Sonic Prime
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| ♥ | This article is dedicated to The original German voice of Dr. Done-it, Jürgen Kluckert (1943-2023). May he Rest in Peace. |
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 This show will shatter us all.
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Sonic Prime is an animated television series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, co-produced by Sega of America, Netflix Animation, WildBrain Studios and Man of Action Entertainment. It is the sixth animated television series based on the franchise.
Synopsis
During a battle with Dr. Eggman, Sonic shatters the Paradox Prism, a crystalline artifact with reality-bending powers, which drastically warps reality and creates the "Shatterverse", a new section of the multiverse with five alternative dimensions called "Shatterspaces", each of them formed by one of the Prism shards and inhabited by alternative versions of Sonic's friends (Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Rouge and Big), but lack their own versions of him.
Sonic first ends up in New Yoke City, a futuristic dystopian version of Green Hill ruled by a group of Eggman variants who call themselves the Chaos Council, who used their realm's shard to conquer it with ease. Even worse, they seek to extend their reach and conquer the entire Shatterverse after learning of its existence through Sonic by getting their hands on all five shards, but are opposed by him and a resistance formed by denizen versions of his friends. While seeking to reassemble the Prism and restore his reality, which has been rendered into the dull and lifeless Ghost Hill by the shattering, Sonic ventures to other Shatterspaces to retrieve the shards before the council, including the Boscage Maze, a jungle world with feral versions of his pals; the No Place, a flooded world with pirate versions; and the Grim, a barren wasteland. Later, Sonic's rival Shadow, who managed to avoid the warping through Chaos Control, also reluctantly agrees to help him. Once the Chaos Council's plans for domination begin to put the Shatterverse in jeopardy, the natives of each world join the war against them and work with their counterparts.
After betraying Sonic and taking the shards, Nine reassembles the Paradox Prism, causing the Shatterverse to decay. He then sends an army of robotic versions of Sonic's friends to hunt him down so that he can extract the remaining Prism energy from Sonic's body and use it to stabilize the Prism, although it will kill him in the process. This forces Sonic and Shadow to gather the Shatterverse's inhabitants, including the Chaos Council, to stop Nine. After a climatic battle, Nine realizes and apologizes for his wrongdoings. Sonic then sacrifices his energy to stabilize the Force, stabilize the Shatterverse and restore Green Hill.
Why This Show Will Always Be Prime
- Like all the other Sonic TV adaptations, this show is extremely faithful to the video game series.
- This is the second Sonic TV show after Sonic Boom, to be animated in 3D. It is also the first to be on a streaming service, which is Netflix.
- Just like a previous Sonic cartoon, Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), this show takes on more of a serious, plot-oriented, serialized tone.
- The animation, thanks to WildBrain Studios (formerly named DHX Media) and Man of Action Entertainment, is very smooth, fluid and expressive. The colour palette is very vibrant and colourful. Also, the way the fight scenes are animated is very fun. Season 3 takes it up a notch.
- The characters show a lot of emotions in their facial expressions.
- This show uses lots of elements from the games such as: the Rings, the Loop-de-Loop, the Green Chaos Emerald, the sprite animation in Sonic’s flashbacks, etc.
- The soundtrack, composed by Steffan Andrews and Mike Shields, is very epic and amazing.
- There’s over the top actions.
- The mature aspects are also very well balanced.
- All the main characters are portrayed perfectly in this series and have their original personalities.
- Sonic, despite some of his flaws, is still his heroic and noble self. He even receives character development and realizes the error of his ways after he realizes that he destroyed his own home and created the Shatterverse.
- Amy is more mature and levelheaded, and isn’t too obsessive over Sonic, just like in Sonic Boom.
- Unlike Sonic Boom where he was portrayed as a dark and edgy jerk who picks fights with Sonic for little reasons, Shadow is back to being portrayed as an anti-hero who’s serious and mature, yet grumpy, and isn’t too edgy.
- Rouge is back to being a sneaky, yet heroic and noble bat unlike in Sonic X where she was portrayed as a selfish, greedy thief who’s obsessed with stealing things.
- Tails and Knuckles both have their original personalities in this series.
- Speaking of which, Knuckles is back to being portrayed as a short-tempered, yet strong and determined echidna after he was flanderized in Sonic Boom becoming a generic bulky idiot.
- Dr. Eggman is still the menacing and threatening villain we all know and love.
- Big isn’t too useless as he is in some of the games. His Shatterverse counterparts are also more efficient too.
- The Shatterverse counterparts are likeable too.
- The voice acting is phenomenal. Great thanks to Deven Mack, Ashleigh Ball, Adam Nurada, Shannon Chan-Kent, Kazumi Evans, Ian Hanlin, Brian Drummond, Vincent Tong, etc.
