Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie (1999) Review

Hello everyone, and welcome to my look at the Sonic OVA movie! I know I wasn't planning on looking at this before, but my exact words were that I wasn't going to recap it. I didn't say anything about reviewing it. This OVA, originally meant as a TV pilot; was instead edited into a movie in the year 1999 around the time Sonic Adventure was first released on Dreamcast, so let’s open up the anime version of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie!

We open on a wall of monitors, and we see Hyper Metal Sonic (voice of Gary Dehan) awaken to ominous, pulsing music. Dr. Ivo “Robotnik” Eggman (voice of character actor Edwin Neal) just needs one component to complete his work on him.

Elsewhere, we see Sonic (voice of Martin Burke) relaxing on the beach while Tails (voice of Lainie Frasier) tools with a jet-powered bogie board of his own design! Sonic then turns on his stereo, blasting loud rock music in the BGM. Ah, 1999: still close enough to the new millennium you could do this un-ironically. Tails is then clipped by an “old man,” who is actually an owl whose plane is on fire! Despite his reluctance, Sonic springs into action just in time! 

The “old man”, whose name is Steward (voice of Chris Campbell), tells them the president needs to see them; and Sonic and Tails head off in the Tornado to find out what’s happening! It’s Robotnik leading them into a trap; and the President (voice of Edwin Neal) and his daughter Sara (voice of Sasha Biesi) are being held hostage in exchange for South Island! He asks for Sonic’s help in stopping the “Roboticizer” in Robotropolis; or it will explode by the next sunrise! Usually, the doctor doesn’t want him to stop this; but it’s no weirder than Jim Carrey in a Snidely Whiplash mustache.

Reluctantly, Sonic agrees; and Tails is given a tracker to get them to Robotropolis! Wonder if that can also show where a holocron is to get them to Exegol. Sonic and Tails then head to Robotropolis; while Robtonik keeps Sara company with video games and going out for a drive. Ah, the joyful madness of the 1990s!

By way of the “Land of Darkness,” Sonic and Tails make their way to Robotropolis; though it’s kind of a rough landing. I will say the music in this anime is really good; and the animation is kind of like a larger scale version of the intro and outro of Sonic CD. The two encounter Metal Robotnik, leading to a skirmish on the streets as they try to find a way out. They do so, but not before Sonic gives Metal Robotnik the bird. He would have done it before, but the network censors wouldn’t let him.

I also don’t know why Sonic’s shoes are red hot and smoking: I thought they were supposed to be friction-proof and heatproof. Metal Robotnik keeps shooting at them, which draws the attention of Knuckles (voice of Bill Wise). They’re nearly tripped up by a glue gun, but Knuckles frees them! Also, I don’t know why Knux has an Australian accent in this movie, but that is a nice hat. 

It turns out that Metal Robotnik is really just another suit from Robotnik; and Knuckles is a treasure hunter in this movie. I cannot begin to tell you how long I spent hunting for fragments of the Master Emerald as a kid.

The three heroes enter Robotropolis, and they have to stop the generator before sunrise! They do so just in time, quite literally at the last possible moment! Knuckles gets Sonic free of the generator, but this awakens Hyper Metal Sonic!

Metal Robotnik crumbles, and Sara isn’t happy that she’s been had. Now, Sonic must face Hyper Metal Sonic; and we have our obligatory “this is terrible” from Tails.

I must say, this anime does a really good job at providing its own take on their fight and the Stardust Speedway Zone. I haven’t seen that many errors; but there was this one bit where Sonic apparently became a ventriloquist on top of a mountain. 

Hyper Metal Sonic confronts Steward, and apparently his HUD is on loan from Cyberdyne. Sonic comes to in a meadow, and Tails returns home to find his lab in shambles! Thankfully, however, Steward is all right; and wearing “Sonic’s favorite clothes,” which apparently came from an old Capri-Sun commercial. You can actually unlock those items for your avatar in Sonic Forces, with the candy colors; Mega Drive logos and everything! That’s what the Genesis was called in other countries, couldn’t clear the red tape here apparently.

While Robotnik presents Sara with a wedding dress, none the wiser when she says she loves it; Tails is able to track Hyper Metal Sonic and the real deal using the circuits in the tracer Robtonik gave him! That seems like poor planning, knowing Tails’ technical skills; but no matter. Robtonik has also donned a blue suit, wanting to marry Sara and have lots of little “Egg babies!” Naturally, Sara isn’t too thrilled. Not sure whether her or Elise has the more awkward romantic subplot.

