SonicJPNews archive blog: 2020

2020/12/23

Sonic Channel's wallpaper and calender for Jan 2021 comes with a short story

News from 2020.12.22 
Archived on 2021.01.23
 

2021 is the year of 30th anniversary for Sonic, and Sonic Channel is taking a step towards celebration - look, the Monthly Character Calendar is now drawn in two characters in duo, plus we get a mini story and background information every time! 
Short yet rich character interaction - that's exactly what we wished for a long time. We gotta enjoy this!

The calendar for January 2021 features Sonic and Tails!



If you want to read the translation of the story part, Windii did great job with it! Check it out! 


Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk

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2020/12/18

Sonic Channel’s character page got an update with new design and some new art

News from 2020.12.18 
Archived on 2021.01.24 


Sonic Channel’s character page got an update!
The characters are better visible with the new page design & some of them received new art!
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Check out these Sonic Adventure 2 demo tracks! What does Jun Senoue think about them?

News from 2020.12.17 
Archived on 2021.01.24


For reaching set charity goals in ExtraLife4Kids charity stream by SEGA of America last month, Jun Senoue released some of his demo tracks for SA2! He revived them extra from his tapes.


1. Metal Harbor demo ver.

2. Radical Highway demo ver.

3. Mission Street demo ver.

4. City Escape demo ver.

Tweet Collection by Tabiki
Text by Knuttunk


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2020/11/25

New acoustic compilation has been released for streaming!

News from 2020.11.25. 
Archived on 2021.01.24
 

Through the second last livestream of Sonic Station LIVE!, we got information about another mini compilation album with acoustic music of  Sonic!
Sometimes, you gotta stob by and listen to the soothing music before carrying on your adventure...

My personal favorite of acoustic Sonic songs other than those listed in this compilation album is from Sonic and the Black Knight - the acoustic version of the main theme. The calm minor tune of violin reminds me of a calm night at Titanic Plain...

Tweet collection by Tabiki
Text by Knuttunk
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2020/11/15

Early concept art of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes

News from 2020.11.15. 
Archived on 2021.01.24
 
This year again, Sonic Team of the US took part to the ExtraLife4Kids livestream event and promised some special contents for reaching set goals.

Roger Craig Smith was among many guests who joined the stream, and just in time, Aaron Webber's name suddenly popped up with the ring SFX, informing about the donation he made. How cool!

And so we reached the donation goals all together, getting early concept art of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes! 


Tweet collection by Tabiki
Text by Knuttunk
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2020/11/08

Get a look at the backstage of SEGA 60th ANNIVERSARY LIVE

News from 2020.11.08 
Archived on 2021.01.24
 
SEGA 60th anniversary LIVE concert took place on December 19th with online tickets! Were you able to watch it live?

The performers were glad to have a rare occasion to meet and enjoy the time together with their collegues in this COVID-19 crisis. Here are some of the tweets from backstage! 


Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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2020/09/10

Tokyo Joypolis Halloween event in collaboration with Sonic Colors

News from 2020.09.10. 
Archived on 2021.01.23

Tokyo Joypolis will collaborate with Sonic Colors for its Halloween event with special menu and stickers!
Look at these adorable new artworks of Wisps!



Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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2020/08/24

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi's no guest dinner show

News from 2020.08.23. 
Archived on 2021.01.23
 

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi-san, "the voice of SEGA", held a no-guest dinner show for SEGA employees!
It was originally planned as a real show at Ginza, but due to COVID-19 crisis, it was held as an online event.
You don't work at SEGA? Don't worry, get a ticket and watch the livestream together!
And even when you didn't get a ticket, SEGA Official left a lively tweets of the event which you can follow!


The show is about to start... and SEGA employees are excited! 
There are official merch too!


 The show started!


Ohtani-san was watching the show from home, but his son changed the TV program to something else... Ohtani-san regrets not educating him enough about Mitsuyoshi-san beforehand. :D


Hoshino-san was also listening!  


SEGA Official and Okunari-san are excited about the show being on Japan's Yahoo News! Over 4000 live watches, that's incredible! 


The show's set list! 


To numerous requests, SEGA released an archive version of the show! Enjoy!


Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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Sega Akihabara Building 2 closed on 30 Aug

News from 2020.08.24 
Archived on 2021.01.23
 

SEGA Arcade Center Akihabara Building 2 closed on August 24th. Its iconic appearance with an escalator was one of the icons of this Japanese town filled with electronics and subcultures.

But! Fear not, SEGA has three more arcade centers in Akihabara, just within the radius of ca. 150 meters. That's Japan.


Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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2020/08/23

Nanoblock of Sonic, Tails and Eggman!

News from 2020.06.18 
Archived on 2020.08.22

 New merch! Celebrate the 29th anniversary of Sonic with these brand new Nanoblock Sonic, Tails and Dr. Eggman!

Watch this how-to video for building Nanoblock Sonic by Inoue-san, new assistant staff of Sonic Station LIVE!


 

Also, search on Twitter with this hashtag #ソニックをつくってみた for more pictures of Nanoblock Sonic series by the official account & fans!


Don't forget to check out the info on Sonic Channel as well if you want one too!



Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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2020/08/22

Watch Taishi Nakagawa-san, the Japanese voice of Movie Sonic, makes Sonic character bento

News from 2020.06.18 
Archived on 2020. 08.22

Wanna try making bento in Movie Sonic style?
Here, watch this how-to by Taishi Nakagawa-san, the Japanese voice of Movie Sonic!

Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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2020/08/20

Sonic the Movie in Japan, Digital Release on September 2, and Blu-ray™, DVD and 4K Ultra HD™ on October 21

News from 2020.08.20
Archived on 2020. 11.25


Sonic the Movie is seeing its success in its country of origin Japan too, and it will be released for stay-home-cinema there in two months!


Naka-san and Ohtani-san are excited about the news too! 

"It looks like it will be released in Japan too. I already bought the oveaseas version, what should I do? I guess it's best to buy it for commemoration?" 

- Yujia Naka

"I'm going to get it!" 

- Tomoya Ohtani



Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk

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2020/08/10

The Sonic statue in Mie gets repainted!

News from 2020.08.10 
Archived on 2020.11.25
 

In my previous article from April 12th 2019, we took a look into the truth about the mysterious Sonic Statue standing in Mie prefecture, Japan.


Sonic fans were glad to see its mistery finally uncoverrd, but many of u were also concerned about its worn-out status after it being left in moist air of montain region.

Now, there is an advancement in the situation - the statue got repainted!

The initial clues came from few Japanese Twitter users who found the statue in repainting process and posted photos:


It was such a nice surprise! Sonic fans noticed this quickly and shared the information among them. 

This drew attention of the local news journal of Mie prefecture, which conducted an interview with the family of Kodera-san, the late owner of the statue, about how it has come to the repainting.

So it was the power of us Sonic fans who impressed the family of Kodera-san and resulted in protecting the statue. We should be thankful for the Kodera family for taking action. 


Creators of Sonic, Naka-san and Hoshino-san reacted to this news too: 


And SEGA Forever too: 



Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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2020/07/28

Let your figma enjoy SEGA's famous titles with figmaPLUS SEGA Consoles!

News from 2020.07.28
Archived on 2020.08.22


Here's another interesting item for SEGA 60th anniversary: the figmaPLUS SEGA Consoles! The set includes figma-sized Master System, Mega Drive (Genesis), Game Gear, Saturn, Dreamcast, their respective game cartridges and more!
Preorder starts from 28th July 2020 (Tue) from 12:00JST to 24th September 2020 (Thu) at 12:00JST.


Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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2020/07/24

Sonic the Movie sequel coming out on April 8th 2022!

News from 2020.07. 24
Archived on 2020.11.25 


Great news for fans of Sonic the Movie - due to its great success, it will hae a sequel coming in 2022!
The screen date has already been announced by the officials. Let's look 
And let's hope Crush40 will take part to it too!



Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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Balan Wonderworld - brought to you by Naka-san and Oshima-san!

News from 2020.07.23 
Archived on 2020.08.22

BIG NEWS!
After 20+ years, two of the initial creators of Sonic, Naka-san and Ohshima-san, are working together to create a brand new game!

Its name is - BALAN WONDERWORLD!

A musical-based action-platformer with 80+ different costumes with various abilities to explore the dreamy world of 12 troubled characters - and bring back balance to the world!

The world and character designs reminds us of NiGHTS!
Some essence of Sonic can also be found... check out the first trailer and the interview with the duo!

2020/06/28

Three interviews of Taishi Nakagawa-san, the Japanese voice of Movie Sonic

News from 2020.06.28. 
Archived on 2021.01.23. 


Taishi Nakagawa-san, the voice of Sonic in "Sonic the Movie", told in various interviews about his passion and sincere stance towards giving voice to Sonic - not as a "guest for learning how to do voice acting", but as a challenger to give everything he could to keep the movie at its quality and without dishonoring other voice actors. 

