. Some time later, after getting severely damaged from many bouts with Sonic and his friends, the Egg Fort is left behind in the sea and replaced by the Egg Fort II.

Also, the heroes collected Chaos Emeralds, bringing their total to five while Eggman managed to steal one. As Knuckles was desperate to obtain the last Chaos Emerald but knew it was not possible due to Sonic and Eggman's differences, he made the mistake of entrusting Dr. Eggman with the Chaos Emeralds the heroes have collected. The Egg Fort II transforms into E-99 Eggsterminator and harnesses the emeralds' power to defeat Sonic but Chris manages to reclaim the emeralds and give them to Sonic, allowing Sonic to transform into Super Sonic and defeat Eggman. As a result of the seven Chaos Emeralds' proximity within another, Chaos Control occurred but instead of sending Sonic and his friends back to their home planet, parts of Sonic's world (such as Angel Island) has joined with Earth.

Season 2 (2nd half of Series 1)

Chaos Saga

The series focused on an adaption of Sonic Adventure, introducing characters such as Chaos and Tikal. Six months after the second Chaos Control, Eggman learns of the legend of Chaos, the god of destruction, who was sealed in the Master Emerald 4,000 years ago. Eggman blasted the Master Emerald to set Chaos free, so he could utilize its potential powers to achieve world domination and to Sonic and his friends' shock, Chaos grew more powerful every time he is fed a Chaos Emerald. While Sonic and his friends attempt to collect each Chaos Emerald they can find to prevent Chaos from growing stronger, Knuckles began to discover the history of his own tribe of Echidnas that lived on Angel Island as he found the pieces of the Master Emerald since it was shattered when Dr. Eggman awakened Chaos.

Eventually, Chaos betrayed Eggman, wanting the seven Chaos Emeralds for its own purposes and began to destroy and flood Station Square by assuming the form of Perfect Chaos. Tikal appeared, wanting to stop Chaos from destroying the world like it did several millennia ago so Sonic harnessed the Chaos Emeralds that Chaos discarded to transform into Super Sonic, not knowing that the emeralds weren't completely drained of its powers and defeated Chaos. Calmed down by the appearance of several Chao, Chaos is sealed back in the Master Emerald with Tikal.

Shadow Saga

The series focused on an adaption of Sonic Adventure 2, introducing Shadow the Hedgehog, a new arch-rival to Sonic. Authorities mistook Shadow as Sonic as a fugitive for various crimes. As an act of revenge for the death of his close friend, Maria, Shadow wanted to destroy the humans and Eggman hones a powerful weapon called the Eclipse Cannon in order to threaten the world. It needed the power of the Chaos Emeralds so Shadow, Eggman and mysteriously Rouge went to gather the Chaos Emeralds. Although the trio only collected six of the emeralds, Eggman demonstrated the Eclipse Cannon's power by blowing half of the moon. Seeing that the source of the weapon and the emeralds are up in Space Colony ARK, Sonic and his friends traveled there to stop Eggman from achieving his goals.

Eventually, Eggman discovered that the heroes had the seventh Chaos Emerald and stole it to harness the full power of the Eclipse Cannon but this triggered a new program devised by Eggman's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, who planned to collide the Space Colony ARK with Earth in order to seek vengeance at the humans when all seven Chaos Emeralds are used in the Eclipse Cannon. Sonic, his friends and Eggman set aside their differences in order to prevent this doomsday by disabling the Chaos Emeralds' energy. Shadow was reluctant to help the heroes but was convinced by Chris to remember Maria's true promise and aided the heroes in distracting the Bio Lizard that attacked Sonic and his friends, allowing Knuckles to nullify the Chaos Emeralds with the Master Emerald but the doomsday was not over yet as the Bio Lizard merged with the ARK, determined to keep on its collision course. Sonic and Shadow used the emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow and together, they defeated the Bio Lizard (then known as the Final Lizard) and teleported the ARK back to its spot, saving the world from doomsday. This however cost the life of Shadow and everyone remembered him for being a hero.

Egg Moon Saga

Following the doomsday, more guests from Sonic's world began to arrive on Earth, most notably the Chaotix and Cream's mother Vanilla the Rabbit (although it is seen in the comics that the former somehow were transported back to Sonic's world under unknown reasons). All the while, Eggman wanted to repair the Moon as an act of remorse for his evil deeds during the Shadow Saga and does it so in a short amount of time, forming the Egg Moon.

