Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings - Episode 1: Shadow and Maria

Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings

Episode 1: Shadow and Maria 

Original Release Date: September 25th, 2024

Sega, in all its lofty buzz-word corporate speak pretensions, assured us that 2024 was going to be the Year of Shadow the Hedgehog. Recalling Nintendo's famously unsuccessful declaration that 2013 was the Year of Luigi, Sega boldly announced last April that Shadow was going to take a front seat presence in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise. They set up a website for it and everything. Accordingly, the last 12 months saw many big and small promotional events built around the so-called Ultimate Lifeform. All the mobile games got Shadow-centric events. Shadow-related DLC became available for the current games, including the Apple exclusive one you forgot about. There was a manga, a Lego set, fancy pins. Those living in the southwestern United States could purchase Shadow themed collectible cups at Bahama Buck's, a shaved ice chain that apparently exists. There was a Shadow the Hedgehog-themed Angry Birds tournament. Did you know there were Angry Birds tournaments? In the year 2024?! Most bizarrely, a physical version of the Dark Rider was toured around the U.S., allowing fans a chance to gawk at the actual motorcycle actually operated by the actual Shadow the Hedgehog! What a time to be alive. 

The promotional event known as "Fearless: Year of Shadow" is technically still on-going, as of this writing. After getting to cosplay as Batman back in September, the angsty hedgehog is taking a prime position next to the Dark Knight in the DC Comics crossover. IDW is publishing a Shadow one-shot this July, which I guess will mark the official end of this fifteen month long year. Despite that, all the hype was clearly meant to build towards two climaxes in late 2024: The release of "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" in theaters in December and a new "Shadow" video game in October. Honestly, the release of the remaster of "Sonic Generations" was completely overshadowed – heh – by its bundled spin-off, "Shadow Generations." The new half-game was well received by fans and I'm guessing it sold pretty well too. "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" also made a lot of money. All of this means that "Year of Shadow" was an actual good idea Sega had, paying off for the company. Suck it, Luigi! Hedgehogs rule, Italian plumbers drool! 

"Shadow Generations'" story drew heavily from the previous video game starring this guy, "Shadow the Hedgehog." That the foregrounding of the angsty hedgehog's extraterrestrial origins were rapturously received by fans shows we've come a long way since 2005. Two decades ago – give me a second to reflect on how much of my life I've wasted – Shadow's solo game was widely loathed. The gameplay received mixed reviews and the new features were said to lack depth, sure. However, most of the negative reaction centered on the game's tone and story. The decision to add guns and mild swearing to a "Sonic" game was seen as a desperate, comically half-assed attempt to turn a strictly kid-friendly series into something edgier. The game's plot was largely criticized, especially the decision to add aliens to Shadow's origin. I don't know why but people always get mad when aliens are involved in the origins of "Sonic" things. This reception led Sega to not touch the Black Arms stuff for years, the comics forced to keep them off-panel. 

That was a long time ago. The kids who played "Shadow the Hedgehog" are now old enough to look back on it fondly. The snarktastic world of mid-2000s gaming journalism, that treated everything "Sonic" as a shameful relic of the nineties, is now a distant land itself. At a certain point, people came around to actually liking Shadow's edgiest phase. The prominent role for Black Doom and frequent references to Shadow's past in "Shadow Generations" cemented that part of the franchise lore as another weird, convoluted thing that makes the "Sonic" universe the delightfully eccentric entity it is. Shadow is no longer ashamed of being a genetically engineered super-weapon created with extraterrestrial DNA. He lets his freak flag fly now, baby. 

I bring all of this up because, as we've established by now, animated shorts promoting the new "Sonic" games getting posted to YouTube are common practice. To show how fuckin' serious they were about this Year of Shadow, we actually got a three part presentation. "Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings" was an animated prequel to the game, delving more into Shadow's past, posted in the weeks leading up to the game's release. Episode one, entitled "Shadow and Maria," shows the young Ultimate Lifeform and his favorite Robotnik family member bonding aboard the Ark. Their innocent playtime, and the pep talk she gives the always angsty Shadow, is interrupted when G.U.N. attacks the satellite. There's a robot fight before Shadow seems to fall further and further into his memories, revealing this flashback as a dream he's having. Disturbed upon waking, he becomes convinced this was a vision rather than a dream. He sets out to uncover what it could mean. 

