Media Essays: A Taismo Retrospective

Two years ago, I did a retrospective of the Luz and Amity romance in The Owl House. So I thought for Valentine's Day this year, I'd do another retrospective on another romantic pairing I have a huge soft spot for. And that couple is Tails and Cosmo from Sonic X.

This image never fails to make me smile, let me tell you. ^^

Sonic X was my introduction to Sonic the Hedgehog, something I'm sure many fans will pity me for given the show's...polarizing reception, shall we say? I myself can see the show's flaws and easily make fun of it, but I still have a soft spot for Sonic X for introducing me to the franchise, and especially giving me one of my most beloved ships of all time.

Ironically enough, I didn't actually see Sonic X Season 3 at the time it aired. I remember watching all the way to the Season 2 finale and then stopping, so I wasn't even aware the show had another season! The closest I got was actually seeing the ending to Episode 77, and naturally I had NO idea what was going on at the time. I was like "Why is Tails crying?" "What the hell's going on here?" "Who's the plant person?" It wasn't until years later when browsing on the Sonic wiki that I found out who Cosmo was and Sonic X Season 3 in general. I eventually checked out Season 3 and had a good time with it...until the ending.

But we'll get to that. First, let us start from the beginning and work our way to the end as we recap the history and the blossoming romance of these two kids, and also see what made this ship so appealing...

How Cosmo Entered The Picture

Season 3 begins with Episode 53, "A Cosmic Call". And to say this season began on a big note is underselling it immensely. I mean the episode opens up with Super Sonic looking fatigued as he faces off against a mysterious new villain, and he has to send the Chaos Emeralds away just so the villain can't get them! Talk about opening with a bang!

But I digress. How does the saga of Tails and Cosmo begin? We first see Tails, Amy and Cream who are up camping during the night so they can watch a meteor shower. However, one meteor crash lands near their site and they quickly see it's no meteor, but is actually a ship and the ship has one sole occupant in it: a mysterious plant girl. She's unconscious, but alive and Tails is the first of the group to make physical contact with her (don't take that the wrong way...) as you see here:

Just look at the intrigue in his eyes there. He's clearly fascinated with this mysterious new visitor, and he even muses in his thoughts "I wonder who she is and where she came from." I also like to imagine he was thinking "She's also pretty cute", but that's just my silly shipper mind speaking. XD

Still, even from this first episode with the two, it was clear as crystal that the writers intended for these two to become interested in each other later down the line. The fact they had Tails in particular be the first one to rush to her aid, say she needs help and express interest in her were all tell-tale signs of what was to come. Heck, of all the Mobians, Cosmo spends he most amount of screentime WITH Tails, so that should also tell you something. Now to be fair, there wasn't really any romantic undertones for the rest of the episode (obviously since they're just starting off, they don't want to rush straight into it) and for now, Cosmo was more or less set up as a potential new friend for everybody.

Throughout the first quarter of Season 3, Tails and Cosmo didn't have a whole lot of significant interactions with one another. From Episode 54-61, they gave Cosmo a lot of scenes with other characters. It wasn't until Episode 62 when the writers continued with what they set up...

The Seeds of Romance Begin To Sow

Episode 62, "An Underground Odyssey" saw Sonic and friends investigate another planet the Metarex had attacked and is also the next time Tails and Cosmo are given any significant screentime together. They along with Knuckles go down to investigate some readings, but Cosmo accidentally pushes a button that causes herself and Tails to plummet down deep into the depths. This results in Tails getting a bump on the head and the two are separated from the group. They still try to make the best of a bad situation by continuing to investigate, and Cosmo insists on making up for the trouble she caused by bandaging Tails's head.

Heh, notice how he blushes at this. This moment here on out is where it's made clear that there's more going on with these two than just "friendship", or at least it suggests that Tails is starting to develop feelings for her. I don't blame him either. If a nice girl took care of me and bandaged my head up after I hurt myself, I'd probably start falling for her too. Though this moment is kind of awkward in hindsight considering Cosmo literally got that bandage from under her skirt. No, really.

Yeah...that is awkward. ^^;

Anyway, we also get another pretty cute moment between the two right here:

"Tails, you're a genius!"

"Heh, heh!"