Later, it was seen that Earth was seemingly under a permanent solar eclipse due to the fact that the Egg Moon malfunctioned (or Eggman claimed so anyway). To make up for this, Eggman began advertising Sunshine Balls which could replicate sunlight. Soon, the citizens started hailing Eggman as a hero but Sonic didn't trust Eggman and began sabotaging the Sunshine Balls' source, creating a major disruption within the public and demanded Sonic to be arrested.

Everyone wanted to know why Sonic was doing this until the hedgehog himself told authorities of Eggman's true motives. Now being informed of this, the authorities now swayed their decision to arrest Eggman and with Sonic and his friends' help, they were successful in handcuffing Eggman and escorting him behind bars. Sonic was hailed as the true hero once more.

Emerl Saga

With Dr. Eggman behind bars, he sends Bokkun to wake up Emerl in his abandoned base. Afterwords Bokkun goes to fight Sonic in a giant tank with Emerl inside. Sonic beats him, and the tank self-destructs launching Emerl far away. Bokkun explains to Sonic that he was a distraction while another robot is sent to break Eggman out of prison. But the robot is stopped by Sam Speed and Amy Rose. Emerl is later found by Cream and Cheese outside the Thorndyke Mansion hidden in the bushes, in a very serious condition.

Eggman, desperate to break out of prison, decides to work his way out via community service as a mechanic repairing old machines but as he repairs the machines he implants a device that makes them become alive and activate other machines to do his will. While Sonic is busy neutralizing the machines, Bokkun breaks Eggman out of jail.

To counteract Eggman's escape, the President makes a tournament and offers a grand prize of the red Chaos Emerald. Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge are persuaded to enter once they hear about the prize and because the tournament is open for anyone to join. Mr. Thorndyke enters Tails, Amy, Ella, Mr. Tanaka, Chris and Chuck. Along with them, Lucky, Decoe, Bocoe, The President, Hawk, Danny, Sam Speed, Big the Cat, Mr. Stewart, Topaz, "The Black Knight" and Emerl enter.

Emerl is declared the winner of the tournament, and is given the Chaos Emerald. But he becomes violent from the power of the emerald reawakening his old programming and his loyalty to Dr. Eggman. Sonic and his friends try to stop him but Emerl, using his ability to copy moves stops them and begins to wreck havoc on the arena and then the city.

Cream and Cheese then decide to persuade Emerl to stop attacking, Emerl thinks for a second, but the Chaos Emerald's energy was too powerful to change his mind and Cream and Cheese attack him together. As Emerl tries to copy one of their abilities the other gets in the way and strikes him. Emerl falls into the ocean and as he sinks down he begins to cry.

Homebound Saga

After hearing a battleship of G.U.N. soldiers disappear, Sonic and his friends set off to rescue them. They are eventually led to the remnant of the lost continent of Murasia and discovered that Dr. Eggman was behind the disappearance of the soldiers and is planning to set off a volcanic eruption. Other members of G.U.N. also accompany the heroes in their attack against Eggman but were driven off. Sonic and the others managed to defeat the ship and landed an island of Murasia. Still intent on setting of the hotspot, Eggman explores the island to find it while Sonic and the heroes try to locate him. Unfortunately, they awakened native large robots that attack them but after a heated battle, Sonic and the others are victorious and escaped as the island begins to sink.

Back at Station Square, everyone appears to enjoy having carefree lives until Sonic and the others heard that their home planet and Earth, once two separate planets, are beginning to join together as one which could potentially cause the timelines of both planets to freeze. As a result, Sonic and all of his other inhabitants of their home planet have no choice but to return back. Tails and Chuck spent the remainder of their time together to build a machine capable of initiating Chaos Control and successfully send everyone but Sonic to which Chris stops the machine, who can't bear with the fact that Sonic has to leave.

Chris and Sonic run away to a distant location while Chris' parents are desperate to find him. At the end of their journey, Chris comes to terms with his feelings and admits to Sonic that he is lonely before Sonic came to Earth and is afraid that he might be lonely again. Sonic expresses hope that the two will see each other again. Back in Sonic's home planet, everyone notices that Sonic has not returned back yet. Eggman sees this as an opportunity to take over the world but admits that even he wants Sonic to return back. After a battle between Sonic's friends and the doctor, Sonic charges into the scene and stops Eggman; everyone is glad to have the hedgehog back. Six years later, an older Chris is now developing a project in attempt to travel to Sonic's world.

