Buddy Complex

[Kraco]

It shouldn't hurt. Much. Probably.

"On the first day back after summer break, high-school student Aoba is attacked by a giant robot that appears out of the sky. As he's pursued through the city, his classmate Hina appears in a robot of her own. She rescues him, and tells him cryptically that "Dio is waiting for you," before she disappears. This begins Aoba's new life as the pilot of the Free Treaty Alliance against the Great Zogiria Republic." -ANN

Download: Episode 1 - Watakushi | HS
Genres: Action, mecha, science fiction
Links: AniDB | ANN | Official






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Traditional (non-Gundam) mecha anime from Sunrise. That more or less sums up this show. Production values seemed to be ok, as expected from Sunrise, but I also like how this is not a Gundam show. No doubt there will still be super machines around, yet the Gundam religion should be absent. I was never much of a fan of that. However, other Sunrise stock elements likely are there, and those I don't mind. The title itself seems to suggest friendship will play a role, one way or another, and there was some fateful staring going on between the guy and girl in this episode already.

I decided stop wasting my time writing about voice actors this season, but I guess I'll mention the main character is voiced by the dude who played Kirito. It'll take some getting used to, especially with the SAO extra watched so recently, but I'll get over it.

I'll keep watching this one. I doubt it will surprise either overly positively or negatively, but that's what makes a traditional robot anime (as opposed to more experimental things like Nobunaga the Fool, for example, that might go either way).

[MFauli]

okay, i have to admit that this is my kind of anime, so ill probably keep watching. however ill have to say this: its frustrating how these stories never use the full range of their potential. for example, I hate the lack of an appropriate reaction to giant mechas suddenly appearing in the real world. not only all the other people, but the Aoba himself was way too accepting of it, and way too quickly. It doesnt need its violence, but why cant an anime likethis put more focus on some realistic reaction? I want to see everybody super-panic, either run away or break down in place. I want Aoba to follow that girl´s orders as if he´s a puppet, feeling like he´s having a bad dream. I want a better portrayal of the terror and fear that absolutely follows the destructive actions of this mecha-fight inmidst of a lively town.

Instead, it´s all way too sudden.

Again, I like the premise of the show, I like that it has a male lead in times where tough girls are shoven down our throats, and I could feel the advent of an interesting mystery towards the end of this first episode. But it could be so much better. Maybe one day we´ll reach a time where anime can overcome their shallow tradition and tropes. But not for now, I guess.


PS:

Bonus-topic for discussion that came to my mind during watching this: Why is it that we can never have this kind of show with an older hero? Say, 25-45 years old. And I´m not talking about just any older protagonist, I mean an older lead character who´s in exactly that kind of situation. Usually with older leader characters, they´re always too "wise" already, too cool, too experienced. I´d like to have adventure anime with "man children" as heroes.
I mean, manga/anime exist for quite some time now, don´t they. So the audience should have gotten older, too, right? Why not give them a hero that they can more directly relate to? It´s no wonder that you have older guys lusting after young girls, when 90% of all manga/anime revolve around young characters. :>

[Kraco]

It's Japan. Half of the population is all the time expecting giant robots to appear.

I had no problems with the people's reactions. It was disbelief and then running away when the danger was evident. The most unbelievable reaction for me personally is just standing still, mouth hanging open, and waiting to get killed, possibly repeating "this must be a dream" (this happened in another show this season, which I promptly dropped).

What comes to Aoba specifically, he needed to be at least this resourceful and quick thinking to be of any use as a mecha pilot prodigy. I reckon many authors would try to seek some extra, loose realism points by making people mentally break down and unable to do anything in a sudden, seemingly absurd situation, but that's nothing but naive foolishness. Humankind hasn't lived in a safe environment for that long at all (and many still don't); earlier life was full of deadly dangers appearing out of nowhere. In fact these days mental preparation should be quite satisfactory since people can mentally get used to all manner of strange situations in games or simply by watching TV and movies all their lives. Not only do random joes have a shit-ton of real knowledge from education and media, far more than people of the past, but they have also seen the products of the imaginations of great many fiction authors.

[David75]

So, we have a mech pilot who can't get rid of a single teenager with a combat-mech. He was sure to be dead before the end of the ep.
Other than that, it was a least a little entertaining, even when I'm not a fan of the mech genre.
(Kraco: Nobunagun? , dropped it too... )

Regarding the title and the ep, did I understand that there's some compatibility score running by the end of the ep between our teenager prodigy and Dio?

[Kraco]

So, we have a mech pilot who can't get rid of a single teenager with a combat-mech. He was sure to be dead before the end of the ep.

I don't really feel like defending that poor mechamanship, but at least they threw in an explanation at some point suggesting the mecha's calibration was so out of order that the autotargeting missed the mark consistently. When he finally switched to manual control, Aoba was already hitting the narrow streets. He also ran out of bullets, which seems to be a common feature of the mecha in this show.

[Ryllharu]

It's an interesting premise, to be sure. The guy basically got abducted, and from the last bit, is told that he must now enter an Aquarion-type mecha romance.

It's like Terminator, but in reverse and with giant robots!

