Why Sonic is HATED in Japan?

Why is Sonic the Hedgehog so unpopular in Japan? Despite being created by SEGA, a Japanese company, Sonic has struggled for decades to gain traction in his home country. With Sonic Movie 3 flopping hard at the Japanese box office, the question is more relevant than ever. In this video, we break down the fascinating history of Sonic’s failure in Japan, covering six key eras that shaped his troubled reputation.
WHY DID SONIC FAIL IN JAPAN?
Cultural Differences: Sonic was designed for a Western audience, with an edgy, rebellious personality that didn’t fit Japan’s love for cute and humble mascots like Mario and Pikachu.
The SEGA Console Struggles: The Mega Drive flopped in Japan, leaving Sonic without a strong foundation in the market.
Marketing Missteps: SEGA’s decisions, like not releasing Sonic arcade ports and failing to give Sonic a proper Saturn game, kept him from growing in popularity.
Inconsistent Game Quality: Sonic’s reputation in Japan was further hurt by inconsistent game quality, with major failures like Sonic 2006.
Sonic’s Recent Success: Sonic Frontiers became an exception, thanks to its anime-inspired storytelling, VTuber marketing, and collaborations with Japanese icons like ONE OK ROCK.

[@speedshoesyt]

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[@MisterBunnyHead]

Hated = Don't like. Another youtuber level video. Nothing to see here guys.

[@bookonlegsbookonlegs8991]

The Mega drive is called that in Japan and the West, but North America called it the Genesis, because there was already a company using the Mega drive name. So they called it Genesis for a "new beginning for Sega".

[@prrithwirajbarman8389]

I can see kof characters in a sonic video for the first time .

[@AppleEnglishNetwork]

Japan Resident here. The reason for flopping is the movie only played in Aeon Cinemas and United Cinemas, meaning the distribution of the movie was limited to these theaters only. I live in the west side of Japan and if I wanted my son and I to watch this movie, we'd have to drive 2 hours roundtrip plus highway tolls to see it at that specific movie theater. There are 4 movie theaters in my area and none of them could play it. It's not about the popularity. Many people know Sonic. It's just limited release is all.

[@trika91]

That makes since.🤔 I wonder why it’s getting such a limited release? Is it still a popularity issue where only certain theater chains are willing to release it (similar to how other overseas movies, depending on how popular/well known it is, get limited releases in certain theaters here in the states)? Being stationed in Germany, I’ve seen films advertised here that will never see the light of day in America (though American films are just as, if not even more, popular than the German films).

[@DeadnyMaster]

@@trika91 they have to compensate for the Sonic exclusive japan content only released there somehow (joke)

[@ericg1100]

Ohhh makes sense. Was it Toho that didnt allow it to play in their theaters?

[@MaraGomez-ve4pq]

Seriously? But, why was that? Have something to do with Sega in Japan? You also released so many garbage movies from Hollywood, but a good movie from one of your franchises is limited because...?

[@Championoko]

Oh right japanesse film distribución sucks

[@dragonninja9908]

Won't lie... Sonic feels like a kid rejected by their parents but embraced by their friends

[@robinsr4745]

Friends love him, Parents forget his name💀

[@jairusjackson7799]

Yeah, Sonic has what I call the Bart Simpson appeal. The Young rebellious teen with an attitude type. Something that western kids gravitate towards, but is shunned in Japan since kids with attitude isn't supposed to be a thing there. But he's always been welcome in the West, multiple cartoons, movies and commercials we love him

[@JoJoboiWav]

But delinquents stories work in Japan somehow? It's not about having an attitude

[@umamifan]

@@JoJoboiWav Yeah he just completely pulled that out of his ass lol

[@1992holycrap]

​@@JoJoboiWav Condsider: Hypocrisy is a thing.

[@the_real_slim_scaly7069]

It’s not that Sonic is hated in Japan, it’s just not that popular. Japanese Sonic fans very much do exist and I know this cuz I spend some time on the Japanese side of social media to understand what’s actually going on (also cuz I’m learning the language and want to make friends from there). Japanese Sonic fans very much want this franchise to be more popular in their country and have even talked about how sad they are that Sonic 3 flopped. Yeah, there’s even videos with millions of views that kids have watched, it’s nice that the tradition of knowing Sonic from KZbin and watching videos continues. The point is, don’t assume Japan hates Sonic just cuz it isn’t too popular. Also thank you Korone for helping make it somewhat more popular over there, keep it up.

[@donnycorn3086]

KORONE MENTIONED

[@PizzaCat4yhwh]

Yubi yubi

[@bananaoatmeal]

korone!!

[@Probably_CLOUD]

I agree. Hate is a pretty strong word and seems exaggerated. Almost like some sort of way to create unneeded division. Japanese Sonic fans do exist and also love to discuss the series, its characters, make fan art, and all of that stuff. Although sometimes I wonder if Sonic not being very popular in Japan has to do with how he doesn’t get much rep in Smash compared to other franchises.

[@bigbangbot-SuperSqank]

Thank you. The narrative of “Japan hates Sonic” never sat well with me. The conclusion I ended up coming to is that Sonic is much less popular overall in Japan but still has a small but dedicated fan base over there. Some games in the series did sell decently over there, even if the numbers are way lower than other regions and some of the Japanese releases of older Sonic games are pretty expensive due to rarity and demand. While I’m sure a portion of that demand may come from international fans, there is no way that they make up the entire demand for those games, there must be Japanese fans who are willing to pay those high prices for those games. While I’ve never directly interacted with Japanese Sonic fans, I just knew that they must indeed exist and care a lot about the franchise, which indeed is the case.

[@WhimsicalCreature457]

Sonic was born in Japan, but raised in America.

[@アヤたん]

then im glad he got Tom as a Dad

[@benmalsky9834]

Not to mention, he’s EXTREMELY popular in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia and especially Mexico and Brazil.

[@tedjomuljono3052]

it comes full circle, considering SEGA is an American born company, that was raised in Japan

[@CertifiedUltraEgo]

@@アヤたん no. Hell no

[@ilovewritingessays2017]

@@tedjomuljono3052 Wait what, sega is american?

[@reggielacey2235]

Sonic isn't hated in Japan tho. Just because its not as popular doesn't mean he's not liked.

[@deedoubs]

Yeah, it's indifference, not hatred.

[@Andythesonicfan]

Yeah, I’m sick of people misusing the word “hate”

[@lollalofi3933]

@@Andythesonicfan the word ''hate'' was probably used so more people would click on the video, since a lot of people like to watch negative stuff

[@RainbowShatterMusic]

@lollalofi3933What a sad world, interpenetrating words for clickbait 😥

[@JoJoboiWav]

At this point indifference isn't really distinguishable from hate. Like how can you ignore something that much 😭😭🙏🙏 it has to mean you really really deeply dislike it to not accept it to that extent

[@walteranurantha5014]

Let's not forget that Sonic Frontiers won the Japanese game award for most anticipated game.

[@xXTigerWaveXx]

So this is why Sonic felt more like an American franchise than a Japanese franchise. I always wondered why I didn’t hear more about Sonic in Japan as much as I hear about it in the US. I always thought that it was because I live in the US.

[@HaughtyToast]

Yeah, Sonic was made to appeal to the west so it's not really surprising that things turned out this way. I'd bet if they put more money toward stuff like the Dark Beginnings mini series we got recently Sonic would probably do a lot better there. Honestly it would probably do a lot better here also. That seems to be the kind of thing everyone wants from the characters.

[@locinolacolino1302]

God bless the USA, Sonic is a full blooded American and proud of his freedom.

