Shares
one thing with the Anime: Nothing makes any sense
"Chapter Two:
Electric Bug"
Created – Hajime Yatate
Story & Art – Hitoshi
Ariga
English Adaptation – Lance
Caselman
Translator – Lillian
Olsen
Touch-up & Lettering
– Dan Nakrosis
Cover Design – Sean Lee
Cover Colorist – Paul
Wilson
Grpahics & Design –
Sean Lee
Editor – Jason Tompson
Editor-in-Chief – Hyoe
Narita
1999
I
rarely get into anime shows.
Like
almost never. My love of the genre begins and ends with Starblazers and we all
know how long ago that came out. I've sat through first episodes of Trigun,
Full Metal Alchemist, Samurai Champloo (almost got me!), Robotech and so many
others. None of them "caught me".
Okay,
maybe I do enjoy the silliness of a Pokemon episode now and again. Also perhaps
for the sake of my son, I will sit through an episode of Naruto.
But
love a series? Binge watch from beginning to end? That doesn't happen.
It
almost did with The Big O. I mean, I tried to like it. I was there on October
13, 1999 when it made its debut and for some reason I felt a pull to watch it.
I mean it's a show about a giant mecha and we all know I have a soft spot for
giant robots. The show patterned much of its look off of the Bruce Timm Batman:
The Animated Series, adopting a tech-noir kind of vibe, which I found even more
appealing. Best of all the lead character, Roger Smith looked and sounded ultra
cool, like a James Bond-for-hire.
And
then I sat through about three episodes and realized the world the show took
place in was just bat-sh*t crazy and I gave up on it.
Big
O's setting is Paradigm City, a city where everyone has amnesia. No one can
remember beyond forty years ago when something destroyed the world outside the
city. Most of the city is covered by a huge dome and everything is controlled
by the sort-of-evil Paradigm Corporation.
I
know it is asking a lot for my animes to feature both giant, building
destroying robo-battles AND believable worldscapes, but what can I say? I'm
picky. A boy wants what a boy wants and I need my escapism anchored in some
realism.
And
apart from all that we have to mention that The Big O sounds less like an anime
and more like a porno. Let's get that out of the way right here. There has to
be more than one little boy or girl's mom that took one look at packaging
labeled "The Big O" and steered them clear of the property out of
fear they would learn about sex from an undesirable source. I mean, how many of
us haven't accidentally been watching Japanese cartoons and it unexpectedly
turn from mech battles with guys in power suits to tentacle porn? More times
than I can count for me.
I
don't mind so much, but others might.
So
kudos on totally making your product sound like adult entertainment, Sunrise.
You might want to work on that next time.
Even
in my depression over the name and setting, there still was a giant robot to
love and some clever camera work that played off B:TAS as well as a suave
super-spy type and his one-eyed butler working on the a confusing mystery with
bullets and rocket launchers and androids.
Oh!
(Big O!), and that theme song which is almost a direct lift of Queen's
"Flash" main title. I mean compare them side-by-side if you don't
believe me. Same shouting the title, same musical structure, same beat with
alarm sounding behind it section, same everything…
What
I'm saying is that it tricked me into liking it more than just a little.
Other
people too, apparently, as the series was originally only slated for 13
episodes, but Sunrise was convinced to produce an additional 13 for American
audience when it didn't catch fire in Japan. However the resolution to the
mystery of everyone's amnesia was so lame that even Americans abandoned it.
What we were left with was lots of style, little substance and a few good giant
robot battles.
The
comic book fared better than the anime, although I'm not quite sure how. There
were two different series, actually. The first had no subtitle and the second
being called The Big O: Lost Memory. The original books had eight volumes
comprising of three to four issues each. It tapped out after 21 issues. The
second series had two volumes and lasted for 8 issues.
The
book in my clutches is issue three of the first series and it is a might slow
for my tastes. We begin with Roger performing his task as a negotiator, working
to get funds for a school that has been subject to Paradigm City's version of eminent
domain.
This
gives some background into the cruel setting the people outside of Paradigm
City have to deal with, a harsh world where the sun doesn't shine anymore.
Inside the dome is a kind of industrial paradise. Roger is shown to be a caring
young upstart who fights for the good of all people. This was pretty much the
tone of the series as well. Even if the details of what Roger is fighting
against were rather vague, you always felt he was in the right.
The
problem was the "everyone has amnesia" plotline they had going.
Prolonging that mystery was an incredibly difficult thing for the writers and I
don't feel that did so successfully. Take for instance this part about Sheila
and her "memory." The young student begins by saying a picture of
butterflies is full of "lies."
Sheila's
being all superior, saying the sky wasn't ever that blue and that the girl got
it all wrong, basically being a real dickish children's art critic. She points
out the butterflies specifically, which will have bearing on things later
claiming they don't look like this…
But
instead look like this…
And
she claims to have seen the actual bugs. Then suddenly the power goes out and
Roger has to console the kids.
Which
earns him an honorary title that I admit caused a grin.
I
know exactly how that feels.
But
all of this is really just a bit of ham-fisted foreshadowing as The Big O will
be facing…well, that's getting a little ahead of myself. Sorry, but I'm
impatient for the big robo battles.
Instead
we have to deal with Roger's world's social structure and how people have
forgotten everything.
And
we find out the Sheila frequently visits Dr. Miller, a crazy mad scientist. Dr.
Miller has a few of those bugs she has seen in a jar.
It
works out that Dr. Miller is in the employ of the main villain of the series, Beck.
Beck's motivations are shady and unknown, but Dr. Miller is clearly one of
these mad scientists who is out to prove a theory without thought
of the consequences to the rest of the world. And the method of proving that
theory has something to do with Sheila's bug friends.
What
is it with Japanese characters having hair the shape of cinnamon buns? That
hairpiece looks like it came from the Kolache Factory. So odd.
And
"breakfast bun-hair" Beck has plans for those bugs, which just so
happen to siphon energy. His idea is to depower Big O, which is a "megadeus",
and then destroy him. Also the term "megadeus" makes me think of
taking a very large number two.
But
during dinner, Roger captures (in a very unlikely sequence that shows off more
of this series style) one of the bugs that is draining his estate's power. Also
we get to meet Roger's butler Norman, who is perhaps the best manservant this
side of Alfred. Having been based on that template served the anime well. In
fact the dynamic between the two, although stolen or lifted from B:TAS, was one
of the strong points of the show. That and Roger always being as cool a
cucumber as Bruce Wayne was. If you have to imitate something, I suppose they
picked both the right source and did a good job evoking the same feeling.
While
Roger and Norman ponder and research the bug's appearance, which happens to be
of a techno-organic origin by the way...
We
learn that Sheila let the little fellas loose ahead of Beck's schedule.
And
as Sheila is shunned by her Uncle-Grampa-whoever, the military police try to maintain order
and Roger goes on a bughunt in his car, Beck decides to use this opportunity to
stop Big O once and for all.
Which
doesn't sit well with Dr. Miller.
But Beck
goes mad with power.
Roger
decides the massing bugs have formed something Big O can tackle. (and the
entire sequence is kind of cool)
We
get that long awaited series catchphrase and "It's showtime!"
And
we end just shy of the massive battle I was hoping for all issue long with Big
O shooting it from afar and the shadow bug thing hiding.
The
last page is Roger coming across a glowing building, the mystery of which will
have to wait until next issue.
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