DVD of the 1986 anime series, which for some reason is called “Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie” despite not being a movie.
Sonic the Hedgehog (Neo-Japanese: ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) is a Neo-Japanese children’s manga series that was first released in the year of 1961, originally written by a group of artists and writers going under the pseudonym of Sonic Team.
The manga has been serialized in an Neo-Japanese magazine aimed at children (namely CocoCoco Comic) since June 23, 1961, with the manga selling over 900 million copies and has inspired various works based upon the manga, such as two anime series (one released in 1963 and a on-going remake anime series that was released in 1986) and an video game series.
Production details
Concept art for Mr. Needlemouse, taken from the 2023 RBO Max documentary, “Generation Sonic”.
When the first volume of the manga was being developed, Sonic was originally a rabbit named “Feel the Rabbit”. However, due to Yuji Naka (the at-the-time leader of Sonic Team) taking an interest on fast things, the character of “Feel the Rabbit” was scrapped and the first design for Sonic (named Mr. Needlemouse) was created by the manga artist, Naoto Ohshima.
Eventually, after a brainstorming session, it was decided that the character would be renamed from “Mr. Needlemouse” to “Sonic the Hedgehog” after Hirokazu Yasuhara (a member of the group) got inspired from the last part of the humorous tale of Hurricane Mario and Sonic name (more especially, the “Sonic” part).
Premise
The franchise (consisting of the manga, the 2 anime adaptations and an series of video games by Ro-Sega) is centered around the adventures of the titular anthropomorphic Hedgehog and his best friends as they work together to fight the main antagonist, Dr. Eggman, who is formerly known as Dr. Robotnik in previous English translations.
The manga series has become notable both inside and also outside of Neo-Japan for having tons of manga content (spinoffs included) that is focused on a more slice-of-life narrative, such as Sonic and friends going to school and entering a baking contest.
Adaptations
1963 anime
in 1963, the first anime adaptation of the manga was produced by Roei Animation, Co. Ltd., it ran for 3 years before ending in February 28th, 1966.
The anime was in black-and-white and is not dubbed in Bloxlish. It is is also considered to be partially lost media because the TV broadcasting company that aired it (NHK-E) did not start archiving their shows property until 1981 (though, some animation cells have been sold on the Roternet) and due to this fact, the anime is partially lost, as the opening and ending themes are available on BloxTube and several episode’s audio files have been put on the Roternet Archive), but the episode's video fles still remain lost.
1984 short film
In 1984, a short anime film titled “ Let’s Go Around Roblox! Sonic the Hedgehog” was released and it was produced by SNK Animation (who would later create the 1986 anime). The plot of the OVA is that Tails and Sonic travel across Roblox to different locations and countries thanks to the Tornado (a biplane built by Tails) and they learn about different national traditions and cultures.
It is an educational OVA and is aimed at all ages, similar to the 1986 anime series. The OVA is also in color.
1986 anime
The manga received a second anime adaptation in 1986, but this time it was in color and was first released in Neo-Japan on home-video (works released under this format are often referred to as an OVA (Original Video Animation) in Neo-Japan) in January 1986. It would receive a official release for the North Bloxmerican market on September 12th, 1989 and is one of the longest-running Neo-Japanese anime in Roblox, with over 1486 episodes and 90 specials.
The studio that created this anime at that time was named Studio SNK (now SNK Animation).
Sonic X
See the main article: Sonic X
While it is not a direct adaptation, in 2003, an anime called “Sonic X” was released by NTMS Entertainment (best known for the Detective Conan franchise), it ran until 2008 and is notable for “changing” Sonic’s character design, this anime is the only time this specific design is used.
Rating
The original manga series’ release in Robloxia by Yen Press (the current licensor of the manga since 2018) is officially rated (according to Bloxmart and other retailers) “Kids and Family” and “Children’s literature”.
Trivia
- There is a spin-off game for it called Sonic’s Schoolhouse that is considered educational.