The Big O

An aerial shot of Paradigm City. The city is based on the island of Manhattan and is suggested to be New York City itself.[4]

The Big O is set in the fictional city-state of Paradigm City[lower-alpha 1]. The city is located on a seacoast and is surrounded by a vast desert wasteland. The partially domed city is wholly controlled by the monopolistic Paradigm Corporation, resulting in a corporate police state. Paradigm is known as "The City of Amnesia"[lower-alpha 2] because forty years prior to the story, "The Event"[lower-alpha 3] destroyed the world outside the city and left the survivors without any prior memories. The city is characterized by severe class inequity; the higher-income population resides inside the more pleasant domes, with the remainder left in tenements outside. Residents of the city believe that they are the last survivors of the world and no other nations exist outside the city. Androids and giant robots known as "Megadeus" coexist with the residents of Paradigm City and residents do not find them unusual.[5]

After failing to negotiate with terrorists at the cost of his client's life, Roger Smith is obligated to care for Dorothy Wayneright, a young female android. Over the course of the series, Roger Smith continues to accept negotiation work from the residents of Paradigm City, he often leads to uncovering the nature and mystery of Paradigm City and encountering megadeus or other giant enemies that require Big O. Supporting characters are Angel, a mysterious woman in search of memories; Dan Dastun, chief of the military police of Paradigm city and old friend of Roger Smith; and Norman Burg, the butler of Roger Smith and mechanic of Big O.

The main antagonist is Alex Rosewater, chairman of Paradigm City whose goal is to revive the megadeus "Big Fau" in attempts to become the god of Paradigm City. Other recurring antagonists are Jason Beck, criminal and con-artist attempting to humiliate Roger Smith; Schwarzwald, an ex-reporter obsessed with finding the truth of Paradigm City and also pilot of the megadeus "Big Duo"; Vera Ronstadt, leader of a group of foreigners known as the Union searching for memories and revenge against Paradigm City; and Alan Gabriel, a cyborg assassin working for Alex Rosewater and the Union.

The series ends with the awakening of a new megadeus, and the revelation that the world is a simulated reality. A climactic battle ensues between Big O and Big Fau, after which reality is systematically erased by the new megadeus, an incarnation of Angel, recognized as "Big Venus" by Dorothy. Roger implores Angel to "let go of the past" regardless of its existential reality, and focus only on the present and the future. In an isolated control room, the real Angel observes Roger and her past encounters with him on a series of television monitors. On the control panel lies Metropolis, a book featured prominently since the thirteenth episode; the cover features an illustration of angel wings and gives the author's name as "Angel Rosewater". Big Venus and Big O physically merge, causing the virtual reality to reset. The final scene shows Roger Smith driving down a restored Paradigm city with Dorothy and Angel observing him from the side of the road.

The Big O was scored by Geidai alumnus Toshihiko Sahashi. His composition is richly symphonic and classical, with a number of pieces delving into electronica and jazz.[17] Chosen because of his "frightening amount of musical knowledge about TV dramas overseas,"[18] Sahashi integrates musical homages into the soundtrack. The background music draws from film noir, spy films and sci-fi television series like The Twilight Zone. The battle themes are reminiscent of Akira Ifukube's compositions for the Godzilla series.[19]

The first opening theme is the Queen-influenced "Big-O!".[20] Composed, arranged and performed by Rui Nagai, the song resembles the theme to the Flash Gordon film. The second opening theme is "Respect," composed by Sahashi. The track is an homage to the music of UFO, composed by Barry Gray.[21] In 2007, Rui Nagai composed "Big-O! Show Must Go On," a 1960s hard rock piece, for Animax's reruns of the show; this composition replaced the original opening themes for the Blu-Ray release of the series. The closing theme is the slow love ballad "And Forever..." written by Chie and composed by Ken Shima. The duet is performed by Robbie Danzie and Naoki Takao.

Along with Sahashi's original compositions, the soundtrack features Chopin's Prelude No. 15 and a jazz saxophone rendition of "Jingle Bells." The complete score was released in two volumes by Victor Entertainment.

