I'm watching it for the first time in a decade and also the first time with English subtitles rather than English voice acting (recommended by the way). It's not a fantastic show. It just isn't. It's an anime about anthropomorphic herdgehogs, it's not gonna be winning any Emmys. It is overdramatic and incredibly edgy, especially the episodes including Shadow. It's storylines are kinda dumb. But it's also the first Sonic cartoon I watched that actually has serious stuff going on. There's death and stuff, ya know? It's not purely a kids tv show. And even though that makes it come off as edgy and a little off, I still like it. It's definitely not for everyone, just for people who already know the characters and don't mind watching a show where you're invested in what's going on half of the time and and smiling about how ridiculous it all is the other half. If you can put up with that, then it's something that's enjoyable enough to watch.
78 Reviews
What's with the amount of hate this show gets?
jake7335 July 2014
This show, while mediocre and highly flawed, doesn't deserve nearly as much scorn as it gets. Yes, I do understand that the 4kids version and all of the voice actors in it (except possibly Mike Pollock as Eggman) are annoying, Chris is the one of the worst characters ever though of and has way to much screen time, and Cosmo's character was somewhat lazy on the part of the writers. I also understand that you can't just glance at a show and review it. You have to understand what the heck you're doing, which is why I'd like to say that the show is really far from the worst. You may be asking why, so I'll tell you that (1) I have seen far worse shows... far worse (you watch Season 12 of Family Guy or Season 7 of SpongeBob and tell me that this show is even half as bad as the other 2, I freaking dare you) (2) Watch the following episodes of this show (the Japanese or French versions, don't listen to the 4kids voice acting - it's bad enough to make Break Up by Mario listenable) - Episodes 62 and 68. If there's no other episode that you feel you enjoy, those ones are the best in the series. If you can push back slight flaws and the presence of one or two annoying characters, I also recommend episodes 53, 73, 74, and quite a few of the ones from season 1 (How to Catch A Hedgehog, Chaos Control Freaks, that one with Knuckles and a guy who calls himself "Hawk", etc.).
The episodes I mentioned have far less of Chris Thorndyke than most episodes, and even the ones with him being there for the majority of the time are mediocre at worst. The only episodes I have a problem with are the finales of season 2 and season 3. The former has Chris Thorndyke at his absolute worst, and the definitive example of why everyone hates him. The latter has... way to much unnecessary cruelty, even for Tragedy, and the unfortunate implications... there's so many.
Other than those, I consider this show to be... mediocre, but leaning towards good. Cut out Chris Thorndyke and try harder, and the show could be really good... just please, try harder. Season 1 gets a 5/10, Season 2 gets a 4/10, and Season 3 gets a 7/10. Overall: 5/10
The episodes I mentioned have far less of Chris Thorndyke than most episodes, and even the ones with him being there for the majority of the time are mediocre at worst. The only episodes I have a problem with are the finales of season 2 and season 3. The former has Chris Thorndyke at his absolute worst, and the definitive example of why everyone hates him. The latter has... way to much unnecessary cruelty, even for Tragedy, and the unfortunate implications... there's so many.
Other than those, I consider this show to be... mediocre, but leaning towards good. Cut out Chris Thorndyke and try harder, and the show could be really good... just please, try harder. Season 1 gets a 5/10, Season 2 gets a 4/10, and Season 3 gets a 7/10. Overall: 5/10
Dub or not, Sonic X has problems
purplehpurple1 June 2018
Back in the day every series that 4Kids got their hands on was the subject of controversy. They were derided for their censorship and unusual changes made to series, and Sonic X certainly got its fair share of that. Honestly though, even if the dub were more accurate to the original it still would not have been great.
Sonic X is a series where its hero is so powerful and so competent that they have to focus on other characters fro the majority of the show, otherwise the stories would be over in half the time. Chris and his family are wastes of time. Sure, some people wound up liking the characters, but if you ask most people they'd tell you that when they watch a Sonic show what they want to see are Sonic characters. If they had been new animal people like the Freedom Fighters in SatAM and Archie Sonic that would be one thing, but these human characters are just given far too much focus in a Sonic the Hedgehog series.
It's not very funny, the animation isn't very thrilling, and it gives too much attention to characters most audiences don't care for. Yes, the original dub was a bit funnier and had more fourth wall breaking jokes, but that didn't make it great. Sonic X is just okay. I wouldn't recommend anyone seek it out, but if for some reason you have literally nothing else to watch and you just need something on, Sonic X will do.
Sonic X is a series where its hero is so powerful and so competent that they have to focus on other characters fro the majority of the show, otherwise the stories would be over in half the time. Chris and his family are wastes of time. Sure, some people wound up liking the characters, but if you ask most people they'd tell you that when they watch a Sonic show what they want to see are Sonic characters. If they had been new animal people like the Freedom Fighters in SatAM and Archie Sonic that would be one thing, but these human characters are just given far too much focus in a Sonic the Hedgehog series.
It's not very funny, the animation isn't very thrilling, and it gives too much attention to characters most audiences don't care for. Yes, the original dub was a bit funnier and had more fourth wall breaking jokes, but that didn't make it great. Sonic X is just okay. I wouldn't recommend anyone seek it out, but if for some reason you have literally nothing else to watch and you just need something on, Sonic X will do.
