This is a list of episodes of the anime series The Big O (THE ビッグオー Za Biggu Ō). The series is directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama and animated by the Japanese animation studio Sunrise. The series follows Roger Smith, Paradigm City's top Negotiator.
The first season of the series premiered on 13 October 1999 on WOWOW with the episode "Roger the Negotiator" and concluded with "R.D." on 19 January 2000. Starting on 2 April, The Big O aired two times on the Cartoon Network: once during the afternoon Toonami block at 5:30 PM, and once at 12:30 AM during Toonami: Midnight Run; the 12:30 AM showing was the premiere and the more publicized 5:30 PM showing a rerun. Even at its late hour, The Big O was shown in edited form. In anticipation of the premiere of The Big O: Season Two, the first thirteen episodes were re-aired, completely un-cut, on the Adult Swim block.[1][2]
Originally a thirteen-episode series, positive international fan response resulted in a second season co-produced by Cartoon Network, Sunrise, and Bandai Visual. The Big O: Season Two premiered on 2 January 2003 on SUN-TV with the episode "Roger the Wanderer" and concluded with "The Show Must Go On" on 27 March 2003. The American premiere took place seven months later. On the night the final episode was to air, 26 October, the viewers were treated to a rerun of episode 20, "Stripes". This resulted in the Adult Swim message 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 2 November at 11:00 PM.[3][4][5]
The first opening theme is the Queen-inspired "BIG-O!" Composed, arranged and performed by Rui Nagai, the song resembles the theme to the Flash Gordon film.[6][7] The second opening theme is "Respect," composed by Toshihiko Sahashi. The track is an homage to the music of Gerry Anderson's UFO, composed by Barry Gray.[8] In 2007, Rui Nagai composed "Big-O! Show Must Go On," a 1960s hard rock piece, for Animax's reruns of the show. This opening was subsequently used in the 2007 North American DVD re-release of the series. The closing theme is the slow love ballad "And Forever," written by Chie and composed by Ken Shima. The duet is performed by Robbie Danzie and Naoki Takao. When the series was re-broadcast on the Animax channel, a new theme song composed and performed by Nagai titled "Big-O! Show Must Go On" was used for the opening sequence, instead.
Contents |
| Act | Title | Written by | Original air date |
Toonami air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "Roger the Negotiator" |
|
1999-10-13 | 2001-04-02 |
| Roger Smith, Paradigm City's top Negotiator, is hired to oversee the retrieval of Dorothy, the kidnapped daughter of the wealthy scientist Miguel Soldano. But in the City of Amnesia, things are not always what they seem. | ||||
| 02 | "Dorothy Dorothy" |
|
1999-10-20 | 2001-04-03 |
| What started as a routine negotiation for a simple kidnapping case exploded into an ugly ordeal. Continuing from the previous episode, Dorothy's secret is revealed and her relationship to the man she calls "Father" explained. | ||||
| 03 | "Electric City" |
|
1999-10-27 | 2001-04-04 |
| Recently, there's been a number of power outages in Paradigm. Roger is hired by Paradigm Power Management to go to the Electric City and negotiate with the locals the reactivation of the hydroelectric power plant. They say a god lives in the water. | ||||
| 04 | "Underground Terror" |
|
1999-11-03 | 2001-04-05 |
| Journalist Michael Seebach has gone missing for three months, and has taken his latest manuscript with him. Paradigm Press hires Roger to retrieve that manuscript and give Seebach his severance pay. In his search for Seebach, Roger discovers the reporter had been leading a double life... | ||||
| 05 | "Bring Back My Ghost" |
|
1999-11-10 | 2001-04-06 |
| They say when the fog is thick enough, a ghost appears by the Hudson River. Three of the top brass of the Military Police have already died after seeing it. Meanwhile, Roger is hired by a wealthy old woman to help find her son, despite the fact he is known to be deceased. | ||||
| 06 | "A Legacy of Amadeus" |
|
1999-11-17 | 2001-04-09 |
| Sick and tired of waking up to the banging of piano keys, Roger makes Dorothy take piano lessons with R. Instro. Instro's a very gifted concert pianist, but when an old colleague of his father's pays him a visit Instro questions his father's legacy to him. | ||||
| 07 | "The Call from the Past" |
|
1999-11-24 | 2001-04-10 |
| While working separate cases, Roger and Angel wind up trapped together underwater, with only a little amount of air left. It all started three days before... | ||||
| 08 | "Missing Cat" |
|
1999-12-01 | 2001-04-11 |
| In Paradigm City, cats are rare creatures. So, naturally, when Dorothy brings one home Roger has his doubts. But when the cat's owners show up, things do not get much clearer. | ||||
| 09 | "Beck Comes Back" |
|
1999-12-08 | 2001-04-12 |