[@jairusjackson7799]

Yeah, Sonic has what I call the Bart Simpson appeal. The Young rebellious teen with an attitude type. Something that western kids gravitate towards, but is shunned in Japan since kids with attitude isn't supposed to be a thing there. But he's always been welcome in the West, multiple cartoons, movies and commercials we love him

[@dangerousdays2052]

Sonic was literally created to embody the EXTREME attitude of 90s American pop culture. 🥴🥴

[@orangeslash1667]

@@HaughtyToast What to know what Japan does love, RPGs. Dragon Quest is a religion in Japan and many strategy RPG's like Super Robot Wars are only available in Japan, because they usually struggle to sell in the West. The fact the Fire Emblem Awakening was able to sell in the West was a miracle, because previous games were awful in sales.

[@Anonymousguy-t1e]

As a big Mario fan and a sonic fan, How did the Italian plumber who lives in America managed to be liked more than sonic by the japaneese

[@Mr.bigheadRetro]

True but I’m American too

[@goldflo91]

Because he's cute and exotic (not Japanese) ?

[@Anonymousguy-t1e]

@@goldflo91 he was made by Japanese like sonic but somehow Mario gets more love

[@birdboy16]

Must be his beautiful mustache

[@codishotwell150]

Because American story of Mario and Japanese story of Mario different. Mario not from Brooklyn in the Japanese storybook.

[@kez1z]

People don't realise that Sonic not being popular in Japan, a juggernaut for gaming, actively hurts this franchise. It's why we don't get collabs with Square Enix like Mario did, or even another Sonic anime like people want. Instead we got things like Boom & stuff like that.

[@SegaMario]

The Boom show was good, but the games flopped, mainly thanks to Rise of Lyric which originally wasn't made with the Wii U in mind because it ran of CryEngine, which that console didn't support. And SEGA struck up a partnership with Nintendo at the time, so they forced the devs to bring it to Wii U. And surprise-surprise, it became the next Sonic '06 and also became the worst-selling Sonic game of all time since the Wii U itself was a flop.

[@SorcererLance]

He's had some crossovers like Smash Bros and Monster Hunter, it's a start at least

[@cirnosnumberfan6449]

Except the Boom show is actually good.

[@kevinkite3418]

​@@SegaMarioSonic Boom Rise of the Lyric isn't that bad of game, though. I actually had a lot of fun with it. I wish they had ported the game for the Nintendo Switch with a enhanced more complete version.

[@smurgerburger]

Sonic boom would've been good if It wasn't released on Wii u

[@Larry]

Heya, the console was still called the Mega Drive world wide, it was only the US and Canada where it was called Genesis.

[@TwiliPaladin]

Hold on, I thought that was the international name for the Sega CD.

[@Larry]

@@TwiliPaladin Nooo, that's Mega CD.

[@thedredayshow9246]

Wanna know what's funny? Sonic's personality being disliked by Japanese gans is kinda hypocritical, since Crash Bandicoot has a somewhat similar personality, and Crash is extremely popular in Japan. Won't forgive them for Boom Bang, though. Alao, Sonic not being tonally Japanese is bad, but one of Japan's biggest horror game is RESIDENT EVIL. The tonally Western game. Japan is truly strange...

[@SuperFreddy64-mp5ew]

Funny thing is I found quite a few Japanese fans of the blue hedgehog in a comment section for Dark Beginnings’ Japanese version.

[@somerandomuser3465]

Yeah, It's annoying that most Japanese people won't give Western media a chance

[@ChevyTheCat]

​@somerandomuser3465...? it's only a few franchises, like the one we're talking about rn

[@kingkazma3246]

It's quite Aquarian and Virgo energy it seems, both like to contradict and be fastidious.

[@shofan0456]

​@somerandomuser3465Ted (movie), KFC, Michael Jackson, Amazing Digital Circus, Nintendo partnering up with Silicon Graphics for the N64, Toriyama referencing Terminator 2 in his series, etc... They have given Western media chance and have even worked with us lol.

[@えつらん-e7p]

I’m a young Japanese person who recently got into Sonic. Until a little while ago, the only things I knew about him were his name and color. 😂 Many of my classmates are the same-they only know that Sonic is in Super Smash Bros., that he runs really fast, and that he’s blue… I feel like almost everyone in Japan knows of Sonic, but they don’t know much beyond that, nor are they particularly interested in learning more about him. Maybe it’s because his character design doesn’t really appeal to the masses in Japan. Honestly, for Japanese people, Tails has a more likable and charming appearance than Sonic. Sorry, I wrote this using my limited English and a translator, so I’m sure there are some mistakes. I don’t know if you’ll see this, but feel free to ask if you have any questions, and I’ll get back to you.

[@speedshoesyt]

That's really interesting, thank you!!

[@robertlupa8273]

Conclusion: we need a new Tails-centric game.

[@pablocasas5906]

@ it always amazed me that SEGA hasn't tried to make spin-offs based on Sonic's friends, there were attempts in the '90s with Tails' Adventure, Tails' Skypatrol and Knuckles Chaotix and in the 2000s we got the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog, but there's not been anything since almost 20 years. Nintendo, on the other hand, made spin-off games focused on Mario's characters like Luigi's Mansion, Wario Land/Ware, Captain Toad, Princess Peach, etc.

[@MustacheDLuffy]

@@pablocasas5906They ignored sonics friends for the last 20 years so this makes sense

[@robertlupa8273]

@ "We are happy to announce that Sonic 4 will have NONE of Sonic's stupid friends and will only feature Sonic & Eggman."

[@ElectricJolteon2017]

If Tails was the protagonist, it would be a hit in Japan because he is a kitsune.

[@Soooooooooooonicable]

I say this all the time. I think people underestimate how solid his design is.

[@hiddenflare6169]

People saying a ‘Tails, Knuckles, and/or Amy spin-off’ keep making up good reasons for all of them I tell ya!

[@dumbguyontheinternet7641]

He’s a fox with two tails not a kitsune

[@zrexx9428]

I always thought "Super Tails" should've been a nine-tailed fox or some shit. Or that could be "Hyper Tails" if they brought hyper forms back. You could even make him a flaming nine-tailed fox. Sonic has gotten a few different "super form" designs and had a progressively edgy phase with it so why not do it with another character

[@zrexx9428]

Tails is popular with the suicidal "slit ur wrists" part of the fanbase that wants to tie a noose and hang themselves using his two tails

[@thestickmansavioryt1941]

"And this character is?" _"I have no clue."_ Actually hurt my soul.

[@営月]

Fr bro 😭

[@azazaeldevile2506]

I have never watched a single episode of sonic, one piece and naruto, yet I recognize these franchises thanks to all the advertisements and memes. I think japan doesn't advertise this franchise compared to other countries.

[@GeorgeDCowley]

The cut makes me onder if the other girl did.

[@GeorgeDCowley]

@@azazaeldevile2506 There's a Boruto add in Japan in Mamma Mia 2. Take that as you will.

[@ilyamuromez6412]

I had a similar discussion about this with a Japanese sonic fan on twitter. They essentially told me mario and Disney became popular in Japan because not just cuteness and appeal but also variety. Like Disney has mascots but they also have stuff like twisted wonderland and in Mario's case they have RPGs and party games. Sonic usually only has jump and runs and racing games which don't resonate too much. Also how did sonic X flip If it was made with Japan in mind?

[@speedshoesyt]

That's a good point

[@robertlupa8273]

Conclusion: we need another party game like Sonic Shuffle (but good) :P

[@ligtningdog6399]

"Also how did sonic X flip If it was made with Japan in mind" Have you actually watched Sonic X? Aiming for a certain audience is not the same as being good.

[@ilyamuromez6412]

@ligtningdog6399 I did when I was like 9 and had my sonic phase

[@banjo9158]

So... pretty much "Sonic needs variety of spin-offs" I've been saying that for years. how a character centric franchise, where people want to play as their favorite characters in the games, don't have that many options for people to play as their favorite characters? I'm confident that there is more Mario games where you can play as dry bones than Blaze in Sonic games.

