4Kids Sonic X Plan - fight the hate?

The other night I was passed a link to youtube.
That's really not unusual. It was the content that was. It seems that 4Kids (The USA company that imported/dubbed Sonic X) is working on a project to SUB Sonic X. In order to check out publicity for something like that, they posted their start on youtube, with their subs so that the fans could check it out. Then, my mistake led to further knowledge? But first...

See the video here:




as proof of what they've done. They're apparently trying to gage interest, so if YOU are interested in Sonic X with official subs as some kind of box set or something, then by all means watch it and try to spread the news.

My mistake leads to further knowledge?
The next day when I went to post a Tweet about it to help spread the word...I realized I FORGOT the video link. Never pasted it anywhere, just watched n' went. Well that wouldn't do, so I had to search and put in "4Kids Sonic X" into youtube. What happened? Basically a ZILLION angry videos. Type it in, see for yourself!

That's right, it turns up pretty much nothing but rants and hate!
I really had to dig to re-find that video that's actually BY 4kids. I didn't know the hate and the bashing extended so far. There's countless people likely furious at 4kids on websites, blogs and myspaces, and they have been for years...ever since X came here. No one actually ever appriciated them bringing Sonic X to the USA. So that all boils down to...

Why the hate?
If you don't know--it's because they cut apart the show in later episodes. Sure sure there are people who will rant and rave at any dubbing because it's "non Japan" as soon as it's dubbed but that's not the issue here. The fans are mad because they really got in there, fished around and altered the plot to their own liking, even going so far as to delete MOST of episodes to make the show what they saw fit.

Why did they cut it apart and change the plot?
Because it had "violence" in it. It dealt with an issue that was serious. It might make someone sad. It wasn't all comedy and meaningless fluff, and it dared to have a plot that could be appriciated by someone over 6 years old. Incase you didn't know, that's pretty much a crime in America. Anything that's a "Cartoon" must only be fit for 4 year olds and must not ever deal with any serious issue or else it might disturb children and presumably cause them to go on a shooting rampage in school because they saw on TV a space ship firing lasers.

Does that make sense?
No it does not. Fans have been fighting against censorship ever since Anime has come to a country that is not Japan. It's because crazed parents/'watchdogs' complain about silly things they see that they think will 'frighten away children' or might make them sad. Censorship of cartoons never really made sense as it's always fumbling over some non-issue. Example:
Blurring out/cover up Japanese writing?
Who knows if it's true or not but the complaints against seeing Japanese writing started with parents thinking it was there to teach kids "Satanic Symbols". Yes all non-english letter-sharing languages (ie Greek, Russian, Japanese etc) are 'satan symbols' and must be never looked at by little kids. (wait what!)

Now you see the roots of how stupid it is?
How much time companies have to waste blotting out words and butchering up plots? No wonder it costs so much to bring anything over...if you've practically got to re-write the whole show and digital-paint up the joint you're going to be spending right and left. So that's the treatment Sonic X got. It DID get over here, which is good, but in a much abriged fashion. Naturally, people are gonna get mad.

How to see it RIGHT:
In the age of the internet everyone, yes even little kids, are fortunate enough to be able to access the truth despite what some people may want. A MOST POPULAR download from torrents and other such large-file sites are Fan-Subbed versions of Sonic X. It's the only way to know what really happened in the show---by stealing it! Anime companies had/have a huge problem with torrent sites vs their sales. Why would you spend money for some messed up, censored up, changed around piece of your favorite show when you could get the *real thing* for free? No one can compete with that.

The solution is easy:
No one will feel the need to fansub, share, spread, whatever episodes if you treat them right. Got to censor it for TV? Whatever. Use the DVD release to do it right. Give them same-time or close-time release in Japan, don't do any censoring, sub them right, stop cutting, and make them reasonably priced. 4Kids may be trying a good solution. Subbing it themselves, doing a BETTER job with it.

Seal the deal?
Box. Sets.
Guarentee to have ALL the footage in each ep.
Price it right. None of this 8 dollars per ep stuff.

They said they wanted interactivity on their youtube so comment on it!
I did, but all comments are on 'approval basis' so you'll have to wait to see it. If mine appears I'll be surprised. Most companies don't like questions...(I asked if it would be censored up or not, because if it is STILL the cut whacked footage what the hell is the point of going over and subbing trash no one wanted? And by that, it means that the only people who really want the subs are the SAME set that's so rantful about the cuts. You can plop a 4year old infront of anything and they don't care.)

