AfterImage Studio’s Fan-Made Sonic Anime Is in Production With 3D/2D Hybrid Animation

There is another ambitious Sonic fan animation project quietly taking shape, and this one is aiming considerably higher than a single short.

AfterImage Studio is currently developing a fan-made Sonic the Hedgehog anime, an ambitious nonprofit production combining 3D animation with hand-drawn 2D elements. The project has actually been underway for quite some time, but flew under our radar until recently thanks to news tipster Joshua Rosciardi, despite its first proper teaser accumulating more than 270,000 views since arriving in May.

The project is being led by Erick Crow. Crow’s own professional profile describes the production as a fan-driven, non-profit 3D/2D hybrid Sonic anime focused on character development, conflicting ideologies and a larger narrative. His project history dates the production back to December 2024, which lines up with AfterImage’s statement that it had already been working on the anime for more than a year by the time the teaser arrived.

That hybrid approach is one of the project’s more interesting ideas. AfterImage describes itself as a 3D animation studio that blends 3D animation with 2D effects, and the Sonic production is being built around the same philosophy. Rather than attempting to make its 3D characters look like conventional game models dropped into an animated scene, the team is using hand-drawn elements, compositing and other 2D techniques to push the finished result toward a more stylized anime presentation.

And there are quite a few people involved in making that work. The May teaser credits Adam Jay Malguitou, also known as Crimson, for 3D animation and mouth overlays; Jalin Draws and Damen Espinosa for 2D animation and VFX; MegaByteMomo for editing, compositing and sound effects; Fox and Chipley for 3D modeling and rigging; Endo and Jalin Draws for backgrounds; Elle Quach for the opening score; Mylo for storyboarding; and several additional contributors. It is already a substantially larger production than the kind of solo fan animation projects Sonic fans regularly encounter online.

AfterImage has been expanding that team throughout development as well. An April Casting Call Club recruitment page sought experienced 3D modelers, riggers, background artists, concept artists, 2D compositors, 3D layout artists, 2D animators and 3D animators, with the studio later repeating many of those roles alongside the teaser. The casting call was restricted to applicants aged 18 and over and clearly identified the positions as unpaid, while noting the possibility of paid work later if the project develops further. The page also states that the main voice cast had already been selected.

The team’s ambitions extend beyond the English-language production. Recruitment materials shared by AfterImage have also sought performers for separate dub teams covering Japanese, Latin American Spanish, Portuguese and French, suggesting the studio wants the finished project to reach considerably further than a single English-language fan release.

And despite the teaser being several months old now, the project does not appear to have quietly disappeared after its first big reveal. AfterImage still identifies the Sonic anime as its current project, while a more recent studio update told followers that further announcements were approaching and asked applicants to keep an eye on their inboxes. In other words, this is still very much something being built rather than a teaser for an abandoned idea.

It also arrives during a particularly strong period for Sonic fan animation. Sonic City recently covered kotoriyrisuet’s fan-made Sonic Adventure 2 OVA, another anime-inspired project that spent more than a year in production before finally releasing this month. AfterImage is obviously taking a very different approach by building an ongoing team production rather than a completed solo short, but both projects are pretty good reminders of just how far fan-made Sonic animation has come.

Whether AfterImage’s project eventually grows into everything the team hopes it can be remains to be seen, but the first teaser has already given it a sizeable audience and there is clearly a lot more happening behind the scenes than one flashy proof of concept.

For now, we will be keeping an eye on what AfterImage Studio reveals next.

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