Knuckles contacts the president, and is able to tell him that Hyper Metal Sonic is out to destroy the glacier in “the Land of the Sky!” I guess this is the movie’s stand-in for the Floating Island from the games, and we’ve only got about 15 minutes left.

Thankfully, Sonic reappears just in time; right there in the war room! No relation to that crappy inspirational drama, but now he must confront Hyper Metal Sonic again! This is kind of prescient about that scene in Sonic Adventure 2 where he buzzes the president in his limo to let him know what’s going on.

Robotnik and Sara head to the glacier, now; the final battle begins! Once again, the animation is actually pretty good for its time. Though, this part about Sonic taking a shot to the groin and Hyper Metal Sonic leering at Sara is kind of cringey. Get your mind out of the gutter!

Knuckles saves Sara from falling, and Tails hits Hyper Metal Sonic with the Tornado! Just 10 minutes left!

Sonic and Hyper Metal Sonic clash, and Knuckles gets a kiss from Sara to help save the glacier and the “Planet of Freedom!” His hat also briefly catches fire, and it was also in the comic as well.

Sara then starts banging on Hyper Metal Sonic as Tails is able to hack him, allowing Sonic to finish him! The president is in a wrecked airship about to explode, but Metal is almost down! His body gets more cracked and broken, even briefly taking part in a game of whack-a-hedgehog!

Hyper is able to incorporate the last of Sonic’s data, freeing the president and sacrificing himself to protect the glacier by dropping into the magma! Well, somebody saw T2.

We then close on Robotnik vowing to return with another robot as our heroes run into the sunrise! That was totally insane, but I had a lot of fun with it.

As the 30th anniversary is upon us; this OVA is a very strange find; just over 20 years later. While the OVA never went to full series, causing them to go back to the drawing board for Sonic X, it’s somewhat enjoyable as a piece of Sonic animation and 1990s pop culture. Though not spectacular, the animation is quite good for the time. Even if the voice cast isn’t the best, they do at least fit for each character. It may not be my favorite Sonic adaptation or video game anime, but I definitely enjoyed talking about it. That will be all for now, gotta go fast.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- Mugen Train First Viewing Thoughts.

When I said I wanted to experiment more after my change in direction; I really meant it. I have been deliberately holding off addressing this until it debuted on Funimation and other digital platforms, so here are my first viewing thoughts on the runaway box office hit "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- Mugen Train!"

Rather than other feature film adaptations of anime which are non-canon stories set in the same fictional universe; this movie is canon to the events of the anime and the bestselling manga as well. This will also serve as an informal first viewing thoughts on the anime itself; since I watched the first season in its entirety on Crunchyroll to make sure I understood what was going on. Doing otherwise would be akin to watching the Infinity War without the other films that came out beforehand, making one confused about why Thor and the Incredible Hulk are being attacked by a big, bald; gold-gloved flying purple people killer. Or like watching The Rise of Skywalker without seeing the other main Star Wars films would leave one wondering why the Supreme Leader of the First Order is killing a bunch of people to get just one Sith Holocron. I've also read enough the manga to understand who the characters are and how they operate. So, let's get this started.

The film acts as a setup to the upcoming second season of the anime. As Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko, along with colleagues Zenitsu and Inosuke end up aboard the titular "Mugen Train," they cross paths with fellow a Demon Slayer named Rengoku Kyojuro and do battle with a pair of demons named Enmu and Akaza; who are linked to a powerful circle known as the "Twelve Kizuki." 

Notably, even given the circumstances, on a budget equivalent to $15 million USD, the film has surpassed the 2016 film "Your Name" as the highest-grossing anime film ever at $455 million worldwide; with $367 million of that in Japan alone. Some estimates have even pegged the film at over $500 million worldwide. The film has even made a respectable $47 million domestically; something that surprised me given the circumstances (I deliberately waited till the digital/streaming release; since I was giving priority towards the Mortal Kombat reboot and the few theaters open near me weren't showing this movie). Though it remains to be seen what this decade will hold for film and anime overall; one thing is clear- there is still a market for the theatrical experience; and for Hard-R content in that venue as well. Nothing mysterious about it, just making sure I have all the details in front of me; and that I don't officially move forward with a whole universe of plans until I know someone else actually wants that.

