Rambling About Sonic X

[@littlebigwavee]

I don't typically comment on videos, but I just wanna say that the Helen episode is straight up my favorite Sonic story in the series. Not just "Sonic X: the Series," I mean the ENTIRE Sonic series. It's just so "Sonic," you know? I don't mind the world-ending stakes or super saiyan battles in space, but something Sonic running around the world, enjoying nature, and helping people just seems so fun to me. I know it'll never happen but an episodic Sonic show reminiscent of Kino's Journey where he travels to a new place each episode and meets and helps out the locals would make me quite a happy dude ngl. That's what I'd consider "peak" Sonic.

[@technicallyinept2120]

As someone who recently watched Kino’s Journey (2003) because of Pariah, I got to say I don’t really think that’s a great example. Kino herself is cool. But the show itself is just weird. Further, while Kino does help people at times, it’s not really what I would say the show is about. It’s about portraying different ideas and ideologies in extreme, highly illogical manners in order to make some point on them…. …Some points that admittedly rubbed me the wrong way for personal reasons and one of which in particular is based on misconception. But yeah.

[@12338553]

I understand you. I enjoy story more than action, that's why I enjoy Padmé's episodes in Clone Wars

[@Nolan1333]

Yeah it's by far one of my favorite episodes of sonic x. Although in Season 1 and 2 the episodes I like/care about is quite small like the game story episodes and such. If I rewatch the show myself it'll just season 3 but I do think this show is the best show to show new people to since it does the main cast sonic characters pretty well.

[@chi-wind8593]

The thing like about finale, literally the crew tried everything they could to beat the Metarex. I grew up with Sonic X , and one thing I like is how powerful the Metarex are.Like, Sonic and his friends could not beat them on their own. Which emphasizes how dangerous they were. I think that what makes ending more tragic , the super forms could not do anything, the Master Emerald was destroyed and the power of believing the main character was useless. Tails shooting Cosmo was literally the only way to save the universe. In anime , there is trope that the main characters are always going to succeed and everything will be ok. In this situation …no, one of the cast had to sacrifice the love of his life to save everyone. When Sonic gave Tails Cosmo’s seed , and Tails was wailing that he believed Sonic could save her. People rag on Sonic not doing anything. What could you say? What could anyone say? I will never say that this was okay to a kid .like but if it did not happen then everyone would have died. This shows that Sonic cannot rescue everyone. Sometimes there are no good endings.

[@parjupiter134]

This.

[@sethisevilone02]

Metarex arc is PEAK

[@Milkmanrules1032]

He never mentioned it in this video, but I think this was meant to be character development for Tails where he realized that Sonic cannot always make things right for him in times of stress; it is a continuation of his Sa1 and Sa2 character development. If this is true, I don't see anyone mentioning this, or instead think it makes Tails worse for some reason.

[@chi-wind8593]

@@Milkmanrules1032Honestly, I think we would have been fine if we saw of Tails coping with the situation and learning from it . However, even in the anime it always kind felt like that. Also, Sonic is letting Tails vent stuff to get off his chest. I think what Tails says at the end . Should be seen suffering from grief and trying to grasp the horrible situation. I do not think deep down he blames Sonic. Just literally , there was nothing that they could do. Tails at that moment needed something to blame.

[@JeffreyCrossaint9808]

I can’t believe Sonic was so popular they made 10 of them

[@aortaplatinum]

I wasn't sure about Sonic X-2 though, it was weird making Amy, Cream, and new character Rouge both the main characters and the ONLY playable party members.

[@Ivan210bluboi]

They also made 10 Megamen, crazy right?

[@NicolasMendoula]

I see what you did there

[@themissingbits6375]

Blame those DAMN Americans

[@yeembus]

@@Ivan210bluboi they made 108 of them actually

[@theove3503]

Tails DOES fly in the show, but not until season 2, and even then they don’t use it very much.

[@CanaldoZenny]

He flies with his tails briefly in the Diamond Stadium episode, which is early season 1.

[@themissingbits6375]

He did Fly in season 1 a Tiny bit. Don’t blame him. It’s rare we see him fly and even I forgot about it until He Said He doesn’t. Just like how I forgot Bokkun exists.

[@criticalbuddy524]

Yeah it's really frustrating like come on Tails did you forget how to fly or what? Sonic is in danger, do something like my god!! They nerfed him so much in the show...

[@theove3503]

Oh whoopsie. It’s been a while since I watched that episode.

[@TheMemeLiker]

wtf that's insane how have i never noticed this?

[@ferry2943]

I disagree about Amy being "too girly" being a bad thing tbh, and I'm saying this as someone who was a tomboy growing up. Despite having super girly interests, it wasn't her entire personality - she had a lot of spunk and compassion in the show, which I really enjoyed. Liking cute girly stuff didn't detract from her character at all, and I'm honestly not sure where you're getting the tomboyish in-game part from. She was always conceptualised and presented as a girl with average girly interests (her doing training in Sonic Battle doesn't make her a tomboy lol), and that's not a bad thing.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

Yeah, Amy is supposed to be girly. X is the best version of all the characters.

[@Brandon-kt7ss]

​@justice8718 no, he thinks Amy's a tomboy just because the sonic cd manual says so, but that's the only thing that state that she is one and she's never acted like that ever since.

[@galten7361]

@@justice8718 He's just confusing how Amy is in Western fanon (if it isn't just hostile to her) with her actual characterization. Amy was always a tomboy in the way Princess Daisy is (so she does stuff like play baseball or charge against threats but still dresses like an animu Disney princess).

[@JakeThehedgehog-m1x]

I mean to be fair in IDW she still is has her compassion and still abit spunky and cheerful she's just... mellowed out and more sane if that make any sense because you don't see her just be a brat and complaining all the time about mostly anything i mean she sure as hell was in sonic X and some games again just more mellowed out. To me IDW/game amy is what if Amy but more mellowed out and chill although she can still get feisty in some scenarios...

[@DrMecha]

@@galten7361 I believed Fleetway mangage to portray the tomboy aspect bit too much, though, as she's more geared toward the opposite direction as Archie did.

[@shadex5340]

How can you NOT recommend a show that contains the line "I turned into a bar of soap and gave them all the slip." smh

[@themissingbits6375]

He didn’t say that in Japanese.

[@ConcavePgons]

​@@themissingbits6375As much as how much they butcher the story in their dubs, the 4Kids localizers sometimes come up with some funny one liners. "If you can't pay the cash then you're out with the trash...and feel free to quote me! Yeah!" - 4Kids One Piece Arlong

[@themissingbits6375]

@ Yeah, but still, Why change the Line? There was nothing wrong with it and I don’t really Care about 4Kids thing. I want a faithfull translation.

[@seagullmoe]

I think Kiyoko Yoshimura deserves an amazing shoutout for her work on Sonic X, she didn't write all of it but most of the important (and best) episodes were written by her, also important to mention that she was the main writer of season 3. Both Sonic Unleashed and Sonic X are some of the best Sonic story content this series has to offer and it's no coincidence that she was heavily involved in all of it, if Marie Granette was real, it would be her. I really hope we get to see more of her work someday, she's still a freelance anime writer, she could still come back!

[@izzuou]

i wish they would hire her to write more games instead of ian tbh, too bad she doesn't seem to be known outside of the niche circles of the fandom

[@izzuou]

@JakeThehedgehog-m1x you are projecting a lot of shit onto me mister

[@cyberwolf5896]

In my opinion Shadow just exclaiming “I am Shadow, Shadow The Hedgehog” is such an underrated line. Feels like each time he says it he is asserting that he is who he is no matter what others may say and he will not change. Really liked how they brought that line in to Shadow Gens and really hope the writers find a way to implement it into Sonic 3

[@cellperfecto421]

30:56 Personally...I disagree. The most tragic part of Gamma's story is that no one knows of his sacrifice, not even Amy. No one is present to see his good deed, except one of the Flickies. I think that adds to the emotion of this being a true selfless act: his sacrifice was for no other purpose that to do the right thing. I think is pretty gutwrenching that Amy was the person who showed him the value of life, yet she will never know of Gamma's sacrifice. When Amy is there...is not as impactful.

[@wreday720]

Loool you get it, hard agree on this one

[@Kelps.mp4]

Yeah, but at the same time, it gives its interaction with Amy more of a payoff

[@lambousginiguccigod2007]

Hard disagree. He would have done the same thing regardless if she was there or not.

[@Kelps.mp4]

@lambousginiguccigod2007 That's not the point, tho.

[@lambousginiguccigod2007]

@@Kelps.mp4 his selfless action wasn’t dependent upon who was there. The tragedy of nobody knowing didn’t feel very important in Sa1.