I swear these two make me want to pinch their cheeks sometimes, they're so adorable!

This episode was where it was evident that Tails and Cosmo were being set up as more than just friends. The fact Tails blushed at Cosmo's kindness and compliments on two occasions and the fact they spend a whole episode together was evident enough that any subtext between them was becoming the text and it's really adorable set-up. If you're going to do a romance story, then having the couple separated from the group and spending a good chunk of time together is a handy way to set up the romance. The only downside I can see is that given this is the first episode the two spend together since Episode 53 and now we're suddenly getting romantic hints between the two might come off as a bit abrupt to some viewers. Even I can agree we needed a little more set-up before this point, but I think Episode 62 sets up the romance wonderfully. But then we get Episode 65, "Mission: Match-Up" where the seeds REALLY start to get sown.

This episode is a Bottle Episode set entirely on the Blue Typhoon and a MUCH needed breather episode after the Metarex melee two-parter that saw our heroes narrowly cheat death while Red Pine wasn't so lucky (I still think it's dumb they introduced him and killed him off in the same episode). It was also this episode where Tails and Cosmo's relationship really started to blossom, some of that partially because of Vector trying to play matchmaker with the two. Like us, the audience, he can clearly see that Tails is into Cosmo and he thinks he needs some help. I personally think Vector's just projecting his own insecurities about how he can never ask Vanilla out onto Tails, but it's still nice of him to want to help Tails and Cosmo get together, as misguided as his intentions may be. Team Chaotix try all sorts from setting up a Damsel-in-Distress scenario so Tails can "rescue" Cosmo, switching off the lights and getting the two together and even trying to make it seem like Cosmo dropped her hankie so Tails can give it back to her. Each attempt fails pretty hilariously. XD Naturally, things go off better between the two when Team Chaotix aren't getting involved, such as a sweet moment where Tails is helping Cosmo decorate for her surprise party and he says he enjoys spending time with her, and Cosmo says the same thing. Aww. ^^ We also get a moment in where Vector accidentally sends a disco ball flying towards Cosmo and Tails gets her out of the way just in time, which results in this:

Awkward. XD

And the disco ball still gets involved for it leads to this adorable moment where Tails gives Cosmo a lift to help hook it to the ceiling. It is indeed lucky for Cosmo he knows how to fly, eh? After that, Tails rather shyly suggests to Cosmo that they "do this more often". Come the end of the episode, we have yet another adorable moment where Tails hands back a flower badge that Cosmo dropped earlier in the episode. He even polished it for her, which Cosmo is very grateful for. We then end off on this ship-tastic moment:

"Cosmo certainly is special. I only wish I could tell her how I feel..."

"You're so beauti..."

"WAUGH!"

And we thought Luz and Amity were adorably hopeless. XD What makes this even funnier is that Cosmo assumed he was talking about the stars and laments that she's so happy she feels she could watch them forever. Oh Cosmo you adorably clueless little alien. =P

Episode 65 was where it became clear that Tails and Cosmo weren't just going to be friends and that they were being set-up for something more. So much blatant ship-teasing and the fact the whole episode was just about the two spending time together and Team Chaotix playing matchmaker really got this romance taking off. I could watch this episode a hundred times and it'd never fail to make me smile, it's so cute and adorable.

Episode 66, "Clash in the Cloister" has a quick, but noteworthy moment in it where our heroes are trapped in the titular cloister and Chris laments that they may be stuck there for a while. Tails even acknowledges he doesn't see a way out of this one. However, he notices Cosmo looking upset and QUICKLY changes his tune in order to keep her spirits uplifted. So I wonder what would've happened if Cosmo hadn't been standing there at the time, would Tails have just given up then and there? =P

A Faithful Visit Turns Friendship Into Romance

And now for the episode where the romance between Tails and Cosmo becomes official, Episode 69 "The Planet of Misfortune". This episode is a little...controversial amongst the fandom, and all of it is down to how Tails and Cosmo make it official here. What do I mean?

