SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionSonic X
MANGA AdventureSonic the Hedgehog
MUSICHongami Precious Moment

REVIEWS

• 

  myvelouria

  70/100
  Follow me, set me free. Trust me and we will escape from the city.

  This review is spoiler free.

  

  Have you ever had the affection you harbor for a franchise resurface inside you like an erupting volcano thanks to its recent theatrical release? That would be the current situation between me and “Sonic the Hedgehog”. This franchise and I go far back, further back than most properties. The original Genesis game released just a month before I was born so I’ve never lived in a world without Sonic. I have memories going back as far as preschool age watching my sister and father play the first two games as well as watching “The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” cartoon where he was voiced by Jaleel White. Later when the “Adventure” games released I would get very into them, especially “Sonic Adventure 2”. Over the years I would find myself having moments where I’d just remember that when the franchise is good, it really warms my heart. When it’s bad it can be downright embarrassing, but I feel like deep down I’ve always been rooting for Sonic to do well. Thanks to the new live action films it seems as if there’s a lot of genuine excitement over the franchise again. So I decided, why not channel all this energy into something I can share with you?

  

  In 1996 we got “Sonic the Hedgehog”, or “Sonic the Hedgehog: the Movie” in the United States. A two episode OVA produced by Studio Pierrot that would later be released in America by A.D. Vision in 1999 as a direct to video movie to coincide with the release of “Sonic Adventure” on the Sega Dreamcast. The first half follows Sonic and Tails going to Robotropolis, a city created by Dr. Robotnik, to stop its Robot Generator from blowing up and defeat Metal Robotnik with Knuckles eventually joining in. The second half centers around a battle between Sonic and his greatest foe yet, Metal Sonic. This is a very simple and short OVA, something that I feel works given where the franchise was at during the mid 90s. The games only had so much story up to that point so it makes sense that an anime based off them would play itself this fast and easy.

  

  Visually speaking the anime has a really appealing style to it. I’ve always loved the classic Sonic designs and it feels good seeing them outside of the video games. Sonic is just a little guy with his noodle arms and potbelly, Tails looks just as cute as you would expect, and we got to see one of the most delightful designs Knuckles has ever had: cowboy Knuckles. I hope that gets worked into the next live action film in some way. With Robotnik I like that he gets to be big and round like he is in the games considering we have two anime original characters not drawn in that way. There’s the President, who has no name beyond his title, and his daughter Sara, who looks like the poor man’s Aerith Gainsborough. Had this OVA not predated “Final Fantasy VII” I would question why they made their resemblance so uncanny. This would also not be the last time Sonic would have a humanoid costar that looks like a Square Enix reject. But considering how their designs feel more anime like I appreciate Pierrot’s decision to not make Robotnik fit that same mold. I don’t dislike Sara’s design though, it is different but I think it did end up working out. With the animation it isn’t what I’d consider the best, but it isn’t bad. It feels more like standard 90s quality and who knows, maybe if it was a TV series instead of an OVA the quality would have been weaker. I do think the animated cut scenes in “Sonic CD” are superior to what we have here, but this is also better than what we later saw in “Sonic X” where they abused panning shots too much.

  

  The OVA is something that I feel makes for a good time, however it doesn’t come without its flaws. In the beginning Sonic shows no interest in going to Robotropolis saying Robotnik lies too much for him to believe this story about the generator and Metal Robotnik. Sara tries to sway him as if there is an established history between their characters, telling him “do it for me”, but she only exists in this anime and we don’t know anything about her. The only way he would be convinced was due to an admittedly weak argument from Tails, that perhaps this was the rare time where Robotnik isn’t lying. Was that really the best way they could have gotten the story moving? I expect Tails to be smarter than this. The truth is while I don’t mind Sara, she also isn’t a character I had much interest in. It’s good that she doesn’t get in the way of the characters I want to watch, but at the same time I question her purpose beyond serving as a plot device. The second half with Metal Sonic is where I wish the animation was amped up some more considering its so action focused. They managed to make those scenes look good on an aesthetic level and the animation is competent, but they’re also using the typical tricks of the time as far as making Sonic appear fast without actually animating him moving quickly. There’s a lot of moments of him vanishing and reappearing in a different place, lots of anime do this to work around things that are too complex to animate. Think of how chase scenes go in “Dragon Ball Z” and you have the right idea. I also wish they could have used music from the games here. I’m not sure if that was something Sega wouldn’t allow or if the people working on the project just wanted to make something new, but it feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe this is my own bias talking, but it would have been nice to hear those classic songs.

