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said at 8:02 AM on Sat Apr 21 2018
After watching most of this show, I'm gonna say this, I only think it's average at best, it got the adventurous plot that's appealing for boys but the character writing eh... the only character I like was Antoine, everyone else was too one note, Sonic himself is in one of his most annoying portrayal ever, Sally is boring and naggy, Tails is... there, Bunnie was sorta cute but has no focus, Dulcie was kinda weird and Rotor... err who was that again? Eggman himself is deadly but also rather boring and his nephew... er who was that again?
Also... this isn't something that affected my opinion but it's really not that dark, it's not sugar coated it has some tenseness but most anime that airs even before this that isn't for super young audiences like Doraemon could turn it into tomato puree in that department or... even Swat Katz for a western cartoon
ReplyAlso... this isn't something that affected my opinion but it's really not that dark, it's not sugar coated it has some tenseness but most anime that airs even before this that isn't for super young audiences like Doraemon could turn it into tomato puree in that department or... even Swat Katz for a western cartoon
said at 1:23 AM on Sat Apr 28 2018
@HienFan Finished it yesterday, my words stay, though I will note that the characters(mainly with Sonic) tend to argue in amounts I can barely tolerate especially Sonic and Sally, it seems pretty popular in Shounen though? I think it has something to do with boyish banter but I find it tended to be overfocused in a lot of the popular ones
Ending seem semi conclusive of the arc other than the hook with what's his name again that I can never remember despite Eggman screaming at him every single episode, oh it's Snively
A positive is the art is okay compared to the really psychedelic look of Adventure with decent voice acting
ReplyEnding seem semi conclusive of the arc other than the hook with what's his name again that I can never remember despite Eggman screaming at him every single episode, oh it's Snively
A positive is the art is okay compared to the really psychedelic look of Adventure with decent voice acting
said at 9:24 PM on Thu Feb 2 2017
Videogames are very tough to adapt for any media other than themselves because the medium is not typically suited for film material, much less a television show. Furthermore, if done clumsily, the resulting project could be a disaster. So it is a pleasant surprise that this 26-episode Saturday morning cartoon series (subtitled Sonic SatAM by fans) is actually entertaining. Based on the bestselling game from Sega, this casts the titular hero, a cocky, somewhat arrogant but heroic hedgehog who can run faster than a speeding bullet as a member of the "Freedom Fighters", a group of forest animals threatened by the evil Dr. Robotnik. The action is mostly set in a hidden forest village, although our heroes spend most of each episode infiltrating the villainous Robotnik's futuristic, grimy, post-apocalyptic base. The production values are pretty much par for the course for a cartoon like this, but what ultimately puts this show over the more comical (and inferior) second series is the serious, sometimes dark tone, especially episodes which touch upon topics like environmental disasters and the loss of loved ones in war. The latter theme is surprisingly well presented in the form of Sonic and his girlfriend, the spunky Pirincess Sally, both experiencing tragedies involving parental figures they are unable to get back. It isn't difficult in the least to figure out how each episode will turn out, but the varied, twisting plots and bits of character development plus the aforementioned emotional spectrum makes this one of the better videogame-adapted series. (The only exceptions are at least two episodes comprised of shorts, which are much more comical in tone, and as such, are pretty forgettable.) I wouldn't recommend this as an all-time great, but for fans of action, romance, humor (Sonic gets to have quite a bit of one-liners), and even a touch of emotion, this is definitely worth checking out.
Replysaid at 2:08 PM on Wed Dec 9 2015
I wish it hadn't been canceled. It was such a good show.
Replysaid at 5:32 AM on Wed Sep 30 2015
The series wasn't all that good. It didn't follow the games at all. What's worse is that the series ended with a cliffhanger. I hate it when that happens. The comic book series is way better. There should be a remake of the cartoon series.
Replysaid at 4:41 PM on Tue Sep 29 2015
I've just finished watching the entirety of this series, and man, was this a lousy, lousy experience.
