Sonic the Hedgehog

***Sonic the Hedgehog*** (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ *Sonikku za Hejjihoggu*) is a manga series based on the video game series that was serialized in Shogakukan's Study Magazine (小学館の学習雑誌 *Shōgakukan no Gakushū Zasshi*) for primary school children and Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic Special (別冊コロコロコミックSpecial *Bessatsu Korokoro Komikku Special*?). It was published in Japan between 1992 and 1994. It is loosely based upon the video games, with an original story concept developed by *Kenji Terada*.

## Overview

The serialized manga takes place in Hedgehog Town, where a young hedgehog named Nicky lives. Nicky has the ability to turn into Sonic the Hedgehog, as this incarnation of the main character is Nicky's alternate persona. In this town, Sonic, along with Miles "Tails" Prower and Charmy Bee, arises to challenge Dr. Eggman. The serialized manga features Nicky with several friends in the Hedgehog Town, including his girlfriend Amy and his best friend Little John. Nicky also encounters a lizard bully named Anton Veruca and his brother Mad. Nicky's family at home includes his mother, Brenda, his father, Paulie, and his little sister, Tania. With the exception of Tails, nobody knows that Nicky is actually Sonic the Hedgehog, not even Nicky himself.

Each manga strip is quite simple and with a recurrent plot: Nicky is a peaceful boy that likes to spend time with his beloved girlfriend Amy, his sister Tania and his friend Little Jon; but his peace is usually spoiled by one of Dr. Eggman's plans or by the troublemaker Anton Veruca. In any case, Amy will encourage Nicky to stand up to the bad guy, but Nicky, being shy and a bit of a coward, may fail, and most of the times Amy will end up as a captive. However, Nicky's desire to save Amy and be able to win will eventually transform him into the supersonic hero Sonic who will save the day in no time.

Few misunderstandings are made regarding the figure of the heroic Sonic who succeeds where Nicky fails. This has made Amy long for Sonic more than for Nicky on more than one occasion, making Nicky jealous of himself; eventually, Dr. Eggman and Anton Veruca start suspecting that Nicky has something to do with Sonic, but Nicky will simply reply that he does not even know this blue hedgehog everybody's been talking about.

## Publishing history

There are multiple Sonic-related manga releases in the Shogakukan magazines between 1992 and 1994. Kenji Terada is credited for creating the concept of the manga series. The first serial story strip titled simply *Sonic the Hedgehog* was written and illustrated by Sango Morimoto. It was first released on April issue of Shogaku Ninensei in 1992. In Shogakukan's *Shogakukan no Gakushuuzasshi* (a series of study books aimed at children of several school grades), there are six editions aimed at primary school children: Shogaku Ichinensei (1st Grade), Shogaku Ninensei (2nd Grade), Shogaku Sannensei (3rd Grade), Shogaku Yonensei (4th grade), Shogaku Gonensei (5th Grade) and Shogaku Rokunensei (6th Grade). Each edition is targeting its specific elementary school grade, from grade 1 to 6. Sonic has made an appearance in all of these at some point between 1992 and 1993. The styles are of all kinds: some drawings are in black and white, some other are colored by computer and some present a water-color style.

However, rather than comics, the 4th grade Shogaku Yonensei features illustrated prose stories titled *The Adventures of SONIC the Hedgehog* (ソニックの大冒険 *Sonic no Daibouken*?). They are written by Kenji Terada and illustrated by Norihiro Matsubara and later Yoshihiko Ochi.

The Sonic manga series also ran in Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic Special and its holiday extra issues, which are also published by Shogakukan. Like Shogakukan's previous Sonic-related stories, CoroCoro manga strips are based on the story concept of Kenji Terada. These stories are written and illustrated by Koichi Tanaka and ran from 1992 to 1994.

## List of serial stories

To this day, the serialized manga remains obscure to many people outside of Japan and original copies of the comic strips are extremely rare. Unlike the later *Dash & Spin Super Fast Sonic*, none of the serialized stories have been released as *tankōbon* (volumes). The following list is an incomplete set of translated, documented or discovered stories.

### Shogaku Ichinensei

A learning magazine aimed at first grade elementary school children (ages 6-7). *Sonic the Hedgehog* ran from the May 1992 issue to the August 1993 issue. The stories were written and drawn by Mitsuo Kimura up to the January 1993 issue and by Sango Morimoto from the February 1992 issue onward. Full color.

### Shogaku Ninensei

A learning magazine aimed at second grade elementary school children (ages 7-8). *Sonic the Hedgehog* ran from the April 1992 issue to the August 1993 issue. All of the stories were written and drawn by Sango Morimoto. Full color.

### Shogaku Sannensei

A learning magazine aimed at third grade elementary school children (ages 8-9). *Sonic the Hedgehog* ran from the April 1992 issue to the August 1993 issue. All of the stories were written and drawn by Hirokazu Hikawa. Black and white.

### Shogaku Yonensei

A learning magazine aimed at fourth grade elementary school children (ages 9-10). Instead of manga, this magazine featured an illustrated prose serial called The Adventures of SONIC the Hedgehog (ソニックの大冒険 *Sonic no Daibouken*?, lit. "Sonic's Great Adventure"), which ran from the April 1992 issue to the August 1993 issue. All of the stories were written by Kenji Terada. They were illustrated by Norihiro Matsubara up to the March 1993 issue and by Yoshihiko Ochi from the April 1993 issue onward. Black and white.

### Shogaku Gonensei

A learning magazine aimed at fifth grade elementary school children (ages 10-11). *Sonic the Hedgehog* ran from the April 1992 issue to the August 1993 issue. All of the stories were written and drawn by Hirokazu Hikawa. Black and white.

### Shogaku Rokunensei

A learning magazine aimed at sixth grade elementary school children (ages 11-12). *Sonic the Hedgehog* ran from the April 1992 issue to the August 1993 issue. All of the stories were written and drawn by Sango Morimoto. Black and white.

### Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic Special

A bimonthly sister publication to Shogakukan's popular *Gekkan CoroCoro Comic* manga anthology magazine, primarily aimed at elementary school boys. *Sonic the Hedgehog* ran from the August 1992 issue to the June 1994 issue. All of the stories were written and drawn by Koichi Tanaka. Black and white.

### Gekkan CoroCoro Comic

Although the *Sonic the Hedgehog* manga never featured in the regular monthly issues, it was featured in two seasonal specials: the 1992 Summer Vacation Special Issue and the 1993 Spring Vacation Special Issue. Both stories were written and drawn by Koichi Tanaka. Black and white.

## Source

Sonic News Network

Sonic Retro