4kids Ruined It
Zapdos56023 August 2003
Take the Japanese Sonic X. Excelent dialog, music, and character voices. Add 4kids Entertainment. The result is a horrible dubbing of an excelent series. The dialog: acceptable words and phrases from the Japanese version were changed into cheesy jokes and sentences no one uses. The music: Japan had two excelent songs, Sonic Drive and Mi-Ra-I. 4kids removed both and replaced with repetive dull theme music. In-show music originally techno-esc music has been replaced with cartoon orchestral music. Character voices: Horrible, most of them are cheesy actors that can't speak normal. I wish the Japanese voice actors knew english. But even if they did, 4kids woldn't even take them. I'll stick with the subtitled episodes from WolfPack Productions.
Forgetable cartoon
stefanozucchelli4 December 2021
Not a bad cartoon but very forgettable. There is nothing that remains in the memory after a few months and the plot can be easily imagined even without much imagination. You could have done without this cartoon even if it did a lot of publicity for the game and I think that was the goal.
Average Kids TV Show
lukepic12328 November 2006
I've seen sonic underground, it was awful, those high pitched voice overs and stupid songs made the series Nintendo reject rubbish. So now they brought out another video game on this blue hedgehog, its better and is not quite as stupid as underground. Quite fun, although it could have done with better ideas than sonic blowing up everything in his path. Some fun episodes but after a while it gets repetitive and you start to wonder if you have seen this episode. I recommend it to any sonic fans. For others you might aswel watch something else.
Story: 6.7 Effects: 8.0 Sound: 6.8 Lasting Appeal: 5.0 Overall = 6.5 / 10
Story: 6.7 Effects: 8.0 Sound: 6.8 Lasting Appeal: 5.0 Overall = 6.5 / 10
I don't get the hate.
haarunali19 December 2019
Too much Chris, not enough Sonic
TheLittleSongbird3 May 2010
I haven't played the games for a while, but I do remember them being fun, exciting and just great in general. I will say I am a huge fan of Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM, it was very well animated, well written and the stories were always done in a unique, faithful and mature way. Plus you have Jim Cummings as Dr Robotnik, he was amazing as always. However, I was really disappointed in Sonic X.
It started off brilliantly, with a wonderful first couple of episodes, good music with exception of the theme tune and a great concept, and then it all went downhill just like that.
My first major problem with Sonic X is that the characters are not well-developed. That is with the exception of Chris, but the thing is there is too much of him, and not enough of Sonic and everyone else. Sonic in the SatAM series had a personality, and a unique one at that, but that personality doesn't come across here. And later Chris gets really annoying and obnoxious. Secondly, the animation quality is uneven, in the first episode it was fine, but as the series progressed it became jerky, rushed and lacking in crispness and vibrancy. Thirdly, the story lines are not as well thought out or as gripping, some of the episodes here are poorly structured and even have major contradictions to the games. Fourthly, while I liked the incidental music, the theme tune I did not like, I for one didn't find it catchy or memorable and later it even got annoying. Fifthly, the writing lacks intelligence and verve, the villain Dr.Eggman(or shall I say Dr Robotnik) especially has some lame dialogue that didn't make sense. Finally, I didn't find the English dub voice work that great, the actors try their best with superficial material but with the characters so underdeveloped nobody stands out.
Overall, disappointing, started off great, but as the show progressed the flaws became increasingly abundant. 3/10 Bethany Cox
It started off brilliantly, with a wonderful first couple of episodes, good music with exception of the theme tune and a great concept, and then it all went downhill just like that.
My first major problem with Sonic X is that the characters are not well-developed. That is with the exception of Chris, but the thing is there is too much of him, and not enough of Sonic and everyone else. Sonic in the SatAM series had a personality, and a unique one at that, but that personality doesn't come across here. And later Chris gets really annoying and obnoxious. Secondly, the animation quality is uneven, in the first episode it was fine, but as the series progressed it became jerky, rushed and lacking in crispness and vibrancy. Thirdly, the story lines are not as well thought out or as gripping, some of the episodes here are poorly structured and even have major contradictions to the games. Fourthly, while I liked the incidental music, the theme tune I did not like, I for one didn't find it catchy or memorable and later it even got annoying. Fifthly, the writing lacks intelligence and verve, the villain Dr.Eggman(or shall I say Dr Robotnik) especially has some lame dialogue that didn't make sense. Finally, I didn't find the English dub voice work that great, the actors try their best with superficial material but with the characters so underdeveloped nobody stands out.