Season 3 (Series 2)

Metarex Saga

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. Back on Earth, Chris completes the dimensional portal and uses it to travel to Sonic's world, much to the concerns of Chris' loved ones. When he gets there, he is shocked to see that his body has regressed back to the age he was when Sonic left Earth.

Chris learns that to Sonic, only six months had passed. During their reunion, Dark Oak and his Metarex Army attack Sonic's planet and steals 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 and his schemes must be stopped, and they venture into space to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds.

This series uses elements from Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog such as Shadow surviving and being released with amnesia for the former and the common Metarex resembling 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 the 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 lighthearted one. The series ends with unresolved cliffhangers, such as the whereabouts of Chris, Cosmo's true fate (in the Japanese version) 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 10 September 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."

List of characters

Recurring characters

File:Season3pan.jpg

From left to right: Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Sonic, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese.

Minor characters

Original characters

Nazo

Nazo x

The mysterious Nazo.

A concept art video/trailer released before Sonic X contains many features 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. Because of the lack of canon information at the time, much debate has followed about who he was to be. It was later revealed through a Facebook conversation with Takashi Iizuka that "Nazo" was actually just a scrapped Super Sonic design.[5]

Merchandise

Novel adaptions

Six Sonic X novels based on the first few episodes of the Metarex Saga were published between 2005 and 2007. These are: Aqua Planet, Dr. Eggman Goes to War, Battle at Ice Palace and Desperately Seeking Sonic by Charlotte Fullerton, Meteor Shower Messenger by Paul Ruditis and Spaceship Blue Typhoon by Diana Gallagher.

Comic series

SX1

Front cover of the Sonic X #1.

In September 2005, Archie Comics, publishers of the Sonic the Hedgehog comics started a comic book series based on Sonic X. According to writer Joe Edkin, the first nine issues take place in the continuity between episodes 32 and 33, which falls between the Chaos and Shadow Sagas. After this, the stories' chronological positions vary for some time, although in progressively later points in the series, but it never reaches into the events of Season 3.

The series is based off the English dub of the anime, though it still fits with most of the aspects of the continuity established in the original Japanese version. The Sonic X comic series only contained forty issues.

Toy line

SegaToys SonicX Figures

The Japanese blind box figures.

In Japan Sega Toys produced various types of toys for the show, such as blind box figures, pull-back racers and plushes.

The 4Kids version of the show was also backed up by a toyline, being produced by Toy Island. The early figures in this line were re-releases of their earlier Sonic Adventure toyline, criticized by many for awkward poses and poor sculpting. The line soon moved onto more accurate and updated sculpts. Similar to a concept from the popular Marvel Legends toys, the Megabot Series 1 wave presents each of the five characters in it with part of a generic E-Series robot. People who buy the whole wave can complete the RBX-D05 robot as a 'bonus' figure. Further waves include the re-release the first wave with the addition of a special key-chain, the Space Fighters collection and the Figures with Chaos Emeralds collection.

McDonald's released a set of Sonic X disk shooters featuring Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow as toys for Happy Meals, among other sets.

Eventually some of the toys produced by Toy Island were redistributed by FEVA and made available to purchase in the United Kingdom. A radio-controlled Sonic toy was produced by Spin Master and was also distributed by FEVA.

Leapster game

Main article: Sonic X (Leapster)

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

Browser game

Main article: Sonic X Ring Thing

In the Vortexx Sonic X website, there is a browser game entitled Sonic X Ring Thing.

Cast

Japanese

Junichi Kanemaru Sonic the Hedgehog
Sanae Kobayashi Christopher Thorndyke
Masakazu Morita Christopher Thorndyke (teenager)
Taeko Kawata Amy Rose
Ryo Hirohashi Miles "Tails" Prower
Nobutoshi Canna Knuckles the Echidna
Sayaka Aoki

Cream the Rabbit, Vanilla the Rabbit

Rumi Ochiai Rouge the Bat
Kōji Yusa Shadow the Hedgehog
Chikao Otsuka Dr. Eggman
Bin Shimada Chuck ThorndykeBocoe
Ken Yamaguchi Decoe, Nelson Thorndyke
Noriko Hidaka Helen
Takashi Nagasako Big the Cat
Kenta Miyake Vector the Crocodile
Yuuki Masuda Espio the Chameleon
Yoko Teppozuka Charmy Bee
Kaori Asoh Tikal
Kujira Ella
Naomi Shindoh Lindsey ThorndykeDanny
Sōichirō Tanaka Sam Speed
Yumiko Kobayashi Messenger ROBO
Yuri Shiratori Maria Robotnik
Yūki Tai Leon
Toshihiko Nakajima Pachacamac, Li Yan
Hiroshi Kamiya Speed Team Member

