About The Big O
The Big O is a Japanese anime series produced by Sunrise, with a first season that aired in 1999 and a second season released in 2003. Directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama, with key writing and series composition associated with Chiaki J. Konaka, it is set in Paradigm City, a domed metropolis whose residents lost all memory of events more than 40 years before the story begins. The deliberately stylized world blends 1920s and 1930s Art Deco design, film-noir atmosphere, and classic giant-robot adventure into a distinctive visual and tonal package.
The protagonist is Roger Smith, a smooth and principled Negotiator who handles delicate disputes across the city. When talk fails, Roger summons the Big O, a colossal black mecha he calls upon as his trump card. He is assisted by Norman Burg, his unflappable butler and engineer, and by R. Dorothy Wayneright, a soft-spoken android who comes to live in his home. Together they are drawn into cases that repeatedly brush against the mystery of the city's lost past.
Across its two seasons, The Big O moves from episodic noir-tinged adventures toward a larger, more enigmatic narrative about memory, identity, and the nature of Paradigm City itself. The show is widely noted for its homages to tokusatsu, classic super-robot anime, and Western detective fiction, as well as for its jazz-influenced score. Its ambiguous, much-discussed conclusion has helped it retain a devoted cult following among anime fans.