Sonic X
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is a Japanese
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series based on
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
's ''
Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
'' video game series. Produced by
TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as ''Lupin the Third'', ...
under partnership with Sega and
Sonic Team is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for the long-running '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights ...
, and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, ''Sonic X'' initially ran for 52 episodes, broadcasting on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
from April 2003 to March 2004. A further 26 episodes aired in North America, Europe, and the Middle East from 2005 to 2006. The American localization and broadcasting were handled by
4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
, which edited it and created new music. The series follows a group of
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
animals who accidentally teleport from their home planet to Earth after attempting to save one of their friends from their enemy
Doctor Eggman Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is the main antagonist of Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Eggman was created and designed by Naoto Ohshima as part of many design choices for Sega's new mascot. After the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog, ...
. Separated,
Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
is saved by a human boy named Chris Thorndyke, who helps him find his friends while repeatedly scuffling with Doctor Eggman and his robots over control of the powerful
Chaos Emeralds is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedg ...
, and becoming celebrities. The final story arc sees Sonic and his friends return with Chris to their world, where they enter outer space with a newfound plant-like creature named Cosmo and fight an army of aliens called the Metarex.
''Sonic X'' received mixed reviews. Generally, writers criticized its American localization and some characters, but praised its story and aesthetics. The series was popular in the United States and France, though less so in its native Japan. The show's merchandise included an
edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainment ...
video game for the
Leapster The Leapster Learning Game System is an educational handheld game console aimed at 5 to 10-11 year olds (preschool to fourth grade), made by LeapFrog Enterprises. Its games teach the alphabet, phonics, basic math (addition, subtraction, multi ...
, a
trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
, a comic book series featuring an original storyline, and various toys and other items.


Plot


Season 1

On an unnamed world,
Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
,
Miles "Tails" Prower , better known by his nickname , is a fictional character in Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. Tails also appears in his own spin-off series, comic books, cartoons, and films. He is the second character to consistently appear by Sonic's sid ...
, and
Amy Rose The '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or ...
attempt to rescue
Cream the Rabbit The '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or ...
and her pet Chao
Cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
from the mad scientist Doctor Eggman, who has already retrieved the seven
Chaos Emeralds is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedg ...
. While attempting to destroy his base, one of Eggman's robots inadvertently shoots a machine containing the Emeralds, which activates the "Chaos Control" technique. This teleports Sonic, Eggman (and his robots), Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese, as well as
Big the Cat Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...
(with his pet frog Froggy),
Rouge the Bat The ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or Doctor ...
,
Knuckles the Echidna is a fictional character in Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. He is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked echidna who is Sonic's best friend and former rival. Determined and serious, but sometimes gullible, he has the ability to punch enem ...
, and the
Chaotix ''Knuckles' Chaotix'' is a 1995 platform game developed by Sega for the 32X. A Spin-off (media), spin-off from the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it features Knuckles the Echidna and four other characters known as the Chaotix, who must prevent ...
(a detective crew comprising
Vector the Crocodile The ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game ''Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game), Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic the Hedgeh ...
,
Espio the Chameleon The '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or ...
, and
Charmy Bee The ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or Doctor ...
) to Earth, the parallel-universe version of their world with humans. Sonic is chased by the police in the fictional city of central city, California, and lands in a mansion's swimming pool, and is rescued by a twelve-year-old boy named Chris Thorndyke, who lives there with his movie-star mother Lindsey, corporate executive father Nelson, scientist grandfather Chuck, maid and chef Ella, and butler Mr. Tanaka. Chris tries to hide the
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
friends from his family until Cream accidentally reveals them, but they all build up a good rapport with Chris' family and with Chris' friends Danny, Francis, and Helen. Doctor Eggman makes himself known by bringing his robot Missile Wrist to attack the city of Station Square in his first stop in taking over Earth which led to his first fight with Sonic there. Sonic and his friends still want to return home, so they repeatedly scuffle for the Emeralds with Doctor Eggman, his robot assistants—the hyperactive, attention-seeking Bokkun and the bumbling Bocoe and Decoe—and his larger, armed robots. Sonic and Eggman's fight catches the attention of the unnamed nation's president, so Knuckles, Rouge, and federal agent Topaz work together to stop him. The other anthropomorphic residents soon join the crusade and, when Eggman is defeated by Sonic with help from his friends, he is hailed as a hero along with his friends.