[@heroicgangster9981]

Sonic X is still the best sonic show to me because I like shows that try to actually take Sonic seriously beyond the normal cartoon Sonic stuff. It embraces the really high concept early 2000s Sonic-isms while being grounded for kids to enjoy. And while I enjoyed Sonic Prime, I hate that the show felt like it didn't want to do the effort to actually be a story to be taken seriously, it tricks people into thinking it's serious cus the show has to be for kids. It felt like a show that didn't know what to do with its characters beyond the fighting and conflicts When to me, the fun of a Sonic story involves both conflict and seeing the characters shine beyond the day being saved.

[@crimsonzone8984]

Sonic X is still a kids show. Just not the western kind of a kids show.

[@mokuroh3046]

Helen was so perfect to fill the main human character role that it almost feels like this is the timeline where someone moved the chair, she not only has an interesting dynamic with Sonic but I think everyone agrees she could have some interesting interactions with Shadow too, but alas, at least we have fanart

[@supersonicmario56]

Which is why I absolutely despise the images at 16:50. I know they're trying to parallel Shadow's Maria to Sonic's Chris, but it always felt that Maria suffered for that (as well as Amy) by just shoving Chris in your face every chance they got (trying to make her look like him is even more egregious). Also, like Pariah stated, her condition makes her the perfect contrast to Sonic so If anything, Helen would have been the better option to put in that scenario. At least they elevate her status a bit by implying that she's something more to Chris during the Metarax saga...

[@mokuroh3046]

@supersonicmario56 yeah, I really like the Sonic X adaptation of SA2, except the inclusion of Chris, if it was Helen I wouldnt have minded her getting the Amy speech and being compared to Maria, because yeah she looks like her and has similar limitations, but being her the one to express that humanity is good despiste their flaws would have been more earned, since her family situation is a good micro cosmos of that, her family tries their best but she still ends up neglected and sad, but that doesnt make them bad parents or people (yes Chris is neglected but its his parents doing their thing because they want to, not because otherwise they wouldnt be able provide)

[@StellaFangX]

11:30 - 11:36 According to Uekawa. the Modern's designer, Sonic's green eyes represents nature, so is kinda fitting that he loves nature as shown in the show.

[@seematahir5970]

A cute detail this vid made me pick up on about the show is that Sonic loving flowers might be a parallel to Rouge's love for gems. Since in the show, Rouge is paired up with Topaz and ends up liking her a lot, and a topaz is a kind of jewel. Similarly, Sonic loves flowers, and so his main love interest is named after a kind of flower. They even tease in the S2 finale that Sonic might reciprocate some of Amy's feelings. Not sure if it was fully intentional but if thats what they were going for its a really a clever and cute touch.

[@igirjei3717]

That's actually really good, wow. As a matter of fact, it's confirmed that sonic does like-like Amy from sonic team, Evan Stanley (current IDW writer) and I believe Naoto Oshima himself, so yeah that ties in perfectly

[@themissingbits6375]

Tbh, I don’t really buy that Sonic actually has feelings for Amy. If He does, Why doesn’t He confess? You Can say he’s shy, but as OOC Sonic was in the cruiseship episode, they where pretty blatent that Sonic “TRICKED” Amy into believing He has feelings for her, which very much tells me He doesn’t. But I also have NO IDEA What the Heck they where going for in Episode 52 and I am still very confused to This day.

[@kilometersperminute4113]

@@themissingbits6375 Sonic likes the good parts of Amy but she's sometimes problematic with her exaggerated fangirlism which makes him hesitate. (all of it is just justifying the status quo)

[@themissingbits6375]

@@kilometersperminute4113 I do think Sonic sees Amy as a friend, but I’ve never gotten the impression he likes her romantically.

[@igirjei3717]

@@themissingbits6375 that's the thing, he *has* confessed, when Amy told him to tell her he loved her, he gave her a rose and said "Oh Amy" behind romantic music and let her hug him

[@parjupiter134]

According to an interview I couldn't retrieve, the "X" in the show's title stands for the "intersecting worlds" topic. It should be seen more as a symbol than a letter.

[@crimsonzone8984]

I interpret the X as collab, lol.

[@kilometersperminute4113]

@@crimsonzone8984”crossover” would be more accurate, which does feel similar to intersecting worlds

[@atavious2491]

I still want to see a Sonic X and TMNT 2003 crossover happen. Maybe in the IDW comics it's the only place where it could happen.

[@Kelps.mp4]

31:02 A friend of mine said he didn't like Amy being there to see Gamma's death because it kind of undermines Gamma being a mysterious hero nobody knows, since he destroyed the others E-100 robots for the sake of their freedom and safety of everyone since those robots would prolly cause destruction.

[@themissingbits6375]

I agree. But at the same time, it does give Amy & Gamma interaction some pay off.

[@juiceDpunk983]

I like the Sonic X continuity more than what the games became, starting with the 2010 stuff.

[@metalsentry]

the Metarex arc is one of my favorite sonic stories that sonic team has ever told. considering how it was Kyoko Yoshimura's first sonic story which would propell her to work on the games, and how members of sonic team make subtle references to the events of the arc on sonic channel, it occurs to me that this could very well been a story pitch for a 3d sonic game. if you use your imagination to erase the sonic x quirks of the story (essentially reversing what x did with the adventure games), and give it cutscenes akin to shadow 05 and sonic riders, it would a damn great story for a sonic adventure 3. it would make alot of sense as it continued to raise the stakes that the adventure ganes did (going from perfect chaos to final hazard), the story being perfect for multiple perspectives across different campaigns, and the final big bad literally being called "final mova" like final boss in a sonic game. its so creatively congruent with the adventure games that it pains me that we dont have a great game to accompany the awesome story.

[@Bestmotion2389]

The day has come, brothers A lot of you were waiting for this moment, now enjoy the next 50 minutes of this discussion LET'S GO RAMBLING

[@Bestmotion2389]

The thing with Dark Sonic is that he was made by artificial chaos power Sonic represents the life of nature and hope Add artificial negativity to that life and you got an unstoppable force of evil The soul will be lost and drained entirely, combined with shattering Sonic's emotional control we got Dark Sonic But we can't have that because the main character should not be a killing machine

[@PumpkinProdigy]

The Season 3 arc just feels right at home with the stories we got in the 2000's and I'd say it sits high alongside them as one of my favorite sonic stories. I know a lot of fans of this show feel the same way, and while I don't think it would ever actually happen, it's nice to dream about a potential Sonic game with the story of Season 3 of Sonic X.

[@Solar-Fox-Productions]

Except for the Tails and Cosmo shipping thing.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@Solar-Fox-Productions No. Bring it into the games.

[@andOlgaF]

Sonic X has been my first experience with Sonic, and because of that, as an internetlless kid, I thought the games were the adaptations of the show (doesn't help that my first game was Adventure 1), and not the other way around. In a funny way, looking at the games through that twisted lens has probably helped me appreciate their stories a bit more. Like, yeah, this isn't perfect, but it's good enough *for a game*. Heh.

[@raptortown]

Finally. Pariah doing sonic X review My Christmas is now complete

[@MyRoomIsAMess]

41:55 I think the reason Dark Sonic is utilized so little (not underutilized, that's different) is because the writers knew it goes against the core themes of Sonic, hence why he's only present for 4-ish minutes and destroys two robots. But they still wanted to explore a kind of overreaction, with Chris getting stabbed and him and Cosmo both getting imprisoned. In a way, it resembles what Takashi Iizuka was doing with Shadow in his titular game at the time. Pretty fitting. SIDE NOTES: What would the setup be for anyway? Since Adventure's adapted here, with the negative < positive energy of the Chaos Emeralds theming being intact, if Dark Sonic came back to fight some god-like entity, it would only logically and reasonably at best end in a stalemate. And that's underwhelming, but there isn't any correct way around that. I also like to think that Eggman saved the universe by convincing Sonic to calm down (since they needed both Sonic and Shadow to shoot the Metarex exploding planet thing), which is fitting for his character here since Eggman is the G.O.A.T. in this show. No cap.

[@BigDripMike]

Sonic X was my first true experience of these characters as a kid and I still hold this series close to my heart

[@Redstar404]

I really enjoyed this rambling video. I’m happy you gave the show some credit for the stuff it does right while still criticizing it. Although one point I wished was brought up about season 2 specifically about the natural additions to the SA games story is how we meet the GUN Agent who kills Maria and learn his thoughts and feelings regarding what he done on the ARK. Plus the way both dubs handle the scene of her being shot is really great too.

