Season 1 | Sonic Boom: TV Series Discussion

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

...I think this is the right place to put it, but look at the concepts of the Sonic Boom Cannes Banner!

http://www.shendesignworks.com/portfolio/sonic-boom-cannes-banner

[shdowhunt60]

1 hour ago, Detective Zebra said:

...I think this is the right place to put it, but look at the concepts of the Sonic Boom Cannes Banner!

http://www.shendesignworks.com/portfolio/sonic-boom-cannes-banner

This is old.

[Enesephus]

Episode 2 Review: Can an Evil Genius Crash on Your Couch for a Few Days?

First things first, overly long title is overly long. I preferred the French title, "My Roommate's an Evil Genius."

Anyway, there's really not as much to say about this episode. It's good, and not just good, but really good, and it holds up surprisingly well after over a year. Unlike The Sidekick, which tries to establish so many things (the setting, the characters, the relationship between the main characters, the show's style of humor) on top of having a somewhat serious plot, this episode takes a very simple plot and, rather than focus on the story, tells as many jokes with the premise as it can in eleven minutes. Specifically, the roommate plot, wherein our main characters have to put up with an annoying roommate. We've all seen this plot before. However, rather than having said roommate be Knuckles or Sticks or someone like that, it's Eggman, the villain of the show, which is brilliant. I don't know if other cartoons have put this spin on the roommate plot, having it be the enemy rather than an annoying friend, but Sonic Boom does and really makes some funny jokes out of it.

The highlight of the episode is obviously Eggman. He's just so hilarious in this episode, and in many episodes to come, that you've really got to give Mike Pollock credit for his performance. Eggman just has so many great lines and moments that you're sure to be cracking up at a couple of them, at least. Sonic and Tails are also pretty funny as the disgruntled roommates reacting to Eggman's shenanigans (and, in a couple moments, to Amy the wannabe therapist). My favorite joke would have to be at the end when Eggman finally gets Sonic and Tails to hold the kill switches by blowing on his kazoo, and Sonic takes off Obliterator Bot's head with a rectangular piece of metal screaming "Pillow fiiiiiiiiiiiiight!" I'm honestly cracking up just thinking about it. However, this would have to be a close second:

Spoiler

I swear, I could watch that forever.

The animation, like in the Sidekick, is really polished, too. There are a lot of really good facial expressions and nice movements, Sonic still looks really fast (despite this being the episode to introduce the blur effect), and there even appears to be a bit of very subtle squash and stretch at one point (where Eggman's explaining what they have to do at the Lair and Sonic replies, "Oh, come ON."  Overall, this episode is a real treat, from the humor to the animation.

However, this episode's not all positives. I have to take umbrage with the way Sticks is introduced. Specifically, she's not introduced, but, rather, she walks through the door with Amy and Knux at the beginning of the episode as though she'd already been introduced. It feels like her introduction is missing. By that, I don't mean there should have been an episode showing how the group met Sticks (though, that would make a cool origins episode for season 2), since, in this continuity, Sonic and crew have clearly been friends with Sticks for a long time. I mean, Amy and Knuckles, two characters we already know and love, each get an establishing character moment in episode 1, while Sticks, who we don't know, doesn't get one. I know she was originally planned to be in The Sidekick, but had to be cut because that episode was trying to do so much in so little time. However, I still feel there could have been, for example, a scene at the beginning of this episode where Amy goes to Sticks' burrow to tell her Eggman was rooming with Sonic and Tails, and Sticks acts paranoid when Amy knocks and says it's her, all, "How do I know it's really you, Amy?" or something. That's a proper establishing character moment. It's not that the writers did a bad job of establishing her personality in this episode, it's just the way they introduced her to the audience was so random.

Now I have a nitpick. At the end of the episode, Sonic tells Amy, Knux and Sticks to distract Obliterator Bot while he and Tails go for the kill switches, but we don't ever see them do anything to distract the robot. We see it jump down to face them at one point, and Sticks says a line to it, but we don't see anything else. We don't see the crew fight Obliterator Bot, or run around, yelling, "Come get me," "No, come get me," or anything like that, and when Sonic jumps in to stop the robot, they're still just standing there. It's a minor thing, but it really bugs me.

Also, this isn't really a problem, per se, but Knuckles doesn't say or do one stupid thing in this episode. Of course, he's not in it very much, but there are later episodes where Knuckles plays a minor role, yet he always manages to get in at least one dumb moment, so to see this episode avert that is very noticeable and very odd. Chalk it up to Early Installment Weirdness.

So, yeah, on the whole, even though I have a couple issues with it, this is a really good and funny episode. On the Sonic Boom scale, it gets a 9/10.