Season 2

Eggman awakens a creature named
Chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements * Chaos (''Kinnikuman'') * Chaos (''Sailor Moon'') * Chaos (''Sesame Park'') * Chaos (''Warhammer'') * Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy'' * Cha ...
from the Master Emerald. The animals fight a losing battle to retrieve the Emeralds until Chaos absorbs all seven and becomes giant in his perfect form, but an echidna girl named
Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-C ...
, who entombed herself and Chaos in the Master Emerald millennia ago, emerges to help placate him. After Sonic uses the Chaos Emeralds to become
Super Sonic is a title character and the main protagonist of the video game series of the same name published by Sega, and appears in numerous spin-off comics, animations, and other media. He is an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at super ...
, he defeats Chaos, who returns to the Master Emerald with Tikal. Shortly afterwards, Eggman finds his grandfather
Gerald Robotnik The '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or D ...
's diary and Gerald's old project
Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...
in a military base. After being released by Eggman, Shadow breaks into a museum to steal an Emerald, which gets Sonic arrested. Amy rescues him, but Shadow, Eggman, and the duplicitous Rouge escape to the Space Colony ARK, where Eggman threatens to use a weapon called the Eclipse Cannon to destroy Earth unless they submit to his rule; he blows up half of the Moon to prove his power. Eggman collects the Emeralds to power the Cannon, but this triggers a program Gerald set up decades ago, which will cause Space Colony ARK to hurtle into Earth, destroying the planet in less than half an hour. Gerald did this in order to exact revenge on humanity, who he blamed for the death of his granddaughter Maria after she was killed in a government raid on the Space Colony ARK. Everyone teams up and works together to shut it down except Shadow, who is unsympathetic and believes he has fulfilled his purpose of revenge. Chris confronts Shadow, reminding him of Maria's last wish for Shadow to be a protector of humanity, to guide and aid them. Moved to tears and with a new sense of purpose, Shadow teams up with Sonic and both power up using the Emeralds and teleport the ARK away from Earth, though Shadow is seemingly killed in the process. Sonic, his friends, and Eggman reflect on Shadow's sacrifice and return to Earth. Another Chaos Control event brings more animals from Sonic's world to Earth including the Chaotix Detective Agency—Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, and Charmy Bee, as well as Cream's mother, Vanilla, whom the Chaotix help to reunite with Cream. Eggman rebuilds the Moon, seemingly out of remorse, but its position shifts, creating a
solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...
, so he manufactures and sells "Sunshine Balls" to replicate sunlight. Sonic sees through his greedy motivations and exposes Eggman who is then arrested for fraud. Bokkun activates a robot named Emerl, who quickly allies with the anthropomorphic people, and Eggman escapes prison. Emerl wins an Emerald in a martial arts tournament involving numerous hero and villain characters, but he goes berserk and begins to wreck the city, forcing Cream and Cheese to destroy him. Later, two government physicists show up at Chris' mansion to announce that Sonic's world and Earth were once a single world split in two by a cataclysmic event, but are rejoining, which will stop time irreversibly, and the only way to stop it is to send the anthropomorphic people back home. Tails and Chuck begin to build a gate to teleport Sonic and company back to their own world with Chaos Control, but Chris does not want them to leave. When it is finished and all their friends but Sonic have left, Chris suddenly shuts the machine down and whisks Sonic into the woods to hide out of fear his parents will return to never being home once Sonic is gone. Sonic is understanding, yet teaches Chris that as a fellow person neither can force the other to feel a certain way and that their friendship is free will. Chris tearfully acknowledges that he bound Sonic's freedom today and stopped his friend from going back home and remorsefully asks for forgiveness while Sonic tells him he'll be able to be strong even without him being there but promises that they'll see each other again someday. Chris' parents find him and promise to spend more time with him. Chris having learned his lesson and grown as a person goes for one final run with Sonic before they mutually part ways and Sonic returns to his own planet using the Chaos Emeralds and his own Chaos Control, stopping the merging of the worlds caused by Eggman. However, Chris vows that one day, he will see Sonic again.