The shadows of Venetian blinds cast upon the hero, a signature visual of film noir.

The Big O shares many of its themes, diction, archetypes and visual iconography with film noirs of the 1940s like The Big Sleep (1946).[23] The series incorporates the use of long dark shadows in the tradition of chiaroscuro and tenebrism. Film noir is also known for its use of odd angles, such as Roger's low shot introduction in the first episode. Noir cinematographers favoured this angle because it made characters almost rise from the ground, giving them dramatic girth and symbolic overtones. Other disorientating devices like dutch angles, mirror reflection and distorting shots are employed throughout the series.[19][23]

The characters of The Big O fit the noir and pulp fiction archetypes. Roger Smith is a protagonist in the mold of Chandler's Philip Marlowe or Hammett's Sam Spade.[22][24] He is canny and cynical, a disillusioned cop-turned-negotiator whose job has more in common with detective-style work than negotiating. Big Ear is Roger's street informant and Dan Dastun is the friend on the police force. The recurring Beck is the imaginative thug compelled by delusions of grandeur while Angel fills the role of the femme fatale. Minor characters include crooked cops, corrupt business men and deranged scientists.[19]

The dialogue in the series is recognized for its witty, wry sense of humor. The characters come off as charming and exchange banter not often heard in anime series, as the dialogue has the tendency to be straightforward. The plot is moved along by Roger's voice-over narration, a device used in film noir to place the viewer in the mind of the protagonist so it can intimately experience the character's angst and partly identify with the narrator.[18][25]

The tall buildings and giant domes create a sense of claustrophobia and paranoia characteristic of the style.[26][27] The rural landscape, Ailesberry Farm, contrasts Paradigm City. Noir protagonists often look for sanctuary in such settings but they just as likely end up becoming a killing ground.[19] The series score is representative of its setting. While no classic noir possesses a jazz score, the music could be heard in nightclubs within the films.[28] Roger's recurring theme, a lone saxophone accompaniment to the protagonist's narration, best exemplifies the noir stylings of the series.[23]

Amnesia is a common plot device in film noir. Because most of these stories focused on a character proving his innocence, authors up the ante by making him an amnesiac, unable to prove his innocence even to himself.[29]

Before The Big O, Sunrise was a subcontractor for Warner Bros. Animation's Batman: The Animated Series,[30][31] one of the series' influences.[6] Cartoon Network, under the Toonami flag advertised the series as "One part Bond. One part Bruce Wayne. One part City Smashing Robot."

Roger Smith is a pastiche of the Bruce Wayne persona and the Batman. The character design resembles Wayne, complete with slicked-back hair and double-breasted business suit.[32] Like Bruce, Roger prides himself in being a rich playboy to the extent that one of his household's rules is only women may be let into his mansion without his permission.[25] Like Batman, Roger Smith carries a no-gun policy, albeit more flexible. Unlike the personal motives of the Batman, Roger enforces this rule for "it's all part of being a gentleman."[33] Among Roger's gadgetry is the Griffon, a large, black hi-tech sedan comparable to the Batmobile, a grappling cable that shoots out his wristwatch and the giant robot that Angel calls "Roger's alter ego."[19][34]

The Big O's cast of supporting characters includes Norman, Roger's faithful mechanically-inclined butler who fills the role of Alfred Pennyworth; R. Dorothy Wayneright, who plays the role of the sidekick; and Dan Dastun, a good honest cop who, like Jim Gordon, is both a friend to the hero and greatly respected by his comrades.[19]

The other major influence is Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Giant Robo.[25][30] Before working on The Big O, Kazuyoshi Katayama and other animators worked with Yasuhiro Imagawa on Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still. The feature, a "retro chic" homage to Yokoyama's career,[35] took seven years to produce and suffered low sales and high running costs. Frustrated by the experience, Katayama and his staff put all their efforts into making "good" with The Big O.[21]

Like Giant Robo, the megadeuses of Big O are metal behemoths. The designs are strange and "more macho than practical,"[32] sporting big stovepipe arms and exposed rivets. Unlike the giants of other mecha series, the megadeuses do not exhibit ninja-like speed nor grace. Instead, the robots are armed with "old school" weaponry such as missiles, piston powered punches, machine guns and laser cannons.[36]

