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Speaking of concept art, I can only imagine what sort of designs the cast went through to reach what we can see by the silhouettes. I really hope the production sheets and such get unearthed at some point after the show's release. It's always a shame how many pieces of concept art seem to just vanish and are never seen again, with the only reason we know such artwork existed at all being word of mouth telling us how many designs character x went through.

I can presume they originally wanted to go for a style true to the games and it somehow evolved into what we see in the teaser image. My biggest question is why SEGA would approve such a change, especially with Knuckles; after all, for a while SEGA seemed very fond of uniformity in design (Archie and Fleetway changing character designs Adventure's release as the best example I could think of)… I suppose maybe they're relaxing their strictness now? That would be my only guess, because otherwise that would mean they're planning on similar redesigns for the game models themselves, and that seems like a radical move when the recent approach seems to have been to keeps things simple and rebuild Sonic's reputation rather than try anything radical.

Redesigns not often going over well, I don't see why they'd change the game character designs around all of a sudden, which leads me to think they're just becoming less strict. The most interesting theory I've heard of, however, is that those are not the literal silhouettes of the characters, but might be how they imagine themselves; a shadow is considered an extension of one's soul in various superstitions, after all. That would definitely explain Knuckles’ silhouette, as he would want to see himself as strong and capable of fulfilling his duties, while Tails would also make sense given the wrench (representing his handiness and thus, his desire to be an asset to his team). Assuming Sonic's wearing a jacket… I guess that'd symbolize him being a rebel? The “shadows reflect their desires and not what they actually look like” theory definitely explains Knuckles, I think, but it isn't as adequate for the other three as they are harder to interpret.

Ultimately this is why I'm cautiously optimistic. Overall I can't wait until release date, because then hindsight will become 20/20.

If nation of origin was of any importance, I'm actually surprised a comment hasn't been made about how Sonic Underground (which as memory serves, often duels with Sonic X for being most disliked) was made in France. :P

I've looked at the animation studio's work... their 2D work looks fairly solid, but their 3D is hit or miss. So, I'm cautiously optimistic, as mentioned before. At the moment I'm just hoping that whatever the official designs are, they look as good as some of the cooler looking ones done by fans; the main issue is, can these fan designs really hold water when translated from a 2D to 3D medium? It seems much easier to draw wonderful 2D work, whereas CGI animation is a definite hit or miss with aesthetics. At least, that's been my experience; if not for a few good uses of it, SyFy movies and their ilk would have ruined the name of CGI for me…

When I first heard of this, I was excited. Then I saw the silhouettes and my enthusiasm was replaced with shock and confusion. I definitely approved of Sonic having less uniform quills (I think messier quills fit his more chaotic nature, if you will)… and then I saw Knuckles, or Buffles as he's come to be known in my circles due to how hard he's hit the gym.

The fact it looks as if the show's producers have been looking at some fanart aside, it just struck me as weird as it completely clashes with the others. The other characters have these squashed, noodly bodies, while Knuckles is tall, buff and proud like some ancient Greek hero. While I always thought Knuckles could use a wider build to emphasize his strength, that isn't quite what I had in mind…

However! I've seen quite a few fans have taken to sketching their ideas of what the characters would look like over the silhouettes, and some actually don't look too bad. The question is, how well will these hold up in 3D? I'm guessing not as well, and I'm fearing already that the 3D modeling will look cheesy… but hey, I can hope yes?

With regards to the premise, I don't mind a lighthearted Sonic story. I could use a good laugh, and if the humor is clever I could appreciate this direction. For those wanting a deeper story, however, I feel it will probably be very lacking; the short episode length leads me to believe there will be very little continuity between episodes, but I could be proven wrong. We'll just need to wait for more information to leak… if nothing else I anticipate clips to be showcased at Sonic Boom 2014, if not another expo like Comic Con beforehand.

I am cautiously optimistic. If nothing else, I'll have something to watch with the little kids in my family that I'll be at least somewhat interested in.

My friend requested 6 days off, but since he had 4 or 5 off earlier this month he may not get them. Well drat, this puts me in quite a difficult position.

...guess it's time I stop being so dependent on others and just fly out alone. I'll meet up with friends over in St. Louis and go from there. My mother will be overprotective as usual, but I will say that nothing will stop me from going. Sonic Boom 2012 was perhaps the best night I've ever had in my life, and no schedule conflict is keeping me down!

GeneHF, on 11 July 2013 - 02:42 AM, said:

It does sound like a different type of meetup overall, yes. From what I gather the Retro meetups just use Sonic as a medium (via this website) rather than being necessarily about Sonic; SonicRemix' goal is very different given the desire to assemble enough Sonic fans that at some point in the future, an actual convention of sorts (hopefully eventually gaining SEGA sponsorship) would be doable.

Thus far it's only looking like 8 people, 10 if my friend and I can find the time to go. Humble beginnings or what?

JaxTH, on 11 July 2013 - 03:16 AM, said:

The place looked fairly dead.

Its radio show is still alive and kicking however. The various Sonic and SEGA radio groups all do work together from what I see.

Actually, this whole moving eastward may have very well given rise to something I've always wanted, Ravenfreak. In the event one's in California and can't attend this, it seems Retro isn't the only group holding an alternative meetup in response. The team behind SonicRadio.net and SonicAnime.net have gotten together to hold their own fan meetup. Details are as follows:

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They've actually organized a group so as to supervise further meetups. Styling itself Sonic Boom West, with the intention of organising more meetups in the future. They are hoping (based on their about page) to one day follow in Summer of Sonic's footsteps and go from small meetups to an actual convention. A further goal seems to one day have similar conventions in multiple regions across the United States.

Sonic Boom West has opened a site for people to register so they can get an idea of headcount and to coordinate future events. They also have a Facebook page for the event itself. I'm eagerly following their progress, not just because there is promise to it and the fact I'm in the Western United States, but that this movement began only two days ago.

Given that SonicRemix, one of the major backers, is a radio personality at Sonic Radio and Radio SEGA, there's promise I believe. Regardless, just figured I'd let people in on it so that those who can't get to Boom can at least get something relatively close this year. Who knows, maybe I'll attend eventually; I can't go this year though because there's already time conflicts with Boom alone.