Ranked #4072

Sonic X

I don't really wanna review Sonic X. What about you, Tails? Do you want to? (Tails staring at me bored and pissed) Well...... Sorry Tails, I have to do this anyway. We all know Sonic. He's the badass mascot of SEGA that spawned in the Genesis in the 90's and became a pop culture phenomenon. When news began of a Sonic anime in the works, fans were thrilled with excitement and maybe Sonic can translate well into anime. But then came 4Kids! and...... The results were not pretty. Hated by both Sonic and anime fans, Sonic X was a huge failure among fans of Sonic, due to ridiculous plot, ripping off other animes and terrible new characters.

Sonic X begins with, who else, Sonic and his friends going to Dr. Eggman's base to rescue Cream and her Chao, when a nuclear reaction on the Chaos Emerald exploded and sending Sonic and his pals to Earth. That makes sense right guys?..... Moving on. After the weird explosion, Sonic gets chased by cops and ends up falling into the pool of a kid's house named Chris Thorndyke, a 10-year-old boy who lives with his grandfather Chuck and her maid Ella. So in the first season, it begins with a bang and then it goes a little bit strange for me. First, why the hell did Sonic and his friends end on Earth? DIdn't the place that they live is basically Earth? If not, then what's the name of their world then?! (although they did explain this in the second season of Sonic X, but the way they explain it is messed up). Second, how can a Chaos Emerald send you trough time? Cause that was never even in the games and things get even crazier in the second season of Sonic X, when they introduced another new character Cosmo and boy, they crammed up a lot of story into Season 2, cause the amount of backstory that they give to the plot in Sonic X just screams epic bullshit all the way in my opinion. Also, i found out that Sonic X in Japan was more violent and bloody than the US version, they even show Sonic bleeding while in a fight with Shadow in the Japanese version and hearing both Sonic and Tails swear a lot in the Japanese version, as well as Amy saying "Fuck". It was so controversial that 4Kids! edited the living crap out of Sonic X, so that it may receive a TV-Y7 rating in the US.

There are some things that I really like about Sonic X. First the animation. While it's not really perfect and there are a few incredibly bland backgrounds at times, the art and character models do look really good and fluid. Character models really bring the Sonic feel to life and they really work on each of the characters personalities from the game into the anime. the sense of speed really goes perfectly with the art and it really looks damn good on screen. Also, i like how the creators are, at least, giving some of this characters some depth to it, where many other Sonic games failed. There's one part where Sonic comes to see Amy, but Amy gets angry at him cause he always left her without telling her and then Sonic actually gives a Rose, apologizes to her and telling Amy that he would actually stay with her by the end of the world in the Jap version! Holy shit, Sonic, that's pretty damn deep. Also in the Jap version, the character development in Shadow was really great and I really can't believe i care for the guy, but really I just did. To be fair as well, while this anime does sometimes rips off some cliches from animes, it does deliver some very funny moments that make Sonic X worth the time to enjoy.

Now the main reason I think Sonic X fails is because of the shitty English dub and dialogue script that 4Kids! wrote for the US version of Sonic X (in which I do agree on). Voice-acting can be a hit or miss and it does fit the voices for each character, but sometimes the English voices can be extremely corny and cheesy and hell and the terrible script for the 4Kids! version ruins the show. It often feels rushed and really ruining some of the character development by making it too damn simple, i mean, really, couldn't they write something better than the script that these voice-actors were given to do?. Also, characters like Chris, Cosmo and etc. are really bland and useless. Chris looks like Sora from Kingdom Hearts and basically, he's just there to be a buddy with Sonic, nothing more and Cosmo is just for Tails to have a love interest, just like Sonic and Amy.

