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SUMMARY

Paradigm City is a very strange place.  40 years ago, everyone who lived in or around the city had their memory wiped.  The people of Paradigm began to rebuild, despite not knowing anything of their past.  Memories are worth more than gold, and there are many people who will do anything to get them back.

Roger Smith is a negotiator in Paradigm City.  During the course of his duties, he meets and deals with people from both sides of the law.  To help him in his negotiations, he has a partner named R. Dorothy Wainright, an almost human android.  He also has a giant robot called Big O.  This "Mega deuce" robot comes in handy when one or both parties pull a fast one.

Things have gone from bad to worse.  Three foreign Megaduces have arrived in the city and are reeking havoc.  It turns out Alex Rosewater, the head of Paradigm Corp, is indeed working with a foreign government.  His new aid, Alan Gabriel, is going after anyone who has memories, and eliminating them.

To make things worse, it seems that an old enemy has appeared, ready to take Roger and Dorothy down. 

"Big O, it's Showtime!"

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The quality is excellent.  There are no pixels or errors noted.  The colors are solid, and the motion, fluid.

AUDIO:  There is very little difference between the Japanese and English 2.0 audio tracks.  The English 5.1 is louder, with more surround sound elements.

EDITS: The Japanese opening and closing titles have been replaced with English titles.  No edits to the episodes have been noted.

EXTRAS: Very little in ways of extras.  All you get is a small production art gallery.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: Sunrise is the king of giant robot anime, and the Big O is no different.  Prolific writer Chiaki Konaka (Hellsing, Armitage) along with Kazuyoshi Katayama have given us a new take on this never ending genre.  Part 60's spy show, part Men in Black, this show is perhaps one of the hippest ever made.  It also has some mind bending puzzles to solve, and lots of dangling plot threads.

ACTING: It's like "Cowboy Bebop" all over again.  The unmistakable voices of David Lucas as Roger and Wendee Lee as the Fujiko clone "Angel" are back again.  Along with Lia Sargent (Milly from "Trigun") as the perfectly dead pan Dorothy, this is one great ensemble cast.  I think Crispin Freeman was a great choice for the smooth Alan Gabriel.  While I would have loved to hear Mark Hamil as our "Joker" looking fellow but that would have been too easy.

Everyone else does an excellent job.  I can see why people are big fans of the series.

The Japanese language seems to follow the recent tradition of low key voice acting. When they are yelling, their voices never get above a dull roar.

FAN SERVICE:   None that I noticed.

CONCLUSION:

Like with MD Geist, Big O was a bigger hit in the US than it was in Japan.  It seemed that everyone in the US loved The Big O.  They loved the "Batman: The Animated Series" feel.  They liked the characters, the writing, and giant robots kicking the crap out of each other.  On Cartoon Network, the series had huge ratings, and plenty of fan support.

Needless to say, the fans were a little disappointed when the series just ended.  No resolution to the many dangling plot threads.  They didn't get the big, booty kicking battle everyone was expecting.  Worst of all, the Japanese didn't really care for the idea of a sequel. 

Then Cartoon Network stepped in.  They brought back the entire cast and crew to start the "Second Season".  Now, this co-production of Sunrise and Cartoon Network is on DVD for your viewing pleasure!

If you were confused before, you are really going to be confused now.

Yes, Big O II does start exactly where episode 13 left off.  We see Roger and R. Dorothy ready to do battle with some serious looking Mega Duces.  Then, five minutes in, we go way the hell out there.  I'm sure their intention was to re-introduce the character of Roger.  Unfortunately, they way they do it, while inventive, is just hard to follow.  It took me several viewings to understand the events going on.

(I feel that I should point out that if you have not seen the first season, you need to.  There is little to no exposition.  Instead, Big O II relies on the idea that everyone is already familiar with the story.)

The next three episodes run almost exactly the same as they did in season one.  Roger is assigned a case, Paradigm lackeys cause problems.  Megaduces or some kind of dire threat shows up, and The Big O kicks its ass.  The only differences is that Roger gets some more face time with Paradigm head Alex Rosewater, and more hand to hand combat.  Oh, and Big O now has one hell of a Gattling gun built into his arm.  

This sequel has been touted as the answers to all your questions.  Frankly, if the remaining episodes follow the same formula, it won't.  Mind you, most of you reading this have already seen the entire series on Cartoon Network, so you know what happens.  I am willing to concede that point, and reserve judgment until I see the whole series.

While I have a problem with the big picture, the individual episodes are very well done.  I found episode 16, Day of the Advent the best of the four.  It played very much like an episode of Lupan the Third, with Roger and Angel filling the roles of Lupan and Fujiko.  It also has a bittersweet ending guaranteed to tug on the heart strings.

The Big O II is one of those rare sequels that is just as good as the original.  While the major plot lines are still a little too obtuse to follow, the stories by them selves are entertaining.  For all you Big O fans, this one is for you!

"Big O, it's Showtime!"

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