The
Big O
Volume 2 DVD from Bandai
Review
by : Troy
Brownfield 
 If
you’ve never caught The Big O on Cartoon Network, you’re
missing some of the most hip, original anime to come down
the pipe. A crazy blend of disparate pop culture elements,
The Big O focuses on a James Bond/Bruce Wayne type
negotiator named Roger Smith, his monotone android sidekick
Dorothy, his stodgy butler, his military police officer buddy,
and his frickin’ huge giant robot, The Big O. The characters
inhabit Paradigm City, which can accurately be described as
the bastard love child of Dark City and Gotham. The
whole thing is wrapped up in noirish-Bruce Timm style animation
(created by Hajime Yatate with designs by Keiichi Satou) and
a boppin’ jazzy score (by Toshihiko Sahashi).
While
the first DVD (also reviewed in the Bento
Box) dealt mainly with set-up, the second disc (episodes
5 thru 7) delves more into stand-alone stories with hints
of bigger issues lurking in the background. The sexy and mysterious
Angel returns, but her appearance leaves you with at least
four more questions. The slowly unraveling tone of the series
plays well with its obvious detective influences.
As for
individual episodes:
Episode
5: Bring Back My Ghost: Roger agrees to make sure that
an ailing, shady rich woman’s police officer son comes home
for her birthday. The only problem is that he’s been dead
a year. Remove the giant robots, and this could have been
Raymond Chandler at the helm. Very cool.
Episode
6: A Legacy of Amadeus: Frustrated by Dorothy’s “mechanical”
piano playing, Roger takes her to a friend to learn how to
“play with heart”. Of course, one thing leads to another.
A nicely-done take on the sci-fi standard of robots trying
to be more human.
Episode
7: The Call from the Past: My favorite episode on the
disc features the return of Angel as she and Roger compete
for an underwater prize. There’s some nice character-building,
some deft humor, and hints at an overall direction for the
series. It also made me consider what Big O’s ominous boot-up
message might actually mean.
The
Big O
remains a fun series. It’s an animated romp through various
elements that shouldn’t work, and yet somehow do. It’s well
worth an anime fan’s time and effort to check it out. In fact,
it’s non-traditional nature should appeal to those outside
the regular crowd as well.
Troy
Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. He still
wishes that he had a giant robot.
Email him at psikotyk@aol.com
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