Category: The Big O

Welcome all, to The Big O’s grand finale! This week was… The episodes were… This was a god damn trip alright. Even as I write this I’m not sure what happened, or even how I feel about it! So lets take a ride, working our way through the episodes together as I try to figure out exactly what I just watched.

First up is episode 25, “The War of the Paradigm City”. So much happened this episode, there were so many reveals, that I can’t even begin to try and hide them behind a break. So instead let’s just jump right in with the spoilers and start with what I think is the biggest twist of the episode: It’s all a god damn dome. The entire city, neigh the entire known setting of the show, is inside a dome. Or maybe it’s meant to be a sound stage or something, I don’t know. Point is, the sky is fake, stage lights are hanging from the ceiling, their world isn’t real. And of course leave it to Schwarzwald to be the one to discover it in his final moments possessing Big Duo. This is it. This is the final truth he was looking for the entire time, and its fucking everyone up.

Continue reading “The Big O – 25/26 [The War of the Paradigm City/The Show Must Go On] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to the penultimate week of The Big O! Only one more to go after this, and then the review, and then a break for New Years as I try to write… Jesus, 4 reviews? 5? Let me tell you, picking up this many shows was a mistake. I’m going to make it work though. Now without further delay, lets dive into the episodes!

First up is episode 23, “Twisted Memories”. It’s been clear for a while now that Big O has been laying the foundation for the finale. in fact I had thought it would have already started by now, but Big O has been feathering the breaks just enough to keep us waiting. Well no more! Because with this episode I can say with surety that the finale… Has truly begun! The first half is mostly checking in with everyone, letting us know where Angel, Dastun, Alex, and Roger all are, mentally and physically. Some of these aren’t that big, like Dastun trying to reconnect with Roger a bit since it’s all he can really do, or Angel slumming it with nowhere else to go. The second however half kicks things off proper with Dorothy’s kidnapping, as well as the return of an old friend.

Continue reading “The Big O – 23/24 [Twisted Memories/The Big Fight] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to another week of Big O! Only two more left after this, which means its time to start thinking of our next series. If you have any you’d like covered, make sure to leave a comment and I’ll make sure it shows up in the poll! Big O was there for over a year and it finally won, so it does eventually happen, I promise. Now without further ado, onto the episodes!

First up is episode 21, “The Third Big”, which continues last week’s fight. As a whole, this episode felt rather awkward, mostly with how it used time. From Roger crossing the city and back in a few minutes to the little details like Alan really slow-rolling Dorothy’s murder. Don’t get me wrong, the overall experience wasn’t bad. I certainly don’t regret that Roger was able to save bae- I mean Dorothy. It’s just… As much as it’s possible to do so in a show about giant robots beating the crap out of each other, Big O broke my suspension of disbelief here. It didn’t feel particularly tense to me because I knew the series was running on Game of Thrones time, where someone could cross the continent in just a few minutes. Is this a big deal? No, not at all. It’s a lingering, but notable, footnote. I just wanted to get my only major criticism out of the way first so we could focus on the good stuff for the rest of the post. So what do you say we do just that?

Continue reading “The Big O – 21/22 [The Third Big/Hydra] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to another week of The Big O! This week we have robot fights, some existential dread, and even romance for those that are into that sort of thing (Me, I am, Hi). We have a lot too talk about this week, so lets dive right into it!

First up we have episode 19, “Eyewitness”. This was kind of an odd episode, where the central plot didn’t really involve Roger at all. Instead it was mostly about Dastun as he works to solve the case of the Android crusher, a criminal targeting and destroying androids, while also dealing with a special investigator sent from above named Frederick O’Reilly, shortened to Freddy. This is a pretty classic detective story, the twist being the Freddy is an android himself and the focus is less on the criminal and more on Dastun coming to respect Freddy for his work. I call it odd because this sort of transhumanist plot, one all about Dastun accepting Freddy for his commitment to his work, feels a bit out of place with where Big O is right now. Still, it was solid and there were plenty of side-details to help it along.

Continue reading “The Big O – 19/20 [Eyewitness/Stripes] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to another week of The Big O! This is a fun week, a week of villains. Both of my favorites make a return, with Schwarzwald and Beck getting one episode each. One is a serious discussion on the search for truth while the other is fun Super Sentai parody. Both are pretty good. So without further ado, lets dive into the episodes!