[@izzuou]

that's interesting, im surprised that 4kids didnt try to excise that scene completely tbh

[@sanglish18]

The thing with Chris returning in Season 3 doesn't come from him getting clingy again towards Sonic because of loneliness, because that's not what I think his character arc was to begin with, but for that I need to explain in more details what happens with Chris through the anime... Chris is portrayed as this rich kid who has all the material stuff but lack parent's emotional support, when we see that flashback of his parents, Chris narrates how they would tell him that if he behave well, they would come home, except that never happened and Chris essentially grew up with the core believe that acting like a "good boy", acting like how society wants him to act is the way to go through life, right in Episode 2 this aspect is brought up, when Chris talks a bunch with his parents on the phone, Sonic keeps looking at him and has quite an unpleasant reaction as Chris then blushes, almost like he felt a bit of a cringe that Sonic saw him acting pretty fake and all "good boy" towards his parents, to the point of lying that he just rescued a cat as to not cause any confusion and trouble to others, at the end of that same episode he's all like "That was too dangerous, we could have got in trouble!" towards Sonic as a way to reaffirm to himself how "good boy" he is, just like at the start where he was apologizing to his mother about jumping at the pool. It's important to be aware of this, the arc of Chris through the first part of the show is his inner conflict of "must do the socially right thing VS being true to yourself." As some episodes go on, he starts to get a bit more in touch with his true feelings because of Sonic, I think it's Episode 4 where there is a scene where Chris falls off from high up after snatching the Chaos Emerald from Eggman, at the end Chris apologizes to Sonic and it goes like "Why are you apologizing?" -> "Well, I caused trouble to you-..." -> "It's okay! More importantly, Chris, you were awesome!" and Chris blushes in surprise, he was praised for acting on impulse to get that Chaos Emerald, for just acting without caring about others, which is completely against of his core beliefs acquired while growing up. This is the main reason that makes Chris feels such a strong connection towards Sonic, he might have Tails, Amy, Cream, Mr. Tanaka, Ella and school friends, but they are still just like normal people with their own struggles and things they hide from society, but Sonic is boundless, it's the only one that tells to Chris that it's okay to let loose, it's okay to just do what you want without always thinking about others, and that's why Chris is so scared of parting from Sonic, it's not because of loneliness or that Sonic substituted his parents presence, it's because Chris thinks he was able to do all those cool things, go on adventures, act real, be true to himself because of Sonic, so he needs Sonic to be there to let him be free. And what makes Sonic different from the rest of the cast is the reason to why Chris gets so attached to him, it makes sense to me. There is also another brief scene during the Sonic Battle arc that works a similar way, Chris does an unfair play to win against Danny in the championship and Sonic later comments how he was surprised and wasn't expecting Chris to act like that, then Chris replies "I don't like when people call me a good boy, kids are supposed to be loud, throw a tantrum and such, am I wrong?" and Sonic replies "Yeah, I'm OK with that!", it's a scene that seems to go over 99% of people's heads, it's a similar setup as the one I mentioned before, but this time instead of Sonic being fine despite Chris being all apologetic and playing the good boy role, it's Sonic being fine while Chris actively justifies his behaviour of what he truly wanted to do, it's a quite step up comparing side-by-side if you ask me. But going back a bit around Episode 26, Chris was starting to become more aware of his inner conflict between his true feelings (wanting to stay with Sonic) and doing the right thing (must help Sonic get back home), he has a talk with his teacher where he tells basically that "it's tough but that's what growing up is like", y'know very adult-like socially correct thing to say, so Chris just repress his true feelings and doesn't really tell anyone as a way to focus in his plan with Knuckles, but after the plan fails and then Sonic gets defeated, Chris realizes how bad things have gotten and how big of a mistake it was to not tell anyone, Chris screaming and breaking out of the bars inside Eggman's robot is a metaphor to him letting go, breaking out of his controlled good boy self and speaking true for once... "I won't give them, I won't give them to anyone, they're mine... Sonic... you're going to stay with me forever!", Chris isn't saying that to Eggman, he is saying that to himself, he is finally acknowledging what he's been constantly neglecting the entire time, it doesn't matter whether that a selfish, arrogant or unfair thing to say, that's what he feels, a bit later when he talks with Super Sonic he is also being true to himself by saying "I don't want you to go! I can't do anything without you, Sonic!", just unleashing what he truly thinks about himself and the situation. And Sonic is happy with that, despite what the viewers might think on surface. Now a similar climax setup is made in the final episodes of the first part, but this time with a more honest Chris as he gets less and less restrained emotionally, the moment he hears about Sonic going back home again, he immediately says what he feels with no hesitation this time..."That's a lie, right? I just want to be with Sonic... It was because Sonic was there that I could do those things.... Parting from Sonic? That's a lie!! I don't want to hear about that!!"---- I can imagine so many people getting easily irritated at face value, but for me honestly, after understanding all the context, I feel nothing but sympathy towards him but that's just me. After Chris learns to express and acknowledge his true feelings, it's time for him to know what to do with those feelings, he was able to be bold enough to literally make his desire come true by stopping the machine and bringing Sonic with him. As Sonic sees how far Chris went, he decides to stay by Chris' side and later says that he will stay with Chris forever if that's what he wants, but that's not because Sonic feels forced to do it, it's his own choice (kind of like the same intention as the promise he made to Helen), which is the scenario that Chris always wanted, but as the episode goes on he starts to realize that it's not really that. After, during a honest talk in the campfire, Chris tells how he can't keep up with Sonic to continue to be friends and how worthless he feels, and Sonic disagrees with that by mentioning the moment where Chris saved him in the pool, when Chris did that, it wasn't because Sonic gave him the strength, it was a strength that Chris always had to begin with, Chris isn't weaker without Sonic just as much as there is no reason for Chris to be like Sonic. Chris finally conciliates his feelings, at the end Sonic takes Chris for one last adventure before doing a Chaos Control, Chris screams Sonic's name as he lets himself feel the sorrow of parting from him. Equally, Sonic also lets himself cry before parting from Chris. Basically, Sonic helped Chris realize that you should be true to yourself, it's okay to feel what you feel, and you should never repress that, the difference you make on yourself is in your actions and you should take pride on that, Chris was able to do stuff because of his actions, Sonic is just being himself, and it just so happens that it sparks the energy on the people around him to make a change on themselves. I'd sat that's the message of Chris' character arc. So going back to the beginning... why did Chris want to go to Sonic's world in Season 3? Because that's what he genuinely wanted. He didn't spend the next 6 years feeling lonely or repressed because Sonic wasn't there to replace his parents nor waiting for Sonic to appear to finally feel free again, seeing Sonic again right after parting from him might seem like backwards development, but the place where that desire is coming from is completely different, Chris isn't playing tug-o-war with his feelings anymore, he finally became one with himself and confident in his decisions, this is especially notable in the ending of the last episode, during the entire show there was this back and forth with his inners feelings, when he is confronted with "parting from Sonic" again one last time, he instantly accepts with no hesitation... Chris flies away and goes back to his world, but this time Sonic is the one running after Chris, they both look at each other and Chris let tears run down his face as he smiles, probably thinking how far they have gone. It's beautiful and I love it. While I already knew you didn't really like Chris, I'm not gonna lie I was expecting a bit more of a detailed breakdown nonetheless, when you justified as being the obvious self-insert character that nobody likes or wants, it kind of came off like there was already some heavy negative bias just with the trope itself that made you not get interested about diving deeper in the first place :\ As a sidenote, I'm quite surprised you didn't go deep into anything related to Sonic and Amy's relationship and moments, considering you made an entire video dedicated on Amy. I can only imagine making Sonic videos for so long has become quite tiring. +

[@sanglish18]

This isn't to say that it's all perfect tho, I do think that regardless of execution, the concept of Chris is very risky for a main character role, you have a rich boy grown with lack of self-love that his parents should have helped develop by being emotionally there for him learning to become more aware of its feelings and true desires.... it's such a specific kind of character for a self-insert that is really hard for most people to sympathize with, maybe Sonic Team wanted to have their own Shinji Ikari to attract Japanese audience, I guess. But by far the biggest issue doesn't really come from Chris itself but the general pacing of the anime that follows that "weekly semi-filler format", the moments I mention where they focus on Chris are spread out like butter through 78 episodes with a bunch of other characters and conflicts intersecting at the same time, which makes it really hard to follow his character arc, so when it jumps to be heavily focused on him like on Episodes 26 or 51, it feels like it comes out of nowhere. I wish Sonic X could get a rebuild of some kind to trim down all that fat and make the story overhaul more concise and easier to understand + better animation, because holy shit in modern day society watching 78 episodes of a low budget kids show is not something most people are willing to do.

