Starring: Jane Alan, Steve Areno, Matthew Austin, Robert Axelrod, Richard Barnes Directed By: Kazuyoshi Katayama Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC Label: Bandai Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: June 19, 2001 Running Time: 100 minutes Theatrical Release Date: April 02, 2001
Amazon.com: The art deco-influenced backgrounds and simplified character designs give this series a look that's closer to Warner Bros.' Batman than to anime series like Gundam Wing. The Big O begins with a premise similar to A Wind Called Amnesia: the inhabitants of Paradigm City somehow lost their memories 40 years ago. Since then, they've struggled to survive in the half-ruined metropolis. Dashing Roger Smith, who looks a bit like Pierce Bronson, is officially a negotiator who handles difficult situations, but he's really a covert superhero. Like Batman, he's fabulously wealthy, and his car and wristwatch are loaded with deadly gadgets. But when the going gets tough, Smith summons the Big O, his giant "Megadeus" mecha to slug it out with other robots. His butler, Norman, and Dorothy, an automaton girl, assist him in these endeavors. At times the cool palette, saxophone music, and suave-but-tough-guy dialogue suggest the filmmakers are trying to capture the noir tone of Cowboy Bebop. But the rather superficial Smith lacks Spike Spiegel's underplayed intensity, and director Kazuyoshi Katayama can't match Shinichiro Watanabe's visual panache. The Big O will appeal primarily to kids who are fans of the Batman and Superman television series. The Cartoon Network started playing the series in 2001 in an edited format. This edition (featuring the first four episodes) is rated 13 and up for minor profanity, occasional suggestive humor, and mild violence. --Charles Solomon
Showtime Imagine a crumbling domed Gotham City where everyone has amnesia, and Batman fights evildoers using a giant black mecha.
That's a fairly basic description of "The Big O," a strange and action-packed anime with an art deco style, a noir atmosphere and lots of giant robots that attack on a weekly basis. The first volume quickly proves that this is no simplistic action show -- there's a deep central mystery that each episode revolves around, and some deeper meditations on the nature of memory.
Negotiator Roger Smith is hired to get the kidnapped daughter of a client back... only to discover that "Dorothy" is an android. So Roger begins poking around in the place where she was made, only to find her dying creator, some thugs with a bazooka, and a shocking revelation -- there were two robots, and now the vast mecha "Dorothy 1" is ravaging Paradigm City.
Cue earthshattering entrance of Big O, Roger's huge mecha, which kicks Dorothy 1's metal butt. But when Dorothy goes missing in the aftermath, Roger goes on a hunt for her based on her creator's dying words. He finds her at the Nightingale Club singing for a sad old man -- but then she's apprehended by the same gang of thugs.
Roger's next mission sends him out of town to a small village near a power plant: the inhabitants claim a lake god sends them electricity -- and soon Roger finds that they may not be exaggerating. Then the Paradigm Corporation hires a reluctant Roger to find the journalist Michael Seebach and get his writings. The problem is, Seebach has been missing for months -- and what is left of him has unearthed a ghastly specter from Paradigm's lost past.
"The Big O" is one of those series that drips with lots of influences -- the first four episodes are painted with classic noir, more than a hint of "Batman," and some tinges of Isaac Asimov (R. Dorothy?). And even the animation has a style reminiscent of art deco, with lots of long clean lines and dark shapes -- even the vast Megadeus has them.
The real beauty of "The Big O" is in the storytelling: the individual plots are reminiscent of a noir detective's adventures, but with a weird sci-fi twist -- vast electrical snakes, giant robots, and a mad journalist in a haunted subway with a nasty surprise from the past. It's also graced with some explosive slam-bang action, inner musings, and lots of solid dialogue infused with wry humour ("You're a louse, Roger Smith." "Well, that's a first. I'm used to human women saying that").
And running under each episode is the haunting question of what happened to Paradigm forty years ago. The plots drop hints about floating memories and something terrible that may have happened, turning the world into a series of half-ruined domes.
Dashing playboy Roger Smith is a pretty likable hero -- charismatic, charming, a bit lacking in chivalry at times ("You want me to decoy their fire?" "BINGO!") but ultimately quite heroic. Good thing, since he has the big bad robot. Dorothy's emotionless attitude makes a nice counterpoint, but she shows some signs of becoming more human (as all good fictional androids do). And for the true noir feel, there's a mysterious femme fatale named Angel and efficient butler Norman.
While it appears to be just another mecha anime on the surface, "The Big O Volume 1" is actually a clever sci-fi/mystery series with some big question marks hanging over it.
What annoys me is... What annoys me is that Amazon keeps scattered volumes of Big O season I but doesn't have the Collectors Box! Oh well. If your looking at this, then it must mean you are a prospective customer.
Video - It fits to the mood perfectly... depressing but still graphically amazing. The graphics of Big O have a depressed undertone but also have underlayings of the action-adventure-mystery-romance it is.
Audio - The dub is better than the sub? Crazy but true. This is one anime where the dub is high quality. Voice actors and lip movements all round are good.
Subtitles - Tgey hit the mark, meaning they are excellent, but don't worry about it. Dubbing is great for once, perhaps because it is loved by American audiences more so than Japan.