Edit: Wow, that didn't end up being any shorter at all. I blame Sticks.

[Enesephus]

Okay, I feel a bit uncomfortable making this post, since no one else made any posts after my last review, and, while I've read the guidelinesfor this site more than once so as not to break any out of ignorance, I don't really know the rules on making multiple posts in a row if there's like a twelve hour gap between them. Anyway, I felt like making another review, so here it is.

Episode 3 Review: Translate This

Okay, for real this time, I really don't have much to say about this episode, other than it's good. This is the first spotlight episode of the series, and our lead character is Tails, who does a pretty good job of carrying the episode. This episode establishes Tails as a kid genius that can make inventions, and a lot of the humor here is gained from his creation UT, which exposes the meanings behind the words of his friends. I don't suppose I really have a favorite joke here. The jokes are solid, but none of them really stand out as being fantastic and memorable. The characters are all on point, and I especially have to give credit to Knuckles, who strikes a bit of a balance between being dumb while just hanging out and being competent in battle. Speaking of battle, the action scene at the end is pretty well done, too, with some nice teamwork from our protagonists.

As for the animation, it's with this episode where we are introduced to the actual quality of most of Sonic Boom's animation. That is, it's a big step above of most other TV grade CGI, but it's not quite as polished as it was in episodes one and two. It's worth noting that this is the first episode where we get a noticeable animation error (specifically, Eggman's moustache randomly shrinks briefly in one scene).

Now for the negatives. First, and this is really a nitpick, how did UT get back to Bygone Island to deliver and translate Tails' message (I liked that scene, by the way, I thought it was clever)? This is a question I find myself asking several times in this show: "How did X character get to/from Eggman's lair without any apparent mode of transportation?" It's just something that really bugs me.

Also, Tails offers to be Eggman's lab assistant to save UT, but the writers do nothing with this. I mean, we get one joke out of that subplot, and then Sonic's friends are there to save Tails immediately, maybe a minute after Tails even makes the offer. It just felt like there should have been more there; the writers should have told at least a couple more jokes with that.

Anyway, I don't have much else to say. There were a couple things that bugged me, and there's nothing really memorable here, but, overall, Translate This is a solid episode. I give it an 8/10.

By the way, does anyone else think of Rise of Lyric when Tails says, "Wow, UT, my friends normally love my inventions. I can't believe you had such a lousy debut,"?

[SonicWind]

19 minutes ago, Hyper Enesephus said:

Now for the negatives. First, and this is really a nitpick, how did UT get back to Bygone Island to deliver and translate Tails' message (I liked that scene, by the way, I thought it was clever)? This is a question I find myself asking several times in this show: "How did X character get to/from Eggman's lair without any apparent mode of transportation?" It's just something that really bugs me.

I assume Eggman had something to do with UT getting back on the island. I mean, the guy's able to transport his robots and stuff over to the island from his isolated base with no problems.

You could say the same for everyone else (aside from Team Sonic as they have Tails' Plane to fly them over most of the time)-- Eggman probably sends out automated vehicles or something like that to transport them there and back. I dunno for sure; the show isn't really made for or particularly cares about shining a light on these kinds of issues.

[Enesephus]

5 minutes ago, SonicWind said:

I assume Eggman had something to do with UT getting back on the island. I mean, the guy's able to transport his robots and stuff over to the island from his isolated base with no problems.

You could say the same for everyone else (aside from Team Sonic as they have Tails' Plane to fly them over most of the time)-- Eggman probably sends out automated vehicles or something like that to transport them there and back. I dunno for sure; the show isn't really made for or particularly cares about shining a light on these kinds of issues.

You could say that for UT, but there's not really any indication as to how, say, the Lightning Bolt Society get to and from his lair, and Eggman's definitely not giving them transportation.

[E-122-Psi]

Given his very casual relationship with the civilians he often tries to invade, it would make sense if the base was all of a few blocks away.

I liked the first half of this episode a lot. I tended to always find the tech genius part of Tails' personality rather dull, but Boom starts off well by making it more whimsical. He's more a wacky ambitious inventor here, he wants to make things that improve people's lives and make them happy (and maybe get him a bit of praise and cool factor) but he doesn't quite think them all through. I always thought that scene of him with UT was really touching and had a lot of pathos for how comical the show usually is:

 

The last half I felt kinda suffered. Like you said it didn't really do much with the 'being forced to serve Eggman' plot, and took way to long to set up considering that. The climax with UT's ability proving invaluable was indeed quite clever and the fight scene was decent, though the ending itself was kinda slap dash. After all Tails gone through, it felt a bit mean spirited UT got destroyed anyway so unceremoniously. On a minor note, it seemed odd Eggman just stormed off without any comical one liner or anything.

