Anime TV Review

Show: Big O

Genre: Sci-fi

Creator/Studio: Keiichi Satou/Sunrise

DVD Info: Season 1 had 13 episodes and is on 4 DVD volumes. Season 2 also had 13 episodes, and has three volumes.

TV Rating: TV-PG(V)

Summary: Forty years ago, the people of Paradigm City lost all their memories. No one knows how or why this happened. Flash forward to present day, Roger Smith is Paradigm City’s top negotiator. Helping him in his job as crimefighter are his butler Norman Burg and an android named R. Dorothy Wayneright (the R means Robot, by the way). When negotiations go awry, Smith turns on a special button on his wristwatch and shouts “Big O!”.

The Good: The show has an intriguing concept. Roger and Dorothy have an amusing relationship. There’s lots of action.

The Bad: At times, the show can get confusing.

Offensive Material: There is a lot of violence, mostly in the big robot variety. (A few episodes did have blood) There’s also the occasional swear word, mostly the d-word. In Act 7: “Angel in the Night”, we saw a character named Angel remove her coat, revealing two scars on her back. But that’s as far as it goes for the nudity.

Overall: Roger Smith may remind you of Batman. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between Smith and the Dark Knight. The show is very entertaining.

My Rating (out of 4): 3.5

Note: Big O is based on a comic of the same name, translated in America by Viz Communications. The fifth volume will be out in February 2004.