Overall, disappointing, started off great, but as the show progressed the flaws became increasingly abundant. 3/10 Bethany Cox
Best
zhakirwilliamsretuns5 April 2020
The quality depends on the season
Maxyger75610 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The quality of this show can really vary. The first season is a 4/10, the second season is a 6/10 and the third season is a 9/10. I'm gonna talk about each season individually since there's only 3
The first season has to one of the most boring experiences ever, the writers just had no idea what to do most of the time. Except for a few episodes, the first season is really boring, a nothing experience, very forgettable. The best episodes are when its just about Sonic's friends and no Chris
The 2nd season is a bit of an improvement over 1 because there is more action, more interesting dynamics, and a bit of emotion but most of the season is based on the 2 Sonic adventure games, although the writers did a good job adopting them to a show, it lacks originality. However once the whole Sonic adventure adaptation is over, the season gets boring just like the first. But there is 2 episodes were Chris doesn't suck because of the whole family and loneliness dynamics
The 3rd season is where everything gets together and becomes a good show because we aren't dicking around Chris' annoying family, Chris himself isn't as annoying and actually useful, more interesting, and full of action with interesting ideas. And the final few episodes where all the heroes team up against Dark Oak is very entertaining, and the final 10 episodes are just awesome. If you think the first 2 seasons are boring, then watch the 3rd because it's really great while being original. I cannot praise the 3rd season enough because it's such a huge improvement over the first 2 seasons, everything becomes great
Rating: 7.8/10,
The first season has to one of the most boring experiences ever, the writers just had no idea what to do most of the time. Except for a few episodes, the first season is really boring, a nothing experience, very forgettable. The best episodes are when its just about Sonic's friends and no Chris
The 2nd season is a bit of an improvement over 1 because there is more action, more interesting dynamics, and a bit of emotion but most of the season is based on the 2 Sonic adventure games, although the writers did a good job adopting them to a show, it lacks originality. However once the whole Sonic adventure adaptation is over, the season gets boring just like the first. But there is 2 episodes were Chris doesn't suck because of the whole family and loneliness dynamics
The 3rd season is where everything gets together and becomes a good show because we aren't dicking around Chris' annoying family, Chris himself isn't as annoying and actually useful, more interesting, and full of action with interesting ideas. And the final few episodes where all the heroes team up against Dark Oak is very entertaining, and the final 10 episodes are just awesome. If you think the first 2 seasons are boring, then watch the 3rd because it's really great while being original. I cannot praise the 3rd season enough because it's such a huge improvement over the first 2 seasons, everything becomes great
Rating: 7.8/10,
Very Disappointing
arorashadow_200326 March 2005
I am one of the biggest Sonic Fans of all times. Sonic was my first game ever. And I used to watch the cartoons all the time. (Both the early and afternoon one) Then comes Sonic X. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy that they made a new show in 9 years (I was 15 when this first aired) I believe. But there are things I have to pick with. I hate it. Plain and simple. Too much shoddy voice work. The flaws were in Mostly in the voice work. Rouge for one, I hate her voice. She sounds like a fifty year old hooker. When I heard Gamma's Voice for the first time. *shakes head* Also disappointed. Tail's voice, it was okay, but not good enough. Knuckles' voice, is just too deep and gravely for the famous Echidna. They casted Dan Green from Yu-Gi-Oh who plays Yami Yugi. What the heck kind of choice is that? he's Terrible, he makes everybody sound like they are a constipate 80 year old! All the others were fair. Sonic sounded like his old self, so did Amy (mostly) Cream, definitely. Big, yes, Eggman no. Shadow is a Fav. of mine, and they didn't get his right. tsk tsk tsk. Espio wasn't too bad. Charmy, I think they had Wendee Lee play him. I could be wrong
The story. The story is bad. It overly contradicts with the games. And humans hog the spot light too much, as many have said time and time again. At least the characters all have their same personalities, (more or less) that I have grown up with. The fact of making it Anime is a brilliant idea. But cell-shading is a bad one. The music is very good. Minus the theme song.
If you are a huge die hard fan of this show, you'll pay no attention to this. But they truly could have done better in my opinion. Even I can imitate voices, more closely to an extent. And I don't like acting Even though Yuji Naka (the game creator) is the executive producer, I doubt he has much power over the American version. If I were him, and I saw this, I'd weep. 4Kids is most likely to blame, but a tiny bit falls on the writers. It's sometimes breaks my heart to see Sonic in this format, and other times it fills my heart with joy to see Sonic making a comeback.
The story. The story is bad. It overly contradicts with the games. And humans hog the spot light too much, as many have said time and time again. At least the characters all have their same personalities, (more or less) that I have grown up with. The fact of making it Anime is a brilliant idea. But cell-shading is a bad one. The music is very good. Minus the theme song.
If you are a huge die hard fan of this show, you'll pay no attention to this. But they truly could have done better in my opinion. Even I can imitate voices, more closely to an extent. And I don't like acting Even though Yuji Naka (the game creator) is the executive producer, I doubt he has much power over the American version. If I were him, and I saw this, I'd weep. 4Kids is most likely to blame, but a tiny bit falls on the writers. It's sometimes breaks my heart to see Sonic in this format, and other times it fills my heart with joy to see Sonic making a comeback.
Absolutely love it
sofialabs8 October 2019
I guess I'm like the only person who actually likes Sonic x but I found it an amazing and interesting show. I love the characters and I love the anime style (since I love anime) the only thing I don't like is Chris cause I found him to be pretty annoying but other then that I absolutely love this anime. I'm also a huge sonic fan so mixing both of my favourite things together makes this show almost perfect for me.
It's good.
mariomurderer111-111 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I am a very big fan of Sonic the hedgehog and I liked the new sonic x series a lot when it came out. I didn't care about the voice acting, I didn't care about the "cheesiness", all I cared about was that "It's Sonic." I didn't take this anime dub seriously though I do know that 4kids changed a lot of stuff (especially in the final episode of season 3) for censoring. I never actually got around to see most of the 3rd series but the first and second series were very good! hey, the show's for kids anyway. When the voice acting changed I didn't seem to notice at first, until fans on the internet started complaining. But I actually liked some of the 4kids sonic voice acting. I think that the 4kids voice actors are improving, especially in the games. The Sonic X series is mainly based on for kids anyway. [4Kids...gettit? :P}
A bad Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic written by Chris Thorndike
ApprehensiveSpaghetti25 May 2014
I have to admit, this is a terrible show. I know the first season of any show is not going to be its best, but the characters outside the Sonic ensemble are about as deep as a plate. Within the ensemble, well, there are plenty of reasons why this show should have just been about Sonic and his crew (and adversaries like Eggman and Shadow) and had nothing to do with Chris or the world he lives in.
Chris is seriously the most shallow character I've ever seen. It seems every anthropomorphic character franchise hits this point eventually, where the main protagonist is paired-up with a human buddy, but Chris is just horribly written. He's honest-to-goodness a Marty Stu. I'm no hardcore Sonic fan by any means, in fact the time when I could have come even remotely close to being one was years ago and Sonic is just something I play if it happens to be around, but speaking as a casual viewer, Chris Thorndike is probably the absolute worst sidekick ever.
