Big Order – 03

“So why did we choose this collapsing tunnel as our route?” “It’s all for the ratings”

Boy oh boy do we have a lot to talk about this time. I’m looking forward to reading the comments on this one…

I’m not sure I like the way these battles are structured. I much prefer the idea of a bunch of kids scattered across Japan being given superpowers and then searching out other Orders to kill on their own. Having them grouped into small armies takes the fun out of trying to figure out who in the crowd is really an enemy. I much prefer the tactics that take place on a micro scale of one-on-one battles compared to the tactical planning behind a co-ordinated military strike.

So it’s a little weird for me to see Eiji trot out with a team of throwaway soldiers (who inevitably abandon him anyways). Why even bother having it staged as a war when Eiji is just going to fight a golem exclusively with other Orders at his side anyways? This format also has the disadvantage of introducing us to the whole council of 10 bad guys at once, which is a bit too much to swallow. There hasn’t been enough time spent debriefing us on what the hell is going on and who these mysterious people are. There are too many unknowns here, as some of the members seem to have conflicting motives. Most of them seem to hate him and see him only as a puppet. Others, like Iyo, hop in and try to help him out. Being a false King (basically he’s a glorified puppet with his sister as hostage) could be an interesting position with many possible story routes, but right now, it’s too muddled. The problem is that there is still no explanation for why all the characters in the show act the way they do towards Eiji. The dynamics make absolutely no sense.

Yuno = white panties. Rin = black panties. This is crucial character building.

Take a look at the chemistry between Rin and Eiji, which had already gone to hell in a handbasket last week. It’s still a horrible, as Rin claims to want to kill Eiji, and yet she’s constantly acting like his jealous girlfriend. It’s like the author wanted to make a badass girl who wanted to kill Eiji and then decided to also make them pitiful and clingy. The two sides of Rin are at odds with each other and they simply don’t work as multiple aspects of the same person. Not here. Not like this.

As a result, it’s impossible to pin her down.  She seems to flit between loving and hating Eiji at a moment’s notice. Either way, she’s devoting so much attention to him (and him alone) that at the end of the day, all of her actions lead to stroking Eiji’s ego. That’s the entire purpose of her character. This episode, Rin but was reduced to being little more than comedic relief. Yes, she admittedly works well as a gag character given that Big Order seems to be going for an absurd, so bad it’s good route. However, most of the time it seems like we’re laughing at her being exploited in some rather sketchy ways.

Let’s review, shall we? Rin starts off the episode with the briefest of fanservice scenes in lacy black lingerie – the choice of assassins everywhere for maximum dexterity, I suppose. Then she’s nonchalently killed by Eiji as a pawn to trick the prime minister into thinking Eiji betrayed everyone. Afterwards, she revives and has this lovely interaction: getting viciously jealous of Eiji speaking to another girl despite the fact that she’s supposed to hate him. She’s really, really, really getting the short end of the stick here!

I know every relationship has its ups and downs, but this is just crazy

The whole show seems to have this problem when it comes to understanding what personalities and normal human interactions are like. Iyo’s appearance this episode was also a mess. She immediately went ga-ga over Eiji, and it’s still not clear why she’s helping him. I know they don’t want their King (i.e. pawn) to die so soon, but she seems a lot more personally invested in helping Eiji and even consoling him. But since until now we’ve only seen her as a stoic fortune-teller, now I have no idea which side is the real her.

This brings me to the “incident”. I can just vaguely call it this and I have complete faith each and every one of you knows what I’m talking about, unless for some reason you didn’t watch the show. Or if you blacked out towards the end because you couldn’t take any more. Anyways! The episode ends with the wonderful cliffhanger of Eiji getting Iyo pregnant by touching her hair ribbon. At first I thought she was mistaken about a mere touch getting her pregnant, as a sort of joke at how shrine maidens may not get the best sexual education. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Iyo’s belly ballooned out with comical speed and she went into labour a few minutes later. Eiji got a girl pregnant. In episode 3. By touching her hair accessory.

So if he wore a condom on his hand, would it have been okay?

At this point I sincerely hope Big Order is intentionally going for bad ideas. If not, this was a huge miss. The writing is horrible writing, there’s no sense of how real people interact with each other, the girls are treated like dirt, and we’re stuck with dumb-as-bricks plot twists. Even schizophrenics can communicate with more sense that the disjointed nonsense that comes out these characters mouths. Just think about how much worse this is going to get too! Just wait, watch Iyo’s baby end up as like a dragon or a smaller version of Iyo or something equally stupid. This is a messed up show and I feel messed up just watching it.

Despite all this, it’s fun. It’s fun to see how utterly low a show can sink and how it can do almost everything wrong. Don’t try and cover it up with smooth jazz, Big Order, this show makes zero sense! Mirai Nikki was dumb, but at least it had a discernible structure.

…Anyways, I can’t wait to see what this shitshow has to offer next week. It’s like watching a car crash into a wall over and over again.

I guess she wished for rock hard nipples and it came true

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.