Sonic X, Episode 2.21: Map of Mayhem

Sonic X, Episode 2.21: Map of Mayhem

Japanese Title: The Great Decisive Battle at Latitude 0!

Japanese Air Date: February 22nd, 2004

U.S. Air Date: March 5th, 2005

Season two of "Sonic X" was mostly preoccupied with adapting several of the video games. With their version of the "Adventure" duo and "Sonic Battle" behind them, the show could've moved on to adapting "Sonic Heroes" or maybe the "Advance" games. (The third of which was about to come out a few months after this episode.) Instead, "Sonic X" decided to conclude season two by getting back to its true calling: Screwing around and sticking Sonic and friends into wacky adventures that don't have much to do with their usual antics. 

"Map of Mayhem" begins with a marine research vessel disappearing in a mysterious stretch of ocean called the Gran Pacific. Topaz is on the ship, because the vessel had some sort of connection with government documents. This causes the President to send Rouge to investigate. At the same time, Eggman has Decoe and Bocoe steal an ancient map from an archeologist called Dr. Atsumi. The map is connected to the lost continent of Murasia, who supposedly rearranged the world's continents millions of years ago by attacking a volcanic hotspot known as "the Earth's bellybutton." Sonic and friends investigate, teaming up with Atsumi and Knuckles. They soon uncover that Eggman is behind the disappearance and hopes to "stimulates the Earth's bellybutton." A huge, three-way battle between Eggman's new ship, Sonic and the gang, and a government super weapon reverse engineered from Eggman technology ensues over this pivotal location. 

"Map of Mayhem" is an unusually plot-heavy episode of "Sonic X," if you couldn't tell. That's because the writers are paying homage to some older media here. Not just to the "lost continent" subgenre, which has a long history of its own, but specifically to the sci-if films made by Toho in the 1960s. The plot most recalls the 1963 film, "Atragon." That film is about the surface world being attacked by a long lost, sunken civilization known as Mu. In America, "Atragon" is best known as the debut appearance of kaiju Manda. In Japan, the film seems better known for the Gotengo, its flying submarine outfitted with an enormous drill. This show already paid homage to the Gotengo, in the design of the Egg Fort. That design is brought back with the G.U.N. built third iteration. 

This is the most obvious callback but far from the only one. Dr. Atsumi is voiced by Kenji Sahara, who previously played a different character named Dr. Atsumi in Toho's 1957 alien invasion flick, "The Mysterians." The episode's Japanese title is presumably a shout-out to "Atragon's" quasi-sequel, "Latitude Zero." The shots of a group of cool dudes in matching, color-coordinated uniforms inside the GUN Fort's cockpit recalls both that film and any number of other tokusatsu shows. As a life-long Godzilla nerd, I immediately caught onto this because the episode's title card is based on the distinctive Toho production logo. Sonic doesn't fight a giant monster, not in this episode anyway, but there are a few other minor Toho in-jokes sprinkled throughout. 

Why "Sonic X" decided to pay homage to a bunch of movies that were forty years old at the time, I can only guess at. Presumably because the show runners like them. It's fair to say that old sci-fi movies don't have much to do with what we typically expect from the "Sonic" franchise though. The second half of the episode is devoted to a battle between Eggman's Giant-Makan, a high-tech vessel patterned after a pirate ship, and G.U.N.'s Gotengo knock-off. There's lots of lovingly animated scenes of the ships' various weaponry, like the laser cannons oars or a missile launcher shaped like the cylinder of a revolver. (This stands in contrast to some other, character-based scenes, which feature some janky, off-model animation.) The X-Tornado is prominently featured in several scenes as well. Once again, you get the impression that the people making this cartoon really wished they were working on a mecha show instead. 

As for what Sonic and the gang get to do among all the pyrotechnics, it's not much. Sonic's fear of water is referenced throughout, with Chris even jumping overboard to save him at one point. Later, Sonic does a special combo move with Knuckles, which seems a little weird and out of place. Topaz is in the episode strictly so Rouge can save her later on. The shock and surprise she displays upon learning Topaz is being held captive – which results in a guy holding her at gun point and Rouge launching herself out of the torpedo bay – once again supports the idea that these two are a little more than just work buddies. In fact, I think this subplot was included strictly to counteract that bit where Mr. Tanaka gave Topaz a necklace two episodes ago. Rouge and Topaz are gay lovers and you're never going to convince me otherwise.

Here's another episode that contrasts Eggman's wacky antics with an utterly apocalyptic scheme. His plot this week, after all, is to stimulate the Earth's g-spot "bellybutton," in order to cause massive squirting volcanic activity. This will presumably rearrange the continents again and kill millions of people. Oh, that wacky Eggman! Always plotting mass murder! This convoluted plot does reveal some interesting things about "Sonic X's" setting. Ya know, I've been saying all along that this show is set on Earth and I guess it is... But it's definitely not our Earth. Not just because everything's goofy and places like Station Square and Murasia exist. Throughout this episode, we repeatedly see a map of the planet and the continents do not begin to match the ones that actually exist. I'm sure no one really thought it through but this does seem to be an explicit admission that the show takes place in an alternate universe fantasy world

Despite some grim implications to the bad guy's machinations, there's lots of oddball comedy in this episode. Eggman impersonates Dr. Atsumi, including his hair. There's a couple of casual forth wall breaks and some Japanese word play. After Chris leaps into the water, Tanaka takes his shirt off, ties it to his head, and tries to follow suit. Bocoe and Decoe dress up as mummies for steal Atsumi's map. They then encounter Knuckles and only loose him after running into... Well, I guess it's a night club or something. But the front of the building is shaped liked a woman's face and it's full of busty ladies in belly dancing outfits, so something sexy is happening here. The next scene has Bocoe and Decoe covered in kisses, so I can only assume these two robots got laid. (It should not surprise you to learn this gag was cut from the dub.) 

It is, if nothing else, a memorable episode. Dropping these characters into a plot stolen from an old sci-if movies results in a story that doesn't feel especially "Sonic"-y. (Though I guess it's no more or less out-of-left-field than every other piece of "Sonic" tie-in media that existed up to this point.) Unlike the best episodes of "Sonic X," it doesn't explore the unexpected ramifications of the blue hedgehog and his buddies crash-landing on a planet similar to our Earth. Yet it's still a reasonably entertaining half-hour of animated nonsense. [7/10]