TailsTube #5 (Remember When?)

TailsTube #5 (Remember When?)

Original Release Date: October 10th, 2023

Ahhh, nostalgia. Is there anything the internet loves more? Pornography, probably. Racism and witch-hunts too. Looking back at the past with a wistful fondness is indeed a favorite past time of people who spend entirely too much time looking at their phones or computers. You could even say that a misplaced nostalgia for an idealized past that never actually existed is part of why America is on the slippery slope towards full-blown fascism! Nevertheless, I think looking back on the cartoon shows or toys or breakfast cereals or whatever that you loved as a kid with a smile is generally a harmless activity. I mean, it is basically one of the main reasons this entire blog exists! "Sonic" fans tend to be highly nostalgic, whether they are old guys like me remembering the Genesis days and still holding a candle for Princess Sally or if they are a generation or two younger and recall "Sonic Adventure 2" or "Shadow the Hedgehog" blowing their minds. I simply can't wait until that cellphone game all about selling people alternate costumes and skins is a source of nostalgia for "Sonic" kids. It's gonna happen sooner than you think! 

Sega is absolutely aware of how fans of their trademark franchise are deeply sentimental. At this point, you could argue that nostalgia is one of the main driving forces of the series. Last year's big title, after all, was an expanded re-release of a game that came out when I was in college. The success of the live action movies seem heavily dependent upon "Sonic" being a thing that people think back on and smile about now. Every "Sonic" game made now includes a throwback or Easter egg nodding at some obscure bit of the series' history. I can't say I'm immune to this, as someone who loves that there's an entire "Classic" umbrella part of this universe now. This is seemingly the fate of all nerd properties, to franchises eating their own tail as they become increasingly devoted to celebrating their own existence in service of fans who only want to be reminded of simpler, happier times. Damn, there I go getting doomy again. Sorry about that. 

I bring up the existential emptiness of nostalgia as a concept because the fifth installment of "TailsTube" is seemingly devoted to looking back. It is called "Remember When?," which suggests an episode devoted to Sonic and friends recalling past adventures. It's kind of that. A line at the beginning places this episode, continuity-wise, shortly after the events of "Sonic Frontiers." Tails gets Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy physically in the studio with him. The discussion soon turns towards friends and enemies they haven't seen in a while. Namely, Mighty and Ray. A little later on, the discussion turns towards Fang the Hunter. That's pretty much it, though the final minutes of the broadcast has everyone announcing, without Tails getting any input, that they are about to have a cook-out. This continues what might be "TailsTube's" most important contribution to "Sonic" lore: That Sonic is a penniless mooch who is constantly stealing Tails' food. 

"Remember When??" is technically the start of the second "season" of "TailsTube," an essentially meaningless distinction when the program has as irregular a release schedule as this one. Writing credits for a lot of the newer episodes of this venture are tricky to find. However, if I was a betting man, I'd put money on this one emerging from Ian Flynn's pen. Mainly because "Remember When??" is, once again, an excuse to clarify details about the world and its timeline. Having previously dismissed the "Classic/Modern" divide, this episode outright confirms something I was speculating about not long ago. If the current iterations of Sonic and the gang are, indeed, the same ones that hung out with Mighty and Ray in the past... That means those guys are still out there, somewhere in the world, waiting to be re-introduced with flashy, updated designs whenever Sega deems them relevant again. The script is intentionally vague about where these two are now or what they might be up to. Amy simply says that they are always on adventures, aren't great about staying in contact, and they haven't heard from them in some time. They are among us though. That's nice. 

Flynn or whoever wrote this one goes further than that too. "Remember When??" references events from the IDW comics and the, at the time forthcoming, "Sonic Superstars." That continues to confirm that the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series is now a much more unified effort, all the games and the new comics taking place within one consistent world and timeline. No word on how "Sonic Prime," the movies, or the other cartoon shows relate to this, not yet anyway. This is an inevitable effect of Ian Flynn being given the keys to the Corvette, as it were. This is the same dude who took the tangled mess of plot points and unresolved story threads that was Archie "Sonic" and weaved it into some sort of coherent history. He's now doing the same thing with the different branches of the series, tying all the games and much of the spin-off media into one big tapestry. 