Story - It has more or less everything. Let me put it this way. If you liked Neon Genesis (who doesn't?) then who will almost certainly like this. Especially later on. Psychological, spiritual themes, science, and drama? Mix it all up with giant mecha called Megadueses? Heck yes.
Big O Lives On It was a sad day in history when Cartoon Network stopped playing Big O cartoons. I loved the series and was absolutely heartbroken when I learned they cancelled it. Then I got this DVD of the first season. It was one of the best purchases of my anime career. Big O is one of the best animes out on the market, starring a jet-black giant robot that kicks ass constantly. (Favorite episode: Big O versus the giant electricity-absorbing serpent.) For fans of anime, this one's for you. Adios and LONG LIVE BIG O!!
Nice touch with the mellow piano ballads Can someone find out what is the name of the piano ballad used in the background as Roger Smith comments to Instro the robot on how well the piano has been well cared for ("not a speck of dust on it"). Instro said that his father left it to him. Instro also comments on how he loved to play for his father back in the day. It's also played from time to time by the sax, but I like the piano version better.
Roger the Negotiator From the creator of Giant Robo comes the ultimate in retro cool. This series is one of the great ones, one of the classics. It has a main character who's filthy rich, dressed to kill, has the gadgets of James Bond, the crime-fighting abilites of batman, negotiates with villains just to have some fun and...pilots a giant robot!
Like Giant Robo, the Big O itself is a throwback to old-school anime. Less high-tech and more steam-punk, the thing is clearly a mechanical iron hulking beast, rather than a fast-moving flying transformer. OLD SCHOOL. But there's more than just a tribute to old anime to be found here. The sense of style is very retro 1930's adn 40's. From the cars to the clothes to the buildings, everything has a retro look. And the characters themselves are drawn with a simple elegance than blends perfectly with that style.
The animation itself is more like a direct-to-video release than a TV show, and clearly had a very high budget. There is an incredible film-noir feel to everything thanks to the subdued color palette and stellar animation, which makes use of camera angles better than many a hollywood Oscar winner.
The brilliant musical score recalls everything from the Avengers to Batman to blues, jazz, and classical music (including opera). The sound of this show is not just there, it is engineered for effect, and the music always adds to the scene.
Of course it's really the story and the characters (to say nothing of the plot) which holds a good anime together, and this show does NOT disappoint. Roger Smith himself is more than just a sterotyped hero. As with all the other characters in this show, there is far more to him than what appears on the surface. His counterpart Dorothy (introduced in the first two episodes), is a perfect match for him, as her dour expression and pessimism counter his persistent cheerfulness and good nature. That and the fact that she can fight with, investigate with, and generally KEEP UP with him. Really Dorothy has to be one of the most interesting Androids ever conceived, as we constantly get hints that there is more going on in her head than what appears on the surface. There are of course many other wonderful characters introduced in this show, but two main ones take the cake in the first three episodes. Beck is a wonderfully pathetic excuse for a criminal masermind who comes to see himself as Roger's nemesis, but really just annoys everyone more than anything else (because defeating him isn't really a challenge for Roger and Dorothy), and Angel, who's mysterious agenda, deadly beautiful, and wonderful verbal sparring give Dorothy a run for her money in the department of love-interest.
The plot of the city with no memories in search of its past is very compelling, and the reference to memories beign uncovered and lost technology lends everything a somewhat magical, fightening undercurrent that makes the mysteries that much more compelling. As the plot slowly unfolds, we become more and more engrossed in the reality of Paradigm City, the city of amnesia.
The quality of writing and dialog in this fantasic anime really cannot be over-emphasized. I would have to call it an absolute tour-de-force of adventure, romance, and drama. Watch the whole series over and over, and you just might notice new aspects of the story and characters each time.
This volume contains the first four episodes. The first two epsidoes are about the criminal Beck and his hostage/blackmailing schemes involing the adriod R. Dorothy Waynewright and her makers/fathers. While good, they mainly serve to introude Beck and Dorothy, and are done in a different style from the rest of the series (no intro, and credits during hte beginning). The third episode begins the real meat of the series, and introduces Angel through a mysterious job for Roger to investigate a power plant for the Paradigm Power Management. That third episode features the main show intro, and shows if nothing else that the theme of monster/machine battles with the Big O are going to stay.
The fourth episode is the kicker though. Underground Terror establishes perhaps the real villain of the show, the scariest person Roger has to fight (a man covered with bandages like a mummy who has a nasty habit of burning things and raining down destruction upon innocents). It is in this episode that we finally get a little more insight into the past of Paradigm City, the loss of its memories, and just who and what exactly Roger and Dorothy are. Not that any questions are really answered, more are just raised. This episode might be my favorite of this volume because of the interaction between Dorothy and Roger.
This is an absolutely brilliant show. The amount of polish on every aspect is clear to see, and it features one of the finest English dubs you'll ever hear. David Lucas (Spike from Cowboy Bebop), and Lia Sargent (Battle Athletes Victory) give career-defining voicework in the main roles, and the voices of Beck and Angel in particular are also wonderful.
Anyone who's a fan of classic anime, giant robots, superheroes, or sci-fi will want to give this one a try. The only downside I can see is that at times the battles seem to overshadow or distract from the story, but that's a minor complaint at best in a show that deserves every animation fan's respect and admiration. Let negotiations begin!
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