| Beck busts out of jail and has a new scheme up his sleeve. Roger's brought in to negotiate in the kidnapping of the son of the Wise Group, but there's one problem: Mr. Wise will not listen to Roger! At this rate, negotiations will not conclude in time. | ||||
| 10 | "Winter Night Phantom" |
|
1999-12-15 | 2001-04-13 |
| "Vous êtes si gentil," she whispers. Dan Dastun has been dreaming of a foreign woman for quite some time now. But when he meets the woman of his dreams on the streets of Paradigm, he has to wonder: Are imagination and memory but one thing? | ||||
| 11 | "Daemonseed" |
|
2000-01-05 | 2001-04-16 |
| A threat has been received on the main offices of Paradigm. "In seven days, the world will be reborn." The date: Heaven's Day, the day of Paradigm's founding. With only two days left, Roger and the Military Police scramble to nullify the threat by Heaven's Day Eve. | ||||
| 12 | "Enemy Is Another Big![Note 1]" |
|
2000-01-12 | 2001-04-17 |
| Schwarzwald returns. His search for the truth leads him to a weapon powerful enough to defeat Roger and The Big O. It's heavy metal action when Big O battles Big Duo! | ||||
| 13 | "R.D." |
|
2000-01-19 | 2001-04-18 |
| A killer stalks the streets of Paradigm. A series of seemingly unrelated murders has the Military Police stumped as to the motive and the only clue is the killer's calling card: "Cast in the Name of God, Ye not Guilty." | ||||
| Act | Title | Written by | Original air date |
Adult Swim air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | "Roger the Wanderer" |
Kazuyoshi Katayama |
2003-01-02 | 2003-08-03 |
| Picking up from the previous season, three foreign megadeuses arrive in Paradigm City. In the midst of battle, Roger gets a burst of Memories: a town without domes, where its citizens have not forgotten who they are and The Negotiator is not needed. | ||||
| 15 | "Negotiations with the Dead" |
|
2003-01-09 | 2003-08-10 |
| Phantoms of the past emerge, for it is so destined. The word on the streets is the members of Paradigm's Senate know something from before 40 years ago. Kelly Fitzgerald, wife of Senator Roscoe Fitzgerald, hires Roger to negotiate with the assassin targeting her husband. | ||||
| 16 | "Day of the Advent" |
|
2003-01-16 | 2003-08-17 |
| A mysterious object shrouded in light has crash-landed in the City of Amnesia. Like a thief in the night, a Paradigm investigation team recovered it before too long. Now the locals hire Roger to negotiate with Paradigm to hand it over, pinning their hopes that it is an Angel of Salvation. Can Big O stop the rest of them from causing Armageddon? | ||||
| 17 | "Leviathan" |
|
2003-01-23 | 2003-08-24 |
| Schwarzwald is attempting to spread terror in Paradigm. His latest work foretells the coming of a sand dragon, a Leviathan. It is up to Roger to stop the impending doom that awaits the City of Amnesia. | ||||
| 18 | "The Greatest Villain" |
|
2003-01-30 | 2003-08-31 |
| Beck busts out of jail again - with an afro - and has another scheme up his sleeve. But when The Negotiator himself is the target of Beck's kidnapping, it is up for Dorthy to take the position as the Negotiator. Get ready for the funniest episode in the series! | ||||
| 19 | "Eyewitness" |
|
2003-02-06 | 2003-09-07 |
| With the case of the android crusher still unsolved, Paradigm HQ takes drastic measures by assigning a new inspector, R. Frederick O'Reilly, to the case. The android and Colonel Dastun form an uneasy partnership to catch the criminal. | ||||
| 20 | "Stripes" |
|
2003-02-13 | 2003-09-14 |
| Roger's nightmares return and the doubts concerning his role in Paradigm drive him towards Ailesberry, to the one man who may know the truth. The stage is set and the players are ready. The War of Paradigm City will soon begin. | ||||
| 21 | "The Third Big" |
|
2003-02-20 | 2003-09-21 |
| The Union's attack on Paradigm continues. Dorothy's in danger and the Big O concedes the fight, so now it falls to another the task of saving the city. But is he capable? | ||||
| 22 | "Hydra" |
|
2003-02-27 | 2003-09-28 |
| The Military Police is rounding up citizens suspect of being Union sleeper agents. Meanwhile, Alex Rosewater looks for the means to reactivate the Big Fau. | ||||
| 23 | "Twisted Memories" |
|
2003-03-06 | 2003-10-05 |
| If the Union takes the memories, hellfire will burn down Paradigm once again. Before this happens, Roger must find Angel. | ||||
| 24 | "The Big Fight" |
|
2003-03-13 | 2003-10-12 |
| Paradigm takes the fight to Roger. Aided by the greatest villain of all, Paradigm mounts an army of spider robots and resurrects Big Duo. | ||||
| 25 | "The War of Paradigm City[Note 2]" |
|
2003-03-20 | 2003-10-19 |
| The mysteries of the event 40 years ago are unlocked. The cruel acts of Ronstadt accidentally unlock Rosewater's memories, but something even more important is unleashed: the true form of memories... as well as Angel's. | ||||
| 26 | "The Show Must Go On" |
|
2003-03-27 | 2003-11-02 |
| The curtain falls on Paradigm City. | ||||
|
|
|||||