- Even better, the Japanese dub is phenomenal, too, with all the voice actors reprising their roles from the games. Except that Dr. Eggman's Voice Actor has been replaced due to health conditions in Season 3. However, with this replacement voice in Season 3, these voice acting are almost perfect to try imitating his voices and they did a good job for hiring it, even though they voice was looking off.
- The storyline about Sonic traveling to other universes and meeting alternate versions of his friends is entertaining, creative and fun.
- The flashbacks of Sonic meeting Tails and Knuckles for the first time are just like how they did in Sonic Origins and Sonic 3 and Knuckles. There was even a flashback of the events of Sonic Advance 3.
- Great character development:
- As mentioned above, Sonic receives this. Sonic is usually cocky and reckless and always going in danger alone without ever thinking of the consequences. But, during the main events of the series, especially after he found out that he’s the cause of his world shattering, he starts to become more serious and mature and even becomes a team player. Plus, in the finale, he even gives away the power of the Prism inside of him to refuel the Prism.
- Nine Tails was always anti-social, but when he met Sonic, he started to see him as a true friend. Then, after an argument with Sonic in the Season 2 finale, he betrays him and Shadow, then takes the Prism Shards for himself to work on the Grim, which now makes him the main antagonist in Season 3. But finally, thanks to Sonic, he sees what his actions have caused and started to regret it. Plus, he fixes the other Shatterspaces and brings back the original universe.
- Thorn Rose was too obsessed with protecting the forest, and then she kicked the Scavengers out. But eventually, she realizes her mistake and makes up with them.
- After the Chaos Council abandoned Rusty Rose at No Place, she started to become one of the good guys. Plus, she has good chemistry with Black Rose. She’s starting to show more emotion and plus in Season 3, she even set Birdie free from her chest.
- Just like in the games, Shadow receives this. His relationship with Sonic starts to develop since they teamed up, as he goes from his arch-rival to a reluctant ally. Plus he’s saved Sonic many times in Season 3, such as getting him out of the Grim since he found out Nine needed to use the Prism energy in him to stabilize the Grim, saved him from Grim Sonic, and helped him back to Green Hill before he shattered out of existence.
- Knuckles the Dread was too obsessed with the Shard, that he never cared about the current situation he was in. But, in Season 3, during the battle in the Grim, he gives up his desire for the Shard and helps Black Rose after seeing her struggle with a Grim Amy. He even makes her the new captain of their crew.
- There’s also a lot of great character redemptions.
- Lots of characters have great backstories:
- Nine Tails was bullied by two jerks for having two tails and it’s been the same for years. So, he built seven mechanical extra tails so he can stand up for himself and so he doesn’t need to rely on others.
- Before New Yoke was created, Rebel Rouge and Renegade Knucks lived in peace, but then Badniks started to cause mayhem in Green Hill and they turned the place into New Yoke City. That’s what made Rebel Rouge and Renegade Knucks form a resistance to fight back their enemies.
- In Boscage Maze, the Scavengers we’re friends with Thorn Rose, but as the latter saw that the Scavengers were always taking the food from the forest, she thought they were hurting the place and kicked them out, forcing the Scavengers to live up the trees.
- In No Place, Knuckles the Dread was with his old crew, sailing to the Devil’s Lighthouse. His crew tried to convince to turn back, but he didn’t listen. When the mission wasn’t successful, the crew abandoned him and left. Then, he forms a new crew with Batten Rouge, Black Rose, Sails Tails and Catfish.
- Before ruling New Yoke City, the Chaos Council decided to divide the city into 5 different districts, one for each of them.
- Great villains such as the Chaos Council, Chaos Sonic, Jack, etc.
- Memorable characters such as Tails Nine, Thorn Rose, Knuckles the Dread and others.
- Funny moments, as well as slapstick humour.
- Serious moments.
- Memorable and funny quotes.
- When you got a crew like mine, there’s nothing that can stop you. - Sonic.
- You left the door open. - Rouge.
- Sonic is the captain? I wish I was programmed to laugh. - Rusty Rose.
- Come at me, bro! - Sonic.
- Finally a Sonic I can agree with. - Shadow.
- I am the Ultimate Lifeform. I go wherever I want. - Shadow.
- The Shatterverse is a very creative and original concept since it’s like the multiverse but set in the Void. Where there are gateways to the other Shatterspaces that have some specific themes:
- New Yoke City is a futuristic metropolis rules by the Chaos Council.
- Boscage Maze is a jungle-like world.
- No Place is a water world where the remains of Green Hill are underwater.
- The Grim is a desert-like world where there aren’t any inhabitants.
- Ghost Hill is just like Green Hill, only a bit more desaturated.
- The executive producer Logan McPherson confirms that this series is canon to the games, making this the first Sonic animated series to have this fact.
