Discuss the Current Episode

While Shwarzwald must be stopped, since he plans on teaching people a lesson by killing them, you still gotta feel for him. He really wants to communicate what he has learned to Roger. He keeps arranging for Roger to be around, and then he doesn't have the self-control to tell him anything important.

What is it with Dominuses and theme colors? Big O is black, and Roger wears black. Big Fau is white, and Alex wears white. Big Venus is pink and black, and guess what Angel wears? Schwarzwald doesn't wear red, particularly, but he goes to trouble and expense to do things the other way around, and dress up Big Duo with white bandages.

Dorothy's behavior in this episode is interesting. She apparently has the ability, one way or another, to trace phone calls. I'll bet Norman has equipment that traces all calls as a matter of routine. We know she's jealous of Angel, but Dorothy didn't seem at all concerned when she called Roger to the phone (she didn't rush in to eavesdrop, but took her time -- but she made it back in time to hear the end of the call). She didn't leave the house until Big Duo showed up. Presumably she was worried about Roger's safety -- and who wouldn't be? But she still backtracked to where the call had come from in the end. Was she worried that Roger and Angel had a secret love nest? Probably.

Big Duo has an interesting mix of weapons, weighted heavily towards missiles. Big O doesn't seem to have anything in its class. Schwarzwald sneers at the chromebuster. When people ask what the deal is with Big O Thunder, I think that Roger and Norman planned the weapon as something that could deal quickly with another Big, as Big O was relatively helpless if he couldn't get close enough to use his fists.

One wonders what hand Alex played in this. He's making one last attempt to buy Seebach off. So did Angel call Roger on Alex's orders, so a rendezvous could be made and the check handed over, or did Angel do this on her own, so Roger and Schwarzwald could talk? Later in the series, it becomes clear (at least to me) that Angel is looking out for Roger, regardless of what her instructions actually tell her to do.

Alex's knowing smirks don't necessarily mean anything. He's amazingly smug.

I wish the animators would be less sloppy about certain things. Having propellers turn into fingers? Okay, but the cross-section of the fingers should still be propeller-shaped, not round. And, yeah, it's dramatic, but having Big O gut an entire skyscraper so he can appear dramatically on the roof is just moronic. It leaves him unable to maneuver and exposed to enemy fire. The only thing he can do is go right back down again. And how many people did that maneuver kill? I'm not young enough anymore to think that collateral damage is cool. And for that scene, I'm not sure I was EVER that young.

quote:

Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato What is it with Dominuses and theme colors? Big O is black, and Roger wears black. Big Fau is white, and Alex wears white. Big Venus is pink and black, and guess what Angel wears? Schwarzwald doesn't wear red, particularly, but he goes to trouble and expense to do things the other way around, and dress up Big Duo with white bandages.

Well, I suspect that Schwarzwald is red flame (and black skin under the bandages). At the party, his costume was a more-obvious parallel to his new buddy.

Pygmalion

actually seeback had sort of a jester motif with the face mask(black one side, white the other?) suggesting madness, or a wicked sense of humour

and you gotta love crispy's laugh

cuz every manical bad guy needs a great manical laugh

When I view the series in it's episodic order, I really, really like it when #11, #12, and #13 roll around because they peg my interest meter:
Daemonseed for it's sweet little Holiday story.
Enemy Is Another Big! because of the reasons below.
R-D because of what we'll see tomorrow.
They also make something called sense, and are relatively simple.

#12 is just a kick-ass story that is easy to follow with plenty of Megadeus-fighting action:
Schwarzwald wants to show everyone in town what the "truth" is, even if it means turning Paradigm into a pile of rubble, and no matter who it is that tries to stand in his bandaged way.
Roger has to stop him, period.
What could be simpler than that?, and when you've only got 23-or-so minutes to tell your story, that's fine with me.

You know whenever The Paradigm Arsonist is involved with forcing his views down everyones' throats, he's gonna' make a lot of noise along the way, and that freakin' wild party high up in the sky is a fantastic scene.
Every time I see it, I'm in love with the way Schwarzwald slinks his way down that vine, confronts Roger while trying to light his opponent's face on fire (along with everyone else's), and then basically gloats our raven-suited Negotiator into a fight before he does an Olympic-quality backflip out the stinkin' window, screaming, "Big DUOOOOOOOooo!!!" - plunging toward certain interface with the crumpled street below.
Then Big Duo comes flying like a bullet to his rescue, positions his newly-found Dominus on top of his head, and the crazy pair of outlaws give Roger a slow-motion preview of who he and Big O are gonna' have to smack down if he wants to eat a reasonably comfortable dinner at The Bank that evening while being waited-on hand-and-foot by Norman.
Awesome.

One thing that has always gotten my attention in this episode is the way that Dorothy walks out onto the roof of The Smith Bank to tell Roger he has a phone call:
She seems to move in a way that's very un-Dorothy-like, looking more like she wants to approach her employer in the hopes of putting him in the mood for a bit of afternoon fun than just telling him that he's got a call waiting.
Hmmm.
Or, maybe she knew it was Angel on the line, and her body language was reflecting her keen interest in that fact.

