The series ended in a mindfuck because they were gunning for a third season.

There are theories that fit, like that the entire city had once been a movie/tv studio and some cataclysm erased the memory of all the actors, androids and robots in the city. Part of the final mindfuck seems to be that Angel used to be a director and had implants that allowed her to access the city's mainframe.

It less clear what Roger was before the cataclysm or how he was connected to Big O. Actor, soldier, or a stunt robot designed to look like a real actor.

I never actually watched all of season 2. The last episode I even remember watching was the fucking weird one where Roger was fighting another giant robot but the who episode played out like he was tripping balls and the city he was in was the same only his house was a bank and and Dorothy was a real person and his butler didn't know him and he wasn't rich as shit. Then he realizes reality is subjective and he was back at the battleground in the sea and almost died.

I really need to finish this show up. It oozed style and had some cool ideas.

My guess is, it is a virtual reality thing where everyone is half-asleep and sharing in the same experience. The pros of this explanation are, it explains how reality can be completely fluid, how nothing makes any practical sense, and yet how none of the characters are quite aware of how implausible it all is. The con of this explanation is, it means that nothing that happens on the show really matters because it's really just a big simulation anyway.

I read an article by a science fiction author where he said fans claim to hate inconsistencies in stories but they actually love them. Like if after a character says he's got 12 dicks but later we find out he's only got one (the author's example, not mine), everyone has fun trying to come up with an explanation for it. With that in mind, in one episode Big-O was shown following, on its own and without anyone inside, a mannequin of Roger. So obviously Big-O has a mind of its own to some degree.

As far as the story taking place in a virtual reality city, The Big-O has a lot of esoteric western philosophy in it. Paradigm City is based on The Parable Of The Cave from Plato's Republic ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_cave ). The guy who escaped and saw the real world is Schwarzwald (German name for The Black Forest), the insane reporter that's bandaged up like a mummy and who's character design is based on the main character from the movie Dark Man.

I did notice a lot of philosophical elements in the show and I assume the author you spek of is talking about peoples' ideas of the story. Something with that kind of inconsitencies and "plot holes" leave the viewer thinking of ways to fill in the "holes". this doesn't apply to everything since I'm sure George Lucas didn't have this in mind when he made the Star Wars prequels.

Funny this should show up here now. I took the time this weekend and read the Big O manga that was released just before the anime premiered. I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the show. It's very similar to the anime, capturing the same atmosphere and mix of stand alone stories and stories with and over-arching plot.

I doubt it is a computer simulation, as the contrast between androids and humans wouldn't be as strong. I prefer if everything is real but held together with ridiculously complicated technology.
Keep the city "fake" but the elements in it quite real.

I will probably read the manga as Zarathrustra suggests, but I will need to run the sound track at the same time. It is fucking fantastic and a big part of what made this series so engaging.

I gave up trying to find a deeper understanding and just enjoyed the series because it contained giant robots punching each other.

The love story is nice too.

did the manga have an ending?

The manga ends rather abruptly and in an open-ended manner. Once I got over my initial disappointment in the ending, I had to admit it was fitting, at least with respect to how Roger changed throughout the story.

This exactly.

It even LOOKED like it.

Actually, I remember about the time this first came on Toonami they were showing the Batman/Superman Adventures on Kids WB and the art style was damn near identical to this.

That is WAY too similar to be coincidence. I still like the "Big O" version better, but yeah, pretty much the same tune.

I never thought I'd say "that robot looks good with salmon detailing", and yet there it is. It's really not a combination of words that you'd expect to encounter.

My god yes. I am not ashamed to say that I own the Big Duo.