Starting off with the characters since they're by far the aspect I hate most of the show. Sonic is an obnoxious, petulant brat; Sally is half-nag, half-expositor of tediously unengaging techno-babble alongside her little handheld computer NICOLE; Antoine and Dulcy are among the most tortuously unfunny excuses for comic relief around; Tails, normally Sonic's most faithful and versatile companion, is insultingly useless; even Robotnik, the arguable star attraction of rival series AoStH, has had much of his charisma and humor sucked dry in favor of a motiveless Captain Planet-villain persona that quickly grows tiresome after a few episodes. The rest of the cast are decidedly bland and unmemorable; even Tim Curry's character isn't much fun, which is quite troubling.
The story is the standard environmental "trees good, pollution bad" schtick that most animation companies were cranking out in the early 90's, and the plot is made even more unengaging largely due to the aforementioned central cast and weak attempts at comedy and drama; the comedy is either painfully hip or generally grating and is further mishandled by the stilted stylings of some cheap Korean sweatshop incapable of selling the simplest of wild takes, and the drama, apart from often being contrived, whisked away by some deus-ex-machina ring or just plain lacking in sense outside of the need to maintain the status quo, is ineffective by sheer virtue of being connected to characters that can hardly be liked.
The only thing I consider even halfway decent is the kinda catchy theme song, which doubles as the only piece of music in the show that isn't utterly forgettable.
I'll never proclaim AoStH to be a masterpiece, but even with its shoddy execution in some areas, it met its simple ambition of being goofy entertainment, which is much more than what can be said for this show, which fails miserably in any goal it may've strived for.
ReplyStarting off with the characters since they're by far the aspect I hate most of the show. Sonic is an obnoxious, petulant brat; Sally is half-nag, half-expositor of tediously unengaging techno-babble alongside her little handheld computer NICOLE; Antoine and Dulcy are among the most tortuously unfunny excuses for comic relief around; Tails, normally Sonic's most faithful and versatile companion, is insultingly useless; even Robotnik, the arguable star attraction of rival series AoStH, has had much of his charisma and humor sucked dry in favor of a motiveless Captain Planet-villain persona that quickly grows tiresome after a few episodes. The rest of the cast are decidedly bland and unmemorable; even Tim Curry's character isn't much fun, which is quite troubling.
The story is the standard environmental "trees good, pollution bad" schtick that most animation companies were cranking out in the early 90's, and the plot is made even more unengaging largely due to the aforementioned central cast and weak attempts at comedy and drama; the comedy is either painfully hip or generally grating and is further mishandled by the stilted stylings of some cheap Korean sweatshop incapable of selling the simplest of wild takes, and the drama, apart from often being contrived, whisked away by some deus-ex-machina ring or just plain lacking in sense outside of the need to maintain the status quo, is ineffective by sheer virtue of being connected to characters that can hardly be liked.
The only thing I consider even halfway decent is the kinda catchy theme song, which doubles as the only piece of music in the show that isn't utterly forgettable.
I'll never proclaim AoStH to be a masterpiece, but even with its shoddy execution in some areas, it met its simple ambition of being goofy entertainment, which is much more than what can be said for this show, which fails miserably in any goal it may've strived for.
said at 6:08 AM on Thu Oct 15 2015
@CatsTuxedo Watched the annotated version, I see? :P
Replysaid at 10:58 AM on Thu Aug 3 2017
@Torak It's only okay considering what the actors were given. The voices run from eh at best to annoying at worst. The characterizations certainly play a big part in that, and I've already covered that aspect in the original post.
Replysaid at 11:35 AM on Thu Aug 3 2017
@CatsTuxedo Well constructed. Can't say I agree with you, but better than nothing I suppose.
I thought the standard environmental message was a little more subtle in its execution, or at least wasn't either ham-fisted or intellectually insulting like everything in AoSth was.
Am I giving the target audience (age 7+) too much credit? Perhaps, but I'll always admire this show for trying to do a more different, grittier take on Sonic the Hedgehog.
