Big Order

By Andrew Osmond.

Ten years ago, the world of Big Order was struck by a massive paranormal catastrophe. But for schoolboy Eiji Hoshimiya, that was only the start of the nightmare. Now, he lives with a terrible secret knowledge – that he was the child who wished for an apocalypse, and somehow had that wish granted.

In this post-disaster world, there are other people with magic-seeming powers to turn wishes into reality, different wishes for each person. These people are called Orders, and ordinary citizens view them with fear and hate. Eiji just wants to live unnoticed, and have the rest of his brief time with his beloved younger sister Sena, who’s hospitalised with an incurable illness. But then a beautiful transfer student joins his class, and Eiji’s life gets far more complicated…

Okay, so as soon as the lovely transfer girl shows up, many viewers will be able to guess Eiji’s in big trouble. As a manga, Big Order was the successor to Future Diary (Mirai Nikki) – not a sequel, but created in a similar outrageous mould by the same manga writer, Sakae Esuno. It’s not so much of a horror series – there are fewer head choppings and bloodbaths, though things do get gory at times. Regarding the transfer student, Rin, she’s not quite the same as the memorably maniacal Yuno who was the star of Future Diary. However, Rin does want to kill Eiji, very badly indeed. You see, she knows he destroyed the world.

Rin is one of the new superpowered Orders who have shown up since the disaster. Her particular power is the ability to regenerate herself when she’s killed, however messily. One of Big Order’s best scenes is when Rin has to navigate a building chock-full of death traps; you can guess how that plays out. To complicate things further, there are other Orders who know Eiji’s terrible secret, and they threaten to expose it to the world.

Before long, Eiji’s caught up in a barmy campaign by these Orders to conquer Japan, with massive battles involving nukes and occult forces, ley lines and Shinto Shrines. Some of the fights take place at national landmarks such as Osaka Castle and – with rather more dubious taste – the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima. In another scene, Japan’s Prime Minister uses hardcore tactics against the Orders; he takes their family members hostage, and then executes them one by one by beheading them with swords. We told you there was some head chopping.

All this might be considered outrageous in most anime. In Big Order, frankly, fans will be maxed-out on outrage for different reasons. Yes, there’s violence, and a lot of female nudity, with one especially shameless group bathing scene. However, there are also certain story developments in Big Order, dropped in with jaw-dropping nonchalance, that have really mired the show deep in fan infamy. Luckily, we have the excuse of spoilers to stay away from those.

Like Future Diary, Big Order goes bugnuts fast without apologies, playing like a mad medley of other anime. As well as Future Diary, it has touches of Code Geass – there’s lots of characters tussling for mind control, as well as the whole “battle for Japan” thing. There’s also some borrowing from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – the Orders deploy magic avatar fighters which feel awfully like Jojo’s Stands, although Eiji’s own mummy servant smacks more of Ajin. Later in Big Order, there’s a super-samurai heavy called Jubei, named for a semi-mythical hero, but his ability to slice anything with his sword is pinched straight from Goemon in the Lupin the Third franchise.

Anime Limited’s edition includes the TV series and also the OAV episode. Unlike the OAV that was attached to Future Diary, Big Order’s OAV isn’t a straight continuation of the TV story. Indeed, it was made before the TV series as a bonus for the manga’s readers. However, if you haven’t read the manga, then the OAV makes far more sense if you watch it after the TV show, and take it as a freeform remix of the TV version.

Andrew Osmond is the author of 100 Animated Feature Films. Big Order is released in the UK by Anime Limited.