Sonic X: Conclusion

If this blog has no other purpose, it's to make me a more complete "Sonic the Hedgehog" fan. Because "Sonic" is such a weird, expansive, multi-media franchise, there are so many strange by-ways and spin-offs from the games. As someone who has been obsessed with the series more-or-less my whole life, I've always been curious about a lot of these branching pathways. Hedgehogs Can't Swim has given me an excuse to finally do a deep dive into parts of the "Sonic" franchise I'm not familiar with. 

"Sonic X" was definitely one of the deeper "Sonic"-related avenues I had never really explored. A lot of fans first got exposed to the blue hedgehog because of this cartoon, becoming lifelong devotees because of it. This show fired a lot of passions for this character and his universe. And, after putting it off for years and years, I can finally say that I have watched my way through all of "Sonic X." (I even watched the two "pilots." Though they are more like sizzle reels that I didn't feel the need to write about, as most of the animation from them were reused for the opening title sequences.) I am now as much of a "Sonic X" x-pert as I'm willing to be. 

Before I started my "Sonic X" retrospective, I wrote a rambling introduction, as I always do. In that rant, I talked about how "Sonic X" was never very attractive to me. How it always seemed to be the kids-glove version of "Sonic," designed to appeal to people a lot younger than me with a far less sophisticated pallet. That I didn't recognize "my Sonic" in what I had seen of the show before. And that was why I never previously considered myself a fan. Looking back at it now, I'm almost embarrassed I wrote those words. They reflected, not "Sonic X" as it actually exists in its unaltered form, but the painfully bowdlerized dub assembled for American audiences by a corporation that thought kids were too stupid for anything but the most simplistic narratives.

The truth is, while watching my way through "X," I actually did recognize "my Sonic" a lot. My Sonic is a fucking weirdo, who is always going off on adventures barely related to the video games that spawn him. My Sonic frequently slingshots between opposing tones and has a supporting cast of obscure characters who Sega probably doesn't even know exists. My Sonic has to contend with convoluted lore that doesn't appear in any other iteration of the franchise. While these words describe the Sonic of the Archie comic books and "SatAM," they also describe "Sonic X" perfectly. 

In that overly long introduction, I also said that "Sonic X" struck me as a sanitized version of the franchise. By which I meant it felt like a version of "Sonic" with all the weird stuff scrubbed out. That sure as hell turned out not to be true. "Sonic X" is weird as fuck. This is a cartoon where Rouge forms a barely disguised sapphic relationship with a federal agent. This is a cartoon that devoted whole arcs to bizarre digressions like Eggman trying to scam the world out of sunlight or an extended homage to sixties kaiju movies. It went as in-depth as a children's cartoon could on exploring the topic of how an alien hedgehog crashing to Earth influences human society. This show's sense of humor is odd, with lengthy excursions into absurd silliness and frequent fourth wall breaks. This is a cartoon whose final episode features a scene where Eggman looks right at Rouge and says her boobs are big. "Sonic X" is jam-packed full of weirdness.

One of the weirdest things about this show is how unweird a lot of its supporting cast is. Instead of using its earthbound premise as an excuse to make Sonic and friends more accessible, the Sega-created cast were allowed to be as wacky as ever. The humans around them had mundane concerns and thoughts but associating with a cartoon hedgehog threw the absurdity of society into sharp reflect. "Sonic X" was often, in its own way, a goofball parody of modern life. Politicians, cops, and other authority figures were often humiliated by the furry heroes, making it apparent just how silly their default states are anyway. And it certainly didn't hurt that this show was explicitly set in America despite being made with extremely Japanese sensibilities. "Sonic X" exposed me to a vision of the culture I've grown up in as warped through the lens of another country. Fascinating shit.

Which brings me to my next point: Chris Thorndyke isn't so bad. "Sonic X" remains a fairly beloved piece of the franchise, with its own die-hard following. But even those fanboys are mostly united in their dislike of Chris Thorndyke. If you scroll through the comment sections of just about any "Sonic X" video or article, you can usually find people bemoaning the existence of the boy millionaire. A common refrain is that "Sonic X" is good but it could've been better if the spotlight wasn't frequently stolen by Chris and his fleshy friends. While I agree that Chris Thorndyke was an often whiny and annoying cast member, I found myself slowly growing attached to the kid. One of my favorite things to do while writing these reviews, you've probably noticed, has been to stop and psychoanalyze Clingy Chris' all too apparent neuroses. Sonic himself certainly could've been given more to do throughout the shows first two seasons. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy spending time with, and head-shrinking, the supremely fucked-up Chris Thorndyke. His abandonment issues and obsessions ended up adding a lot of unexpected depth to this cartoon.