Of the twelve people who are reading this blog, I'm about to alienate six of you with the following statement: I think Shadow's backstory, with Maria's death and the ARK and all that, is kind of overrated. Maria Robotnik is the definition of a sacrificial lamb. She exists to die, to give Shadow a properly edgy reason to be pissed at the world. Meanwhile, Maria barely exists as a character in her own right. In this episode, she and Shadow are seen playing, racing to an observation deck to see the Aurora Borealis over the Earth. To emphasize how fragile and vulnerable she is, the girl is gasping for breath. In return, Shadow gets righteously angry with himself for his inability to heal all her woes. Naturally, her response is nothing less than perfectly loving and accepting. If, by some unlikely series of circumstances, you started watching "Dark Beginnings" without knowing the fate about to befall Maria, you'd still probably guess that she was doomed to die. She is the definition of a beautiful cinnamon roll, too good, too pure for this world. It all feels a little contrived, a bit melodramatic, if you ask me. 

All of which is an issue I have with "Sonic Adventure 2's" script, not with what "Dark Beginnings" is doing. Ultimately, this episode functions as an expanded version of Shadow's dark awakening. It exists to give us more context to these events. Ian Flynn's script is a little heavy on the "as you know" dialogue, Maria explaining her illness and Shadow discussing his status as the so-called Ultimate Lifeform. However, I think the writer mostly works as an epic exaggeration of Shadow's mythic origins. There's explosions and catastrophe and a duel with a robot. Perhaps in this context, Maris being a simplistic plot device of a character makes sense. This is the "Sonic" brand embracing its own grandness, applying an almost Biblical sense of mythological importance to these events. This is not merely Shadow's origin story but his creation myth. It's supposed to be bigger than life, I suppose. That is further supported by a sweeping, very dramatic musical score.

That last point is further emphasized by the main thing most people remember about the "Shadow Generations" short: These cartoons look really fucking pretty. All of "Dark Beginnings" was directed by Christopher Luc and Kevin Molina-Ortiz. Luc and Molina-Ortiz are best known for their work as storyboard artists on "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Blue-Eyed Samurai," shows I have not seen because I'm perpetually seven years behind what's current. Nevertheless, I am familiar with these programs' reputation for being gorgeously animated. Especially in terms of highly kinetic action scenes. That's where "Shadow and Maria" truly excels. The fight between Shadow and Emerl – I always forget he's part of Shadow's origin story – weaves stylishly in between their fists and feet as they kick and punch at each other. Each blows send out shock waves of energy, shattering near-by glass tubes, to show us how overpowered these guys are. There's a punishing preciseness to their movements, each blow landing with the kind of determination that you usually only see in Hong Kong martial arts movies. I have no doubt that the fight was actually choreographed, because it's all so exact on its movement. The animation is unfailingly smooth with a constant sense of movement, evocative lighting, a depth of color, and an artistic eye that constantly dazzles. It looks exceptionally cool, the quality of animation here being on-par with an especially high quality action anime. 

"Dark Beginnings'" commitment to looking as bitchin' as possible at all times becomes more apparent as the episode reveals that this is a dream. As Shadow crashes through the glass of the ARK's observation deck, the shattering window takes him further into his own memories. He becomes a fractured witness to Gerald's isolation and execution, before Maria's death appears to him as a storm cloud cracked by a stray lightning bolt. Black Doom's glowering face appears in the sky behind it, suggesting the alien overlord's status as the author of all of Shadow's pain. I love shit like this, when a show gives itself a license to be a little surreal, a little dream-like, to explore the character's psychological hang-ups as physical obstacles. That, to me, shows a willingness to take the character's trauma seriously and to engage with these lofty ideas on a bigger level. Of course Maria and Gerald's death loom over Shadow's whole life like an ominous storm cloud. Of course he feels trapped in a nightmare prison that he has nothing to do with, forced to relive the same tragedy until he breaks the cycle of manipulation and control. Hell yeah, that's the good shit. 

And, I must emphasize again, it all looks really cool. There are several truly striking, moody visuals here. Like the red tubes of Gerald's experiments lighting up in the dark as Shadow sails by them or a lingering shot of her shattered moon in the night sky, a ring of debris around it. Any criticism I might have is minor in comparison to the sheer artistry on display. (For example: I've never been crazy about Kirk Thornton's Vegeta-ian take on Shadow. It's a little too self-aware in its raspy toughness. Kōji Yusa, who always plays Shadow like he's the morally conflicted undercover cop in a Yakuza movie, has a better grip on the character for me. I think Yuri Shiratori is also a little less aggravatingly precious as Maria than Stephanie Sheh, hence why I tend to stick to the Japanese audio for these things as much as I can.) I can't praise the "Sonic CD" opening strictly for the strength of its vibe and aura moments and not extend this slice of raditude the same praise. And there's two more? Neat! [9/10]