Though I don't put the TV show on the same pedestal as others, I understand its appeal. Having binged the whole the first season, I can definitely say it's better than Black Clover. Even with the infamy of the later seasons; much like in Game of Thrones, I do rather like how being a main character doesn't automatically grant one plot armor; establishing how anyone can die; friend and foe alike. There's a clear sense of escalation of threat with each passing installment; and even though I was skeptical at first, I can understand why other people like it. It's no different than me and my Mandalorian obsession, to say nothing of all the crossover art in my feed.

Likewise, I can now say something similar about this movie: I am more than old enough to know what I like and what I hate, and I don't hate this. It definitely has a similar appeal to Snowpiercer (loved that film, still been meaning to see the TV series) and the animated series Infinity Train (even more given what Mugen Train roughly translates to). Again, though I'm not putting it on the same pedestal as others; I understand its appeal. Definitely not worth getting salty about it outgrossing other movies I like, because I've honestly seen worse ways to kill an hour and 57 minutes even in just the last year alone.

I honestly don't know about any comparisons to "Ninja Scroll" or any alleged "xenophobia" over the R rating in the US release like Deadline was suggesting; but as someone who knows full well the difference between what's acceptable for families here and in Japan; and who has Akira listed as their favorite anime film and one of their all-time favorite movies, I will be very open and honest as I am known to be. Given how the demons are dispatched by cutting off their heads, destroying their brains or turning them to dust in sunlight; it's both in tune with the TV anime and honestly not much worse in terms of violence than the Mortal Kombat reboot.

The one constant the movie has with other feature-length anime adaptations I've addressed is that the scale and budget are much larger than a typical episode of the TV series. Though the show is no slouch in the animation department, this movie has been seen as a rival by Hayao Miyazaki and other Studio Ghibli alumni; and rightfully so: even just watching this at home, the animation is quite spectacular. Not only is the train itself well-suited to the Taisho-era period setting; the fights are quite impressive. Even though there are still some instances of CGI that looks like it came from an old Playstation game; the traditional animation is easily some of the best I've seen in recent memory. 

While I don't have any plans to formally review this movie, I will state that it is a good film and I congratulate the fans and creators for its success ahead of the upcoming second season. Definitely liked it more than Last Kizuna anyway. Have something a bit lighter in mind for next time, and I will see you all soon: take care.

Yo-Kai Watch 2 Five Years Later: Why the Sequels and Series Didn't "Bloom Like a Flower."

Akihiro Hino (translated by Noriko): "...Because the previous [Yo-Kai Watch] title was such a big hit in Japan, and so I want to make this into a huge title, just as big in the [United] States as well."

To paraphrase Ron Howard: He didn't, and now the story of how a pair of sequels meant to give the series its legs ended up losing to competition and the developer that just can't seem to make it work outside Japan. This is Yo-Kai Watch 2, five years later.

As another E3 winds down, and the first we've had since the before time; the long long ago in 2019, it's time to once again explore how Yo-Kai Watch 2 failed to set the world on fire; only selling a fraction of what it did in Japan and how it left the wrong kind of impact on the brand.

To give the proper context for the sequels' international failure, let's wind the clocks back again to 2013 in Japan. The first game released that July, and it sold a respectable 1 million copies in its home country alone. While nowhere near the 16 million sold worldwide by Pokémon X and Y; it did make a solid foundation for what came next.

Yo-Kai Watch 2 launched the following year in Japan in 2014; building on the success of the anime adaptation and the first movie that same year. This of course, led to the plans for the international release; where things took something of a drastic turn.

As the year 2015 laid out the plans for the US release; I made no secret of the fact that I was at best, skeptical and at worst; very much not onboard with the idea. I never bought into the "Pokémon ripoff" narrative (that would be like calling Fire Emblem a Zelda ripoff to me); and even though others keep insisting on that, I must continue to reaffirm that isn't the main stigma; and was never going to be as detrimental to Level-5 as the one of being an international failure. The anime and toys never drew the numbers that the people in charge hoped, and the game sold 440,000 copies in North America; much less than expected.

This brings us to the year 2016. Though the first game didn't pull the numbers that were expected; Level-5 and Hino were still convinced that the strategy in Japan for the sequels would work outside the country, when they released that September in North America. Here is where the trouble began.

Upon their release, while the sequels were admittedly more polished than the first game; the flip side to the coin was how the first stretch of the story was effectively a retread of the first game. The multiple versions also did nothing to help the comparisons to Pokémon, which was in the midst of its second big popularity wave that will be addressed in a moment. For now, another JRPG that released in the same season came out around the same time that eclipsed the sequels: Final Fantasy XV, which has sold over 8 million copies worldwide to date.