He also talked about Soinc's charms and promoted the movie as "a movie for every generation, wether or not you are the game's fan".


Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk

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2020/06/23

Sonic the Hedgehog DJ Style "PARTY": listen together & celebrate together-event!

News from 2020.06.16-22
Archived on 2020.06.22

It's time for PARTY! Let's celebrate into Sonic's birthday together with the new DJ mix!

A new album by Tomoya Ohtani-san: Sonic the Hedgehog DJ Style "PARTY" was released on June 16!
"Congratulations to the release of Sonic music only non-stop DJ mix album 'Sonic The Hedgehog DJ Style "PARTY" today! Subscriptions are available too! I want you all to listen to it!"
- Tomoya Ohtani

"Here is the summary of streaming sites links. Have a listen if you find your standard service! I, for example, play the CD at home and use Apple Music on smartphine."
- Tomoya Ohtani


Celebrate into Sonic's birthday together!

To celebrate the release & Sonic's birthday, Ohtani-san planned a special event for June 22th!


Behind-the-scenes story - and the day of the event!



"On the day I released the song list, I thought, since it's a DJ MIX album, I would like to hold an event on which everyone start playing the album at the same time and use a tag to comment their thoughts while I post background information to the songs. The next day I consulted the marketing people and we agreed on one beat! Such a speed."
- Tomoya Ohtani

"So, from 22:59, I'd like to play the album 'Sonic the Hedgehog DJ Style "PARTY" ' with you together and enjoy the hour before [Sonic's] birthday with the DJ MIX. No matter a CD, on streaming service or your data, just start playing at the same time!"
- Tomoya Ohtani

"I'd be glad if you use these hashtags, but they are long so it's also fine if you just use one of them!"
- Tomoya Ohtani









The event has started!


★SEGA Official's summary of the Tweets by Ohtani-san and fans who participated to the event can be read here on this Togetter thread! ★


01. Opening: Going My Way (Remix)


02. Stardust Speedway "B" mix




03. Aquarium Park - Act 2


04. Dreams Of An Absolution (Starry Night Remix)




05. White Acropolis -Snowy Peak-




06. The Ark




07. Battle with Infinite - First Bout

07. Battle with Infinite - First Bout
このあたりの流れ個人的にもかなり気にっています。前の曲の最後の方を短くループさせておきながら、次の曲へクロスフェードです。記憶に新しい『ソニックフォース』インフィニット戦の曲です。テンポ的にも前の曲と同じだったのと(続 #SonicDJParty

— 大谷 智哉 Tomoya Ohtani (@Ohtanitter) June 22, 2020


08. Palmtree Panic "B" mix


09. Prime Time - Studiopolis Zone Act 2


10. Theme of Rocky Ridge


11. Blizzard Peaks - J.S. Rock Mix


12. Metallic Madness Zone Act 2



13. Reactive Factory: Work It Out


14. Fading World - Imperial Tower




15. Sky Babylon - Act 1




16. Theme of Metropolis Speedway


17. Regal Ruin: Back In Time




18. Planet Wisp - Act 1


19. Metropolitan Highway





20. Eggman's Facility [Rhythm and Balance Remix]



21. Skyscraper Scamper - Day



22. Asteroid Coaster - Act 2


23. Rooftop Run: Act 1



24. Moonlight Battlefield - Aqua Road





/>25. Sky Road: Lap Music




26. Dragon Road - Day




27. Cool Edge - Day


28. Ice Mountain: Lap Music


29. Wave Ocean -The Inlet-

29. Wave Ocean -The Inlet-
インサートしたエフェクトのノリがよかったがために、全体にフランジャーかけっぱなしにしてしまいました(自由)。この曲と次の曲で使ってるリズムのサンプルは同じなのですが、音色警察の方から指摘が入ったりするんですよ、使い回しだー!とw #SonicDJParty

— 大谷 智哉 Tomoya Ohtani (@Ohtanitter) June 22, 2020




30. A New Venture (Surfin' S.R.A Remix)



31. Tropical Resort: Act 2



32. Beyond The Speed Of…


33. Reach For The Stars - Short ver.






The album is completed!


なんかあっと言う間でしたね!参加して頂いたみなさまお疲れ様でした!参加出来なかった方も、明日モーメントでまとめてくれるようなので、後日音源と合わせてチェックしてもらえると、今日の再現が体感?できるかなと思います! #ソニックバースデー2020カウントダウン #SonicDJParty

— 大谷 智哉 Tomoya Ohtani (@Ohtanitter) June 22, 2020




HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONIC!







































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