Season 3

Six months later, a race of villainous robots known as the Metarex attempt to steal the Emeralds from Sonic, but he scatters them across the galaxy. Meanwhile, on Earth, where six years have passed and Chris is now eighteen, Chris builds another device to travel to Sonic's world where he reunites with Sonic and his friends, but due to the time difference of the 2 worlds, the teleporter reverses his age, making him twelve years old again when he arrives. A sick plant-like girl named Cosmo lands on their planet and they nurse her back to health, so she joins them, and they all board Tails' new spaceship, ''The Blue Typhoon''. On the ''Typhoon'', Sonic and his gang scour the galaxy for the Emeralds and "Planet Eggs" (objects that allow life to flourish on planets, which the Metarex have stolen to depopulate the galaxy) and fight the Metarex at every turn. Along the way, Tails and Cosmo slowly fall in love with each other. Rouge finds Shadow alive in a capsule on Eggman's ship and he is later released (though he has lost his memory). At first, he and Rouge assist Eggman (even saving Chris on one occasion) but after Shadow witnesses the death of resistance fighter who reminded him of Maria, both he and Rouge go off on their own to fight the Metarex independently. Eggman eventually joins the Metarex though this is a ruse to gather more information. After discovering the origins, methods, and goals of the Metarex, Shadow reappears and tries to kill Cosmo, much to Tails' anger. The Metarex's leader, Dark Oak (the powerful robot Sonic fought from the beginning of the third season in super form), appears and reveals that the Metarex and Cosmo are of the same species and that they secretly implanted a tracking device in her brain while extinguishing the rest of their kind; she has been an unwitting spy ever since. It was for this reason Shadow wanted Cosmo dead. Chris, Knuckles, and Tails notice that removing the device will likely destroy her sight and hearing forever. Knuckles pushes for it to be removed anyway (In the Japanese version he stresses to find a way to remove it without damaging her), but Tails cannot make any decisions at the present time so the surgery is called off and the battle against the Metarex continues. Sonic and his friends, along with the Chaotix and Shadow, Rouge, including Eggman and his henchmen, head to the center of the universe, where the Metarex are ominously controlling a planet that is made of water and contains a Planet Egg where the group engages Metarex in a long fight. After Sonic almost drowns in it, but he manages to free himself by fighting Dark Oak in his dream, but the planet begins turning into a giant seed; the Metarex reveal that, because they have lost the battle, they will destroy the galaxy with this planet. The Metarex then proceed to fuse together, forming a dragon-like plant monster that attaches itself to the giant seed. Sonic and Shadow use the Chaos Emerald to become Super Sonic and Super Shadow but are still unable to defeat the fused Metarex. Cosmo sees a vision from her mother Earthia, telling her that she must sacrifice herself to save the rest. She fuses with the giant seed and instructs Tails to use the Blue Typhoon's cannon to fire Super Sonic and Super Shadow at her and the seed. Tails hesitates, torn between saving the galaxy and killing Cosmo, but eventually finds the inner strength and annihilates the Metarex along with Cosmo, whose seed disperses throughout the galaxy along with the Planet Eggs stolen by the Metarex which return to their original planets. Dark Oak has a moment of repentance before dying while having a vision of being greeted by Earthia as he passes away. Shadow then apparently sacrifices himself to contain the ensuing explosion. After the battle, Sonic reappears and solemnly informs a heartbroken Tails that he could not save Cosmo and hands him one of her seeds. Back on Sonic's planet Eggman builds a device for Chris to return home, later claiming that this was done to reduce the strength of Team Sonic. The series ends with Chris returning home, but not before saying his last goodbye to Sonic, who then, along with his friends, joyfully gears up into business as usual, to once again put a stop to Eggman's schemes. The final shots show Shadow on an alien planet (Japanese version) and Cosmo's seed sprouting in Tails' workshop.


