Sonic Team doesn't want the games to be fun and cool. Whenever they make a serious story they just suck the fun right out of it unless they're pandering of avoiding their vision like the Meta Era. People who grew up with the Dark Ages got the wrong impression of the franchise because they only remember the "shonen" stuff from Sonic X. The disconnect between what Sonic Team wants, what the audience wants, what the audience thinks they want, and what Sonic Team thinks the audience wants is insane and unsustainable.

>>538106596
There is nothing "shonen" about Blaze in 06. I was a "shonen" when 06 came out and thought Blaze was lame in 06 but cool in Rush.