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The OVA's New Characters

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by El Gran Gordo, Jul 23, 2009.

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  1. El Gran Gordo

    El Gran Gordo

    Yosh Member
    As we all know, each derivative iteration of the Sonic franchise takes creative liberties with Sonic and his world. The most prominent of these liberties are arguably the extra characters that are created to interact with the game cast. AoStH's SSSSS Squad, SatAM's(And later Archie's) Freedom Fighters, Underground's siblings, X's whiney brat and surprisingly cool robots, etc.

    But one short chapter in Sonic history continually captures my attention with its presentation and handling of its additional characters, and that would be two-part OVA simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog, or "Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie" as it was dubbed in its English release.

    At only an hour long, the OVA did a good job of focusing mostly on the game characters- Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Tails, Knuckles, and Metal Sonic. The new characters introduced specifically for the OVA never outshined their game-based costars, and tended to stay in the background. Yet at the same time, they were more than forgettable extras, and managed to contribute to the plot in their way. This topic's for them- My analysis of the Sonic OVA's "extra" characters.

    Sera
    [​IMG]
    Perhaps the most prominent of the OVA's new characters was Sera, daughter of the President of South Island.

    I don't know why, but I just love this character. She's very materialistic, self-centered, egotistical, whiney, ditzy, and manipulative- Just about every quality about her is detestable, and that's exactly what makes her so endearingly hilarious.

    Compared to other lead females in other portrayals of the Sonic series, Sera is not a lovestruck young girl or a hypercompetent assistant. No, she's merely a part-time damsel in distress and full-time spoiled brat. But her antics are so boisterous, so over the top, and so fraught with inconsequential silliness that none of that matters.

    And of course, the character she interacts most with isn't our hero Sonic, but rather everyone's favorite mechanical megalomaniac, Dr. Eggman! Throughout most of the show, Sera is Eggman's hostage(Though she playfully threatens to stop being that once), and the two have plenty of time to... Well, just sort of hang out. Unlike typical villain and damsel interactions, Eggman and Sera just kind of chitchat and casually pass the time. Whether it's playing videogames(Which she's no good at), discussing Eggman's plans, or even going for a drive in Eggman's latest combat mecha, the two act more like a couple of friends than a villain and his captive. And I always found that sort of charming.

    Of course, this subtext becomes text when it's revealed that Eggman harbors deep feelings of romance toward the girl, and wishes to marry her. Although Sera loves the wedding dress by her own wording, she doesn't share Eggman's feelings of love, and flatly rejects him. But that doesn't stop their amusingly-casual relationship, as by the end of the film, Sera hitches a ride in Eggman's hovercraft, and he gladly gives her a lift to catch up with Sonic. Aww, at least they're still, uh, "friends."

    The President
    [​IMG]
    This is my favorite take on the ubiquitous President role in the Sonic series. Compared to the stern and serious President of the games, or the somewhat befuddled but still rather strong President of Sonic X, OVA's President takes the cake with his amusingly cowardly nature.

    He's quite different from his daughter- The man is meek, fearful, and easily intimidated by bigger, badder threats (Read: everyone).

    But he's meek in a very... pronounced and extroverted way. His speech is delicate, yet very loud. He's cowardly, yet haphazardly leaps into danger, flying his ship to the north pole to aid Sonic... though he fails to do so, and only ends up complicating matters after crashing. Still, he tried, and that's what counts.

    The poor guy is out of the loop too. After everyone else is preoccupied with stopping Eggman and Metal Sonic from destroying the Land of the Sky, we get a scene where the President determinedly ponders the whereabouts of Black Eggman, who was revealed to be a smokescreen for Eggman's real plan some time ago.

    He's too passive for his own good, and is quick to give in under pressure. When Black Eggman bursts through his office, while he does try to persuade Sera not to leave with Eggman, his faint cries are ignored and the two go madly rocketing away with their destructive new ride to the Land of Darkness. Though as soft-spoken as he usually is, even the President can't help but express his frustration at the Old Man's antics, unceremoniously calling him "that idiot."

    In the end, the Prez is well-intentioned but sadly ineffectual guy. He's that "lovable loser" character archetype that I can't help but sympathize with, and for what little he did, I really enjoyed his role.

    Old Man Owl
    [​IMG]
    Where do I begin with this guy? Old Man Owl is awesome. He had no point, no meaningful contributions to the story, and no reason to be involved in the circumstances surrounding it. And yet, that's the simplistic genius of his character.

    What we know is that Old Man has a past shrouded in mystery. Once "quite the racer" by his own wording, the fowl of the fast-lane was allegedly quite the ladies' man as well.

