People in their early twenties might not catch those references right away- but whether they do or don't seem unimportant at this point. This OP is amazing on its own. Actually, there' something erotic about the "Big O" title (an allusion to "the Story of O" perhaps?) I just wish the uploader labeled this as "anime" rather than "cartoon" since the origins of this fiction is Japan, not the West. In any case, the comments in the threads below are gold. They shouldn't be the reason for listening to this piece- but the context is enough to drive discussions forward so that this anime can be given a second, third, etc. chance to shine again.
This show is such a weird amalgamation of other inspirations and references, it shouldn't work but it just *does* so well. Just sad it didn't do better in Japan and get a season 3. The style of Batman. The combat of Godzilla. A dash of Cowboy Bebop. Countless references to other greats from western and anime culture. It was a who's who of show archetypes and references and I loved every minute of it.
It did well in Japan, but only in the home release theater. Like Bebop it got struck with the Bad Timeslot Bug on initial release, but by the early 2000s word of mouth passed enough that the DVD releases were overwhelming successes.
For everyone who is so very heavily reminded of Queen when they hear this, a tidbit; that was *deliberate* on the part of the songwriters/composers when they made this; they took their primary inspiration from Queen songs, and in fact studied them closely in preparation for making this.
Yeah, it’s a total ripoff of Queens song but they get away with plagiarizing it even though these freaks complain about copyright on the internet. Yeah figure that one out. Anime literally has no originality whatsoever. This genre is a complete joke.
>but they get away with it my dude they very literally did not get away with this, the song has very conspicuously not seen any use in anything related to Big O since like 2003.
That's what kinda inspired me to download Big O because I was saying to a few of my friends that Big O is if batman had a big fucking robot....and if Alfred fought....and if Robin was a cute android girl.
This was my first anime. I grew up in a Christian household, so if it wasn't Disney or Christian Media, with the exception of some musicals like Sound of Music and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, I wasn't allowed to watch it. One day we got Cartoon Network and I stayed up one night and managed to catch it. Became obsessed with Mecha Anime. It eventually evolved and I became obsessed with anything that had giant monsters, giant robots/mechas or a combination of the two. I remember when I was 21 and saw the revised Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on TV. I was so pissed that I had missed it as a kid, it would have been right up my alley with all the giant robots and giant monsters and shit.
It's not merely a reference to "Flash," the song is reminiscent of Queen in numerous ways; the guitar playing is a clear emulation of Brian May in both sound and style.
One of the things that I liked about this show, is how noir it seemed. It seemed like Batman, it looked like Gotham City, and the styles looked a lot like Batman animated. So cool. Plus, I get all nostalgic when I hear this song!
kodoku no mune ni hi wo tomoshi mikotoba ni waga mi someru kami yo! Light a light in a lonely heart Dying me with words Ye god! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Cast in the name of God Ye not the guilty We have came to team! Big-O! subete no kako wo nakushita machi towa ni chikaou kodoku no mune ni hi wo tomoshi mikotoba ni waga mi someru Swear an eternal oath to this city that lost all of its past. Light a light in a lonely heart Dying me with words Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! -O! -O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! -O! -O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! -O! -O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! -O! -O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O! Big-O!
Love that it's a tribute to Queen and Flash Gordon. This show was awesome and I've always wanted a car or phone that started up with "Cast in the name of God... Ye not guilty."
When you think about it, on paper, this show should not have worked. It should have been an utter mess. Theme song homaging Queen, titles homaging one of the Ultraman shows, this series homaging Batman, film noir, giant mecha anime, James Bond, heck, R. Dorothy Wainwright can be seen as a love letter to Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick, but…it did. Those absolute madlads did it. It worked. They made an incredible series out of it. Amazing.
Big O just wows me. The opening theme is an homage to Queen, the series itself is a nod to Giant Robo (The Big O's design and weaponry, Roger summoning it via watch, most of the enemy mechs and monsters wouldn't look out of place in Giant Robo) and kaiju movies (the soundtrack during the fight and when the enemy of the week appears), noir (soundtrack, lighting, the shots and setting) and Batman. I'm surprised this only last 1 season in Japan and Cartoon Network dropping it after Season 2.
When you put it that way now I want to go back and re-watch it. I was definitely too young to appreciate it when it came out but I bet you it would do wonders with a remake series.
I remember this played one year at "Name That Anime Tune" at Anime Boston .. no one knew what the hell song it was until the first "BIG O!" and then everyones hand shot up with the answer.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever get that feeling of staying up late at night to watch great anime’s like Big O, but I’m glad it happened at all. Ordered the blu ray and I’m so ready to watch again!
As a kid growing up, this would always show on adult swim late at night and I had no idea wtf it was about.. other than the suit guy and.. a Mecha called Big O? Idk I should go back and watch it now that I'm an adult and might find it more interesting. Oh but I always loved the theme song. As a kid I'd legit stay for the theme, then change to Nick at night
hell, we couldn't hear the lyrics it DID have since it was censored on tv. heaven forbid anyone talk about god. we gotta make sure he feels unwelcome so he stays the hell out of our affairs, right? ... and also the rest of the lyrics.. were just unable to be pronounced in anything resembling english.
There are a lot of opening songs that are perfect for the show they were made for, and reall set the tone., but there aren't many that I come back to just for their musical merit. This not only one of the best openers for an anime, it's one of the best songs to come out of Japan at all.
Batman, mixed with Gundam, Phoenix Wright, and a song that sounds like Queen wrote it RIGHT after finishing "Flash Gordon". Truly, this is the best anime I've ever seen.
It already exists. It’s called Batman and this show is a ripoff of Batman. I mean, the guy literally looks exactly like Bruce Wayne. Are you kidding me?
The first opening theme to the anime series 'The Big O'. Technically, this is actually the second opening, since episode's 1 and 2 used a 19 second long intro of Big O's face appearing in lava and the text 'Cast in the name of God: Ye Not Guilty' appearing on screen. Heavily influenced by the Flash Gordon film (1980) theme, which was composed by Queen. The intro is also visually similar to the opening credits of ''Ultra Seven (1967)''.
The main character is also similar do Batman, since it was animated by the studio behind Batman The Animated Series. Big O is basically a great celebration of several icons from the 70's and 80's.
Yeah you can tell that this was a far cry from other mech anime shows of the time just by the theme song and opening. Most Mech shows of the time have either a J-Pop or J-Rock theme, and an opening which depicts mechs doing cool stuff and shows off the cast. The Big O? Queen-inspired theme music about how awesome the protagonist and mech is and opening sequence inspired by the Ultraman franchise.
I definitely see what you're talking about- the beginning kind of reminds me of Bohemian Rhapsody. And it has the beat and singing style (kind of) of Queen.
graphkid No, it sucks. It’s a ripoff of Batman, Cowboy Bebop, and James Bond altogether into a train wreck of a series. This show is just pathetic garbage plagiarizing better works of fiction.
Yeah, I thought of Queen right away. The first 20 seconds reminds me of Bohemian Rhapsody. The thumping throughout the rest reminds me of the theme from the movie Flash Gordon, with Queen recording the soundtrack for that movie. I have to admit it's been nearly 20 years since I've heard this theme song. I watched The Big O on Adult Swim back in 2003 and 2004, catching it by complete accident, and liked it enough to watch all 26 episodes. To be honest, I prefer the one minute and seven second long version that was the opening theme for the series as it ran on TV back in the day.