[@BlackHei711]

Imagine seeing Sonic x Shadow Tokyo just to have the final battle take place in England.

[@speedshoesyt]

Lmaoo

[@NoobTheNewt0987]

it was questionable when i watched it in Japan lol. They gave me a manga about Shadow before the fight between sonic in Shibuya so I was expecting it to mainly happen in Tokyo, only for the second half of the movie to take place in London. It was also marketed as "Sonic x Shadow Tokyo Mission" so its really strange for the Tokyo part to be less than 10 minutes

[@simonlow0210]

Yup, I think the Tokyo Mission title is just misleading. I wished the entire movie takes place in Japan mainly instead of England.

[@orangeslash1667]

@ Did you know that JRPG's are very well liked in Japan???

[@pichitosmalltown3239]

@@simonlow0210 i dont think hollywood wants to make a movie about a bunch of americans trying to blow up japan

[@Joshie-n8i]

0:10 sonic frontiers brought a TON of new Japanese sonic fans into the fandom

[@jonathanalberto-nx6lu]

You didnt watched the full video pal

[@iceman92211]

@@jonathanalberto-nx6lu but he got a heart, so I don’t think he needs to watch the entirety of it lol.

[@IsmayaMelasrana]

Did you watch till 5:28?

[@Joshie-n8i]

@ i didnt watch that part of the video but otherwise i mean... yeah i did and i know he said it

[@BluLobstaDude]

Sonic frontiers is kinda ass imo but it’s your opinion ig

[@FOOLYCOREY]

there's a video from about 3-4 years ago called "what do japanese people think of sonic" where a girl reads sonic reviews from the japanese. one sentiment i heard often was that "sonic is too fast" and "i get motion sickness because he's too fast." a few also mentioned how they think modern sonic is uglier because he isnt cute and round anymore.

[@speedshoesyt]

That's true, I can see how the japanese would prefer classic Sonic for being cuter (and modern's prevalence further distancing them)

[@kingkazma3246]

That explains Doraemon, Kirby and why so many Pokemon are just circle shaped.

[@sonicultimateyt1090]

@@speedshoesyt No wonder why sega's pumping out classic sonic games.

[@MotivatedSharkie]

@@speedshoesytThat why the chao existed in adventure games

[@Soooooooooooonicable]

@MotivatedSharkie 100% this

[@uncle-jj_real]

Nintendo: *Creates Mario* Japan: Real shit?! Sega: *Creates Sonic* Japan: I sleep Sega: Japan betrayed us!

[@SegaMario]

The I sleep and Patchy the Pirate memes rolled into one.

[@cloudrunner3728]

Japan didn't wholly create Mario either, America gave a big helping hand in that too.

[@alexandercorbett1147]

​@@cloudrunner3728Mario's name literally came from Mario Segale, the landlord for Nintendo of America's headquarters at the time.

[@thegiftedfire3470]

@@cloudrunner3728Mario was supposed to be Popeye game but they can’t due to copyright. So they created Donkey Kong

[@sebastianantolin9707]

It was manly becauses in Japan the Mega Drive didn't have the same marketing campaing of being the enemy of the Super Famicom it was marketed just as another console. and Sonic never was marketed of being the Anti-Mario in Japan it just marketed as "another game protagonist". That's the reason why Sonic don't have much popularity in Japan. But they were exceptions like Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 or Sonic Fronties those games were a massive hit in Japan

[@alexdorian336]

I was just thinking how Korone loves Sonic and lol there she is 0:40

[@LatinaCreamQueen]

The thing is Korone is a "Westaboo" in that she LOVES Western media lol.

[@TwiliPaladin]

​@@LatinaCreamQueenAny relation to Texaboos?

[@BaxterAndLunala]

I find it ironic that most Japanese don't even know who Sonic is despite the fact that, to this day, Sonic is the only franchise we seem to be getting consistent releases from SEGA.

[@fabianugalde3789]

Don't forget about Yakuza/Like a Dragon and Puyo Puyo. I wish they did more with their other franchises tho, which is why I am looking forward to their revivals. I hope they deliver, and that people buy the games

[@BaxterAndLunala]

@fabianugalde3789 The last time we had a Yakuza game before Infinite Wealth was Yakuza Ishin, which was, like, half a decade before Infinite Wealth. Meanwhile, we get new Sonic games once every two years or so.

[@xiaostrr]

@@fabianugalde3789puyo puyo mentioned

[@weasel5905]

@@BaxterAndLunala Like a dragon ishin released in 2023, which im pretty sure is not half a decade ago, if you're talking about the original game then there's like 6 games released between ishin and infinite wealth

[@dantemustdie00]

At this point, it is Yakuza/Like A Dragon doing most of the work for Japanese Audience

[@EduardoOliveira-qy1km]

It's funny how the japanese liked Frontiers for its more eastern storytelling compared to other Sonic games, while there are american JP purists that dislike Frontiers for not being eastern enough in its storytelling just because it's not written by a japanese writer

[@gamingwithdream2005]

That's because it was written by two different people. Kishimoto thought that americans need to be spoonfed things so he brought on Ian to write the English script which obviously, it wasn't very eastern while Kishimoto wrote the Japanese script which was even though it was a bit shoddy since this was his first time writing the story for a Sonic game. It's kinda like how Dragon Ball had two completely different scripts that made everything different between the two regions.

[@EduardoOliveira-qy1km]

@ The story remains the same though, the difference being limited to the script, the narrative remains almost the same, the japanese script just feels more subtle but it doesn't change the story structure

[@Gelgumi]

@@gamingwithdream2005 The issue is, they hated the writting for the JP Script of Frontiers, which is why the DLC and Shadow gens are more accurate to the english script in comparision. They seem to be okay with Ian flynn and think he's a good writter from some comments i've seen, the discussion isn't as black and white like it's here with people OBSESSED with jp characterizations.

[@lemon5000-tj6nv]

@@EduardoOliveira-qy1km Knuckles, Amy and Sage have completely different character arcs in English and Japanese Tails has his differences as well

[@nightlydata2181]

@@EduardoOliveira-qy1km the narrative was written by a jp person tho. An english person wrote the script for the cutscenes specifically & then that script was rewritten by another jp person for the jp version of the game

[@MatrixEvolution17]

"Hated" is a really incorrect word, they just don't really know about him or care about him. The Zelda series used to be pretty unpopular in Japan until Breath of the Wild came out and revitalized interest.

[@Mr.Feather130]

But what about Kirby,Splatoon,and Pikmin? Are they as popular as Mario in Japan?

[@SFS_TheSonicFan]

@@Mr.Feather130 A: YES. However, Pikmin wasn't very popular until "Pikmin 3" was released on the Switch.

[@Mr.Feather130]

@SFS_TheSonicFan oh okay but I still know Kirby and Splatoon are really popular in Japan

[@RRP6632]

Wait, Zelda series isn't popular in Japan?? They're missing the GOAT ocarina of time 😭😭

[@SFS_TheSonicFan]

No, it's popular now! It's called one of Nintendo's Big Four, along with Mario, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon!

[@ThePedroow]

(0:14) I was watching this video in its entirety and noticed that almost all of the interviewees only knew Sonic from the Olympic Games. Now that the Olympic Committee has decided to invest in NFC games, without Sonic or Mario anymore, the Blue Blur's popularity has dropped once and for all.

[@speedshoesyt]

Yeah, it's over😭

[@TAGanimation]

"Why can't he be like that nice boy, Mario?"

