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List of The Big O media

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Below is the list of The Big O media, consisting of twenty-six anime episodes, eight manga volumes, two soundtracks, an artbook, and one Drama CD. The Big O (THE ビッグオー, The Biggu Ō), based on a concept by Keiichi Sato, follows Roger Smith, The Negotiator of Paradigm City.

The first season of the series premiered on October 13, 1999 on WOWOW with the episode "Roger the Negotiator" and concluded with "R.D." on January 19, 2000. The English-language version premiered on the Cartoon Network on April 2, 2001.

Originally a thirteen-episode series, positive fan response internationally resulted in a second season co-produced by Cartoon Network, Sunrise, and Bandai Visual. The Big O: Season Two premiered on January 2, 2003 on SUN-TV with the episode "Roger the Wanderer" and concluded with "The Show Must Go On" on March 27, 2003. The American premiere took place seven months later.

TV series

Season One

Starting on April 2, The Big O aired two times on the Cartoon Network. Once during the afternoon Toonami block at 5:30 PM and at 12:30 AM during Toonami:Midnight Run, making the 12:30 AM showing the premiere and, the more publicized, 5:30 PM showing a rerun.[1] Even at its late hour, The Big O was shown in edited form.[2] In anticipation to the premiere of The Big O:Season Two, the first thirteen episodes were re-aired on the adult swim block, this time completely un-cut.

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Act
Title Original
air date
Toonami
air date

Season Two

The Big O: Season Two premiered every Sunday on adult swim until October 19, 2003. On the night the final episode was to air, October 25, the viewers were treated to a rerun of episode 20, "Stripes." This resulted in the adult swim boards being flooded with complaints by fans. After an apology from Kim Manning, programming director for adult swim, the final episode of The Big O was aired on November 2 at 11:00 pm.[3]

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Act
Title Original
air date
adult swim
air date
Theme music

The first two episodes had no title sequence. Instead, the opening showed Big O's head emerging from a pool of lava and a disembodied voice saying: "Cast in the name of God, Ye not guilty." From Act:03 onward, the first season opening featured the Queen-inspired song "Big-O!"[4] composed by Rui Nagai.[5] The title sequence was an homage to the Ultraseven TV series, featuring black silhouettes of the eponymous Big O and his operator, among others.[6]

For its second season, the show sported a brand-new opening sequence, this one an homage to Gerry Anderson's UFO,[7] right down to the song "Respect" composed by Toshihiko Sahashi. For the American broadcast, the original opening was used.[8]

The closing credits present Roger and Dorothy sitting atop an hourglass while a slow love ballad, "And Forever," plays. The song was produced by Victor Entertainment and performed by Robbie Danzie with Naoki Takao.[4] For the Toonami broadcast it was changed for the battle theme "Stand a Chance" and shots of the giant city-smashing robot, Big O.[9]

Manga adaptation

The serialization of The Big O manga began in 1999 on Magazine ZKC. The manga was an adaptation of the anime series, written by Hitoshi Ariga. Hajime Yatate was given a creator byline. The issues were later collected over six tankōbon published by Kodansha. The English version of the manga is published by VIZ Media.

Cover Japanese release English release
Date ISBN Date ISBN
Volume 1
Volume 1
1999-12-16 ISBN 4-06-349005-X 2002-11-05 ISBN 1-59-116039-1
  • Chapter 00: "Prologue"
  • Chapter 01: "Take Back a Memory"
  • Chapter 02: "Electric Bug"
  • Chapter 03: "Thy Name is Dorothy"
  • Chapter 04: "Making of The Big O"
Volume 2
Volume 2
2000-03-23 ISBN 4-06-349014-9 2003-05-07 ISBN 1-56-931806-9
  • Chapter 05: "Sisters Dorothy"
  • Chapter 06: "A Ghost Ship & A Fallen Angel"
  • Chapter 07: "No Name No Memory No Future"
  • Chapter 08: "Tief Im Schwarzwald"
  • Chapter 09: "Paradigme Gallery"
  • Making of The Big O
Volume 3
Volume 3
2000-10-23 ISBN 4-06-349033-5 2003-07-02 ISBN 1-56-931827-1
  • Chapter 10: "Big O Vs. Big O"
  • Chapter 11: "My Sweetheart Dorothy"
  • Chapter 12: "I Wish Have a Monster"
  • Chapter 13: "Drinks, Oldster & Memory"
  • Chapter 14: "Paradigme Gallery"
  • Making of The Big O
Volume 4
Volume 4
2001-03-23 ISBN 4-06-349047-5 2003-10-01 ISBN 1-56-931977-4
  • Chapter 15: "Remember Me"
  • Chapter 16: "Godhead"
  • Chapter 17: "The Sun Will Rise"
  • Chapter 18: "Paradigme Gallery"
  • Making of The Big O
Volume 5
Volume 5
2001-08-23 ISBN 4-06-349065-3 2003-12-31 ISBN 1-59-116108-8
  • Chapter 19: "Another Face"
  • Chapter 20: "Inside of Darkness"
  • Chapter 21: "A Former Life"
  • Chapter 22: "Paradigme Gallery"
  • Making of Big O
  • Bonus Comics
Volume 6
Volume 6
2001-12-21 ISBN 4-06-349079-3 2004-04-07 ISBN 1-59-116219-X
  • Chapter 23: "R-Dorothy"
  • Chapter 24: "Angel"
  • Chapter 25: "Core"
  • Chapter 26: "Roger"
  • Chapter 27: "Paradigme Gallery"
  • Making of Big O
Lost Memory

To coincide with the release of the second season, a new manga series was produced. The Big O: Lost Memory was collected into two volumes, written by Hitoshi Ariga. The story takes place between volumes five and six of the original manga. As of January 2007, it has not been translated into English.[10]

  • The Big O: Lost Memory Volume 1 (ISBN 4-06-349121-8) Released on March 20, 2003.
  • The Big O: Lost Memory Volume 2 (ISBN 4-06-349151-X) Released on October 23, 2003.

