Fastest Liveblog Alive! Let's watch Sonic X!

Despite the less than idea (apparent) response to my first liveblog (NSMB Wii), I still had fun with it, and was looking to do another one. Which is what we have here, with Sonic X, picked because I've had minimal exposure to the show itself, at least sounds like something I might be able to enjoy, and is easily accessible (will be watching it free -Legally!- via the official 4Kids Youtube Channel (Found here, if you're interested and/or want to check the validity of my statement: https://www.youtube.com/show?p=vAfzWwpEp2Q&s=1 )

So let's get started, shall we?

Episode 1: Supersonic Hero Appears! (Sub)

But first, an anti-meth PSA.

Open with the theme song in the original Japanese, which shows they’re going for the ‘extreme radical’ approach (It’s Sonic, so I can’t suppose I’d expect anything else). Lots of running and stuff. It’s also particularly long compared to most TV intros I’m used to.

Moonlight night, with Big Fishing, only to be woken up by what turns out to be Sonic raiding a base. No doubt owned by Robotnik. Machine Guns and Missiles abound.

Sonic, of course, outruns them all. He’s clearly having fun with all this, given his snickering and all as the weapons fail to hit him even at point blank range.

It’s not until he runs over a giant hidden spring thing with Robotniks face on it and is thrown up into the air that Robotnik’s machines get a hit in, courtesy of a giant robot which is ready to punch him into the air.

But never fear! It’s Tails and Amy arriving in a bi-plane! Which, not being super-fast, is a much easier target. It lasts all of…what, not even ten seconds before it gets holes put in it.

“Smoke!” declares Amy. Thank you, Ms. Obvious. She also wants Tails to do something about it. Tails isn’t looking pleased, but I can’t tell if it’s because he’s annoyed or if he’s simply determined. He says he’ll do something, but first he needs to launch a missile out of his biplane. Rule of Cool keeps me from questioning it.

Oh, turns out it’s not just a missile, but a missile with a ring in it, giving Sonic the power to roll around with a pinball for massive damage. Scratch that - allowing him to roll around like a big blue hairy bullet.

Tails and Amy, meanwhile, are landing their plane.

“Rock!” declares Amy. “Don’t hit it!”

Again, thank you for that. I’m expecting a good explanation for why you’re on this mission sooner or later.

Fortunately, a fist flies out of the darkness (It’s Knuckles. I’d know that fist anywhere!) and breaks the rock. Tails confirms my guess. Knuckles just stands there like the Badass he is while being thanked. Apparently, he’s also disturbed about something. Maybe it’s just his opinion that Sonic’s going overboard.

Nonsense, Knuckles! There Is No Kill Like Overkill.

Inside, Robotnik wonders why Sonic is always getting in his way. His prisoners, Cream and Cheese, answer the question for me. You’re a bad guy, Robotnik. Sonic is a good guy. That’s the way these things work.

Also, he displays the standard villain mistake of talking when he should be acting. Maybe instead of saying your machine will give you ultimate power when you put the gem in, you should actually put the gem in and let it speak for itself.

Rogue is in the room too, apparently, though I don’t know if anyone realizes she’s there or not.

Cream, of course, protests Robo’s plan. Robo, of course, ignores her pleas, only to tempt fate and declare not even Sonic will have an easy time getting in. One guess as to what happens next.

Robotnik seems to be wavering between smart villain and good villain, as he actually puts the gem in the machine, but then he stands and gloats with the button in his hand. JUST PUSH IT, Robotnik!

Instead, another gun drone appears behind Sonic and (futilely) tries to shoot him, while Robotnik continues to egg Sonic on. Hey Robotnik, I think I see why Sonic is always in your way – because you seem incapable of not talking.

By the time he DOES finally push the switch (though not without declaring it first), it’s a bit late, since Sonic’s already tricked the drone into filling it with holes. Well there’s your problem.

Instead, it emits a white light. Everyone besides Knuckles has a look of surprised awe on their face. Chaos Control, he declares calmly. Way to assert your standout position in the group, dude. Chaos Control goes on to encompass…everything, I think.

Sonic wakes up in darkness. I suspect a subway line when noise and light approach. Nope. It’s the street. Oh, not just that, it’s a busy street. And now he’s blocking it, and gathering a rather large crowd of spectators while he’s at it. Sonic, meet the real world. Real world, meet Sonic.

Commercial break! Again, an anti-meth PSA. Remember kids, Meth is bad!

The crowd, oddly enough, seems more angry about the road being blocked than the sight of a giant blue hedgehog. Then again, the police that are there seem to think it’s something else. Either way, they’re taking this in pretty calmly. Sonic’s just irritated by the noise.

The cops think he’s some other kind of animal and try to catch him, but of course, Sonic being fast as he is, fail epically. Clearly, not wanting to seem any more inept, declare it an emergency, and try to close off the roads.

More chasing ensues, giving them a chance to show off just how fast Sonic is, complete with a slow-mo jump over an entire police barricade.

Wow, they must really be having a slow day to pay so much attention to a single wild animal. Sure enough, their boss (you can tell he’s the boss because he’s wearing red instead of the blue everyone else wears) comments it’s been some time since they saw some action.

Apparently, this police department has a squad of race cars. Yeaaaaaah…

Meanwhile, Sonic, having eluded the police department with nothing better to do, contemplates what happened and where he is. They show up soon enough, however, and continue to confirm my guess on how mysteriously peaceful the city is and act surprisingly calm about the presence of a large, blue hedgehog that can run at amazing speeds. Apparently, their race team is the reason it’s so peaceful.

Given the way they introduce themselves to Sonic and just let him run off, I’m not buying it.

More casing ensues, and Sonic has a little fun, including a moment to speak to the audience and tell them never to stand on a moving car.

You know, it’s a good thing these three lane streets are so empty right now.

The leader joins up with his group again, boosting the speed even further, resulting in Sonic going supersonic (I blame Mr. Red Cop Captain for Tempting Fate). Running off the edge of a road, he flies off into the air, past a large number of windmills and gives them a large boost, which somehow causes the town to grown brighter. I’m no expert, but I don’t think wind power works that way…

Everything might be OK, except Sonic just has to land in a pool. Too bad he’s got his Super Drowning Skills still in effect. He lasts surprisingly long, however, giving some kid named Chris an opportunity to save him.

And so ends Episode 1. I can’t say I’m all that intrigued thus far, but it didn’t come off as bad as it could have.

Till next time, then!

edited 22nd Jul '10 1:07:45 PM by SpaceJawa

Even outside of his video games, Sonic can't swim...

I remember being so excited to see an actual adaptation of the video games, but as soon as Sonic got transported to the real world, my disappointment started to escalate. Chris was essentially a Big "NO!" moment. Still, I'll be interested in sticking around to see how this turns out.

By the way, there's an abridged series of this made by Sonic Paradox which rekindled my interest in Sonic X. I wonder what you think of it.

edited 22nd Jul '10 8:31:32 PM by Cliche

I think I'll hold off on trying that until I've either gotten all the way through the series or gotten so tired of it I can't go any further, whichever comes first.

Who knows, maybe I'll even do a liveblog of that when this is over.

Ok, so I just realized why there’s so many more episodes on You Tube than are listed on The Other Wiki. It’s because all the episodes are available in both the original Japanese as subs and in English as dubs.

So, for the rest of this liveblog, I shall be watching the episodes in English.

Episode 2: Sonic to the Rescue

Commercial this time features Starcraft II: Human Edition.

The opening is some woman complaining about not being able to finish some picture. But she’s done a lot of shopping (because all women love shopping) to make up for it. Sounds like the mom of the kid (Chris) is some kind of movie starlet. That explains the big house.

He tries to explain the situation with Sonic to his mom, describing Sonic as a cat. Sonic just lies back on the roof. I can’t tell if he’s annoyed by being called a cat or not.

Sonic makes sure Chris knows he’s a hedgehog, but Chris explanation of the excuse doesn’t seem to go over well (since mom apparently thinks Chris wouldn’t bother saving a ‘real’ hedgehog from drowning)

Chris brings up Sonics talking, which is apparently lampshaded/handwaved by Sonic saying even he doesn’t know.

Chris’ dads calls, can’t tell what he does. Sonic still isn’t pleased that Chris won’t tell anyone the truth about him. He also isn’t pleased with the catfood Chris tries to feed him, since that’s what the Internet said hedgehogs like. So Sonic decides to go get his own food. Chris doesn’t want Sonic to leave, for reasons that apparently include him potentially getting hurt. I suppose I can buy that, given that Chris DID save Sonics life (I think. The unusually long time Sonic held his breath makes me suspect this Sonic may have Super Not-Drowning Skills but just can’t swim.). However, I’m also guessing he hasn’t yet heard about Sonics little humiliation of the local PD from the previous night.

