Big Order Anime Review

Big Order Anime Review

Written by: ClayDragon

If you could have one wish granted, what would it be? Fame? Money? Power? Unlimited rice pudding? When Big Order’s main character Eiji made a wish ten years before the series started, it resulted in a series of disasters that caused the death of thousands. At the same time, a number of other people around the world had their wishes granted, and these people – named ‘Orders’ – were blamed for the catastrophe. Since this series was written by the same person who wrote Future Diary, there was naturally a bit of excitement when Big Order first aired. So the question is, should you watch it?

No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no. NO.

I put my Assassination Classroom review on hold for this?!

Let’s quickly get one thing out the way first. Normally, I don’t like spoiling too much about a story when I’m reviewing it, because if someone decides to watch something I recommend, I don’t want them knowing potential spoilers. But this time, I’m not exactly going to be doing a proper review – I’m going to look at the waking nightmare that is Big Order and tear it to shreds. So if you still want to watch this series for the plot (and you really, really shouldn’t), then stop reading now.

I kind of feel like this gif is a metaphor for the series as a whole...

Problem Number 1: The plot is godawful. See, in the ten years between making his wish and the start of the series, Eiji forgets what his wish was (kind of seems like something you’d remember, considering it was actually granted, but hey). It turns out that his wish gave him the power to create an area of space around him and wherever he’s been in the past. In this ‘domain’, he’s essentially a god – being able to control things like air pressure, gravity and even people’s minds. That being said, it’s hinted several times that he actually wished for something different than what he got. 

If a mysterious girl appeared in your room, granted your wish, and then thousands of people died, you might want to mark that day in your diary.

The story really gets moving (for want of a better term) when Eiji meets Rin, a young assassin who’s determined to kill him and get revenge for her parents’ death in the catastrophe ten years ago. After a couple of ridiculous plot points which I’ll get to later, Eiji ends up meeting the ten most powerful people in Japan – fellow Orders who wish to control the world. Forced to work with them, Eiji sets out to take over the world. Unfortunately, this goal only lasts for a couple of episodes before the focus shifts to finding a cure for Eiji’s dying sister, before shifting again to focus on the show’s villain and his goals. So yeah, the plot is utterly haphazard and inconsistent. 

"Hail Hydra."

Problem Number 2: The characters are unlikable. To start with, Eiji is not a relatable protagonist at all, and this only gets worse as time goes on. For example, at the end of the first episode Eiji activates his power and places Rin inside his domain, and orders her to stay with him at all times and to never harm him. So far, so standard. But then he accidentally sort-of proposes to her, and his power reacts to this. So now due to his power affecting her mind and personality, Rin is torn between wanting to kill Eiji and wanting to marry him. Does this sound familiar?

Okay, Yuno isn't being controlled by someone else's power, but still.

The fact that Eiji doesn’t immediately undo this once he realises what happens is bad enough, but any budding relationship between the two is severely hampered by the fact that, you know, she’s falling in love with him against her will. To make things even worse, a few scenes in later episodes imply that Eiji’s relationship with his little sister is…unwholesome. Another problem with Eiji is that, despite having an insanely overpowered ability, he hardly ever uses it effectively. Almost immediately after meeting the ten Orders, he places them under his control, and yet they still act as though he’s their puppet, and he just goes along with it.

Also, what on earth is the deal with Tree Guy?

Speaking of the supporting cast, they’re not much better. Rin is blatantly a discount Yuno Gasai, and the ten Orders are, for the most part, completely forgettable. The only one that’s halfway memorable is Iyo, and that’s only because Eiji gets her heavily pregnant by accidentally grabbing her hair ribbon – a plot point that’s exactly as ridiculous as it sounds – only for it all to get sorted out in an anti-climax that would be hilarious if it weren’t so pathetic.

This actually happens. There is nothing more I can add to this.