ReplyI thought the standard environmental message was a little more subtle in its execution, or at least wasn't either ham-fisted or intellectually insulting like everything in AoSth was.
Am I giving the target audience (age 7+) too much credit? Perhaps, but I'll always admire this show for trying to do a more different, grittier take on Sonic the Hedgehog.
said at 3:05 PM on Thu Aug 3 2017
@Torak I feel like a lot of the people claiming that SatAM's environmentalism was subtle are just parroting what a particular internet critic said, because Robotnik's anti-environment reveling is quite blatant and unjustified beyond the sake of being a card-carrying bad guy. I'd argue that AoStH was smarter in the sense that it knew that being goofy fun was much closer to the Sonic franchise's element and it never had such insecure pretensions of being anything more important than that.
Replysaid at 4:39 PM on Thu Aug 3 2017
@CatsTuxedo Okay, I'll give you the point about 'Robotnik's anti-environment reveling'. Like I said though, the general execution of SatAM's themes and story was only 'a little' more subtle than AoSth. Probably because Sonic SatAM's themes were more complex and interesting than the basic and uninteresting morals in 'Sonic Sez' but we'll get to that.
Here's where I can agree with you on the show's faults:
A) Season 2 was considerably weaker than season 1 in my opinion. The first series was more character focused, the themes were clear but interesting and done well. I particularly enjoyed episodes such as 'Sonic and Sally' 'Hooked on Sonics' 'Warp Sonic' and 'Sonic's Nightmare'.
Season 2 suffered from too many boring 'side-quest' type episodes, forgettable side characters and a predictable ending. (And a disappointing one at that...)
B) The 'shorts' episodes were pretty bad and forgettable.
C) Most of the humor wasn't funny, but each to their own.
D) Most of the characters were forgettable, not unlikable, but like with you didn't leave a big impact on me.
Where I disagree with you is our own individual interpretations on the show, as you mention 'insecure pretensions' which I don't see.
Sonic to me was cocky, assured and fun loving. He was obsessed with himself, which can get on people's nerves, yet he was always prepared to put his friends before him and save the day when the stakes were raised, making him sympathetic to me.
Sally was the straight character that kept Sonic in check from acting more annoying, thank goodness. She was very smart, being a tech genius and team coordinator, and her 'sassy' nature was down to her feeling she was always right. That's part of her character. She also has to cope with personal tragedies making her more sympathetic. Would you rather have a Mary Sue?
Robotink may have lost his scene stealing hamminess from AoSoh, but like how John Baldry left his impact, Jim Cummings certainly left his by giving a chilling and delectably menacing performance. While Robotnik wasn't the most interesting villain, you could tell he was having fun and when he became annoyed, it was funny to watch.
Antoine, I'll admit can join the forgettable side cast, but at times he could reach such high levels of pathetic that it kind of tickled me a bit. Not sure why.
For themes, what I liked about SatAM a lot was the power that Robotnik had over this world. The Freedom Fighters carefully had to plan their each move, but even then they were constantly captured and made episodes tense to watch. So in my opinion they got that right. I could go on, but we'd be here forever.
In AoSth, they slap together the most basic morals that any parent would tell their children such as ""Don't be a fool, smoking isn't cool!" at the end of episodes thinking it was adding something more to what it 'had' in the first place.
Even if the drama was lacking on your end (and Deus-Ex-Machina rings which Sonic couldn't get to in 'Hooked on Sonics'), the virtue of wanting to see characters get out alive is down to personal view on them.
So while this wasn't a great show by any means, considering what also came out around the early 90s, it was still an interesting change of pace for the franchise which, in my opinion, got a lot of aspects right.
But hey, we're two adults analysing a cartoon show with a 7+ rating. What's to be expected? I for one don't like it as much now, but I do appreciate the show for what it was trying to do. :)
ReplyHere's where I can agree with you on the show's faults:
A) Season 2 was considerably weaker than season 1 in my opinion. The first series was more character focused, the themes were clear but interesting and done well. I particularly enjoyed episodes such as 'Sonic and Sally' 'Hooked on Sonics' 'Warp Sonic' and 'Sonic's Nightmare'.