He comes from privilege even exceeding Bruce Wayne. His mother is an actress whose career is as big as that of Tom Cruise, his father is the CEO of what is probably this world's analogue to Microsoft, and both are workaholics and never home. Not that Chris seems to mind. After all, he has his super-speedy uncle (whose speed probably enchants everyone but his wife) who also has an ego problem because there is indeed one creature who can run faster than his specialty car (take a guess) and an Einstein-smart grandfather who acts as the real father figure and has a secret lab beneath the vast estate and mansion where Chris lives. Throw in a stereotypical Hispanic maid and an Asian butler with all the personality of a chopstick and you have probably the blandest Marty Stu fanfic ever written. There's nothing engaging about any of these characters on a personal level; their chemistry is just horrible.
Chris has everything a kid could possibly want and no evident problems relating with other people, so it's not as if he needed Sonic to enter his life at all. He's already the "cool kid", now made even cooler by association with Sonic. It's not evident that he has any personality flaws, at least any that he has to apologize for and let it stick (the one time he'd ever been berated in the first seven episodes was followed by an apology to him along with a gift!)
As far as the show's formula, well, every episode is a new plot by Dr. Eggman. Here's what happens: He comes up with a new plot this week and gets foiled. He vows to come back next week with something else. Again, he fails.
Knuckles apparently traded half his gray matter for sheer strength and was duped into thinking everything was Sonic's fault. I know the two were rivals back in the early days, but you'd swear Knuckles lost about 100 IQ points between then and now with how gullible he is. It takes very little from a very notoriously untrustworthy source to make him think the worst of Sonic and therefore become a (temporary) ally to Eggman.
Everything wrong with this show can be traced to what was added in comparison to the games: a new world of humans and a human sidekick with one of the most enviable family trees ever. Sound like a Mary Sue fanfic to you? It should!
Really rich kids are difficult characters to work with. But here's some examples of fiction that made it work: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Richie Rich, you could conceivably count the Batman series, etc. But Sonic X makes no use of any of what these works did to make Chris or his family work at all.
Admittedly, I've seen only seven episodes but does it EVER CHANGE? It's the same thing every episode and the cast outside of the original Sonic franchise characters is just completely unlikable. I wouldn't miss any of them if they were all blown-up in an atomic bomb blast in the next episode, and that's not something I could say for any other show.
Chris is seriously the most shallow character I've ever seen. It seems every anthropomorphic character franchise hits this point eventually, where the main protagonist is paired-up with a human buddy, but Chris is just horribly written. He's honest-to-goodness a Marty Stu. I'm no hardcore Sonic fan by any means, in fact the time when I could have come even remotely close to being one was years ago and Sonic is just something I play if it happens to be around, but speaking as a casual viewer, Chris Thorndike is probably the absolute worst sidekick ever.
He comes from privilege even exceeding Bruce Wayne. His mother is an actress whose career is as big as that of Tom Cruise, his father is the CEO of what is probably this world's analogue to Microsoft, and both are workaholics and never home. Not that Chris seems to mind. After all, he has his super-speedy uncle (whose speed probably enchants everyone but his wife) who also has an ego problem because there is indeed one creature who can run faster than his specialty car (take a guess) and an Einstein-smart grandfather who acts as the real father figure and has a secret lab beneath the vast estate and mansion where Chris lives. Throw in a stereotypical Hispanic maid and an Asian butler with all the personality of a chopstick and you have probably the blandest Marty Stu fanfic ever written. There's nothing engaging about any of these characters on a personal level; their chemistry is just horrible.
Chris has everything a kid could possibly want and no evident problems relating with other people, so it's not as if he needed Sonic to enter his life at all. He's already the "cool kid", now made even cooler by association with Sonic. It's not evident that he has any personality flaws, at least any that he has to apologize for and let it stick (the one time he'd ever been berated in the first seven episodes was followed by an apology to him along with a gift!)
As far as the show's formula, well, every episode is a new plot by Dr. Eggman. Here's what happens: He comes up with a new plot this week and gets foiled. He vows to come back next week with something else. Again, he fails.
Knuckles apparently traded half his gray matter for sheer strength and was duped into thinking everything was Sonic's fault. I know the two were rivals back in the early days, but you'd swear Knuckles lost about 100 IQ points between then and now with how gullible he is. It takes very little from a very notoriously untrustworthy source to make him think the worst of Sonic and therefore become a (temporary) ally to Eggman.
Everything wrong with this show can be traced to what was added in comparison to the games: a new world of humans and a human sidekick with one of the most enviable family trees ever. Sound like a Mary Sue fanfic to you? It should!
Really rich kids are difficult characters to work with. But here's some examples of fiction that made it work: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Richie Rich, you could conceivably count the Batman series, etc. But Sonic X makes no use of any of what these works did to make Chris or his family work at all.
Admittedly, I've seen only seven episodes but does it EVER CHANGE? It's the same thing every episode and the cast outside of the original Sonic franchise characters is just completely unlikable. I wouldn't miss any of them if they were all blown-up in an atomic bomb blast in the next episode, and that's not something I could say for any other show.
Not the Sonic you grew up with.
Gav_tH26 May 2004
There is a great deal of hype surrounding Sonic X, and to be fair I can see why. The use of the same art style featuring in the Sonic game series and using all of the regular cast from the Sonic series is a major plus point, and something that hasn't happened yet as far as all of Sonic's animated iterations have gone.
