“If you stay here, then you wear black.”

“Your sense of fashion, Roger, really reeks.”

--- Roger Smith and R. Dorothy Wayneright

Now, see, this is why androids are never host shows like TLC's "What Not to Wear".  When you need fashion tips, listen to Wayne and Stacy or the Fab Five.  Don’t take tips from a girl who has a CD player sticking out of her forehead.  Roger Smith, the main character of "The Big O" animated series, may be the snappiest dresser in all of anime.

So what is "The Big O"?  No doubt you’ve already made up your mind that it’s something yonic, you big flippin’ pervert.  Big O is all about giant robots.  Namely, it’s about a type of robot known as a Megadeus, a war machine of antiquity that are clues to the city’s violent and forgotten past.  Each Megadeus has a different power, but the Big O is equipped with an arsenal that can’t be beat: grappling chains, rows and rows of ordinance, and two massive, Popeye-like forearms that deliver a devastating jackhammer finisher.

Roger Smith is both Big O's pilot and Paradigm City's top Negotiator. (From what I understand, a “Negotiator” is somewhat of a hybrid between a private investigator and a lawyer, only much classier.)  When a case leads him to something too large for a mere human to handle, he brings out his Dick Tracy watch and summons forth the Black Megadeus.  Big O erupts from the ground, and Roger, still dressed in his super fine Armani threads, buckles in.  Before you can say "Cast in the Name of God, Ye Not Guilty", Big O is ready to unleash a can of robotic whoop-ass.

An Anime for the Yankees

"The Big O" started as out as the anime that nobody wanted.  Originally created to sell robot action figures for Bandai, the series never caught on in Japan.  The show was canceled, and the story ended abruptly after the thirteenth episode. 

Years later, the show popped up in the United States under Warner Brother’s Cartoon Network.  The show, surprisingly, became a moderate success and developed a loyal cult following.  In retrospect, it isn’t hard to see why.  From the animation style to its urban setting, the anime is far more American than Japanese.  In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I would have naturally assumed that the “Big O” came from the Warner Brothers animation studios that produced “Justice League” and “Batman: The Animated Series.”  (More on this later.)  The show’s most Japanese aspect, the mecha, even boast features similar to Yankee ‘bots like “The Iron Giant.”

But here’s where the show is most American: it’s perfect for viewers with short attention spans.  Each episode is self-contained.  The central plot --- which deals with the Megadeuses (Megadeusi?  Megadeese?) and the city’s long forgotten past --- looms in the background for the first half of the series, but understanding it is hardly crucial to enjoying the show.  Compare that to other Adult Swim anime like “Inu Yasha”, “Cyborg 009”, and “Yu Yu Hakusho”, where you have to pull out a frikkin’ flow chart to figure out what’s going on.

While I've enjoyed the show immensely, the plot does tend to get repetitive.  Each show follows essentially the same format: Roger fights human sized baddies, a giant robot and/or monster shows up, Roger calls up Big O and cleans up.  I suspect Bandai wanted to capitalize on their marketing potential, i.e. sell more toys.  At least mecha designer, Keiichi Satou, comes up with some interesting and rather unorthodox designs.  How many shows have a giant robot that's dressed up as a mummy?

Apparently, Cartoon Network liked the show as well, and some executive must’ve been bothered that the final episode cliffhanger was never resolved.  So what do you do when you enjoy something immensely and you happen to have millions of dollars to throw around?  You order up the last thirteen episodes, that's what.  And thus, “The Big O II” was born, and it hit American airwaves in 2003.

Some fans initially feared that Cartoon Network would screw it up.  After all, the network had already played around with the idea of ordering more Cowboy Bebop episodes.  (Bad idea.)  To everyone's relief, the new episodes only made the series better.  Crisper animation, a mysterious plot, and deeper character development proved that the series was in good hands.

Nowadays, it’s called an “homage”

You can’t talk about “The Big O” without mentioning its similarity to other cult classics.  You don’t have to look hard to find traces to “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, “Lupin III” (the show’s femme fetale, Angel, recalls Lupin’s Fujiko), “Giant Robo”, “Godfather”, and the 1980 “Flash Gordon” movie.

But there are two major rip-offs … ahem, I mean homages ---- that define the series.  The first, which draws the most praise and criticism, is the animation style.  The fluid and simple style unavoidably mimics the kind used in “Batman: The Animated Series”.  (Which, by the way, mimicked the 1940’s Superman cartoons from Fleisher Studios.)  On the DVD, Satou mentions that he and his colleague, Hajime Yatate, were aiming for the look and feel of Gotham City.  Now, copying a style is one thing, but “The Big O” went a step further: Roger Smith and his butler, Norman Burg, are dead ringers for Bruce Wayne and Alfred.  You can even say that the psychotic villain, Schwarzwald, resembles the Joker and that Paradigm CEO Alex Rosewater resembles Rupert Thorne.

At this point, many would-be fans write off “The Big O” as either woefully derivative or just “not anime”.  To which I say: what, are you going to go back to watching those shows where a nerdy guy lives with a house full of women, or all those sentient mecha shows steeped in religious symbolism?  Yeah, those shows aren’t derivative at all.

