The anime series Sonic X is about to see a new lease of life on DVD, thanks to US based entertainment company Diskotek Media. The news was originally announced on Diskotek’s Facebook page, simply stating ‘Sonic X complete series! Release date TBD’
Unlike the original releases of Sonic X DVDs which all came in volumes of episodes, this single release looks to include all 78 episodes of the series, originally broadcast from 2003-2006.
As implied by Diskotek’s Facebook post, no date has been decided for release yet, but one of the company’s employees also spoke about the upcoming release over on Sonic Retro’s message boards, where further information was brought to light.
The user known as ‘Kushami’ has said that the license Diskotek currently has to produce the DVD is for the dubbed version only, although Diskotek is aware of the strong desire by fans for subtitled versions of the original Japanese episodes, and has emphasised that the idea of a second release with the subs could potentially be done, but is only likely if the response to this first DVD is strong enough.
Other details included that in keeping with the licensor’s requests, the DVD will use the dub’s intro to the show (no Sonic Drive this time people… sorry!), and that there isn’t likely to be much in this release in the way of extra features, but such extras may be considered for the mentioned possible re-release. A Blu-Ray release is also said to be unlikely, due to the fact that the original show has no high definition masters.
Will you be ready to support this new release when it eventually rolls around? Would you buy in to better the chances of getting a subtitled version of the show produced? Let us know!
I would love to get an uncut Japanese release of this show, but you have to admit the publisher are kind of between a rock and a hard place here. Firstly, they can’t put both on the same collection as the English version has a lot of cut and edited content, visually as well as audibly. They would need to include double the video files on disc, whereas with most anime, they just include the two audio tracks over the same video. That would also mean you couldn’t cut between the two dubs at will.
Also, the soundtrack is completely redone in the English dub, so they’d need to acquire the rights for the Japanese music. I think there’s some Crush 40 tracks in there that they’d had to get the rights for? Subtitling 78 episodes is no mean feat either. A lot more than most anime for a single release. That’s another cost.
So that’s why they’ll need to go for two separate releases for the two languages. But then you have a Japanese language-only release of what is essentially a kids’ cartoon. How marketable is that going to be?
I really hope for a Japanese language release, but there are a lot of hurdles they’ll need to jump through to make it.
” Originaly Broadcast 2003-2006 ” Wooooooooooooooooow… Just Wow…
They’re Slow…
It’s ironic, because the US theme of the show is ‘Gotta Go Fast’.
Yes! I was waiting for this to happen! Now I just need a new DVD player, since my old one broke.
Will we at least get an uncut dub? Please let us get an uncut dub! I’m pretty much fed up with 4kids’ instrumental music and their stupid edits.
I can’t believe I’m saying this… But I actually agree with you!
I would dearly love to see a Dragon Ball Z Kai style redub of this show. Especially since X was what made me a Sonic fan in the first place.
Not to mention that Sonic X (despite human characters, lack of Sonic screentime, and so much fluff in the first season), is a lot closer to the games, and creates a distinction between the classic era settings and the modern era settings (rather than just slapping them into one universe, like having Central City next to Green Hill Zone, or in Eurish).
I didn’t even think to bring up DBZ Kai, and someone already knows what I’m talking about. This is official Sonic content (Sonic is a Japanese franchise), and Sonic X should be treated with dignity in its original form (like any anime), as opposed to western interpretations that have built their own separate continuities (due to the ambiguous classic-era games at the time), and can come up with their own rules (so long as its done in the classic-style and originated before Sonic Adventure, which set the bar for future Sonic adaptations).
A blu-ray version, really?
It’s sure starting to get old, and did HD really exist in TMS production of this TV-series?
Still, it’s gotta be my favorite TV-series from Sonic and I wish they didn’t have cancelled season 4 of Sonic X…
Even though I Love Chris, I think they will do better by exclude Chris from the 4th season. So much potential.
Just leave him out of any arc involving Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance 3, Sonic Rush, Sonic Rivals 1 & 2, Sonic Riders, Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic Free Riders, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Lost World.
He can make brief appearances in Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 2006 (before the events get retconned), and Sonic Generations.
Sonic X has been off the air for quite a while, unless it’s still in re-runs. So I highly, extremely highly, doubt that Chris Thorndyke would be part of any of those games/arcs, Johnny. So you got nothing to worry about. IIRC they only went as far as Sonic Battle on GBA. After that it was all completely original stories, aside from the fact that Cosmo’s design was based off of Lumina’s design.
No, Sonic X has been off the air ever since The CW’s Vortexx shut down. That was the last channel it aired on. Not to mention Sonic Boom’s existence, so do you really think it’s going to have a 4th season? Really?