History


Creation and development

The show was created by
TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as ''Lupin the Third'', ...
, the animation subsidiary of
Sega Sammy Holdings (also known as the Sega Sammy Group and generally Sega Sammy, stylized as SᴇɢᴀSammy) is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Sega and Sammy Corporation in 2004. Both companies are involved in the amusement industry (Sega wi ...
. It was primarily influenced by other anime rather than work from the West, and was created for a Japanese audience.
Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game programmer, video game designer, designer and video game producer, producer. He is the former head of the Sega studio Sonic Team, where he was the lead programmer of the original ''Sonic t ...
, then the head of
Sonic Team is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for the long-running '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights ...
, filled in as executive producer, and Satoshi Hirayama designed all of the original characters, basing the designs on
Yuji Uekawa is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for the long-running ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights int ...
's original concept. Most of the series consists of original content featuring new as well as established characters, but the second season is mostly based on the plots of ''
Sonic Adventure is a 1998 platform game for Sega's Dreamcast and the first main '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, and E-102 Gamma in their ...
'', ''
Sonic Adventure 2 is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega. It was the final ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game for the Dreamcast after Sega left the home console market. It features two Conflict between good and evil, good-vs-evil stor ...
'', and ''
Sonic Battle is a 2003 fighting video game developed by Sonic Team for the Game Boy Advance. It is the second fighting game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the first game being ''Sonic the Fighters''. It was released in Japan in December 2003 and in Nor ...
''. While traditionally animated, it includes non-outlined CGI elements for things such as Sonic's homing attack. Two trailers for the series were produced. The first was developed before Cheese had been given a name in ''
Sonic Advance 2 is a 2002 side-scrolling platform video game developed by Dimps for the Game Boy Advance. It is an installment in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and the sequel to 2001's '' Sonic Advance''. The story follows Sonic as he sets out to save his ...
'' (2002); it referred to Cheese simply as "Chao". It was made up largely of footage that would later appear in the series' intro, but also of unused scenes featuring unique anthropomorphic people. Sega showed off the second, which was narrated in Japanese, at its booth at the World Hobby Fair video gaming event on February 19, 2003. It consisted mostly of scenes from the first few episodes, followed by introductions to the main characters. However, it also showed a still frame of a silver anthropomorphic hedgehog who never appeared in the series. Fans nicknamed the character "Nazo", based off the Japanese word for . Years later, on April 20, 2015, Sonic Team producer Takashi Iizuka clarified the character was simply Super Sonic in its early contour. Several of the Japanese performers had voiced their characters in the games, but they were also given ample information about their characters' roles in the anime. Chris' voice actress Sanae Kobayashi was not sure she would be able to effectively communicate Chris' growth as a person owing to Sonic's presence, but found that a worthwhile goal.
Chikao Ōtsuka was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. He was most known for the roles of Captain Hook (''Peter Pan no Bōken & Disney's Peter Pan''), Dick Dastardly (''Wacky Races'' & ''Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines''), Goemon Ishikaw ...
, who voiced Eggman, found him a difficult character to play due to the tension in his voice and the desire to have children who watched the show recognize the character as a villain but not hate him. Iizuka believed that ''Sonic X'' and its merchandise, along with the game ''
Sonic Heroes is a 2003 3D platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega as part of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Cha ...
'', had helped expose the ''Sonic'' franchise to a new generation of potential gamers in 2003, and he dubbed it a "Sonic Year" as a result. More boldly, Naka hoped that ''Sonic X'' alone would cause the popularity of the ''Sonic'' series to skyrocket, as that of the ''
Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...
'' series did after its anime adaptation was first released.