But sadly, this doesn't cover the fact that the series is severely lacking. While the series does feature the same animation style and characters directly from the games, it also loses the atmosphere of the series by urbanising the entire thing, contradicting the character personalities evident in the series - we're supposed to believe Sonic is fighting against urbanisation and loves natural beauty, living every day with freedom and adventure in mind, he's now also living in a rich mansion on the suburbs of a city with a young pre-adolescent named Chris.
While human characters have been evident in the series since Sonic Adventure in 1999, they've never been as overbearing as they are here. Over 50% of the regular cast is made up of humans (excluding the traditional Dr. Eggman), and the pace takes a serious drop because of it. There's barely anything traditionally Sonic here - Chris goes to school, where he talks with his friends, and the human characters have "adventures" with the Sonic gang. The pace takes a serious drop after the first episode because of it.
The first episode is perfect - blending amazingly fast animation with great character usage and wonderful set pieces - an action scene that continues for around 7 minutes is a wonderful way to kick off the series, and the humour and characters are all around for a purpose. It feels like a direct translation from the video game series. But then Chris is introduced, after the cliche of the characters being "sent to a new dimension", and the series grinds to a halt to develop Chris, and only Chris.
This is the series major fault. The emphasis is clearly on Chris and the humans, and never seems to be about the Sonic cast. None of them ever get a chance to develop. Chris's role is essentially that of Tails' - a young boy who aspires to grow up to be like Sonic, but the fact that he steals much of the other characters' charms leaves them as empty shells who are only background scenery to Chris's homelife. It's a terrible waste, and not only do the regular cast of Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Cream suffer, but also Sonic himself, who spends the series saving Chris with one-shot kill battles in the vain of the weak MegaZord battles of Power Rangers fame. This is a direct contradiction of the game series, where the focus is firmly on speed, and light-hearted adventuring. There is no room for Sonic to adventure, because he has been trapped in a household for a series, and in an unbelievably un-Sonic turn he spends entire episodes asleep on rooftops.
The series also serves as more of a nuisance than anything to Sonic fans, as it destroys the continuity and storyline of the games and instead creates an alternate version where events happen out of sequence. This will only serve to confuse new fans to the series, who will probably be fans for the wrong reasons supplied by this anime. As a series working on it's own merits, it's still poor for it's lack of anything actually happening - the characters talk for five minutes at a time with useless sub-characters, and without a spark of humour or charm the series just feels weak and dull.
It may feature all of the regular cast, but this isn't the Sonic we've known for the last 13 years. The series is dull, inconsistent, and at times features very poor and jerky animation, filled with aesthetic mistakes which suggest the series has been rushed out in order to simply make quick money, without offering anything new - the fact that the series adapts in-game storylines means there's literally nothing we haven't seen before as far as Sonic the Hedgehog goes, unless fans can genuinely bring themselves to care about Chris - a hard task, due to his consistent ways of stealing the limelight from every character.
Fans would be better sticking with the 1993 DiC cartoon Sonic the Hedgehog (or SatAM). While it may not be very accurate as far as storyline and characters are concerned, it translates the feel of the games almost perfectly - combining fast action in dark settings with light-hearted atmosphere and genuine character development. It may only be 26 episodes long, but it's a far superior animation on it's own merits alone, and a very fulfilling alternative to Sonic X.
But sadly, this doesn't cover the fact that the series is severely lacking. While the series does feature the same animation style and characters directly from the games, it also loses the atmosphere of the series by urbanising the entire thing, contradicting the character personalities evident in the series - we're supposed to believe Sonic is fighting against urbanisation and loves natural beauty, living every day with freedom and adventure in mind, he's now also living in a rich mansion on the suburbs of a city with a young pre-adolescent named Chris.
While human characters have been evident in the series since Sonic Adventure in 1999, they've never been as overbearing as they are here. Over 50% of the regular cast is made up of humans (excluding the traditional Dr. Eggman), and the pace takes a serious drop because of it. There's barely anything traditionally Sonic here - Chris goes to school, where he talks with his friends, and the human characters have "adventures" with the Sonic gang. The pace takes a serious drop after the first episode because of it.
The first episode is perfect - blending amazingly fast animation with great character usage and wonderful set pieces - an action scene that continues for around 7 minutes is a wonderful way to kick off the series, and the humour and characters are all around for a purpose. It feels like a direct translation from the video game series. But then Chris is introduced, after the cliche of the characters being "sent to a new dimension", and the series grinds to a halt to develop Chris, and only Chris.
This is the series major fault. The emphasis is clearly on Chris and the humans, and never seems to be about the Sonic cast. None of them ever get a chance to develop. Chris's role is essentially that of Tails' - a young boy who aspires to grow up to be like Sonic, but the fact that he steals much of the other characters' charms leaves them as empty shells who are only background scenery to Chris's homelife. It's a terrible waste, and not only do the regular cast of Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Cream suffer, but also Sonic himself, who spends the series saving Chris with one-shot kill battles in the vain of the weak MegaZord battles of Power Rangers fame. This is a direct contradiction of the game series, where the focus is firmly on speed, and light-hearted adventuring. There is no room for Sonic to adventure, because he has been trapped in a household for a series, and in an unbelievably un-Sonic turn he spends entire episodes asleep on rooftops.
The series also serves as more of a nuisance than anything to Sonic fans, as it destroys the continuity and storyline of the games and instead creates an alternate version where events happen out of sequence. This will only serve to confuse new fans to the series, who will probably be fans for the wrong reasons supplied by this anime. As a series working on it's own merits, it's still poor for it's lack of anything actually happening - the characters talk for five minutes at a time with useless sub-characters, and without a spark of humour or charm the series just feels weak and dull.
