Big Order TV & OVA

Title:Big Order TV & OVA
ビッグオーダー
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - asread
MORITA Masakazu
Eiji Hoshimiya has a huge secret: ten years ago, a fairy-like person named 'Daisy' appeared to him and offered to grant him a wish. He doesn't remember exactly what he asked for, but massive devastation all over the world was the result. He has become an 'Order', and could use his power to destroy again if he wishes, but tries to avoid doing that at all costs. He also discovers that there are Orders other than him, with widely varying powers based on whatever wishes they initially made.

10 episodes & one 23-minute OVA
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent Stretch [series:3191#628]
(Rent- or Watch+)

(All episodes and OVA watched):

It's a good sign when, as an anime character employs a fantastic power for the first time, you feel a thrill and find yourself grinning. That was how I responded as Eiji was obliged to defend himself in episode one of Big Order. His declaration that "my dominance isn't bound by the laws of physics!" likewise made me grin. He only wanted to be left alone, to care for his little sister who is hospitalized for treatment of some chronic ailment, so I got the definite feeling that the people he was targeting were getting what they deserved. I also got the feeling that this show was going somewhere fresh, whereas countless other anime re-use tired and predictable plotlines. While such shows induce little curiosity, here all sorts of questions leap to mind: what, exactly, was Eiji's original wish? If he wished for the destruction of the world, why was that wish only partially granted? Why is Daisy creating 'Orders' in the first place? Why does she want him to use his power? The show created a healthy balance between what is revealed to the viewer and what is kept secret for now. I wanted the answers, but was satisfied with what I had gotten so far. I didn't know exactly what is going on--something about a misunderstood anti-superhero?--but it seemed cool and I liked it. I was left looking forward to episode two.

I noticed that there was also a Big Order OVA, which was made during 2015. Early on, this closely matched episode one, then included a number of other characters which would no doubt appear later in the series. It was kind of confusing, as Eiji bounced back and forth between a number of alternate realities without knowing what was going on (Daisy doesn't appear until late in the 23-minute OVA). I also worried at one point that it might be spoiling events which have yet to happen in the TV series, and maybe I shouldn't be watching it at all, but in the end I don't think it did much harm. I kept watching because it was fairly cool, and I enjoyed it. I remember saying to myself, as all sorts of bizarre things happened, 'This show is fucked up--in a good way'.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, Big Order was also fucked up in a bad way. Basically, it turned out to be a thoroughly confusing show. In episode two, when Eiji is introduced to a group of Orders besides himself, I was left wondering if he was leading them or being manipulated by them. Was he using his ability--I still wasn't clear about exactly what that was--to control them? This is definitely a show which is rough around the edges, and the story should have been told with more finesse, but the basic story titillated me for some reason and left me eager for more. Perhaps it's because the plot seemed to be moving forward towards some definite climax, rather than wandering aimlessly—although in the end one might conclude that it takes a break from that focus and does a good deal of aimless wandering before getting back on track near the end. Perhaps the problem is that even the unusually short ten episodes which it got was more than enough time to tell the basic story. The plot seems to leapfrog forward at times, and I feel that I must have missed something—maybe an entire episode--because this isn't making a whole lot of sense. Hints are dropped but they are too opaque to understand or remember. Numerous new characters are introduced but I can't keep track of what their powers are, since they haven't been demonstrated yet. And whose side are they on? What was the main goal again? How does this particular fight between Orders move Eiji and his team towards that goal? The fact that a certain character is introduced at the end of one episode, and we are clearly supposed to be shocked but I could only wonder why this mattered, says a lot about how confused I had become. When stuff doesn't make sense, I tend not to remember it, because I can't remember everything. If it's unclear what really matters and what doesn't, I'm screwed. I feared at one point that I had completely lost track of the specifics of what's going on and may never regain them, and will have to slog forward while understanding only the general premise.

Another thing which frustrates me--because this show clearly has a lot of potential--is the way that outlandish claims are made (like Ayo has somehow become pregnant with Eiji's child even though they've never had sex) which absolutely demand an explanation, but none of the characters seem to consider them to be anywhere near as important as we the viewers do, and in the end the explanation we get is so inadequate that I want to beat my head against a wall (this was a figurative pregnancy). That's not good enough. Was the manga as careless as this?

Yet, somehow Big Order remained a fun show. Eiji and his people are trying to take over the world, after all; that is such a bold move that it would be easy to laugh at it, but somehow I'm transfixed. What the Orders propose to do seemed somewhat wild and farfetched, although in a way that turned out to be an advantage. And I did get a number of laughs, like when the assassin girl, Rin, tried to lead Eiji into a series of traps in episode two. The wackiness of this show still brings a grin to my face when I think back about watching it. I've seen people with bizarre, supernatural powers in anime before, but here the premise remains fairly plausible--we know virtually nothing about Daisy, so who's to say that she couldn't hand out amazing abilities like these? And Eiji seems like a nice, fairly level-headed guy who only wants to help his sister, Sena. What's not to like? Big Order has a style of it's own which I enjoy, and despite all my frustrations, I still look forward to watching new episodes.

It seems like a number of largely pointless fights have been inserted to stretch the series out. But there are so many Order powers that I can't keep track of them all or understand why fights wind up the way they do. Fortunately, in episode seven the story starts to get back on track as we get some backstory which explains a lot of what's going on--like what exactly Daisy is, and what Eiji's father, Gennai, has been up to. Some of this new info was stuff which I wish we had been provided with way back in episode two or so. Sena has a mind of her own and won't just sit back and wait to be rescued by Eiji, which is neat. In the end, Big Order made up for a number of past sins by putting a fairly believable and cathartic conclusion together. I felt another thrill at the conclusion, just like I had back in episode one. It's a shame that the making of this anime didn't get a little more skill and talent, because it clearly has potential that went unrealized.

Last updated Thursday, July 07 2016. Created Wednesday, April 27 2016.

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