Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
VenusDeluxe
I mean, it's not good. The english voice acting is pretty bad, the story is the most paper thin thing you've ever seen. It barely registers as a coherent narrative, makes me wonder what context the OVA was made in. There's not much reason to watch this for anyone other than Sonic fans, I really don't know how else you'd get anything out of it. I'd say if you're a big Sonic fan it's worth a watch. It's really short and you get some pretty good Sonic animation goodness out of it, Metal Sonic is great and you get to see the origin of stuff like Knuckles' cowboy hat. Metal's final scene was also referenced in a really great moment from the Scrapnik Island comic (which you should also totally read). And of course you get to witness that Iconic™️ line read from Martin Burke's Sonic. There's stil…
Read at the sourceDaeDude
In the current year, Sonic the Hedgehog is mostly known for a slew of modern-day game titles as well as a trilogy of live-action films. While releases such as the 2017 game "Sonic Mania" have sought to honor the decades-long legacy of the blue blur, they fall short due to emphasizing the content of Sonic rather than its spirit. It is for this reason the 1996 Sonic OVA, created by anime studio Pierrot, is an essential piece of Sonic media. In a brisk 54 minutes, it gives its viewers a crash-course on the essence of Sonic while telling a story barely tied to the game series.
When Sonic the Hedgehog and his buddy Tails are called in to defuse a hostage situation initiated by the egomaniacal Dr. Robotnik, they discover their world, Planet Freedom, is on the verge of catastrophe. Thanks to the…
Read at the sourceNerdicWarrior
We all know how divisive the Sonic the Hedgehog fan community can be. Wether it's games, TV shows or even just the franchise in general, not a single Sonic fan can seem to see eye to eye on anything (with of course the recent live action movies being the only exception). The 1996 Sonic the Hedgehog OVA, originally a two parter that was compiled into a feature film and released as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie in the west in 1999 is most certainly one such cause of division within the fanbase with some actually liking it while others regard it as the worst thing since Sonic Underground.
As for my humble opinion, it's not terrible but it's certainly not the greatest.
The story is fairly basic but fast paced and does what it sets out to do. Even if it does stray from the established lore of…
Read at the sourceheartzzz
This movie has to be the best Sonic animated media out there! The action, stakes, story-line, and characters are what Sonic the Hedgehog should be! Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles actually feel like themselves at their peak from the pre-2010s era of Sonic games. Their friendship also has to be the best its ever been portrayed/written. Oh yeah!, Look-a-like is such an AMAZING song. I WISH that Sega goes back to creating Sonic content that emits this amazing FEELING you get from watching this movie. If you're a Sonic fan or someone trying to get into the series, THIS IS THE MOVIE FOR YOU OMFG!!!! 10/10, even if you're not a Sonic fan, you should definitely watch this movie!
Read at the sourceShiftyKitsune
Most people are familiar with Sonic, he's one of the most Iconic videogame characters of all time and like everything with 30 years of history and counting, there's bound to be strange things and I'm not talking about the beaten to death, arguably overhated 2000's games. In this case I'm talking about this fun little OVA that's product of it's time.
The story is very simple but that's all it needed to be, Eggman wants Sonic's data, gets Sonic's data and Sonic fights Metal Sonic. While I'm a fan of the deeper, darker stories from the comics and the Adventure era, this was meant to be a short self-contained romp with a frantically paced blend between cartoonish slapstick and a surprising prescence of light echii closely reminiscent of Kid Goku era Dragon Ball in the middle of cool action s…
Read at the sourceNoahboy
I watched the English Dub film version of this and found it to be pretty disappointing overall. There are some things I like about it, like the 90s anime aesthetic and Hyper-Metal-Sonic, but those are bogged down by what feels like a lot of filler and lack of focus on its main plot. It constantly cuts to the president's daughter, Sara, who gets really annoying. I swear to god, she gets more screen time than Metal-Sonic, and they of course try to sexualize her for laughs, which comes across as gross and unfunny. I just wanted to see Sonic and Metal-Sonic duke it out, so the parts when they actually fight are cool, but they should've gotten more screen-time and development for these sections. All the good parts are over too soon and all the uninteresting crap lasts for what feels like an ete…
Read at the sourceSerenvia
STORY - 6:
Very unique premise for a sonic story, yet it still feels quite reminding of sonic cd, if you're a fan of sonic you're probably going to like the story, it's unique for sonic while still feeling like sonic. It's not very in-depth but I still enjoy the plot anyways.
ART - 8:
The art-style is great, it feels not too dissimilar to the intro for sonic CD, character designs are spot on and the art just generally looks nice to me.