At least, as far as the English-language branch of the franchise is confirmed. "TailsTube #5" is the first of the series to not receive a Japanese dub. This has remained the case with all future episodes, "TailsTube" as a concern only being relevant to English-speaking fans, I guess. This is another clear indication that Japan doesn't actually care that much about "Sonic." See also: How the third movie, very successful in many global markets, basically flopped in the hedgehog's home country. No wonder they are letting us dorks here in God's country take over. It also makes me dread the very likely possible that Sega of Japan will eventually make some sweeping generalization or massive change that fucks up whatever master plan Ian and friends are cooking up here. You know it's gonna happen.  

Despite continuity concerns largely being the main topic at here, that's not what "TailsTube #5" is actually doing. Remember how I was bitching about how, sometimes, these YouTube shorts seem to be nothing more than quickie summaries for newer, less nerdy fans? That's more-or-less what "Remember When??" is doing. This is about quickly establishing who Mighty, Ray, and Fang are for anyone who might not know. The comics, "Sonic Mania" and "Sonic Mania Adventures" are all referenced. As is "Sega Sonic the Hedgehog," "Knuckles' Chaotix," and "Sonic the Fighter." However, the script here largely reads like a quick run-down of these guys' superpowers and personality points. Perhaps it hints at the main reason why Mighty and Ray haven't shown up in modern games still: They are basically just more powerful versions of Sonic and Tails. Mighty's gentle nature and Ray's sweetness are shouted out but the script mostly draws attention to their abilities and similarities to Sonic and Tails. Which doesn't make a great case for why these two should come back. 

Still, I guess it is nice that Sega considers Mighty and Ray worth mentioning. Since "TailsTube" is a quasi-promotional program, I don't know why so much time is spent on these two. Where they originally planned as DLC for "Superstars" before that underperformed? However, Fang the Hunter getting highlighted does make sense, considering his prominent role in that game. That leads to what is probably the main thing we all love to talk about when it comes to this guy: What the hell is his name and what even is he? "Nack the Weasel" is acknowledged as a past alias, as is "Fang the Sniper." (Which Amy amusingly mentions as being too violent.) This leads into the reveal is not a weasel, not a wolf, but a jerboa. The script does not clarify what the hell a jerboa is, for those who might know. I guess Sonic saying "One of those bouncy desert mouse things?" would be too meta. Akin to Sonic glancing at Knuckles and saying "You don't look like an egg-laying spiny anteater with a freakish four-headed peen!" 

It annoys me when characters are reduced to only a list of attributes or stats like this. I suppose that's unavoidable when characters are little more than gameplay features. However, I do like a certain feature of this episode. Actually putting Tails and the other three prongs of the team in a room together allows for a lot more banter between them. That leads to Knuckles complaining about Tails' computer thing, Sonic pointing out all the times the echidna has been tricked by Eggman, and Amy doing her best to police all the macho posturing. Shit like this is, in fact, what keeps me coming back to these videos! These personalities play off each other nicely. This cast is really good at bouncing dialogue back and forth. That makes this short little video more than a mere lore-dump. We actually learn some things about who these furry animals are and what their relationship with each other. We listen to real podcast – at least I do – more often because I like to hang out with the hosts than necessarily whatever the topic is. Bits like this in "TailsTube" captures that nicely. 

Also, I guess to signal that a new season has started, this episode features a new background. It's a look at Tails' lab, post-"Frontier." I'm sure the people who love to look into images like this for little Easter eggs found plenty. I like that the Tornado is front and center. Like all "TailsTube" so far, there's not much to this particular installment. I like the confirmation on Mighty and Ray's current status – whereabouts unknown but somewhere – and I like Sonic and Knuckles arguing like an old married couple. I guess I didn't feel like my five minutes were wasted. [6/10]