- Plus it’s been confirmed that this series takes place some point after Sonic Advance 3.
- A version of Tails becoming the villain is actually a well-thought concept. After what happened during the ending of the Season 2 finale, Nine is now the main antagonist in the third and final season.
- The series finale “From the Top” was a decent way to end the show.
- Nine finally realizes the error of his ways and apologized for it. He even restores Green Hill so that Sonic can go home.
- Sonic is now back in Green Hill during the time where he was about to shatter the Paradox Prism. Instead of making the same mistake again, he dodges it and he and his friends defeat Eggman.
- Shadow appears and uses Chaos Control to teleport the Prism to someplace else.
Shattered Qualities
- The pacing is too fast and the plots of the episodes feel rushed.
- The action scenes can be repetitive.
- Sometimes there are reused animations.
- Other characters from the video games series haven’t made any appearances such as Cream the Rabbit, Cheese, the Chaotix, Silver the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat, E-123 Omega, etc.
- Some of the voice-acting feels a bit off:
- While Ashleigh Ball and Adam Nurada both do good jobs voicing Tails and Knuckles respectively, the former can sound like Rainbow Dash and the latter tries too hard to sound tough. Though Adam Nurada did improve in Season 3.
- The Japanese of Dr. Eggman voice acting in Season 3 can be a little bit off, due to original voice actor, Kotaro Nakamura was absent in this season, and replacing with 2 voice actor in 3 different characters; Mitsuaki Kanuka (who voicing Patrick Star in Japanese Dub of SpongeBob SquarePants for Season 9 and onwards), voicing Dr. Eggman and his incarnation, Mr. Dr. Eggman, and Seiya Yamanaka (who voicing Russel in Date A Live), voicing Dr. Done It.
- Although this show is canon to the games, there are some inconsistencies:
- This series shows that Green Hill is Sonic’s home, even though in the games it shows that he doesn’t have a home.
- In the flashbacks where Sonic meets Tails and Knuckles respectively for the first time, they all have their coloured eyes with their classic appearances. as opposed to them having black eyes.
- The other characters are shown to live in Green Hill even though Knuckles lives on Angel Island and Big and Froggy live in Mystic Ruins.
- In “Shattered”, Sonic’s surprised to see Badniks with no animals like this is new to him, even though in some of the games, the robots are powered with other sources.
- In the flashback to the events of Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Sonic met Knuckles in Hidden Palace Zone even though they meet in Angel Island Zone. Also, Tails is completely absent in it.
- Sonic is shocked to see Chaos Sonic, a robotic doppelgänger of him, even though in some of the games, he’s fought many robotic doubles such as Metal Sonic, Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic.
- Shadow didn’t have much focus in Season 1 despite being one of the main characters in the series. Luckily, he gains more of a prominent role in Seasons 2 and 3.
- Some of the episodes are not too amusing either.
- Shadow and Rouge hardly interact in this series, despite the two of them being best friends in the games. Though, in the finale, Shadow did briefly interact with Rebel Rouge, but that wasn’t enough.
- While Most of the characters are Likable, Some can have moments that aren't very great. For instance:
- Sonic, despite being likable for the most part, was a bit flanderized to act more like a jerk, has the case of badass decay, often makes a lot of mistakes, and is impulsive. As he was responsible for creating the Shatterverse (therefore, kickstarting the entire premise of the series) even after his friends warned him not to destroy the Paradox Prism. Thankfully, he's willing to learn from his mistakes in order to become a better hero.
- Shadow, despite also being likable for the most part (while not quite as unlikable in Sonic X or Sonic Boom), is somewhat mean-spirited at times when he tries to steal Sonic's tech when he causes the problem, which is understandable but still. To be fair, his mean-spiritedness can basically be justified since Sonic created the Shatterverse. So him trying to steal Sonic's tech when he causes the problem isn't entirely his fault.
- Nine, while likable and relatable, can be a jerk sometimes due to his jaded and anti-social behaviour.
- Knuckles the Dread betraying Sonic and lying to his crew made him unlikable, but thankfully he learned from his mistakes later on.
- While the series finale was okay, it felt rushed and there are some things that aren’t resolved.
- The Chaos Council are banished to the Void, leaving their fate unknown.
- We don't see the Shatterverse variants of Sonic's friends going back to their respective worlds or know if the Shatterverse is intact.
- The source of the big blast at the end isn't known.
- Also, we don’t know where Shadow took the Paradox Prism.
Reception
Sonic Prime got mainly mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and fans of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Season 1 got mainly mixed-to-positive reviews, season 2 got mainly positive reviews, and season 3 got mostly positive reviews.
Trivia
- Erik Wiese (a director of many episodes) also a storyboarder and writer (in season 1-5) of SpongeBob SquarePants, and the co-creator of The Mighty B!.
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