[@Pariah6950]

I probably missed a lot of that because I skipped a bunch of episodes. I definitely did not see much of Chris becoming less restrained over the course of the show. But you make a lot of good points here. Still doesn't change the fact that I think he's annoying, though. As for the Sonic and Amy thing, I really don't think it's that big of a deal. They tease it a little, and that's it. I suppose there is something to how much more reciprocating Sonic is in X, but I just chalk that up to something different they wanted to do for this show. Doesn't bother me.

[@sanglish18]

​@@Pariah6950 (replying 2 days later but here we are!) I think it makes a lot of sense why most people struggle to sympathize with Chris. Chris was written specifically for the target audience of Japanese children around 6~14 years old, his character being of a self-insert for the kids that struggle with sticking to society norms and pleasing others over your own self, Sonic being the dream come true character to those kids that helps them (represented by Chris) show your true feelings and all the message and themes I already explained. It should work, but it doesn't, mainly because that's not what the actual target audience of the show became, it ended up being more popular in the west and within Sonic fans, which are also mostly western people, but the show assumes you have the right context and life experiences (of living in a Japanese society) to fill in the blanks to understand the moments that are focused on Chris, because all of the stuff I told has to be properly interpreted because the message isn't told in your face, it's all between the lines. The only explicit info that indicates his character arc is in the TV Tokyo's official Sonic X home page from back them (you can still access to this day), where in Chris' description it's written: "[...] Chris acts bounded by society norms. His sense of value starts to change after meeting Sonic and grows up as a person throughout the story." So the thing with the good boy vs true self, going against common sense, getting looser and letting his emotions go out... it's clearly intended. It's a shame that important stuff like this is told in these external guides so most people don't even get to have that prior knowledge. Now to tell my experience, when I was a kid I remember crying in the scene where Chris talks with Super Sonic at Episode 26 I never really disliked the character despite still not really understanding him that deeply, but nowadays after living in Japan for some years and still going, it feels like everything about Chris just connected and became so obvious, it's so clear to me that Chris suffers from lack of self-love that their parents failed in helping him develop by being the emotionally present for him (and not simply loneliness like most people assume), this lack of emotional support is then repressed even more with Japanese social culture of always raising others, acting humble, thinking about others above you and so on. When Chris screams in despair or outright says how he doesn't want Sonic to go, it feels really powerful to me because Japanese people don't outright say how much they dislike something, let alone scream, you're supposed to always be respectful and considerate of others, so Chris doing those things is a clear display of strength of character, it's a very powerful moment, so much so that Eggman seeing that even gets a bit scared of Chris and tries to tell E-99 to stop beating up Sonic so the kid can repress a bit of his emotions in episode 26... But that's all from a Japanese mindset, because in countries like America, a kid acting childish, clingy, screaming that they don't like X thing and so on isn't something all that rare I suppose, so people are annoyed by that and will think that the kid is too loose and should be repressed more because this society is all about individualism and freedom, you actually need to properly repress a bit of your kids so they don't get crazy over themselves y'know, so sympathizing towards a character where the target audience doesn't suffer from the same issues and cultural background becomes nearly impossible, and it doesn't help that humans are portrayed like western people because of their names and the environment Sonic X takes place, it's one of those issues of Japanese producers trying to appeal to American culture and style without actually understanding about it, so everything that becomes "American" in Sonic is just superficial stuff to look cool, all the core writing is pure Japanese principles all over the place, so when it's brought overseas it creates this weird mixture of "it looks like it's American, but there is something off..." and Chris as a character is one of the biggest examples of missing the mark really hard. So all the odds are against Chris being a likeable character, he doesn't have particularly flashy and cool design, he isn't powerful in abilities, he is rich and blessed with all the materialism stuff which makes the actual target audience feel envy at most, tries to act polite to please others which makes for bland interactions and when he acts more like his true self then it becomes annoying because the target audience doesn't have the background knowledge to understand his character arc and struggles, although he is polite and don't disrespect anyone, he isn't particularly lovely and grateful towards others and he doesn't have any tragic experiences to be sorry for (like having a disease like Maria or stuck in a wheelchair like Helen). So, for someone to like this character you would have to literally be the exact audience that suffer similar issues (like me!!!) because there isn't really anything appealing about him otherwise. No wonder why so many people see Chris as just this annoying, clingy and ungrateful kid getting in the way of the main story and other characters... There are great things that I like about Chris and Sonic X, but just like you said, the good stuff has to always be hidden within a bunch of unrelated distractions and then someone will have to write a huge wall of text so others can see the gold in there. Just like most Sonic games, I also think Sonic X is good... if you look with the right lenses.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@sanglish18 I don't. It's clearly obvious why Chris has the issues he has and it makes him sympathetic and relatable. His struggle/character arc is universal and peak. I think people are just against the idea of a human child tagging along with Sonic as a main character and hate him on principle (Which isn't valid because it's done really well) and then they use Helen as a cover for that to pretend Chris was bad when he wasn't (Helen's a great character and I'd have loved for her to have more focus but she isn't better than Chris as he's a much more multifaceted and complex character and her being in a wheelchair doesn't make her more qualified to be the main human of the show.) The people who say acts "bratty" are just factually wrong as he never acts like a brat (him having an emotional outburst in season 2's ending is understandable and realistic for a child). It really just boils down to people not liking children acting like children (Even though he's very mature for his age). People just victim blame the poor kid for being rich and because they can't fathom that money doesn't bring happiness.

[@sanglish18]

@@bunsmasterbunny Yeah, similar to what I said... Most people don't really seem to dislike Chris because of plot holes or bad writing per say, they just inherently dislike his traits as a character and protagonist. For me those takes of "Helen would be a better protagonist than Chris" sound more like people blatantly playing favourites because I suppose it's easier to sympathize with the "poor cute girl stuck on a wheelchair" over the "clingy rich boy that has everything and still whines like a kid."

[@Treehouse22009]

Sonic X was definitely meant to be a 2 season/52 episode show. It was the success of it over the west and the 4Kids block that let 4Kids themselves commission a 3rd season/another 26 episodes, hence why it is a fully-original story. This led to a funny deal that while the Japanese dub for Season 3 was produced, it wasn't broadcasted or release in Japan until 2020, thanks to the absolute Saturday Morning Death Slot it was locked in for the first 2 seasons.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

4kids didn’t commission season 3. Sega/Sonic Team did. Read all about it on Sonic Retro.

[@Treehouse22009]

@@bunsmasterbunny That does not says who produced/commissioned it, but it does seem more likely it was SEGA. They helped TMS Entertainment, the animation company behind Sonic X, avoid bankruptcy. also the first time the Japanese dub of Sonic X Season 3 was released in 2009...only in rental stores.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@Treehouse22009 Sonic X Season 3 was commissioned by Sega not 4kids. Just because Season 3 didn't air in Japan initially doesn't mean that 4kids was the one who had the season be made.

[@Treehouse22009]

@@bunsmasterbunny I'm all for not giving 4Kids any credit whatsoever. That's just how I remembered the story but there's no sources for either way.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

@@Treehouse22009 Look up "After close to 15 years Sonic X will finally air in Japan" and then read all of Mendinso's posts. He explains how X was actually a success in Japan and that the only reason Season 3 didn't air there is because of licensing/scheduling conflicts.

[@Unfunnyjestr]

One unanimous thing about Sonic x is that the theme song is fire

[@PikachuGamerSMT]

Which one? Sonic Drive is GOATED

[@Bertiboy]

I swear every single localisation of that show had a completely different theme song and somehow they all kick ass.

[@Unfunnyjestr]

Gotta go fast

[@Sparkys_World-0]

There's a kids' anime called Sgt. Frog from around the same time with a very similar premise to Sonic X, with a bunch of weird aliens arriving in Japan and having to adapt to living in some normal family's house. And the sheer difference in the quality of it's production, timing, comedy and general liveliness is unbelievable. It was on for like 7 years straight and never really dips in its execution. Its rarely trying to be as emotional as Sonic X and generally doesn't take itself seriously almost at all, but they still have enough in common stylistically that I'd totally recommend it to anyone who thinks the premise of Sonic X had potential.

[@StellaFangX]

I think the comic or the author of Sgt. Frog is still active, so for people fond of his style of comedy that's good.

[@keithflippers4429]

Funny story, when i was a kid i thought it was the same show because it was in that anime style and because of the characters colors.