Broadcast and localization


North America

4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
handled the show's American localization. The episodes were heavily edited for content and length; 4Kids has been described by
Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...
as being "infamous" among anime fans for this type of overzealous editing. 4Kids removed alcohol consumption, coarse language, instances of breaking the
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
, and numerous sexual scenes. Unlike some other series that 4Kids translated around the early to mid 2000s, such as '' Kirby: Right Back at Ya!'', ''Sonic X'' suffered no full episodes being cut. Producer Michael Haigney personally disliked realistic violence in children's programs, but had not intended to make massive changes himself. Instead, he was bound by
Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
's strict guidelines, which forbid content such as smoking and strong violence. In 2006, near the end of the show's American production, Haigney stated in an interview that he had never played a ''Sonic'' game, read the
comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
, or watched any of the previous ''Sonic'' animated series. 4Kids found new voice actors rather than using those from the games. 4Kids president Norman J. Grossfeld invited
Jason Griffith Jason Adam Griffith is an American voice actor, known for his voice over work for NYAV Post, 4Kids Entertainment and DuArt Film and Video. He is best known as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog in the English dub of ''Sonic ...
and Mike Pollock to audition for Sonic and Eggman, having known them from their work on ''
Ultimate Muscle is a Japanese manga series created by the duo Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, known as Yudetamago. It follows Suguru Kinniku, a superhero who must win a wrestling tournament to retain the title of prince of Planet Kinniku. N ...
'' and ''Kirby: Right Back at Ya!'' and chose him for his yelling and pitch-wavering talents; Pollock and Griffith also voiced Ella and Shadow. 4Kids allowed Pollock to make minor alterations to the dialogue when lines " idn'twork for some reason." He recalled being given only short samples of Eggman's voice from the games—he was not told specifically which game—and brief descriptions of his characters' roles. The rest of the cast assumed their characters' voice roles after their auditions. Beginning with ''
Shadow the Hedgehog is a fictional character appearing in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Shadow was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa, and first made his debut in ''Sonic Adventure 2'' (2001). Although this was intended to be his only appearan ...
'', the cast of ''Sonic X'' would assume their respective voice roles in all Sonic games released between 2005 and 2010, at which point all the roles were recast with the exception of Mike Pollock as Eggman. ''Sonic X'' aired in Japan on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
's 8:30 a.m. time slot from April 6, 2003 to March 28, 2004. It consisted of three seasons, each of them 26 half-hour episodes long. In Japan, the third season was never aired on TV until 2020 or released on DVD, but was available through rental streaming services. 4Kids licensed the series in North America from the beginning,
ShoPro Entertainment VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ ...
was also made a license holder in November 2003. It aired in North America on the FoxBox block of Fox channels. On June 16, 2012, the bankrupt 4Kids sold its ''Sonic X'' license to
Saban Brands Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, part of Univision Commu ...
's Kidsco Media Ventures. TMS Entertainment has since taken US rights, and in 2015,
Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...
licensed the series alongside several other TMS properties for home media releases. In 2021, FilmRise was given the AVOD rights to 38 TMS Entertainment titles including ''Sonic X'' for US and Canada.


Internationally

Outside North America and Asia,
Jetix Europe Jetix Europe N.V. (formerly known as Fox Kids Europe N.V.) was a European television broadcasting company that owned children's television channels and programming blocks across the Europe and Middle East, such as Jetix and Jetix Play. History F ...
(previously Fox Kids Europe) held the rights to the series, which the company acquired in August 2003.
Buena Vista International Television Disney Platform Distribution, Inc. is a business unit within Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED) that manages all third-party media sales efforts for distribution, affiliate marketing and affiliate-related business operations for a ...
handled television distribution, while Jetix Europe handled all other rights. The company held consumer product rights to the series in Pan-European territories. The European airings of the series featured a different intro sequence than the North American airings but was otherwise the same as the North American version. The European French dub, was however based on the original Japanese version and was completely uncut.


Asia

TMS Entertainment handled rights to the series in Asian territories.


Home video


Japan

The series was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
, in Japan, only seasons one and two were released, and their 52 episodes spanned 13 discs.


United States

From 2003 to 2009 in the United States, 4Kids Home Video and their exclusive distributor
FUNimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
released VHS tapes (until 2005) and DVDs of the series in single-release volumes and later multi-disc boxsets. The first two to be released were "A Super Sonic Hero" and "The Chaos Factor," released on June 1, 2004. Another such volume released was "Project Shadow," released on November 15, 2005. It was released to tie in with the release of the game ''
Shadow the Hedgehog is a fictional character appearing in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Shadow was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa, and first made his debut in ''Sonic Adventure 2'' (2001). Although this was intended to be his only appearan ...
'', and covered the first arc that focused on Shadow (episodes 33–38). Discotek Media released the 8-disc DVD set, "Sonic X Collection 1" in North America, which includes the English dubbed seasons 1 and 2 (episodes 1–52) on November 22, 2016. They later released the 4-disc DVD set, "Sonic X Collection 2" in North America, which includes the English dubbed Season 3 (episodes 53–78) on December 6, 2016. On May 28, 2019, Discotek Media would release a 2-disc
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
set of the English dubbed series with all three seasons and seventy eight episodes. Despite the upgraded format, the series is based off the original 4Kids beta tape, retaining a 480p resolution as opposed to the standard 1080p resolution on most Blu-rays. On October 24, 2022, Discotek announced a subtitled Blu-ray release of the complete series in its original Japanese language. While remastered, the series is still presented in standard definition like the previous release.