It may feature all of the regular cast, but this isn't the Sonic we've known for the last 13 years. The series is dull, inconsistent, and at times features very poor and jerky animation, filled with aesthetic mistakes which suggest the series has been rushed out in order to simply make quick money, without offering anything new - the fact that the series adapts in-game storylines means there's literally nothing we haven't seen before as far as Sonic the Hedgehog goes, unless fans can genuinely bring themselves to care about Chris - a hard task, due to his consistent ways of stealing the limelight from every character.
Fans would be better sticking with the 1993 DiC cartoon Sonic the Hedgehog (or SatAM). While it may not be very accurate as far as storyline and characters are concerned, it translates the feel of the games almost perfectly - combining fast action in dark settings with light-hearted atmosphere and genuine character development. It may only be 26 episodes long, but it's a far superior animation on it's own merits alone, and a very fulfilling alternative to Sonic X.
Meh...
winged_loner7 June 2006
Sonic has seen many a cartoon adaption, but none look quite as beautiful as Sonic X does. The colorful characters (both literally and personality) are really captured well, and the animation delivered to them is second to none. The cute characters look and act cute, the serious characters look and act serious, the comical characters look and act comical. Its the most accurate a Sonic series has gotten. But the story and voice acting is so God-awful that it totally ruins the experience for fans(including myself). Besides the hugely heartbreaking ending, there really is no reason to bother with the story at all. However good the script writing was, the English voice-acting just doesn't cut it. Its alright, but its not the best Sonic series out there. Stick with the Japanese voice acting with subtitles, it teaches kids to read and learn a new language.
If only Funimation did the English dub
Criticman1228 May 2011
Back in 2003, Japan released an anime show based on the video game franchise, "Sonic the Hedgehog", the show was called, "Sonic X".
During that year, 4Kids entertainment did the English dub for the series. I watched a bit of the Japanese dub but I mostly watched the English dub when I was in 5th Grade and I liked it. But looking back on it, it was bad.
The problem's with the English dub is that the voice acting was bad (Especially Bokkun's voice) and they replaced the intro from the Japanese version. The Japanese dub and the English dub also share one problem: The character, Chris Thorndike, is pretty lame.
But there were some thing's I liked about the English dub: The theme song was pretty good, some of the voice acting was decent and most of the episode's were good because season's 1 and 2 were more like adaptations of, "Sonic Adventure 1 and 2" and "Sonic: Battle".
Overall, "Sonic X", is not a bad show. It's just that the English dub was bad and I wished a good anime studio like, Funimation, did the English dub. If you're going to watch the series, then watch the Japanese dub.
During that year, 4Kids entertainment did the English dub for the series. I watched a bit of the Japanese dub but I mostly watched the English dub when I was in 5th Grade and I liked it. But looking back on it, it was bad.
The problem's with the English dub is that the voice acting was bad (Especially Bokkun's voice) and they replaced the intro from the Japanese version. The Japanese dub and the English dub also share one problem: The character, Chris Thorndike, is pretty lame.
But there were some thing's I liked about the English dub: The theme song was pretty good, some of the voice acting was decent and most of the episode's were good because season's 1 and 2 were more like adaptations of, "Sonic Adventure 1 and 2" and "Sonic: Battle".
Overall, "Sonic X", is not a bad show. It's just that the English dub was bad and I wished a good anime studio like, Funimation, did the English dub. If you're going to watch the series, then watch the Japanese dub.
i admit it i watched this crap back in 7th grade at the time
RJXAnime20038 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this on youtube in 2018 on youtube tv i was 14 years old and stopped watching at age 16 so what!
I watched the dub and then the sub when i watched the subbed version i heard words like damn,hell and bastard and the s word mostly pg 14 cuss words was said wayyyy a bit extreme for a kids anime but watch the sub anyway.
I watched the dub and then the sub when i watched the subbed version i heard words like damn,hell and bastard and the s word mostly pg 14 cuss words was said wayyyy a bit extreme for a kids anime but watch the sub anyway.
Could Have Been So Much But Gave So Little
madamemoviemonsterheart13 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Sonic X looks great if you just saw the poster. However if you sit down and watch it you will find it's not what it seems to be.
1. The story is pretty awful. For some reason the Chaos Emerald transport Sonic and his friends to Earth (I'm getting Smurfs vibes) and stays with some kid named Chris until he and the others return home. When they do return home soon after two seasons they have to go up to space. The story doesn't fit well with the setting. Why can't the characters be on Mobius? There is so much story potential there and not some clique E.T. rip off. Plus the story hardly focuses around Sonic. It's mostly involving the annoying human character Chris. Why would you name the TV show after the main character but give that character so little time on screen.
2. The worst quality of this is the characters. The voice acting to start with is terrible. Tails sounds like a girl (I know a female does the voice but look at Fairly Odd Parents) Knuckles voice sounds too deep and gruff for him, Sonic sounds very off, Amy has an annoying voice and Chris is just a bothersome to listen to. The characters themselves are all bland stereotypes. Sonic is good, Egg- man is evil, Amy is the fan-girl, Tails is a sidekick, Knuckles is the hot head and Chris is the annoying kid that nobody likes to watch. He can't do anything without Sonic and he adds nothing to the story. He's a worthless character, period.
3. The best part of this is the animation. It's pretty to look at flows well especially with the action sequences.
This has tons of potential to be remade and told right! This proves that just because it looks nice doesn't mean it is. Get rid of the humans, focus on Mobius, get some decent voice actors, get more character development and continue with the good animation and you would have a great show.
Just leave this show alone and watch the 1994 Sonic The Hedgehog cartoon or read the comics. Those didn't waste their potential.