All in all:
This looks like a good decision by them, an effort to get back in the good light with fans. If done properly they could re-start Sonic X interest and make a bundle in the deal. Hopefully, it'll go somewhere.

Sonic America Update

Havn't had a themed update in a while.
It was nice to be able to do one again, though it was rather gruelling due to so much stuff. However, everyone should find it quite worth while. The interesting item of the post came along with a "we're closer to 'everything Sonic, ever' " this time with Earmuffs. Yes, Sonic the hedgehog earmuffs. And they're not bad either!

GE Entertainment made classic styled Sonic earmuffs. They're a pair of plush heads for your ears. They used the "Sonic facing foreward" old stock art so you'd think they'd be kind of 'off' looking because that old stock was never brilliant to begin with and was never his best angle. However...they did a great job of it, actually improving it from the look of the earmuffs. GE looks to be a company who really wants to innovate and also satisfy the fans. I'm thinkin' this is a good deal!

Calander of Crud- returns?
As you've likely noticed, the bad ol' calender of crud hasn't had a new addition in quite a while. Was it finally winding down? Did it actually archive all the holiday horrible plushes made? It was kind of with a note of 'hmf' that I thought of the possibility of the section turning into an archive as it closed up due to showing everything at last. Why? Probably for the same reasons as everyone else: that stuff was SO BAD you just wanted but sort of didnt want to see more just to see what new monstrosity was around the next corner. What boogieplush was in the next closet?

No need to fear (yet at least) or well maybe it should be 'need to fear' because this week a really dumb Valentines Sonic showed up and gave me the chance to yell at it on the page.

The other highlights include GE Entertainment keychain selection (more of that flat good quality rubber stuff...they chose some real nice art too) and apparently they're getting into pins with some nice efforts that should please the pin collectors.

In all, it was a long but varied update and there's plenty to see.
Next week?
Next week's update could be DELAYED. Note it now, but the update could be a day late or maybe not. It shouldn't affect the content of the update though.
Also, a new page will likely appear that week to handle another kind of Sonic Stuff. It's time for part of the Sonic Fan Events section to break off and become something else so be sure to have a look, as not only will things move, but new ones will appear as well.

SonicGear- Running on time

A good week this week for updates!
All the mail that came in, went out. That's really something too, as the Bday week cleared out a lot of the backlog making something like this week possible. There's still many older mails but those can be taken care of as mid-week updates or suppliments to the regular ones.

Interesting item of the week-
Clyez city Sonic statues. I had been meaning to add these last year when they appeared, but didn't get the chance. They really are remarkable to see, as it's the equivelent of a whole town square putting on the Sonic. It may or may not be too late to drum up more interest for PSU if anyone sees the statues on gear. Yes, the smaller collectibles will be added too, most likely on this upcoming week's update while the whole thing is still going on. Jaggo Sonichi will also be thrown in there.

Company Shennanigans-
BLAH I am tired of those. More people writing in again on that new plushes on toyglobe set...they're pushing the release date around but we won't have long to wait on this one, as it's july 10th. The last one was june 20th. This sort of shuffle just creates more work and gets people hyped over nothing. But, you do have to wonder what's going on. Why less excitement here? The plushes initial photos don't look very good. Silver is especially pathetic.

l33t photoshop m4sters? Oh they'd like to think so. Got a couple submissions from some sites announcing the sale of the Jazwares 3inch...by shooping stock art onto photos of empty boxes! That's not even a prototype, it's nothing. It's also not getting on Gear because it does not represent any actual item at all. Artist Renderings such as the Gaya Ent. keychains/chess set etc are just fine because they're rendered to look AS close as possible to the real deal once it's released. They're just making up something to fill space that's not a "?" on a black backgorund.

Does that kind of thing help or hinder sales?
Get people more or less excited for the product?

Personally I think it would do nothing either way for sales/pre orders because if you do that type of thing you already KNOW you want it and no sh00pery or lack-there-of is going to convince you otherwise. As for excitement, I'd say it wouldn't do much but dissapoint me. If you're going to say 'we're gettin' em!' that's really great. But don't make up picture-lies and sub 'em in. I do believe people will tolerate a bit of mystery and prefer it over some non-existant thing. After all you were excited to catch a glimpse of the product because they said they had photos...and then you get nothing instead.

This week was basically some good solid stuff. Next week? Mail. No new page is in the works because they were already added on the bday update spree. The next new section is in the planning stage which is a revamped 'shows section' which crosslinks to the SonicGear Store now that it is full of all of the episodes anyone may need. The shows area as it is now is just some clips and minor description. Everyone would likely prefer screen caps, summary, clips and the ability to collect, so that'll be the goal on it.