Music

Yoshihiro Ike is a Japanese composer, Arrangement, music arranger, and bassist. He is best known for scoring and composing music for film, Television show, TV dramas, anime and video games. He has worked on more than 100 titles in the last 20 years. His most ...
composed the score for the Japanese version of ''Sonic X''. Its opening theme was "Sonic Drive", performed by
Hironobu Kageyama is a Japanese singer and composer prominent in the soundtracks for anime, video game and tokusatsu productions. He is sometimes called Kami (Kei) by his fans. Kageyama got his big break at age 16, as lead singer of the rock band Lazy. By the ea ...
and
Hideaki Takatori Hideaki (ひであき) is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Hideaki can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *秀秋, "excellent", "autumn" *英秋, "outstanding", "autumn" *秀明, "excellent", "bright" ...
. The series included three ending themes: by
Run&Gun Run&Gun (stylized as RUN&GUN) is a Japanese boy band and performance troupe associated with Yoshimoto Kogyo. The group was formed in 2001 by Antinos Records. The members consist of Yuya Miyashita, Kosuke Yonehara, and Akira Nagata; Ryuji Kami ...
for episodes 1–13, by Aya Hiroshige for episodes 14–39 and again for episodes 53–78, and "T.O.P" by KP for episodes 40–52. 4Kids musicians John Angier, Craig Marks, Joel Douek, Louis Cortelezzi, Manny Corallo, Matt McGuire, and Ralph Schuckett, known for their work on the ''
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, w ...
'' franchise, composed a new background score for the North American release "for both artistic and commercial reasons." The North American opening and closing theme (also used as the closing theme in the European version), titled "Gotta Go Fast," was composed by Grossfeld and his friend Russell Velazquez. A soundtrack titled ''Sonic X ~Original Sound Tracks~'' was released in Japan on March 8, 2004, it consisted of 40 tracks of original music from the first two Seasons.


Other media

''Sonic X'' was extensively merchandised in various forms of media and other products. Two
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
Videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
of episodes from the first season of ''Sonic X'' were released in May 2004. In October 2004, ShoPro licensed four manufacturers to create ''Sonic X'' merchandise, they variously produced items such as toys, bedding, beach towels, backpacks, stationery, and pajamas. Six ''Sonic X'' novels were published between 2005 and 2007: ''Aqua Planet,'' ''Dr. Eggman Goes to War'', ''Battle at Ice Palace,'' and ''Desperately Seeking Sonic'' by
Charlotte Fullerton Charlotte Louise Fullerton (born March 20) is an American writer of television, novels, comic books and video games. Biography Fullerton graduated with a BA in cinema-television/production from the University of Southern California, and starte ...
, ''Meteor Shower Messenger'' by
Paul Ruditis Paul Ruditis is an American author. Early life Ruditis was born and raised in Philadelphia. He attended West Chester University where he majored in Theatre Arts with a directing emphasis. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he began ...
, and ''Spaceship Blue Typhoon'' by
Diana G. Gallagher Diana G. Gallagher (March 14, 1946 – December 2, 2021) was an American author who wrote books for children and young adults based on television series. She contributed to book series based on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series), Buffy the Vamp ...
.