[@StellaFangX]

@keithflippers4429 Well, the author have a stilyzed drawing and colouring style reminescent of cartoons, and I think he did an art with Sonic and the frog ninja (can't recall his name) together, so getting confused was kinda normal.

[@keithflippers4429]

@StellaFangX Added onto the fact that back then I'd only see Sonic X once in a blue moon since I didn't like using the internet and I didn't know what the show was called

[@D3oderant]

I've been somewhat eagerly waiting on this video, probably since the posting of the other sonic cartoons video. I don't think there's enough meaningful discussion about what Sonic X does well, but maybe I'm just lurking in the wrong spaces on the internet. I'm definitely a lot more lenient on certain aspects of the show that absolutely deserved to be criticized (comedy, soundtrack, etc). Hearing a lot of my thoughts about the positive attributes of Sonic X being echoed for what feels like the first time in this video, it's very validating and I greatly appreciate what you had to say a lot for that reason. Thanks for giving me something to listen to during the uneventful first chunk of class lmao, hope you're having a good day.

[@callumsparrow4379]

The Metatex Arc genuinely feels just what a proper Sonic Adventure The Third would be like but in anime form.

[@SweaterSwagg]

Going back to Sonic X I was surprised at how great the characterization was. I mean it's not high-level HBO type stuff but if you ever wanna recalibrate and get the characters' personalities in their most distilled and pure form with all their roles, I think Sonic X is really good for that. Sonic X is simultaneously better and worse every time I re-watch it lmao, curious to hear your thoughts!

[@AFeralTrout420]

11:58 love that point, Helen cant run, but running is everything to Sonic

[@pergrineheel3018]

Mixed bag is good way to describe Sonic x, but I still enjoyed it overall. Guess I don’t have much to add that hasn't been said, but I really like Shadow in season 3. He lost his memories, and with Eggman being the only way to get them back (or least that's what Eggman tells him), he follows his orders. When he meets Molly in episode 68, he's moved by her conviction to defend her planet even with no hope left. When she dies and leaves Shadow to fufill her dream, he finally direction in his life and leaves Eggman for good. Its especially apparent as he's dead set on destroying the Metarex, even willing to kill an innocent girl like Cosmo (I like that he showed mercy and tried to spare Cosmo the knowledge of her working for the enemy, saying that its better if she didn’t know). Anyway, I was reminded of why Shadow is one of my favorite Sonic characters, and was satisfied with Season 3 as a whole. Also "Sonic Drive" is WAY better than "gotta go fast", they're both great though.

[@noodlegumm_]

dude im so glad ur talking about the helen episode from Sonic X its also MY favourite episode and i was upset no one really talks about it.

[@theotakuguy8957]

A part of me wished he talked about specific episodes in depth more often like the one with Amy and Sam Speed since I think it's one of the best Amy episodes I understand why due to not wanting to make the video 3 hours long At the very least the ones he did decide to talk about were all good picks

[@dragondelsur5156]

"Amy is too girly in Sonic X" Nah bro, how can you miss the greatest fundamental of Amy's character?

[@themissingbits6375]

Her first character bio States that she’s tomboyish. Yes, she is girly, But I find it hard to imagine X Amy riding on Extreme Gears and wearing a sporty outfit when she talks about how much of a GIRL she is in that show.

[@CanaldoZenny]

As someone who grew up with the Mega Drive games and the DIC tv shows, I remember even back then I was disappointed how little of the game's identity was in those shows. I vividly remember when Sonic X premiered here in Brazil, I was about to go out with my parents that day the moment the first episode began. Thsi was way before I had internet access z so I consumer anything Sonic related I could get my hands on. I got to quickly set up my VHS player to record the episode in full before I had to go with my parents. The chance of a re run was none, this was my only chance. That same day I found a Sonic X DVD on the shopping mall and since it was my birthday my mom bought it for me. It had three episodes. I still have this DVD. For the next months I watched snd recorded religiously every single new episode of Sonic X every day. They aired all episodes up until the beginning of the Metarex Arc and then they stopped and never aired Sonic X ever again. I eould re watch all those episodes countless times on my own. Finally a Sonic tv show with things from the actual games. Sonic X was also my introduction to Shadow, Rouge,, Super Sonic, and the Chaotix.

[@NigelBeah]

I hope i make some sense here but something i appreciate in sonic x is in season 2 with the game adaptions i love the way they'd simplify stuff to fit in the show like for example The part in the pyramid where that giant pharoah thingy eggman made comes in and it destroys the door just for sonic and friends to get in the rocket Or when amy goes into the prison base of prison island I really like those moments since Some of these moments are meant to be for game levels so they managed to simplify it

[@beatziegraham6928]

Something g interesting about the anime is that the opening intro to the first episode was changed for every other episode as the intro featured many other generic animal characters suggesting that the show was originally going to be set in Sonic’s world fully or that more animal characters from Sonic’s world would also appear on earth coexisting together. (At least I think the intro was fixed for later episodes.)

[@randoapplebigcheese6169]

As a representative of people named Chris, I would like to say we apologize and wish to remain distant from Chris Thorndyke.

[@chaoscontroller4489]

I wrote my original comment before going to sleep and when I woke up it was seemingly gone… probably deleted by KZbin… welp, time to rewrite it. Long silly comment reading way too deeply into an implied romantic relationship between two cartoon hedgehogs incoming: I really love Sonic X despite its many shortcomings for a lot of the same reasons Pariah mentioned. But one thing he didn't mention that I think should be brought more attention to is how Sonic and Amy’s relationship is portrayed. Because while this series may take place in a different continuity, Sonic Team was involved and the characters are mostly the same as their game counterparts. So just like the stuff they added to the Adventure adaptations, I think this portrayal of the pairing might actually be how Sonic and Amy’s dynamic was meant to be in the 2000’s era. The main thing about Sonic and Amy's relationship that bothers a lot of people is how one-sided it usually is, with Amy being extremely clingy, chasing down Sonic to the ends of the Earth, while Sonic seems extremely put off by her shenanigans and running away. But the thing I always found curious is this: if Sonic was really so put-off by Amy, why does he still hang around her and let her tag along in his adventures occasionally? In truth, we never get to know what Sonic really thinks of Amy in the games, but Sonic X sheds some light on that. So I'll briefly go over some examples from the anime: First: the beach episode in season 1: Amy makes a charm for Sonic to get over his fear of drowning, but it ends up being broken by Eggman accidentally. After Amy falls in the water and Sonic rescues her, we see that he actually fixed the charm and wears it. This shows that he genuinely appreciated the gift, even if he didn't thank her directly. Second: there's an episode where Sonic gets a chip stuck in his ear that makes him run without stopping, and the episode ends with Sonic and Amy peacefully chilling on a stack of hay. Third: this is the big one, the last episode of season 2 where, immediately after returning to his world as Super Sonic and saving Tails, Sonic’s first stop is Amy’s house where, after she breaks down crying and asks him to tell her he loves her, he surprisingly hands her a flower and says something we can't hear, before she hugs him. That flower is a lavender rose which, apparently, can mean “shy or innocent love” in Asian cultures. I think this makes it pretty clear that, at least in the case of Sonic X, he does like Amy in his own way. He just has a hard time expressing it, and it might not always be in a way Amy wants him to express it. And I like this a lot! It keeps the status quo of Sonic and Amy’s dynamic in the 2000’s but adds an extra layer on top which makes it cute rather than annoying. And it also leaves room for further development if they choose to go down that route. But how does this relate to the games? Just because Sonic likes Amy in Sonic X, it doesn't mean he likes her in the games right? Well, we don't have a lot to go off of, but I think it's enough proof this is indeed the case. First, in SA2 when Sonic’s about to be launched into space by Eggman, he says his goodbyes to Tails and Amy. Keep in mind that there's a very real possibility here that Sonic may actually die and he knows this could be his last message to his friends. Naturally, he tells Tails to take care of everything since he trusts him enough for that. But when he gets to Amy there's a big pause before he says “take care”, almost as if he wants to say something else before hesitating. Very odd… Jumping forward here to Sonic Unleashed, when Amy mistakes Sonic’s Werehog form to be someone else, he actually looks visibly upset. Towards the end of the game, if you talk to Amy she asks Sonic out on a date, which you can actually accept. And wouldn't you know it? In Black Knight it turns out that before Sonic was transported, he was actually planning to go on a date with Amy, hence why he had two chili dogs at the opening cutscene. So I think this is enough proof to show that Sonic might actually like Amy in some way in the games, and maybe even considered confessing this in Adventure 2. But I also wanna add an extra layer here which might be only partly intended or maybe just head canon. Which is: why does Amy chase Sonic? For gags, obviously. Or is it? Personally I like to think that the real reason is because she wants Sonic to see her as an equal, someone who can keep up with him without slowing him down. Amy's meant to be a “normal girl” but she's also heavily inspired by magical girls (which is a whole other rabbit hole), and she's meant to be a tomboy. If we take in all of Amy’s canonical playable appearances before Sonic ‘06, we can actually see a progression in Amy’s power. From defenseless in CD, to having to use various tools to make up for her weaknesses in the spin-offs from the 90’s, then being slower than the rest of the characters in Adventure and Advance 1 but being able to make up for it with her hammer abilities, to finally being as fast as the rest of the characters in Advance 3 and Heroes. She legit goes through an off-screen shounen-esque training arc to be on the same baseline as everyone else, and we can see this actually happening in Sonic Battle where she's constantly training and even puts on freaking training weights! That is to say, Amy has been constantly improving herself to catch up with Sonic, and I think all that passion and effort might've caught Sonic’s attention at some point which might explain why he might start liking her. After all, he did let Tails follow him around on a whim according to the Sonic 2 manual just because he found it interesting that he could keep up with him, and look where that led us. I can see something similar happening to Amy, where she earns Sonic’s respect by showing him that she's capable of handling herself and going on adventures with him.

