The Big O 

In 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.

Creator:

Hajime Yatate

Stars:

Mitsuru Miyamoto, Steve Blum, Akiko Yajima

Cast

Series cast summary:
Mitsuru Miyamoto	...	Roger Smith 26 episodes, 1999-2003
Steve Blum	...	Roger Smith 26 episodes, 1999-2003
Akiko Yajima	...	R. Dorothy Wayneright / ... 25 episodes, 1999-2003
Motomu Kiyokawa	...	Norman Burg 25 episodes, 1999-2003
Tesshô Genda	...	Dan Dastun 25 episodes, 1999-2003
Lia Sargent	...	R. Dorothy Wayneright / ... 25 episodes, 1999-2003
Peter Lurie	...	Dan Dastun 25 episodes, 1999-2003
Emi Shinohara	...	Angel 19 episodes, 1999-2003
Wendee Lee	...	Angel / ... 19 episodes, 1999-2003
Unshô Ishizuka	...	Alex Rosewater 16 episodes, 1999-2003
Michael Forest	...	Alex Rosewater 16 episodes, 1999-2003
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Norman Burg 13 episodes, 2003
Milton James	...	Norman Burg 12 episodes, 1999-2000
Jamieson Price	...	Big Ear / ... 12 episodes, 1999-2003
Shinpachi Tsuji	...	Big Ear 11 episodes, 1999-2003
Ezra Weisz	...	Additional Voices / ... 11 episodes, 1999-2003

Storyline

Roger Smith acts as a negotiator in a city where everyone has lost their memories and keep it that way. When he isn't helping hostage situations, he's saving the day in a giant robot known as Big O. Although Roger has no idea why the "megadeus" (Big O) responds to his commands or why his butler seems to be a master at fixing the high tech machine, he starts to question the forgotten past after the events started by an unsual case involving an android called R Dorothy. While he and Dorothy begin a Henry Higgins/Eliza Dolittle style of friendship, villains and mysterious characters enter with clues leading up to something that may bring out an emotion Roger has tried to fight all of his known life - fear.

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Plot Keywords:

giant robot | future noir | neo noir | robot | android | 

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Taglines:

Good guys still wear black

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Action

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally a thirteen-episode series, positive fan response internationally resulted in a second season co-produced by Cartoon Network, Sunrise, and Bandai Visual. The full 26-episode series re-aired from the beginning starting October 1, 2002 in Japan.

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Quotes

Roger Smith: We have choices. Some people like to stand in the rain without an umbrella. That's what it means to live free.

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Crazy Credits

During the closing credits at the end of the first episode, Roger is shown sitting alone on a large hourglass. After R. Dorothy joins his household, subsequent episodes show them sitting together.

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Connections

Featured in The Know's Top 10s: Top Robot Girlfriends W/DEATH BATTLE's Wiz! (2018)

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Soundtracks

BIG-O!
Opening theme (first season)
Performed by Rui Nagai
Lyrics, music and arrangement by Rui Nagai

User Reviews

Sweet...

I am a fan of the Cartoon Network anime lineup, and by far this is the best show out of them all.

Unlike the other, more 'famous' anime shows (hence the Dragonball series), this show actually has realism in it. It isn't all action-packed. The show mostly surrounds negotiator Roger Smith uncovering information related to the jobs that his clients often give him or uncovering deep secrets about the forgotten past, in which an event forty years ago erased everyones' memory. It's pretty much talk, but it's interesting talk, because the talk that goes on throughout the show really relates to real-life situations--political corruption, the love for lost ones, and the desire to know the truth. Though this would bore an adrenaline-junkie, it would catch interest to those that I'd like to call 'down-to-Earthers', especially with the most wonderful music that is just too good to be put in a cartoon series.

But that doesn't mean that there isn't action. The battles that premiere in the series have enough action to supply that adrenaline junkie with all the sweat he needs (and all within just about five minutes, too).

Big O is by far the most successful amongst the dying robot-themed shows. Though the Transformers series seems to be long-lasting, it too is dying out as animators grow tired of constantly putting in the details of machinery and head to using computers as a way to 'build' the robots and give them movement. This type of animation doesn't blend in with the rest of the animation, thus fails (as seen in Transformers Energon).

Which brings up another point. Notice how the animation throughout the entire series remains constant. Sure the lighting changed, but the animation overall has remained the same. It shows that the people who drew up the series were determined to have the animation remain constant and nearly flawless (unlike in the Dragonball series when different animators draw separate episodes). This (especially when having giant robots battling) requires a lot of patience and loyalty.

And let me assure you that they have not gone unappreciated for their loyalty to the animation. Kudos, animators!

Overall: life-like characters that grow throughout the series; life-like situations; incredible animation; dazzling battles; and (most importantly), the most wonderful music for a cartoon ever.

Rating: 10 out of 10. The battle music still makes my neck hair stand up...

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

2 April 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Big O

Company Credits

Production Co:

Animaze, Bandai Visual Company, Sunrise

Technical Specs

Color:

Color