Sonic X, Episode 3.01: A Cosmic Call

Sonic X, Episode 3.01: A Cosmic Call

Japanese Title: A Messenger from a Meteor Shower

U.S. Air Date: September 10th, 2005

Japanese Air Date: March 25th, 2020

If you're reading this blog, you already know this but allow me to explain it anyway: "Sonic X" was, apparently, not all that popular in Japan. It's been said that "Sonic" has always been more successful overseas than in his home country. Yet more evidence for that statement can be seen in this show. The first two season of "Sonic X" had low ratings in Japan. In America and other parts of the world, however, the series was the most successful of any of the "Sonic" cartoons. And so a third season would be produced specifically for foreign markets. Season three of "Sonic X" wouldn't even air on Japanese television until 2020, presumably to help promote the movie or something. 

It seems tailoring the third season of "Sonic X" to western sensibilities worked. While reading up on this show, I found a lot of fans of this season. In fact, I found a lot of people who say this season is the whole reason to watch the show. Some even claim it's the best bit of "Sonic" animation period, with an epic story and tone that's far darker than the previous ones. All I know about this season is that Sonic turns goth for an episode, Tails falls in love with a house plant, and some weird Gundams are the bad guys. I guess it's time for me to really explore "Sonic X: Season Three." 

The tonal change is immediately apparent, as this episode opens with a sequence of Super Sonic battling a black robot warlord above Not-Mobius. The villain demands the Chaos Emeralds, causing Sonic to scatter them across the universe and plummet to earth. Meanwhile, Tails, Amy, and Cream are watching a meteor shower. That's when a small ship crash lands nearby. Inside is a plant girl named Cosmo, who has come to this world with a mission. That'll have to wait, as another evil machine attacks and Sonic — greatly weakened — and Knuckles have to fend off the unstoppable threat. But the danger is just beginning. 

This almost feels like a different show. Aside from a brief scene involving a typically jokey Bocoe and Decoe, this episode is characterized by rather grim action. Literally the very first scene features Super Sonic destroying a fleet of space ships floating ominously above his world. The plot is concerned with the fate of the entire planet and maybe the whole galaxy. Most of the episode is devoted to Sonic and the gang fighting with an indestructible machine armed with razor clawed tentacles. And this guy isn't fucking around. It feels completely different from even the most serious episodes of the previous two seasons. 

What makes these action scenes truly different is one important fact: For the first time on this show, it feels like Sonic can lose. The conquering cyborg he fights in the first scene, who wields a gold sword that makes light saber noises, seems to even have Super Sonic on the ropes. In the second half, Sonic tries spin-dashing the other attacking robot guy. It doesn't work. He just bounces off. Knuckles' punches and Tails' missiles are similarly ineffective. Considering every previous threat on this show could be destroyed just by Sonic winking at it, it's a pretty serious shift. (Though Sonic survives falling through orbit, so he's still a God-tier superhero.)

Previous "Sonic X" installments always had to balance wacky comedy, sentimental Thorndyke melodrama, and the occasional video game adaptation. Free of most of those obligations, "Sonic X" seems ready to head into a space opera style plot. Those evil invading robots are called the Metarex. They travel from world to world, stealing "Planet Eggs." That's a magical plot device hidden inside every planet that contains its life force. Without them, the world will slowly wither and die. Kind of crazy that we've gone from plots like "Sonic gets stuck on a cruise ship" to this. But I guess all "Sonic" media is destined to spin-off in weird, dark, sci-fi plots eventually. 

Most of the above information is explained to us by Cosmo, the plant princess that is rescued from an escape pod. This character seems to be a fan favorite and the one love interest for Tails people actually seem to like. Just based on this first appearance, it's hard to get a read on her. She spends most of the episode in something of a daze, seemingly uncertain if she can go ahead with her mission. (Which appears to be to recruit Sonic to fight the Metarex, which he was obviously going to do anyway.) Right now, she strikes me as a super polite young girl, a role pretty similar to Cream. But one that's been burdened with a grim destiny or something. We'll see how the show develops her. Also, she can jump out of airplanes and float to safety with her petal-like dress. 

With all this crazy alien invasion shit going on, you might be wondering: What's Eggman up to? He definitely seems to be up to something. He rescues Sonic from his fall, after discovering his body on the beach during his morning jog. (The visual of which is the best joke in the episode.) I don't know if this is part of some evil scheme the doctor is planning, if he's simply operating under "only I can defeat you" rules with Sonic, or if season three's pressing threats will reduce Eggman to a comic relief role. Either way, I'm intrigued by the crumb of complexity he shows here. 

In the middle of that big fight scene with the "Metarex Carrer" (which feels like a typo of "Carrier"), the episode suddenly cuts away. It's back on Earth, in eighteen-year-old Chris Thorndyke's laboratory, where he has completed the device that will allow him to travel to Sonic's world. It says a lot about Chris' personality that he would be willing to abandon his family and friends just to see Sonic again. He travels to Sonic's world with seemingly no way to get back either. So all that shit I wrote about Sonic finally giving the kid a sense of self-worth at the end of season two was premature, I guess. Clingy Chris is as clingy as ever. Also, for some reason, traveling through the Stargate and emerging out of the Master Emerald turns him back into a little boy. That's weird! But I guess having him be a teenager, who can drive and buy cigarettes and likes girls and gets boners, would've alienated the young viewers Chris is ostensibly the audience surrogate for. 

Some final thoughts on this episode: The first thing Amy does upon meeting Cosmo is threaten to hurt her if she so much as even implies a romantic interest in Sonic. Damn, Amy, maybe you need to chill out? No wonder the poor little house plant is so confused through most of this episode. Also, instead of creating a new ending theme to go with the new season, "The Golden Road" and the same accompanying animation is trotted back out. Booo! Bring back "To be free! To be shy!" Anyway, this episode definitely has me interested to see where season three is headed. [7/10]