Editing The Big O (section)

==Design==
''The Big O'' is the brainchild of Keiichi Sato and Kazuyoshi Katayama, an [[Homage (arts)|homage]] to the shows they grew up with. The show references the works of ''[[tokusatsu]]'' produced by the [[Toei Company]] and [[Tsuburaya Productions]], as well as shows such as ''[[Super Robot Red Baron]]'' and ''[[Super Robot Mach Baron]]'' and "[[wikt:old school|old school]]" [[super robot]] anime. The series is done in the style of ''[[film noir]]'' and [[Pulp magazine|pulp fiction]] and combines the feel of a detective show with the [[mecha anime|giant robot]] genre.<ref name = "AnimePlay"/><ref name = "March"/>

===Style===
[[File:Shadowcasting (Big O).JPG|thumb|240px|The shadows of [[Venetian blinds]] cast upon the protagonist, a signature visual of ''[[film noir]]''.]]
''The Big O'' shares many of its themes, diction, archetypes and visual iconography with ''film noirs'' of the 1940s like ''[[The Big Sleep (1946 film)|The Big Sleep]]'' (1946).<ref name="animeAU">{{cite web|url = http://www.anime.org.au/main/staticpages/index.php?page=20040918172616306|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070807004721/http://www.anime.org.au/main/staticpages/index.php?page=20040918172616306|archive-date = 2007-08-07|title = The Big O|publisher = anime and manga for Australia|access-date = 2008-06-30 }}</ref> The series incorporates the use of long dark shadows in the tradition of ''[[chiaroscuro]]'' and [[tenebrism]]. ''Film noir'' is also known for its use of odd angles, such as Roger's [[low-angle shot|low shot]] introduction in the first episode. ''Noir'' cinematographers favoured this angle because it made characters almost rise from the ground, giving them dramatic girth and symbolic overtones. Other disorientating devices like [[dutch angle]]s, mirror reflection and distorting shots are employed throughout the series.<ref name = "influences"/><ref name="animeAU"/>

The [[List of The Big O characters|characters of ''The Big O'']] fit the ''noir'' and pulp fiction [[archetype]]s. Roger Smith is a protagonist in the mold of [[Raymond Chandler|Chandler]]'s [[Philip Marlowe]] or [[Dashiell Hammett|Hammett]]'s [[Sam Spade]].<ref name = "March">{{cite news|url = http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/month-in-review/2002-04-01|title = The Month in Review - March 2002|last = Green|first = Scott|work = [[Anime News Network]]|date = 2002-04-01|access-date = 2008-06-30|archive-date = 2012-05-22|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120522223247/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/month-in-review/2002-04-01|url-status = live }}</ref><ref name = "jump"/> He is canny and cynical, a disillusioned cop-turned-[[Negotiation|negotiator]] whose job has more in common with detective-style work than negotiating. Big Ear is Roger's street informant and Dan Dastun is the friend on the police force. The recurring Beck is the imaginative thug compelled by delusions of grandeur while Angel fills the role of the ''[[femme fatale]]''. Minor characters include crooked cops, corrupt business men and deranged scientists.<ref name = "influences">{{cite web|url = http://www.animeland.com/index.php?rub=articles&id=198|access-date = 2006-12-16|title = ''The Big O'', un animé sous influence|last = Penedo|first = Nicolas|publisher = AnimeLand|language = fr|archive-date = 2007-09-27|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927120347/http://www.animeland.com/index.php?rub=articles&id=198|url-status = live }}</ref>

The dialogue in the series is recognized for its witty, wry sense of humor. The characters come off as charming and exchange banter not often heard in anime series, as the dialogue has the tendency to be straightforward. The plot is moved along by Roger's [[voice-over]] [[First-person narrative|narration]], a device used in ''film noir'' to place the viewer in the mind of the protagonist so it can intimately experience the character's angst and partly identify with the narrator.<ref name = "AnimePlay"/><ref name="ANNpreview"/>

The tall buildings and giant domes create a sense of [[claustrophobia]] and [[paranoia]] characteristic of the style.<ref name="onDVD1"/><ref name="vision"/> The rural landscape, Ailesberry Farm, contrasts Paradigm City. ''Noir'' protagonists often look for sanctuary in such settings but they just as likely end up becoming a killing ground.<ref name = "influences"/> The series score is representative of its setting. While no classic ''noir'' possesses a [[jazz]] score, the music could be heard in nightclubs within the films.<ref name="jazznoir">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfjazz.org/news/2006/2006_may_17.html|access-date=2006-11-04|title=Interview with Eddie Muller|date=2006-05-17|publisher=SFJAZZ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001033635/http://www.sfjazz.org/news/2006/2006_may_17.html|archive-date=2006-10-01|url-status=dead }}</ref> Roger's recurring theme, a lone saxophone accompaniment to the protagonist's narration, best exemplifies the ''noir'' stylings of the series.<ref name="animeAU"/>

[[Amnesia]] is a common [[plot device]] in ''film noir''. Because most of these stories focused on a character proving his innocence, authors up the ante by making him an amnesiac, unable to prove his innocence even to himself.<ref name="holiday">[[Terrence Rafferty|Rafferty, T]]. (2 November 2003) The Last Word in Alienation: I Just Don't Remember. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>

===Influences===
Before ''The Big O'', Sunrise was a subcontractor for [[Warner Bros. Animation]]'s ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'',<ref name = "encyclopedia">{{cite book|last = Clements|first = Jonathan|author2=Helen McCarthy  |title= The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917|publisher= Stone Bridge Press|location =  Berkeley, CA|year = 2001|isbn = 1-880656-64-7 }}</ref><ref>For detail on which episodes Sunrise worked on, see [http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/backstage/crewcredits/animation.php The World's Finest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061118035826/http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/backstage/crewcredits/animation.php|date=2006-11-18 }}.</ref> one of the series' influences.<ref name = "birth"/>  Cartoon Network, under the [[Toonami]] flag advertised the series as "One part [[James Bond|Bond]].  One part  [[Bruce Wayne]].  One part [[Super Robot|City Smashing Robot]]."

