Sonic Anime Review part 1 "Journey to EggmanLand" written by: Alessandro Sanasi (tyro@deco.franken.de) with help from Maringa J. Mikic and Seiji Hattori The first episode begins with a lifeless Metal Sonic hanging in some sort of blue energy field. Dr. Eggman appears and says that HyperMetalSonic is his newest weapon to destroy Sonic. But the robot should be patient a little longer, until everything is prepared. With Eggman's last words, Metal Sonic's eyes come to life and start to glow in an evil red color. In the next scene we see an old owl flying toward Sonic's headquarters in some sort of mini-plane that could use a few mechanical fixups. Said 'headquarters' seems to be built out of a satellite antenna, an Apollo rocket, two railway wagons, something that looks like the wreck of the Enterprise B, and a Boeing 747 at ground level. Sonic is relaxing at the beach, and Tails comes running out of the Boeing to excitedly show him his new self-made surfboard with rocket boosters. Tails asks Sonic if he would like to try it out, but Sonic turns down the offer. So Tails jumps into the water alone, while Sonic switches on his stereo and notes that the little fox is still a real kid. Tails powers up his surfboard and gives Sonic a good splash of water in the process. While he zooms past, Tails demonstrates a few stunts and calls to his friend that even Sonic would have a lot of fun with this, although he can't swim. Sonic just lies back and tries to relax again. When Ojisan the owl appears (Ojisan means something like 'old man' or 'grandfather') and Sonic hears Tails scream, he first reacts very annoyed and yells that the fox should be quiet, until he realizes what's going on. Ojisan flies right over Sonic with his plane, and after the clouds of sand have settled down, Tails wants to know if his blue friend is ok. Sonic confirms this, rubs his nose in the usual "Bruce Lee" routine and looks around to find out what's going on. Just then he notices Ojisan's plane, which trails a long cloud of smoke behind it. Tails wants Sonic to go and help the owl immediately, but the hedgehog is just annoyed that Ojisan knocked over his chair and umbrella and replies that Tails should take care of this instead. The little fox reacts very displeased about this and yells at Sonic that he finds this behavior pretty uncool. But finally he heads off alone to rescue Ojisan, flying after him by spinning his tails. When Ojisan hears Tails call his name, he first greets him without really listening to what he says, until Tails tells him that the engine of his plane is burning. Tails tries to grab hold, but a sudden explosion sends him tumbling backwards. The fox tries again, and finally lands on the left wing of the plane to stabilize it, which tilts it back into a horizontal position. But now he notices that the plane is heading directly toward the cliffs, and notifies the owl about it (who is extremely short-sighted - I wonder who gave him that pilot license). Tails screams for Sonic (the shout we hear at the beginning of the 30 second .AVI video preview), and Sonic comes to the rescue at top speed, saving both just in time before the plane collides, for which Tails thanks him ("Arigato, Sonikku"). Ojisan informs Sonic (while facing a blue flower that is about the same height as the hedgehog) that the president needs their help. Tails tries to tell the owl that he is talking to a flower, but without much success. Finally they both board their bi-plane to go to the president's palace. Ojisan wishes them a save journey while waving goodbye in the wrong direction. In the palace there is a bad surprise awaiting our heroes, because when Sonic asks why the president has sent for them, Dr. Eggman is sitting in the president's chair and states that he is pleased to meet them again. To prove this, his robots attack the two friends, after Eggman ignored Tails' question what happened to the president. Sonic and Tails destroy the robots in a sonic second. Sonic goes into a Spin Dash, intending to return the friendly welcome, but is stopped by the voice of the president, who is held hostage by Eggman together with his daughter Sera. Sonic and Tails jump on Eggman's desk and Sonic wants to know what all this is about; he also warns the doctor not to even touch a hair of his hostages' heads. Eggman only laughs, and after some smalltalk he reveals why he is here. He creates a small ball-shaped hologram of Sonic's world and explains that the planet consists of two parts: the outer part is called "Earth of the Sky" which are island-like pieces of land that hover around the globe, connected by bridges. Sonic interposes that he already knows this, for which Eggman commands him to keep quiet. Eggman continues that on the inner part (the planet itself), which is called the "Earth of Darkness", there is a highly technological place called EggmanLand. He lived there in peace, until one day a giant robot named Dark-Eggman ("Brak-Eggman" in the Japanese transliteration) appeared