Comic series

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic Universe ''Sonic Universe'' was an American comic book series published by Archie Comics in association with Sega, based on the latter's ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. It is a spin-off of the comic book series of the '' same name'', and shared continuity with th ...
'' series. The comics were written by
Ian Flynn Ian Flynn (born May 31, 1982), also known by his Internet pen name Ian Potto, is an American comic book writer. He was chief writer for Archie Comics's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' since issue #160, after the departure of the previous chief writer Ken P ...
, who also authored the main comic series.. Some issues were published in '' Jetix Magazine'' in the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland. While the comics are set during the ''Sonic X'' timeline, their plot is original. Eggman imprisons humans inside robots and tries to use them to kill the animals, but the animals destroy the robots. Eggman uses malicious Chao to destroy Station Square, but Tikal and Chaos arrive from the past, return the Chao to normal, and bring them back to the past. Soon, Sonic finds a machine in the desert and thinks nothing of it, but after fighting with Eggman in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and a bizarre world created by the doctor, Eggman reveals the desert machine was his and it begins to wreck Station Square. Sonic defeats it, but he is accused of working with Eggman, so he and Eggman are both locked up. Nelson
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...
s Sonic out of jail, and he saves Cream and Chris from some ghosts. Eggman enacts more malicious schemes based on holidays like
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
,
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
and St. Patrick's Day. Afterwards, he temporarily fires Decoe and Bocoe and creates replacements, Dukow and Bukow, who kidnap Sonic and give him to an organization called S.O.N.I.C.X. Sonic escapes with ease, but S.O.N.I.C.X. repeatedly tries to ruin his reputation. Meanwhile, the animals take on Eggman in his various schemes—including becoming a wrestler and creating a circus—to keep the Emeralds from him. In the final issue, a crossover with the continuity of the main comic series, that continuity's
Metal Sonic The ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or Doctor ...
appears and allies with Eggman to defeat Sonic, but that continuity's version of Shadow steps in and warps himself and Metal Sonic to another dimension, leading into the events of the first issue of ''Sonic Universe''.


Video games

In 2003,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
packaged five different single-button
dedicated console A dedicated console is a video game console that is limited to one or more built-in video game or games, and is not equipped for additional games that are distributed via ROM cartridges, discs, downloads or other digital media. Dedicated consol ...
games, mostly based on various sports, with
Happy Meal A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard box with a yellow smiley face ...
s to promote ''Sonic X'': two featuring Sonic and one each for Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. Another Happy Meal game based on Big the Cat fishing arrived the following year.
LeapFrog Enterprises LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. (commonly known as LeapFrog) is an educational entertainment and electronics company based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog designs, develops, and markets technology-based learning products and related content for ...
released a ''
Sonic X is a Japanese anime television series based on Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series. Produced by TMS Entertainment under partnership with Sega and Sonic Team, and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, ''Sonic X'' initially ran for 52 ...
''
educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...
math game for its
Leapster The Leapster Learning Game System is an educational handheld game console aimed at 5 to 10-11 year olds (preschool to fourth grade), made by LeapFrog Enterprises. Its games teach the alphabet, phonics, basic math (addition, subtraction, multi ...
handheld game console; it was released in 2005 in North America and 2007 in Europe. The game stars Sonic and Chris, who must rescue Tails, Amy, and Knuckles from Eggman. It is a fast-paced
platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...
/
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
game in which Sonic runs and jumps through levels and destroys Eggman's robots along the way. Periodically, Sonic must answer math questions to continue. The game features three levels, each with its own math concepts: the city Station Square (sequencing, counting in increments); Angel Island, the home of the Master Emerald (addition), and Eggman's base (subtraction). There are also math-based minigames unrelated to the levels to supplement these skills.


Trading card game

Score Entertainment Score Entertainment was a trading card design and manufacturing company based in Arlington, Texas. Their first card game was the Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game in 2000. Score Entertainment was a member of the Donruss Playoff LP family of ...
created a ''Sonic X''
collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
for two players released in 2005. Players battle for Chaos Emeralds, whoever gets three first wins. Each turn, both players lay out five cards face-down and flip over one at a time; whichever card has a lower number value is eliminated. Eliminating the other player's cards and combining the special abilities of one's own cards allows one to score rings; whichever player has the most rings at the end of the turn wins an Emerald. As the game does not emphasize collecting rare cards, a few booster packs are enough to build a competent deck. KidzWorld gave a positive review, praising its ease of learning, low cost, and inherent strategy, but also noting that it feels more like a generic card game with ''Sonic'' characters than like a wholly ''Sonic''-based product.