[@CCB3T]

Lmaoo

[@gregorychristopher9185]

😂😂😂

[@hiddenflare6169]

Saying Sonic is ‘hated’ in Japan feels wrong, like ‘hate’ does not describe Sonic’s relationship with his home country. It’s more like the series just doesn’t have as big a connection to the series compared to everywhere else. There is fans of Sonic in Japan, there are people who like ‘Japanese Sonic’ and how they do things. But it needs to be mentioned that the series is in fact more popular outside of Japan because he fits better outside Japan, he was based on western figures and was the anti-Mario! The fact of the matter, Sonic isn’t hated in Japan, the series just isn’t as perfect on in Japan as it is in other countries. Time will tell if Sonic’s Japanese audience grows. It’s just something we have to observe.

[@pablocasas5906]

I wonder if Japanese Sonic fans didn't like the fact that none of the game's Japanese cast, with the exception of Tails's seiyu, reprised their roles in the movies, Sonic isn't voiced by Junichi Kanemaru, Knuckles isn't voiced by Nobutoshi Canna and while it's kind of cool that Shadow is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa, who is Sephiroth's seiyu and the usual Japanese dub for Keanu Reeves, it would've been cool if Koji Yusa voiced Shadow

[@FRISHR]

Sonic isn’t popular in Japan, because there are more furries in America.

[@AskJapanese]

Despite our Interview’s responses we love you Sonic ❤

[@FoxsDumbSeriesMaker]

Sonic 3 had a prominent scene in Japan, Prison Island was located near Tokyo, Shadow did the famous Akira drift, and the Chao Garden restaurant was clearly made to embrace Japanese taste. Despite all of that being shown off in the marketing, it still didn’t do well over there. Such a strange situation, as I figured all of that was done in respect of Sonic’s Japanese roots.

[@Slamy4096]

1:00 I consider Europe as part of the "west". I think the machine was only marketed as Genesis in the USA and nowhere else.

[@VHCosta]

Came here to write this, good call

[@riftshredder5438]

It's because the Master System flopped so they wanted to treat the Genesis as a new beginning for Sega, at least in America

[@9flu]

Yeah, in south america it's called Megadrive

[@9flu]

​@@riftshredder5438great point 👍🏻

[@oliverraven]

Well, Canada & Mexico too. But yeah, an American assuming Mega Drive was "just" the Japanese name (possibly because the Super Famicom was called the SNES across the west?) is a bit of a rookie error.

[@Girbekafecon]

"JP sonic is the real sonic" mfs after finding out what a hedgehog is 😳

[@kingkazma3246]

@@Girbekafecon I don't get it.

[@crcgtr06]

???

[@brohambbg]

@@kingkazma3246 they are native to Europe, Africa, AND Asia, not just Asia.

[@billyboleson2830]

This past couple years theres been a large uptick in "japanese sonic is the only valid and pure form of sonic unlike that western trash" and im just like.....huh? Where were yall 10 years ago?

[@kingkazma3246]

@@brohambbg Oh I get it, idiots thinking Hedgehogs are native to Japan 🦔

[@LadiesMan21766]

Japan is literally the opposite of Brazil in question of the blue hedgehog's popularity. Change my mind

[@speedshoesyt]

Ribamar Gamer concorda.

[@dinoman6481]

@@LadiesMan21766 yeah, Sonic is still very popular here and kids really like him

[@LadiesMan21766]

@@dinoman6481 yeah ik, since I live in Brazil

[@LunaticoniSolar]

As a brazilian, i agree

[@baka1918]

well, as a brazillian myself

[@jumpmadmadness1222]

Japan: What the heck is a Sonic?

[@Ratscallion_exe]

🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@yablock7346]

Fast food restaurant i think

[@kingkazma3246]

That is why Sonic Jam was created, when Sonic Team made NiGHTS supposedly they got fan mail asking them who Sonic was...

[@GiovanniKody100]

SMG4 reference?

[@deeznuts-tk7ju]

what the fuck is a sonic!!

[@33pandagamer]

To me, Sonic doesn't feel tied down to any one nationality. Nothing about Sonic feels Japanese or American to me. He just is his own thing.

[@L1am21]

Mario doesn't feel Japanese to me either tho.

[@erabaru119]

The game issue has nothing to do with nationality. Sonic is just an entertainment game for global players.

[@kennyg3118]

He is literally Italian which maybe that is why the Japanese like him so much cus of the Axis Powers.

[@WhatIThoughtChannel]

@@kennyg3118Most Japanese people don’t even realise he’s supposed to be Italian, lol

[@Kingdom850]

There's a difference between what you feel and what the company intended, though. Sega of Japan wanted to appeal to the West, so by "word of God", he's literally Western coded.

[@mnishikado1806]

A Japanese here. Sonic isn’t hated here. It’s just not relevant, because it hasn’t had a hit game in decades. While in the US, there were comics and cartoons that came out due to the peak of its popularity, and that lead to a fanbase that doesn’t rely on the games solely.

[@olafoos9623]

So sonic was made from Japanese creators glazing America

[@nman1]

America runs on dunkin 😔

[@astratball]

To be fair, the United States (Or America/West) have always been the ones to bring up more sales. There are more people in the states, so that means more profit. It’s why Mario is also popular in the states. It appeals to western audiences opposed to Japanese audiences more because it gets more money (Mario did a better job keeping both American and Japanese audiences happy). Japan regular does this too. They used to characterize the United States by a strong, blonde white guy who looks like he could lift the Statue of Liberty. Not to mention, the United States was REALLY influential back in the 1990s-2000s. It was, unfortunately for the Sonic franchise, always going to happen. Especially when they introduced Sonic talking.

[@olafoos9623]

@ 😂😂😂

[@ricktheweeb5382]

@@astratball Senator Armstrong

[@umamifan]

@@astratball Now that just makes me wonder about a timeline where Sonic remained a silent protagonist. Interesting... What would be different (apart from the lack of Sonic's confident voice)?

[@R.JTehBeagle]

it's Kinda similar to how Woody Woodpecker even tho created in the U.S. wasn't as popular as Mickey Mouse but he's very popular in Brazil.

[@speedshoesyt]

Verdade

[@ChillWay-c8g]

Woody Woodpecker got some LEGENDARY voice acting in Brazil

[@burntpoptart853]

The only difference is that Sega still cares about Sonic. Even if he isn’t super popular in his home country. Woody has basically been neglected by Universal in recent years. I’m glad that he still has fans in different countries.

[@thedrewster0408]

Also Bugs Bunny as well because although other people from around the world don’t care about Bugs outside of merchandise, the character is a very beloved icon in the western world and is featured prominently in internet meme culture.

[@LunaticoniSolar]

Yeah, as a brazilian, i can confirm

[@etenby699]

Went to a SEGA Panel at Otakuthon 2015 and some of the producers said that Sonic didn't have as big of a marketing push in Japan compared to the rest of the world, so it was seen as nothing but a cute mascot. Maybe they were talking about the amount of cartoons and comics we got that Japan didn't. Either way, I want a slice-of-life anime starring Amy and the other girls.

[@speedshoesyt]

Yeah, the SEGA brand itself and their other franchises are more well known than Sonic in Japan, so Sonic seems to be simply viewed as an amusing little mascot I want it too

[@liquidthefox]

i guess thats a good thing for other franchises like puyo puyo but also a poor thing for sonic in japan well atleast he gets recognized as a mascot and yes i do want one too

[@nman1]

I wouldn't mind something like that, as long as it isn't the cliche cringeworthy super girly anime style anime(iykyk)

[@liquidthefox]

@ true

[@etenby699]

@@nman1 NO. YOU WILL WATCH CREAM SIP HER TEA IN A KAWAII MOE FASHION WHILE VANILLA REVEALS SOME IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THE NEXT SONIC GAME.

[@PSWeasel]

I will always say this. Sonic is at its best when it's shonen as hell.