The summer of 2016 also saw the release of Pokémon Go, which; despite the bugs and mayhem of its initial launch, managed to accrue a considerable following on its own and help reinvigorate the franchise to a level not seen since its initial peak in 1999. 

A side note before I continue: while other IPs such as Harry Potter, Jurassic World and Ghostbusters have also made AR apps with followings of their own, Yo-Kai Watch World unfortunately had nowhere near the same amount of success; and a proposed international release was canceled due to lack of interest from publishers wanting to take it on.

Despite Hino's best efforts, Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls ultimately sold 220,000 copies domestically upon their launch on September 30, 2016. The sequels ultimately met with mixed critical feedback as well, and despite fans' attempts to rationalize why; having to essentially replay the bulk of the first game's plot within the sequel didn't help matters at all. It's a tricky business whenever you include material from a previous game in a later one; something that's very difficult to get right and easy to screw up. For every Age of Calamity that makes it work, we dozens of titles like the infamous Ninjabread Man, Rock and Roll Adventures and Anubis II. I mean, what if you waited to watch The Bad Batch and you found out it was just the test footage from The Clone Wars at Comic-Con? You'd be angry, wouldn't you? Though the sequels did introduce features not present in the first game, they ultimately did little to win over new fans. By contrast, Pokémon Sun and Moon ended up selling over 16 million copies when they launched November 18, 2016; with many praising how they shook up the longstanding conventions of the games. 

This ended up doing far greater damage to the brand than any ripoff accusations ever could, and the international failure stigma ended up replacing it instead. Instead of "blooming like a flower," this started a decline that has yet to be reversed domestically; and has even impacted the brand in its native Japan as well. What Hino hoped would be a "modern Doraemon" in terms of appeal has instead been on something of a downward spiral. At this point, it will be lucky if the new reboot will be remembered as a modern Gu Gu Ganmo; and I forgive you if some of you have to Google that one.

So, instead of following the same pattern they did in Japan, the sequels started a downward trend that had every subsequent game sell less than the one before; and Hino's goal of getting out content the same time or before Japan ultimately hasn't happened. The games sold less and less with each new title, the gap between each country's release got wider and wider; and after nearly two years; an international release of Yo-Kai Watch 4 remains in limbo (the recent closure of Level-5 Abby and potential closure of Level-5 International not helping matters).

Admittedly, the series isn't the first one to be less successful overseas than in Japan. Despite its influence on both sides of the Pacific, Lupin III has only proved to be a cult hit at best. Detective Conan (aka Case Closed) could never really find its footing here; and One Piece is only fairly recently getting the recognition it deserves.

So, as it has been observed before; there are a number of factors why the sequels and the series overall didn't "bloom like a flower" like Hino hoped; and might have even salted the land so it might never grow again. The inherently Japanese nature of the material didn't make things easy; and the attempts to downplay that didn't exactly pan out. As has been previously noted, yokai as a whole are as well-known there as zombies here; but most westerners don't exactly know about them. There was extensive competition no matter when they launched: even giving the sequels breathing room with a new Pokémon game was undercut by launching them the same time as Final Fantasy XV.  Though the Japanese culture in the game's content (which the English translation did little to dispel) and ripoff allegations didn't help matters; I still submit the fact people as a whole simply weren't interested in the series stopped the momentum it had dead; especially as each subsequent game sold less than the one before it. 

Now, we're in limbo about what's coming next; and near radio silence about the localization of Yo-Kai Watch 4 has caused many to wonder if it's even still happening. It's been nearly two full years since the game's initial JP launch and the informal announcement at Anime Expo 2019; though the recent closure of Level-5 Abby and potential closure of Level-5 International doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Seeing as how the Nintendo Direct and Treehouse today will likely have other stuff I'm more interested in; my next post about this subject matter will depend on what's said, if anything today about an official international release of Yo-Kai Watch 4.

Regardless of what happens next; it's kind of a disappointment on the fandom and company's part that the international plans for the series never came to fruition. Though there isn't much else that can be done right now; this further draws an uncertain picture for the future of the series. Yet, that's what's happened with Yo-Kai Watch 2 five years later: the sequels and series as a whole never did "bloom like a flower," and the series now seems further and further from the peak it once held in its native Japan. That will be all for now, and I will see you all again soon.