1. The story is pretty awful. For some reason the Chaos Emerald transport Sonic and his friends to Earth (I'm getting Smurfs vibes) and stays with some kid named Chris until he and the others return home. When they do return home soon after two seasons they have to go up to space. The story doesn't fit well with the setting. Why can't the characters be on Mobius? There is so much story potential there and not some clique E.T. rip off. Plus the story hardly focuses around Sonic. It's mostly involving the annoying human character Chris. Why would you name the TV show after the main character but give that character so little time on screen.
2. The worst quality of this is the characters. The voice acting to start with is terrible. Tails sounds like a girl (I know a female does the voice but look at Fairly Odd Parents) Knuckles voice sounds too deep and gruff for him, Sonic sounds very off, Amy has an annoying voice and Chris is just a bothersome to listen to. The characters themselves are all bland stereotypes. Sonic is good, Egg- man is evil, Amy is the fan-girl, Tails is a sidekick, Knuckles is the hot head and Chris is the annoying kid that nobody likes to watch. He can't do anything without Sonic and he adds nothing to the story. He's a worthless character, period.
3. The best part of this is the animation. It's pretty to look at flows well especially with the action sequences.
This has tons of potential to be remade and told right! This proves that just because it looks nice doesn't mean it is. Get rid of the humans, focus on Mobius, get some decent voice actors, get more character development and continue with the good animation and you would have a great show.
Just leave this show alone and watch the 1994 Sonic The Hedgehog cartoon or read the comics. Those didn't waste their potential.
Underrated Show
asaad-8313711 February 2021
This show just gets better every season! There is a story to be excited for every episode, and I just love the animation/graphics! This show also had one of the most heart ripping endings I have ever seen. There is only one negative about the show- CHRIS THORNDYKE. However, he does very little to ruin the show for you. I also wanted to say that so many people complain about the show for a stupid reason. Who cares about the English dub? Do you watch a show to know what the characters sound like? I don't see anyone complaining about Jerry Seinfeld's voice, or George Costanza's voice. Besides, Knuckles uses Dan Green's voice, what more do you want? So sad they cancelled Season 4, I think they still had some explaining to do. Oh well.
Terrible, terrible, horrifyingly terrible
Kuristofa9927 February 2011
OK, I've seen both the US and Japanese Sonic X cartoon, and both pretty much suck. First, this cartoon was created by TV TOKYO and then dubbed by 4Kids, that alone will lead to terrible ending. The Japanese version is decent for TV TOKYO, but the American is by far the worst of the worst of American cartoons (Yes, worse than the Super Mario Bros Super Show and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog).
The first episode and Cruise Blues are probably the only episodes I would recommend because they don't follow the same story as every other freaking episode. The story of every episode is get the chaos emeralds and keep them away from Eggman (For EVERY Episode). This is where the cartoon starts to lose me, little to no variety. The third season at least does an effort to change things up a bit. But also the sub-plots are terrible. There is this stupid love relationship between Amy and Sonic that stretches for 3 seasons (Yes, 3 FREAKING SEASONS). There are tons of plot holes, and every character other than Amy (Because she's not on the screen a lot, and when she is she goes crazy which in turn is funny) is SO ANNOYING!!! The human characters get most of the show time (Which makes no sense because this is a Sonic Cartoon), and the dialogue, even the Japanese, is poorly written. Season 1 is predictable beyond relief, Season 2 is basically Sonic Adventure 1,2 and Sonic Battle (Lazy story work in my opinion), and Season 3 involves aliens, space, and everything you wouldn't want in a Sonic cartoon.
I'm making this a big deal because there aren't that many video game cartoons (or even movies) now a days. It's been six year and this cartoon still pisses me off. That says a lot considering I love pretty much love the Super Mario Bros Super Show and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Take that in consideration.
The first episode and Cruise Blues are probably the only episodes I would recommend because they don't follow the same story as every other freaking episode. The story of every episode is get the chaos emeralds and keep them away from Eggman (For EVERY Episode). This is where the cartoon starts to lose me, little to no variety. The third season at least does an effort to change things up a bit. But also the sub-plots are terrible. There is this stupid love relationship between Amy and Sonic that stretches for 3 seasons (Yes, 3 FREAKING SEASONS). There are tons of plot holes, and every character other than Amy (Because she's not on the screen a lot, and when she is she goes crazy which in turn is funny) is SO ANNOYING!!! The human characters get most of the show time (Which makes no sense because this is a Sonic Cartoon), and the dialogue, even the Japanese, is poorly written. Season 1 is predictable beyond relief, Season 2 is basically Sonic Adventure 1,2 and Sonic Battle (Lazy story work in my opinion), and Season 3 involves aliens, space, and everything you wouldn't want in a Sonic cartoon.
I'm making this a big deal because there aren't that many video game cartoons (or even movies) now a days. It's been six year and this cartoon still pisses me off. That says a lot considering I love pretty much love the Super Mario Bros Super Show and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Take that in consideration.
It's more based on Chris then Sonic...
Irishchatter28 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I have watched a few episodes of Sonic X years ago but today, I've finally seen the whole 78 episodes of the show. It gave me memories but I have to tell you this:
Sonic doesn't seem to be bothered really on what's going on which is disappointing like I would've known him as a better superhero then the rest of them. I was wrong in this case, it just isn't him! The story really is based on too much on Chris Thorndyke. It would be better if no humans (excluding Eggman) would be not involved. Folks, I think ye should go back to watching SATAM because really, this show is not based on Sonic. Alright he is on the Sonic X, as a logo and involved with the intro song, however it really isn't all about him in which it should've been.