Now for the American intro. While it’s still got that rocker beat, I’ll be honest and say I think I like the Japanese version better. At the very least, it’s not as annoying.

News report shows up, which shows that people aren’t overlooking the appearance of our hero as much as I thought. An older man (Grandpa, perhaps? Crazy uncle? He’s wearing a lab coat, but come on, a privately funded scientist? I don’t think so.) enters and COMPLETELY overlooks Sonic while describing the situation, at which point Chris futilely tries to hid Sonic with a pillow. Sonic no want.

Yep, looks like Grandpa. Who pulls out a screwdriver and tries to find out how Sonic was put together. Sonic no want either.

Fortunately for him, the news reveals that Cream ‘n Cheese have been spotted on a billboard. Sonic to the rescue!

Or not. Kind of hard to rescue someone if you don’t know where they are. Grandpa calls in a favor and finds out they’ve been moved to the Resident Area 51 Expy, Area 99.

After a scene that leaves me of two minds on Crazy Grandpa (on the one hand, he’s got this rather amusing insanity to him which I can’t help but like, and on the other, there’s something about him that subtly gets on my nerves) both Crazy Gramps and Chris go along to help rescue C’n’C (Yeah, that’s some great grandparenting there, dude. I’m sure his folks will LOVE to hear how you brought him along to help break into a not-so-top-secret Army Base). He provides Sonic with an Infrared Motion Detector that brings to mind a particular Meme (Sonic, how many infrared detectors does the scouter say there are?!), then does a bit more of his Crazy Gramps thing which I can’t help but laugh at (I think he may come to grow on me yet).

Inside Area 99, we get a view of C’n’C as they repeat their role from last episode. I suspect a pattern developing.

Sonic gets in through the Air Vent, and proceeds to add the Military to his list of groups he’s making look like jokes.

Commercial time, again with an Anti-Meth PSA.

Back to the show, with Sonic continuing to run around the many security cameras. (Sonic, how many cameras does the scouter say there are?!)

Back in the lab, the scientists continue to scan C’n’C. I gotta say, for an Area 51 Expy, this place is pretty tame in the testing new lifeforms department. But you know, it is a kids show, so it’s really for the best that they’re not cutting the Cheese.

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

Determined Sonic is determined as he looks for a way to get his pals out, which results in him cutting the lights. But of course, C’n’C have to go and give away his location in their happiness at being rescued.

On second thought, maybe Sonic didn’t cut the lights. It’s kind of hard to tell, since the several circuit-laden paper airplanes (Sonic, how many paper circuits does the scouter say there are?!) bring Doc Robo to mind. The team investigating, BTW, appears to be lead by an Italian.

The exit seems to go more smoothly with no cameras to worry about, and makes it clear that no, Sonic didn’t cut the power, he just took advantage of the situation. Now I know Doc Robo just has to be plotting and scheming just off-camera. Oh, also, the power comes back at the worst possible time, allowing all the previously dead cameras to spot the escaping wildlife. Cream takes a moment to lampshade her tempting fate as the cameras reveal laser beams. The escape continues, with Sonic using the beams against one another, and getting some help from more of the circuit airplanes.

Then everything starts falling apart as the lasers go crazy, lockdown begins, and the place starts to fall apart.

They run to the top of some dome structure (Sonic, how many feet deep does the scouter say the hole is?!), and Sonic finally removes the IMD to listen to something outside. An airplane apparently (Tails, BTW. No doubt Little Miss Obvious is with him), which is soon shown to be the Tornado. Yep. It’s Tails. Oh, and Amy ISN’T with him! (Yay!). Apparently, he was also behind the circuit airplanes.

Which begs the question, how did Tails know about all this Area 99 stuff?

But despite being pretty awesome in his own little way (though I’ll say this, his voice is a tad irritating), Tails gives Sonic most the credit. Come on, Tails, don’t sell yourself short. You deserve at least 50/50.

Back at Chris’, everyone introduces themselves. For some reason, I find myself thinking that his voice sounds a lot like that of Ash. Also, he criticizes Sonic for doing something that could have gotten them all thrown in jail. Yeah, I think you’re pointing the blame the wrong way, kid. 1) Sonic wanted to go by himself in the first place and 2) Crazy Gramps is far more responsible for YOU potentially being throw in jail that Sonic is.

I can tell that Tails and Crazy Gramps are going to get along fine given their little tech talk they’re having.

They conclude that the rest of their friends are also probably present, as well as Doc Robo.

Cue the evil laughter…Buah ha ha!

And cut to black.

So two episodes in, and I’ll say there’s some charm to it, though there are also some irritating things as well. But not anything that I can see driving me away from it. At least not yet.

edited 23rd Jul '10 1:38:36 AM by SpaceJawa

Episode 3: Missile Wrist Rampage

(AKA: Dr. Eggman’s Ambition)

Opening Commercial: Starcraft II

Our episode opens on an island with ominous music, and soon reveals we are at Robotnik’s evil lair. He gloats that conquering this new world will be a sinch, and decides to start by destroying a city (Chris’ city, no doubt).

But what robot to use? Let’s randomize it. Missile Wrist it is.

Meanwhile, Knuckles and Amy are walking in the sewers, where Knuckles is blaming Sonic for their predicament and Amy defends him. Ok, that’s odd, I find myself liking Amy more than Knuckles right now.

Though I’ll admit that Knuckles has a point – Sonic DOES seem the type just to really only care about fighting for fun.

We are now at the beach, where Missile Wrist emerges from the water and starts breaking stuff with his…grapple missiles. Doc Robos right behind him, and can’t help but make a couple of groan worthy beach puns.

Meanwhile, at Chris’s house, Tails is washing the Tornado, while C’n’C waste screen time eating donuts. Chris, meanwhile, worries about where Sonic has gone off to, for no other reason than to worry about where Sonic has gone off to. You are not doing yourself any favors, kid.

Back in the city, MW marches onwards, though he’s causing far less destruction than I expected. Doc Robo speaks for me when he mentions how boring the police’s response is.

Woah! Flamethrower!

Wait a minute, isn’t this town suppose to be crime free or something? Something smells seriously off about this town.

Then the PD makes even bigger fools of themselves by surrendering in hopes of not getting beat up. Doc Robo uses the opportunity to be evil by having MW crush them anyways. At least he has the evil down, pat.

Elsewhere in the city, Tails, Chris, and Crazy Gramps are out looking for Sonic, who himself is out in the Mountains enjoying himself.

Knuckles and Amy continue walking through the city. They continue to play switcharoo by switching my perceptions of who I should be liking and who I shouldn’t be, when they hear rumbling above. It’s Missile Wrist, continuing his “rampage”. I’m not impressed, Doc. More cops appear, and Doc Robo uses the opportunity to announce his evil intentions. His laugh needs work. His sinister is just fine, though.

And I think I’m done with announcing the commercials, too. Unless I get a really good one.

Tails prepares to take off, but waits for…Chris? Ok, why is Chris coming along? Wasn’t he the one previously stating his worry about Sonic being careful? At least C’n’C have the good sense to stay at home.

The Mayor shows up, announcing he’s not going to be ‘blackmailed’ (I don’t think that’s how blackmail works), but then stating he’s technically not allowed to surrender when Doc Robo gives another demonstration of MW’s power, so Doc Robo orders the city destroyed (good job, Doc!).

Then Tails shows up, giving MW a new target. He tries shooting the thing with machine guns, but they don’t penetrate, and apparently he’s all out of missiles. His plane also apparently has an alt mode.

Amy and Knuckles are standing out in the street watching below. Good thing there’s a robot destroying the city for everyone to pay attention to, or else their secret might be out. Not that Knuckles seems to care. He’s got more important things, so Amy runs in to help. Which quickly changes big K’s mind (Awwww, he does care!)

And here comes Sonic! He catches a view of the fight on the TV. Ok, NOW here comes Sonic.

Meanwhile, Knuckles and Amy arrive on the roof. Knuckle thinks about strategy, while Amy just goes in with her hammer (hidden in Hammerspace, no doubt) and tries smacking the thing.

You know, despite the fact that the attack does nothing, I think I may learn to like her yet.

Or maybe not, since she immediately allows herself to be grabbed and threatened. Way to blow it, Amy. Knuckles isn’t doing himself any favors either.

