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smokeybrandreviews · 6 years

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Cast In The Name Of God

I adore giant robot anime. That sh*t has a place near and dear to my heart. I imagine it started when I was wee lil’ Smokey and took in the majesty of Transformers. I’ve written at length about my love for that show. I thought it was brilliant. Great characters. Great lore. Outstanding concept. Gen 1 Transformers was the one. Looking back, I realize it was corny as sh*t but nostalgia keeps my affection for it at a fever pitch. Eventually, I found shows like Voltron and Macross which fed into my developing preferences. When I got order, I stumbled across my all-time favorite anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion, almost by accident. Eva is beautiful and unnerving. It’s tragic and horrifying. It’s everything great cinema should be. With the advent of Toonami came a plethora of Gundam shows; G Gundam, the OG Mobile Suit Gundam, 0830 or whatever it’s called, and my baby, Gundam Wing. Epyon is best mobile Suit. Toonami also gave me a show I didn’t know I wanted; The Big O.

This show came out of nowhere, man. I didn’t expect it. Batman with a giant robot suit? Sign me up! The world of Big O is fascinating to me. It’s insane to thing that their entire existence is little more than a recurring stage play. Paradigm city is a falsehood, constructed by some greater power of which we never even get a glimpse. There are flashes of a civilization from before, one that warred themselves into oblivion. They created the aforementioned Big units and used them as tools of destruction. The thing is, you don’t even know is any of this is happening. I mean, not only are there Bigs, but monsters, “ghosts” and more. It’s crazy! By the time this show ends, it’s only two seasons, you’re left with a massive amount of unanswered questions and since it ends on a loop, you don’t even get any of them. But, I must say, it was a helluva ride to the ridiculous finale!

For me, though, it was the characters that made this show. From Roger Smith to the enigmatic Angel. My crazy ass Joker stand-in, Schwarzwald and Roger’s brilliant Alfred, Norman Burg never disappoint. I found Datsun to be a little superfluous but a nice foil with all his fire and passion, to the stoicism Roger almost always exceeds. Jason Beck stole every scene he was in with his over the top, hammy performance while Alan Gabriel just festered with homicidal, psychopathic, fetishes. Each of these characters were amazingly rendered in the post-modern, film noir design, but it was R.Dorothy Wayneright that wins this show for me. She as absolutely the best thing about this 24-episode run and I wanted so much more of her by the time this show was spent. To watch her grow and develop in more than just a doll was amazing. She had pathos. She had agency. She had life. And that’s saying a lot for what amounts to an emotionless ignition key. Dorothy’s journey toward self-actualization, alone, is worth makes Big O worth the watch.

The Big O is one of the best anime I have ever has the pleasure of watching. It has a wonderfully unique art style, pacing that could Michael Bay a run for its money, and a trove of endearing characters that you can’t help but grow attached to. While the way this thing wraps up can be a little infuriating, that just leaves so much for us, as fans, to conjecture and theorize. I was okay with how everything turned out, for the most part. Still, I wouldn’t be mad if someone kicked out a third season. Hell, if FLCL can get two more seasons that no one asked for, I feel like The Big O can get one to, you know, give a little bit of goddamn closure.

#The Big O #Cast in the name of God #Ye not guilty

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