Sonic The Hedgehog OVA

[...]

I love it. Love the animation, how the characters were handled, and its interpretation of Eggman is one of my favourite versions of him. Too bad the animated series never came to be.

I still don't understand how that telepathy between Sonic and Metal worked, though.

I could never understand how Sonic could inexplicably teleport in the OVA either. :U

[DarkLight]

I freakin' love this movie. I think I was only 8 when I saw the VHS at Suncoast at my local mall and my mom decided to get it for me since she knew I was getting into Sonic at the time after watching a bit of AOStH.

Right away I could tell it was special since the tape itself was colored white instead of plain black like most of the VHS's I had.

Pretty much echoing what eveyone liked about it. Animation, characters, and music were practically top-notch and looking at it now that I'm older, it definetly got away with a lot of stuff that slipped the radar for me. Sonic flipping the bird, Sara breastfeeding Robotnik's kids in that dream sequence, Tails groping Sara's breasts and just Robotnik in general (I've seen a couple comments off of Youtube saying how much of a pervert Eggman is).

Metal Sonic himself is perhaps one of the few things from my childhood that geuinely scared me as kid (especially after that scene when he approaches Old Man Owl O.O)

And I'd like to give a mention to the ending theme, "Look Alike." It's one of those songs that just sounds crazy and makes no sense in terms of understanding the lyrics (other than it being about Sonic and Metal's relationship) but still manages to sound exciting and perfectly summarizes the grand scale of adventure the OVA itself has.

[Wittymations]

I think one thing this movie did right was its use of fantasy world. It was a bit magical in a number of ways. Sure, it had humans, but they were out-weighed by all the animal types.

That's something I want to see in future Sonic games. More, for the lack of a better term, "mobians" than humans. Fact is, because Robotnik exists, humans do too, but really -- if I wanted to play a game based no real world locations, I would. GTA works well, so do Sims.

The later Sonic games should focus a bit more on the fantasy/science fiction elements. For instance, the floating islands there was pure fantasy. Bring them together. One reason why people still love Sonic is because he's not a human. He's fictional. He's pure fantasy.

Edited September 2, 2012 by WIttyUsername

[Blue Speedster]

I was hard pressed to find anything wrong with this movie. The animation was crisp, the VA's were good for the time, and it doesn't seem outdated. The story was good, and mimicked Sonic CD rather well. The ending was the icing on the cake, I would like SEGA to make a sequel, but I am not sure how they would continue it, other than Eggman making another Metal Sonic. SEGA should make another one, but in CGI like Night of the Warehog.

[HexiDecimel]

I thought it was a pretty cool movie, the animation was pretty sweet and the plot was... okay, I guess. Coulda been better, but it also could have been alot worse. The voice acting was pretty poor, Tails sounded like he had a constant cold and Sonic sounded too squeaky IMO. Knuckles' accent was just sort of weird to me, I don't remember that well but if I recall he had a bit of a southern drawl, and I don't think that suits Knux.

Eggman was actually okay to me, his voice actor sounded almost like he was trying to impersonate Robotnik with a slightly Japanese accent sometimes. I like how the locations used in the movie have a feel to them sort of like the classic games mixed in with a little realism too, like how the jungle/coastline at the start of the movie is sort of like a realistic Green hill would look to me. I also like the inclusion of Metal Sonic and a sorta generic Eggman robot too, thought they were nice aspects.

[Linkabel]

I could never understand how Sonic could inexplicably teleport in the OVA either. :U

I don't think he was teleporting I always thought it was an animation trick to show that he is moving too fast for the audience so you can't see him. Kind of like in DBZ where the regular people will not see anything in a fight but the rest of the characters could see the movements of whoever was fighting.

[tenchibr]

This OVA is the reason why I have an issue with the fact that Classic Sonic doesn't speak in Generations. That was a HUGE mistake I think. It's like SEGA took the term "I liked when Sonic couldn't talk" way too literally.

I like his slapstick style, don't get me wrong. But he could've talked for a little bit. But this movie is proof that Classic can speak and still be successful at it.

[Danielius]

This OVA is the reason why I have an issue with the fact that Classic Sonic doesn't speak in Generations. That was a HUGE mistake I think. It's like SEGA took the term "I liked when Sonic couldn't talk" way too literally.

I like his slapstick style, don't get me wrong. But he could've talked for a little bit. But this movie is proof that Classic can speak and still be successful at it.

Well, non-talkable Sonic in Generations seemed more mature and fun to me than the modern talking one. Also it was the idea of a concept since the classic Sonic haven't talked in his games, and modern Sonic did

Edited September 3, 2012 by Danielius

[Vertekins]

So is the DVD uncommon/rare? I actually own it :3 Found it second-hand in a Gamestation for £8.99 some years back.

Despite it's oddness, to me the film is awesome. I honestly think that game Sonic should take on more of OVA Sonic's personality, such as being more hot-headed. I mean the manual bio's seem to love consistently stating that short temperedness is a part of game Sonic's personality and OVA Sonic's temperament makes for a genuinely fascinating iteration of the character. The film had Naka's and Oshima's direct creative input didn't it? So I guess that this Sonic is more in-line with how they think Sonic should be characterized.

