Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps Animation Announced

[Rabbitearsblog]

1 hour ago, Kuzu said:

To clarify, Heese mentioned that is specifically what was asked from him and the team, to make something in line with Colors' specific tone. 

https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads/sonic-colo-u-rs-ultimate-releasing-september-7th.40169/page-45#post-989920

 

I guess I can understand why they have to write the short as in lined with the game.  If they had written this short much more differently than from what was established in the actual game, then a lot of newcomers would have been confused about why the tone of the short is different from the actual game.  Hopefully, future Sonic games will have a different tone from Sonic Colors.

[Mr. Ion]

Ok! Just finished the first episode of Rise of the Wisps. Overall it was decent, if not a little lacking on story. I liked how Eggman was portrayed (or at least Sonic's interpretation) decently evil but also funny. I liked the banter that Sonic and Tails had, that was probably the best part, as was the interactions between Orbot/Cubot and Metal Sonic (I liked the "GOOD, GREAT, AWESOME..." joke). The animation is nice and I think the artsytle serves well since these are shorts (though I wouldn't want this for an entire series). The wisp portrayal was alright... I guess. The whole second half was kind of boring. It was cool seeing Metal and his portrayal was alright I guess, kind of just what you expect from Metal in the modern era. With these shorts I'm starting to rethink my position that Metal Sonic shouldn't really talk. All in all, it was decent. Not peak storytelling or anything (though to be fair no Sonic story is), but good.

[Polkadi~☆]

A Japanese dub also exists, with the same cast you know and love. As the original video already had a Japanese sub track, I didn't think they'd go this far, but it's nice to see they cared that much.

[Sonictrainer]

Quote

_ggdg_ on Twitter: thank you for the kind words about Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps (Part 1)! in addition to co-writing the script, i also contributed some development art.

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

This is a short I’d expect from Disney’s golden years, kinda like Lilo and Stitch. I love it!

This is definitely a much better take of what Colors should’ve been, and I actually thought the original was decent enough.

[Austroid]

The short was fine enough. I liked the cute art style; but the first minute or so is a prime example of undermining your main antagonist. Sonic only took things seriously once Metal (someone who hasn't suffered from the current era) is brought into the picture. They could've instead just used a stock Eggman laugh if Mike wasn't available, and cut to the Jade Wisp telling her story. 

(Also wasn't only Tails able to read the translator; being in binary and all? )

[Red Hot Jack]

I agree that it had better writing than most Colors cutscenes which had jokes shoehorned everywhere for the sake of comedy.

Anyway, regarding the "online community reaction", it's completely normal... I'm used to it, you can't stop the fandom from dissecting every bit of Sonic content. It's alright.

[Kazhnuz]

I really liked it, especially as it have way more energy than the current writing. Sonic is pretty cool here, I'm happy that it have still some jerky attitude while being heroic, I feel it's a great way to handle him. And his impatience is pretty fun.

I'm intrigued to see how the next episodes will be.

[Mega]

Idk, man. As someone whose definitive Sonic is quippy and sarcastic but still has a heart of gold, I actually really like how Sonic was handled here.

Probably not the most popular opinion- not many folks love SataM's iteration as much as I do. But I think the short captured a good balance between attitude and genuine compassion towards the end. He just felt fun.

[Multikaris]

23 hours ago, Dr. Mechano said:

I feel like it's safe to say they aren't going anywhere.

They (or at least Orbot) had a speaking role in every 3D game since Unleashed aside from Generations, regularly appear in the racing/sports spinoff games, and featured as recurring characters in the Sonic Boom cartoon, Archie, IDW, etc.

They're more "core cast" than a number of Sonic's friends at this point.

Heck, they have Sonic Channel artwork, which the Deadly Six do not. Nor do Infinite or the Time Eater (Sticks does). 

[SBR2]

4 hours ago, Mega said:

Idk, man. As someone whose definitive Sonic is quippy and sarcastic but still has a heart of gold, I actually really like how Sonic was handled here.