[@estoystrandom5998]

Pretty interesting post. When I first went through the sonic series unleashed was when I realized that dynamic had more layers that I never picked up on. Didn't think about that sa2 cutscene in that way, either. I'm curious about something. What do you think about Amy's more recent interpretations? Do you think it made their dynamic weaker or found it was a meaningful evolution?

[@chaoscontroller4489]

​@@estoystrandom5998In my opinion, Amy's interpretations in recent times stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of Amy as a character and her dynamic with Sonic. My main issue is that they basically turned her into a different character, and said she "matured". From hearing Ian Flynn talk about Amy, it feels to me like he thinks Amy's sole characteristic was her love for Sonic, so he felt the need to make her a more "well-rounded" character by adding more character traits to her, hence her new obsessive focus on tarot cards. It feels very shallow to me. Just an attempt to shy away from the obsessive fan girl the fandom mistook her to be. Even if we ignore her crush on Sonic for a minute, I think the Amy Rose we have now is a far more boring character than she used to be. There's less spunk and energy in her. Not only that, that constant drive of self-improvement isn't there either. They could've even taken her tarot card thing and expanded upon it, making her interested in all things mystic and actively seeking those things out, or giving her more magical abilities, but they haven't even done that. But getting back into her dynamic with Sonic... it's very weird. Sometimes it seems like they're completely platonic, sometimes it seems like there's still something there. It feels like they're testing the waters on slowly deleting her crush on Sonic, which is something I absolutely do not like.

[@atavious2491]

I think I prefer Amy in Sonic Boom. It's been a while since I saw the show but I think the most that I got from that iteration is that the main core characters got a major rewrite. Some good, some bad. Amy I think was rewritten to not be much of a fan girl but just a normal friend of Sonic's who isn't all that annoying. I think some of the characters also got a canonical age boost where I think Boom Amy is depicted to be a little older and of a similar age to Sonic.

[@chaoscontroller4489]

​@@atavious2491I don't particularly care about Sonic Boom, so I can't comment on Amy's characterization in that series. It's supposed to be its own thing in its own universe, hence the characters act very differently compared to their canon counterparts, so I didn't care to mention it because it isn't relevant to what I was talking about.

[@atavious2491]

@@chaoscontroller4489 oh I know. But just because something isn't canon or a different iteration doesn't mean it's still worth talking about. Hell, I think Amy might also have better writing in the Archie comics. Some fans out there really wish the games can be more like other media material like having a better established team like the freedom fighters, giving Sonic more depth to his personality, making Tails a compelling companion to his peers, and giving Sonic a better female equal like Sally Acorn. I'm not saying we should just throw the Sat Am lore into the games but just something for SEGA to take note of if they want to improve their characters and their dynamics.

[@SuperSpinDash64]

25:37 I disagree, I think her character is more of a mix of both. She has a lot of moments where she’s talking about shopping and dressing up, but she also has those moments where she’s energetic too. I can understand why you feel this way though, the games don’t ever show Amy doing clothes shopping or anything of the sort from what I do know, yet it doesn’t seem out of character to me either.

[@sanglish18]

Yeah, I also have my doubts whether or not Sonic X Amy is really that different than how she was before, if we're playing through the idea that Amy was supposed to be a representative of typical young girls with the tarot cards and such, then her shopping and dressing up which is also typical of Japanese girls, I don't really see that much issue considering she still has that tough and aggressive tomboy-ish attitude when the time comes. It's just that in the games we didn't see much of her just being casual and enjoying life y'know.

[@heroicgangster9981]

Dark Sonic to me feels like it definitely could fit into the games that could be indirectly related with Werehog Sonic. Werehog Sonic to me is if his body had to adapt to the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds in order to not go insane, a form that stabilizes. While Dark Sonic is if the negative energy just goes into him.

[@MantledMimi]

34:44 That episode also created the iconic “I pretended to be a bar of soap and they let me in.”

[@souptaels]

Idk if it's just me, but I really feel like Helen should've been the main character and not Chris, or at least they should've explored her character more or just the idea of Sonic exploring new worlds, taking in the nature, and helping people out with their daily struggles no matter who they are

[@gokublack9724]

It's not just you, it REALLY should've been that

[@kilometersperminute4113]

Helen is a great character, but X is also primarily an action-adventure show and Helen's disability (literally) handicaps her from participating in more intense scenarios, unless she gets a prosthetic mid season which would defeat the entire purpose of her character. But hey at least with such scarcity people would actually treasure the Helen episode lol

[@galten7361]

@@kilometersperminute4113 Sonic just doesn't work with a full humie member of the main cast. Not if you're trying to be in line with the actual games.

[@CometX-ing]

Helen wouldn't work in a series like Sonic X. She'd either be left behind a majority of the time or would be a damsel.

[@atavious2491]

First of all, I don't think it's excusable saying that Helen wouldn't have been useful in a lot of episodes. As much as I love Sonic X (only growing up on the 4kids dub), I do have to agree with most of what has been said in this video that the earlier two seasons were kind of lack-luster with not many *good* episodes. I'm not sure if the original writers of the show were even aware that the premise for Helen's episode was basically using the plot of the movie Mac and Me. A disabled kid who befriends an alien with extraordinary powers and helps the kid out of danger. That's basically what I got when watching the episode. Had this show gone through a better rewrite that still wanted to use human characters, Helen could've been written better and her disability wouldn't have been an on-going issue. I've seen other cartoons like Dragon Tales or Clifford where they introduce a wheelchair character and I think the writers for those shows knew how to handle those characters a lot better with the limited things that they can do. Helen could've been written better and there could've been better written episodes that could revolve more around and Sonic and company helping Helen out. Otherwise, the other supporting human characters should've also been better written, as well for Chris Thorndyke's case. Second, I once heard somebody's reasoning for why Chris was even in the show to begin with and this guy said it's simply because Sonic X was trying to compete with Ash Ketchum in Pokémon and other kids anime of that time that were also involving human kids with their magical creature companions like Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh. It was the decision to give Sonic and his friends human companions because of Ash Ketchum in Pokémon apparently. I've also heard that The Kirby anime Right Back At Ya' was also going to have a human supporting character until Sakurai stepped in and immediately told the show runners to not put any human characters in the show. He didn't want that. Instead we just got Tiff and Tuff. That was just the state of kids anime back in the early 2000s.

[@dmclsl03]

The day as finally come

[@sajidgehog7651]

Fr, I was excited for this

[@SuperSpinDash64]

4:38 This is why I like this show so much, sure it’s got a lot of flaws but… it reminds me of why I love these characters.

[@Nyaalexi]

I could listen to this guy ramble about Sonic all day and night, considering he's my favorite blue boi. I also didn't know there was a game based off of Sonic X.

[@themissingbits6375]

It’s an Sonic Robo Blast 2 mod. Not very good according to Pariah, But I haven’t tried it yet personally.

Watching Sonic X every time it was up on french TV was such a good time, especially when Metarex saga was running. BTW, Metarex saga is pretty much a spin on the Space Battleship Yamato anime, with the whole two space alien species that were originally together but splitting apart, going to space to save a planet that'd dying from the stolen soul, etc... worth a watch if you love Metarex saga.