[@sonicmario64]

I always figured that the primary reason for Sonic not having much appeal to Japan was due to the fact that, being an anthropomorphic animal protagonist, those kind of characters hardly ever get featured in many forms of media over there, since most anime and manga franchises always tend to have humans (or even human-like beings) as the primary cast. And usually when there are animal characters in anime and/or manga, they're often portrayed as secondary characters or sidekicks who only play a minor role in the stories, which is honestly a shame considering the fact that I happen find a lot of appeal in anthropomorphic animals for as long as I can remember, especially since I tend to find them to be more creative and fun to draw than human characters in general, and I don't see any harm with things being different if it's able to appeal to a certain audience who actually appreciate characters that are unique in one way or another.

[@Prime_Legend]

I don't think thats the case, alotta animal mascots do well there in the Japanese video game market. For anime/manga it's different yes, it's mainly human characters that are liked. It's just that Sonic was made by westaboos(basically Japanese developers' interpretation of 'cool western culture' ). Compared to other video game mascots at the time, he was pretty snarky, sharp and cocky.

[@Opdudall]

Sonic 3’s story started a lot like yours frontiers, but where you found sponsorship and love, Sonic 3 only found failure, and no money

[@speedshoesyt]

Lmao

[@pingpong5877]

Sonic is too American for a Japanese audience.

[@kuklama0706]

Japan adores devoution to authority and hates rebels. Sonic is a rebel. Simple.

[@speedshoesyt]

Good point

[@1992holycrap]

And I will personally forever make fun of them for it.

[@paperluigi6132]

According to the Sonic Wiki Zone, Frontiers’s English and Japanese scripts contain more changes than any prior Sonic game, but it was also stated that both scripts are simultaneously canon. Might be worth covering that.

[@LuznoLindo]

Simultaneously canon... My goddess, this franchise is a joke.

[@yuki.35xxxv]

Not to mention that in the JP version of Frontiers, Vandalize by One Ok Rock was featured in its uncensored original version (OOR made a censored version for the game) so in the JP ver of the game you get to hear "Fuck the pain away my bed is in ruins" as a line 😂

[@irregulargamer1352]

​@@yuki.35xxxvI prefer sonic being unnecessarily edgy. It's always preferable to a sonic story being dumbed down for babies

[@Kingdom850]

@@irregulargamer1352 Sonic is still going to be seen as mainly for kids. Cope.

[@theboithatsurvivedtwice]

Japan:hate sonics freedom Us: love sonics freedom

[@SegaMario]

Because *AMERICAAAAA.*

[@SegaMJ-ve1pi]

Japan doesn’t hate Sonic tho

[@Hhibiscusx09]

America is FREEDOOMMM🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸‼️‼️🦅🦅🔥🔥🔥

[@elderleon1844]

no man they don't like sonic speed

[@Wolfiyeethegranddukecerberus17]

Oh THAT'S why Sonic only has one fighter in Smash...

[@starlingkingnam6783]

Technically 3 with Joker and Bayonetta

[@raymaniqe1906]

@@starlingkingnam6783 that’s Sega characters, not Sonic characters

[@mrkaji8913]

0:33 makes me want an 90’s anime adaptation of the games

[@RayMak]

Sonic is our childhood

[@astratball]

I think it was always going to happen for these reasons (Also before we go any deeper, Japan does not HATE Sonic. It’s just not popular there): - Voice acting - Character Redesign - Profit. - VA: Although voice acting is usually in Japanese games, many well known characters in Japan that was created in similar times to Sonic like: Mario and Pikachu speak VERY limitedly. The character was more up to interpretation when they don’t talk, and usually- they would see more cuter in Japanese’ eyes. Sonic.. especially in the 2010s, talked a lot. And in a way that didn’t make him look any better. Sonic had a much better time battling cool and cute in the 90s. The height of Sonic for many. What also had to deal with being cute had to deal with the next point.. CHARACTER REDESIGN: Of course, out of those 3 comparisons, the most changed character out of them was Sonic. He went from a round, stubby figure to a tall, spiky, lean figure. His design was created for that reason to show how he was much more dynamic, and looked much better when posing. He looked cool, the art design changed as well, screaming a spray paint design almost. But.. when translating to Sonic to this cool, fast hedgehog.. it made his cute design almost vanish. His round, friendlier version was changed. Many MANY Japanese people prefer cuter mascots. It’s why Mario is round, Kirby is round, Pikachu is round.. any cute mascot will have some sort of round figure. So seeing this new design of Sonic made him look ‘ugly.’ But.. the reason why SEGA changed Sonic design wasn’t just because of they didn’t want him to appeal to teens of the 2000s, but to appeal to the west. PROFIT: And personally, the most obvious reason is for profit. Japan has less population than the west. And for how influential America was in the 1990s, early 2000s, many people from different countries try to appeal to the American audiences. Making their games have more of an edge to them. And if Sonic wanted to be more popular than Mario, then they changed their design. Not only for the story or just to make them look cool, but to appeal to us, like stated before. It hurt their home audiences, but it boosted their popularity and profit. And it worked!! It was so widespread that even Michael Jackson wanted to make music for Sonic. It’s why Sonic became an actual rival to Mario (despite Nintendo not wanting one to begin with.. before they saw the profits). Ultimately, there are more factors like the writing of the story, yes.. but these are what I think is the most 3 important. Anyways, sorry for yapping, and please correct me if I’m wrong!

[@syd1467]

I remember people on Twitter having this shock when Hideaki Naganuma commented on Sonic not being nowhere as popular as Mario in Japan, as Mario is seen as a huge popular icon and Sonic is just another videogame character. To be fair with the japanese, Sonic was made with the American public in mind, and also SEGA makes a lot more money there just releasing another Yakuza game than trying to keep pushing Sonic to a public we know is not that receptive of him

[@CHMernerner]

sonic is unpopular in Japan. Less than South Korea!!! Unbelievable! it's like sonic is loved anywhere BUT Japan. No idea how this could happen. I know many Sonic fans in Japan too but Sonic is Unrecognizable to many young people is feels just unreal. I feels like I need to thank SEGA for keeping Japanese voice in Sonic games(I like Japanese casts more than English)

[@robertlupa8273]

I saw "Sonic" and "[long word starting with Un]" in the corner of my eye and thought you were talking about Sonic Underground 💀

[@CHMernerner]

@robertlupa8273 🗿

[@pablocasas5906]

@@CHMernerner speaking about Sonic's Japanese voice cast, why Tails' seiyū is the only one who reprised her role while Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow have different seiyū? I can understand Dr. Eggman being voiced by Koichi Yamadera, who's Jim Carrey's usual Japanese dub voice, which also applies to Shadow since his movie seiyū, Toshiyuki Morikawa is Keanu Reeve's Japanese dub voice, but it'd been cool to have the game cast voicing their live-action counterparts

[@CHMernerner]

@@pablocasas5906 i think it's because they are both called sonic but they are not same person at all. different personalities and all. US cast was also different isn't it?

[@j95lee]

Sonic could pass as a Looney Tunes character, and "talking animals" were the bread of butter of children's programming in America for decades. I remember he was featured in at least one comic book in which Doctor Robotnik kidnaps "Porker Lewis". I had no idea Sonic was such an obscurity in Japan. I guess Japan is in even more of a bubble that than people thought it was in.

[@exoticgueslet3389]

8:35 I highkey believed you until you mentioned the Waifus

[@Ad1tputra]

I don't think Japan really hate Sonic, Sonic is not really popular in Japan anymore.

[@elmemearana]

That's what I'm talking about. He definitely has some fans there tho.

[@Ad1tputra]

@@elmemearana Definitely just not as big as in the Western World and maybe other parts of the world. I don't think Sonic is completely forgotten in Japan he's just overshadowed by Mario and other characters.