If you wanna see Sonic X, see the Japanese version instead. It has better English subtitles dialouge and some nice character development to it. I don't recommend the English dub, cause 4Kids! really ruined it by cutting too much plot from the Japanese version and just rushing the series for a quick-buck. If Sonic X was dubbed by Funimation instead of 4Kids!, it would have been so much better for Sonic X, cause Funimation only does little editing on animes all the damn time. It's not the greatest thing ever, but it's definitely not the worst thing ever made, it's actually pretty enjoyable and it worth the interest if you like, but please, see the Japanese version, not the 4Kids! one.... Thank you.
















read more

I have only watched up to episode 20, I will update later when needed. This review might also contain some spoilers which I apologize for.
----------
I will admit right here and right now that I dislike video games and find no use for them; as a result, I have never played any of the Sonic the Hedgehog video games. I have only started watching this anime was because my friends are addicted to Sonic, they have played all the games, watched all the series, and more. This anime is obviously recommended for younger viewers; however I do believe some people forget that. I believe the other people who usually rate this anime a low rating of 1-4 usually compare it to the video games produced. The only thing I recommend is that people should start thinking to themselves that Sonic X is a Japanese animation made solely for the enjoyment of others, and is not a sequel or an adaption of its video games.

The anime Sonic X explains the adventures of Sonic and his friends as they travel to the human world, and communicate with the people around them. I will admit that when I watched the first episode that it really gave quite a show, it didn’t make mistakes like the past Sonic animation adaption. However, as the series goes on it gets quite repetitive with Dr. Egg man trying to rule over the world and defeat Sonic, but in the end Sonic always defeats his crazed inventions. Which takes me to another point; the crazed inventions manufactured by Dr. Egg man are in no doubt extremely different from your average robot. The robots produced by Dr. Egg man are usually robots that are used for different things like a teaching, sporting, and more. The robots are also strange looking robots with a multitude of colors on them which are great for younger viewers. Near the end of season 1, things finally start to get suspenseful and emotional which creates a perfect reaction where the viewers may start to tear up due to the overall greatness of what is happening.

Characters shown in the anime are excellently showing character development, however one problem this anime makes is that Sonic himself does not get that much view time because he is usually running, in fact Sonic is mostly seen running when he is usually not defeating Dr. Egg man. Usually Chris is sucking most of the air time in the anime. The main human protagonist of Sonic X, is a young boy named Chris Thorndyke who is your average 12 year old rich boy. Chris’s mother is a well known movie star, his father an owner of a large company, his uncle a famous race car driver, and his grandpa a scientist. Chris is what I would to describe to be very different from average kids his own age, unlike your normal 12 year olds, Chris does not beg or cry or even bug his parents about anything, and he is what I call too mature. Chris being to mature for his age can create problems for younger audiences because they can’t really relate to him in anyway; consequently he is usually seen to people as an unneeded character to the anime.

The drawing style of Sonic X is not something to die for; it is your usual mix of anime and Western cartoon. The characters are fairly well drawn, not the best, but it’s something that anyone can bare with. What bothers me the most when it comes to the art is that way animals are drawn, they need to look a little more realistic too me. The background drawings are usually well drawn with distinct features added into them. One thing I mostly enjoy about the anime is its use of colors, the colors are usually bold and bright which help show some mood in the anime.

The Japanese music in the anime is what I enjoy the most. Opening 1 of Sonic X called “Sonic Drive” is very upbeat which I enjoy to listen too. The only problem is, is that there is only one opening for the anime which some people may fine boring to listen to after a while. The ending songs of the anime are very calm and peaceful which I like to listen too. The voice actors do an excellent job at portraying the character’s attitudes in the anime. The sound effects are also used perfectly in the correct situation which helps add the needed feel to the anime.

What I enjoyed most about Sonic X is its hilarious moments in the anime. At time to time while watching Sonic X I would always end up laughing out loud which, as a result causes my parents to yell at me to shut up. However, when I don’t fine any of the moment’s funny, I would usually snuffle a yawn or a mere “eh.” During the fighting moments I would usually just get pretty bored with them because they happen in pretty much every episode, even in a mere baseball game its still considered fighting there. Overall I would rate my enjoyment level at a 7. I recommend this anime for people who enjoy the usual mix of Action and Comedy, however the anime does get repetitive which I understand can get greatly annoying. If you are a huge fan of the Sonic franchise, and you have played all its video games than I don't know if I could recommend it to you or not because some people may be angered for the fact that humans are involved in the anime, while some people may find it intriguing to see the Sonic characters interacting with humans. So it just greatly depends on what are your likes and dislikes.
read more