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Description
Sonic render: www.deviantart.com/artsonx/art…
Everything else: promotional poster for The Distant Blue Sky

Well, here we are: at the end of another trip around the sun. As always, it's a good time to look back and reflect: was it a good one?

Yes. Yes it was.

They say that the years go by faster the older you get, and I couldn't agree more. But for some reason, this last year felt like it went slower than usual. The days and weeks felt longer than they usually do. Was it annoying? Sort of. But I think I know why they felt longer...

I don't think Sonic fans would have to think twice if you asked them if this has been a good year. It hasn't. It's been a GREAT year. After spending years in mediocrity, with only small sparks of goodness here and there, Sonic the Hedgehog blasted into 2022 with a slew of great content. Sonic Origins brought the Genesis classics to a new generation of fans, and Sonic Prime hit Netflix this month. But those were just the appetizers. The main courses this year were Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Frontiers. The former, like its video game namesake, outdid its predecessor on nearly every front and set a new standard for video game movie adaptations. The latter, while not quite up to snuff with some of its predecessors, was generally well-received by the fanbase as a return to form for Sonic. Best of all, the ride isn't over yet! Just when it looked like Frontiers was settling into its own after release, SEGA dropped a massive bombshell DLC roadmap for 2023, and this time, it's actual proper DLC, not just cosmetics! New features, new challenges, and NEW PLAYABLE CHARACTERS. Needless to say, the future's looking bright for everyone's favorite blue hedgehog. Let's keep our fingers crossed that things stay on the right track!

While Sonic was the overall winner this year, Pokemon fans didn't really have it worse. The year kicked off with a very satisfying bang with Pokemon Legends Arceus. After the franchise spent most of its time on the Switch struggling to give us a strong, home console experience, Legends released to glowing praise. Much like Sonic Frontiers, Legends was a breath of fresh air for a seemingly stagnating franchise. Unfortunately, its time in the spotlight was short-lived, as it was followed a month later by the announcement of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Scarlet and Violet enjoyed relatively positive coverage in the lead-up to release, but their reputation was immediately tainted on release by the reveal of some seriously janky gameplay. Despite this, the games had a MASSIVELY successful launch that immediately catapulted them to becoming the 15th best-selling games on the console.

On the subject of Pokemon, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about Ash Ketchum and how well he was treated this year. I'm not a huge fan of Pokemon Journeys, but I can't deny that this last year of the series was exceptionally good to Ash. Shortly before the much-hyped Masters Eight Tournament, Ash returned to Alola for a visit where the entire region hailed him as their Champion. The episode was near-universally acclaimed by the fanbase for the respect it showed to our hero, and it continued into the episodes that followed, with Ash getting some training with his older Pokemon, with Paul, his Sinnoh rival, pitching in to help (he probably wouldn't admit it, but the writing's on the wall). When the tournament finally arrived, it...ended up being a mess. Several battles were handled poorly, and the story arc was interrupted by recaps, unrelated episodes, and weeks-long breaks, to the point where a 12-episode tournament arc took nearly five months to finish (this was revealed to be the result of problems happening behind the scenes, so I won't give the writers and animators a hard time). Shortly before his two biggest battles of the series, Ash got another massive win by joining the roster of Pokemon Masters EX as a Master Sync Pair with Pikachu. He is now one of the absolute strongest sync pairs in the game, and the developers even went so far as to acknowledge the long-standing Ash vs. Red debate! The two have yet to face off properly, but it was still a great nod to the fandom about one of its longest-running fanmade matchups. Shortly after this, Ash went on to face two battles that will take their place alongside his battles with Paul, Sawyer, and Kukui as his greatest battles ever. First, he faced Cynthia in an epic three-part battle that brought closure to a 15-year-old promise to be the one to finally defeat her. Then, at long last, he faced the unbeatable Leon in a climactic four-part battle that featured an ending that could not have been more perfect: all of Ash's friends made an appearance, and all of his Pokemon came together to cheer Pikachu on in the final showdown. In the end, Pikachu emerged triumphant, and he, Ash, and the rest of their team, were promptly crowned World Champions. In the weeks that followed, as the series wrapped up, many of us were wondering what would be next for our heroes. Needless to say, the entire Pokemon fandom was shook when Journeys ended with the shocking announcement that Ash and Pikachu's time as the anime's protagonists was coming to an end: an 11-episode series is set to air next year as the final chapter in Ash and Pikachu's journey. As bittersweet as this announcement was, I think it's for the best. It's hard to imagine Ash continuing to develop beyond this, and the finale to his battle with Leon was the perfect capstone to his journey. Here's hoping these final 11 episodes of his journey bring satisfactory closure to his adventures over the last 25 years.

As I said earlier, the days and weeks this year felt longer than usual, despite the age-old adage that the years go faster the older you get. Why was that? Simple: remember the feeling when you're a kid, and you're really excited for something and can't wait for it, and because of that, time seems to slow down to a crawl as you wait for it for what feels like forever? That's how I felt this year, especially with Sonic Frontiers, a game which I was genuinely excited for to the point where the months leading up to its release felt like they dragged on and on and on and on and – well, you get the picture. Then it just so happened that the week it came out ended up being the same week that Ash's battle with Leon concluded, bringing our heroes in blue a double-whammy of greatness. Needless to say, it's been a great year to be a fan of these two.

But now it's time to look to the future. With Ash and Pikachu preparing for their final sendoff, and Sonic and co. flying off to new horizons, 2023's gonna be a year of change for these franchises. Whatever happens next, these two will always remain with us in our hearts as we continue our own journeys through life, forging a new frontier and treasuring every moment of every day.

We're only at the beginning of this one way dream.