In fact, Chris Thorndyke and all the stupid human characters that come with him managed to improve the parts of the show I was most concerned about. Going into "Sonic X," I had the misconception that the cartoon was mostly devoted to adapted the Dreamcast era of "Sonic" games. You'll have to excuse my ignorance here, as one of the few things I knew about this cartoon going in was that Shadow, Rouge, and the Chaotix all appeared. I wasn't looking forward to this, as I had already played "Sonic Adventure" 1 and 2 and didn't need to what half-assed anime retellings. This is exactly what the "Sonic Adventure" adaptation was but the cartoon managed to put its own off-beat spin on "Adventure 2" and "Sonic Battle." (And it didn't even really adapt "Sonic Heroes," as Metal Sonic was one of the few then-relevant Sega characters left out of the show.) Moreover, watching the series attempt to integrate guys like Chris, Topaz, or the President – or even Chris' school teacher for some reason – into these preexisting plots was frequently fun. 

Another thing I knew about "Sonic X" going was that its third season was wildly different from the two that proceeded it. This is very true. Season one and two are largely set on Earth. Season three is an intergalactic adventure that spans all across the universe. While the first two seasons frequently made time for small-scale slice-of-life stories – or at least what passed for "slice of life" stories in a "Sonic" cartoon – season three told an epic sci-fi tale where every living soul in the universe is threatened. While the series was previously beholden to the video games in many respects, season three saw "Sonic X" truly branching off into its own narrative. The first 52 episodes of this show can be divisive but almost all its fans seem to agree that season three is really when "Sonic X" came into its own.

I can't disagree. Season three tells a fairly compelling sci-fi adventure story, even if it partakes of some action anime tropes I don't always love. The season does it job of telling an interesting, entertaining plot you can get invested in. Cosmo definitely has one of the juiciest arcs of the series and watching her relationship with Tails grow was involving. Season three clearly features some of the best written episodes out of "Sonic X's" entire run. 

It also feels really different. Sometimes, it feels like an entirely different show all together. "Sonic X" never loses its eccentric sense of humor. There's plenty of goofy, inexplicable moments in the third season. But it's definitely a bit of a culture shock that the cartoon that devoted a whole episode to our heroes playing baseball with the bad guy is also the show where the kid sidekick has to blow his girlfriend up to keep a villain from killing all life in the universe. "Sonic X: Season 3" definitely got a little too invested in its own lore sometimes. I think the plot was somewhat convoluted at times. But, the fact remains, if "Sonic X" is two different shows mashed together, I like both of those shows. I like the story of Sonic and his friends trying to save us all from the dreaded Metarex empire. I also like watching Sonic goof off around the Thorndyke mansion. 

How does "Sonic X" compare to other "Sonic" cartoons? While "SatAM" will always be my personal favorite, I think most would agree that "X" is superior to "AoStH" and "Underground." Clearly, "Sonic X" is the cartoon that most resembles the modern video games, which makes it the obvious fan favorite for a lot of people. What really makes "Sonic X" stand-out when compared to the other three series is that it actually has an ending. "SatAM" was cut short. "Underground" never made any attempt to resolve its storylines. And "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" was not much concerned with plot either way, just picking a random point to stop. (Even the OVA was pretty open-ended.) "Sonic X," meanwhile, has a proper resolution. It puts a big tidy bow on most of its characters' emotional arcs. The narrative concerns are resolved. There's enough wiggle room that you could still tell more stories in this universe – which I'm sure fanfic authors have – but "Sonic X" is something rare in the world of blue hedgehog spin-offs: It feels complete. The showrunners were actually allowed to wrap things up on their own terms. 

And now it's time for me to wrap things up. Yeah, I like this cartoon. I should've watched it a lot sooner! If I had been born in 1998, instead of 1988, I suspect "Sonic X" would've had the same impact on my life "SatAM" did. I enjoy watching and writing about this series, more often than not. And now it's time to say good-bye. So long, Clingy Chris. I'm glad you got therapy. Sayonara Topaz and Bokkun and all you other freaks and geeks. I will definitely miss some of you. I'm glad I never have to hear "The Golden Road" ever again though. As for me, I've got other "Sonic" cartoons to review. To all you "X"-heads out there, I sincerely wish you gotta-go-fast onward into eternity.