Reviewed on May 30th, 2006

Visually

The Big O is a nifty show on many levels. The iconic, consciously cartoony, colorful animation, in the mode that Batman: The Animated Series popularized, is stylish and attractive. It also makes for unique robot designs.

Audio

Audio wise I give Big-O 2 a 5 out of 5 stars because of a good job the voice actors did. Other than that, audio wise Big-O 2 was crisp and clear just the way you like it.

Storyline

In the original 13-episode Big O series, professional "negotiator" Roger Smith began investigating the mystery behind his hometown, Paradigm City, where every human and machine lost its memory 40 years ago. He was nominally assisted by a butler seemingly modeled after Batman's manservant Alfred and an emotionless female android who entered his life and refused to leave, but his most loyal companion was a giant retro-looking robot named Big O. As Paradigm City seemed to be threatened by giant monsters and humongous robots on a regular basis, Big O was a necessary protector for the city, even though Roger seemed to destroy as much of it as he protected in every battle. The first series ended on a cliffhanger, with Roger piloting Big O into a battle with three other gigantic robots of mysterious origin and purpose. The second series, The Big O II, opens at the same point, with a series of brief flashbacks, and Roger and his android Dorothy headed for combat. But suddenly, things change, and Roger becomes a homeless, scruffy vagabond on the streets of a Paradigm City where no one knows him and he's not welcome anywhere. He runs into old enemies and friends who have taken on new roles, and none of them recognize him. He can't decide whether he's living out another person's memories, or whether his original memories of being a rich playboy hero were the false ones. In the second episode of the new series (which numbers its episodes as though the two story arcs were one 26-episode continuum), Roger is hired in his negotiator capacity, asked to intervene with an assassin killing young people who share the memories of Paradigm City's senators. The job rapidly goes in an odd direction, and leads Roger back into contact with his old enemy/ally Angel. The end result of that job produces information about a threat to everyone outside Paradigm City's domes, and the third episode deals with Roger's attempts to save them. In the fourth, the madman Schwarzwald returns with a new threat that's just Big O's size.

DVD

I give the DVD 5 out of 5 stars because it comes with plenty of special features to keep your mind content and I'm sure they'll keep you hooked on to get the next volume of Big-O 2.

Overall

The Big O II is a series that almost didn't happen, response to the show was lackluster in Japan, and it looked like no new episodes would be produced after the original 13. But Cartoon Network found the popular response to the show sufficient enough to justify co-producing this second arc. In theory, it should provide some of the answers to the many questions the first series left dangling. In practice, it seems no more focused or directed than the first. So overall I didn't find The Big O II so entertaining to watch just like the first. But hey it is my opinion and you don't have to take word for it that just because I said it wasn't good doesn't mean it won't be good in your point of view.

by Aidan