English

Jason Griffith Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Doug
Amy Palant Miles "Tails" Prower
Dan Green Knuckles the Echidna, Elmer Johnson
Lisa Ortiz Amy Rose, Christina Cooper
Rebecca Honig Cream the Rabbit, Cheese, additional Chao, Vanilla the Rabbit, Maria Robotnik, Tikal, Helen's Mother
Jack Quevas Chuck Thorndyke, Policeman
Andrew Rannells Decoe, Bokkun, Mister Stewart, E-102 Gamma, E-101 Beta, E-104 Epsilon, Narrator
Darren Dunstan Bocoe, Mr. Tanaka, E-103 Delta, E-51 Intelligente
Suzanne Goldish Christopher Thorndyke
Mike Pollock Dr. Eggman, Ella, Professor Gerald Robotnik (eps. 33-38)
Kathleen Delaney Rouge the Bat
Kayzie Rogers Topaz, Policewoman
Amy Birnbaum Cosmo, Helen, Charmy Bee
Frank Frankson Sam Speed, Leon, Danny (teenager)
Matt Hoverman Dark Oak/Luke
Jonathan Todd Ross Red Pine, Firefighter (male)
Jim Napalitano Pale Bayleaf
Sean Schemmel Black Narcissus
Ted Lewis Nelson ThorndykeYellow Zelkova, President
Jennifer Johnson Lindsey Thorndyke, Firefighter (female)
Rachael Lillis Danny
Kerry Williams Frances
Bella Hudson Molly, Maid (ep. 68)
Pete Zarustica Big the Cat (eps. 27-33), Albert Butler, Hawk
Megan Hollingshead Scarlet Garcia
Carter Cathcart Vector the Crocodile, Pachacamac
David Wills Espio the Chameleon, Jerome Wise, G.U.N. General (ep. 38)
Michael Sinterniklaas Chris Thorndyke (teenager)
Veronica Taylor Galaxina, Earthia

Dutch

Sander van der Poel Sonic the Hedgehog
Bart Fennis Christopher Thorndyke
Laura Vlasblom Miles "Tails" Prower
Floris van Rooijen Knuckles the Echidna
Thera van Homeijer Amy Rose
Melise de Winter Cream the Rabbit, Topaz
Laura Vlasblom Cheese
Just Meijer Dr. Eggman
Victor van Swaay Shadow the Hedgehog
Lies Visschedijk Rouge the Bat, Lindsey Thorndyke, Bokkun
Juus Piek Chuck Thorndyke
Floris van Rooijen Nelson Thorndyke
Beatrijs Sluijter Ella
Frank Righter Mr. Tanaka, Sam Speed, Mr. Stewart
Juus Piek Decoe
Fred Butter Bocoe
David Hakkert Daniel
Eline Blom Helen

French

Alexandre Gillet Sonic the Hedgehog
Hervé Grull Christopher Thorndyke
Marie-Eugénie Maréchal Miles "Tails" Prower
Sébastien Desjours Knuckles the Echidna, Bokkun
Naïke Fauveau Amy Rose, Vanilla, Tikal, Lindsey, Danny, Cheese
Marie Millet Cream the Rabbit, Helen, Topaz, Charmy, Frances, Maria Robotnik
Marc Bretonnière Dr. Eggman, President
Benoît DuPac Shadow the Hedgehog
Marie Lenoir Rouge the Bat, Ella, Cosmo, Scarlet Garcia
Antoine Nouel Chuck Thorndyke, Nelson Thorndyke, Sam Speed, Bocoe, Dark Hawk, Espio, Big, Froggy, Mr Thorndyke
Yann Le Madic VectorMr. Tanaka, Decoe

Indonesian

Ian Saybani Sonic the Hedgehog
Ade Kurniawan Christopher Thorndyke
Iphie Lubis Miles "Tails" Prower
Jessy Milianty Amy Rose
Jumali Prawirorejo Dr. Eggman
Kamal Nasuti Shadow the Hedgehog

