Barnes is right. The Sonic fandom who thinks the franchise is "shonen" needs a reality check. This franchise has been angsty fairytale bullshit since Maekawa took over. 06 was the closest to their vision but everyone hated it because there were no hype moments and aura except Mephiles. They beckpedaled hard but they're dipping their toes back in with Frontiers and Shadow Generations, but the same crowd only focused on the hype moments and aura (Titans and Mephiles) and ignored or disliked the angsty crap (Sage and Maria). The actual vision that Sonic Team has for the franchise, Shadow and Silver especially, is completely incompatible with what shonenfags actually want.