Good thing we still have Sonic to count on. Also, MW makes the stupid mistake of throwing away Amy, giving away Doc Robo’s bargaining chip. Sonic then makes quick work of Missile Wrist, making me wonder if he’s ever actually USED the machine before.

Exit Robo, stage upwards.

As Amy gets a little too close for Sonics comfort, new cop/army guys show up, just in time to miss Doc Robo, but in plenty of time to point guns at the team that, you know, just helped save their city.

Fortunately, Tails is still providing air support, giving them an exit till Knuckles bails over the city, because “he does things his way.”

So thus far, the show hasn’t done a great deal to win my confidence, though there are redeeming qualities. Doc Robo Eggman’s got the evil down, even if he’s not coming across as the sharpest evil tool in the shed, Tails isn’t half bad, Crazy Gramps hasn’t done any worse, and Sonic is still dependable. Knuckles has kind of fallen out of favor since he first popped up, though I hold out hope that he might come around, likewise Amy showed just enough likeability this time around to give me hope she might grow out of my initial impression of her. I’m not holding my breath on the same happening for C’n’C or Chris.

edited 23rd Jul '10 10:53:24 AM by SpaceJawa

Episode 4: Chaos Emerald Chaos

(AKA: Get the Chaos Emerald!)

We’re at Chris’, where Tails is trying to explain the situation of how they got where they are to Chris and what the Chaos Emeralds are. They hope that the Emeralds might be on the new world, or else they’re not sure how they’ll ever get home. Crazy Gramps is noticeably bored by the conversation and starts napping.

We’re at a construction sight, were I have no doubt one of the super rocks is about to be revealed (yep). Up in a plane, a man who is no doubt the president is briefed on Doc Robo and Sonic. He’s informed by an agent that men have been deployed to watch both groups, which is backed up with images of said men deploying.

At Chris’ school, his class is told that their normal teacher is taking a leave of absence, and they are introduced to their new teacher Agent Mr. Stewart. Ominous music is ominous.

He introduces himself personally to Chris personally in a rather awkward way that tells us Chris’ dad is a software company CEO and his mom is indeed a movie starlet. He then asks Chris if he has a favorite animal, to which Chris responds with ‘hedgehogs’.

Right at the moment, Agent Mr. Stewart is pushing my creep-o-meter to its upper limits. He’s like a walking bag of creepiness, he is.

Back at the construction sight, the Chaos Emerald begins to cause…chaos when it makes a piece of construction machinery go mad. The emerald itself is still in the ground, which makes it easy for the camera to look at it with more ominous music.

Back at school, Chris' Black Best Friend asks Chris what Agent Mr. Stewart was asking him about, and speaks for me when he comments on the weirdness of it. The conversation is interrupted by a news broadcast about the construction sight. They have a TV broadcasting the news in their lunchroom? Yeeeeeah…

We also see that C’n’C are getting the same news report, with allows them to tell Sonic. What do you know, they did something useful.

Naturally, Doc Robo is getting the news report too. Again, he picks a robot to deploy at random (since apparently he doesn’t have a robot specially designed for such a job), and gets “Beacon”, a bird critter.

Back at Chris’ house, Tails and Amy are preparing to launch in the Tornado, while Sonic is already well underway in his search. That is, till he decides to head for the high ground and chill out till Tails and Amy show up.

Meanwhile, Doc Robo notices he’s being followed. By missiles. He laughs at the situation, and Beacon easily gets them off his tail by tricking them into the water.

Meanwhile, back at school, Chris notices the Tornado flying outside his window (what a coincidink) and asks to be dismissed. By which I mean he says he needs to leave and “do something” without waiting for approval.

You know, in my day, we called that skipping school, and we got in trouble for it. I can’t say Agent Mr. Stewart is any better, though, since he leaves the classroom alone to go follow Chris. Once again, the creep-o-meter is going wild.

Back to Sonic, where Tails and Amy show up to tell Sonic where the Emerald is. Which seems like an odd move, till I realize that they probably won’t have as easy a time getting it (what with people searching for more) as the guy who can move as supersonic speeds.

Speaking of which Doc Robo and Beacon show up, which quickly causes a panic.

Race is on. Unless it isn’t, since Doc Robo decides it would be a better idea to get rid of Sonic first instead of waiting till he can build a robot that will have an easier time of doing so using the emerald he originally came out here to collect. If Sonic wasn’t so fast, I might question his reasoning more.

Seems he’s more justified than I first guessed, too, since Beacon’s air power allows it to keep hitting Sonic without ever giving him a chance to get running again. Good thing for Sonic that Tails and Amy are there to give Sonic his power ring.

You’d think by now Sonic would just keep it on him at all times.

Oh, and what do you know, Sonic misses grabbing the ring. Yeah, this won’t have happened if he just kept it on a chain or wore pants with pockets he could store it in or wore it around his wrist or something.

With Sonic left unable to do anything, Doc Robo easily moves in to retrieve the gem. Somehow, Chris grabs it first. How the frak did he get in here? Fortunately, Doc Robo wins major cred by swiping it back no problem. Just like stealing candy from a baby. Chris tries to get it back, which results in him hanging off the bottom of the Doc’s custom flier.

Meanwhile, Amy earns a likeability point by showing she has the good sense to carry extra rings. And this time, she hands it to Sonic directly. Which turns the fight from being one-sided in Beacon’s favor to a One-Hit KO in favor of Sonic.

So now everyone rushes off to save Chris. Who has major arm power as he climbs up to get the Emerald from Doc Robo. Again, Doc scores big evil points by trying to shake Chris off to his doom. Which gets his mustache grabbed instead. Ouch! And in the process of getting him off (which, if I didn’t know there’s no way they’ll kill him off, would make me think he’d be on his way to his death, too), looses the Emerald in the process. Should have put it in your pocket, Doc.

Good thing for Chris that Mr. Creepy Pants is still down below and has a car with a “save kids from falling to their death by catching them” mode.

“I’ll save him” he says to no one in particular.

Nope, Sonic gets the save steal. Which finally allows Agent Mr. Stewart to get back to that class of kids he abandoned.

Meanwhile, the Emerald is brought to Chris’ home, where C’n’C remind us they only need six more of the things. Gramps initially doesn’t want the thing stored at the place in case it messes with any of his equipment, but Tail gets him to change his mind by saying he’ll fix anything that goes wrong.

Chris apologizes for loosing the gem the first time, though Sonic tells him he did a good job in the end.

No, Sonic! Don’t encourage him! Next thing you know, he’ll stop just trying to be helpful and start trying to act like the hero he isn’t!

Crazy Gramps congratulates him too, but rather than do the smart parent thing and tell him to stay in school next time, he just tells him to be more careful. Have this kid’s parents ever actually left Chris alone with his Gramps before?

And so ends the episode, and I think at this point it’s time I officially move Chris over to my Scrappy List. C’n’C manage to stay off it, though, since they have the good sense to stay out of the way most the time and actually prove useful, while Amy managed to gain some likeability this time around.

Overall, though, I can’t say I dislike the show, but I sensing a quality about it where I’m liking it in a way it wasn’t intended to be.

Maybe he left his backpack behind. I wonder if Tails just stocked up or what; they don't seem to be anywhere near a lake with a glowing-rock-powered ring generator.

Episode 5: Cracking Knuckles

(AKA: Clash!! Sonic vs Knuckles)

So five episodes in, and already we get the traditional Sonic vs. Knuckles showdown. I just hope they’ve made it interesting.

It was a dark and stormy night…no wait, just dark. And Knuckles is on the street. Catches a newspaper with a photo of Sonic fighting Doc Robo (So really, the whole Sonic on Earth thing feels like a secret in name only at this point) and remember happier times of guarding the Master Emerald. By standing around looking tough.

You know, as much as I can respect Knuckles dedication to his duty, I can’t help but wonder how boring just standing around keeping your eye on a giant gem all day must be. But on the other hand, considering WHAT giant gem it is…

Out of the shadows steps Doc Robo, and he does a pretty good job of giving Knuckles what is of course a bull story about Sonic intentionally sending everyone to Earth and how if Knuckles helps him collect all 7 Emeralds, they might have a chance of going back.

Doc Robo: Ain’t too proud to beg if it gets him what he wants.

I’ll be honest, if I didn’t know as a viewer that he was an evil slimeball, and he hadn’t first attacked the city for the sake of trying to conquer it, I might actually be willing to buy his story.

So when Knuckles then buys into Robo’s story, I’d say it comes off entirely naturally, especially considering he’s already expressed his distaste for Sonics apparently reckless style.