Crew

Japanese

Original Concept SEGA
Sonic Team
Planning SONIC Project
Executive Producer Yuji Naka
Producer Takeshi Sasamura
Tadahito Matsumoto
Animation Producer Kenji Mizunuma
Associate Producer Emi Sasaki
Story Editor Hiro Masaki (Episodes 1-52)
Kiyoko Yoshimura (Episodes 53-78)
Supervisor Akinori Nishiyama
Takashi Iizuka
Shiro Maekawa
Original Character Design Yuji Uekawa
Character Design / Animation Director Satoshi Hirayama
Mechnical Design Yasuhiro Moriki
Mechnical Animation Director Keisuke Watabe
Art Director Yukiko Iijima
Color Design Mika Iwami
Background Art Minoru Ōkōchi
Sound Director Keiichi Momose (Episodes 1-52)
Keiichiro Miyoshi (Episodes 53-78)
Music Yoshihiro Ike
Recording Engineer Tadaharu Satō
Assistant Engineer Mitsue Narahara
Sound Production MSI (Episodes 1-52)
Tohokushinsha Film Corporation (Episodes 53-78)
Recording Studio KSS Studio
Sound Effects Toshio Takano
CG Director Takeshi Nagata
CG Production ufotable
Director of Photography Ayumu Hatori
Editor Hisako Hasegawa
Editing Cooperation Okada Edit Room
Editing Studio TMS Photo (T.D.B.)
Program Publicity Nanae Sasahara
Yasushi Nagumo
Assistant Yoshie Maeda
Literary Manager Kōji Miki
Production Chief Hideaki Miyamoto
Animation Production TMS Entertainment (credited as Tokyo Movie)
Produced by TV Tokyo, TMS Entertainment
Director Hajime Kamegaki

English

Assistant Editor Abel Bautista
David Etzold
Assistant Music Producer Jonathan Lattif
Associate Producer Julie Rath
AVID Editor Chris Guido
David Etzold
Executive Producer Alfred R. Kahn
Norman J. Grossfield
Graphics Hisami Aoki
Lurialle Dumaguing
Paul J. Baccash
Rob Bruce
Ryan Kelly
Mix Engineer Ron London
Music Composition Craig Marks
Joel Douek
John Angier
Louis Cortelezzi
Manny Corallo
Matt McGuire
Ralph Schuckett
Music Producer John Sands
Producer Michael Haigney
Production Assistant Joan Vollero
Production Supervision Brenda Dillon
Recording Engineer Alon Namdar
Michele Darling
Ohad Tzachar
Ron London
Suzanne Goldish
Script Adaptation John Touhey
Michael Haigney
Ted Lewis
Translation Advisor Kaz Sano
Voice Direction Andrew Rannells
Pete Kaplan

Music

There is an album containing select music tracks from the Japanese version of the anime entitled Sonic X ~Original Sound Tracks~, released on March 3, 2004. Four CD singles that feature the Japanese opening and ending themes have also been released.

Differences between American and Japanese versions

Sonic_X_-_4Kids_Dubbing_changes

Sonic X - 4Kids Dubbing changes

A video comparing some of 4Kids dubbing with the original Sonic X. (Please excuse the annotations on the video, they can be closed. Also, keep in mind that the real name of this video contains a swear word.)

Sonic X has numerous edits when the English version was to be dubbed and many items, places, dialogue etc. have been edited from its Japanese version to better suit children and comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) laws (in the U.S. and in rare cases even though at some points not followed, Canada), the TV Networks' regulations, and in other cases, social-factors of Americans, including violence, and a few others. Some of them has been done directly (such as violence, cursing and others) or indirectly (such as music). Because of this, there are numerous differences that has been seen as shown below.

  • 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 are some scenes of blood, violence, death, text and gunfire in the Japanese version that were removed by 4Kids.
  • The light from some attacks were made darker with no transparent filter. Also, some backgrounds related to attacks are changed, such as Chaos Control.
  • In the Japanese version, the characters (mostly Sonic) will say lines in Engrish, like "Thank you" or "No way", in which they mention other languages. In the American version, the only mention to other languages is Mr. Inteligente, which is Spanish for smart and Sonic saying "sayonara" which is Japanese for goodbye.
  • During the third season, Rouge blackmails 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 contents were never seen for unknown reasons.
  • The Japanese version features Eyecatch cards at various intervals, displaying details about a character, such as weight, height and age. It even extends to Eggman's various robots. This was removed in the English version for unknown reasons.
  • In the American version, Rouge's cleavage is sometimes edited to make her breasts seem smaller.
  • All instances involving or depicting alcohol were portrayed as child-friendly beverages instead. (i.e: Champagne is replaced with Cola while beer is replaced with orange juice).

