Sonic X, Episode 1.13: Beating Eggman, Part 2

Sonic X, Episode 1.13: Beating Eggman, Part 2

Japanese Title: Attack on the Eggman Base (Part Two)

Japanese Air Date: June 29th, 2003

U.S. Air Date: November 29th, 2003

"Sonic X" picks up right where it left off last time. Tails, Amy, Chris and Frances remain pinned down by E-35 Funfun. Sonic rushes in to save them and quickly defeats the machine. Just as Tails uncovers the Yellow Chaos Emerald, Eggman yoinks it and flies away. Our heroes take chase in the X-Tornado. They return to Eggman's base, just as it's under attack by the U.S. military. Rouge and Topaz — quickly joined by Knuckles — make it into the base's power station but are soon trapped inside with their own bomb. Luckily, Sonic is here to save the day and kick some robot ass.

Has there ever been a satisfying resolution to a cliffhanger? Whether it be in comics, animation, live action television, or old time-y movie serials, it seems most cliffhangers are designed to make sure you tune in next week... And not so much to have a satisfying conclusion in their own right. Last time, Sonic ran off to rescue Chris and Tails, whose situation seemed very grim indeed. Today's episode starts with Sonic rushing in and knocking over Funfun with a single kick to the head. When the machine gets back up, Sonic grabs a Power Ring and tears it apart in seconds. The rest of this episode has pretty much nothing to do with the scene the last one ended on, proving the entire contrived scenario was created strictly just to end the last episode in an exciting place. Feels a little bullshitty, man.

This episode also proves to me, once again, what a weird character the Japanese version of Eggman is. At the beginning of the episode, he seems overjoyed that he's nearly won. He commands Funfun to stomp on the X-Tornado and crush Tails. He actually tells the robot to "Kill him!" He builds a robot powered by two Chaos Emeralds, that almost crushes Sonic to death. Pretty dark. Later, Eggman is comically almost taken out by his own henchmen and laughs like a child when riding around in what looks like one of those coin-operated kiddie rides. So which is it, "Sonic X?" Is Eggman a cold and calculating villain ready to murder his enemies? Or a childish comic relief bad guy that shouldn't be taken seriously? The answer is, I guess, both. But the back-and-forth between these two extremes is still so weird to me. 

If nothing else, it seems like "Beating Eggman, Part 2" will be an important episode to this show's lore. The attack on Eggman's base is televised and seemingly watched by everyone in Station Square. When Sonic swoops in and saves the day, everyone sees it. This seems to be the point where Sonic goes from being a wanted criminal by the cops, or some weird cryptozoological legend, to a beloved hero all over the world. The crowd watching on the big TV in Station Square's Time Square (Time Station Square?) all cheer when Sonic wins at the end. Obviously, our hero will be doing no more hiding after this point, which is probably for the best. As that storyline was starting to get old.

The second part of the episode, devoted to Rouge and Topaz' team rushing into Eggman's base, feels like it probably should've been more exciting. Knuckles sailing in on a missile, even shooting "Yahoo!" like Slim Pickins in "Dr. Strangelove," is pretty funny. Watching Rouge flirt belligerently with both Knuckles and Topaz is always entertaining. (This also leads to a moment of Knuckles denying he's Sonic's friend before admitting he does know him, like the tsun-tsun he is.) Yet once the characters get locked in the room with the bomb, this plot line becomes totally inert. It's becomes Knuckles and Rouge trying to punch and kick through the door, the tension of the literal ticking bomb next to them never really being felt. 

Since Sonic has a habit of quickly ripping through Eggman's robots, there is some novelty in seeing him actually struggle in the last fight. As if to emphasize the robot's power, it is modeled after classic super-robot anime Mazinger Z. This is a reference American kids watching this show in 2003 were unlikely to catch but is immediately obvious to an old weeb like me. The Egg-Mobile even attaches right to the bot's head, like Mazinger Z's pilder. Still, no matter how close Eggman's Go Nagai homage comes to smashing Sonic, the hedgehog wins. The sequence of Sonic running up the machine's leg is so sluggish, that I can only assume we are actually observing this moment from Sonic's perspective. That he's actually moving too quickly for the eye to see or something. Either way, it's a disappointing end to what should've been a neat battle. 

I was reading the other night about how some people apparently regard "Sonic X's" animation, at least in some episodes, as quite poor. I didn't even notice before now, probably because even a mediocre anime looks great when compared to the garbage animation of the DiC cartoons I've been reviewing for the last year. Still, the seams are starting to show. There's a lot of repetition in this episode, of Eggman laughing. Of Rouge and Knuckles pounding in a big steel door. Scenes of Sonic, energized after grabbing the two Emeralds, look especially awkward. Some episodes of "Sonic X" have looked pretty fluid and lively while others, like this one, look pretty stiff and cheap. That happens sometimes, I guess. 

Overall, the second part of "Attack on the Eggman Base" feels disappointing after the exciting first half. The moment that really sticks out to me, in this one, is when Chris tries to awkwardly talk Frances out of going with to Eggman's base. He doesn't want his friend to be in danger but she's having a great time. Is Chris Thorndyke the most awkward grade-schooler to ever live? Sure feels that way sometimes. Also, Amy completely disappears in the second half of this episode, which is kind of funny. Anyway, this is the first episode of "Sonic X" to really let me down, probably because I liked the proceeding episodes so much more. [5/10]