Taylor Munn
So I've been looking at the reviews for this show and, apart from the theory I have that most of the reviewers are made up of misogynistic men who call actresses "strumpets" for no good reason other than misguided nostalgia for the good old badly acted days, the hating reviews seem to be split into two groups: the people who hate Sonic anyways and love to have another outlet for their over-dramatic rage; and the people who "like" Sonic, but hate that it's been reduced to a comedy when, in the past, Sonic used to have good characters with depth and a plot that could be taken seriously. For this review, I'm going to address the latter group, because they seem a little closer to sanity.For those who are blissfully ignorant, Sonic Boom the game series is absolute garbage. As far as I'm concerned, it hits Sonic '06 out of the park with how much worse it is than that game. With 06, at least the creators knew their characters, and actually tried with the plot. Yes, the story was weird, the romance was weirder, and the glitches were hilariously bad. But with Sonic Boom, all the characters were reduced to 2D cutouts of cliché stereotypes. Sonic became the cocky hero, Knuckles was the brawn with absolutely no brains, Tails was a discount Jimmy Neutron (for all you 90's/early 2000's folks), and Amy was the girl. That's pretty much it. The game tried too hard for funny banter and humorous one-liners to the point where all of us were yelling at them through the screen to shut up, and it didn't help that all the humor sucked anyways. The music was bland as hell (you can tell this isn't really a Sonic game, because even the music is bad. At least Sonic 06 had amazing music), the plot was stupid, the graphics were dated, and the glitches could so easily be taken advantage of (Knuckles, anyone?). And the mechanics…well…let's just say they weren't great either. Not exactly revolutionary. You're probably asking yourself at this point, "Why are they talking about the game when this is a review for the show?" It's because the show has nothing to go off of except for the game and the characters in the game. It IS Sonic Boom the show, after all. And because those elements are already so bland to begin with, the show's writers can't really do too much with them. Sonic stays the cocky hero guy, Tails stays Jimmy Neutron, Knuckles stays brawn no brains, and Amy stays the girl. I agree with a good portion of the negative reviews on the fact that the characters are cutouts, the plots are boring and overused, and the setting is just bland.Now, if you're still with me, this is where I reveal why I love this show anyways. It's because I love a show that knows it's bad, knows all the history behind the franchise and the fan-base, and chooses to make fun of itself and that culture at almost every turn. And not only its own franchise and fan-base, either! There was one episode in particular that became a bit too real for how it poked fun at Trump winning the election. And there was another recent episode that just made fun of the common rhetoric of female characters that are attempting to be on equal grounds of guys in shows. The characters are constantly breaking the fourth wall in ways that are usually in line with their characters in the show, and they make fun of old references and memes in the Sonic fandom, but not in an overly obvious way that's cringe-worthy. It works simply because they're not just doing it to be cool and hip, but to make fun of itself and show us that they're on our side. WE think that the show and game is bad? So do they! And they're doing their best to make something hilarious out of it anyways, because they have to work with what they have!I'll be completely honest here. I wish they still made shows of Sonic where the characters were interesting and the plot was worth a damn, too! But the games have to get back to the point where they can do that, and with Sonic Boom, they're not exactly capable of that right now. So yes, the show can only be a comedy to thrive best right now, but I'm more than satisfied with that for the time being. It's refreshing for the humor and mockery to be coming from us, rather than from outside haters, right? And not every show has to have a well-thought-out plot to be enjoyable. Sometimes people just want a laugh. And besides, there could still be hope for the future! Sonic's struggling along, but he's still going, so I believe we can make it!In conclusion, I rate this show the same way I rate the English dub of Ghost Stories: a solid 7.5 out of 10. Because if not for that dub, that show wouldn't be as notorious as it is for being the official version of an abridged parody of a show. It would have just rotted away in the forgotten section of anime with a plot and characters that, much like Sonic Boom, were just too cookie cutter and forgettable to be interesting. But then the English voice actors came along, were told they could do whatever they wanted with the show as long as it made money and followed three rules, and proceeded to make the entire show into a hilariously over-the-top joke that saved the entire thing.So all of you just let your hair down, relax, let optimism back into your life, and enjoy the show for what it managed to make of itself, rather than "what could be." We have plenty of time to complain about that later.
superdupergiraffe
I don't know a lot about Sonic. I was a Nintendo kid when growing up so played Sonic a couple times at friends houses but that was it. I am aware of the lore that's grown around it and the concerns of people who've followed Sonic and friends throughout the games. When a company continues a franchise there's always a concern about whether they will be treating the characters and story with the reverence due to them. Sonic Boom tosses all of that out the window and it is all the better for it. The characters are reduced to their basic personalities which is bad if you've watched them grow but great when you intend to have them bounce off each other in stories. So Sonic is arrogant, Tails is brainy and good natured if a bit naive, Knuckles is a strong dimwit, Amy is conscientious, and Sticks is a paranoid anarchic lunatic. Dr. Eggman is a villain but more of a needy overblown weekly threat bully instead of an existential.These characters combine together to work through standard sitcom plots. It's not an adventure show and I feel that's why many reviewers are disappointed. Sonic Boom has answered the age-old question "So you want a realistic down-to-earth show that's completely off the wall and swarming with magic robots?". One episode is about Tails in love with a girl with his friends in the giving advice on how to approach her while Dr. Eggman is in the background trying to pickup a courier package but continually missing the delivery. Another is about Dr. Eggman assembling a group of villains to attack Sonic and to train they go through a series of team building exercises while Sonic and friends try and fail to build a piece of off-brand IKEA furniture. The animation is bright, colourful, and expressive. It don't showcase amazing setpiece battles and there's never a huge amount of stuff happening on screen but I'm pretty sure that they're limited by their budget. It would be nice if they could hire an action director to help. I don't really care if sonic's arms are blue or not, if he looks off-model it's still good. (Take that Sonic fans!)Finally, there's the absolutely stellar writing. the plots are clichéd and hackneyed because you've seen them on every cartoon and sitcom before, the writing is aware of this and highlights tropes while continuing on with the story. It's a neat high-wire act, simultaneously charging ahead with a story while pointing out how ridiculous the situation is. There are jokes about the mundane aspects of everyday life. There are jokes with a specificity that kids shows normally don't bother with, it isn't enough that Dr. Eggman has an octopusbot that Sonic mistakes as a squidbot, Dr. Eggman points out the relative size of the head to the tentacles making it clear what animal it is. This decade is a time of truly great cartoons, Bojack Horseman, Rick & Morty, Archer, Adventure Time, Legend of Korra, and others. Sonic Boom skews younger with it's bright colours but the writing really does put it up there. The second season seems to pretty good as well with a parody of Misery so I would encourage you to check it out.