This episode is held up well by good character moments. UT was a clever way of looking into the character's personalities in a unique way, eg. Tails having a bit of a hidden ego, Amy's courteous demeanour not always being very sincere. I like we got a couple of titbits concerning Amy's (here more subtle) crush on Sonic. Like you mentioned this was a pretty decent interpretation of Knuckles as well, being a bit un Flanderized so he's got some dumb humour going about him, while still being a fair bit competent and clear headed (eg. trying to calm Sticks down, his bad ass way of finishing off the giant bot). I like that among the four feuding over UT's 'confessions' he actually seems the least aggressive about it. There are sadly only a few odd episodes that followed with this balance rather than just going for the 'dumb loser' shtick (eg. Battle of the Boy Bands).

[Enesephus]

2 minutes ago, E-122-Psi said:

Given his very casual relationship with the civilians he often tries to invade, it would make sense if the base was all of a few blocks away.

I liked the first half of this episode a lot. I tended to always find the tech genius part of Tails' personality rather dull, but Boom starts off well by making it more whimsical. He's more a wacky ambitious inventor here, he wants to make things that improve people's lives and make them happy (and maybe get him a bit of praise and cool factor) but he doesn't quite think them all through. I always thought that scene of him with UT was really touching and had a lot of pathos for how comical the show usually is:

 

The last half I felt kinda suffered. Like you said it didn't really do much with the 'being forced to serve Eggman' plot, and took way to long to set up considering that. The climax with UT's ability proving invaluable was indeed quite clever and the fight scene was decent, though the ending itself was kinda slap dash. After all Tails gone through, it felt a bit mean spirited UT got destroyed anyway so unceremoniously. On a minor note, it seemed odd Eggman just stormed off without any comical one liner or anything.

This episode is held up well by good character moments. UT was a clever way of looking into the character's personalities in a unique way, eg. Tails having a bit of a hidden ego, Amy's courteous demeanour not always being very sincere. I like we got a couple of titbits concerning Amy's (here more subtle) crush on Sonic. Like you mentioned this was a pretty decent interpretation of Knuckles as well, being a bit un Flanderized so he's got some dumb humour going about him, while still being a fair bit competent and clear headed (eg. trying to calm Sticks down, his bad ass way of finishing off the giant bot).

Great post. I'm glad you not only actually read my review, but decided to build on it and offer your own opinions. I agree the ending felt a bit mean-spirited, and, honestly, it just seems like the writers were aware they only had a few more seconds to wrap up the plot, and decided to just go with the first ending they thought of. This is definitely one of the show's biggest flaws: its tendency to rush the endings in ways that either feel incomplete, mean-spirited, or just plain unsatisfying.

[E-122-Psi]

I feel like the whole second half was kinda convoluted really. I think they would have been better just sticking with the 'Eggman poses as UT and makes the gang fight' plot a little longer. It's more simple, but it had potential and likely would have had more time to wrap up in a satisfying way. That and I love those episodes Eggman is savvy enough to take advantage of the heroes' environment and flaws.

On a side note, anyone else feel sorry for poor Orbot in this episode? Boom does a good job showing why he's gotten so jaded about working for Eggman. He genuinely tries to be a good respectful worker at times and he's still a mere menial. He's like the standard bitter employee whose been burnt out from trying and failing to work up to the top for so long.

[Jason Berry]

14 hours ago, Hyper Enesephus said:

 Also, Tails offers to be Eggman's lab assistant to save UT, but the writers do nothing with this. I mean, we get one joke out of that subplot, and then Sonic's friends are there to save Tails immediately, maybe a minute after Tails even makes the offer. It just felt like there should have been more there; the writers should have told at least a couple more jokes with that.

Tails only agreed because he had planned to have Sonic and the gang rescue him all along since he left that message with U.T., but U.T. reveals what you actually mean. It was actually a great Tails moment as it shows his intelligence isn't just in inventing, but can think his way out of a situation.

[Enesephus]

4 minutes ago, Jason the Jackass said:

Tails only agreed because he had planned to have Sonic and the gang rescue him all along since he left that message with U.T., but U.T. reveals what you actually mean. It was actually a great Tails moment as it shows his intelligence isn't just in inventing, but can think his way out of a situation.

It was a great moment for Tails, I agree with you there, but it still feels like a subplot that goes nowhere. We got one joke out of it, and then his friends are immediately there to rescue him.

[E-122-Psi]

It also took a bit too long and 'twisty turny' a plot point for he and Eggman to set up and process through. It was a clever punchline, but not really worth the convolution.