Probably not the most popular opinion- not many folks love SataM's iteration as much as I do. But I think the short captured a good balance between attitude and genuine compassion towards the end. He just felt fun.

Speaking as someone who is not fond of SatAM's version of Sonic  (he kinda comes across more like an idiot than aloof to me) I gotta agree. This is tge perfect characterization for Sonic someone who cares but is extremely impatient. 

One of my big problems with Adventure era Sonic is that to me he lacks any characteristics. He makes the occasional quip or smartass remark but he never felt like he actually had an attitude he just felt like a generic Shonen nice guy.

[Dr. Mechano]

5 hours ago, Mega said:

Idk, man. As someone whose definitive Sonic is quippy and sarcastic but still has a heart of gold, I actually really like how Sonic was handled here.

Probably not the most popular opinion- not many folks love SataM's iteration as much as I do. But I think the short captured a good balance between attitude and genuine compassion towards the end. He just felt fun.

Yeah. Other contemporary media from the time, like AoStH and the comics, did this as well.

And really, we don't even have to go back that far. Even if we just use the games, Sonic in SA2 (a game considered comparably more serious tonally than Colors) was still cracking jokes and making sarcastic one-liners. The game starts with him joking that the police helicopter he's being taken to prison on is a low-budget flight with no food or movies.

Across all eras and all continuities, Sonic's always had a mouth on him. How much that's focused on certainly varies, but I always thought it was the main charm of Sonic's character - he comes off as this laid-back jokester, but knows when to reign it in and focus when things get serious.

[StaticMania]

1 hour ago, SBR2 said:

Speaking as someone who is not fond of SatAM's version of Sonic  (he kinda comes across more like an idiot than aloof to me) I gotta agree. This is tge perfect characterization for Sonic someone who cares but is extremely impatient. 

One of my big problems with Adventure era Sonic is that to me he lacks any characteristics. He makes the occasional quip or smartass remark but he never felt like he actually had an attitude he just felt like a generic Shonen nice guy.

Aloof is not exactly a word you'd use to describe any version of Sonic, maybe Sonic X would be the closest...

[Mega]

Aloof wasn't the right word, you are right. Maybe Fleetway?

But with SatAM Sonic- I think the "idiot" thing honestly is just a result of season 2 flanderizing the hell outta him. 8/ If you look in the first season, he actually shows a lot of cleverness and an ability to make up plans on the fly. Season 2 just kinda dumbed him down to make Sally more competent. Like in Warp Sonic, he's the one who's suspicious of Griff while Sally is all over him, and his suspicions are proven right, but he's able to see why Griff did what he did and make a compromise. SatAM Sonic at his best is a really nice guy who's just very snarky and proud of his abilities. (Sonic's Nightmare shows that he also has a lot of emotional baggage, along w/ the Uncle Chuck episodes).

Season 2 does have a few good moments, like when he fakes surrender in Sonic Conversion, but then you got Game Guy where suddenly he's the overly trusting one, and it's just... bah. I think SatAM's Sonic gets a lot of flak and generalizations that don't look at the big picture of how he was written, buuut that's a ramble for another topic. He was my introduction to the character, though, so he is my baseline for what I like to see in a Sonic.

And to that end, this short scratched a very similar itch.

[Johnster4]

Watched the Rise of the Wisps part 1 Orbot and Cubot were the best part the short , at 1:59 I can see why people might think at that point might think Sonic could be insensitive or doesn't care that the Jade Wisp was in distress but then at 5:02 his personality kind of changes and all of a sudden he starts to care that could have been handled better,

 

22 hours ago, Kuzu said:

We were specifically asked to make it feel like Sonic Colors' writing at several points, making it more lighthearted and quippy. Particularly when it came to Sonic's dialogue. It makes sense because at the end of the day it's meant to advertise Colors specifically, which had a very specific tone. But I do hope to get to write one of these like an action cartoon one day.

If this was only just matching Colours tone and Tyson Hensse he was the writer of Sonic Rangers instead of Iann Flynn, and was able to make Sonic's personality closer to Black Knight, I would be open to the idea of giving him a chance.

