THE BIG O is the Japanese BATMAN
The Big O, an anime produced by the fine folks at Sunrise and Bandai (the geniuses behind all things Gundam), stars Roger Smith, who is the Japanese equivalent of Batman. How can this be, you ask? Roger Smith "teams up" (his words) with the giant robot called the Big O. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, stalks the night in tights with his underwear on the outside. The Big O has laser beam eyes, hidden missiles, a compressed air megapunch, and is the giant freaking robot! Batman has a utility belt, an attitude, a small army of loyal zealots, and is the world's greatest detective. Obviously there are going to be differences, both because Bruce Wayne was created in 1939 and Roger Smith in 1999 and because there are vast cultural differences between America and Japan. But sit back, read on, and I will explain all...

Roger Smith = Bruce Wayne Bruce Wayne lives in an enormous mansion - stately Wayne Manor - joined only by his balding, loyal manservent Alfred and a succession of young sidekicks/apprentices; Roger Smith lives in an approximately twenty story former bank building joined only by his balding, loyal manservent Norman and his young sidekick/apprentice, Dororthy. Bruce Wayne, fueled by the trauma of his parents' brutal murder, fights a one-man war on crime and injustice; Roger Smith quit the inadequate Military Police when it became obvious they were tools of the Paradigm Corporation and now wages a one-man war on evil and injustice with the Big O. Batman does not use guns nor allow anyone around him to use them; Roger Smith refuses to carry a gun, despite a life of constant peril and Angel's frequent incredulity. Bruce Wayne usually wears black; as a rule of Roger Smith's house, which even the master observes, everyone wears black. The Batmobile is a powerful, black car equipped with armor and all manner of sophisticated devices; Roger Smith drives a powerful, black sedan equipped with armor, missiles, machine guns, and a sophisticated communications system. Batman carries grappling hooks and other tools in his utility belt; Roger Smith summons the Big O through his watch, which also contains a small grappling device and a laser cutting torch. Very few people know that Bruce Wayne is the Batman; very few people know that Roger Smith pilots the Big O.

R. Dorothy Wayneright = Robin Both Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, the first two Robins, were orphans, taken in by Bruce Wayne and given a purpose in life by the Batman; Dorothy is an orphan, both of her fathers - the man who built her and the man for whom she was built - having died in the first two episodes, and she has been taken in by Roger Smith, to whom she has recently expressed a desire to be, like him, a Negotiator. Robin (true of all three Robins) is a trained martial artist and detective, as much an asset to Batman as a sidekick; Dorothy, being an android, possess great strength, speed, and stamina, as well as a keen eye for observation and sharp wit, and is often a great help to Roger Smith.

Norman Burg = Alfred Pennyworth Both men are British, balding, and expert in the use of weapons and the maintenance of sophisticated machinery. Both men serve a solitary, bachelor master set upon waging a one-man campaign for justice, until a little light is brought into both masters' lives by a teenaged orphan. The only difference is that Norman has an eyepatch.

Colonel Dan Dastun = Commissioner Jim Gordon Jim Gordon's best friend is the Batman, even though he does not know it is billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne beneath the cowl; Dan Dastun shares his frustrations and suspicions with his friend Roger Smith, even though he was hurt when the latter resigned from his beloved Military Police. Gordon goes outside the official channels of the GCPD to bring Batman in an difficult investigations; Dastun consults Roger when he thinks might arise a situation beyond the powers of the Military Police, necessitating the intervention of the Big O. Gordon believes in the law, but knows that justice is more important; Dastun believes in the Military Police, but knows that protecting the citizens of Paradigm City is paramount. Both Gordon and Dastun utilize their extralegal allies when needed, but resent the fact that they are needed in the first place.

Big Ear = Oracle {This is my least favorite, but it still works.} Brabara Gordon, the first Batgirl, was paralyzed by The Joker. Determined to keep fighting the good fight, she became Oracle, the world's greatest hacker and finder of information. When Batman needs records accessed or obscure clues looked up, he turns to the seemingly omnipotent Oracle; when Roger Smith needs information, he journeys to the bar called the Speakeasy and consults the man in the back called Big Ear. We don't know where Big Ear gets his knowledge, but for a roll of twenties he'll answer your questions and point you in the right direction.

Angel = Catwoman Catwoman isn't a good girl, but neither is she a serious threat like The Joker or Two-Face; Angel isn't on Roger Smith's side, but neither is she working against him. Catwoman is a thief, but most often she steals from mobsters and rich fatcats, never from the disadvantaged; Angel works for the evil Paradigm Corporation, but she also seems to be trying to take it down from the inside. Catwoman is the only woman to whom Batman seems attracted; though Roger Smith is a connoisseur of beautiful women, no other fascinates him as does the woman who calls herself Angel.

Beck = The Penguin The Penguin is a mobster, a criminal and a murderer, but not a deranged mass murderer like the Scarecrow; Beck is an extortionist and kidnapper, but not a sociopath like Alan Gabriel. The Penguin runs his criminal empire out of a legitimate nightculb, he's a run-of-the-mill gangster with a weird nickname; even when Beck had access to the Megadeus Dorothy II, he didn't try to level the city, but rather tried to steal the printing plates from the city mint.

Schwarzwald = Two-Face Before he became Two-Face, Harvey Dent was Gotham City's District Attorney and an ally of both Jim Gordon and the Batman; before he became Schwarzwald, Michael Seebach was a reporter working to recover Paradigm City's lost memories, making him a tangental ally of Roger Smith. Depending on the flip of a coin, Two-Face acts as either a villain or a twisted version of Harvey Dent; though twisted and malevolent, Schwarzwald's goal remains the defiance of the Paradigm Corporation's wishes: the reawakening of lost memories.

Alex Rosewater = Ra's al-Ghul Ra's al-Ghul is centuries old. He controls a vast, shadowy empire dedicated to culling the human population and restoring nature; Alex Rosewater, as the head of the Paradigm Corporation, controls Paradigm City - the entire known universe - though he seems intent on reviving enough memories to destroy everyone outside the domes. Ra's al-Ghul possesses almost unique knowledge of the Lazarus Pits, the means by which he sustains his immortality; Alex Rosewater seems to possess almost unique knowledge from before Paradigm's mass amnesia of forty years ago.

Alan Gabriel = The Joker The Joker doesn't want money, power, or revenge, he just likes killing people; Alan Gabriel, who is a new character in the second season, seems to do very little other than menace Roger Smith at Rosewater's behest and execute androids. The Joker had pale skin and the world's creepiest smile; Alan Gabriel has pale skin and smiles just enough to make you uneasy.

Giant Robots and Androids
Of course, there are differences. Gotham City is the quintessential picture of American urban decay; after a cataclysm forty years ago, all memory and record of the past was erased from Paradigm City, which seems to be all that's left of the entire world. Bruce Wayne travelled the world honing his body and mind to the limits of human potential; Roger Smith teams up with a giant, heavily armed, possibly sentient robot - a Megadeus - known as the Big O. Batman's apprentices possess no super powers, but instead rely on their superb training; the unflappable R. Dorothy is a sarcastic, piano-playing android. The Batman franchise has been going for sixty-four consecutive years; the original season of The Big O was thirteen half-hour episodes. Batman is a classic piece of Americana; The Big O is a slick, stylish Japanese anime. Still, it's undeniable that Roger Smith is the Japanese Batman.