The premise itself is about our heroes visiting a planet that's all about fortune-telling, match-making and love spells. During that visit, there's a fortune teller who tells Cosmo's fortune and while it sounds ominous and that she'll bring suffering to her friends, he also notices there's "romance in her future". That's not telling at all, is it? ;) Come the end of the episode, Tails meets up with Cosmo at the edge of a cliff and comforts her, even noting how it's thanks to her that they came together at all in order to stop the Metarex and travel through space like so. What follows is another adorkable moment in where Tails asks Cosmo "You're not sorry you met us, are you?" and she flubs her answer. I don't blame Tails for laughing at that, adorkable Cosmo is pretty funny. Tails then leaves and Cosmo runs after him, only for the two to fall into a trap that was set for Sonic and Amy to fall into a matchmaking spell.

The episode then ends with the two hugging each other and watching the moon together while an enraged Amy rants like a madwoman, but they take no notice of her. Serves Amy right if you ask me. XD

Now then, the reason why this episode comes off as iffy to some people and is possibly a reason why some were put off of the Tails and Cosmo romance: the matchmaking spell. Some see it as "fake love" and that "they were made to fall in love via magic", which is always a tetchy subject as it can come off as rape-y if not handled well. So what do I think about it? It's a load of bunk, that's what! Tails and Cosmo were CLEARLY falling in love with each other before they even visited this planet. The matchmaking spell had nothing to do with it. They were falling for each other already. I think this episode just helped them fully realize their feelings for each other and now they can act on them accordingly. People who misinterpret the whole thing just come off as trying to demonize the couple and make it seem "wrong" in some way because they either hate Cosmo and want Tails with somebody else or hate the pairing in general, which is just disingenuous and is a terrible way to critique the media in question. The matchmaking spell has nothing to do with them falling in love and their romance isn't forced on them in any way, and if you still think that, then I don't know how else I'm going to convince you...

Anyhow, no sooner have Tails and Cosmo pretty much made it official, but the very next episode, "Terror on the Typhoon" gives us another moment. Taismo shippers like myself must've felt like we were being spoiled at the time. XD Remember how in "Clash in the Cloister", Tails quickly went from doubtful to confident to uplift Cosmo's spirits? Now it's Cosmo's turn to be uplifting. During the episode, our heroes face the Metarex and Sonic and Knuckles get injured pretty badly. The pressure gets to Tails and he runs off, feeling guilty for getting Sonic and Knuckles hurt like so. He doubts himself as captain, but Cosmo, the sweet little angel that she is, kindly informs him that he's saved his friends many times already and that he's a greater captain than he gives himself credit for. Tails is appreciative and thanks her for the pep talk. This is what true love is everyone: sticking up for one another, lifting your loved ones up when they're down and doing whatever you can to make them happy. Is there any reason why this couple is so precious? And it gets even better when we get one of Sonic X's most notorious episodes...

Tails's Bravest Display Yet

No doubt you've been waiting for me to talk about this one. Now it's time to cover arguably the biggest episode in the Taismo saga: Episode 73 "A Cosmic Conspiracy".

Now before anyone says, yes, it is EXTREMELY easy to nit-pick this episode to death and point out how the plot only happens because Shadow is murder-happy idiot who WON'T TELL ANYONE WHY HE'S TRYING TO KILL COSMO! This is my favourite episode of Sonic X, period, but even I constantly ask myself why Shadow won't just explain himself. He really did make his job that much harder by wrecking the Blue Typhoon and attacking the crew and refusing to explain himself. What possible reason did he have for not just saying "Cosmo is a spy and I have proof"?

At the same time, stuff like this is easy to excuse if it means we can have this episode at all. Idiot Plot aside, this episode is awesome! And most of that is down to Tails himself. He absolutely CARRIES this episode. Throughout Sonic X, Tails rarely ever got in on the action unless he was either flying a plane or piloting a mech, but in this episode he's in the thick of it as Cosmo's protector against the relentless Shadow. He throws practically EVERYTHING he can at Shadow from security systems to the X-Tornado to heavy doors and he even tricks Shadow into getting loaded into the Sonic Power Cannon so he can launch him into space. And all of this is to protect Cosmo from him. Sadly, all his efforts prove fruitless, especially the last one when Shadow just pulls a fake emerald out of his ass and warps back into the ship (seriously, that was stupid), but does THAT stop Tails trying to protect Cosmo? Like hell it does! He tries to deck the stripy edge-lord himself!

