Big O II

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Kazuyoshi Katayama
Production
Bandai, Sunrise
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
13 episodes
Year
2003

BIG O II V. 2

By David Rasmussen
17th Nov 04

Company - BANDAI
Rated - Age 13 and up.
Planning by Sunrise
Created by Team "Hajime Yadate"
Concept Art Supervisor - keiichi Sato
Written by Chiaki J. Konaka & Kazuyoshi Katayama
Art Designs by Hajime Sato
Art Director - Masaru Ota
Produced by Sunrise Inc. and BANDAI Visual Co.

Previously...
The battle for Paradigm City has ended.
The evil R Dorothy robot is scrap. The Foreign MegaDeus' have fallen under the control of Paradigm Corp. and it's big shot Rosewater. So what happened next?

We witnessed the arrival of Alan Gabriel, the assassin who is abit more of The Joker than that loser Beck (who appears in this DVD), as well as the revival of "Big Duo", and the mystery of Schwartzwald.

Mystery? After the panic raised by what seemed to be his return it seems that Schwartzwald wandered into the wilderness of the desert outside of Paradigm City and... died?
So is Schwartzwald truly dead? Or is he one nightmare that will not die so easily?

For now that doesn't matter... that idiot Beck just broke out of jail as we start into this DVD.
...by the abyss, what's with that HAIR!! Ack. Let the madness begin...

Episode 18 - The Greatest Villain
Linkers
Episodes 1-2 : Beck appears for first time. First time he kidnaps R Dorothy.
Episode 8 : Beck returns for second time, "brainwashes" R Dorothy.

Now that Beck has broken himself out of jail, and given himself a do' that looks like he should have had a cameo in the new Starsky & Hutch movie... now what? Looks like the large jolt of lightning that went through his body to help in his escape sort of jogged up a few memories, and those memories seem to lead right to Roger Smith! Meanwhile if the piano is being banged at a noise loud enough to wake the armies of the dead (Return of the King)... again... then it must mean Roger Smith is oversleeping... again.

So after a brief stint of bondage technique usage on the piano he's off to meet with his new clients, a major Japanese construction company that seems to be filled with -- Japanese employees wearing suits from the MIB clothing line (approved by a Mr. Smith and a Mr. Jones), jumpsuits, and carrying -- cameras?
Yup. This isn't a good thing, is it? They look like bad stereotypes and I guess that might be the point.

It seems that today's episode is a parody from beginning to end, except for the fact that Beck seems to have some major memories that he shouldn't have... well, of all the people it HAD to be him. Dammit.
It had to be him and that's bad. How so? Beck has taken Roger hostage in the corporate headquarters of that Japanese Construction Corp, and has turned Roger into -- a tourist attraction? Eck. Hope he doesn't get seizures when exposed to flashing lights because there's a ton of that with all these Japanese people taking pictures... sheesh! And how much is Beck charging per pic anyway?!?

But it looks like Beck has another plan. What plan? He plans to use a strange mechanical "puppet" of Roger Smith to call Big O out to the big blue ocean (following same now rather mobile mechanical puppet) until it drops itself into the water.

Now, mind you, if Big O was mindless then it'd work... but since we established previously that Big O seems to have some sort of sentience then that plan would never work. It almost does, but not quite.

Oh, and since Roger is out of action it looks like the city needs a brand new Negotiator! And that person is... R Dorothy? She's good at the entrance and mood, but she should stop attempts at humor.
Still, for her first time as a negotiator she does good work.

Oh, yeah. If things couldn't get worse Beck tries ONCE again to brainwash R Dorothy as he did twice before... yeah, right. He did that once, he did that twice... did he think it'd work THREE TIMES IN A ROW? No way. Not in his lifetime.

So, in the end, what is the problem with this nutter Beck anyway? He's some sort of bad Joker wannabe in this Universe. Heck. After seeing him in that Joker inspired purple suit in Episode 14 you can't help but think he's bent on being inspired by the Clown Prince of Crime. What a loser.
He never gets it right, always gets the heck kicked out of him, and never is very threatening.

He's lots of fun however, and I look forward to his occasional appearance, just he's not much of a threat.
And for a loser, we are proud to present a weapon suited for a loser... what is this! Three vehicles that transform into a giant MegaDeus type thing codenamed the "Wind God"? Can you say "Voltron slash Power Rangers ripoff"? Oh yeah. Get ready for the battle of the giant city smashing robots... a battle that just doesn‘t seem to last very long. Figures!