SOUND - 9:
There is literally no getting around the fact that the voice acting isn't very good, if you're watching the dub like I did at least, which most people watch over a sub as it's easier to find. While the voice acting isn't great it does actually feel quite fitting for the respective characters, and the voices have a weird charm to them.
The musi…
Read at the sourceMoonlava
【ＳＰ♢ＩＬEＲ ＬEＶΣＬ： Ｎ♢ＮΣ】
review from a hardcore sonic fan! ok look, i know a lot of people including some sonic fans don't like this movie for things like the awkward english dub, unnecessary side characters and disconnected stand-alone worldbuilding, but i just cant hate it man! it's got that authentic 90s aesthetic with an absolutely boppin' house music/sonic r-esque soundtrack, genuinely gorgeous background art and overall art direction, and i personally find it cool that something like it exists at all even if it was never made into anything more.
these incarnations of the main trio are a bit annoying to some which is a valid gripe, i think this is mostly related to the voice acting and a lack of depth to their dialogue, but i actually don't mind it too much.
this movie's version of so…
Read at the sourceCiaran_Zagami
Honestly if your seriously considering watching this movie you should already know what it is
It's not good, everything here is pretty bad. The animation is rough and the voice acting is pretty awful. The story is your typical sonic story, lots of weird side characters a strange romance with a female human. The destroyed city near the end of the first half is pretty awesome looking though
But it all manages to blend together into a really enjoyable mess that is best enjoyed with friends.
If you like so bad its good movies this is out and out perfect.
About the only thing I can praise unironically is the music, which might be some of the best I've ever heard in an OVA
Read at the sourceEarlyEJ
As someone who will defend the Sonic series quite a bit, I must say this is one of the WORST pieces of media I've ever seen.
It has a story that makes no sense and characters that make even less sense. No one has any logic to how they act. Sonic is extremely out of character. Avoid this OVA. Don't even watch it out of curiosity.
I was in shock after watching this abomination that the localizers tried to pass off as a "movie". It's not a movie. It's less than an hour long, and perhaps that's for the best, because I hated every second of this trash.
Watch Sonic Boom instead.
Read at the sourcektulu007
Recently, there's been a lot of discussion over Sonic's Hollywood debut and how the trailer makes it look like absolute rubbish, particularly with the horrific design for the character himself. Because that's how Hollywood does adaptations. They think they can do better and make things more marketable if they just ignore the source they're adapting from completely. But I digress. In early 1996, The Blue blur got an anime adaptation in the form of a two episode OVA from Studio Pierrot. And I'm going to look at it to provide some background into Sonic adaptations.
Story:
We open with a shadowy figure in a laboratory. He rants about his Hyper Metal Sonic and how he just needs "his" data to complete him. We cut to Sonic & Tails enjoying the beach when an old owl flies up and sends them to t…
Read at the sourceLucidDreamScape
TLDR: It's cute. It's fine. Great OST.
Sonic★the★Hedgehog, an OVA based on the super popular, and with each passing year, super divisive Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. This OVA was a failed pilot for a possible anime series staring Sonic, back in his classic design, however it sold poorly pretty much everywhere, and I don't entirely understand why. This is not me saying "This OVA is amazing!" rather I'm saying "There's no obvious reason for poor sales". Then again, as someone who's seen this OVA years after it's original release on YouTube, I can't tell you the details on how Sonic was perceived back in 1996 Japan, US, and Europe.
The OVA feels like it's 2 stories back to back, which it is, and it flows well enough but you can feel when there's a shift to "the next episode". The p…
Read at the sourceSidewinder51
Rate a 5
English Dubbed
Don't be fooled by my moderate ranking. I have to factor in the art with the story.
Art
No complaints. One was able to see what needed to be seen. Transitions from piece to piece were clean cut. Point of view was chosen well. Although, i am not going to say this work was outstanding but i will say paying close attention to minor frustrating elements such as making sure the 'watch' was on the right wrist was carefully attended to.
Story
This is what dropped the rating considerably for me. I being one who enjoys wording find it frustrating to write. Reason being is not a lot of words can be used to properly express point(s) being conveyed. Such example from anime is Sonic and Knuckles being even vs not. Both parties state they are square but they also state they ar…
Read at the sourceDoctor_Robotnik
Story: 9/10
This movie is basically about how I score with a hot chick while Sonic gets beat unmerciful by one of my inventions.
Beautiful.
However, they mistakenly cast the Hero as the Villain. I can't give it full marks for that.
Art: 9/10
I am NOT that round! Sound: 10/10
No complaints here.
Character: 10/10
They captured my genius pretty well, although I wouldn't have wasted so much time moving on that chick.