Sonic Birthday Week 2009 - Catch Up

Well the b-day week updates are certainly coming along.
It has made the week super hectic, to have to do a full or nearly-full update on every single day, despite all that's going on along with them. The updates (as you will probably notice) fell behind by 1 day, which was corrected today. It was also nearly impossible to correct because it meant having to do 2 in one day...so really Sat. was the only day that could accomplish that.

Most of the updates are just scattershot things.
Aside from being really entertaining for everyone who looks at the stuff, they're also being used to clear as much of the mail pile up as possible. I've now gotten down into the pretty old stuff so if you sent in something long ago and are confused about what happened to it...look out! Because you might have just gotten a mail and the stuff added. The mail is now to 65 messages, which is not the all-time low of 49, but it is headed in the right direction.

It's this same reason that the site didn't get a batch of new pages like it did last year. The bday week has brought 2 new ones so far, and a 3rd all-new surprise page is in the works. Yes, it does bring in a new catagory and will mean some of the currently placed things will move. Can't have a birthday week without SOMEthing all new, at least!

Metal Sonic - Daaaam!

I was NOT expecting that.
The last update saw Jazwares' prototype 10inch Metal Sonic. And I am SHOCKED. A lot of the time, Sonic merchandise that's 3D can't really live up to any hype. There's just been so much...meh...stuff out there that you come to expect mediocrity and are 99% right. So-so plushes, over priced items, stuff that's rare for no reason...it goes on and on. And then...this.

Nobody's seen anything like it before.
It BEATS stuff you saw in the games. That NEVER HAPPENS. It's crazy. The games are always the 'top dog' for looks on things. Getting as close to them as possible (unless you're doing some obvious branch like classic, chibi, etc) is the grail. But beating them? Unheard of. The detail is appropriate too. This isn't hinging Sonic's spikes for no good reason like the super posers. It's little mechanical things down in the ankles and the fingers.

I know a lot of people were mad at Jazwares for their 'yellow Sonic' nonsense.
Were they going in for a money-grab? Were they trying to make up a license to be lazy and just feed the fans rehashed swill they dug up from ages ago? Resting on their flowerbeds because they made a decent werehog and all? Yellow Sonic shook the confidence. Shadow was sort of excusable but if you really looked into it he looked like repainting for money. People were worried where they were headed after those two.

Metal Sonic are the only 2 words anyone needs to hear now.
They are SERIOUS about making good things, it says. They've got someone on the team that knows what stuff's about and they're not afraid to work that person and give the ok to detail it up. That's what makes a great line/s. Further catering with the MS JUVI at the 'con is another good touch but the BETTER one is letting that thing on tru.com so people have an honest chance at him if they go online.

Super Faker Sonic shouldn't be swept under the rug.
He's still bad news if he prevents everyone from getting a real Super Sonic. Maybe the issue will resolve itself. With the werehog plush showing up and the 3inch upgrades it does look like they're really committed to doing the right thing so the point vs. him may just go away.

I have never really liked 'limited editions'.
They never seemed to serve that big a purpose except to make people mad. Stuff that's super popular and Crazy Good becomes limited edition anyway, without having silly stickers or restrictions put upon them. Look at ReSaurus E102Gamma. Heck, even look at Toy Island Eggman with Kiki! NEITHER was in any way limited when it came out but they were both reasonably priced and well done. Now look at them. You can't get the Egg/Kiki set for under $75.00.

People also love to abuse limited edition. Buy up 5, scalp everyone later! Make sure billie's birthday is horrible because his parents can't afford to pay triple! Buy up 7, make sure that NO ONE can pay the real price for them. It's just aggrivation.

The great thing is, 10 inch MS won't be limited.
Or at least nothing like that has been mentioned. And that's likely a great move because everyone's gonna want him. Even if they're not that big a fan, I don't think people can resist such an impressive figure. Plus if it's not limited, who cares? Buy 5, they'll get more in. Save him up and sell him to another generation of fans later. That's more acceptable because no one's getting deprived, no one's getting forced to pay doubles/triples/etc for no reason. If you don't buy him at retail when you have the chance and he's right infront of everyone at reg. cost...then yes you should expect to pay more later.

But will he action?
The unknown thing of the figure. No one ever mentioned if it was a giant action figure, or if it was some kind of statue. It's not obvious from the photo either. To me though, it doesn't matter either way.