    This backstory of glamor and glory, coupled with his descent into a cooky old weirdo, serves as a reminder that even the most astute and beloved heroes must all grow old eventually, and that not even Sonic- "quite the racer" of his generation- can run away from the fate of life's natural progression. Perhaps on a deeper level, Old Man instills in us a somber message of the inescapable cycle of life and the fragility of one's youth... Perhaps- Nah, Old Man was just a goofy comic relief character.

    But at that, he succeeded.

    He also gets points for having a ship that looked more like the Eggmobile than Eggman's own ship did. What the heck?

    Butler
    [​IMG]
    Okay, I admit it. This guy was just an extra, incidental character. But really, what a snappy dresser! With only two lines, "Mr. President, you need to see this!" and "Sir!", the butler didn't leave much of an impression, sadly.

    As I said, I like these characters because they're funny, likable, and contribute well the the overall production without ever overshadowing the characters from the games themselves. While the OVA's extra characters were never as popular as those of the other Sonic cartoons, they'll always have a special place in my heart, and I hope this topic can potentially foster some good discussion about them.

    What did you think of the OVA's new characters?
     
  2. OSM

    OSM

    retro is for losers! Member
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    The entire OVA was and still is awesome. I liked Sera a lot, to me it always seemed like she was a little reference back to the time when they considered giving Sonic a human girlfriend(Madonna).

    I like Sera over Amy any day honestly.
     
  3. Endri

    Endri

    Officer I don't have my drivers license with me. C Tech Member
    Hmm...
    [​IMG]
    Geesh, yeah, you're right. I forgot about this female human character.

    Madonna, along with Bee Robotik and Dildo Badnik, all horrible ideas.


    OVA's characters ftw!

    I share the same feeling you have toward the ova's characters as you El Gran Gordo. Each one of them is well developed in it's own way for each of their own right. In fact, I like them so much that I even made a appearence of Old Man Owl (who I like to call just "Oji", which translates to "old man" from the japanese version of the OVA) in my fangame.

    And, I've been fooled this whole time... I aways thought that her name was written "Sara" with an A, and not "Sera".
     
  4. Metalwario64

    Metalwario64

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    ...Madonna!!!? XD
     
  5. trakker

    trakker

    The guy that's been warned! Member
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    The whole ova just kinda worked as a guilty pleasure, its got just the right level of cornyness to be totally awsome.

    I think Sera was my first introduction to "catgirl", even though kinda loose in overall appearance lol
     
  6. 0r4ng3

    0r4ng3

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    The OVA is my favourite Sonic cartoon. It has Sonic tagging up with Tails to get at Eggman in their original design. The side characters are there, but at the same time you can ignore them, they don't get in the way of the Sonic-Eggman pair that I like so much. Sera is cool (I like how she forgets Sonic halfway in), the president as well. The owl is a masterpiece though. I wish he'd appear a lot more.
     
  7. Skyler

    Skyler

    Neonネオン Cowgirlカウガール Site Staff
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    Sera is the hottest cartoon girl ever. End of story.

    I sometimes wonder why they didn't use these characters in the games and decided to think up dull new characters for almost every game - except Chip, he's awesome. In fact, I could picture Old Man Owl as a sort of Omochao type character with less annoyance and more comedic value. Actually scratch that, the President's butler could fill that role much better, just as long as it's subtle and polite-sounding like he is in OVA.

    The thing I like about these characters is that they're so well developed, but at the same time they don't get in the way and <a href="http://info.sonicretro.org/Shadow_the_Hedgehog_(game)" target="_blank">consume the spotlight.</a> We have the spoiled brat who has a heart but rarely shows it, the cowardous leader who is determined to defend his people, and the comedic value done right via Old Man. How does that not have the makings for a kickass Sonic game? Oh well, maybe one day, although I highly doubt it. But that gives me an idea about starting a project such as a fangame or a ROM hack based on OVA or something of the like.
     
  8. Epsilonsama

    Epsilonsama

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    Funny that Bee Eggman Inspired the design of Eggman Nega, I wonder if Blaze as a Madonna on her world :) .
     
  9. Elratauru

    Elratauru

    Little Shiny Emurralds Member
    Its easy as:

    Sonic OVA = Anime

    Anime = Best cartoon type ever.

    :colbert:


    Nah, actually, OVA characters were the only characters I totally loved talking about sonic cartoons, their personalities, their expressions...

    Even the "Chuck norris knuckles" was cool... It fits into his role, like every other character there.
     
  10. test-object

    test-object

    By Torm, no! This is terrible! I... I had no idea Member
    D':

    What sick joke are you playing?
     
  11. NintendoBrad

    NintendoBrad

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    Still the best portrayal of human characters in a Sonic property.


    And yes, Old Man Owl is indeed awesome.
     
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