Well played, Doc Robo. Well played. ):-)

At Chris’ house, Crazy Gramps, Tails, and Chris are looking at their CE, and Crazy Gramps hopes that he’ll be able to analyze it and find out more about it. Then some nasty sounding German woman (Ella) comes up to clean, and with no place to hide, Tails pretends to be a stuffed animal. Nicely done. All three of them then clear out and go outside, where ‘reckless’ Sonic is trying to sleep.

The three run into what I’m guessing is another one of the hired help, who insists (much to Crazy Gramps disapproval) that the old guy get some rest. Something about this second employee rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it’s just because Crazy Gramps I’ve met already and I’m siding with him.

Tails, meanwhile, continues to make for a nice stuffed animal.

Amy runs into Chris and Tails, telling them another CE has been discovered. They decide to go after it, and Amy gets upset when Sonic says he’s not going. [Maybe she should have told him there’s an Emerald to be found.

When discussing how to get there, they point out that none of them can drive (at least, not without it looking weird), while I’m thinking “Hello, the Tornado? You can ‘’fly’’ there, remember?”

I think for a moment that Tails remembers, just a little late, when he says he knows how to go.

Nope. They take the train. With Amy and Tails pretending to be stuffed animals. However, the way Chris seems particularly embarrassed by the whole thing leaves me with a rather giddy feeling, so I suppose it’s worth it. If only just.

One grabby kids starts grabbing Amy by the ear, annoyingly asking if she can have one, which causes Amy to kick the kid across the train. It’s cruel, but still funny, so count that as another point in Amys favor.

I guess that even if taking the train seems pretty stupid, at least they made the scene worth it.

Back at Chris’, some black thing flies to where Sonic is. I have no idea WHAT it’s suppose to be, but given the ‘Egg’ written on its bag, I’m guessing it’s one of Doc Robo’s cronies. It pulls a TV out of its bag, and plays a message from Knuckles in which he challenges Sonic to a showdown. Sonic is unimpressed.

I like the signoff, too, which is courtesy of Doc Robo (so yeah, message thing works for Eggman). He’s not responsible for the content, but he is responsible for the self-destruct system. Again, well played, Doc.

That gets Sonics attention.

Oh, it is ON.

Meanwhile, back at the mountain, the three are having a picnic and while it seems they should be searching for the emerald, at least they bring up the apparentness of there possibly not being one.

But then the water starts bubbling (it's an Emerald!), revealing one of Doc Robos giant robots (Dang it!), which quickly captures Tails, Chris, and Amy with backhoe arms. Seems Robo’s learned to generate fake emerald signatures.

Wow. Again, well done, Doc. You are on a ROLL tonight.

While Tails and Chris discuss it, Amy goes straight to the part of trying to break out via Hammertime. It doesn’t work (Somehow, I doubt it ever will), but I have to at least give her credit for trying to do something.

Knuckles, meanwhile, waits nearby for Sonic to show up, which happens only seconds after he wonders where the blue hedgehog is. Naturally, the first things to come out of his mouth only strengthen Doc Robos argument about Sonic causing their predicament and wanting to stick around. Nice going, Sonic. Great mouth you’ve got there.

The fight begins, and with Sonic being able to move at superhuman speeds, Knuckles doesn’t even touch him. He gets points for effort, though. He may not be able to hurt Sonic, but what he’s able to pull off (more rock breaking, cutting through more trees than a hungry beaver, etc) go a ways to restoring my opinion of him.

Also, he catches Sonic as the blue guy spins toward him. That’s even better.

Meanwhile, Robo and his prisoners are watching the fight. Robo, of course, is cheering on Knuckles, but he’s doing a good job of still playing the “Sonic’s the bad guy, not me!” role. Good catch on his part.

And then it’s Tails turn to be useful, at he starts taking apart the robot from the inside with the help of a screwdriver. I don’t even want to know where he’s been hiding that thing…

But before he does anything more, Amy starts smashing stuff again, which causes smoke that gets Sonics attention. Sonic finishes the robot off, sending it to the ground.

Or not, Seems it can use its arms as replacement legs, and has a number of laser beams.

Knuckles to the rescue! Kind of. Mostly, he just wants Robo to let him fight Sonic his way. Yeah, because that was going SO well for you.

At which point, Doc Robo kind of looses his act, shouts at Knuckles, and sends the robot into the air, across the lake, and reveals his true colors to Knuckles. And, with claiming Sonic can’t get to his friends because he’d have to go over water, only for the blue guy to, of course, run around, I suspect that a low-level breakdown is taking place.

Sigh. And you were doing SO WELL, Eggman! Way to blow it. :- Amy kinds of looses it a little too, going all “yay, you saved me!” on Sonic. Sonic does not appear to appreciate this.

Doc Robo unleashes the robots third attack mode, for lack of a better word, which goes all spam cannons and stuff, which causes everyone to run for cover, giving Knuckles his chance at redemption for being a jerk this episode, complete with sending Doc Robo off into the distance.

Day saved, Knuckles walks off again to be a loner till the next time he’s needed.

I suppose it’s a step in the right direction from the episodes I’ve seen thus far, so it leaves me with more hope for the future. And Chris didn’t even annoy me this time around.

I don't know... how many times has he heard that song-and-dance before? It seems to me more like anytime anyone ever tells him something or someone is a threat, he completely buys it with no skepticism, even if he's been the bad guy as long as he's known him. I think he's been programmed that way or something.

...Amy goes straight to the part of trying to break out via Hammertime. It doesn’t work (Somehow, I doubt it ever will)...

Oh, just you wait... Amy's CMOA (at least of the first 13 episodes) in 4...

edited 27th Jul '10 11:37:50 AM by Nyperold

I know what you're saying, except I'm under the impression that while adapted from the games, it's not the same continuity. So I'm willing to give Knuckles the benefit of the doubt that the "So and so is Evil" card hasn't been as played out (if even played before at all) yet for him. It makes more sense for me if you think about how each universe's version has to figure it out on their own.

edited 27th Jul '10 12:32:35 PM by SpaceJawa

Episode 6: Techno Teacher

(AKA: Fierce Battle! School Wars)

We open on Chris’ house, where Sonic looks out into the horizon from atop the garage then runs off, only to run right back.

Amy’s right there as the door opens, asking where he’s been, to which he replied he was just “out”. Suppose I can’t argue with that. Amy thinks about how mysterious Sonic is in one of those ‘oh, he’s so dreamy’ tones. Probably meant to help get across the idea that she has a crush on him, in case it wasn’t clear already.

Breakfast time, and Chris is eating at a big table (though not one of those long, gigantic ones) all alone. Butler man comes into tell him his parents will be stopping buy.

“Wow, and it’s not even my birthday!”

That makes me laugh, but it’s kind of dark and disturbing when you think about it. It’s almost enough to make me fell sorry for him.

He runs off, no doubt to prepare Sonic & co. so the whole “Mostly-Absent-Parents are paying a visit” thing doesn’t catch them by surprise.

Crazy Gramps, Sonic, Tails and Amy are eating breakfast up in the attic. Crazy Gramps is having wine with his meal, while the three critters are eating what appear to be hotdogs or hamburgers.

Oh, and NOW Crazy Gramps is worried about him missing school. Chris slips down the stairs on his way out.

We also get an actual name for Crazy Gramps from Tails: Chuck.

Then they make an observation about just how sad Chris’ childhood is as we’re reminded what his parents do.

Meanwhile, Doc Robo is having an unusual case of Evil Genius’ Block as he tries to think of a way to conquer the world. The idea he soon comes up with is to brainwash the kids. Kind of a long-term plan for a half-hour episode, but who am I to judge if it works?

Or maybe not, since he hopes that rather than wait for the kids to grow up and appoint him leader, he wants them to convince their parents to change their minds. Seems he expects that this world has parents more easily bending to their kids whims than even in Real Life.

Stock Footage Robot Selection Time. Which conveniently pulls out a robot seemingly designed for such a task. What, Doc Robo couldn’t have picked that robot himself?

I suppose at the least, the robot can’t do any worse as a teacher than the “teacher” Chris has now in Mr. Not-So-Secret Agent Man, who has not only given the kids a number of ridiculously hard math problems for what their age has to be, but is also sleeping on the job.

Does he even ‘’care’’ about pretending to be a teacher?

In bursts the teaching bot, and quickly throws out Mr. Creepy Spy Man. Stewart goes to protest to the principal, but to no avail, since unsurprisingly, a teaching robot is better at the job than secret agent who doesn’t even seem to care.

When this is over, they really ought to build a version of the thing that ‘’isn’t’’ designed for the purpose of brainwashing kids.

Stewart continues to overreact, but his (“Chalkboard Charlie”) superiors (“Homeroom”) don’t take him seriously, and when the overeating cop he gets ahold of shows up, the kids are gone!