Reception

''Sonic X'' received divided reviews. Many reviewers were critical of its American localization. Conrad Zimmerman of Destructoid cited ''Sonic X'' "horrible localization" as a main reason for negativity. Tim Jones of THEM Anime gave the show two stars out of five and criticized the English voice acting: "It's really annoying how all the recent Sonic games use these untalented actors/actresses in their dubs, because they make the original English voices sound like award-winning performers." Other comments on the show's aesthetics were mostly positive. Staff of
GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
admitted, "At least the song fits. Can't imagine Sonic listening to ''
Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...
''s wailing
Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
light rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
, but he'd definitely jam to ''Sonic X''." Jones praised the
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
from ''Sonic Adventure 1'' and ''2'', as well as the "pretty piano music" and "catchy" Japanese intro and outro themes. He also found the backgrounds "nice to look at" but did not like the use of CGI for Sonic's homing attack. The human characters and, to a lesser extent, the animal ones were also criticized. Jones described Chris as "a dull, boring, uninspired character" and also described Tanaka and Ella as "bland" stereotypes of
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
and
African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
, respectively. Jones also criticized the presence of Amy and Big, but took particular issue to the show's portrayal of Sonic, which he summarized as: I'm gonna run around downtown until something exciting happens and use a stinking
Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
to defeat my enemies. GamesRadar bemoaned both the "piss-poor ''Adventure'' characters" and the original human ones. In contrast, writer Gaz Plant of NintendoLife opined that "one of the key successes" of the series was its incorporation of numerous characters from the games, including lesser-used ones like Big and the Chaotix. Fans were divided on the merit of the Thorndykes. The show was praised for its faithfulness to the games. ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' offered a uniformly positive review before the first episode broadcast in 2003, commending the skillful transition of the games' speed and style to animation, and expected the series to continue to grow more interesting. Plant stated that "where ''Sonic X'' truly succeeded was in its retelling of iconic stories." Independent of the characters involved, GamesRadar appreciated the idea of following "Sonic's core concept." The original storylines were also praised. Amidst his criticism of most of the show, Jones praised the first episode in general, especially its humor. Plant acclaimed the character development that built on the stories of the original games, especially Sonic and Amy's relationship and the Chaotix's newfound viability as comedy devices. Concurrently, he found the show "surprisingly touching," particularly in its "emotional" final climax, and favorably compared the space exploration of season three to ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
''. ''Famitsu''s first preview called the story .
Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.
gave it three stars out of five and, while not commenting further on its quality, stated that it was appropriate for grade-school children but that some violent scenes were inadvisable for younger viewers. A second ''Famitsu'' review from later in 2003 called the anime an outstanding success and encouraged readers to tune in.


Popularity and cultural impact

The show was quite popular in the United States, France, Indonesia and Malaysia, consistently reaching the number-one position in its timeslot in both countries. By 2007, it was TMS' best-selling anime in the non-Japanese market, despite that the third season did not air in Japan until 2020, and it inspired TMS to focus on properties that would sell well outside Japan. In April 2009, a six-year-old
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
boy named Christer pressed his parents to send a letter to King
Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...
to approve his name being changed to "Sonic X". They allowed Christer to write it himself but did not send it until he badgered them further, and the king responded that he could not approve the change because Christer was not eighteen years old. Extending over a decade past the show's initial release, the show has spawned internet memes and the phrase "gotta go fast", the title of the song that plays in the opening and closing sequence, has been used in the titles of video game periodical articles to represent the ''Sonic'' series and other fast-paced video games.


Soundtrack

''Sonic X: Original Soundtrack'' is the soundtrack the series of same name, was released in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
on March 3, 2004, by
Wave Master Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
. ; Track list


References


External links


Official Sonic Team website



Official TV Tokyo website


*
''Sonic X''
at Absolute Anime * *
Official Discotek Media website
{{Portal bar, Anime and manga, Video games, border=yes 2003 American television series debuts 2003 Japanese television series debuts 2003 anime television series debuts 2004 Japanese television series endings 2005 Japanese novels 2006 American television series endings 2006 Japanese novels 2007 Japanese novels 4Kids Entertainment Adventure anime and manga Animated series based on Sonic the Hedgehog Animated television series about children Animated television series about teenagers Animated television series about hedgehogs Anime and manga about parallel universes Anime television series based on video games Comics based on Sonic the Hedgehog Cyborgs in television Discotek Media Funimation Japanese children's animated action television series Japanese children's animated adventure television series Japanese children's animated comic science fiction television series Japanese children's animated science fantasy television series Science fiction anime and manga TMS Entertainment TV Tokyo original programming Television censorship in the United States Television series about parallel universes Television series about the Moon