...it didn't end well.

Yet even after getting the stuffing punched out of him, he STILL refuses to give up! Someone give that kid a medal already, he's such a trooper and I love him for it! This episode is a big example as to why Tails is my favourite character in the Sonic franchise: he's brave, he's humble, he's kind, he's a tech wiz and he's a loyal friend that you can always count on, and this episode shows that in spades. It's also what cemented the TailsXCosmo ship for me. Nothing says true love like being put through hell and back just to stop someone from trying to kill the one you love. Any girl who has a boyfriend like Tails should consider themselves the luckiest woman alive, let me tell you! There's also a sweet moment where Cosmo apologizes to Tails for causing him so much trouble, and he doesn't care about that. He just says "You mean a lot to me Cosmo, and the only thing I care about is making sure that you're safe". Seriously, that girl is so blessed to have a boy like Tails in her life. Too bad it doesn't last that much longer, but we're not at that point yet...

Episode 74, "Eye Spy" deals with the fallout of a shocking revelation: Cosmo is a Metarex spy (albeit an unwilling one). It turns out that Dark Oak has been using Cosmo as a means to eavesdrop on his enemies by using her eyes and ears (quite literally) thanks to a device implanted in the little Seedrian, and removing it could render Cosmo blind and deaf. Naturally, Tails is the first to object to the idea of removing the device as he doesn't want his love to be without sight or hearing. Once again, that kid is such a devoted boyfriend, it's so sweet. What's sweeter still is that when Cosmo tries to sneak away to deal with Dark Oak, Tails shows up and comforts her, even saying that the Metarex can have her eyes and ears, but never her heart. He knows just the right things to say, doesn't he? ^^

Episodes 75-78 form the final saga of Sonic X and also, the finale to Tails and Cosmo's story together. Episode 76, "The Light in the Darkness" gives us a sweet moment here where Cosmo laments why it had to come to this and Tails holds her hand. Cosmo returns the gesture as you can see here. In a Season's worth of episodes, they've come so far, haven't they? Starting off as friends and now they're comfortable enough with each other to hold hands and lift each other up when they're down. They may not have officially declared their love yet, but it's clear that they love each other more than life itself. And that sadly brings us to...

(long heavy sigh)

The Tragic Conclusion

You all knew this was coming, so let's just get it over with.

Episode 77, "A Fearless Friend" sees Dark Oak's big plan reach its climax as our heroes find themselves against a giant alien seed that they can't seem to do anything to. That all changes when Cosmo suddenly grows into an adult and weakens Dark Oak enough for Tails to destroy him with the Sonic Power Cannon. Unfortunately...it destroys Cosmo too. Yep, their story of romance sadly ends in tragedy. In order to save the universe, Tails had to kill his own girlfriend. As if to hammer in how tragic this is for Tails, the animation goes all out in him crying his eyes out and the voice-acting makes it clear that this decision is tearing him apart! The Japanese dub especially is pretty intense to watch compared to the English dub because of the voice-acting and Tails's expressions! The poor kid was placed in a situation where no matter what decision he made, it was the wrong one and in the end, he has to live with the fact he had to kill the one he loved. The gut-puncher? In the Japanese dub, he actually tells Cosmo he loves her before he pulls the trigger. Why the English dub left that out is a mystery to me.

In the aftermath of Cosmo's death, Super Sonic and Super Shadow perform a Chaos Regeneration and unfortunately, all Sonic is able to find is a seed. Cue more waterworks from poor Tails.

God, this scene rips my soul in half! :'( Also, Sonic ticks me the hell off here. His best friend's bawling his eyes out and is practically devastated over his girlfriend's death and he doesn't even so much as give him a comforting hug? Some friend YOU are, Sonic...

However, there is a slight bright side to all of this. At the end of the final episode, "So Long Sonic", we see Cosmo's seed sprouting, which implies that Cosmo could return some day. This doesn't change the fact that THIS WAS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST MEAN-SPIRITED, UNNECESSARY AND POINTLESS DEATHS IN THE HISTORY OF MEDIA!!!

