They've been with different people, and they've never dated. They've never shared those special words, and when they've said them, it's been directed to other people. But does it mean Sonic and Mina don't care about one another? Personally I happen to think that they do, but I think that in this scenario, offense is the best defense. I am under the impression that by confronting opposing points, I may be able to express my stance better. I however am not arguing whether or not Sonic or Mina care for others. I'm simply saying that if that is in fact the case, they do have a place in each other's hearts.


In issue 111, when the subject of love life is brought up, Sonic is thinking of TWO girls. Not simply Sally, but Mina as well. This shows Sonic has considered Mina alongside Sally as "girlfriend material." That aside, he still cared about Sally.



The earliest thing people have noted was that when Mina kissed Sonic, he was fairly defensive, surprised or not appearing to be very pleased. At the same time they point out how Sonic and Sally have kissed, and it's been a mutual encounter. But even when looking at SonSal that hasn't always been the case. An example would be Sonic Live. Sally tries to kiss Sonic, Sonic is petrified, and doesn't look at all amused when Sally wants to bristle. Also, there were many encounters where Sonic has had trouble returning affections. Sonic and Sally had to grow past that, and Sonic had to grow to become more comfortable with giving and receiving affections from Sally, and it didn't happen overnight. Sonic was used to flirting with Mina privately, but when Mina kissed him, he wasn't ready for that. 111 obviously showed it wasn't a matter of him not liking Mina. As well as his flirting with her, and his eventual open display of affection in 121, which highlighted Sonic finally maturing in his relationship with Mina to the degree he'd do something he had a problem doing even with Sally. So I take the kiss with a grain of salt. I think it happens generally with anyone Sonic romantically is interested in.



Within Heart Held Hostage, Sally manages to confess her feelings to Sonic and the two lip lock soon after. Mina sees this and thinks Sonic loves the princess, and not her. The first problem is that many people make is that they take Mina's assumptions and transform them into fact. Is it though? Well, look at it another way: After issue 111 it's clear Sonic has on his mind two girls: Sally and Mina. Sally has been feeling insecure for the longest time and takes her chance at confessing her feelings for Sonic. While Sonic has shown interest in Mina, it doesn't mean he didn't hold a place for Sally as well. So naturally he returned affections. Did the moment exploit Sonic making a choice? Sonic didn't necessarily choose Mina OR Sally in Heart Held Hostage. Sonic kissing Sally was what he considered an intimate, private moment, where he thought Mina wasn't there. He didn't intentionally kiss Sally in front of Mina. That would''ve created a seperate situation. In such a situation, Sonic would've had to consider whose future he wanted to sacrifice entirely, or if he wanted to do that at all. But think: That didnt happen. During that moment, what he was doing with Sally was simply an affectionate moment to express his interest, and argueably to reassure her that she still had a place in his heart. He's done so with Mina, too. He's flirted with her, and has gone as far as give her affections in public, but with the notion Sally wasn't around. Mina was the one who saw what had happened and assumed that despite what she thought she and Sonic had together, he didn't care for her at all. She distances herself in an effort to move on following what she sees. Meanwhile Sally, who has just confessed her feelings to Sonic, decides she will push on for a more serious relationship with him. Think about this if you were Sonic: The only individual you had on your mind, that might've prevented you from going steady with the girl whose pressing forward now, no longer appears interested. So he accepts. This probably made the situation worse because now Mina assumes Sonic really has had no place for her.



Assuming Sonic doesn't love her, at this point even trying to approach Sonic in the future would be met with a fear of heartbreak (again due to probably one of the worst, biggest unresolved misunderstandings within the book). So she dates her manager. At first, Mina seems as though she's not over Sonic., but in Songoose, she explains that she doesn't love Sonic, and that instead she loves Ash. It is at this point where I bring to light something the editor said:

Just because someone says something, even believes something, doesn’t mean it is. Mina is trying to move away from Sonic. I think her new relationship with Ash shows this. While at the same time it is obvious that Mina still has feelings for Sonic, she is very aware that she could be hurt again by him. I think Issue #144 pointed out how much she was unintentionally hurt by Sonic and how she does not want to repeat that mistake with Ash. Mina is very much about doing the right thing, not just for herself but for everyone around her.

Now depending on how much of this quote you apply to the situation, it can rebut Mina's denial for loving Sonic. We must also consider the situation she was under when she told Ash she didn't love Sonic.

One way to apply the quote is that it notes that Mina's words don't necessarily have to reflect how she truly feels. Even what she tells herself, what she wants to beleive for whatever reason could be a delusion. Instead, the editor implies to get a greater understanding about what Mina truly feels deep down, is to look at her actions. When Ash told Mina to say she didn't love Sonic she stayed silent. So Ash broke up with her. When Mina and Ash broke up, she accepted a date with Sonic not even an issue afterwards. When Ash wanted to reconcile, she refused initially. It was only until he got hurt with the bomb that she saw her own sacrifice made to Sonic, and would go to the hospital and reconcile as he wanted. This also goes back to the fact Mina doesn't want to repeat Sonic's mistakes, and wants to do the right thing. Working things out with Ash instead of throwing away his sacrifice and by that token repeating the mistakes Mina felt Sonic made wouldn't be "the right thing" and probably tugged on her coinscience. It's the only way I can see any siggnifficance in Mina wanting to reconcile after the bomb attacked compared beforehand to when she didn't. So when Mina goes to the hospital, she says she doesn't love Sonic, and that she loves Ash. I might add that Sonic overheard this, and left the hospital room heartbroken. Which goes to show Sonic did care about Mina enough to be bothered by what was going on.

So when it all boils down to it, I think Sonic and Mina care about each other. At this time, I seriously doubt the huge misunderstandings surrounding their relationship will truly be resolved within the present storyline. But even if they never are in the comic that's fine by me. The comic series can only afford to touch on the present of the charachters. It wouldn't be able to chronicle to future, so fans are free to envision Sonic with whomever they want regardless of the status quo reflects. I also happen to now look at Sonic/Sally as a cursed pairing. At first glance it appears blessed. It gets more attention than the other Sonic/___ pairings. But beneath that superficial glamour is a pairing that is constantly picked on. It's flaws constantly exploited to create interest and drama because the dynamic is having a hard time providing that interest on it's own anymore from how I see it. I would rather Sonic/Mina not have to go through that. . So why go through the trouble of sharing this? Because I think the fans need to remember they have a choice as to whomever they feel could end up with Sonic in the future. Likewise, the community has been quick to assume that because Sonic and Mina are dating others now, that they don't care about one another, and that they could never get together. I did it because I don't know whether or not I did a good job, but I wanted to reach out to those who felt as though they wanted to say:

"Look, I know Mina's with Ash, and at the moment Sonic may go back to Sally. But this status quo doesn't reflect what's going to happen 20 years from now, So Sonic can be alongside whoever I want to envision him to with."

I really couldn't care less who Sonic and Mina are with now. At the very least, the creatives don't have to develop shortcomings in the relationship to keep it going, which in all actuality hurts the SonSally fans' ability to forsee the future with the charachters as they are now. It's come to a point where many SonSal fans have argued one of them will change should the future arrive in their favor. It’s been that sort of thing which implies that of course there is a feeling Sonic and Sally as we know them to be would have to be shells of their former selves in order to be together. So with that problem befallen to Sonic and Sally I consider myself blessed that my preference was spared such a fate. All the same, the concept of even implying choices is met with hostility within the comic. I can only hope it isn't taken too far.