  

  This OVA isn’t perfect by any means. I don’t favor the 90s as far as anime decades go, but I know there’s better anime than this from that period. Pierrot has made better anime than this, after all they gave us “Yu Yu Hakusho”. Imagining a Sonic anime with that animation quality blows my mind. But I can’t help but enjoy the OVA as it is anyway. It’s something I’d recommend to Sonic fans, especially ones who want to see more of him in 2D. This is a rare moment where I’ve only watched something in the English dub and while it isn’t exceptional, for the time it is good. Knuckles has a weird voice, but it all does come together in the end. When it comes to this franchise and these characters there is just something that keeps people like me coming back for more, even after all the missteps through the years. Thanks to 2022’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” all of the love I’ve felt for the franchise during my life has boiled over in a way I didn’t expect. And the truth is the older I get the more I find myself appreciating things like this. I sometimes worry my tastes are regressing, but regardless even something as ridiculous as Sonic still has a proven value even 30 years after his inception. If this OVA sounds like a good time to you, I say check it out. It isn’t perfect, but regardless there is only one Sonic.

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• 

  MegaTheRealOne

  75/100
  Good Animation, Good Action, So-So Everything Else

  (Originally posted on Letterboxd)

  Ever since his inception in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog has had a FUCK TON of spin-off merchandise. Not just in the form of some extra video games that would probably suck, but also a whole slew of TV shows, comics, books, toys/plushies, and of course, movies, with all of these things still being made to this very day. And of course, appropriately fitting with Sonic's core identity, all of these products fluctuate in quality constantly, but in terms of the movies, they have pretty much stayed in the same state of either being either good or just mediocre. Of course, everyone knows of the most recent live-action Sonic movies, but before there were any of those, back then, there was only one Sonic the Hedgehog movie, that being the 1996 OVA.

  In terms of my experience with this movie, I remember watching it once as a kid when I randomly stumbled across it on YouTube one day, and I remember liking it of course, because it was Sonic, and every dumb kid likes everything Sonic. Now, rewatching the film, I have collected a few new opinions on this film, such as the fact that it is REALLY FUCKING WEIRD. Aside from that though, I thought the film was still pretty good, despite it not holding up too well, as well as having some questionable choices present in it.

  The story is what you would expect from a Sonic movie, while also taking some creative directions that are pretty unique for a movie like this, the characters are mostly what you would expect, with the exception of a few new characters that don't fit in too well, especially... Sara (trust me, we will get to her soon enough), the voice acting is pretty bad, not gonna lie, but it is pretty entertaining hearing these voices coming out of these characters, and it seems like they were having fun with it, the animation is pretty good, and there is plenty of movement and action throughout that make it enjoyable, the humor (if you can even call it that) is pretty weird and awkward, so it fits right in being an anime, and speaking of which, there are plenty of weird anime moments throughout.

  It pretty much does what it sets out to do, and that is all it needs to do, being pretty entertaining, both genuinely and ironically, especially in the pretty bad parts. However, there is one BIG problem that I have with this movie: Sara. I fucking HATE this bitch, with a burning passion. As a character herself, I don't really mind her, as she just serves as a... "love interest" to Sonic, for some reason, but ignoring how gross and weird that is, the reason why I hate her is because she is FUCKING ANNOYING. Every time she is on screen, she is either yelling at something or being the typical anime girl trope, where she is used for "those jokes", which are made even more awkward considering who else is involved in them. Although, with all that said, she isn't in the film too much for her to ruin it, and I overall still had a good time with it, and it would probably satisfy any fan of the series who watches it.

  Overall, while having some usual anime problems and SARA, this was a pretty good first attempt at a Sonic movie, and if you haven't checked it out at this point, you may as well give it a shot. Just, you know, don't expect anything on the level of high art, because Sonic will never be high art, no matter what product it is.

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