The second, far-less criticized element is the show’s similarity to the movie, “Dark City.”  The setting for “The Big O” is Paradigm City.  The city, which resembles a noir 1940’s New York, is encapsulated by a series of glass domes.  Holding the reins of power is the enigmatic Paradigm Corporation.  Paradigm's citizens suffer from widespread amnesia.  No one can remember anything that happened forty years ago, or how the city became enclosed, and nobody seems to care.  Old memories, though, continually surface, and they can become a great source of grief or a fountain of scientific knowledge.  Whatever they may be, they’re always a valuable commodity, and there are people in Paradigm City willing to kill for them.

She’s a Small Wonder

The story is intriguing, but the thing that kept me tuned in was the cast of characters.  Roger Smith and Norman Burg develop far beyond their Bruce Wayne and Alfred roles.  Roger may not a brooding hero, but he sure is snippy at times.  Norman can best be described as absentminded, but can be counted on for military cover in a pinch (leading to some of the most humorous scenes in the show).  There’s also a strong bond of trust and friendship between the two men.  There’s a scene, for example, where Roger helps Norman peel the potatoes.  How come I never see that louse Bruce helping Alfred with dinner? 

Beyond the main characters, supporting roles are fleshed out for no other reason than to bring Paradigm City to life.  As a Negotiator, Roger comes into contact with many different kinds of people.  From the mad scientists to the wealthy socialites to the struggling musicians, each person --- who would be throwaway background characters in other shows --- has their own struggles and their own unique experiences.  Paradigm City may have forgotten its past, but it isn’t dead yet.

The most intriguing character, though, is R. Dorothy Wayneright.  (The “R.” is an honorific devised by Isaac Asimov to identify robot citizens.)  The resident android girl is Eliza Doolittle, Data, Winona Ryder, Effie Perine, and Agent Dana Scully all rolled into one.  She’s melancholy, but not morbid.  On the one hand, she is Roger’s soul.  She asks him the questions that he doesn’t have the courage to ask himself, and she icily ignores him when he becomes too callous.  On the other hand, she’s an android.  There are scenes where Dorothy moves so unnaturally Roger must remember that under her feminine exterior, she’s a tangled up mess of wires and gears.  One can image that Roger is attracted and horribly repulsed by her at the same time.

Also, she can bodyslam men three times her size and run at what looks like a hundred miles per hour.  Always good to have someone like that on your team.

I highly recommend this series for fans of episodic shows like “Batman” and “Samurai Jack”, or for old school anime fans tired of neo-mecha anime with pointless psychobabble.  “The Big O: Complete Collection” is a reasonably priced 4-DVD disk set that contains the first thirteen episodes.  Then watch the show on Adult Swim for the last thirteen.  Can’t stay up during the midnight hours?  Here’s a little tip I discovered about my VCR: It can record things, too.

Ratings (5-You are the Dominus of the Megadeus; 1-You are just a tomato)
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Art: 4 – The “Batman” style of animation has been the biggest division between fans and detractors.  Don’t let it bother you.  The darker style is perfect for the story.  Besides, America’s been ripping of elements of anime for years; it was about time Japan returned the favor.

Story: 3 – OK, so the story is filled with plot holes galore.  So what?  The creators were having fun, we’re having fun, and there’s plenty of giant robot smackdown to be had by everyone.  MINOR SPOILERS --- the final episode suffers from an all too common problem: anime that is afraid to commit to a conclusive ending.  This episode manages to raise all sorts of questions that nullify everything that we’ve learned from the previous 25 episodes.  It’s as if Yatate and Satou were lobbying for another thirteen episodes.

DVD Extras: 4 – There aren’t many extras, but the interviews with the production staff shed some light on the process of creating an anime.  The staff, too, seemed to be having a lot of fun with the story.  Apparently, the characters developed a life of their own, and minor players like R. Dorothy suddenly became the stars of the show.

Voice Acting: - Dub – 4.5; Sub – 4.  Both are adequate, but I prefer the English dub.   It just seems more appropriate for a show where all the characters look American.

Music: 4 – I love the opening theme song.  It’s incredibly catchy (which goes: "Big O...  Big O, Big O, Big O-o-o... "), but it sounds so much like the "Flash Gordon" theme ("Flash...  Oh-OH...  He'll save every one of us...") that I was bit surprised that Queen wasn’t listed in the opening credits.  During the episodes, the bluesy music recalls the style used in hard-boiled detective movies.

Overall: (not an average): 4 – A unique entry into the revitalized field of mecha anime.  Bonus observation: the creators succeeded in recreating the feel of an older American city.  Other Yankee themed anime --- like “Trigun” or “Cowboy Bebop”, which build on America’s Wild West --- come close, but these shows still insert Asian elements like Shinto temples and bonsai trees.  (To be fair, American entertainment has the same problem.  It seems like you can’t make a movie about the Far East without running into disillusioned Civil War vets and/or Chris Tucker.)

Written by Rook