and conquered the city with his troops. After that he turned the main power plant (the Egg-Generator) to maximum, which is now about to explode if not turned off before sunset. This explosion would destroy the whole planet. When Eggman glances at his audience, he notices that everyone fell asleep during his narration. He pulls out a needle and sticks it into the 'ball', which causes a loud bang that wakes everyone up. The president wants to know what they could do, and Eggman explains that only one person is fast enough to make it in time: Sonic the Hedgehog. But Sonic isn't very eager to help. After all, Eggman was the one who build that thing, so he should take care of it himself, so he says. The president begs the hedgehog to do it for the sake of the planet, and Sera begs him too, but he shouldn't do it for the planet, but rather for her and for himself. After which Sonic jumps back to the floor and replies that Eggman can't be trusted, because 99 % of everything he says is a lie. Tails points out that there are still 1 % left that could be true, and finally Sonic agrees to do it. Eggman gives Tails a wrist-watch navigation device, which will lead them to their destination. Both friends start immediately. Sonic still wonders if they can trust the Doctor, but Tails tries to compose him. Meanwhile, Eggman and Sera play video games (some kind of wrestling game starring Eggman and Sera), and Sera, who always looses ("Yada yada yada"), asks for revenge every time. Eggman gets fed up with it, but Sera threatens the doctor she would quit being a hostage and just leave if he doesn't continue to play with her. At this moment a giant robot crashes through the wall, and Sera is more than happy about the exciting change. Eggman is not so pleased about her jumping right into the cockpit and pushing buttons, and tries to throw her out while forbidding her to touch anything. But finally the cockpit closes and the robot leaves with both of them. Staying behind is a confused president and a robot holding a sign which says "Bye Sera". By now, Sonic and Tails have reached the entrance to the Earth of Darkness, which looks like a giant vortex in the sky. Tails flies into it with his bi-plane, and Sonic has a hard time to keep his hold on top of the plane's wings, until they finally crash-land on the ground. Sonic asks Tails if he is all right, Tails confirms and tells Sonic he should have a look around. Hills, grassland and lakes... so this is the Earth of Darkness. Tails checks in what direction they are supposed to go, and Sonic immediately asks what they are waiting for. After passing quite a few obstacles Sonic wonders if the whole thing isn't a setup after all, because there seems to be an incredible amount of traps on this particular route (spikes, CaterKillers, BuzzBomber etc). But Tails again reassures him that they are heading into the right direction. Sonic uses his famous figure-eight move to gain speed, and finally both disappear in some kind of Warp Zone. They reappear totally exhausted in a strange city, which looks similar to a post-war New York (complete with car wrecks and "One Way" traffic signs), void of anything living. Sonic looks around astonished and wants to know where they are, since he has never heard that such a place would exist on the Earth of Darkness. Tails doesn't know the answer eighter, but tells his friend that they are still on the right way and suggests going to a higher place to have a better look. Sonic agrees and they zip up to the spire of the highest skyscraper around, where they discover that the whole city is about to sink into the sea. Tails suggests that this could be caused by the Egg- Generator, and that they should hurry up. Then a lightning flashes, and Tails clings to his friend worriedly, because he is afraid of lightning (very cute scene). Moments later both are on their way again, but are stopped by an explosion in front of them, which sends them flying through the air (Sonic doing some cool backward flips, Tails landing on his head). A giant robot appears and Tails cries out horrified that this must be the mysterious Dark-Eggman who conquered EggmanLand. The robot confirms this and congratulates the two for making it this far - to their grave. Tails shivers in fear, putting his tails between his legs, but Sonic stays cool and isn't impressed. He replies not to be interested in playing with the robot, after which the robot tries to shoot them, but Sonic and Tails are too fast for its aim. They hide behind an old bus. Dark-Eggman didn't see where they went, and calls to them to come out from whereever they are. Sonic tells Tails that they don't have time to bother with the robot, and again wants to know where EggmanLand is. Tails checks his navigation device and then points toward the highway. Before they leave, Sonic and Tails decide to taunt Dark-Eggman and make fun of him (Tails sticking out his tongue, Sonic showing his raised middle finger etc), and Sonic shouts to Dark-Eggman that he