[@elmemearana]

@@Ad1tputra true. In the end, I'm just happy this fur blue ball exists, so it's not that big of a deal lol

[@cirnosnumberfan6449]

"Anymore" He never was, Frontiers was the closest he's ever been popular there.

[@elmemearana]

@@cirnosnumberfan6449 tbh, the Adventure series were the closest to get Sonic more popular in Japan.

[@SaiyanX5]

HEARING THAT THE SONIC OVA COULD HAVE BEEN A FULL ANIME REALLY UPSETS ME 😭😭😭 WHYY JAPAN

[@sebastianantolin9707]

THE FUNNY THING IS THAT Sonic is not the only japanese game franchise that is not so big in Japan and depends more on the western market. Other japanese franchises has the same situation like Pac-Man (just the first game was a hit, and even people who work on Bandai Namco doesn't even know or remember who Pac-Man is, Sakurai mentioned that), Metroid (Once again Sakurai on the Terry presentation mentioned when they were developing the first Smash Bros. at lot of people on his team ask him "Who's Samus?"), Castlevania, Mega Man (The only exception was the Mega Man Battle Network Series that was a big hit in Japan). Others had their golden age of success in Japan, but today they are not popular and the sales of they modern games are very poor like Street Fighters, Yo-Kai Wath and even Crash Bandicoot that was a huge hit in Japan in the PS1 era, today Crash is a fail in Japan, the sales of N.Sane Trilogy, CTR Nitro-Fueld and Crash 4 were very poorly in Japan. Sonic on the other hand has very VERY rare occasions when he has a success in Japan, the original Mega Drive/Genesis trilogy did sell well in Japan that they are in the Top 10 of best selling games of that console in Japan, but the problem was the console marketing that had in Japan. Unlike in the US, the Mega Drive was never marketed as the console that would give Nintendo competition, it was marketed as just another console which made it fall very much under the shadow of the Super Famicom, and Sonic was never marketed as the Anti-Mario in Japan, just it was another game protagonist, don't give wrong the Mega Drive sold well in Japan but its sales didn't compare to the monstrous sales that the Super Famicom had. Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 are a curious situation, both games were a huge hit in Japan (specially Sonic Adventure 1, being the best selling Sonic game in Japan) considering that the Dreamcast was a hyped and popular console over there and with elements like hubworld exploration, RPG style story and Shonen elements made both Adventure games so popular and iconic in Japan (i think even more than the Mega Drive games) even to this day when you mention Sonic to japanese gamers they think mainly on both Adventure games. Even games like Sonic Advance 1 & 2 sold pretty well in Japan, to the point that both games are in the Top 50 of best selling GBA games in Japan, and lastly Sonic Heroes sold very good in Japan. After that Sonic games of the Dark era and Meta era appealed more to western audiences and their marketing in Japan was very little which made Sonic so unpopular in Japan to the point that japanese people hardly even recognized him and if they did, they only knew him as that little SEGA mascot character that appears in Smash Bros., or in the Olympics game series with Mario or that character that sometimes appears in Puyo Puyo games (Puyo Puyo is very big in Japan). But even with that, Sonic does have a very VERY loyal fandom in Japan. But then came Sonic Frontiers, that game since the beginning of its development, it was made with the idea of ​​appealing mainly to the Japanese/eastern public, with elements of realistic nature aesthetic, open world exploration, skill tree, a Seinen story style, enemies and designs with a Japanese Sci-Fi style, or a Shonen style action in the boss fights and combat, and with a great marketing campaign in Japan, much bigger than the west. Everything paid off and made Sonic Frontiers a big hit in Japan. And some of the legacy that Frontiers left in the Japanese gaming public still present, with Sonic x Shadow Generations although it didn't have the same hype or monstrous success as Frontiers, it did gain a lot of popularity in Japan specially in japanese children. Sonic showed that he can be successful in Japan if he appeals to the preferences of that audience, and seeing that Frontiers did paid off, i think that they are gonna keep with that idea to the next game to aeppeal mainly to the japanese audience.

[@banjo9158]

ok, some of that thing about the franchises is for sure not true, Crash games still sell a LOT in japan. Idk about mega man being unpopular in japan either. where did you heard that all of those franchises do bad in japan? (the pac-man one is accurate though, the pac-man world games which are arguably the only popular thing pac-man had since the arcade days, is unpopular in japan, same goes for the ghostly adventure reboot attempt, that is unpopular in japan, but I could argue is unpopular in america too lol) You're 100% accurate on the Sonic thing, the sonic genesis game didn't sold well compared to snes stuff, and didn't build as much of a strong legacy, and a lot of people don't even know Sonic is the mascot of sega. those are the only corrections I can do for the sonic stuff you said, which is barely correction and more complements.

[@sebastianantolin9707]

@@banjo9158 Crash marketing in Japan in the 90s was very different it it was thanks to Naughty Dog that made changes on the character to make it atractive to the japanese audience, during the PS1 era Crash games were a massive hit in Japan, but after the PS1 era when Naughty Dog left the franchise, Crash popularity in Japan had a hard fall to the point that modern games like N.Sane Trilogy, CTR Nitro-Fueled and Crash 4 were a huge failure in Japan. Crash 4 sold less than 20,000 copies in Japan (adding all its versions of PS4 and Switch) comparing with the sales of Crash 2 (the best selling Crash game in Japan) 900,000 copies

[@robertlupa8273]

"they know him as that guy who appears in the Olympics games with Mario or that sometimes pops up in Puyo Puyo" 💀

[@sebastianantolin9707]

@robertlupa8273 And don't forget Smash Bros. Yeah Sonic's popularity in Japan really fell to hard during the meta era the avegare japanese people only know him for that. Although he had a very loyal fandom. Frontiers was the push that Sonic needed, as we know that game was a big hit in Japan and a lot of young japanese started to know who Sonic is and how his world is.

[@hyperturbofox17]

The problem is that Japan have a older population. Which mean they most favored something like Pokemon, Disney, Shonen and anything Moe. Japan have the lowest Youth population and characters like Sonic can look foreign to them and they can look anywhere to suit their needs. Take Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shells for example, Hated in it's own home country but beloved everywhere.

[@speedshoesyt]

That's a interesting point

[@goldflo91]

That's strange because Attack on Titan is very popular in Japan despite its Western influences, but maybe it's because the characters are likeable

[@Dante02d12]

@@goldflo91 The characters in AoT are _not_ likable. The popularity of SnK is most likely due to high-quality animation and kaiju-like vilains. I mean, naked giants eating people is definitely a Japan thing more than a western thing. As for OP : Pokemon and Disney are _massive_ successes in Japan....

[@fantasmatice999]

neither of those animes are hated in japan, tf are you on

[@fenrir5211]

People be just making the shit up about Japan now.

[@minicle426]

Funny thing is. This is similar to Akira Kurosawa. To most of the world he's considered a well renowned and influential Director. In Japan, his films were criticized for being too escapist or westernized. And is barely remembered today.

[@chestercastaneda4920]

I don't think it was Sonic Team's fault at all that Sonic the Hedgehog isn't a hit in Japan. There's no one big chance to finally make it super popular in its native country, it will fail by design the same way it kept somehow succeeding in the West by design. The same thing happened to Metroid by Nintendo, after all.

[@benitosierrajr3958]

I should mention that Sonic in Japan, despite the success of Frontiers, Sonic in Japan in this decade has been largely overshadowed by the major success of PAW Patrol, Ryder AKA Kento (Ryder’s Japanese name) and his team of pups became equally popular as Mario in Japan.

[@banjo9158]

Also, Sonic Frontiers is the only thing of Sonic in this decade that had success in Japan, any other Sonic thing flopped.

[@elmemearana]

@@banjo9158 Adventure series? Heroes? Those are the Sonic games I remember being kinda popular in Japan when they were launched.