Eyecatch cards

Main article: Eyecatch card

Eyecatch cards are cards with various information about some of the characters and objects appearing during the Japanese version of Sonic X.

Reception

Sonic X ratings, have had ranged from mixed to positive ; Conrad Zimmerman of Destructoid cited its "horrible localization" as a main reason for negativity.[6] Tim Jones of THEM Anime gave the show two stars out of five and criticized the English voice acting: "It's really annoying how all the recent Sonic games use these untalented actors/actresses in their dubs, because they make the original English voices sound like award-winning performers."[7] Other comments on the show's aesthetics were mostly positive. Staff of "Games Radar" admitted, "At least the song fits. Can't imagine Sonic listening to Underground wailing Meat Loaf light rock, but he'd definitely jam to Sonic X."[8] Jones praised the rock music from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, as well as the "pretty piano music" and "catchy" Japanese intro and outro themes. He also found the backgrounds "nice to look at" but did not like the use of CGI for Sonic's homing attack.[7]

The human characters—and, to a lesser extent, the animal ones—were also criticized. Jones decried Chris as "a dull, boring, uninspired character" and also described Tanaka and Ella as "bland" stereotypes of Japanese- and African-Americans, respectively. Jones also criticized the presence of Amy and Big, but took particular issue to the show's portrayal of Sonic, which he summarized as: "'I'm gonna run around downtown until something exciting happens and use a stinking Ring to defeat my enemies'".[7] "Games Radar" bemoaned both the "piss-poor Adventure characters" and the original human ones.[8] In contrast, writer Gaz Plant of "Nintendo Life" opined that "one of the key successes" of the series was its incorporation of numerous characters from the games, including lesser-used ones like Big and the Chaotix. Fans were divided on the merit of the Thorndykes.[9]

The show was well received for faithfully following the format of the games. "Famitsu" offered a uniformly positive review before the first episode broadcast in 2003, commending the skillful transition of the games' speed and style to animation, and expected the series to continue to grow more interesting.[10] Plant stated that "where Sonic X truly succeeded was in its retelling of iconic stories".[9] Independent of the characters involved, "Games Radar" appreciated the idea of following "Sonic's core concept."[8] The original storylines were also well received. Amidst his criticism of most of the show, Jones praised the first episode in general, especially its humor.[7] Plant acclaimed the character development that built on the stories of the original games, especially Sonic's and Amy's relationship and the Chaotix's newfound viability as comedy devices. Concurrently, he found the show "surprisingly touching", particularly in its "emotional" final climax, and favorably compared the space exploration of season three to "Star Trek".[9] "Famitsus" first preview called the story profound (重厚 jūkō?).[10]

Common Sense Media gave it three stars out of five and, while not commenting further on its quality, stated that it was appropriate for grade-school children but that some violent scenes were inadvisable for younger viewers.[11] A second Famitsu review from later in 2003 called the anime an outstanding success and encouraged readers to tune in.[12]

Popularity and cultural impact

The show was quite popular in the United States and France, consistently reaching the number-one position in its timeslot in both countries.[13][14] By 2007, it was TMS' best-selling anime in the non-Japanese market, despite that the third season never aired in Japan, and it inspired TMS to focus on properties that would sell well outside Japan.[15]

Discotek's license

On April 7, 2015, Discotek Media announced on their Facebook account that they were releasing a series set. The set will only be English dubbed. They also stated that they are doing a test with Monster Rancher to see if the subtitled sets will sell better than the dubbed. The series was released in two separate DVD sets with the first volume collecting Episodes 1-52 (Seasons 1 & 2) which released on November 22, 2016 and the second volume collecting Episodes 53-78 (Season 3) which was released on December 6, 2016. The DVD sets had a special feature that showed some storyboards from the anime. An SD Blu-ray version of the complete series will be released on May 28, 2019. It is English dub only but it has more special features, such as a sing-along/karaoke of the English theme, and the English pilot, as well as closed captions (English SDH subtitles).