I really appreciate the endearing way game aspects were included such as the sequence that shows Sonic and Tails making their way to Eggmanland (Robotropolis in the dub, silly nod at the "In name only" adaptation that was SatAM) featuring the springs, spikes and even Badniks. And I found the concept of Sonic and Tails seemingly owning their own Island with a crashed airplane for a house appealing.

Still find characters like Sera and the President really weird and a bit out of place but they were tolerable and didn't detract from the film. And it's really quite cool that the Tornado makes appearances.

Also, am I the only one who found Knuckles' ability to levitate really weird?

[smogfog]

Is there Sonic OVA in 1080p widescreen?

[Ducktor Naldush]

Also, am I the only one who found Knuckles' ability to levitate really weird?

[Dr. Crusher]

It's next to AoStH as my favourite animated adaptation.

First off, the story is simple but effective. Robotnik pulls a Wily and claims Metal Robotnik is planning genocide, Sonic goes and kicks his ass with Tails and Knuckles, Metal Sonic is unleashed on Sonic and kicks his ass, Robotnik plans to initiate his own, real genocide plan, Sonic gets a hard start but, with the help of Tails and Knuckles (again), eventually kicks Metal's ass in the rematch. And there's even a little sympathy for Metal in the end, showing that Sonic isn't a typical action hero who doesn't care about bad guys' misguided feelings simply because "they're evil". It's not revolutionary, but it doesn't need to be. It's great.

Then there's the characters. Sonic and Tails are pretty much like their game selves, albeit with blocked noses (and even then, Sonic was alright). Knuckles could bizarrely levitate but was otherwise not too bad with or without his nice hat. Robotnik - strange Bowser-esque tendencies with Sera aside - was done perfectly, his voice, his personality, his plan, everything. And Metal Sonic was actually worthy of all the praise he gets and lives up to his reputation, and was the only time I thought of him in a way other than "I like Mecha Sonic MKII better." His death was also very touching, drastic and quick as it was.

As for the OVA-specific ones, Sera was so-so but relatively inoffensive for the most part, I can't think of the President without making cliche Mah Boi/Dinner jokes, Old Man Owl was a true patriot, and Metal Robotnik was a stroke in genius in terms of looking baffling and not looking like Robotnik and yet still remaining a badass design, and I'd like to see a similar machine in a future Sonic game. Well, there's Egg Emperor I suppose...

There's also the settings. While I'm not a fan of the literal "two worlds with one over the other" part, I do like the concept of one world being variable and colourful where everyone else lives and the other world being a dark, barren wasteland full of nothing but Robotnik's machinery and mysterious ruins. Robotropolis/Eggmanland in particular was grand... admittedly we may not have seen much of it, but it seemed like a Blade Runner-esque futuristic dystopia, which suits him just fine. And the glaciers, combining a beautiful arctic landscape with lava caverns. Jolly good stuff. They feel like they'd fit right in with the game world, Genesis or otherwise.

Even the little details are nice, like the appearances of various Badniks in the Land of Darkness and Robotropolis, or Sonic and Tails using a Special Stage-esque portal to get to the city ruins.

Overall, the Sonic OVA is brilliant and just a bout of good fun, and excluding Sonic X is the closest we've had to something almost exactly like the games.

(Oh, and before anyone starts getting any ideas about nostalgia goggles, due to my first Sonic game being Advance 2 back in 2003, I didn't even know about the OVA until around 2005. So... there.)

Edited September 3, 2012 by Dr. Crusher

[HylianBran]

Not much people have mentioned this movie, but if they do they make fun of it. I want to see if anyone likes it. I think it is a very fun movie. The voice acting is a guilty pleasure for me. The animation fits the fast paced, cool Sonic is known for. Most of the ideas are cool, like Metal sharing emotions with Sonic. But the Sara and President is kinda a stupid idea. I like it for the most part, but the beginning is a little boring to me though.  

 

Edited February 15, 2018 by HylianBran
I didn't have a long enough message.

[Legendary Emerald]

I mean, its my childhood. The art design is strong, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, I unironically love the voice acting... but I don’t know how highly I could rate in compared to non-Sonic animes. I feel like it gets about the exact amount of appreciation it deserves for being just a fun oddity.

[Cuz]

I don't know anyone that flat out dislikes it, the English dub gets some flack, but that's par for the  course with anime of the era.

It's one of my favorite animated Sonic anything. Kinetic action, great character dynamic between Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. It's even got enough inventive aircraft and attention payed to Sonic's biplane to remind me of some anime classics like Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, and Nadia.

Sonic X's action is hampered by it's low budget (or however it's animation quality came about), and while I love SatAM for a myriad of reasons it's not really an action show but rather focused on espionage.

 

 

Whoo-boy! Got folded into a bigger topic. What's the most irrelevant thing to the question at hand I can comment on?!

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I could never understand how Sonic could inexplicably teleport in the OVA either. :U

It's instant transmission, moving faster than the naked eye, I think it's a very fitting ability for Sonic to have.

[Zaysho]

@HylianBran I merged your topic with a more general, existing Sonic OVA thread since your initial thread felt pretty minimal. Might not be a bad idea to expand on your own thoughts (and, in general, we expect a little more from opening posts) and we felt this thread could actually use a little more discussion.

[HylianBran]

Thanks Zaysho