would never be able to catch them because he is too slow. But the taunts soon get stuck in their throats as the robot unfolds his giant wings and starts his turbo booster, and our heroes have to flee. The robot tries to grab Tails out of the air, but Sonic is faster and pulls the fox along. Then Dark-Eggman launches missiles that destroy the bridge on which Sonic is running, and only in the last second Sonic is able to stop his fast pace before falling into the gap. Both Sonic and Tails drop exhausted onto the street, Sonic's shoesoles smoking from the run. When they look up, they see the robot looming above them, who then blasts away the last piece of the road on which Sonic and Tails currently are. The friends try to trick the robot by making noises as if they were drowning in the water below, while holding onto a metal girder right under the bridge. First the stratagem seems to work, but soon Dark-Eggman appears again, notes that he isn't all that stupid, and starts shooting - this time with something sticky that is unknown to Sonic. Tails gets hit and is glued to a metal fence. He cries for Sonic, but Dark-Eggman fires some kind of missiles at the hedgehog, and he has to run for it. One of the following explosions is noticed by Knuckles, who was digging in the ground outside the city, some distance away. The giant robot approaches Tails to "finally kill him". Tails replies that Sonic will save him because he is faster than the missiles. As if on command, Sonic returns, riding on one of the missiles and directing it right into the robot. But Sonic gets hit by the pressure wave, and when the smoke clears, he has stepped in a puddle of the glue. Now it starts to rain. The robot appears again (although a bit damaged), and says that he can't be defeated that easily, and that Sonic without his speed is indeed nothing but a normal hedgehog. As he walks forward, the cemented ground cracks, and several pieces (including the one Sonic is glued to) sink downward, while the resulting holes fill with water from the nearby ocean. Tails tries to come to the rescue, but can't break free from the glue that holds him. The robot aims at Sonic (who is already covered by water up to his chin), but Knuckles is faster and hits the robot with such force that it falls backwards. Knuckles frees Tails, orders him to help Sonic, then goes back to fighting. The fox is eager to do it, but his tails are still glued together, so he grabs a large piece of metal and uses it as a surfboard to zoom over the water toward his friend. The robot ponders who the new attacker is, and starts shooting once again. Knuckles manages to avoid the robot's projectiles for a while, until he too steps into the sticky stuff (to quote Knuckles: "Shit!"). Dark-Eggman grabs the echidna and lifts him up. Meanwhile Tails tries to pull Sonic out of the water, who is close to drown by now, but the hedgehog's feet are still held by the glue. Then with one mighty heave Tails frees his friend, who immediately uses a Spin Dash to cut off the robot hand that holds Knuckles. Dark-Eggman tries to leave with the words "We will meet again", but Sonic doesn't want to let him. Using Knuckles and Tails as airborne lauchpads, he spin-dashes at the flying robot, causing it to explode and fall into the water. Then Dr. Eggman and Sera emerge from the cockpit of the robot. Eggman scolds at the hedgehog and informs him that an even more dangerous person is waiting for him in EggmanLand. Sera gives Eggman a good hit on the head with a metal pole and warns him not to dare to even touch a single quill of Sonic's head. She complains about her kidnapping and says that Eggman and Dark-Eggman are the same person anyway, and asks what the meaning of all this is... Sonic thanks Knuckles, who replies that he and the hedgehog are already friends for a long time, that he was just around accidentally and that they could pay him back when there's an opportunity. Tails wants to know if Knuckles is going to continue searching for treasures, and Knuckles confirmes this, since "it's his destiny". Just then the clouds part and the sun appears right over the horizon, and the friends realize that there isn't much time left to turn off the Egg-Generator. Suddenly the ground shakes and the lights go on in all the buildings of EggmanLand. On the generator complex the lights form the giant face of Dr. Eggman. Sonic zooms off, followed by Tails who calls to Knuckles that he hopes they will meet again. A wish that is fulfilled soon, since Knuckles follows the duo because he is worried about them - after all, they aren't as strong as _he_ is, so he states. Knuckles glides ahead and calls to Sonic that they should hurry because their time would run out. The hedgehog follows while calling to Knuckles to wait up ("Mateo, Knuckelse!"). Tails flies into view and gives us a thumbs up and a wink, then turns to follow the two, and this is how the first episode ends. To be continued in the Sonic Anime Review part 2: "Sonic vs. Metal Sonic"