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Animation

Discotek Media Announces Sonic X Blu-Ray ‘Original Japanese Version’

Its the Blu-ray news Sonic fans have been waiting for since the release of the original Sonic X Blu-ray in 2019. Discotek Media has recently aired a panel on their Twitch channel showcasing new releases leading up to the current plans for next year. Among the announcements was a new Blu-ray set for the ‘subtitled’ version of Sonic X labelled as ‘Original Japanese Version.’ This set features all episodes uncut with the original audio tracks previously unreleased to home video outside of Japan. This includes the “Metarex” story arc that was not broadcast in Japan until 2020. Brought by popular fan demand and even a push internally at Discotek from producer Brady Hartel, this release comes in featuring the best possible standard resolution presentation these episodes have ever seen with the launch window slated for winter of 2023. (Edited 10/26/2022) Which is a few months from now!)

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Comics

Sonic the Hedgehog Archie Comic Book Series Cancelled After 24 Years


After 24 long years with plenty of ups and downs, the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter confirmed today that the Archie Sonic series has finally been put to rest. This comes after months of silence from both parties as the series was put on hiatus after 290 at the end of 2016. The comic has run alongside Sonic since 1992 and featured characters from both the video games and the Saturday Morning Cartoon.
For those wanting to reminisce on Archie’s take of the games, check out “How Archie Played the Games”  and “Mobius: 25 Years Later,” by our very own David the Lurker.

Animation

Way Past Cool! The Original Saturday Morning Sonic Turns 20 Today

When I was a spry, young lad, I could still wake up every Saturday morning at the crack of dawn. Filled with exuberance for a block of time that would soon be lost to the ages with the popularization of children’s programming on basic cable, I would arise to make sure I wouldn’t miss a second of what was to be broadcast. Fox Kids, One Saturday Morning, Kids WB, even the not-aimed-at-me TNBC block…from local programming to the last remnants of syndicated tales involving the Hardy Boys, my elementary years were spent absorbing half hour after half hour of useless information.

On this day twenty years ago – September 18th, 1993 for those who aren’t paying attention – my focus was once again squarely on the television. Sitting in bed like I did every Saturday, my eyes glazed over watching my tiny moving picture box, the same one that I had played hours upon hours of the original Sonic the Hedgehog titles. But that day was something special. Something tremendously exciting. What was it? Well, the cast of Hanging With Mr. Cooper kindly told me the night before during T.G.I.F…

Yes. Sonic the Hedgehog was now on the airwaves.

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Miscellaneous

Sega of America Employee Back with More Auctions

If you’re like me, you heard about vigiljeff‘s eBay auction for the original painting used for the United States’ and Europe’s cover of Night Trap, which wound up selling for more than $1,500 USD, just a little too late to do any bidding. However, it put the former Sega of America employee, who worked in the facilities department of the company, on the radar as a potential seller of rare goods.

vigiljeff is back on eBay this week with four new auctions: pre-production figures of Akira Yuki and Sarah Bryant, a framed print of the character from Sonic the Hedgehog in an admittedly pretty awesome frame with many characters from various DiC properties carved into it, but perhaps most interesting is the final item, an art scroll drawn by one of four Sonic Team employees who were flown into America to finish NiGHTS into Dreams in his spare time. In the auction description, vigiljeff explains:

Even though they spoke very little English and I spoke no Japanese, whenever they needed something, they would e-mail my department and I would get it up to them, so I got to be pretty good friends with them, especially one guy, and even if I could remember his name I couldn’t pronounce it.

But anyways, at night or when he had time, he would be working on this scroll painting & drawing and writing. I don’t even know what game the characters are from that one. I’m sure one of you gamers out there will know right off, or if someone can read Japanese the writing will tell you.

And the cool thing about all this, when I went to drop them off at SFO for [their] flight back home, I unloaded all [their] stuff onto two airport carts, the guy grabs this scroll out of one of his bags and hands it to me and in his best English says, ‘Thank you for all your help. This [is] for you.’

I didn’t know what to say, so I bowed my head to them and shook [their] hands and said have a safe flight and went back to work.

At any rate, any of these pieces would be great collector items to have, but the scroll in particular seems really interesting: a look into the mind of one Sonic Team employee during one of the most diverse times of creative output by the studio. Pictures of the scroll are below.


[via GameSetWatch]