[@banjo9158]

@ "this decade"

[@SugarMama98-qb2td]

Sonic fit every anime protagonist, How heck he not popular in japan? Even know Japanese in him more than American in him.🤨

[@zrexx9428]

Well thats the thing. I imagine Adventure era Sonic was popular, right? Back then there was more "anime" influence. Nowadays there isn't, the Japanese style is kinda washed out There is a distinct contrast between like Adventure-era Sonic and everything like Colors and onward. One feels distinctly japanese (even if they may have been developed in America), the other feels like an American invention. It probably alienates them a bit

[@SegaMario]

@@zrexx9428 Frontiers onwards seems to be going back to that anime influence, especially evident with the face designs of Sage and Maria. A radical departure from the Pixar-like style of Unleashed.

[@HaughtyToast]

@@zrexx9428 They also just historically don't market well over there. It's kind of like how Digimon fell off here after Fox sold the rights to it and all that wacky Digibowl type stuff disappeared and the whole series just fell into obscurity.

[@PeruvianPotato]

​@@zrexx9428Funny you mention Colors because I'm pretty sure thats the only Sonic game with a vaguely Japanese aesthetic.

[@WaterKirby1994]

@@HaughtyToast Digimon didn't fall into obscurity during the Jetix/Disney years, the problem was that the anime stopped in Japan after Season 4 for 4 Years & then went on another hiatus. Digimon reruns remained popular during the long wait for Data Squad. At least Toon Disney showed the Digimon Movies along with reruns during the 1st drought, 2nd Drought Saban took the rights & did nothing with Digimon for 4 years before showing limited reruns of Seasons 1&2 on Nicktoons as well as Digimon Fusion only for it to get cancelled leading to a Western Exclusive 3rd Drought because we never got the 3rd Arc of Fusion or Applimon.

[@kolkagaming1234]

Man! What happened to the Sonic The Hedgehog’s popularity in Japan?! He’s Literally from Japan Alongside Mario, Zelda Mega Man & the list goes on!

[@Spider-Guy62]

He was never big in Japan like when they made sonic jam because sonic team got fanmail asking what sonic was in the sonic team

[@kolkagaming1234]

@ That’s weird. I mean there are lots of franchises & Brands that were made in Japan like Super Mario, Mega Man, Kirby Dragon Ball & Sailor Moon they are pretty popular in Japan. I don’t see how Sonic The Hedgehog couldn’t be that Popular. I mean I know that Mega Man isn’t that popular in London Nowadays probably because of the lack of video games in 2010.

[@shofan0456]

Tl:dr: He wasn't designed to be as culturally ambiguous as those other characters you mentioned. He's an American cool guy who Yuji Naka said loved eating at McDonald's (this was around the Sonic Heroes Happy Meal thing but still) and his favorite food is chili dogs! I don't think either one of those things are too popular in Japan (maybe McDonald's but idkkk)

[@Spider-Guy62]

@ because he was designed for a western market aka the American, uk and Australia

[@shofan0456]

@@Spider-Guy62 couldn't have said it better myself! I've been saying American but I mean Western

[@Sonic_Gamer501]

That title is very misleading. It's not hated in Japan. It's just not as popular over there.

[@bloody4558]

I think it's easy to explain, Sonic was big in the 90's, and then a bit in the early 2000's however it became nearly existent for a long time, kids and teens in current Japan barely know Sonic, and everyone who does is an adult working hard to raise their families.

[@mushra50]

Yeah that third season of Sonic x was an American exclusive that was the crazy part

[@billyboleson2830]

Sort of, the got dvd releases in japanese but it was never aired. The OVA was a failed anime tho lol

[@sonicwithglasses131]

France got it before àmerica

[@nes96]

​@@billyboleson2830Sonic X wasn't popular in Japan, the third season flopped which is why it wènt straight to dvd. Both were flops. Not to mention they made the anime about a annoying kid.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

​@@nes96uh yeah they made it about a kid because Japan believes that anime featuring animal protags is basically for toddlers only. Its been somewhat subverted lately but even then Aggretsuko and that Taxi show is literally just about japanese people and the furry stuff is just cosmetics. A show like Satam or TMNT or SWAT Cats or whatever wouldve never been made in Japan

[@7TPdwCzolgu]

​@@KOTEBANAROTwasnt a bit of that why it was popular with girls

[@tulip135]

I find it interesting that even though Frontiers is supposedly "tonally Japanese", Sonic fans in the West overall had very good things to say about its storytelling.

[@magreste]

That's a good point. And it's not necessarily that Japanese people just less open-minded, I think they're just more connected to their cultural and societal ideals than Americans ever were.

[@MustacheDLuffy]

I think they just like it’s story. Americans could care less if the story is more eastern, lot more anime fans now, although the ones that aren’t won’t tweak

[@utopiasonline]

From Sonics inception he has been a parrot of American ideals from his colorway to personality, his rebellious nature and individuality was a turn off to audiences in the 90's so he didnt have a really good impression, not to mention Japan was also averse to furry/anthro characters for some time because they linked it to radio-active mutants.. he never had a chance to catch on when it mattered most so his cultural impact on Japan was nonexistent.

[@speedshoesyt]

That's crazy

[@gumundureyorarnfinnsson4212]

How is being rebellious a turn off to Japanese not that it’s a problem am just curious ?

[@utopiasonline]

@ In Japan a social concept known as collectivism is historically prioritized over the concept of individuality. Collectivism being values such as obeying authorities, your elders, the government, law, family, formality etc, basically whatever benefits society at a large uniform scale rather than what is personal.

[@mechadeka]

"not to mention Japan was also averse to furry/anthro characters for some time because they linked it to radio-active mutants" TMNT was popular there, though?

[@gumundureyorarnfinnsson4212]

@@mechadeka and yet people in Japan love kaiju films who one of the most popular kaiju is a radioactive lizard that’s a bit hypocritical

[@gustyko8668]

Funny to think that the best selling Sonic games in Japan are the crossovers with Mario at the Olympic Games.... that combined with his appearance in Smash, no wonder one the girls at the start thought that Sonic must have been "some Nintendo character".

[@SonicTheCutehog]

Easy, Sonic was designed primarily to target Western markets. That's why he's seen as one of the biggest video game characters over in the West, but it a very niche character over in his home country. Frontiers did well in Japan because it targeted the "open-zone" trend that's popular in Japan.

[@saberspriteanimator6385]

I guess we can say Sonic is... *Finding his flame* 彼は反対側にしがみついています。 彼は最後まで諦めません。 彼は星が衝突することで得られるものです。 敵であろうとなかろうと、彼は何にでも立ち向かいます。 彼はセガのマスコット、ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグです。

[@DeadMan03]

This is so misleading dude japan doesn't hate sonic its simply not that popular plus unlike american they have work they dont have much time to watch it not only that the sonic movie is very limited most theater don't evrn have it i already see lots of comments here saying japan has bad taste and getting lots of hate because of this video

[@bertobazmastr3694]

I love Sonic and now that I live in Japan, I did notice the lack of Sonic stuff around. I even talked to some of my Japanese friends about my love for the Sonic franchise and most were unfamiliar with it.

[@tjr1o5]

SEGA: why didn't Sonic work here in Japan? but IT IS BOOMING SO HARD IN THE WEST, ITS 3RD GAME HAD A HOLIDAY FOR IT! designer: we based his color scheme off of the American flag, and his attitude after Micheal Jackson... SEGA: .... WELL THERE'S YOUR PROBLEM!!!!

[@PeruvianPotato]

Michael Jackson is famous worldwide though....

