Some memories are better left dead

What are memories? Are they something we need to establish an identity or are they haunting enigmas that plague us when we go to bed at night? These philosophical questions are probably strange to you and me, but to the characters in the Japanese animated (anime) series, The Big O, the nature of memories is both haunting and an enigma. Something happened forty years ago to humanity, when millions of people were mysteriously wiped out; those that survive lost their memories about who they are and what they did. Basically, the survivors had to, not only rebuild their societies, but had to rebuild their identities as well. Throughout, The Big O, memories are often treated like ghosts or nightmares. In other words, memories can be dangerous, especially if, it is something someone does not want others to know about. In the, The Big O, the strange and dangerous nature of memories are what drive this unique, yet sometimes confusing show.

The Big O is about Roger Smith, a negotiator by day, but by night, is a pilot of a giant Megadeus (robot) called Big O. Aiding him, in his quest to protect Paradigm City (supposedly, the only city with people left on Earth), are R. Dorothy Wayneright (an android who works lives with Roger Smith and acts like a maid), Norman Burg (Roger Smith's butler), Dan Dastun (a major in Paradigm City's military police force), and Angel (a mysterious woman with her own agenda). While, The Big O appears, at first glance to be another show about giant robots destroying each other; in reality, it's a complicated psychological mystery mixed with humor and action. In some ways, the highlight of the series is the dynamic relationship between Roger and Dorothy (see picture of them below).

Roger and Dorothy have different personalities, which sometimes causes tension between the two (i.e. Roger likes to sleep him and Dorothy will play the piano in a way that annoys Roger so much, he took her to an android who plays the piano to teach her how to play correctly). Often, Dorothy will call Roger a "louse" because has done something to annoy her. An example of this happens when Roger uses her as a distraction, while he calls on Big O to stop some rocket launching thieves, needless to say Dorothy ends up getting messed up and she blames Roger for it. Hence, the origin of why Dorothy calls Roger a "louse" when she is irritated. Despite their personality differences, Roger and Dorothy do care for each other and by the end of the series, there is evidence that suggests that Roger has fallen in love with Dorothy; Dorothy may also have  fallen in love with Roger, but that is a little harder to prove because she is an android and she hides her feelings and emotions well.

The episode (referred to as RD) I have selected is not an episode I would normally show a person who wants to see lots of Roger and Dorothy interaction; Roger and Dorothy do not talk to each other until the end of the episode. However, the reason I picked this episode is because the director, Kazuyoshi Katayama, crafted a really good murder mystery where we are led to believe that Dorothy is the killer of a group of young men and women who claim to have memories of what happened forty years ago. Roger is drawn into this mystery when one of his clients is killed by a mysterious figure in red; we later learn that her name is RD or Red Destiny (see picture below) and she interestingly enough, is a similar android model to Dorothy and has been programmed to kill people on a certain list with bar codes that Roger found. Later on, in the series, we find out that Alex Rosewater, the de facto ruler of Paradigm City, ordered RD to kill the people on the list with the bar codes. RD is destroyed by Big O and we the audience discover that Dorothy is inside the megadeus.

Overall, the strange and dangerous nature of memories that are represented in The Big O are what fuel this unique, yet sometimes confusing show. The interaction and personality clashes between Roger Smith and R. Dorothy Wayneright is what makes this show click with the audience in my opinion because it is funny to see Roger get angry with Dorothy for playing the piano wrong or when Dorothy calls Roger a "louse" for annoying her because they remind you of a married couple, even though Roger is human and Dorothy is an android. Who knew living with an android would be so hard! Episode 13, entitled RD, is not the best episode for people who like to see Roger and Dorothy annoying each other, but is nevertheless, a good episode filled with mystery and suspense. In the end, The Big O is a great anime with lots of mystery, action, giant robot fun, and humor.        

Black and white cartoons are just as fun

When I was younger, one of my favorite shows from Cartoon Network was Late Night Black and White, a programing block dedicated to showing classic black and white cartoons. Black and white cartoons have always been a joy for me to watch because I think they are better than some of the earliest multicolored cartoons that both Disney and Warner Brothers made in the early 1930′s. For some reason, I never really like these early multicolored cartoons that much, though I do like the multicolored cartoons of the 1940′s that Disney and Warner Brothers made. In my opinion, classic black and white cartoons are just as fun watching as multicolored cartoons of today.

One of my favorite black and white carton shorts was Daffy Duckaroo!, which was interestingly enough made in 1942, and stars everybody’s favorite screwy duck, Daffy Duck (voiced by Mel Blanc who also did Bugs Bunny as well), as he heads west and gets into trouble with an Indian girl’s boyfriend for trying to woo her. Daffy (see picture below) is the quintessential trouble maker or money loving egomaniac we all love to laugh at.