[Rabbitearsblog]

1 minute ago, Johnster4 said:

Watched the Rise of the Wisps part 1 Orbot and Cubot were the best part the short , at 1:59 I can see why people might think at that point might think Sonic could be insensitive or doesn't care that the Jade Wisp was in distress but then at 5:02 his personality kind of changes and all of a sudden he starts to care that could have been handled better,

 

If this was only just matching Colours tone and Tyson Hensse he was the writer of Sonic Rangers instead of Iann Flynn, and was able to make Sonic's personality closer to Black Knight, I would be open to the idea of giving him a chance.

Are they going to change the writers of the Sonic games soon?

[Empire88]

5 minutes ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

Are they going to change the writers of the Sonic games soon?

We don't know officially. Just that Pontac (I believe) talked in a video interview about how it was a good run, implying they are done with Sonic series.

[Kuzu]

Ok, I'm just gonna come out and say that we need to get over Black Knight. I get it, I like it too, but its also been 11 years. Its time to move on.

 

On this, I guess it's really a matter of delivery rather than the content 

[SBR2]

Honestly...Black Knight wasn't that deep y'all. I like the plot but I think people ignore Sonic's first response to the situation is "Oh, cool it'll be just like Halloween!"

And honestly look I get the "Death comes for us all" speech at the end isn't something you regularlyhear in Sonic but like it's not really all that different to Sonic talking about how bored he is with the story until the details ofwhat happened to the other Wisps happens. 

Sonic plays it up like he doesn't care until how grave the situation is really kicks in.

[StaticMania]

5 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

Sonic plays it up like he doesn't care until how grave the situation is really kicks in.

That's a personality change...

This would be related purely to Sonic fans and this specific cartoon, if I weren't utterly convinced younger people didn't understand characters can portray more than 2 personality traits.

[Multikaris]

Will the specific Jade Wisp we focus on ever get a proper name? 

[SBR2]

47 minutes ago, StaticMania said:

That's a personality change...

This would be related purely to Sonic fans and this specific cartoon, if I weren't utterly convinced younger people didn't understand characters can portray more than 2 personality traits.

I'll be honest I wonder sometimes just how much this is purely on younger fans.

Also while it's on my mind the funny thing about the discourse to me is that the Jade Wisp isn't even offended by Sonic's attitude. It seems to fully understand that in spite of appearances Sonic does care.

[Empire88]

1 hour ago, SBR2 said:

Honestly...Black Knight wasn't that deep y'all. I like the plot but I think people ignore Sonic's first response to the situation is "Oh, cool it'll be just like Halloween!"

And honestly look I get the "Death comes for us all" speech at the end isn't something you regularlyhear in Sonic but like it's not really all that different to Sonic talking about how bored he is with the story until the details ofwhat happened to the other Wisps happens. 

Sonic plays it up like he doesn't care until how grave the situation is really kicks in.

Sonic fans in general tend to hype certain things and exaggerate. For example in other fan communities like Reddit, people act like Unleashed is some masterpiece. Mind you we all have our own opinions which is great. But it starts to get to the point where certain things in the fandom become "beyond criticism" and it gets cultish.

[charmsb]

2 hours ago, Snowragnarok said:

Will the specific Jade Wisp we focus on ever get a proper name? 

Probably not considering it doesnt look different than any other Jade Wisp and its the only one in the short. Would be cool to have another unique Wisp character I suppose, but not this time.

edit: Well, I guess the whole team of undercover Wisps also counts as unique characters.

[SBR2]

27 minutes ago, mitsunari88 said:

Sonic fans in general tend to hype certain things and exaggerate. For example in other fan communities like Reddit, people act like Unleashed is some masterpiece. Mind you we all have our own opinions which is great. But it starts to get to the point where certain things in the fandom become "beyond criticism" and it gets cultish.

Try being one of the handful of people who doesn't think SA2 is a flawless masterpiece.