I honestly hated the characters Bokkun, Decoe and Bocoe because they had such terrible voices and plus they didn't have personalities. They actually don't have much character developments. All thanks to SEGA! Thank god they added Orbot and Cubot as the new sidekicks of Dr Eggman, I wouldn't see the three I mentioned above going too far to be quite honest with you!
I wouldn't call this the best sonic series as it has very much failed like Sonic Boom and Sonic Underground!
Sonic doesn't seem to be bothered really on what's going on which is disappointing like I would've known him as a better superhero then the rest of them. I was wrong in this case, it just isn't him! The story really is based on too much on Chris Thorndyke. It would be better if no humans (excluding Eggman) would be not involved. Folks, I think ye should go back to watching SATAM because really, this show is not based on Sonic. Alright he is on the Sonic X, as a logo and involved with the intro song, however it really isn't all about him in which it should've been.
I honestly hated the characters Bokkun, Decoe and Bocoe because they had such terrible voices and plus they didn't have personalities. They actually don't have much character developments. All thanks to SEGA! Thank god they added Orbot and Cubot as the new sidekicks of Dr Eggman, I wouldn't see the three I mentioned above going too far to be quite honest with you!
I wouldn't call this the best sonic series as it has very much failed like Sonic Boom and Sonic Underground!
Another Great Cartoon of Sonic the Hedgehog!
SonicStuart13 June 2004
This has been a great Sonic cartoon comeback! But also it is a little different from the other Sonic cartoons like Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) and Sonic Underground. Because this series was produced by 4-Kids Entertainment (the creators who did Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!) and the first three Sonic cartoons were produced by DiC Entertainment. This series is based on the brand new Sonic video-games for Nintendo Gamecube. In this series, Sonic and his friends are trying to collect the powerful chaos emeralds before the evil, Dr. Eggman (aka Dr. Robotnik) gets the chaos emeralds. Sonic and his friends were accidentally transported from their world to the real world with the power of chaos control and then all the chaos emeralds were scattered in random places around the world. This time Amy Rose gets to be in this Sonic cartoon and so does Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog! When I first watched the sneak preview at this show on Fox Box (formally known as Fox Kids), I thought at first Jaleel White was going to return to his role of Sonic the Hedgehog but instead they used a different voice actor named Jason Anthony Griffith who does a pretty good job at doing the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog. Plus I think Dan Green does an excellent job at doing the voice of the all and powerful Knuckles the Echidna! I am really glad Knuckles is in this series again just like in the last series in 1999, Sonic Underground! I like the animation to this show and the voice acting is pretty good. Maybe with the success of this show maybe it will help bring back new episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) and Sonic Underground. But who knows?
User Rating: 10/10
BOTTOM LINE: A GREAT SUPER SONIC COMEBACK!
User Rating: 10/10
BOTTOM LINE: A GREAT SUPER SONIC COMEBACK!
The best series ever!
CureYellCheer2 May 2019
Horrendous absolutely horrendous
prestonwardcondra8 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
It's 2015 and I haven't seen this cartoon in almost 10 years and I recently binge watched it this past Summer to give it a shot, and see what I missed. I sorta liked it as a kid. Now I never wanna see another episode of this sorry excuse of a cartoon ever again.
The voice acting is tolerable and it has a catchy theme song (reason why I'm not giving it a 1) Like any dubbing for an American cartoon is any good anyway.
80% of the episodes of Sonic X basically consist of the main humanoid character, Chris Thorndyke going to school and catching up to see how Sonic is doing and how Tails helps them find a way back home.
Chris Thorndyke is an unlikable main character and Season 1 basically consisted of nothing but watching him and and his butler and lady servant, cook food and have tea. You know the typical first world problem stuff you see the rich do on a daily basis. It's not entertaining and Eggman (the main villain) is unknowingly absent in a few episodes of Season 1 making you question what direction this show is taking.
Season 2 was basically a recreation of Sonic Adventure 1, 2 and Sonic Battle. By the time Season 2 started and they introduced Shadow The Hedgehog to the mix, I just had to stop watching.
In the first few episodes where Shadow fought with Sonic, it was told through still shots, yes still shots. If you are expecting high octane, exhilarating, bright, colorful, memorable fights you are going to be disappointed with this show. It doesn't offer any of that.
Still shots? In an anime that was made back in 2004? This is truly pathetic. Season 3 took place in space but, I had long couldn't withstand this show anymore. 2/10.
The voice acting is tolerable and it has a catchy theme song (reason why I'm not giving it a 1) Like any dubbing for an American cartoon is any good anyway.
80% of the episodes of Sonic X basically consist of the main humanoid character, Chris Thorndyke going to school and catching up to see how Sonic is doing and how Tails helps them find a way back home.
Chris Thorndyke is an unlikable main character and Season 1 basically consisted of nothing but watching him and and his butler and lady servant, cook food and have tea. You know the typical first world problem stuff you see the rich do on a daily basis. It's not entertaining and Eggman (the main villain) is unknowingly absent in a few episodes of Season 1 making you question what direction this show is taking.
Season 2 was basically a recreation of Sonic Adventure 1, 2 and Sonic Battle. By the time Season 2 started and they introduced Shadow The Hedgehog to the mix, I just had to stop watching.
In the first few episodes where Shadow fought with Sonic, it was told through still shots, yes still shots. If you are expecting high octane, exhilarating, bright, colorful, memorable fights you are going to be disappointed with this show. It doesn't offer any of that.
Still shots? In an anime that was made back in 2004? This is truly pathetic. Season 3 took place in space but, I had long couldn't withstand this show anymore. 2/10.
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