Cancelled Season 4? We got 6 Seasons out of the 78 episodes, the Wiki says that there’s 3 Seasons, but I’m calling bullshit on that. Seasons 5 & 6 was the entire Metarex Saga (where Chris wound up in “Sonic’s World”).
There are 26 episodes each. 26 * 3(seasons) = 78.
Then you go tell that to Funimation who made the DVDs. They made 6 seasons from those 78 episodes. So you go and tell them they fucked their math.
Well, they did…
Actually, if any of you even watched 4KidsTV when the show was airing, you would know that 4Kids definitely announced episodes 53-78 as “Season 3″. Now, it’s also true that the 5th DVD Box Set that was made together by 4Kids and Funimation (For episodes 53-65) and was called “The Complete 5th Season”: I have the set myself and can testify to that. None of the other DVD releases mention anything about seasons, however. So it’s actually more legit to say that Sonic X had 3 26-episode seasons, but if you said that Sonic X had 6 seasons that each had around 13 episodes each, you wouldn’t be wrong, either: it’s nothing but a different way of categorizing the episodes, it works just the same.
I’m talking about sonic underground, the show that came before sonic x, season 3 was cancel, there for being incomplete.
While I always make fun of it and roll my eyes at the human characters…. I have lots of nostalgic and fun memories with Sonic X, and would probably be down for getting this DVD. And you have to admire Sonic X for how many things it did right.
Man I just got the last Dvd to complete the series. But I’m glad that the series wasn’t forgotten and is getting a box set; And I would love if they do a uncut or re-dub of it. Now let hope that Archie will finally release a trade paperback of the Sonic X comic series.
I’m actually excited for this, Sonic X is how I got into Sonic in the first place so yeah bring on the complete series!
Same with me. Sonic X made me fan for sure of Sonic
Gotta Go Fast is honestly one of the greatest songs that has came out of the Sonic franchise. It is written just perfectly so you feel a sense of speed while listening to it, and it rhymes?! That’s awesomeness right there. The lyrics are also just perfect as well. It just fits who and what Sonic is like a glove. It is also a true challenge trying to dance to a song that moves so fast! It is truly a masterpiece and a staple of Sonic the Hedgehog. 😀
It’s 4kids. While it’s not the worst song, a true masterpiece would be a professional English dub of Sonic Drive.
Sonic Drive is the modern era-equivalent to You Can Do Anything (Toot Toot Sonic Warrior).
Oh, well that explains it. I should probably give Sonic Drive a few more listens to see if I actually may come like it.
come *to* like
Of course I’ll support this if it’s released here, otherwise the terrorists, I mean, otherwise sonic boom wins.
As so so as the show was, it was what got me back into Sonic after my hiatis after the dreamcast failed and Sega went bust.
X > Boom
This.
I’ll definitely buy this and I will also purchase the uncut Japanese Dub if we ever get a release of it afterwards.
I wish they would re-dub Sonic X with all the current voices. : P
Or the cast from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes (Cream, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Omega).
Finally! I’ve always wanted Sonic X in one complete boxset. Most of the older DVDs are now are extremely expensive.
I personally could care less about a subbed release, as I loved the english dub, and quite frankly it gets unfairly bashed; the worst they did was censor a [minor] characters’ death (Molly-who?). Most of the writing and tone was close to the original, and I’d take “Gotta Go Fast!” over another overly-long, generic-shonen “we can do anything” song. (not a fan of long anime intros in general, though.)
Sonic X was my favorite TV show for the longest time when it was on the air, (feeling old now) and I sincerely cannot wait to buy the complete series!
That death wasn’t the worst thing they did. Aren’t we forgetting how they mutilated Cosmos death by removing all emotion from it?
Unfairly bashed!?
-Terrible bland music, used in nearly EVERY 4kids show!
-Cut scenes
-Unecessary edits.
No. Nobody over 12 can be okay with the 4kids version. The only reason people watched it at all was because nobody knew what to expect, plus it was dubbed in ENGLISH (as opposed to listening to Japanese dialog that’s alien to most American fans and having to read subtitles a mile a minute.
-I don’t mind “Gotta Go Fast”, I’ll even accept the voice actors (that replaced the ones from Sonic Adventure 2). But it had better have the original music and uncut scenes. This is for Sonic fans, not children who happen to like the show (we have seperate volumes for that). If Shaman King can uncut their dub, why not Sonic X?
Even DBZ got the original Ocean dub along with DBZ Kai released on DVD, but 4kids is practically forcing us to either watch their crap version or go bilingual.
-I found the 4kids themes quite catchy to be honest. I’m still humming that “Sonic to the rescue!” cue to this day. The only theme I really liked from the uncut version was Eggman’s, but it seemed a bit overused anyway.