Dun-dun-DUUUUUUUUUUN!

They’re gone…playing baseball!

Stewart only makes it worse by stealing the cops burger. Bad move, dude.

If it weren’t for the fact that I know the thing is designed for brainwashing, I’d be calling him a lunatic right now.

Ah, what the hey. I’ll do it anyway. Agent Mr. Stewart, you make a lousy secret agent, a worse teacher, and are pretty well a lunatic right now. Maybe you should be trying to find out WHERE the robot came from rather than trying to get everyone else, who can clearly see the robot is a better teacher than you, to agree with your seemingly jealous-driven viewpoint.

Now that I think about it, what happened to those agents hiding on Doc Robos island to keep tabs on him?

Speaking of Doc Robo, he’s busy wondering if his robot has successfully brainwashed the kids yet and tunes into view the ballgame.

He wasn’t doing that before…why? Oh. Maybe because he’s watching via satellite. Ok, that works for me.

Back at Chris’ house, his parents show up in apparent convoy of choppers. Crazy “Chuck” Gramps comes outside and gives Chris’ parents names, Nelson and…I can’t make out the other one. Linsay? Lizzy? Eh, it’s easier calling them Chris’ Mom and Dad anyway.

Both the parents refer to Chuck as dad in some way, but since I’m doubting what that would imply (Even if it might further help explain some things about Chris), I’m guessing that C-Dad is his son, since he calls him “Dad” while C-Mom goes by the more formal “Father”.

Back at school, one of the kids hits a really impressive hit, only for Mr. Teacher Bot to speed after it and jet into the air to make the catch. Chris calls it the greatest catch he’s ever seen. I call it The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard.

Eggman’s mail critter arrives, and I learn his name is Bakoon. (Getting all kinds of names this episode). Out in the open, he tries to remind Mr. Intelihente what his real mission is suppose to be, except that in a funny reversal of A.I. Is a Crapshoot, it seems he’s now more interested in being admired himself.

I’d say that now, with the plan kind of out in the open, it’s pretty well been blown.

Back to the drawing board!

But first, revenge! Robo style! By showing up and threatening to disassemble the bot. Seems all he needed was a little life threatening motivation.

Back at home, the C-Family is wondering where Chris is. Before long, we have C-Dad declaring he’s going to go look for the boy. Amy and Tails, outside and taking notice of the situation, ask Sonic if he can go look for them, but he’s already gone.

Soon enough, he shows up at school in time to interrupt “let’s draw Doc Robo!” Doc Robo is completely oblivious of the appearance till it’s specifically pointed out. Missiles are launched, but sonic finishes off Teacher Bot in seconds flat.

Almost a shame, really. He was so good at his job till the Doc started threatening him. Even if he did cheat at baseball.

In a stunning display of heroic stupidity, Sonic just lets Robo fly off. You know, rather than beating him up so the authorities can lock him up.

I think it’s fair to say that any damage that Robo causes from this point forward can be at least partially assigned to Sonic.

As Chris runs home, he passes by Agent Mr. Stewart, who suddenly has something click when he figures out that maybe he should try actually acting like a teacher. At least he doesn’t get credit for trying to declare the teacher bot evil like I feared he would.

Chris gets home in time to enjoy his surprise visit time with his folks, and I finally pick up on the Butlers name (Mr. Tinaka, though I think it may have been said at some previous point too), while Tails and Amy continue to watch things through the window.

Tails comments on how they look like a nice family, which I might agree with if the C-Parents weren’t gone so much that Chris is surprised by them showing up if it’s not his birthday. That kid is going to have some serious issues when he get’s older, I just know it.

Not a horrible episode, but also one of the ones thus far. Though all things considered, that’s not saying a huge amount.

edited 29th Jul '10 11:51:30 AM by SpaceJawa

The robot slots annoyed me. Yes, loads of children's cartoons follow a Monster of the Week format, but that makes it way too obvious.

Yeah; what happens when the rings all turn up different robots? It seems an extremely likely scenario, and yet it always selects only one. I suppose it might be programmed against that possibility, but then the point is, what, style? Maybe that's it: he's going for a Veggas feel!

edited 29th Jul '10 9:20:22 PM by Nyperold

Oh, ow...

My initial guess might be that he'd send out three robots instead of just one, except you'd think if that were the case he'd want to increase the chances of them not lining up.

Though while he's at it, you'd think that if he was really serious about conquering the world, he'd just send every single one of them out at once.

But yeah, slot machine. I've had that name but just been unable to remember it. Thanks for that.

Episode 7: Party Hardly

(AKA: Giant Free For All! Chris’ House Party)

Chris tells C&C to stay inside while he goes off wherever, which kind of sort of provides a half explanation for where they were last episode (not that I cared much).

They decide to go outside anyway, which gets the attention of Amy and Tails. Sonic is just chillin’.

They take notice that Cream is collecting flowers, which they suspect is a sign she’s just homesick. Sonic takes notice of poster on the wall which seems to show a lake surrounded by the things, which I suspect means he’s going to take C&C on a trip to the lake.

At home, C-Mom (who hey, what do you know, has stuck around!) is enjoying getting a chance to cook, and seems to be doing a tad much of it. She also doesn’t seem to be very good at it. I’m not sure if she’s very aware of this, however, since on the one hand she wants to arrange a big dinner party for that night, but on the other hand she wants Ella to do the cooking. Chris seems to enjoy the idea, and asks if they can invite C-Mom’s brother Sam, his favorite uncle (I wonder if the allusion was intentionally or not.)

C&C, who are peeking in on the conversation, like the idea to. This is not a good omen.

At school, Chris also tells his Black Best Friend and his token female friend about the party, while Agent Mr. Stewart listens in like the creepy, creepy man he is.

Also, that racecar-driving cop we saw in Episode 1? Turns out that would be Uncle Sam. Almost surprised to see them brought up again after not being mentioned once since they first showed up.

Back at Chris’ house, C&C are trying to put together a flower crown. Just realized my pre-theme song prediction was wrong. Cream decides they don’t have enough flowers, and goes to get more, but stops when she sees C-Mom decorating and thinks maybe she can help.

I can see the hilarity being telegraphed from a mile off.

Also, Mr. Creepy Pants approaches Chris and basically invites himself over to the kids house to meet his parents, acting like he’s totally oblivious to the whole party thing. It’s a good thing I know this guy is a secret agent, or I would have a very different, potentially very disturbing idea of what this guy is about. I can only wonder what Chris’ thoughts on him are.

Up in the mountains, Sonic is looking at the poster from the room trying to find the lake.

Chris gets home, and at this point I’m beginning to suspect that it’s just C-Mom who’s spending more time at home rather than both his folks like I initially would have guessed. Chris tells his mom his teacher is coming over, and seems to completely have forgotten his initial ‘uh oh’ reaction he showed when the guy first brought it up.

Crazy Gramps comes down the stairs in a suit, and he does not appear to be enjoying it. Personally, as someone who can’t stand suits either, I sympathize with him entirely. Apparently, his lab coat isn’t acceptable attire. Again, neither of us sees any reason why.

Chris asks Crazy Gramps to pass on a reminder about staying out of sight, at the exact moment that C&C can be seen trying to help decorate in the background. Let the hilarity begin…

Also, I find out that the room everyone but C&C have been staying in is Crazy Gramps. Feel like I should have guessed this one already.

It does leave me with another question, though. Why is it that Tails, Amy, and Sonic are staying in Crazy Gramps room while C&C are staying in Chris’?

On second though, probably better not to bring it up.

C-Mom pops in to nearly take notice of them, but Crazy Gramps and Chris move in with the interception. Save!

Chris tries to remind them they have to stay out of sight, only this time for Ella to nearly spot them. Chris grabs C&C and dives for the save!

Mr. Tinaka the butler pops in, and…tells C&C it was thoughtful of them to try to help? He knows about it? Say what? Where did that come from all of the sudden?

On the other hand, the whole secret has been kept so lousily it’s a bit of a surprise they’re not known about by more people already. Maybe he spotted them on the news when they first showed up or something.

Of course, C&C ‘’again’’ wander off. They pop into the kitchen, and begin to make things worth in their effort to help. Yeah, saw that one coming a mile away too.

Back to Sonic, who’s discovered a rather dangerous looking rope bridge and proceeds to destroy it as he runs across.

C-Mom gets a phone call from a movie studio. We only get half the conversation, but it sounds like she’s offered the starring role in another movie. Thing is, when she tries to wait till the following day to head out, she’s told they need to start filming first thing tomorrow morning, which means she needs to depart immediately.

