Not trying to be curt or insulting. It's just a little strange to imply that the one person that's literally in charge of the whole franchise is somehow unhappy with a characterization that has been consistently pushed for like 10 years now.
Sonic fans have been trying to convince themselves and everyone else that there is a concerted effort to "ruin" Shadow from within Sega, whether they're scapegoating Ian Flynn or what have you. Because they can't cope with the fact that Sega simply doesn't care for a characterization from 18 years ago, no matter how many times they post Twitter clips of him blowing past Mephiles clones.
Shadow’s current characterization isn’t really all that different from how Iizuka portrayed him in Shadow. I think this is just kinda how he envisioned him, and the version most people prefer was only really in Maekawa’s scripts. The character was designed to be Sonic’s Vegeta after all.
I think it's understandable when many people gravitated towards his tragic story and his attempts to push forward despite it. To transition from that to a much more generic and less dynamic role was always going to be a tough sell. That being said, there's only so many times you can mine that tragedy for sympathy before it stops having the intended effect. By the time 06 rolled around, it would have been Shadow's 3rd time grappling with his morality and I think Sega felt they got everything they could get out it. And with the series transitioning to a more... brand conscious period, it made sense to tone Shadow's darker elements to make him more recognizable to a general audience and highlight his rivalry with Sonic. It's simple and doesn't require playing a game from three console generations ago to understand who Shadow is as a character. It's matter of debate if they even should have did that or not, but given that Shadow is still the most marketable character after Sonic, to the point of having a campaign and tends to get expansion packs centered on him, you can't really argue Sega wasn't entirely wrong even if the results are questionable.
Just wanted to point out that Eitaro Toyoda didn't say that the short itself is a parody, but that the "Between Two Hedgehogs" title is a parody of "Between Two Ferns." Because, yeah. There is that. It's been made very clear over the years that Iizuka (and also Hoshino) are very fond of Shadow, since they were responsible for his creation. If anything, they might be a bit more protective of how he is portrayed than, say, most of the cast.
Good point, I was trying to be generous with my phrasing. What I truly mean is that I'm disappointed that this is how he wants the character portrayed. That's fair. I did bring it up in my original statement, but it seems that the less 1D elements I ascribed to that game were just the result of it following up Maekawa's work.
I figured, your answer just amused me is all. I think I'll wait until Sonadow Generations or the movie is out to say what I think of Shadow's modern characterization. Now that he's back in the spotlight they're obviously going to think it through harder.
New episode out: https://x.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/1824113831754494349 I've not been a fan of the direction Sonic Team has been going with Tails and Amy lately. Amy seems too bland without her chasing of Sonic. And I didn’t like Tails at all in Frontiers or Dream Team. So I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy this Tails' Tube episode. The fortune-telling gives Amy something that's equally quirky to replace her chasing of Sonic (I know she's always had that since Sonic CD, but here she gets to discuss in depth, and it makes her a much more fun character). Tails also acted very inquisitive here, which suited him well. I also that the episode had a lot of fun playing the characters off each other, without having to over rely on fan service or too many deep cuts. Excellent episode!
I love how clickbaity the YouTube thumbnail is, actually feels like the characters using social media as was the original ethos with Sonic Twitter, apparently Tails isn't above engagement bait...