Before anyone says, no, I'm not saying this as an angry shipper, this is my critical side talking. Even if I didn't ship Tails and Cosmo, my opinions would've been the same. From a story-telling perspective, why did Cosmo need to die? What point did that serve in the story? Why did Cosmo have to die in order for the story to be told this way? Why couldn't Dark Oak have been defeated without killing off Cosmo as well? Why did Tails and Cosmo's story have to end in a tragedy? The answer to all of those questions is "Nothing", because there is no reason for any of this. It's like that stupid moment in Pokémon Horizons where they made Roy beat Liko at the end of Terastal Debut despite it serving no narrative purpose to the story, it was completely unnecessary and feels like it happened because...actually, I can't think of a reason why it happened, it happened just because.

I remember talking with a friend of mine who is also a Taismo shipper, and he compared this moment with Goose's death from Top Gun. Yes, I know, weird comparison to make, but hear me out. In Top Gun, Goose's death was a freak accident that nobody saw coming and was executed in a way that felt like it could believably happen. Also, Goose's death had lasting consequences on the story and characters that even in the sequel, we were still feeling the effects of such a death. Maverick's character underwent a change in where he became less reckless and more mature, his relationship with Goose's son, Rooster, was strained and they had to overcome their grievances over the course of the movie and overall, it felt like the story needed Goose to die in order to happen.

Cosmo's death by comparison was way too contrived thanks to the writers having to make crap up in order to make it happen, there are no lasting consequences since the story is over and there wasn't anymore seasons of Sonic X to come so we can't even explore the consequences of said death, it's implied that Cosmo will eventually come back so that automatically undermines her death and worst of all, once everybody gets back home, they pretty much act like nothing happened! Seriously, after that heart-rending scene with Tails crying over Cosmo's seed, she isn't even mentioned again and everyone just goes about business as normal. Like, one of their friends just DIED for crap's sake, and nobody's even going to acknowledge that? That just further proves why Cosmo's death was pointless! It didn't impact the story or the characters and since this was the end of the series, nothing can come out of it, so I ask again: WHY DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN?!?!

This just felt like shock value for the sake of it, and it's so unnecessary. Cosmo absolutely did not need to die in order for this story to work. Tails and Cosmo should've had their happy ending together and made their relationship official now that the world is safe and there are no Metarex to worry about, end of story. But sadly, as life likes to remind us, we can't always have nice things...

Overall

And that's the story of Tails and Cosmo's romance. It blossomed beautifully and made for a very sweet and heartfelt story of two kids from very difference races who grew to love each other in spite of their differences, and they gave us some of Sonic X's most adorable scenes period. The only thing ruining all of this is, of course, that horrible ending. All they had to do was just not kill off Cosmo and we could've had something sweet and wonderful. Instead, we got a romance story that had an unnecessarily tragic ending that could've easily been avoided if the writers just used their heads and didn't force a tragic ending for no reason.

Regardless, it cannot be stated enough the impact that Sonic X has had on the fandom and the franchise itself, and Tails and Cosmo are one such example. Cosmo has become one of the most popular girls to ship with Tails alongside Cream the Rabbit and Fiona the Fox from Archie Sonic and there are numerous upon numerous of fanfics and fanarts devoted to this couple. I myself drew a lot of Taismo fanart back when I used to be on DeviantArt and even make it a Christmas tradition to draw a Christmas themed Taismo pic every December. It's been years since Sonic X concluded and Cosmo is still mourned by fans to this day, and the romance with her and Tails is still one of the most talked about aspects of the show.

The takeaway from here is that love is strong and that it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, love can still find you and bring you together. A fox and an alien plant found love in one another, and if they can do it, so can you. And also remember that much like Tails and Cosmo, love can end in tragedy, so remember to cherish it in the time you have, whether it's with your partner, a close friend, a close family member or whatever you love the most. Valentine's Day is all about love after all, and while life is momentary, love is eternal, and Tails and Cosmo's love is one that we'll remember for all eternity...

And that's all I've got for this post. I hope you enjoyed this romantic retrospective, and I invite you all to share your thoughts down below. What's your favourite Tails and Cosmo moment and do you ship this couple as well? Do let me know.

Next week, I'll be talking about my Top 10 Favourite Raidraptor cards. See you then media fans!