Sonic X

Knuckles being in stupid mode pretty much was started in Sonic Adventure 1. Sonic X adapted it actually not that oddly. Despite Season 3 having him getting really stupid(Season 1 and 2 it didn't happen often, and it was just adapted correctly from Adventure 1 and 2 where applicable), they went with the "he believes anyone can possibly be good", a single line that really helps make him feel great as a character. It doesn't erase the issues either, but it's something that gives him hidden depths overall. Definitely could've been written better.

Amy was bad for all 3 seasons, though. She was always a bit of a Tsundere in the games, but not to that degree.

Sonic Boom is also odd for Knuckles show-wise. He got stupider, yet actually wiser. A hit to intelligence and a buff to wisdom instead. That, and most of it was for rule of funny. He's also pretty memorable since they at times took the glitches in the games and had him reenact them for fun(like him flying away). But to be fair, this isn't the same Knuckles so it at least is a different take overall. He also no longer is good at setting traps up. That said, the only character that is massively bad in Boom is Shadow, who instead of having a fun retake on the character, is just evil and that's it. He's not even evil in the games and instead is just petty in the show. Metal Sonic also lost all his personality, but Eggman is also a lot more genre savvy and it even appears he knows of other universes too, meaning he wasn't going to give Metal any free will(since that would end badly).

I do wonder how Metal Sonic would've been created in Sonic X, though. They can't directly adapt CD's storyline since Amy is already there. So one thought is just having the backstory explained better(why Amy is obsessed with Sonic) through a flashback. It doesn't fix her massive problems, but now we have an idea in-universe of what's going on. We see Sonic save her a few times otherwise, but she was already on his tail from the start. Other than that, doing more with the Chaotix would've been neat.

Knuckles was actually very enjoyable in Sonic X, him being a dope kind of annoyed me when I was younger but I've made peace with it.

Well, I wasn't saying otherwise. I honestly like they at least explain why he's so gullible. It just existed in the games they didn't really try to justify it. It was more annoying there and played for a laugh, or to basically mock poor Knuckles. In Sonic X, while mocking happens, it eventually leads into them actually confronting him about it and actually trying to deal with the problem. Sure, it's only cause of Season 3 making him even worse than normal, but it also led to a hidden depth, which is why in particular I like Season 3. It had a lot of good character development moments... ignoring even when it got censored(poor Eggman).

And more than any other media, Knuckles was Sonic's main fighting partner when they were together, so he was still competent despite it all. Sure, not on Sonic and Shadow's level, but he's easily just behind them.

Indeed. It's why them trying to make him seem a lot more stupid in the later games suck. He's not incompetent by any means. Gullible doesn't mean stupid. There's multiple ways to think about things. And multiple ways to handle things as is.

I actually liked how they portrayed Knuckles here as he was mostly a serious character with some comedic moments. Also, I do like the fact that they gave him some depth to his character, like the reason why he's so gullible most of the time is because he wants to see the good in all people. Although, you would think that after being tricked by Eggman multiple times, he would have learned by now in season 3 to not fall for Eggman's tricks.

To be fair, they didn't even say why until Season 3. If they had done it earlier, they would've been able to have him slowly become less gullible much earlier. By the time it came up as a hidden depth, the season was pretty much almost over and Eggman quickly turned into a real ally anyway. Thus, it had nowhere to develop as a hidden depth.

Unfortunate too. Maybe Season 4 would've changed things up. They could've kept the gag to a degree, but with Metal Sonic posing as Eggman. But now that Eggman is a true ally... it could become truly interesting. Eggman's kidnapped, a faker is using his design to cause trouble, the heroes and team dark are in disarray. Imagine how well they could play into it, especially since Heroes, as cringey as it is, had quite an interesting way to have each team meet, allowing for some fun story.

I wonder why they didn't bother to truly adapt Heroes(just give a shout-out at best). Executive meddling? Earlier it was noted that Season 3 was thanks to the US audience. This suggests to me they had no real plans for Season 3 originally and made something on the spot(with loose inspiration from the games, Shadow being one of them).

Shout outs to this show probably traumatizing every Tails fan in existence.

Oh yeah, that Tails and Cosmo plotline...

Hey, that last episode subbed is fantastic. Sad and a little bittersweet, but fantastic all the same.

I'm not saying it wasn't good, just traumatizing. Because man, they did Tails so dirty in that last episode.

I'm not even that much of a Tails fan and I still feel that 14 years after.

So, now that we are on the subject on what happened to Tails in the last episode, there's just one question that comes to mind: How come Sonic didn't hug him when he was crying?

Edited by Rabbitearsblog on Aug 26th 2021 at 10:30:06 AM

Sega are really reluctant to let Sonic be very emotional, and Sonic X plays it to the nth.

Sonic is extremely emotionally distant and aloof in this show; certainly not to the same extent as Shadow, but it makes him feel a lot more closed off as a result.

Yeah, there's that whole thing about how Sonic can't cry as one of SEGA's mandates and while I'm actually okay with Sonic not crying, it was still a bit out of character for Sonic to not hug Tails during his time of need.

So, let's talk about the big elephant in the room here: how do you guys feel about Chris as a character?

Sincerity Mode: I like Chris and I really enjoyed his character. Yeah, he might have gotten annoying at times, and the writing for him could have been better at certain points, but I legit don't think I would have enjoyed the show as much as I did without him.

I just wish they did more with some of his personal issues (like, the fact that he feels alone without Sonic, even though he does have a fair deal of friends).

Honestly, I am curious about Chris's loneliness in the series. If he has loving parents and a group of friends, then why is he still alone? Anyway, the only thing I hated about Chris was that he seemed to take the attention away from Tails in terms of being Sonic's best friend.

So, is Sonic X available on DV Ds or Blu Rays? I'm wondering because I would like to buy this series if it appears on DVD or Blu Ray.

Discotek Media released the complete English dub on DVD; dunno about the subbed version. I think it's on Blu-Ray too.

Just went to Amazon and add it to my wishlist!

So, what do you think that Sonic X would have actually been like if they had retained the original Japanese dialogue instead of toning it down on 4Kids?