Season 2 suffered from too many boring 'side-quest' type episodes, forgettable side characters and a predictable ending. (And a disappointing one at that...)
B) The 'shorts' episodes were pretty bad and forgettable.
C) Most of the humor wasn't funny, but each to their own.
D) Most of the characters were forgettable, not unlikable, but like with you didn't leave a big impact on me.
Where I disagree with you is our own individual interpretations on the show, as you mention 'insecure pretensions' which I don't see.
Sonic to me was cocky, assured and fun loving. He was obsessed with himself, which can get on people's nerves, yet he was always prepared to put his friends before him and save the day when the stakes were raised, making him sympathetic to me.
Sally was the straight character that kept Sonic in check from acting more annoying, thank goodness. She was very smart, being a tech genius and team coordinator, and her 'sassy' nature was down to her feeling she was always right. That's part of her character. She also has to cope with personal tragedies making her more sympathetic. Would you rather have a Mary Sue?
Robotink may have lost his scene stealing hamminess from AoSoh, but like how John Baldry left his impact, Jim Cummings certainly left his by giving a chilling and delectably menacing performance. While Robotnik wasn't the most interesting villain, you could tell he was having fun and when he became annoyed, it was funny to watch.
Antoine, I'll admit can join the forgettable side cast, but at times he could reach such high levels of pathetic that it kind of tickled me a bit. Not sure why.
For themes, what I liked about SatAM a lot was the power that Robotnik had over this world. The Freedom Fighters carefully had to plan their each move, but even then they were constantly captured and made episodes tense to watch. So in my opinion they got that right. I could go on, but we'd be here forever.
In AoSth, they slap together the most basic morals that any parent would tell their children such as ""Don't be a fool, smoking isn't cool!" at the end of episodes thinking it was adding something more to what it 'had' in the first place.
Even if the drama was lacking on your end (and Deus-Ex-Machina rings which Sonic couldn't get to in 'Hooked on Sonics'), the virtue of wanting to see characters get out alive is down to personal view on them.
So while this wasn't a great show by any means, considering what also came out around the early 90s, it was still an interesting change of pace for the franchise which, in my opinion, got a lot of aspects right.
But hey, we're two adults analysing a cartoon show with a 7+ rating. What's to be expected? I for one don't like it as much now, but I do appreciate the show for what it was trying to do. :)
said at 6:47 PM on Fri Mar 6 2015
RIP Christine Cavanaugh. You were a great voice for Bunnie Rabbot.
Replysaid at 8:04 AM on Mon Jul 7 2014
What ever brought in 2 Different Sonic TV Show's in the Early 90s. Did they air at the same time?
Replysaid at 1:18 AM on Sun Oct 26 2014
@CuriousUserX90 One aired on the weekday the other on the Saturday if you want to know
Replysaid at 6:16 AM on Mon Dec 8 2014
@HienFan And one was Recorded in Canada, The Weekday one,
Replysaid at 1:03 AM on Tue Mar 25 2014
I tried the show but I don't think it's that good, it's kinda average from how hard they try to be something else other than Sonic the Hedgehog. I prefer the Adventure of Sonic the Hedgehog, yes the animation(and art) is not good but it was funny and it didn't try to hide it
Replysaid at 8:01 PM on Sat Feb 22 2014
it sucked when they canceled the show however I like how they continued it in Archie comics
Replysaid at 7:08 AM on Tue Jun 22 2010
Surely, the casting of Jaleel White, better known for playing Steve Urkel, as Sonic must have been some joke on the part of DiC, aware of Sonic's characterization of "cool hedgehog"
Replysaid at 12:20 AM on Wed May 23 2012
@NCZ It no doubt was, and yet - still my favorite Sonic voice to this day. Heck, he IS Sonic to me. *nods*
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said at 9:09 PM on Sun May 27 2018