Big Order

Episode 1

Big Order is the hardest kind of show to write about for me, because it's left me very little to work with. It's based on a manga by the same guy who wrote Future Diary, Sakae Esuno. That right there should tell you a lot about how you might feel about Big Order. I didn't dislike that show as much as some of its stronger deterrents, but even I had to jump ship about halfway through, when the storytelling devolved into a mess of convoluted violence and nonsensical character arcs. Future Diary started off with some promise, but it didn't take long to realize that the series was more concerned with haphazardly stitching together shocking/titillating/disturbing sequences of violence and torture than it was in telling a satisfying story.

Big Order has only just started, so obviously my assessment could be completely misguided. Still, even in this first episode, the cracks in this show's foundation are starting to show. As was the case with Future Diary, it takes what could have been an interesting premise (a child is given incomprehensible power and accidentally destroys the world with his immature fantasies) and somehow manages to make it feel both overstuffed and devoid of anything important actually happening.

For instance: We learn that Eiji is one of many “Orders,” individuals granted the ability to fulfill their own personal wishes with supernatural powers. Eiji's wish was apparently to destroy the world, and to his credit, he now realizes this wasn't the best choice he's ever made. He is visited by Daisy, apparently the one responsible for creating Orders in the first place, and she cryptically tells him that he didn't actually wish for the end of the world; the apocalypse was just a byproduct of his REAL wish.

So for the rest of the episode, the question the show wants you to ask is: “What was the REAL wish?” The show doesn't stop using flashback clips to remind you that this is the big mystery the episode is building towards answering. However, the show keeps throwing new information and new characters at the audience, without ever taking a few seconds to actually let us settle and digest what's happening. It feels like two or three episodes' worth of story have been awkwardly spliced into one. As a result, I spent less time focusing on that main question above and more time asking myself other questions:

1. Why does Eiji not remember exactly what he wished for? I mean, sure, he was a kid, but he clearly remembers that his wish was inspired by love for his favorite antihero from a children's TV show, so why does Daisy's reveal seem to come as such a shock to him?

2. Is Eiji's crippled little sister in love with him? What's with the creepy photos of him sleeping on the wall behind her? Why is Eiji touching her face like that? Is he into her too?

3. Did the world only find out about Orders after the world ended, or were they being persecuted before then? Are all Orders evil? How do these powers even work?

4. Who are these random villains that apparently want Eiji dead? Why does one of them seem to have a roll of toilet paper with a smiley face on it for a head?

5. Eiji's power seems to be reality manipulation, but it's very unclear, since apparently that means “Destroy Everything” without restrictions on it, and now that the power has been reduced to super-limited levels by Daisy, it just means mind-control. His actual wish, it turns out, was to “Dominate the World”, but the show isn't doing a good job of explaining what any of this chaos has to do with significant domination.

Then the show abruptly cuts to black as Eiji begins binding and torturing the pink haired Order with telekinetic nail whips, and the use of the word dominate becomes all too clear as she squirms, powerless to resist Eiji's, whimpering in fear and pain.

Fun?

It might come across like I hated this episode, but outside of that jarringly unpleasant (though not terribly surprising) turn to sadism at the end, Big Order didn't inspire much reaction in me one way or the other. Its protagonist is about as bland as they get, and the visual design of the show is similarly uninspired and dull. The animation is fine enough, but it doesn't matter much when the characters aren't given anything to do. Granted, this is only episode one, and things could potentially turn around. Outside of that genuinely uncomfortable turn at the end, Big Order's premiere was too unremarkable to warrant any anger from me, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. Who knows? Maybe things will get better from here.

But I have to say, if unsettling fits of sadomasochism wrapped up in half-baked mythology are the standards this show is aiming for, then I worry that Big Order might just end up becoming Future Diary 2: Diary Harder.

Rating: C-

Big Order is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is an English teacher who has loved anime his entire life, and he spends way too much time on Twitter.