I want to like the character of Schwartzwald but find it difficult because most of his disquisitions tend to make very little sense. Is it because of the fact that he's nuts or that the translators screwed up his metaphysical cogitations? Or both?

It would seem to me that someone who can't string 3 sentences together in a coherent fashion would ever have been hired as a reporter...

quote:

Originally posted by Pythagoras I want to like the character of Schwartzwald but find it difficult because most of his disquisitions tend to make very little sense. Is it because of the fact that he's nuts or that the translators screwed up his metaphysical cogitations? Or both? It would seem to me that someone who can't string 3 sentences together in a coherent fashion would ever have been hired as a reporter...

I think its part of his character. Does he really know somthing? Or is he just a nutcase? ......or maybe both the truth made him go nuts.

Yes the whole thing about civilian causualities during a mega battle, and the physics of deus flight can be annoying. Why does he need propellers AND jets? Isn't that sort of redundant? But its just an anime, I've seen stranger things. Either way it could possibly be the best battle of the whole series.

quote:

Originally posted by Zopwx2 quote: Originally posted by Pythagoras I want to like the character of Schwartzwald but find it difficult because most of his disquisitions tend to make very little sense. Is it because of the fact that he's nuts or that the translators screwed up his metaphysical cogitations? Or both? It would seem to me that someone who can't string 3 sentences together in a coherent fashion would ever have been hired as a reporter... I think its part of his character. Does he really know somthing? Or is he just a nutcase? ......or maybe both the truth made him go nuts. Yes the whole thing about civilian causualities during a mega battle, and the physics of deus flight can be annoying. Why does he need propellers AND jets? Isn't that sort of redundant? But its just an anime, I've seen stranger things. Either way it could possibly be the best battle of the whole series.

Big Duo is powerd by Turboprops. Essentially a combination of propellors and jets. It's a real type of aircraft engine that's still used by some military and civillian aircraft to this day. The C-130 Hercules and the Orion patrol plane, for example. The Russian "Bear" heavy bomber also used turboprops, IIRC. Also, the B-36 Peacemaker bomber that preceded the B-52 was driven by them as well (that one's interesting because the propellors were facing backwards).

The civilian casualties thing, yeah. That's a real mess. Dastun said it best "What a disaster! What's that black Megadeus DOING!"

Why do they show the full length slow final credits for Cowboy Bebop (ep 26) but the Big O final episode credits (ep 26) are sped up and incorrect.

Answer? They are love da money.

taaudoloran

quote:

Originally posted by taaudoloran Why do they show the full length slow final credits for Cowboy Bebop (ep 26) but the Big O final episode credits (ep 26) are sped up and incorrect. Answer? They are love da money. taaudoloran

Maybe the last episode of Big O was more time consuming than the last episode of Cowboy Bebop? Time consumption is no excuse for the other 25 episodes of Big O this much I know is true.

R-D just does it for me - especially the ending.
Although those RED, round, squishy things make their first appearance, here, it's not enough to diminish my great enthusiasim for this episode.

The body of the story is good enough, but I like the way it sets us up for an exciting ending:
R-D has Roger cornered as he stands there, mouth gaping open while he thinks this red-caped, lipstick-toting assassin is actually a moonlighting Dorothy.
Big O comes smashing up through the ground, pile driving R-D up through the ceiling.
Low, and behold, Roger's fears are quelled when it is revealed that Dorothy, herself, is in the Black Megadeus's cockpit, and Roger seems to be witnessing the first time that his old buddy acted all on his own.

Ahh, that ending.
Sure Promise fades in.
Norman informs his Master about the approaching foreign robots from the sea.
Roger tells Dorothy to fasten her seatbelt because they're going out together to take a look as Norman is concerned with making dinner - as usual.
It seems that nearly the whole cast is there at the waterfront to greet the arrival of those robots, as if to give us one last glimpse of them before they go on a three year vacation.
Dastun actually sounds like he's welcoming "The Ol' Megadeus" to the party, for a change.
Dorothy gives Roger a curious, sideways glance while he counters R-D's notion about umbrellas with his own spin on the subject, then pleasantly surprises her boss by precisely taking her place at his side, placing her hand upon his, strengthening his reduced grip upon the control joystick.