Ok, stop right there.

I may not be a member of the film industry, and I may never have done any paid role level acting in my time, but I’d like to think I know at least a thing or two about how that kind of stuff works. I’m seeing several things that are very wrong with this picture that make it stink of a poor attempt to create additional conflict (like we need more of that right now). Or maybe it’s just a bad dubbing job.

First, as a starlet of her apparent status, if she really cared about staying home for the party the way she seems to, I see 0 reason she can’t just decline to take the role. There can’t possibly be any movie so big where she would suffer anything more than a minor setback to her career, at worst.

Second, if for some reason she’s got a contractual obligation hanging over her head, there have got to be rules against being able to call her up and require she be there ready to film first thing the next morning.

Third, even if that WAS the case, there is absolutely no way on any Earth with any film industry resembling ours where her inability to be there ready to film on location the following morning would delay their hundred-million dollar production! If she just learned she got the role, there is still script reading and line memorizing, costume fitting, and other pre-production elements that have to be taken care of first!

Basically, this scenario reeks of a face palming Wall Banger. She has to miss her kids party because she NEEDS to be out at a filming site, ready to start shooting a movie she was just given the starring role to?

You have ‘’’GOT’’’ to be kidding me. >_<

...Sigh...

Ok, now that I’ve gotten my little rant out of the way, back to our regularly scheduled liveblog!

C-Mom laments her situation as either being stupid about the way acting works and/or enslaved by her industry overlords, and catches up with obvious fact that she’s not very good at being a Mom.

C&C meanwhile, stand outside the room and listen in.

Back to Sonic, who finally finds the lake to do who-knows what.

Back at the house, Chris is trying to find C&C, and misses getting told that…

I had a phrase I was going to use to describe the situation, but I realized how terrible it sounded after I wrote it, so I’ll suffice to say that Moms taking off and Chris is blissfully unaware.

Also, I’ve just taken an odd notice that Elle’s voice sounds an awful lot like a guy doing a bad impersonation of a woman. Huh. Make of that what you will.

C-Mom leaves, and one think I take notice of is that she says Chris should call her if he needs anything. My answer?

“How about a Mom who starts acting like a better mom rather than just crying about not being very good about it?”

Seriously, I can’t help but feel at least a tad sorry for this kid by now. No way he grows up without some ‘’serious’’ issues about his childhood he’ll need either professional help to work past or some quest he’ll have to go on with a bunch of quirky friends that will help him work out his issues through all the crazy adventures they have together.

Waaaaaaaaaaait a minute…

Chris goes up to Crazy Gramps room and is, against all better judgment at this point, surprised they aren’t there. Just Tails and Amy. Crazy Gramps suggest all split up and search for them. Because sending out two more walking talking animals that could potentially be spotted is such a great answer. Crazy Gramps crazy strikes again!

Mr. Creepy Pants unknowingly passes by C-Mom as their vehicles go through the same intersection within seconds of one another, and we see that MCP has a bouquet of roses in his passenger seat. He…does know that C-Mom is married, right? Because that seems like an awfully formal thing for just wanting to stop by like he mentioned he was coming by for. Also, he’s bringing along what I’m guessing is a bug of some kind.

I think that Agent Mr. Creepy Pants has just managed to push the creep-o-meter Up To Eleven.

MCP shows up, and both he and Chris learn that C-Mom has been…called to her job. The situation gets worse when someone (Tails, perhaps? That’s who we’re shown…) breaks something in likely the kitchen. MCP uses the moment to plant his bug behind a painting.

Seems that nope, it wasn’t Tails, it was Crazy Gramps being his crazy self, climbing in and out of the window and stuff. In the midst of things, Chris spots Cream’s shoes from her hiding behind the curtain. She, in turn, spots Sonic, who has returned with a bunch of flowers, which causes her to walk right out into the middle of the room where Ella and Agent Mr. Creepy Pants both would have to be blind and deaf not to take notice of her.

She just. Doesn’t. get it. Oh, Cream…cream, cream, cream, cream, cream…

And yet, somehow, the secret agent still manages to miss it entirely. Wow. Nice secret agenting there, pal.

In enters uncle Sam. Let’s see if he can save this episode the way he supposedly saved the city from crime.

Nope. He just starts blabbing his mouth about how fast he is at the first given opportunity. This guy is Chris favorite uncle…why?

Sonic comes to the rescue, managing to pop in the window where just Sam can see him right after he’s finished reminding the viewers about his encounter with the critter in episode 1 and vowing he’ll catch Sonic yet. Yay, Sonic.

MCP continues to admire a rather bland looking painting. Again, nice secret agenting there, pal.

Ella brings up having seen Cream talk, and the following conversation about C-Mom having to leave causes her to…once again, ruin the whole charade for everyone by trying to defend the woman, since she’s still all upset about being separated from her own mom.

I’m going to chalk this up as a big evil point in Doc Robo’s favor, since it’s apparent that of all the people he could have kidnapped, he kidnapped a little tiny kid, probably barely older than a toddler. That, people, is the sign of a truly devious mastermind of evil villainy.

Mr. Tanaki tries to get in a save by calling it an act of ventriloquism, but other than Mr. Creepy Pants showing that he’s, like, the worst secret agent in the world by going back to admiring the painting, we don’t get to see whether he’s pulled off a stunning win or not before Tails bursts into the room.

Nice job, Tails.

Oh, and Amy is right behind.

Nice going, Amy.

And it’s here that Mr. Creepy Pants, while failing to do anything to fix his creep factor, at least manages to fix the damage of my opinion on his secret agent skills this episode has done thus far by revealing that no, he wasn’t oblivious after all. He was just pretending to by while recording everything going on in the room.

Wow, maybe he’s a better secret agent than I thought, and just got stuck with a bad cover story.

Both he and Sam take off, leaving Chris and Crazy Gramps to clean up the damage at home with Ella.

Mr. Tinaki suggests they let Ella in on the secret fact that no, she wasn’t hallucinating.

With Ella no longer being kept out of the loop, she and C&C look like they’re being set up to be good friends, while Sonic comments that now they can have the run of the place.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m getting the feeling that Sonic somehow intended for this to happen. He’s more devious than I thought.

Chris, however, is feeling bad about C&C’s reaction to him earlier, but it seems that, being the naive little kid that she is, she’s already forgotten about it, and so everything appears to be ok.

I’m not sure what to think about this, really. First is seemed average by the standards the episodes have been thus far, then it looked to be headed for So Bad, It's Good territory, and then became just plain hilarious for a moment for what may or may not be the right reasons. Which probably helped save it from being as bad as it probably should have been. That and Crazy Gramps being his crazy self.

Probably could have used more Doc Robo. He usually helps spice things up, even if he fails to fully use that brain of his sometimes. And this episode definitely could have used some of his spicing up.

edited 30th Jul '10 1:35:02 AM by SpaceJawa

Hmm, I wonder if the flowers (Mr. Stewart's, not Cream's) are because she's a starlet, rather than because he's courting her.

But yeah. Man. I totally didn't think how she'd need to prepare for the film shoot. And how such a big star should be able to get whatever family time she wants.

"Hmm, I wonder if the flowers (Mr. Stewart's, not Cream's) are because she's a starlet, rather than because he's courting her."

True, which did come to mind (and in retrospect, makes more sense), but the other one came first, and fit in better with the creepy persona he'd already established.

Even still, there was just something that seemed off to me about a guy who was supposedly just dropping by for a visit to meet his parents bringing that many roses and such. Could just be me.

"But yeah. Man. I totally didn't think how she'd need to prepare for the film shoot. And how such a big star should be able to get whatever family time she wants."

Perhaps I was Dan Browned? Or is there a different phrase that fits that better?

edited 1st Aug '10 4:42:47 PM by SpaceJawa

Episode 8: Satellite Swindle

(AKA: Emergency Launch! X Tornado)

Right from the start, we get Doc Robo putting his cards in the Roboslots, unleashing some kind of jet robot. There’s a lot of drama and dramatic music surrounding this one, so I’m guessing it’s important. Since it flies up into space, I’m also guessing it has something to do with the swindling of said satellite from the title of the episode.

Meanwhile, at Area 99, there’s business happening as they track what Robos robo is up to, though they know very little yet.

Side note: There’s something about what I’m assuming is a map of the world that reminds me of that from Avatar.

Back at Robo’s HQ, he causes his robot to start doing…something. It seems to be collecting a large number of satellites (I wouldn’t put it past him collecting all of them), which he intends to turn into new robot parts.

“Who knew recycling could be so much fun?”