-Most of the edits consisted of removing Japanese text and minor scene tweaks; nothing that affected the overall story. The same stuff still happens in both versions in the end.
“Nobody over 12 can be okay with the 4kids version.”
Yeah, because “herp derp Sonic’s for adults.” The uncut version got a little TOO serious, and weirdly inappropriate at times (why did Knuckles have to go into a nighclub in one ep? Why did Eggman need to exclaim Rouge’s breasts were in fact huge in the finale ep? 4 teh lulz?), need we be reminded this is a show about a talking blue rodent who fights an egg-shaped mad scientist?
The fans who like darker Sonic stories ought to know they’re very hit or miss anyways.
Who knows if Sonic X will ever get an uncut release outside of Japan? But using your DBZ comparison; DBZ’s insanely popular in the anime department because that’s how it became big outside Japan, hence the uncut releases. Sonic became very well-known with his debut in videogames; that’s where the priorites lie concerning him, and anything else like shows or comics are secondary.
Fans should get full uncut installments of their favor franchise, so they can experience the full favor of it. Not some watered-down safe-for-American-broadcast/FCC-standards version mean for younger children and casual watchers. Even SatAM got an uncut full-series release. By releasing an uncut version, fans will have a rare gem in their hands that feels complete, as if everything went into it and not a thing was left out. Casual viewers can just buy the 4kids version by volume, put it on, and keep the children happy. Fans want and deserve the real thing, especially one in English (since not everyone speaks Japanese, or have the patience to read subtitles).
Yay … ?
Shut up and take my rings AND extra lives!
Sold! Beats paying and arm and a leg for Season 5 (goes for a LOT)
LOL…what.
I’ve been making a point of NOT watching this show ever again.
I may not be a fan of Sonic X but i would take Sonic X over Sonic Boom anyday
Same here. At least the former isn’t written as nonsense.
Please Archie! Release the Sonic X graphic novels along with this, it would make my day!
They can’t, SEGA has barred the Sonic X comic being reprinted.
Times like this make me feel really glad I have collected all 40 issues, including issue #25, which I had missed previously.
oh Please. If Shout Factory was handeling the rights to the DVDs we would get the Japanese Subs right off the bat and not have to wait to see if the number of sales is good enough to warrant a 2nd release. Diskotek is a joke. Funimation released way too many DVDs, if they would have released all 78 episode in one box set this wouldn’t need to happen, but no Funimation was dumb.
Nearly every company in the world that handles licensed children’s anime does what Diskotek is doing. Sonic X isn’t that popular, and getting the rights to all of the Japanese content and formatting it all onto DVD with subtitles is far too much work if they aren’t going to make any money. It’s not dumb, it’s simply realistic. I’ve been following Sonic X for over ten years now, so seriously, just be glad that you can at least watch the whole series subbed on Hulu…because it wasn’t like that back in 06!
*sigh I can’t even find all of the Japanese eps on youtube
I already have all 78 episodes of the original dub on DVD from way back! 12-discs, 6 volumes. It’s pretty hard to find now, surprisingly. It was cheap when I bought it as a kid.
That’s interesting though. I can’t wait to see what the box looks like! Weird that in the midst of Sonic Boom and the modern Sonic world in general that they’re still re-releasing this show… With it having all of the old VAs and such.
And yes, I would only EVER consider picking this up for the Japanese version. I loved the sub as a kid, and I still hold a soft spot for it, but nothing compares to the fact that the original was actually sort of a Sonic ANIME. The dub is just an American-made cartoon, let’s be honest.
I’ll be getting this if it includes the Japanese version. Despite suffering of flaws and being “kiddy” (like ALL Sonic cartoons), Sonic X is the only decent Sonic cartoon and the only one to be respectful to the source material. And the second series (aka season 3) fixed just about all problems, I bet none of the Sonic X haters have watched it.
So true, but prefer an uncut dub, a release that’s faithful to the original (intended) cut, but in the king’s English.
But still, you have to give SatAM credit, given how ambiguous the franchise was in 1992/1993, they were able to create an engaging story out of the little information they were given. And that’s more than we can say for the wacky AoStH (Nostalgia Critic said it best: A Sonic cartoon for children with tourette syndrome) and a series with a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT storyline (but with some interesting songs), back during the Saturn-era where no one knew what to do with Sonic after SatAM’s cancellation and Sonic X-treme’s cancellation. I’m not sure about the OVA, given that it was a short film, but it could’ve been an anime for the classic Sonic era.
Years later after Sonic Adventure/the modern series made its mark, Sonic Boom just jettisoned all of that and gave us some bad stereotypes to go with it as well.
Yes! This is exactly what I want! Don’t really care for jap dub, I’m one of the few people who actually enjoyed this show for what it is.