Yes, this is how it should be: The two of them meeting this incoming thread head-on, together.
Touching, really, and when they fire the Chromebuster out over the water as the music peaks at a climax, I've got stars in my eyes and a tingle runnIng down my back.
Very, very good stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by YZEtc R-D just does it for me - especially the ending. Although those RED, round, squishy things make their first appearance, here, it's not enough to diminish my great enthusiasim for this episode. The body of the story is good enough, but I like the way it sets us up for an exciting ending: R-D has Roger cornered as he stands there, mouth gaping open while he thinks this red-caped, lipstick-toting assassin is actually a moonlighting Dorothy. Big O comes smashing up through the ground, pile driving R-D up through the ceiling. Low, and behold, Roger's fears are quelled when it is revealed that Dorothy, herself, is in the Black Megadeus's cockpit, and Roger seems to be witnessing the first time that his old buddy acted all on his own. Ahh, that ending. Sure Promise fades in. Norman informs his Master about the approaching foreign robots from the sea. Roger tells Dorothy to fasten her seatbelt because they're going out together to take a look as Norman is concerned with making dinner - as usual. It seems that nearly the whole cast is there at the waterfront to greet the arrival of those robots, as if to give us one last glimpse of them before they go on a three year vacation. Dastun actually sounds like he's welcoming "The Ol' Megadeus" to the party, for a change. Dorothy gives Roger a curious, sideways glance while he counters R-D's notion about umbrellas with his own spin on the subject, then pleasantly surprises her boss by precisely taking her place at his side, placing her hand upon his, strengthening his reduced grip upon the control joystick. Yes, this is how it should be: The two of them meeting this incoming thread head-on, together. Touching, really, and when they fire the Chromebuster out over the water as the music peaks at a climax, I've got stars in my eyes and a tingle runnIng down my back. Very, very good stuff.

Yes, that is the way a season cliffhanger should be done. Not some scene that leaves everyone falling to the ground screaming when the shot cuts to the black background with only the words ...to be continued. I hate that $h!t. You can't leave your viewers writhing in agony over weither or not a character is going to die or not. You have to make them want to comeback and watch your new season for a better reason than that, espically if the series is an anime.

A sweet way to end the original series. The first time I saw RD years ago I thought someone had hacked Dorothy and had my heart in my throat as the crushing blow came upward. Even so--it was a shame Red Dorothy couldn't have been spared and reprogrammed with the originals' sweet nature.

Roger says that he never met face-to-face with Ellen Weight, but he was able to identify her from a photograph for Dastun (and the photograph didn't even show her face-- her head was down, and her hair was in the way).

I know that he was aware of her murder, and he would have been able to tell Dastun that she was a client, but I don't see how he could have made a positive photo identification.

It's possible that he did some background research on her while negotiations were pending, I suppose.

I don't like how Duo met its end. Even Beck Victory Deluxe easily snapped those grappling hooks with its otherwise useless hand-beams.. so how are they supposed to move Big O that far in just a few seconds? It shoudn't be able to do that at all.

R-D got a cooler death, but I still like her.. she seemed to have genuine fear when the fist came up. Damned hackers. They should have at least explained her in the second season.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Duo Fan R-D got a cooler death, but I still like her.. she seemed to have genuine fear when the fist came up. Damned hackers. They should have at least explained her in the second season.

They make vague references to her in act 25. Hinting that Alex Rosewater programed her to kill potential domini

EDIT:

Another wierd thing I noticed is what made roger visit that rail depot in act 13. He says "this is the right address". What address? Where is he reading that from.....

About Roger recognizing Ellen Weight without actually having met her in person:

Maybe it's because he'd seen a different photograph of her earlier, and knew that she was some kind of a performer.
The guy perhaps may not always remember a face (and Ellen's was hidden in Dastun's photo, anyway), but the wolf most likely would not forget her curves - just like he said about Angel in an earlier episode.

Sounds good, anyway.
*shrugs*

quote:

Originally posted by Ness Roger says that he never met face-to-face with Ellen Weight, but he was able to identify her from a photograph for Dastun (and the photograph didn't even show her face-- her head was down, and her hair was in the way). I know that he was aware of her murder, and he would have been able to tell Dastun that she was a client, but I don't see how he could have made a positive photo identification. It's possible that he did some background research on her while negotiations were pending, I suppose.

Maybe he saw her perform.

quote:

Originally posted by Zopwx2 Another wierd thing I noticed is what made roger visit that rail depot in act 13. He says "this is the right address". What address? Where is he reading that from.....

I've always assumed that it was on the back of the list, and they forgot to draw in the writing on the back when they animated the scene.

quote:

Originally posted by Zopwx2 [Another wierd thing I noticed is what made roger visit that rail depot in act 13. He says "this is the right address". What address? Where is he reading that from.....

Some people like puns. When episode 13 was written no one was sure whether Big O have a second season. The train depot is literally the "end of the line".

quote:

Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato quote: Originally posted by Ness Roger says that he never met face-to-face with Ellen Weight, but he was able to identify her from a photograph for Dastun (and the photograph didn't even show her face-- her head was down, and her hair was in the way). I know that he was aware of her murder, and he would have been able to tell Dastun that she was a client, but I don't see how he could have made a positive photo identification. It's possible that he did some background research on her while negotiations were pending, I suppose. Maybe he saw her perform.

Or we could be anti,climatic about the whole thing and say that Roger spoke her name in reference to the fact that he was going to saysomething about her, sort of in that monolouge style, and that her name was printed in small text at the bottom of the picture.