[@AbbieAj1]

Man, imagine being able to love and admire a character that's based on a completely different culture from yours. Couldn't be me... Demon Slayer, what now? 😅

[@shayonroy7585]

Personally, I believe one of the less discussed factors is a lack of a Sonic presence on the Mega CD. The Mega CD was one of the few successful mega drive efforts in Japan, yet Sega barely pushed Sonic on the platform and made only 1 game.

[@CaptainDixie]

Sonic was designed to be western, so his unpopularity in Japan shouldn’t be surprising. This was something that was accepted very early on by Sega.

[@MegaBondagemon]

This won't be the first time a Japanese media that is not popular in Japan exists. Remember Voltron?

[@LordVandor1]

"I'll never forgive the japanese" - Joseph Joestar

[@OmegaNitro]

Sonic isn't hated in Japan. It simply isn't as popular a franchise as Mario is over there. And it's no mystery why. Sonic was designed, created and marketed to focus on the western audience. The game was largely a US collab from the beginning. A lot of the best Sonic media was created by western studios for western audiences, the live action movies included. Sega has simply never put as much effort into appealing to its home country.

[@RandomUser8P]

0:19 “Sonic is not from Nintendo?” Bruh…dude miss the whole console wars apparently

[@oliverraven]

You have to be pushing 30 to even remember when Sega were part of the console manufacturers market these days, sadly.

[@pablocasas5906]

@@oliverraven exactly. Not to mention, that if you grew up as a Sonic fan since the early 2000s it's very probable that you played Sonic on Nintendo consoles, I think that even SEGA mentions that Sonic's games sell better on Nintendo than on PS, Xbox and PC. That's why they released games like Forces, Frontiers and Superstars on the Switch, despite the console having issues running them because of its old hardware, but SEGA cannot ignore the Switch because Sonic sells better there, in fact, the recent Sonic games like Frontiers and Superstars Switch versions were the only ones that appeared in the weekly Japanese games sales charts when they were released

[@royburns5594]

Its probably cuz his design is not cutesy enough. I doubt that it's only because he is "way too american and Hollywood" cuz they fkn love Disney. I've seen a lot of people uploading pictures from Tokyo Disneyland.

[@digestiveissue7710]

I don't think that's because they love Disney movies, I think they just love going out and spending money on expensive trendy stuff to photo and post on social media. Not even being hyperbolic, Japanese culture has a lot of good things about it, but shallow consumerism is very much a thing in modern Japan.

[@whiterabbit8243]

Sonic X did everything right and still failed in Japan. So who knows what Japan wanted.

[@davidholanda1]

7:39 Not to mention that in 2019, Avengers Endgame would end up getting disthroned by a Detective Conan movie (their 23th movie btw lol) in Japan And also I wouldn't say it's HATED there, it's just unpopular, pretty much not many people there even heard of Sonic as opposed to Mario Sonic in Japan is like Detective Conan in US, both popular franchises in their own regions but criminally unpopular in another

[@a-ug9yk]

Japan has some good taste

[@legometaworld2728]

At least it gets an official release and dub in Japan. The same can’t be said for The Muppets.

[@LordProteus]

There is a difference between not being popular and being hated. Sonic isn't hated in Japan, it's just not popular.

[@quakerdx5435]

Born in Japan raised in America

[@flowerfroggyfan6960]

Studio mappa?!?! Ah hell nah, I'd rather like a sonic series animated by studio TRIGGER.

[@pablocasas5906]

Ironically, I'd say TRIGGER faces the same issues as Sonic, TRIGGER and its anime are very popular in the U.S. and other overseas countries, but in Japan some of their shows weren't that successful, I mean, you could find a lot of Japanese fan-artists making cool art based on works like Kill la Kill or Little Witch Academia, but the shows themselves weren't even on the Japanese Top 10 favorite anime of their respective years, in fact, Little Witch Academia was sort of a commercial bomb in Japan with low video sales. The only TRIGGER anime that were hugely popular in Japan were SSSS Gridman and Delicious in Dungeon, and those are based on pre-existing works, Gridman is based on an old Tokusatsu show and Dungeon Meshi is based on a manga. In fact, it's kind of obvious that TRIGGER are aware that they have more fans in the West, since they have collaborated in Western projects, like intro animation for some games like Indivisible and they worked with Pixar for an animation on a Toy Story short.

[@katlyndobransky2419]

Crazy to me that Sonic isn’t popular in Japan, since Sega is a foreign company. I mean, Sonic does feel very American, personality wise and music wise. But they had the chao garden which felt very Japan-coded… it just baffles me that Mario is a huge success in Japan while Sonic probably hasn’t been talked about in years. I’m just happy the movie did well in America

[@Zyr0-z3r]

US:GOTTA GO FAST Japan: Sonic? Like speed of sound Sonic?

[@جَنَى-م3ب]

Oh that makes sense why Sonic's creator Naoto Oshima talked about how it was hard to preserve Sonic's "bad boy" image and didn't want him to turn into a cute mascot because of marketable plushies in japan that have this kind of "cutesy" characters that appeal to japanese

[@panafa3617]

People seeing peak fiction and going "Who is that guy? Is he from Nintendo?" reminds me of how it was to be a Sonic fan with no internet

[@celestialstar5563]

The west will never let the blue hedgehog die 💙

[@PeruvianPotato]

For children maybe but for most people around my age, let's just say Sonic fans are typically associated with the infamous ones

[@IDoubleJ]

To be honest Sonic 3 was such a good movie it made me a Sonic fan. Because I saw the movie a week ago I played Sonic Mania for the first time in 8 years. I played Sonic games before but didn't appreciate them until now. Sonic finally resonates with me after all these years

[@omarreyes7626]

from what I've heard from friends in japan, Sonic is not exactly hated, heck is not even unpopular, he's a niche character, like Bayonetta, people like him enough but he doesn't have what we called "mainstream appeal", if Sonic was hated Sega would've given up on him a long time ago, leave production of the games to Sega of america, yet he's still the flagship character of the company and "sonic team" is still one of if not the most important game developer team in the company.

[@NousagiCaptain]

When you said “Krone” I was like: “Who?” Then I heard Korone’s voice and I was like “Oh Ko-roe-nay” lmao

[@thetoondevil]

It's kinda crazy to think Sonic, who has comics, movies, multiple shows, and he's still somehow just not that relevant in his home country.

[@CKLNstudios]

I didnt expect this vid to have only 1k views! It's really well made and researched, you earned a new sub :)

[@speedshoesyt]

Wow, thanks!!

[@globofoxfan2cs124]

Every now and then, I ponder to myself, "Why do the japanese care about Mario and Optimus Prime, but not a Blue Hedgehog?"

[@robinsr4745]

I recently thought about how weird it is we never got a Japan based country in sonic unleashed despite that being where sonic was created. Looks like it wasnt all that necessary due to his popularity being what it is in Japan.

[@mackendietoussaint5135]

It's not better than mufasa point blank period another reason why It flop it's because it truly does not follow its source material

[@8bitnation419]

I don't think Japan cared as much for Mascots. They mainly were interested in RPG's, Shootem Up games and Fighting Games, perhaps also Puzzle style games. The likely reason why Mario and Kirby did well was likely because Nintendo offered many other games that intrested Japanese audiences like Dragon Quest, Pokemon and Final Fantasy on their consoles. Sega didn't really have much of an answer for those games for their consoles. Mario even got Mario RPG and some puzzle games like Doctor Mario. Sonic only got 3D Blast and Sonic Pinball, no Sonic RPG, not until decades later. Another flaw maybe that Sonic was too focused towards Western Audiences, loud, fast and brash, which likely doesn't appeal to the Japanese. It would have to be localised for Japanese and the Asia market or just have it's own separate series for the Japanese and Asian markets where Sonic doesn't blast through each level. But overall the biggest reason would be their systems with a lack of RPG's and by the time it got to Modern Sonic, it became way too western.