Sonic might not be as popular in China, as evidenced by the box office numbers for his surprise hit movie, but on Western shores and in Japan, Sonic is adored by many. After spin dashing onto the Sega Genesis as a true competitor to Mario, Sonic has steadily seen his popularity wane with respect to the games produced bearing his name. Despite this, he has emerged as a star on social media, through memes, fan art, and unusual stories that happen to involve the speedy hedgehog.

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Case in point would be the snowboarding Sonic statue standing on the side of the road in Iga City, in Japan’s Mie Prefecture. The statue has gained notoriety as an oddity, even appearing on Google Maps as a point of interest in the area, but the roughed up statue has been showing its age. Recently, however, some mysterious stranger, or group of strangers, took it upon themselves to restore the statue to its former glory. With a fresh coat of paint, Sonic’s electric blue coloring looks slick, and his sneakers and board are now back to their flashy red. While some of Sega’s properties, like the famous Akihabara landmark Sega arcade, are struggling, Sonic continues to pique fans’ interest.

The statue is thought to come from a SegaWorld theme park, auctioned off when the park was being renovated, and placed in its current location as a marker for the driveway to a man’s house. The man, a Mr. Kadeo, uses the Sonic statue to direct friends to his home as they often have trouble finding his place tucked into the woods. Unwittingly, Mr. Kadeo is contributing to the already weird world Sonic inhabits on social media, with YouTube sleuths working to trace the origins of the statue, as well as making pilgrimages to it.

Fans can’t get enough of Sonic, holding out hope that Sega will announce a new Sonic game sometime in the future. The hedgehog will be celebrating a 30th birthday soon, but nothing has been announced as of yet.

While no new game has been announced yet, a sequel to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is already in the works. The mystery created around this amazing statue, and its sparkling restoration, are proof positive that fans of Sonic are very invested. Something Sega should take note of.

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