Problem Number 3: The presentation is pretty poor. To be honest, this is probably the aspect of Big Order that I had the least issue with. The background music isn’t too bad, and in some cases it’s pretty catchy…but it never suits the scene. The animation is fairly decent, until they decided to slap a grainy black-and-white filter over most of the last episode. Admittedly, the opening credits are catchy too, but the animation that plays gets repeated during the last 30 seconds, making it look like they ran out of money to get a fully-animated opening. I didn’t even bother watching the ending credits more than once.

Of course, there's more detail put into the 'important' shots...

Problem Number 4: The show has no idea what genre it wants to be. At some points, the tone of the series swings between extremes incredibly quickly. For example, at one point a room of hostages are systematically executed, and it’s played completely straight. But after that scene, wacky hijinks occur. There are times where it seems that Big Order wants to be dark and edgy, but then it throws in some slapstick. As a result, none of the emotional moments have any impact whatsoever.

Good thing she can heal herself, or her injuries might actually be played for drama.

Problem Number 5: Eiji’s power is very poorly defined. At first, it seems simple: as long as Eiji has walked on a location, that place falls under his domain. Upon activating his power, he has complete control over everything in his domain. But apparently he can’t control an object that’s being manipulated by another Order, despite being able to control other Orders just fine. Also, he can’t control water. But he can control anything within the water. He can stop bullets and swords from reaching him. Except when he can’t.

Or by the rules of the plot.

Problem Number 6: There are plot holes galore. I’ve already touched on Eiji’s powers, but there’s a lot more. For example, why did the main villain wait ten years before setting his plan in motion? He could have done it as soon as all the wishes were granted, but he waited ten years because…reasons, I guess? He can control anyone with a touch, but destroying that person’s eye is enough to break the control? Eiji’s sister is dying of an illness, but Rin has the power to regenerate whatever she touches, so why can’t she heal her? Given that Eiji can’t remember the circumstances of his wish, why is he so sure he caused the catastrophe? In the final battle Eiji gave a speech about how making the world live up to people’s wishes is no substitute for the real thing, but the plot gets resolved by Eiji pretty much wishing for a new world. Sounds fairly hypocritical to me. Why did only certain people get their wishes granted in the first place? Trust me, the list goes on and on.

There's also an OVA...that makes zero fucking sense.

I have more issues with Big Order, but those are the main ones. There are good anime and bad anime, and then there are the rare series which fall under the ‘so bad they’re good’ category. Big Order is none of those. ‘Bad’ is too weak a word. If I had to say how bad it is, this should give you an idea: Big Order is ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’-level bad. There is precisely one moment in which the show elevates itself to ‘so bad it’s good’ levels, and even then it’s a tiny moment and the ‘good’ is relative to the rest of the show.

TO HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS SHOW.

Unless you’re incredibly curious, or enjoy awful shows, don’t watch Big Order. I don’t have a problem watching bad shows, if only because I can see how the eventual trainwreck plays out. But even though Big Order crashes and burns in so many ways, all of the enjoyment is taken away because it’s just that bad. The plot’s incomprehensible, the characters are unlikable and forgettable, it’s riddled with plot holes and deus ex machinas, and worst of all, it’s just boring. It’s only ten episodes (a small mercy), but I will never get those four hours back.

Thank god it's over.

Good Things:        I don’t know, the animation was serviceable, I guess?

                                                               

Bad Things:           Tangled, stilted and damn-near impenetrable plot.

                                Unrelatable characters and disturbing romantic implications.

                                Music hardly ever suits the scene’s mood.

                                Show doesn’t know if it wants to be dark and serious or light and slapstick.

                                Poorly defined powers and an overabundance of plot holes.

                                Don’t watch it, okay?

Final Verdict:     

Numbers don't do this one justice, folks.

Danger of death.

Do you have a suggestion for an anime I should review? Let me know in the comments, or submit it to ask.fm/ClayDragon! This review was requested by boss!

ClayDragon:









ClayDragon is currently studying Physics at university, and is constantly bewildered by it. The main method of contacting him is his Gmail account at claydragon.on@gmail.com. He has an ask.fm account at ask.fm/ClayDragon. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to figure out what to do with his life. IT'S NOT EVEN ABOUT FOOD!