Roger Smith is a [[pastiche]] of the [[Bruce Wayne]] [[persona]] and the Batman. The character design resembles Wayne, complete with slicked-back hair and double-breasted business suit.<ref name="theEX"/> Like Bruce, Roger prides himself in being a rich playboy to the extent that one of his household's rules is only women may be let into his mansion without his permission.<ref name="ANNpreview"/> Like Batman, Roger Smith carries a no-gun policy, albeit more flexible. Unlike the personal motives of the Batman, Roger enforces this rule for "it's all part of being a gentleman."<ref>{{cite episode|title = Missing Cat|series = The Big O|credits = [[Keiichi Hasegawa]] (writer)|network = [[WOWOW]]|airdate = 1999-12-01|number = 08 }}</ref> Among Roger's gadgetry is the Griffon, a large, black hi-tech [[sedan (car)|sedan]] comparable to the [[Batmobile]], a grappling cable that shoots out his wristwatch and the giant robot that Angel calls "Roger's [[alter ego]]."<ref name = "influences"/><ref>{{cite episode|title = Negotiations with the Dead|series = The Big O|credits = [[Chiaki J. Konaka]] (writer)|network = [[Sun Television (Japan)|Sun Television]]|airdate = 2003-01-09|number = 15 }}</ref>

''The Big O'''s cast of [[supporting character]]s includes Norman, Roger's faithful mechanically inclined butler who fills the role of [[Alfred Pennyworth]]; R. Dorothy Wayneright, who plays the role of the sidekick; and Dan Dastun, a good honest cop who, like [[Jim Gordon (character)|Jim Gordon]], is both a friend to the hero and greatly respected by his comrades.<ref name = "influences"/>

The other major influence is [[Mitsuteru Yokoyama]]'s ''[[Giant Robo]]''.<ref name="ANNpreview"/><ref name = "encyclopedia"/> Before working on ''The Big O'', Kazuyoshi Katayama and other animators worked with [[Yasuhiro Imagawa]] on ''[[Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still]]''. The feature, a "[[retro]] [[chic (style)|chic]]" homage to Yokoyama's career,<ref name="AWMAG">{{cite web|url = http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=164|title = New from Japan: ''The Big O'' Volumes 1 - 4|access-date = 2006-11-23|date = 2001-06-15|last = Patten|first = Fred|publisher = Animation World Magazine|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012183951/http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=164|archive-date = 2007-10-12 }}</ref> took seven years to produce and suffered low sales and high running costs. Frustrated by the experience, Katayama and his staff put all their efforts into making "good" with ''The Big O''.<ref name="ACen03">{{cite web|last=Lillard|first=Kevin|url= http://www.fansview.com/2003/animecentral/051703c.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051128230501/http://www.fansview.com/2003/animecentral/051703c.htm|archive-date= 2005-11-28|title= Anime Central 2003 Panel|access-date = 2006-11-23|publisher = A Fan's View}}</ref>

Like Giant Robo, the megadeuses of ''Big O'' are metal behemoths. The designs are strange and "more macho than practical,"<ref name = "theEX"/> sporting big stovepipe arms and exposed rivets. Unlike the giants of other mecha series, the megadeuses do not exhibit ninja-like speed nor grace. Instead, the robots are armed with "old school" weaponry such as [[missile]]s, [[piston]] powered punches, [[machine gun]]s and [[laser]] [[cannon]]s.<ref name="herorev2">{{cite web|url = http://www.japanhero.com/super%20robot%20reviews/big_o-2.htm|title = Super Robot Review: ''The Big O''|access-date = 2006-11-23|last = Hayward|first = Keith|publisher = Japan Hero|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061114051218/http://www.japanhero.com/super%20robot%20reviews/big_o-2.htm|archive-date = 2006-11-14 }}</ref>

Katayama also cited ''[[Super Robot Red Baron]]'' and ''[[Super Robot Mach Baron]]'' among influences on the inspiration of ''The Big O''. Believing that because ''Red Baron'' had such a low budget and the big fights always happened outside of a city setting, he wanted ''Big O'' to be the show he felt ''Red Baron'' could be with a bigger budget. He also spoke of how he first came up with designs for the robots first as if they were making designs to appeal to toy companies, rather than how ''[[Gundam]]'' was created with a toy company wanting an anime to represent their new product. Big O's large pumping piston "Sudden Impact" arms, for example, he felt would be cool gimmicks in a toy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2013/08/30/scifi-japan-tv-13/|title=SciFi JAPAN TV #13: Anime x Tokusatsu: The Big O / 第１３話「アニメx特撮：THEビッグオー」 « SciFi Japan|publisher=Scifijapan.com|date=2013-08-30|access-date=2014-05-21|archive-date=2014-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521210201/http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2013/08/30/scifi-japan-tv-13/|url-status=live }}</ref>