First up is episode 17, “Leviathan”. This is all Schwartzwald, his swansong. In a last ditch attempt to spread his message to the people of Paradigm City, Schwartzwald has printed his manifesto on leaflets and dropped from the sky everywhere he can. He tells people to search for the truth, to not avert their eyes or else they become worthless puppets to those keeping everything hidden. Likening our fear of the dark to a wider fear of the unknown, to the question of happy ignorance or painful truths. It’s nice! As what feel like effectively his last words, this manifesto encompasses Schwarzwald well. Both his desire for truth and natural journalistic curiosity as well as how it’s not all societally minded. There are a few lines in there about his own personal role in it all, like he’s trying to vindicate himself at the end, showing us it isn’t all altruistic.

Continue reading “The Big O – 17/18 [Leviathan/The Greatest Villain] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to another (late) week of Big O! Apologies, lost track of time. This week we meet another android, rocks fall from the sky, and Rosewater finally takes center stage as our lead villain. Is it any good? Does Dorothy do cute robot girl things? And does Roger get to punch something? The answer to all of those is found inside! Here’s a hint though: The answer is yes. And apologies in advance if this one is a bit more rambly than normal, it’s a very busy week and I don’t have time to proofread it. Should be back to normal for next week.

First up we have episode 15, “Negotiation with the Dead”. This episode Big O starts to widen its vision a bit, bringing in the politics of Paradigm City and hinting at more of it’s dark secrets. Remember R. Dorothy, the red hood from Season 1? Well apparently those people she was murdering have memories of the past, memories belonging to former Senators of Paradigm City, the same Senators that were also killed during the terrorist episode. She was killing them to try and get rid of those memories, eliminating anyone that had them. However this episode we meet one such Senator who still lives, Roscoe Fitzgerald, who asks Roger to investigate this assassin for him. The catch? Roscoe still has all of his memories, he doesn’t have an alter ego, a normal person who inherited or found his memories. Why? Simple. Because he’s an android.

Continue reading “The Big O – 15/16 [Negotiation with the Dead/Day of the Advent] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to the midway point of Big O! This week sees one season finish and another begin, a finale and a pilot, and let me tell you both are kind of weird. Not in a Migi & Dali way, more of a psychedelic Serial Experiments Lain way. Is that a good thing? Well lets dive in and find out.

First up is episode 13, “R・D”. The most frustrating thing about this episode is that it ends on one hell of a cliffhanger. Seriously, if I had to wait 3 years for the next episode like viewers at the time did, instead of the 3 minutes I did today, I’d have gone insane. Really glad we can just skip straight to season 2 because Big O covers a lot in this episode. It feels like things are finally kicking into gear, like it’s finally ready to start tackling the central plot it has been setting up for the past 6 or so episodes, as well as finally diving into Roger as a character. I say “finally” because until now Big O has mostly looked at Roger externally, at his role in Paradigm City at large. But here it starts to explore him internally, and I like that.

Continue reading “The Big O – 13/14 [R・D/Roger the Wanderer] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to the almost half-way point of The Big O!  This week we kick off the Christmas season with a shockingly seasonal episode and begin the finale of Big O’s first season. We have a lot to talk about, so lets dive right in.

First up we have episode 11, “Daemonseed”. Overall, as a complete package, I quite liked this episode. It’s probably the stronger of the two we will be talking about this week. Centered on Christmas, I mean “Heaven’s Day”, it’s all about Dorothy, Roger, their relationship, religion, all the regular things that come up in normal Christmas episodes. But because of Big O’s setting, where no one has any memories from 40 years ago, it manages to do away with a lot of the usual “baggage” that comes with it. Suddenly Christmas songs passed down through holiday cards have a special meaning, presents become based in Paradigm City’s history pf charity and control, and Roger gets to be surly about it all. Add on Dorothy’s android existence, her struggle to understand not only what it means to be human but specific emotions like love, and you have something solid here.

Continue reading “The Big O – 11/12 [Daemonseed/Enemy is Another Big!] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all, to week 5 of The Big O! This week sees the return of an old friend, Dorothy asking an important question and Dastun getting perhaps the artsiest episode yet all to himself! Is it any good? Well that’s what we’re here to talk about, so lets dive right into it.

Starting off we have episode 9, “Beck Comes Back”. As the name implies, this episode sees the return of Beck! And wouldn’t you know it, the guy looks great with a beard/goatee. Overall I felt this was a solid episode. It’s core is a pretty straight forward revenge plot from Beck, but Big O introduces a side narrative involving Dorothy, the kidnapped man and questions of identity that really filled out it for me. My biggest, and really only, gripe with the episode would have to be just how easily everyone believes Roger would kidnap someone. Seriously, Dastun of all people should at least know Roger would never do this. And he was called in to help resolve the kidnapping long after it had already occurred. It felt a bit weird to me is all, even with Mr. Wise backing it up. Still, it’s ultimately a very small nitpick.

Continue reading “The Big O – 9/10 [Beck Comes Back/Winter Night Phantom] – Throwback Thursday” →