[@mitch_universe4058]

I’ve been waiting for this moment Edit: Bokkun was always good

[@gamefreakDX]

I still hold Sonic X very dear to my heart and it's honestly just because of Cosmo (& Tails) and that season's finale. You have some pretty interesting opinions, especially regarding the Adventure 1 & 2 arcs. And in the Metarex saga, I do wish you talked a bit more about Tails' role because I thought his place as captain was an interesting way to further his character - he's no longer necessarily trying to follow Sonic, but now he has to be his own person. Anyway, I'm satisfied with this video, it was the video I was most looking forward to from you.

[@criticalbuddy524]

Let's goooooooo Pariah will finally talk about Sonic X 🎉🎉

[@gokublack9724]

Eh prime was mid, at least x had a cohesive story during the metarex arc on top of the much better characterization while prime was all over the place in a bad way

[@Brandon-kt7ss]

The Metarex arc was really ahead of it's time considering we live in the days of things like esg scores.

[@JackSkellington__]

Yuji Naka’s influence is all over Sonic X and that’s what makes it so good

[@bluefire9285]

No wonder the show is so mediocre

[@AdityaSunil34]

the guy who deleted the reply maybe watched the english dub

[@evdestroy5304]

You mean Shiro Maekawa? Sonic Team as a whole was heavily involved in Sonic X.

[@gggsh7]

⁠@@bluefire9285nah its peak unlike sonic prime

[@sonicblurry]

I really like the sunshine ball episode. Where in it we see Sonic destroying towers. It highlights how Sonic is not a hero in most cases and is willing to do whatever he feels is right. Rouge says about Sonic’s character that Sonic was never an ally to the president not to people he was only aligned to them because their interests matched with is. Which is a purely Japanese Sonic way of writing Sonic. Sonic being anti authoritarian too makes sense why he wouldn’t be super cool with teaming up with the president anyways. At the end of the day he saves the world but in his own way not the way or anyone else.

[@galten7361]

@sonicblurry A lot of Western online discourse on Sonic's character doesn't get his actual characterization in the games since it's too clouded by versions like SatAM or Archie or Boom or the Paramount films which write Sonic as a full time superhero or rebel commander.

[@davidshatley5674]

There is one thing that i wish that were in this show is metal sonic.

[@Francodoublage]

Actually the french dub of Sonic X was made before the English one and therefore has no censorship or weird edits whatsoever. It's not necessarily the best dub ever made either (especially with the lack of voice actors for minor characters) but it's still an enjoyable experience overall. So much so that all the french voice actors (except Vector) were kept for the video games starting with Generations (even Chris' voice actor who then started voicing Silver), and they're still here to this very day. Also people really got mad at Paramount for not keeping Alexandre Gillet to voice Sonic in the live movies' french dubs.

[@rendumguy7596]

I didn't watch Sonic X but it reminds me a lot of Kirby Right Back at Ya. -The series' developers were involved in production -The funniest is the villain and his minion(s), both of whom are extremely childish -Villain of the week, literally in the case of Kirby it's literally a new monster each episode. -Kirby always saves the day with an ability in the same way Sonic does. -A controversial normal child character is added -4kids show with a memorable and humourous theme song -They even seem to have similar animation styles and problems. -Also, Meta Knight is the deuteragonist of the series and he has wings and can fly... But like Tails, he never flies or shows wings in the show. Biggest difference is that Kirby is a lot less faithful to the games, like how Dedede was made a lot more evil when he was more of a neutral rival in the games, and they made the mushroom enemies into the townspeople.

[@bunsmasterbunny]

Both are peak and how you do video game anime like the Pokemon anime.

[@auuizy9033]

Glad you liked it Pariah, maybe I should watch Sonic X again

[@harryenchiladas8826]

If I'm honest, I don't like the "False Shadow" extra layer. I understand that it is more interesting. But it is detrimental to the rest of the games: I am not interested in Shadow recovering his memories because, not only could it be a copy, but if it is not the copy, it is not the ultimate life form of the Ark either.

[@rendumguy7596]

I didn't watch Sonic X but it reminds me a lot of Kirby Right Back at Ya. -The series' developers were involved in production -The funniest is the villain and his minion(s) -Villain of the week, literally in the case of Kirby it's literally a new monster each episode. -Kirby always saves the day with an ability in the same way Sonic does. -A controversial normal child character is added -4kids show with a memorable and humourous theme song -They even seem to have similar animation styles. Biggest difference is that Kirby is a lot less faithful to the games, like how Dedede was made a lot more evil when he was more of a neutral rival in the games, and they made the mushroom enemies into the townspeople.

[@saudade347]

Maybe we could have like iyashikei slice of life Sonic anime where it's just lost people/humans who are going through something bad being cheered up by Sonic, just imagine entirety of a Sonic show with an episode that is full of episodes like Helen. Would probably be a hard sale I'd imagine, but I think it would be sweet.

[@StellaFangX]

I think it would work in short stories like the ones done by Sonic Channel or short web animations like Space Chao. In fact, they announced a short animated series about the Chao creatures, so it could be the iyashikei series you wanted.

[@Mr_DX_2]

I love how he always ends his videos with the level clear screen before fading to black.

[@aortaplatinum]

X was my first introduction to Sonic as a whole, at like 5 years old watching the 4Kids version on Saturday mornings on Jetix/Fox Box/WB Kids and later on CW. I'd seen cartoons before, but most of them felt like they were made with young kids in mind, while Sonic was fast and dangerous, characters were frequently in serious danger and it was awesome. It felt like something older, cooler kids would watch, which made it more attractive to me cause when you're a kid you want to be older and cooler. That's not to say I loved it, even as a kid I thought the "old episodes" [season 1] was boring and not very good, but still cool because it was Sonic. Season 2 has always been my sweet spot and is my favorite even as an adult, and season 3 is REALLY good but as a kid I didn't like it as much as season 2 because it was in a new setting with these weird new Metarex characters I didn't care about. It felt more like that weird boring Dragon Ball cartoon I heard my friends with cable talking about at school, than the fast hedgehog show I liked. Season 2 is sick as hell though, TMS' Sonic X team had clearly found their footing and had enough experience from season 1 that they felt comfortable pushing further and adapting the Adventure games [and Sonic Battle kinda but not really], and it was rad as fuck. I remember I only really REALLY got into the show with the season 1 finale where they finally get all the Chaos Emeralds and Sonic goes Super and I was like "yo is that a new character? No that's SONIC YOOOOOO HOLY SHIT" [paraphrasing]

[@aortaplatinum]

I did rewatch all of 2 and 3 a couple years ago and I was surprised how much more I enjoyed 3. I still like 2 most but I think 3 is objectively the best season. And since I was able to watch it all instead of getting most episodes but sometimes missing a Saturday morning due to Boy Scout camping trips or whatever, I really got into it, and loved season 3. That is one thing I'd like to credit at least CW for, idk how involved 4Kids themselves were with the schedule, but in the late 2000s and the 2010s, Sonic X was essentially on loop on The CW's Saturday morning 4Kids block. They'd play it start to finish, all in-order with no episodes skipped, 2 episodes every Saturday, over the course of like 8 months. It was fuckin awesome, some Saturdays I'd see an episode I hadn't before in previous years that would fill in the blanks in the overarching story or just be a cool new story. I kinda miss broadcast television, might have to straight up get a digital converter box and hook it up to my gaming CRT lmao

[@raptortown]

13:31 right but kinda wish you could've mention sonic did towards the end of the episode meet with the president. It shows like you said he doesn't care. Not in a very "I don't care about someone in power or authority" or sonic getting all mad at the president. He was still cool with meeting him as just a person. Which is Sonic. Whether you are in a wheelchair or the President, Sonic is still willing to see each person as just that

[@Kelps.mp4]

That's the main issue with Pariah's videos, the unscripting.

[@deanmoriarty6015]

I was just about to consume this delicious banana! mmm, tasty.

[@opticteadrop]

finally! was waiting for this! after watching the video: well, I think I agree with most of what you've said. personally, season one doesn't really interest me, season 2 is quite good but I absolutely loved season 3! it was amazing, probably my favourite sonic story ever! but yeah, if someone's not a big fan of sonic I don't think they'll enjoy the show that much, at lest the first 2 seasons the only thing I've got to disagree with is the ost, I think it is really good, especially the tracks that feature breakbeats. some of the more 'cartoony' tracks are generic, sure, but the fighting themes and character themes truly are amazing in my opinion I can definitely say that the video was worth the wait. thank you for supplying such quality content!

[@IZZYCHAN13]

Casuals: Chris sucks..! Chris: I'm a literal child!

[@AlphaDaArtist]

This video reminded me of how goated that Helen episode was. I should revisit Sonic X later down the line (in Japanese this time lmao).