Trivia

  • The voice actor for Sonic at the time, Ryan Drummond, offered to voice Sonic for the dub but was rejected by 4Kids for not living in New York. 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 previous 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 him for Shadow the Hedgehog, which resulted in many complaints from fans of the previous voice cast.
  • 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.
  • Sonic X once had the most number of episodes among the Sonic television series at a total of seventy-eight until it was surpassed by Sonic Boom with their episode "Robots From The Sky Part 2".
  • The Australian Sonic X DVDs came with a trailer of Sonic Mega Collection Plus.
  • Shadow was seen removing his Limiters and receiving a huge power boost as a result in the ending of his story in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), a concept originally used in this show.
  • In an interview, the English writer of Sonic X states that he does not 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.[16]
  • France was the only European country to dub the complete version of Sonic X without any edits.
    • Starting with Sonic Generations, the French voice cast (with the exception of Vector) all reprise their roles.
  • In an interview, Jason Griffith revealed that he originally auditioned for the part of Chris, but was instead cast as Sonic. He did say that he thought it was exciting to be Sonic's companion but the producers thought his voice was better for Sonic.[17]
  • In a commercial for season 3 of Sonic X, there are four videos of the game Shadow the Hedgehog, most likely an error. In this same commercial, a small clip from the Japanese opening plays. Both can be seen using frame-by-frame views.
  • This is the first Sonic cartoon in America to not have Dr. Eggman referred to as "Dr. Robotnik". The second is Sonic Boom, this is because both Sonic X and Sonic Boom took place in the Modern Era .
  • Sonic X is notable for being one of the continuities of which Sonic and Amy's relationship borders more on romance than most other franchises. While Amy remains roughly the same in her approach to Sonic, he shows more affection that borders on romance, something that doesn't happen in most media aside from optional dialog and optional scenes in various games such as Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood and Sonic Unleashed. Another continuity is the Sonic the Hedgehog manga series, where Amy is the love interest of Nicky, whose alter ego is Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • 4Kids had Jason Griffith and Dan Green as Sonic and Knuckles sing along with other 4Kids voice actors singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" for American Independence Day.[18]
  • In Mission Mode of Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, during missions 3 and 12, a Sonic X poster with Sonic and Chris is visible in Station Square.
  • Sonic X has been on the air for fifteen years (including reruns), making it the longest running Sonic television series, and it is still on the air currently on the Video On Demand network known as Kabillion.
  • Both Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle are the only Dreamcast games appeared in Sonic X except Sonic Shuffle.

Videos


References

  1. https://www.hulu.com/sonic-x
  2. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/05/31/the-cw-replacing-vortexx-saturday-morning-programming-with-live-action-one-magnificent-morning/269192/
  3. Konami to Get 4Kids' Yu-Gi-Oh! Assets Under Proposed Deal. Anime News Network (17 June 2012). Retrieved on 15 April 2014.
  4. http://www.tv.com/sonic-x/show/18557/summary.html
  5. http://www.sonicstadium.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/nazo-conversation.png
  6. Zimmerman, Conrad (April 4, 2010). Watch Sonic X on Hulu This Easter. Destructoid. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on April 6, 2014.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Jones, Tim . Sonic X. THEM Anime. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on April 6, 2014.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 GamesRadar_US (June 23, 2012). The absolute worst Sonic moments. GamesRadar. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on April 6, 2014.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Plant, Gaz (October 18, 2013). Feature: A Supersonic History of Sonic Cartoons. NintendoLife. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on July 16, 2014.
  10. 10.0 10.1 アニメ『ソニックX』の制作発表会が開催! (Japanese). Famitsu (March 18, 2003). Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on April 28, 2014.
  11. Common Sense Media says: Hedgehog and human join together to battle evil.. Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on June 24, 2014.
  12. 『ソニック X』アフレコ現場を潜入取材! (Japanese). Famitsu (June 19, 2003). Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on April 28, 2014.
  13. Weiland, Jonah (May 23, 2005). Archie Launches New 'Sonic X' Series. Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on June 22, 2014.
  14. Jetix Europe N.V. Announces Results for the Year Ended September 30, 2004 (PDF). Jetix Europe (December 8, 2004). Archived from the original on August 31, 2014. Retrieved on July 16, 2014.
  15. Kelts, Roland (November 13, 2007). Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-4039-8476-0.
  16. Mr. Michael Haigney Interview (4Kids) anime/manga article. Archived from the original on 17 February 2007. Retrieved on 23 August 2914.
  17. http://web.archive.org/web/20070217075303/http://www.animeboredom.co.uk/anime-articles/80
  18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJuJrqFhXM

External links

Sonic the Hedgehog in other media
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