Description
Sonic render: www.deviantart.com/artsonx/art…
Everything else: promotional poster for The Distant Blue Sky

Well, here we are: at the end of another trip around the sun. As always, it's a good time to look back and reflect: was it a good one?

Yes. Yes it was.

They say that the years go by faster the older you get, and I couldn't agree more. But for some reason, this last year felt like it went slower than usual. The days and weeks felt longer than they usually do. Was it annoying? Sort of. But I think I know why they felt longer...

I don't think Sonic fans would have to think twice if you asked them if this has been a good year. It hasn't. It's been a GREAT year. After spending years in mediocrity, with only small sparks of goodness here and there, Sonic the Hedgehog blasted into 2022 with a slew of great content. Sonic Origins brought the Genesis classics to a new generation of fans, and Sonic Prime hit Netflix this month. But those were just the appetizers. The main courses this year were Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Frontiers. The former, like its video game namesake, outdid its predecessor on nearly every front and set a new standard for video game movie adaptations. The latter, while not quite up to snuff with some of its predecessors, was generally well-received by the fanbase as a return to form for Sonic. Best of all, the ride isn't over yet! Just when it looked like Frontiers was settling into its own after release, SEGA dropped a massive bombshell DLC roadmap for 2023, and this time, it's actual proper DLC, not just cosmetics! New features, new challenges, and NEW PLAYABLE CHARACTERS. Needless to say, the future's looking bright for everyone's favorite blue hedgehog. Let's keep our fingers crossed that things stay on the right track!

While Sonic was the overall winner this year, Pokemon fans didn't really have it worse. The year kicked off with a very satisfying bang with Pokemon Legends Arceus. After the franchise spent most of its time on the Switch struggling to give us a strong, home console experience, Legends released to glowing praise. Much like Sonic Frontiers, Legends was a breath of fresh air for a seemingly stagnating franchise. Unfortunately, its time in the spotlight was short-lived, as it was followed a month later by the announcement of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Scarlet and Violet enjoyed relatively positive coverage in the lead-up to release, but their reputation was immediately tainted on release by the reveal of some seriously janky gameplay. Despite this, the games had a MASSIVELY successful launch that immediately catapulted them to becoming the 15th best-selling games on the console.

On the subject of Pokemon, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about Ash Ketchum and how well he was treated this year. I'm not a huge fan of Pokemon Journeys, but I can't deny that this last year of the series was exceptionally good to Ash. Shortly before the much-hyped Masters Eight Tournament, Ash returned to Alola for a visit where the entire region hailed him as their Champion. The episode was near-universally acclaimed by the fanbase for the respect it showed to our hero, and it continued into the episodes that followed, with Ash getting some training with his older Pokemon, with Paul, his Sinnoh rival, pitching in to help (he probably wouldn't admit it, but the writing's on the wall). When the tournament finally arrived, it...ended up being a mess. Several battles were handled poorly, and the story arc was interrupted by recaps, unrelated episodes, and weeks-long breaks, to the point where a 12-episode tournament arc took nearly five months to finish (this was revealed to be the result of problems happening behind the scenes, so I won't give the writers and animators a hard time). Shortly before his two biggest battles of the series, Ash got another massive win by joining the roster of Pokemon Masters EX as a Master Sync Pair with Pikachu. He is now one of the absolute strongest sync pairs in the game, and the developers even went so far as to acknowledge the long-standing Ash vs. Red debate! The two have yet to face off properly, but it was still a great nod to the fandom about one of its longest-running fanmade matchups. Shortly after this, Ash went on to face two battles that will take their place alongside his battles with Paul, Sawyer, and Kukui as his greatest battles ever. First, he faced Cynthia in an epic three-part battle that brought closure to a 15-year-old promise to be the one to finally defeat her. Then, at long last, he faced the unbeatable Leon in a climactic four-part battle that featured an ending that could not have been more perfect: all of Ash's friends made an appearance, and all of his Pokemon came together to cheer Pikachu on in the final showdown. In the end, Pikachu emerged triumphant, and he, Ash, and the rest of their team, were promptly crowned World Champions. In the weeks that followed, as the series wrapped up, many of us were wondering what would be next for our heroes. Needless to say, the entire Pokemon fandom was shook when Journeys ended with the shocking announcement that Ash and Pikachu's time as the anime's protagonists was coming to an end: an 11-episode series is set to air next year as the final chapter in Ash and Pikachu's journey. As bittersweet as this announcement was, I think it's for the best. It's hard to imagine Ash continuing to develop beyond this, and the finale to his battle with Leon was the perfect capstone to his journey. Here's hoping these final 11 episodes of his journey bring satisfactory closure to his adventures over the last 25 years.

As I said earlier, the days and weeks this year felt longer than usual, despite the age-old adage that the years go faster the older you get. Why was that? Simple: remember the feeling when you're a kid, and you're really excited for something and can't wait for it, and because of that, time seems to slow down to a crawl as you wait for it for what feels like forever? That's how I felt this year, especially with Sonic Frontiers, a game which I was genuinely excited for to the point where the months leading up to its release felt like they dragged on and on and on and on and – well, you get the picture. Then it just so happened that the week it came out ended up being the same week that Ash's battle with Leon concluded, bringing our heroes in blue a double-whammy of greatness. Needless to say, it's been a great year to be a fan of these two.

But now it's time to look to the future. With Ash and Pikachu preparing for their final sendoff, and Sonic and co. flying off to new horizons, 2023's gonna be a year of change for these franchises. Whatever happens next, these two will always remain with us in our hearts as we continue our own journeys through life, forging a new frontier and treasuring every moment of every day.

We're only at the beginning of this one way dream.