What if... the Sonic OVA became an actual show (What If#1)

[OmegaSonicX]

as many here know, in 1996, Anime Studio Pierrot, then known for cult classics like Urusei Yatsura and Yu Yu Hakusho, realeased the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA's, a 2 part OVA consisting of two chapters "Journey to Eggmanland" and "Sonic vs Metal Sonic", the movie was later picked up by ADV Films who realeased a dub back then in 1999, combining both chapters into one, the movie wasn't that big of a success, as it didn't sold that well in the US, and especially sold poorly in Japan, thus "Killing" the universe this OVA set up, eventually it gained a cult following among the Sonic fans, being often refferenced weither it is the kickass "South Island Theme" music, or the famous "You know what i'm going to do and i know what your going to do, STRRRANGE ISN'T IT", thus it makes me wonder.

 

how could this world and these versions of the characters be explored any further? let's discuss.

 

The Real Life History:

the year is early 1996, a two years after Sonic SatAM in a hypothetical Season 4 (don't worry, i'll cover that in the future) premiered it's last Episode, the Genesis was fading out and the Saturn was going to come out, SEGA made a deal with Studio Pierrot, (at the time known for YuYu Hakusho) to make a two-part OVA about their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, the OVA (the one all of us know) becomes a moderate success, both SEGA and the japanese network executives of (insert Japanese network here) greenlight a series aimed at the Shonen demographic based on the universe of the OVA, Pierrot starts to work. by early 1997 the series airs it's first Episode, also becoming a moderate success, introducing the then indifferent japanese audience to Sonic, the series simply called "Sonic the Hedgehog", known as "Sonic the Hedgehog: the Anime" by fans becomes a hit in japan, premiering it's last season in early 1998, two movies would come out, the first being in Winter 1998 to promote Sonic Adventure by loosely adapting it, comming out arround the Dreamcast's realease, and the second comming out arround the same time a year later 1999 arround the turn of the millenium, to promote Sonic Shuffle with an original plot.

 

in the same year of 1999, to promote Sonic Adventure in the US, ADV Films picks up the rights to OVA dubbing it realeasing it under the title of "Sonic the Hedgehog: the Movie", becoming even more succesful than it was in japan, sparking a second Sonic craze and definetely giving the Dreamcast some sales, thus, ADV Films picks up the rest of the series and dubs it, with the dub premiering in the year 2000, with the same cast as the OVA, voice acting improving just so slightly, as the series goes on, still remaining rather cheesy, the dub ending in 2001 arround the time Sonic Adventure 2 came out, SEGA discontinuing the Dreamcast, the Dub kept airing until 2003, with both movies being dubbed and realeased (later aired) as Direct-to-Video Movies the previous year, Sonic Underground woudn't have existed at all and Sonic X would probably be made later and brought to the west later (wich im also planning to cover aswell). probably the success of the show woud've caused SEGA to buy Pierrot instead of TMS, giving SEGA the rights to make stuff of Naruto, Bleach, etc. and make Sonic X with them but that's just speculation.

 

The Story:

this is what i personally envision the story being like, you can have your own ideas too.

 

The series would be an adventure anime, think Classic Dragon Ball, InuYasha or Hunter x Hunter, exploring the wide, vast world would be key, meeting new characters, and trying to foil Eggman's plan to take over the world, eventually new villains would join in, most of the game's canon would actually be ignored, sure, stuff like the Chaos Emeralds or the Echidna Tribe would still be left intact, and the main plot would be "Sonic & Tails stop Eggman's plans"

 

in the far, post-apocalyptic future of "Sonic: the Anime", Treasure Hunting would play a large part, Knuckles is still the last of his kind, but the Master Emerald woudn't exist, instead Knuckles is a Treasure Hunter, wich kicks the story off with Sonic & Tails meeting him, it seems Eggman is after him due to stealing a Chaos Emerald as it's very valuable in the dark market and Eggman was trying to sell it, a chain of events and the Emerald's true power is revealed, making all treasure hunters in the world more interested in it, with Eggman especially trying to get them anyway he can to take over the world, kidnapping the President's daughter, eventually stuff about Knuckles' past or there being 7 Chaos Emeralds is revealed, so like they were Dragon Balls, they gotta get those Emeralds.

 

The tone would be the same of the OVA's at first, lighthearted shonen action and just an excuse for Sonic to do cool things, tons of side plots, with some stakes (like Tails being kidnapped by a Treasure Hunter at some point), eventually Sonic meets new friends like Bark or Amy, some characters gain new powers, like Tails being able to control Electricity (don't ask, that's the kind of thing an anime studio would do at a time before Sonic was truly established), eventually the plot would slowly start becoming more dark serious as more emeralds are gathered... before becoming a lighthearted comedy again once the "final boss" is defeated as the series would continue to end the remaining plot points in a last season...  oh and expect tons of Anime humor during the lighthearted segments, 

 

The series would last 52 episodes plus if it's popular enough, 2 Movies as that's the average for an Anime at the time.

 

The Characters:

of course there's Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman plus the characters we saw in the OVA like Old Man Owl, Sarah, the President or the Butler, there would also be some characters introduced by the time the hypothetical show aired (circa 1997-1999), such as Amy, Bean, Bark, Fang, or the Chaotix, but again, being pre-Modern Sonic, a lot of the things that we assosciate them with nowdays weren't established yet.

 

Amy would be a close friend to Sonic, acting more like the support female, being kind, sweet, and having a more subtle crush with Sonic, Sonic being the jerk Sonic with attitude, doesn't really seem to give a crap, she'd be friends with Bark, as "Team Hooligan" isn't a thing, and the japanese Sonic the Fighters manuals state Bark and Bean aren't really "bad guys" just randos who wanted to show off, wich is mostly true in the series, with Bark being Amy's friend and being introduced early on as her friend, Bean and Fang however are two of the many treasure hunters fighting for the emeralds, of course fighting on their own, with Fang being introduced later on than Bean,  finally the Chaotix would also be minor, having a couple filler episodes, and mostly helping the president at first.

 

Conclussion:

at the end all of this is just my personal speculation of a hypothetical, what do you guys think the OVA woud've been like as a full series? im planning to make one about what if SatAM continued and ended as it's writters envisioned or what if Sonic X continued for longer if this gets popular enough...