“And Cost Effective?”

Meanwhile, at Chris’, Sonic relaxes on the roof (as always), while Tails, Chris, and C&C are inside watching TV. It’s some weird show with a tall, hairy purple critter that talks with a southern accent. I’m suspecting that this will cue Sonics crew in on Robos plan when the show cuts out, since they’re probably running on Satellite TV.

Ella and Amy come in from the kitchen with newly baked Apple pies, and when Tails tries to eat one that Amy says is for Sonic, he gets thrown into the TV and apparently breaks it (which I would buy, if it weren’t for the lack of any apparent damage and my suspicions that Doc Robo is the real culprit.)

Chris picks up the remote and says maybe “this” will fix it, then does what I’m assuming is an attempt to change the channel. Yes, Chris, because changing the channel will fix a broken TV. Nice deduction there, kid. You’re a real handy man, you are.

Naturally, because the Doc Robo is stealing satellites TV is broken, trying to change the channel doesn’t work.

This leaves C&C very upset and crying, because they’re now missing their favorite program. Congratulations, you two. You have now fully integrated into Earth society.

The crying gets the attention of Sonic, who enters and gets the 411.

Sonic, being one of the more sensible characters on the show, seems unimpressed.

Though it seems neither Ella, Amy, nor Mr. Tinaka are pleased by the predicament either. Noticeably, Mr. Tinaka is disappointed about not getting to watch a martial arts matinee.

Chekovs Gun, anyone?

Enter…what was his name again? Bakuu? Whatever the black, horned, mail critter was called. He lands on the table, after the Pies are promptly moved out of the way.

Side note: You know, considering how rich this family is, I see no reason why they couldn’t just run out and buy a new one. Or, for that matter, why resident brains Tails and Crazy Gramps couldn’t try to fix it. Seems like a rather small problem in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway, Bokuun pulls out his message machine and plays something especially for Sonic.

Doc Robo, after a quick and uncommented on insult of calling Sonic a warthog (I’m pleasantly surprised Sonic let that one by), he proceeds to fill in our hero on what he’s up to. I’d call it a dumb move on Doc Robos part, if I didn’t suspect that Sonic knowing what he’s up to is all part of his master plan. In otherwords…

Admiral Ackbar, if you would be so kind?

Also, he makes an off hand comment about Bokuun potentially being obsolete. Bokuun does not take well to this. I suspect they’re setting up a Heel–Face Turn.

Tails, for all his intelligence, apparently does not know what a Stratosphere is. Which gives Crazy Gramps the perfect opportunity to burst in and explain it in true Crazy Gramps fashion. He tries to throw Bokuun out (good job, Gramps), only for the messenger to suddenly perk up and set off an explosion off screen, making me suspect that Doc Robo made that off hand Bokuun comment for just such a reason.

Well played, Robo. I’ll be putting that HFT guess back away.

With an explanation in hand, Chris suggests that they try to reach Robos robot with the Tornado, and while Tails is hesitant about it, Sonic says he’s game for it. This will end well.

While Amy and Chris seem positive about the plan, Crazy Gramps is showing a more realistic face, since I suspect he has about as much faith in the plan as I do.

Surprisingly, though, Robo’s E-90 robot is currently far down enough in the atmosphere where they can reach it, and Robo is actually surprised that E-90 is under attack.

In other words, there is no trap, and rather than heading straight for Doc Robos lair, it’s left itself vulnerable.

I am ‘’very’’ disappointed in you right now, Doc.

Some flight maneuvers later, and Tails succeeds in leaving Doc Robo (who isn’t even there) dizzy and E-90 with a flaming hole in it’s back. Ultimately, Doc Robo tries to suck them in like he did the satellites, and while the Tornado escapes the first attack, the second attempt causes the plane to burn out it’s engine and fall towards the ground.

Dun dun duuuuuuuun…

Tails recovers just before he hits the water, and they retreat back to Chris’.

Eh, Doc Robo managed to win a round, despite his lack of foresight.

The crew discusses how to go at Doc Robo again, and Sonic suggests making the Tornado faster.

As I watch, I wonder if Doc Robo has gotten E-90 back yet (no, of course he hasn’t) and if not, why the frak is it still flying around instead of having been brought in so the satellites can be recycled?!

When it’s suggested the Chaos Emerald be used to power the plane, Tails says the need somewhere for the extra energy to go (Chaos Beam Cannon! Chaos Beam Cannon!). The solution, since one engine isn’t enough? Why, TWO engines, of course! Yeah, that’ll certainly be enough for all that raw Chaos Emerald power.

Sure, I’ll grant them that they’ve yet to establish numbers or anything, so I ‘’suppose’’ it’s feasible, but at the same time, I’m finding it a little hard to buy the idea of two biplane engines being enough to use up the power of a gem like the Chaos Emerald has been pretty well described when they show one engine being powered by the gem going up in a theoretical explosion.

Crazy Gramps takes Tails down to a secret laboratory of his that seems to be underground, where they get to work on rebuilding the plane. And then they manage to get the job done in what sounds like little over a day. I have to say, that’s some pretty impressive work on Tails part. Especially since he was unsure about it when first suggested.

Meanwhile, in the living room, where Chris, Amy, and C&C are sleeping on the couch, the TV comes back on, revealing “Egg TV”, showing the “Dr. Eggman Show”, hosted by none other than Doc Robo.

Just as I’m wondering why the forces keeping an eye on Doc Robo aren’t doing anything, we get their commander ordering a counter attack. I’m guessing that they’re relying on something like Radio to get messages around right now.

Meanwhile, back at Chris’, Tails unveils the brand new Tornado, Tornado X.

Back at Area 99, we discover that E-90 didn’t get all the satellites the first time, and has come back up for more (Well, guess maybe Doc Robo DID get the last load back to base.) They attempt to shoot the robot with lasers, but are stopped by a deflector shield.

Also, I’m getting confused, since Doc Robos referring to his satellite stealer as Super Sweeper. Perhaps I was wrong, and E-90 is something else. I HAD thought that it was that playable robot character from the Sonic Adventure games, so maybe my first guess was right and I’ve had a name mix up and stuff.

Anyhoo…

Tails and Sonic prepare to lift off, when we discover that, much to my disappointment, Tails installed a third seat. Meaning that >Sigh< Chris has room to come along.

Dagnabbit, Tails!!!

Sonic hesitates about not letting Chris come anyway (yeah, like they’d really do it), but decides that yes, he can come so long as he doesn’t get in the way.

Yeah, like ‘’’that’’’ will happen.

The plane rapidly approaches the Super Sweeper (ok, so maybe it’s both E-90 AND the Super Sweeper. E-90 Super Sweeper as full name, perhaps?), but Robo seems unconcerned.

Sonic lands on the robot itself, and Robo activates weapons systems, including one of the laser satellites he stole. This means Tails can’t get in any closer, meaning the whole ‘get faster with Chaos Emerald power’ plan was kind of worthless.

There’s a fight scene that follows, but to be honest, it’s feeling kind of bland for some reason. Not getting a whole lot out of it. Doc Robo seems to be having a KAHN!/SPOCK! moment, though.

The ship eventually moves into the stratosphere, where they comment on the cold, but fail to mention the lack of oxygen. Also, the ship is starting to freeze over, though Tails seems to think they’ll be fine.

I think “How’d you solve the icing problem?”

Ring power, apparently. Which allows for what feels like a Deus ex Machina ending, since while I’ll admit they’ve used it before, was never considered for use yet in this episode, and conveniently allowed the problem to be solved in time for the 20ish minute time limit. Also, it again makes me wonder why Sonic doesn’t just keep that thing on him at all times.

With E-90 Super Sweeper destroyed, they all return to Chris’, where Sonic gets warmed up hot water and chili (which feels like a Shout-Out of some kind, since there’s not been any mention of it yet in this show.) He also gives credit of the victory to Tails and…>sigh<…Chris.

I sure hope the next episode is better, because I was not feeling impressed by this one. Low point in the series thus far, feeling dull all around. Probably has something to do with Doc Robo being particularly boneheaded with his planning. Ending left much to be desired, too.

edited 1st Aug '10 7:45:14 PM by SpaceJawa

There is something else about the Icing Problem. It doesn't just Freeze the ship, it also freezes Sonic who was standing on top of the ship, and apparently can breath in space. Also, for some reason, he says "Everything is A-Okay!" before freezing solid, rather than saying something along the lines of: "SWEET ZOMBIE JESUS GET THE FUCKING PLANE BACK TO EARTH YOU FUCKING IDIOT!! ARE YOU BLIND ENOUGH TO NOTICE THAT I AM FREEZING SOLID BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO FUCKING RETARDED TO THINK THAT A PLANE, AND BY EXTENSION ME COULD BE CAPABLE OF SPACE TRAVEL!!!"