Overall, classic black and white cartoons are just as fun to watch as the multicolored cartoons of today are. Daffy Duckaroo! is a fun cartoon, starring Daffy Duck, though the racial stereotyping of Native Americans or Indians in these early cartoon shorts, drag it down a bit. In the end, no matter what color medium (black/white vs. multiple colors) Daffy is portrayed in, he will always be funny.

A lone wolf of Mibu

One of the most annoying things about having a viral cold is the fact that I was stuck inside doing nothing, but watching television and sleeping. Added to this insult, I was forced to watch my cousin’s kiddie cartoons all day because she spent a week with my family. It was a nightmare! Thankfully, while I was sick, I came across one of my favorite animated (anime) and manga series,Rurouni Kenshin. Rurouni Kenshin, which was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki, is about Kenshin Himura(an ex-hitokiri or manslayer) and his quest to attone for his sins and his vow to never kill again. One of my favorite characters in the series is Hajime Saito, who was a real historical person and a member of the Shinsengumi (a group of samurai who patrolled Kyoto and fought for the Tokugawa Shogunateduring the Meji Revolution). Saito (see picture below of the real Hajime Saito), in the series, is an undercover cop for the Meji government and Kenshin’s oldest nemesis from the Meji Revolution.

Hajime Saito can be considered the anti-hero of the series because unlike Kenshin, who hates using violence or underhanded tactics to subdue his enemies, Saito has no problems using them to get the results he wants. Saito, in fact, design wise looks like a villain; his eyes are very narrow and resembles wolf eyes because they are amber in color. However, Saito is not a villain, nor is he a saint either. Instead, Saito is a complicated character who sticks to his principle of “Aku Soku Zan” (Slay Evil Immediately) rigorously and does not care what people think of him or his methods of dispensing justice. Because of Saito’s convictions and his use of dirty tactics, Saito is one of my favorite animated anti-heroes of all time. 

When we first meet Hajime Saito in both the manga and anime, we assume he is a villain because he attacks one of Kenshin’s friends, Sanosuke Sagara, with his signature attack, the Gatotsu (a fictional version of the real Hajime Saito’s style of swordsmanship) and he engages Kenshin in a one on one match, which causes Kenshin to revert back to his hitokiri form (Battousai the Man Slayer); the battle ends in a draw. Later, we find out that Saito was sent by the Meji government to test Kenshin’s strength and determine whether or not, he is capable of riding another ex-hitokiri, Makoto Shishio for them.

Throughout, the anime and manga, Saito aides Kenshin in his battle with Makoto Shishio and later withYukishiro Enishi, as well. However, Kenshin disagrees with Saito about killing enemies off and often stops Saito from finishing them off, which irks Saito to no end, but for the most part, he listens to Kenshin. Saito also has a habit of being blunt and insulting to just about everyone (friends and foes) in the series; he calls Sanosuke an idiot, Misao Makimachi a weasel, and Yahiko Myojin a kid. Saito also equates Kaoru Kamiya with a racoon and Megumi Takani with a fox. Saito can be very brutal towards his enemies and often mocks them as either a fool or a freak. 

Saito, basically, has no concept of compassion and frienship towards anyone in the anime or manga; an exception may be his wife, Tokio and a boy named Eiji who lost his parents to Shishio’s men. Saito hardly respects many people in the anime and manga, as well; Kenshin and Aoshi Shinomori are the only ones he seems to respect, though he respects Aoshi slightly more because Aoshi is willing to kill his enemies, while Kenshin does not. Because Saito does not really care about emotional attachments, Saito allows everyone to think he is dead, so he can wait in the shadows for another opportunity to fight Kenshin. Sadly, in the anime they never resolved Kenshin’s and Saito’s rematch, though in the manga, there was a chance, but Saito declined Kenshin’s invitation because Saito felt that Kenshin was no longer Battousai the Man Slayer and duel with Kenshin, no longer interested him anymore.

Hajime Saito, in the end, is one my favorite anti-heroes in animation because of his sarcastic and cold hearted personality. Saito’s resemblance to a wolf fits his callous and blunt personality really well. Saito’s blunt and insulting comments to friends and foes alike, irks everyone, but when push comes to shove, Saito fights back and usually wins. While, Saito does not always get along with Kenshin and his friends, he nevertheless, helps them out anyway. In the end, Hajime Saito’s personality and philosophy rule him out as a traditional hero, but when it comes to dangerou situations, Saito is probably someone you need to protect innocent people from evil.