I don't really think this replaces much else - honestly, her new habit of using the tarot cards feels more like the easiest possible solution (for lack of a better explanation). I love that she has a new shtick up her sleeve, and it should hopefully be enough to switch up the formula she currently has! The problem I have is that it's a hobby being treated as a bandaid fix for a hole, a problem SEGA corpos likely produced. From an outsider's perspective, it comes across as these suits being neglectful of just how potent the ability of a creative team can be - when we know so little about what exactly expectations are apart from 'Things are rough', what looks like meddling looks like a lack of faith. To clarify, the use of fortune and future mysticism for Amy's arsenal isn't bad. Nor is the use of it in this episode of Tails' Tube. I dunno, maybe this is a case of 'comic book fans especially hate change' on my end, but it's not my intention to be so reductive. I just hope everything works out for my gal in red. ówò And apologies if this is off-topic!! I can remove if need be. They're not really advertising it to begin with, which I find kind of fascinating. This would've been their perfect chance - we didn't get any obnoxiously obvious ending advert, not even an easily missable link in the description. Just a cute series of character interactions in an easily digestible format... I'm impressed! I think I'm more tempted to get the tarot cards after this. Though, I am bummed out by the lack of credits. I would majorly appreciate seeing who puts their time into each episode... Alas. EDIT: Major adjustments to express myself better.
The credits for every TailsTube is pretty simple and basically the same every time so far. Not including the individual voice actors which you already know: Script: Ian Flynn (except for the Knuckles episode in season 1, which was me) Storyboard: Ian Muchler Basically everything else: me and my wife. I direct the VO, record the Vtubers, do the sound design, make any new illustrations or body parts needed, paint the BGs...etc.etc. My wife does the bulk of the compositing. Sega provides the vtubers, the recorded footage for any game elements and the logos if an episode has a special one. And then this episode had the tarot cards which we didn't make, of course. And also all the people internally that make things possible like our producers Jasmin and Ryan. But it's a pretty small operation.
A small operation with big relevance to the franchise's current state and fanbase. I can only hope you're living many fans' dream of working in a franchise you love.
Just wondering but how does voice over work for the tailstube. I know roger and mike live in idaho and nyc so do they record from home via zoom under your direction (surprised not jack fletcher)? Or are they physically present in the booth with you at studiopolis or sega of america office.
Pre-pandemic we would do recording in Los Angeles. Ever since we've done it over Zoom. Most professional VAs have their own recording setups at home anyway, so it's easier for everyone even if they live in town. Jack is present during the sessions as well, but he lets me take the reigns since ultimately I'll be the one putting everything together.
Wow... To think things progressed so much, these days... Too bad Ryan Drummond can't return for Sonic's voice... Nowadays, he might've had it easier to work with SEGA.
I don't think that's entirely fair to say for the situation overall, when one of the most recent interviews with Iizuka described his view of their relationship as this: https://venturebeat.com/games/learn...onic-x-shadow-generations-and-takashi-iizuka/ This isn't what we saw in the Tailstube, instead it contradicts several of the aspects of this dynamic. The dynamic in ShTH never really outsteps this outside of a single boss fight, where the overwhelming irritation was his only decision on the matter, but simultaneously what Maekawa established in Heroes supports all of that as well: (timestamp 5:55) (if you really want your mind blown, take a look at their Frog Forest lines - the Alien angle seems to have been hinted at with the Androids for some reason) On top of this, Maekawa's greater involvement in Season 3 of Sonic X involved much of the same of this exact dynamic described in that paragraph above, with Shadow's irritation towards Sonic but Sonic's chill and cheeky interest/attitude towards him in turn being highlighted. None of this is paid lip service by the fandom, because quite frankly they disagree with most of the decisions Iizuka and Maekawa (key phrase here; he's part of ShTH's credits too as development support) make for Shadow, but simultaneously none of this actively harms the dynamic as much as people say it does. Sonic earnestly pestering Shadow because he wants to have fun/try to compete against him, Shadow largely being disinterested and finding himself irritated by the interference, but both knowing when to put aside their differences and work for the greater good - Heroes, ShTH, and the Sonic Channel calendar story handle all elements perfectly fine all at once. So why is there media that portrays the dynamic as unlikable now, and discussed in the same way as if it's required that all media depict them as such? Are qualifying boxes for the "rules" being checked for some elements while missing the point in the process? I feel like this is an issue with communication overall, moreso than the direction both Maekawa and Iizuka took with the character being flawed itself, because it's largely not an issue in the media that established these rules, nor the official stance of the person being faulted for this.