Soundtrack

Like the series itself, the music of The Big O is an electic mix of styles and homages.[11] The composer, Toshihiko Sahashi, was chosen because of his "frightening amount of musical knowledge about TV dramas overseas," which worked well with Keiichi Sato's "love of all things nostalgic."[12]

Original Sound Score

Untitled

Track listing

  1. Stoning – 1:42
  2. Big O! [TV edit] – 1:11
    Vocal: Rui Nagai
  3. Stand a Chance – 2:09
  4. Name of God – 1:46
  5. The Storm – 1:20
  6. Spirit – 1:42
  7. Servant – 1:20
  8. Apologize – 2:03
  9. Apparel – 1:13
  10. The Great – 1:46
  11. Apostle – 2:26
  12. False – 1:26
  13. Sleep My Dear – 2:15
  14. Sure Promise – 1:58
  15. Touch – 1:17
  16. Weep For – 1:25
  17. Nature – 1:41
  18. The Words – 1:32
  19. Run Down – 0:32
  20. Tears – 1:15
  21. The Process – 1:09
  22. Sin – 1:32
  23. A Vision – 1:17
  24. Procrastination – 1:02
  25. Freedom – 1:40
  26. The Holy – 2:08
  27. Evolution – 1:23
  28. Eternal Live – 0:45
  29. And Forever... [TV edit] – 1:27
    Vocal: Robbie Danzie with Naoki Takao

Original Sound Score II

Untitled

Track listing

  1. Sure Promise - Union Sq. – 1:57
  2. Audio file "Roger's Theme (Big O).ogg" not found – 2:26
  3. Respect - Upper West Side – 2:23
  4. Apologize - Bleecker St. – 1:55
  5. Painful Dream – 1:40
  6. Respect - Lower East Side – 1:45
  7. Distance – 2:07
  8. Solitude – 1:51
  9. Dreadful – 1:54
  10. Before Dawn – 1:43
  11. Prayer - 50th St. – 2:12
  12. Token – 0:58
  13. Divine – 2:12
  14. Chain – 2:37
  15. Painful Dream - Spring St. – 1:39
  16. Prayer - 14th St. – 2:11
  17. Centenary – 1:08
  18. Perverse – 1:06
  19. Obfuscate – 1:26
  20. Prayer - WTC St. – 2:12
  21. Flag – 1:52
  22. And Forever - Grand Central – 1:41
  23. Legend of First Memory – 5:28
    Bonus track

Miscellaneous media

Artbook

The Big O Visual: The official companion to the TV series (ISBN 4-57-529579-5) was published by Futabasha in 2003. The book contains full-color artwork, character bios and concept art, mecha sketches, video/LD/DVD jacket illustrations, history on the making of The Big O, staff interviews, "Roger's Monologues" comic strip and the original script for the final episode of the series.[13]

Drama CD

File:Walking Together On The Yellow Brick Road (Big O).JPG
Drama CD cover

"Walking Together On The Yellow Brick Road" was released by Victor Entertainment on September 21, 2000. The Drama CD was written by series head writer Chiaki J. Konaka and featured the series' voice cast. An English-language translation of the script can be found at Konaka's website.[14]

Track listing
  1. "Brick Hall" – 1:16
  2. "Stand on Memory" – 11:00
  3. "A Spirit of the Past" – 16:13
  4. "Memory of the Truth" – 9:34
  5. "Forever and Ever" – 5:18
  6. "Brick Ballades" – 2:29
  7. "The Holy Remix" – 2:09

Computer and video games

File:Super Robot Wars D (boxart).jpg
Super Robot Taisen D boxart

Big O is featured in Super Robot Taisen D for the Game Boy Advance. Along with the eponymous black megadeus are: Dorothy-1, the Eel, Beck Victory Deluxe, and Big Duo. In true Super Robot-fashion, the megadeuses were re-designed chibi-style, while the human characters stayed in their regular full detailed form.[15]

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Big O Reruns". Anime News Network. 2001-03-19. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  2. ^ For details on the cuts made, see The Edit List by Kyle Pope at Anime News Network.
  3. ^ "Adult Swim Goofs with Big O". Anime News Network. 2003-10-27. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  4. ^ a b McCarter, Charles. "The Big O! CD Single". EX: The Online World of Anime & Manga. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  5. ^ On his website, Rui Nagai names Queen as one of this favorites bands.Template:Ja icon
  6. ^ "The Big O". Shoujo & General: Anime & Manga Reviews. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  7. ^ "Anime Central 2003 Panel". A Fan's View. Retrieved 2006-11-23.
  8. ^ "What's new?". UFO series home page. 2003-09-08. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  9. ^ All the opening and closing sequences can be found at the Paradigm City website.
  10. ^ "The Big O section at Hitoshi Ariga's site" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  11. ^ McCarter, Charles. "The Big-O Original Sound Score". EX: The Online World of Anime & Manga. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  12. ^ Shimura, Shinichi. (2004). Anime rebel with a cause: The Big O's Keiichi Sato. AnimePlay, 5, 22-26.
  13. ^ "The Big O Visual". Animebooks.com. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  14. ^ The drama script was translated by David Fleming of ZRO Limit. Fleming also translated the TV scripts.
  15. ^ Template:GameFAQs.

Official sites

Unofficial sites