[Myst]

So how long until this show winds up on Googleplay? I'd like to have the show on my phone in HD, but the episodes on YouTube aren't in the best quality.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

NOTICE: Thought you guys should know that Sonic Boom Volume 1's UK release date has been pushed up by a week, meaning it's releasing on February 8th instead of February 15th.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

So I got Sonic Boom Volume 1, and it's a nice little DVD to be honest. The UK usually don't get very many releases of Sonic shows, and when it does, it's generally low quality, such as Sonic X's DVD releases only being four volumes with two episodes each, but this DVD is actually pretty cool. 13 episodes are on the disc as predicted, and for once everything is in correct order, differing from the Boomerang releases. All episodes are in their correct release order, with only one exception, so for those wondering, the episodes are...

-The Sidekick

-Can A Evil Genius Crash On Your Couch For A Few Weeks

-Translate This!

-Buster

-My Fair Sticksy

-Fortress of Squalitude

-Double Doomsday

-Eggheads

-Guilt Tripping

-Dude, Where's my Eggman?

-Cow Bot

-Circus of Plunders

-Unlucky Knuckles.

The thing to note however is for some odd reason, on the DVD, and the case, Translate This is stated to be Episode 2, being switched around with Can A Evil Genius for some reason, unless originally, Translate This was meant to be Episode 2 or something, and they made an error.

The poster is alright as well, although it seems to just be a mash up of the same Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal artwork.

[E-122-Psi]

13 episodes per DVD. That would mean even in the same amount of volumes Sonic X released they'd have the whole season out.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 minute ago, E-122-Psi said:

13 episodes per DVD. That would mean even in the same amount of volumes Sonic X released they'd have the whole season out.

For Sonic X to get a full season release in the way it was going, it would have taken 13 volumes at least for Season 1. 

As you can guess, for once they finally got it right with Boom, likely because of Universal behind behind the DVDs, and not Warner Bros, and also because Boom is a massive hit in the UK.

[BlueTidalGamer]

Such a massive step up from Warner Bros lazy attempt at a UK home video release for a Sonic cartoon. The DVD box is presented nicely at the back. Here's hoping this and the future volumes sell well enough over here to get a Blu Ray release. 

 

Also a UK Sonic release that doesn't have laughably bad designs of Sonic on the cover, huzzah! UK release of SatAM I'm looking at you.

 

 

 

 

[BlueTidalGamer]

Right off the bat, the UK DVD has really weird audio. Everything sounds really deep and sometimes voices are out of sync, sounding like they come out faster than they should be. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

8 minutes ago, BlueTidalGamer said:

Right off the bat, the UK DVD has really weird audio. Everything sounds really deep and sometimes voices are out of sync, sounding like they come out faster than they should be. 

Don't worry. I believe it's only an issue for Episode 1, and even then It's only really noticable for Eggman (At least I thought). The rest of the episodes should be fine.

[BlueTidalGamer]

Each episode has deeper audio than the original TV broadcasts. It's noticeable but it's just something you'd have to get used to. Maybe it's a DVD production error or something? Either way those who have seen the show quite a lot before buying the DVD will notice it right away. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, BlueTidalGamer said:

Each episode has deeper audio than the original TV broadcasts. It's noticeable but it's just something you'd have to get used to. Maybe it's a DVD production error or something? Either way those who have seen the show quite a lot before buying the DVD will notice it right away. 

That's rather odd, because I only had the issue on Episode 1 of the DVD.

[BlueTidalGamer]

The iTunes release has the exact same deeper audio as well which is really odd. 

[Aqua7KH]

2 hours ago, BlueTidalGamer said:

The iTunes release has the exact same deeper audio as well which is really odd. 

This is just a wild guess- some channels speed up shows slightly to fit more commercials in and therefore make more money. Perhaps this was done for Sonic Boom when it was broadcasted on TV? That would make the voices just slightly more higher pitched and therefore make the DVD/ITunes release deeper because there is no commercials therefore it's not sped up.

[BlueTidalGamer]

35 minutes ago, Aqua7KH said:

This is just a wild guess- some channels speed up shows slightly to fit more commercials in and therefore make more money. Perhaps this was done for Sonic Boom when it was broadcasted on TV? That would make the voices just slightly more higher pitched and therefore make the DVD/ITunes release deeper because there is no commercials therefore it's not sped up.

The UK broadcasts of Sonc Boom are kept the same as America in the audio department. When shows and films are brought to DVD in the UK, usually the audio and tempo are very slightly speed up. But in the case of the UK DVD of Boom, the audio and tempo are put down, which is not very common at all. 

 

It's not that major of an issue but you notice it if you've watched the show on TV a bunch.