Katayama also cited Super Robot Red Baron and Super Robot Mach Baron among influences on the inspiration of The Big O. Believing that because Red Baron had such a low budget and the big fights always happened outside of a city setting, he wanted Big O to be the show he felt Red Baron could be with a bigger budget. He also spoke of how he first came up with designs for the robots first as if they were making designs to appeal to toy companies, rather than how Gundam was created with a toy company wanting an anime to represent their new product. Big O's large pumping piston "Sudden Impact" arms, for example, he felt would be cool gimmicks in a toy.[37]

The Big O was conceived as a media franchise.[6] To this effect, Sunrise requested a manga be produced along with the animated series. The Big O manga started serialization in Kodansha's Magazine Z in July 1999, three months before the anime premiere. Authored by Hitoshi Ariga, the manga uses Keiichi Sato's concept designs in an all-new story. The series ended in October 2001. The issues were later collected in six volumes. The English version of the manga is published by Viz Media.[38]

In anticipation of the broadcast of the second season, a new manga series was published. Lost Memory[lower-alpha 4], authored by Hitoshi Ariga. Lost Memory takes place between volumes five and six of the original manga. The issues were serialized in Magazine Z from November 2002 to September 2003 and were collected in two volumes.[38] Paradigm Noise[lower-alpha 5], a novel by Yuki Taniguchi, was released 16 July 2003 by Tokuma Shoten.[39]

The Big O Visual: The official companion to the TV series (ISBN 4-575-29579-5) was published by Futabasha in 2003. The book contains full-color artwork, character bios and concept art, mecha sketches, video/LD/DVD jacket illustrations, history on the making of The Big O, staff interviews, "Roger's Monologues" comic strip and the original script for the final episode of the series.

"Walking Together On The Yellow Brick Road" was released by Victor Entertainment on 21 September 2000.[40] The drama CD was written by series head writer Chiaki J. Konaka and featured the series' voice cast. An English translation, written by English dub translator David Fleming, was posted on Konaka's website.[41]

The first season of Big O is featured in Super Robot Wars D for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. The series, including its second season, is also featured in Super Robot Wars Z, released in 2008. The Big O became a mainstay of the "Z" games, appearing in each entry of the subseries.

Bandai released a non-scale model kit of Big O in 2000. Though it was an easy snap-together kit, it required painting, as all of the parts (except the clear orange crown and canopy) were molded in dark gray. The kit included springs that enabled the slide-action Side Piles on the forearms to simulate Big O's Sudden Impact maneuver. Also included was an unpainted Roger Smith figure.

PVC figures of Big O and Big Duo (Schwarzwald's Megadeus) were sold by Bandai America. Each came with non-poseable figures of Roger, Dorothy and Angel. Mini-figure sets were sold in Japan and America during the run of the second season. The characters included Big O (standard and attack modes), Roger, Dorothy & Norman, Griffon (Roger's car), Dorothy-1 (Big O's first opponent), Schwarzwald and Big Duo.

In 2009, Bandai released a plastic/diecast figure of the Big O under their Soul of Chogokin line. The figure has the same features as the model kit, but with added detail and accessories. Its design was closely supervised by original designer Keiichi Sato.[42]

In 2011, Max Factory released action figures of Roger and Dorothy through their Figma toyline. Like most Figmas, they are very detailed, articulated and come with accessories and interchangeable faces. In the same year, Max Factory also released a 12-inch, diecast figure of Big O under their Max Gokin line. The figure contained most of the accessories as the Soul of Chogokin figure but also included some others that could be bought separately from the SOC figure, such as the Mobydick (hip) Anchors and Roger Smith's car: the Griffon. Like the Soul of Chogokin figure, its design was also supervised by Keiichi Sato. As well, in that same year, Max Factory released soft vinyl figures of Big Duo and Big Fau, in-scale with the Max Gokin Big O. These figures are high in detail but limited in articulation, such as the arms and legs being the only things to move. To date, this is the only action figure of Big Fau.