Well, y'know. Sonic Can Breathe In Space.

And yeah, the E-100 series was the series from Sonic Adventure, 102 being Gamma. (We never did see Alpha, come to think. Maybe it didn't pan out for that model.)

I kinda thought Zero was Alpha.

Episode 9: The Last Resort

(AKA: Amy on the Beach)

So not even a dozen episodes in and already they’re trying a Beach Episode? Ok, but I look forward to seeing how they pull it off while Sonic and his pals are still pretending they have a secret to protect.

Amy does a voiceover explaining what this resort place is, and wishing they could go there instead of to some emerald coast. Chris, however, wishes he could go to the emerald coast instead of having to go to the grand opening in place of his mom.

Even comments he could give Sonic a swimming lesson. Makes sense to me. Sonic, however, just wants to hang out at Chris. Considering his aversion to water, I don’t blame him. Amy isn’t pleased about it, though I have to wonder – since they’re traveling via the Tornado X, how would they all be getting there if Sonic did choose to go along? One of them riding on the wings or something?

The place that Amy, Tails, and C&C are visiting is located surprisingly close to the resort. Makes me wonder if any of them are considering how easy it might be for anyone interested in traveling out into the water a ways to spot them.

Side note: I may not care much about C&C, but I have to admit, Cheese + inner tube = cute :3

While Chris does his best to hide his disappointment about being stuck at the resort, Amy daydreams about what things might be like if Sonic had come along. And, you know, actually showed any interest in returning her affections. Because I’ve yet to see any evidence that the Amy/Sonic relationship is anything more than a one-way street.

Her daydream is interrupted by a coconut falling on her head, to which she responds by throwing it out into the ocean with a surprising amount of force, eventually skipping off of some kind of large sea critter that just submerges into the ocean. I’m guessing that thing is going to come back to haunt them later.

Down the beach, she spots a number of couples sitting out on the rocks. You’d think this would be a good sign for her to run the other way, but instead, she keeps moving in the same direction and catches sight of a girl giving her boyfriend a shell bracelet she says she made for him.

Amy see, Amy do.

As she’s in the middle of denying making one to Cream, explosions are heard off in the distance, and smoke is seen coming from the resort. I’d guess it’s the sea creature Amy hit with her coconut, except there’s laser blasts involved. That leaves one suspect: Doc Robo.

Ok, guess I was both right AND wrong. Seems that yes, it is the sea creature, but it also appears that it’s working for Doc Robo. So…Sea Monster Robot.

He’s also packing a large army of worker bots, which get to work demolishing the resort itself, and bring it down in record time. Chris, Emma, and Mr. Takashi (Dang it, why can’t I remember his name?), rather than run away with the rest of the crowd, stand around and wait for Robo’s drones to surround him while he wonders out loud to contact Sonic.

Well, you sure can’t do it standing around there, kid.

Fortunately, Doc Robo is right there to make things entertaining again, declaring them the first guests to “Eggman’s Scream Park, where your first vacation is guaranteed to be your last!”

Oh, that’s good. That’s dark and creepy. Why can’t Robo be like this more often?

Mr. T-Something (It’s hard to just call him ‘Mr. T’ since he really doesn’t fit the Mr T type) steps forward and promises to protect Chris. Oh, oh! Is he about to break out the Kung Fu?! Nope, he nearly does it, and brings out a few ridiculous opening stances, but then gets stopped before he can actually do anything. And they seem to put a kibosh on him actually doing any of it in the future. Seems that Chekovs Gun has been subverted.

Back as Chris’, Sonic enters to remember that, oh yeah, everyone went to the beach, where’s there’s all kinds of water that he doesn’t like. Fortunately for everyone else, Crazy Gramps is there to turn his attention to a news report of what Doc Robo is up to.

Oh, and while they were paying attention to that, Bakuun pulls a Batman behind his back to present him with a bomb. He claims it’s an invitation, but it looks like a bomb, and this guy and his stuff have a habit of exploding, so I’m calling it like I see it. Ok, guess it was just a plain old bomb. Well, not a plain old bomb, since it explodes harmlessly. But yeah…

Back at the Thorndike beach house, Tails fires up the Tornado X to go help Chris, and Amy takes the back seat to go help in case Sonic doesn’t show up. C&C, wisely, decide to stay behind And that’s why they make so much better supporting characters than Chris – they know when it’s a good idea to let the real heroes do their thing and stay out of the way.

Meanwhile, at Eggmans Scream Park, work continues at record pace, and Robo is on a level of sinister I wish he’d reach more often (“I want these rides to be the most dangerous in the universe!”)

Cue Sonic, who starts breaking stuff.

Robo declares that this is a trap, since he knows Sonic can’t swim, and sicks Ocotoron on him. Sonic doesn’t seem too discouraged, and runs right at Robo’s monster bot. Sonic, however, has misjudged the situation, and the more…squishy nature of the things arms allows it to grab him when Sonic attacks, and then he dunks Sonic in water to try to drown him.

Foolishly, he then brings Sonic back up for air to taunt him and so forth, giving Sonic a chance to keep from getting pulled under again long enough for Tails and Amy to show up. Amy jumps out of the plane and pulls out the hammer.

Amy used HAMMERTIME!

IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE!

For once, the hammer did what Sonic couldn’t. Amy does not seem pleased about her would be boyfriend getting threatened with possible death.

Unfortunately, rather than build upon this and really give her a chance to shine, Sonic takes back over and has Tails deliver a ring to him.

Once gain, I ask why Sonic doesn’t just keep one of those things on him at all times. Seems he could solve a lot of problems that way.

Point and case – Ocotoron is subject to a Curb-Stomp Battle where only moments ago he very well could have actually beaten Sonic with minimal difficulty. I’m nearly at the point where the ring power comes off as nothing more than a means of creating extra drama and stuff. I really hope they change that up at some point.

While Sonic doesn’t go so far as to return Amy’s affections, he is nice enough to thank her for her help, which signals to Amy to give him her shell bracelet. She repeats the words she heard the example woman say, which Sonic seems on the verge of believing and accepting.

Aaawwwww…As much as I’m surprised by it, I can’t help but feel touched by it. It’s not a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming, but considering what the shows done so far, it’s a pretty good effort.

Except something shakes the ground and cuts the moment short. Doc Robo’s construction workers which weren’t wrecked initially form up. NICE. They manage to make good use of the other robots which Sonic couldn’t possibly have had time to destroy. Well played.

Also, they crush Amy’s bracelet. Oh, she is NOT going to like that.

Round Two: FIGHT!

While Doc Robo and Sonic taunt one another, Amy is still focused on the broken bracelet. There’s a Berserk Button coming, isn’t there?

Yep. It takes a few moments of crying, but soon enough, her eyes fire up. Dude, she is NOT happy…

Before Sonic and the robots fight can begin, Amy again activates her Hammer Power, which forces everyone to take notice, and she starts breaking the thing up piece by piece. She even gets in a couple swings as Robo himself.

As neat as the moment is, though, there’s something about the way the animation is running that makes it feel underplayed. I don’t know, I think I need to call this as a Missed Moment of Awesome.

Again, though, not a bad effort on their part.

Amy’s attack on Robo, however, leaves her out in the water, and Sonic, either not knowing she can swim or worried she might have been hurt, forgets his own inability to swim and goes in after her. Despite a scene that’s seemingly meant to leave in doubt whether they’ll make it, I’m not surprised when the next scene has her back at the villa. She’s also disappointed that Sonic went home and that her bracelet was destroyed.

To the contrary, though, it seems that Sonic got his hands on it anyway, and fixed it up so he could wear it.

Awwww… ^_^

Well, it wasn’t as good an episode as it could have been, but it was a big step up from the last one. Pretty much what I needed after how little I was left caring following the whole Jet Tornado vs. Space Robot thing. Doc Robo was particularly sinister and evil in a good way, Chris more or less stayed out of the way, Amy got a chance to shine, and for the most part there wasn’t a overpopulation of glaring problems that I was unable to ignore when everything was said and done.

I wish I could say it leaves me with hope for the rest of the series, but the varying quality of episodes thus far is keeping me from getting my hopes up. Still, one of the better episodes thus far.

edited 3rd Aug '10 5:24:40 PM by SpaceJawa

And thus we have the episode that spawned countless AMV's of Sonic and Amy's One True Love. Yes, I've watched some of them. I'm ashamed.