is a mecha-anime television series directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama and animated by the Japanese

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

. The series follows Roger Smith, Paradigm City's top Negotiator. The first season of the series premiered on October 13, 1999 on Wowow with the episode "Roger the Negotiator" and concluded with "R.D." on January 19, 2000. Starting on April 2, 2001, ''The Big O'' aired two times in its edited form on the Cartoon Network: once during the afternoon

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

programming 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 A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

. In anticipation of the premiere of ''The Big O'': Season Two, the first thirteen episodes were re-aired, completely uncut, on the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

block. Originally a 26-episode series, it was reduced to 13 episodes due to low ratings in Japan. However, positive international reception resulted in a second season co-produced by Cartoon Network,

, and

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

. ''The Big O'': Season Two premiered on 2 January 2003 on

Sun Television is a commercial television station headquartered in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and a member of the Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations (JAITS). Office *the head office - Kobe Ekimae Just Square, 1-1, Higashi-Kawasakic ...

with the episode "Roger the Wanderer" and concluded with "The Show Must Go On" on March 27, 2003. The American premiere took place on Adult Swim on August 3, 2003. On October 26, the scheduled premiere of the final episode, "The Show Must Go On", was instead accidentally replaced by a rerun of episode 20, "Stripes". This resulted in the Adult Swim message boards being flooded with complaints by viewers. After an apology from Kim Manning, programming director for Adult Swim, the final episode was properly aired on November 2. The first opening theme is the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

-inspired "BIG-O!" Composed, arranged and performed by Rui Nagai.O
his website
, Rui Nagai names Queen as one of this favorites bands. The second opening theme is "Respect," composed by

Toshihiko Sahashi is a Japanese composer. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1986. Sahashi has composed music for various anime series (including OVAs, movies, and drama CDs), video games, movies, dramas, and musicals. His ...

. The track is an homage to the music of

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

's ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

'', composed by

Barry Gray Barry Gray (born John Livesey Eccles; 18 July 1908 – 26 April 1984) was a British musician and composer best known for his collaborations with television and film producer Gerry Anderson. Life and career Born into a musical family in Blackburn ...

. In 2007, Rui Nagai composed "Big-O! Show Must Go On," a 1960s hard rock piece, for

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. The channel also dubbed other cartoons in Japanese language. A subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, it is headq ...

'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 "And Forever," written by Chie and composed by Ken Shima. The duet is performed by Robbie Danzie and Naoki Takao.

Episode list

Season 1 (1999–2000)

Season 2 (2003)

References

External links

;Official sites
Episode listings
at Bandai Channel
Arhicve
{{The Big O

Episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek ...

Big O, The