[@jeremyknight9980]

40:32 the reason why Chris is a kid again is because in Sonic's World it has been 6 months since they returned where it's been 6 years on Erth.

[@StellaFangX]

Lame excuse still.

[@jamainegardner4193]

I personally think The Cosmo Conspiracy is one of the top 3 Shadow moments of the franchise.

[@galten7361]

@jamainegardner4193 It has Shadow be a horror movie villain or at least antagonist. It's worth noting here that online discourse for Shadow plays down how hostile he actually was in the Adventure Era or glance aside the "do anything to achieve his goals" to make it out like he's just a furry Batman/Steven Universe character.

[@mrlocolugo]

Technically it is shadow ( a product of humanity ) who saves the universe or nature through his chaos control at the very end. So that’s pretty ironic

[@sumguy63]

Tails was supposed to be a fast guy in Sonic 2. Hence why he was conceived under the name Miles Prower, and had the same movement speed as Sonic. I think we've gradually drifted from that interpretation over time.

[@StellaFangX]

THEY drifted from that, reducing him to a meek and fragile tech guy. The classic games have no issues in showing his competence and being playable, unlike the mid-late 2000s and onward titles that did what they did.

[@swordkirby7512]

What did you think (or anyone else in this comment section) about about Sonic's conversations with Dark Oak (both when he was eaten by his dragon form and the other in the last episode where he is sitting by the tree)? I have hardly seen people talk about those two scenes from season 3.

[@TheMasonGamer]

W Cosmo in the thumbnail

[@luke4502]

Sonic's characterization in this show is absolutely perfect, even if everything else is a pretty mixed bag.

[@whaleping]

Before reading Archie Sonic, Sonic X was my favorite Sonic story growing up as a Sonic fan. Somehow, I seem to have fallen for it after watching Yu-Gi-Oh! (og) and Pokémon (og). It has problems for rewatching now compared to those other shows but I’ll always appreciate Sonic X slice of life episodes.

[@rabbitrun777]

I think this show triggered the sonic 'tism in me. I think its the roger rabbit syndrome of seeing such accurate renditions of the characters alongside normal people. I remember feeling a strange emotion when sonic says in that one episode that he's bored of earth because he's already run around the whole thing ten times over

[@miketuck1660]

This show was my childhood it was a great show for me

[@alexanderstilianov]

I always found it odd (in a negative way) that Sonic was nerfed to need to get a ring to use his spin attack.

[@themissingbits6375]

Agreed. Sonic’s thing is that he’s a hedgehog. He should just be able to spin without needing a Ring.

[@criticalbuddy524]

Literally every single character was nerfed in the show. It was for the low budget and mediocre story writing.

[@themissingbits6375]

@@criticalbuddy524 Whaddya talkin’ Bout?! Eggman used his fists at the end of SA2’s Adaptation. His power level has evolved lol. But yeah, it is a problem that most of the characters don’t use most of their abilities.

[@dutczar5436]

The nerf sucks, but the rings are iconic, and Sonic just being invincible as long as he holds one would not fit well in the show, or the movies. What would your idea be besides those two?

[@blackmegaman2lmao175]

its weird cause in Sonic and Knuckles' first fight sonic actually rolls down a tree with no ring at all which is strange?

[@TSTHPS]

Dude I LOVE Sonic X so much!

[@krystiancharos889]

You know, NYAV Post should've been the better choice to dub the anime and air it on Toonami uncut and unedited. That studio would also have been used for the Sonic games after the death of Deem Bristow, even though he did some anime dubbing at New Generation Pictures in 2004, that could've been the studio for the Dreamcast actors. I've once thought season 2 could've ended differently where Chris uses the chaos emeralds to wish for time to move forward again and let their two worlds come together. The Metarex saga would start off and end differently as well, plus I would love to see an adaptation of Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Rush.

[@SurAuvers]

They didn't do the Sonic Battle story because it was meant to be a commercial for the game. Battle and Heroes had their Japanese releases the same month those episodes aired or atleast just a few weeks after. Also, Sonic technically does use negative emotions to transform in Secret Rings. I also don't think theyve ever really presented Amy as not being super girly so I don't see the disconnect.

[@millabasset1710]

Shame the anime never got a real English dub. I'm used to Japanese audio, but it is nice to at least have an alternative option. It is funny in the 4kids version that Eggman didn't like what happened to Cosmo, it being one thing to take them prisoner, but when you hurt them that goes too far. So not Dr Eggman lmao!

[@themissingbits6375]

I also love how He says to Dark Sonic that he’s too violent in the English Dub: HE BLEW UP HALF THE MOON GUYS!!!!! Just goes to show ya how much of a shit 4Kids gave when dubbing it. Which is Why I kinda Hate the Dub.

[@galten7361]

@@themissingbits6375 Eggman in the JP version was against the Eggsterminator brutalizing Sonic without his control and the Metarex's tactics. And him blowing up the moon had no real casualities. Eggman in the actual games with X is just not as 1-dimensionally monstrous as he is in the West (including IDW).

[@themissingbits6375]

@ Yeah, but still.

[@technicallyinept2120]

Man, maybe I need to finish it. I tried to get through it a number of times, and my last time I got pretty far at like episode 66 or something but then I just gave up.

[@chaoraiser2338]

Well actually tails flies quite a few times in the show just not that often, he does fly during the tournament as one of the scenes to mention.

[@yall_girl_eve]

My girlfriend got this vid recommended and was commenting that "pariah thumbs are funny because it kinda looks like the character died" Chat, how do i tell her

[@hanaheaven9058]

Well...um, she became a seed. Hope that helps.🫥☠️

[@Theguywithaotherguythatsalso]

One problem why does sonic need a ring to do a spin dash?

[@Bertiboy]

He doesn’t need it, he can do it without one and does so in the show it just makes him more powerful assumedly. Im guessing the wanted some way to adapt the rings’ significance to Sonic gameplay into animation and that’s what they settled on.

[@jimmybob5541]

I need to revisit this show. Watched the 4kids dub all the time as a kid and loved it

[@Callums-Life]

Sadly, I've only seen the Netflix version because I'm just a teen and the Netflix version is the only version I grew up with and even though the Netflix version doesn't have season 3 and it's the 4Kids dub I still think it's my 1st favourite sonic show but I think you made a lot of good points and I really hope I'll get to see the Japanese version one day including season 3.

[@Callums-Life]

And not to mention Netflix being a piece of shit has removed Sonic X and Boom 😤

[@themissingbits6375]

You Can just… you know… find it in a ceartin place… where the pirates are… where you are a pirate… If you don’t have acess to Hulu like I do, that’s the only option I Think.

[@Titanxzero1]

Tails uses his tails in the baseball episode. XD

[@TheKing-uu7jn]

43:55 correction: Shadow assumed Cosmo took one of his quills and wants it back

[@bacanpancakesproductions6038]

Tails flies in season 3 in the episode where him and cosmo sneak into a meta Rex base

[@Doobydoe]

JP is the better dub because Sonic says "Shit! Ikuzou" TRUE

[@Darkghostwind]

Crazy how the most solid stories in the series all come from the games and nobody gives a shit about them. I stand by this when I say that we will quite literally never get a good Sonic show ever. Which is a shame because all the concepts and stories and characters work perfectly for an episodic anime series. It seems like the perspective on the shows and the games aren't really all that different.

[@awesomeocelot7475]

The thing is I wanna actually understand what I’m watching and not have to read everything and miss everything on screen….

[@Msti3_]

Babe wake up pariah uploaded sonic.

[@crimsonzone8984]

I'd be down for a Blaze Y anime. (Does anyone know any cool meaning of Y, like how X is like paired, collab or something?)

[@SillySnake-1]

It might just be me, but I would MUCH rather have Sonic X be canon than Sonic Prime. I know why it's not, because of the Adventure games' storylines and an alternate story for Sonic and friends meeting Emerl. But I don't know. There's just something about Prime that I don't like, along with a much more reasonable answer being all the plot holes and contradictions to the main continuity of the franchise.

[@crimsonzone8984]

That's just a marketing thing. Don't think about it.

[@lauraikoko]

honestly...who gives a fuck? lmfao

[@SilverSonic1992]

I found Sonic Prime to be the most boring of all the Sonic shows. It wasn't particularly bad, but it wasn't very good either. The episodes seem to revolve around drawn-out battles with repetitive plot threads in-between. It doesn't have the humor of Boom, the accurate characterizations of X, or even the charm of the 90s shows. Though, maybe I'm just too old for it.

[@SillySnake-1]

@@SilverSonic1992 I agree with you. You put the words right into my mouth.