"The Big O" (1999)TV series

Director:

Kazuyoshi Katayama

Writers:

Masanao Akahoshi (writer)
Kei'ichi Hasegawa (writer)
(more)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

2 April 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Action

Tagline:

Good guys still wear black

Plot:

A futuristic city with lost memories, an expert negotiator fights threats to the city with the help of an android and his own giant robot.

Plot Keywords:

Domed City | Anime | Android | Artificial Intelligence | Futuristic

Cast

Mitsuru Miyamoto	...	Roger Smith (3 episodes, 1999)
Steve Blum	...	Roger Smith (3 episodes, 1999)
Akiko Yajima	...	R-D / ... (3 episodes, 1999)
Lia Sargent	...	R-D / ... (3 episodes, 1999)
Motomu Kiyokawa	...	Norman Burg (3 episodes, 1999)
Ethan Murray	...	Norman Burg / ... (3 episodes, 1999)
Tesshô Genda	...	Major Dan Dastun (3 episodes, 1999)
Peter Lurie	...	Major Dan Dastun (3 episodes, 1999)

(more)

Series Directed by
Ikuro Sato		(2 episodes, 1999)
Kazuyoshi Katayama		(unknown episodes)

Series Writing credits
Chiaki Konaka		(3 episodes, 1999)
Masanao Akahoshi		(unknown episodes)
Kei'ichi Hasegawa		(unknown episodes)
Hajime Yatate		(unknown episodes)
Shin Yoshida		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Sawako Furuya	....	co-producer (unknown episodes)
Ken Iyadomi	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Haruyo Kanesaku	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Satoshi Kanuma	....	co-producer (unknown episodes)
Yutaka Maseba	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Charles McCarter	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Chieo Ohashi	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Eiji Sashida	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Tsutomu Sugita	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Toshihiko Sahashi		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Tomoaki Tsurubuchi		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Design by
Kei'ichi Sato		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Masaru Ota		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Kazuyoshi Katayama	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1999)

Series Sound Department
Michael McCarty	....	adr engineer / sound mixer (unknown episodes)
Yota Tsuruoka	....	sound director (unknown episodes)

Series Special Effects by
Yutaka Hoshiba	....	special effects (unknown episodes)

Series Animation Department
Kenji Hayama	....	animator / animation director (3 episodes, 1999)
Atsushi Aono	....	animator (2 episodes, 1999)
Takashi Hyôdô	....	animator (2 episodes, 1999)
Yasuzô Iino	....	animator (2 episodes, 1999)
Tetsu Inoue	....	animator (2 episodes, 1999)
Eiji Komatsu	....	animator (2 episodes, 1999)
Tsunenobu Nozaki	....	animator (2 episodes, 1999)
Yukie Sako	....	animator (2 episodes, 1999)
Tsutomu Suzuki	....	animator / assistant animation director (2 episodes, 1999)

Series Other crew
David Fleming	....	translator: English dub (unknown episodes)
Mary Mason	....	adr script: English dub (unknown episodes)
Lia Sargent	....	adr script: English dub (unknown episodes)
Kevin Seymour	....	adr director (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Animaze
• Bandai Visual Company
• Sunrise
• ZRO Limit Productions

Distributors

• Bandai Entertainment Inc. (USA)
• Bandai Visual Company (Japan)
• Cartoon Network
• Sun TV (2003) (Japan) (TV) (season 2)
• WoWow (1999) (Japan) (TV) (season 1)

Other Companies

• Animaze  English voice recording
• ZRO Limit Productions  English voice recording

Also Known As:

Big O (USA) (cable TV title)
The Big O II (Japan) (second season title)

Runtime:

30 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG

Company:

Animaze

Trivia:

The opening credits with a "radioactive liquid" background with black silhouettes is based on the opening credits of the Japanese sci-fi TV classic, "Urutora sebun" (1967) (considered the best of the Ultra Series by fans).

Quotes:

R. Dorothy Wayneright: You're a louse, Roger Smith.
Roger Smith: Well, that's a first. I'm used to *human* women saying that to me.

Red Balloons and Red Tomatoes

Big O is not like any other show I have ever seen. The writers clearly have extensive knowledge concerning Greek mythology and even Christianity. It is a cartoon sure, but the depth of the show is very subjective. The show itself gives the viewer just enough clues to allow one to believe that all of the other unending parade of questions will somehow be answered, but apparently, they won't. The show walks a profound balance of story and probability and divine vagueness.

I saw a few episodes of this show and became hooked like no other show I have ever seen. The overall themes are far from light. Two of them being memories and ultimately attempting to define life. What is the value of one's life without memories? What separates humans from androids in a futurist world without knowing which actually came first? And that is assuming who and what each character actually is, which is far from a given. My obsession with the show did eventually wane, largely because the show itself is rather slow at times. There are plenty of action scenes with enormous robots, also representing something I'm sure, to balance the pace, but those battles rarely excited me.

The truly strange aspect of this show is that the majority of it for me is window dressing. It's the symbolism that is scattered throughout each episode that elevates this show to atmospheric levels. This show is just smart enough and just open ended enough for each little mysterious detail to have some profound meaning. This show has everything within it to be the basis of a new religion in and of itself, seriously. The fact that all the answers can plausibly be answered, but aren't, makes Big O that much more life-like in nature.