Enjoyment: 10/10
I'm on screen almost half the movie. How could anyone not enjoy it? ;)
Overall: 9/10
Almost perfect, except for the miscast rolls and the rampant Hedgehog propaganda. I also would have won, should these events have actually occurred.
At least they got my name right.
Read at the sourcesupah_mama_luigi
Some people say perfection is something that cannot be achieved, and Sonic The Hedgehog the OVA disproves that entire statement. The animation is top-notch, the storyline is superb, focusing on the inner conflicts between metal sonic and regular sonic, as they express the same thoughts and feelings. It is potentially representative to how in life we are always in eternal conflict with our dark forms, despite it still being a part of yourself. You might know everything your dark side is going to do, but thats not going to help you since the dark side of yourself knows everything you're going to do. Its strange, isn't it? The OVA also introduces staple mainstay characters in the entire sonic franchise, such as Old Man Owl and Sara, the Humanoid Furry Thing that Robotnik wants to marry, and M…
Read at the sourcelawlmartz
And now for another installment of Lawlmartz rips your childhood.
"Shut up, Tails!" - Sonic
Oh Sonic. Sonic, why will Sega not let you die? Sonic. The Blue Blur. Coldsteel the hedgeheg. Sanic. Sonichu. The list goes on and on- abominations born of a corpse thrown in a shallow grave, dug up time and time again to be paraded around with a new video game installment that makes "a new low" an understatement, every time. I played Sonic the Hedgehog '06, and dear GOD was it bad. Underscored by bestiality, plagued with terrible controls, and a plot so damn awful that I couldn't have shit a worse one together if I ate Manos Hands of Fate and anything made by Adam Sandler!
Yet, somehow these Sonic fans still exist, and are still out there, demanding more soulless, schlocky consumer products wi…
Read at the sourceH1K4G3
I have a lot of trouble seeing Sonic animations as much good if it doesn't follow the games. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the old 90's cartoons, and X was alright enough as far as the Japanese version goes. The reason I couldn't enjoy many of these for more than a few minutes was it wasn't much like the games at all. That's when I heard about the OVA.
Story: 7/10
I love how it follows the basic Sonic formula: Sonic and his friends fighting Robotnik. However, the inclusion of Metal Sonic was a nice touch to give it a sort of CD-ish feel. I would write more about it, but I'm afraid to give away any spoilers.
Art: 8/10
I loved it, what more is there to say? It was just what I expected an animated Sonic to look like. Not too short or tall, a bit of a pot belly, and just retro in general.
S…
Read at the sourcewesley96
I'm a Sonic fan, and I have been for a long time, but to be honest, I didn't really like this, and here's why-
Story: The story for the Sonic OVA/Movie is just like any other Sonic franchise, Sonic has to stop the villains no matter what cost. The story was very strong. You have Sonic and Tails at the beginning looking out for villains when they stop into Robotnik. Apparently Robotnik has "captured" the Mayor and his daughter. Suddenly, a robot named Black Eggman (or Metal Robotnik in the dub) appears in Eggmanland (or Robotropolis in the dub), and Sonic then goes to defeat the robot. Little does Sonic know that this is all part of Robotnik's plan to be able to collect Sonic's mind and thoughts in order to make a replicant of Sonic, called Metal Sonic. So now Sonic has to save the mayor,…
Read at the sourceRetro8bit
I think most people out there are acquainted with the little blue hedgehog known as Sonic, he has been a popular character in both America and Japan for years. He has also stared in 2 OVA titles combined to make one movie, and while its not perfectly made, it shouldn't let down the Sonic or anime fans out there.
Story: 6/10
Works well enough, basically its up to Sonic to stop an evil robot called "Metal Robotnik," though Metal Sonic is actually the primary villain here. It keeps things all around balanced as Sonic first starts out relaxing at the beach, then later is battle his way through Robo-troplic, where the enemy lies in wait. It keeps up the action all the while moving the story along quite nicely, and the major Sonic characters (for the time) are all present and accounted for, an…
Read at the source-FlameHaze-
Intro
No doubt, if you like sonic, WATCH THIS NOW!
Story
Story is good and it gets to the point, no dragging everything along, Fast action form your favourite blue hedghog.
Animation
This is a really old cartoon due to it's age i gave it a 6 out of 10, because when it was made the animation wasn't bad, it's fair animation for it's age. An old classic.
Sound Decent sound, unique voices, music went well with the high speed action.
Characters
What's expected of Sonic and knuckles 3? And sonic the hedgehog TV series Sonic: Underground from the 1990's, similar characters, unique traits as always.
Enjoyment
I enjoyed this and think it is something I could watch a couple more times, decent re-watchability.
Read at the source