Oh, and before we forget? Here we find out Beck seemed to have a memory of Roger as the "Dominos of the Black MegaDeus"... sound familiar? Yeah. Last person to say that was Rosewater! That's not good.
Beck's ultimate evil MegaDeus wannabe robot? The dark evil, the power of the Orient, the... Yeah.
Right. Hold still -- yeah, that's right -- a few thousand rounds of ammo from Big O's right arm and... yeah, that was short. Moving on now please, thank you for playing -- have a nice trip back to prison. Loser.

Overall? Sure it's fun to watch and all, but this guy needs somebody else to call the shots.
Which will happen NEXT DVD. But for now... nice episode, by the way, really. One of the memorable ones of the second "season". Especially for Roger since he simply HAD to promise R Dorothy something... yeah. A promise is a promise, but really!
(And if you haven't figured it out? This episode is one where R Dorothy really shines as a character.)

Episode 19 - Eyewitness
Linkers
Episode 9 - Col. Dawson shines in this episode.

It all starts with the cold blooded "murder" of an android working in a junk yard.
The murder? Done by a mysterious "killer" with a pipebomb shooting crossbow.
All the police need now is an eyewitness, which they're about to be given.

Eyewitness? Nope, Harrison Ford doesn't show up in town and everyone isn't relocated to an Amish village. That's Witness. This Eyewitness is connected to a series of crimes done by an "Android Smasher" who is blowing up androids with a pipe bomb shooting crossbow. While last episode was all fun, this one is sort of like Big O meets Law & Order... only with more Order and less Law (court trial stuff).

It all starts when Col. Dawson is teamed up with a Detective from Paradigm. A robotic Detective.
First off? With this android detective (Detective O'Reilly)? Don't think Robocop, think "Metropolis".
He's more brains than brawn, and that is the theme of the episode by the way. The way they go at this investigation is something out of Law & Order, with more detective work than heavy handed tactics that might be more the forte of Robocop. Now that doesn't mean our man O'Reilly doesn't have a few good moves on him, which he does, but he doesn't do it the "hard" way which is nice.

Oh, and who's the eyewitness in question? R Dorothy, who is herself almost blown up by our pipebomb shooting suspect. This episode? Col. Dawson, R Dorothy and even Norman gets to shine abit here (though R Dorothy's big episode was last episode).

Yet another of the highly memorable episodes of the second season, it's quite good for entirely different reasons than why Episode 18 was quite good (intelligent and engaging over the high humor of last episode).

BONUS ("Clark who?") - Pay attention near the end. Remember how I said Big O is one part Batman, one part 007, and one part giant robots (think I said that in a previous review if I remember)? Well check out who shows up at the end of this episode! We got two people who look like -- Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen? Eagle eyed viewers should note them near the end.

BONUS II - During the episode who should show up to give Roger an ear to bend and push him towards Episode 20 to get him working on a certain something? Angel. Their meeting here sets up the chain of events that carry on from Episode 20 towards the end of the series. But in what way? You'll find out when you check the series out yourself.

Episode 20 - Stripes
Ok. We're stopping here. But it looks like the mysterious enemies from a "Foreign Nation" has finally arrived, and it looks like she is connected to Angel (no surprise), Alan Gabriel (also no surprise) and quite a few citizens of Paradigm City who seem to be "Sleeper Agents" of said nation... which is kind of a surprise.

The episode, which ends in a cliffhanger, finally brings out the final part of the "circle" of players in this whole affair, and it seems the new "players" has a mad-on against Rosewater. Why?
Guess we'll find that out next DVD... but for now it's time for the breakdown.

Optional Extras
Production Art Gallery - It is exactly what it sounds like, but your in for a treat when you check this out!

Big O II Breakdown the 2nd
What's Hot? - It's one of the best Animes I've watched this past year. And it's one of the best English Dubs I've seen. Overall the series is highly recommended for a great deal of things. The story is great, the animation is right on, the voice acting in both Japanese and English is locked in tight, and as a whole it's a great series. Looking forward to how it all ends... and will be a bit sad when it's over.

What's Not? - Nothing. It's all good.

Moments to Remember? - Episode 18 and 19 are quite memorable. Episode 20 brings more answers to light... in exchange for more questions. But DVD V. 3 should answer even more questions.

What to Ignore? - Nothing. It's never good to not pay attention in this series. You'll miss a trick if you don't pay attention so pay attention!

Overall? One of the series I highly recommend as your Essential Anime experience. Great series, must see!

-- David Rasmussen 17th Nov 04

Big O II Images