Judging from the shitty pilot's reaction, I'm going to guess that Hina currently works for "the enemy" and that Aoba will probably incapacitate her mech later and subsequently seduce her. She certainly had already fallen for him hard in the past, but the constantly yelling bad pilot made it clear that he knew her, and was shocked yet not shocked to find out it was her. I guess that means they are also destined for a tragic separation when she has to go back to the past to protect him.


@MFauli: There are a couple of mechas with adult pilots. They're just not that great or usually even good when they're not Macross Plus (and let's face it, Isamu is really immature, though he is also "cool"). Break Blade's lead is 25, though you'd never know it. At the same time, you have to recognize who the audience of mecha anime is. It's teenage boys, and they're after wish-fulfillment series.

[animus]

The OP was giving me some Gundam SEED vibes.

[KrayZ33]

if they keep "super" robots (in terms of 100 vs 1) to the minimum, I'll keep watching this

Bonus-topic for discussion that came to my mind during watching this: Why is it that we can never have this kind of show with an older hero? Say, 25-45 years old.

I don't want to make it sound like I think you are being childish but my guess is:

(young) Adults would rather watch FLAG than Super-power robot shows with adults that get stronger whenever their friendship level is at maximum.
Its easier for adults to identify with a more realistic setting or lead character after all.

but if I got it wrong and you are looking for something similiar to...hmm, Mech Warrior, then I'm in!
oohoo, a show like that would get all of my money. ALL OF IT

tbh, Mech Warrior is the only reason I started watching Mecha-Anime and while Gundam Unicorn for example had a good start, it went into a totally different direction later... which is what happens every time

[MFauli]

I don't want to make it sound like I think you are being childish but my guess is:

oh, im definitely childish, and i like it. that´s why i asked for the kind of anime i did above. anime for childish circa 30 year olds :>

[Kraco]

Episode 2 - HS






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Some of the terminology of this show is pretty gay, like coupling and propositions... But otherwise that was quite a wise way to make a total newbie able to fight in an obviously very complicated armoured, three dimensionally mobile weapon. Even so I'm a bit dissatisfied with Aoba in general. In the first episode he was quite ready to claim initiative and was resourceful in guarding his own and the friends lives, but here he was again like a moron thrown into the cockpit of a mecha, not really trying to do anything but ask stupid questions time after time. I hope he will establish a bit more consistent personality in the future.

It seems Ryll is right and Hina is working for the enemy. I wonder just how the beginning situation of the show will be reached.

Otherwise I'm quite satisfied with the bloody action and destruction evident in the battles.

[MFauli]

Yeah, i think ill be dropping this. very bland animation and artstyle, also generic mecha designs. the characters, especially the girls, look worse than the old agent aika-movies.

using coupling and proposals for fighting terms is also just so overtly forced that i can hardly accept it.

maybe ill keep watching if im really bored.

[Ryllharu]

I don't have a problem with "coupling," because they're just using the machinery or electrical definition of something that joins two things to transfer something between them. That way, "proposal" is just a play on words for the associated process of joining the two pilots up. It's an actual clever use of English for once.

I'm really interested in how they seduce Hina to their side and close the time loop, so I'll keep watching.

[Kraco]

Episode 5 - HS







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The war seems to be going pretty badly for the Alliance. I'm surprised they can take it so leisurely and miss good chances of destroying or at least damaging enemy command ships. But it looks like they feel nothing even when they lose ground and bases, instead they just celebrate their own ability to flee the scene. I wonder just for what purpose they are building these prototypes and training the pilots.

[Ryllharu]

I'm getting pretty frustrated they keep foreshadowing that they'll capture Hina each time she shows up in battle, only not to do so. She kept doing stupid shit this time that would have let them grab her, like, "I'll get my revenge for making me look suspicious!" and "I'll pursue them!" Yet nothing happened!

I was also hoping the Special Officer would get a hidden but knowing smirk from someone else on the bridge when she lost her shit and started screaming, but it wasn't meant to be. That was probably my favorite scene in the episode. For all her strict bitchness, she's not very used to facing her opponents directly. It's a nice contrast to the laid back but unflappable Cygnus commander (best character in the show btw).

Yeah, the Alliance sucks really bad. That's why they're building the buddy system. So they can stop constantly losing. In general, Zogillia has superior pilots and probably better mecha overall. The Alliance needs an edge, and their scientists are clearly better.

[Ryllharu]

[Anime-Koi] Buddy Complex - 08


Aoba, you pimp. You already have Dio and the ditzy operator, now you want Hina too!?


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Well, clichés aside, Aoba has already managed to get Hina from angry frigid bitch to grateful warm and gooey quite quickly. He's already closed the hairpin time loop, so we'll see what happens next. Guess it must be his basketball player physique, confidence in her true character, and complete lack of fear from facing her as an enemy. Saving her not once, but twice is just a cliché, it his attitude toward her that already shifted the balance. Probably pretty hard to deal with an enemy that just doesn't care. I think it would have been funnier if he repeatedly called her pretty and got her actually hot and bothered.

As usual, the best two characters are the Commander of the Cygnus and Gallant of Zogilia.

The Commander bucks the trend of telling his crew to search for lost main characters and explicitly tells them they're (as a ship) not searching for him, while allowing it to go under the table and being lax on time allotted. He makes the wise official decision that goes in the records and is conservatively tactical, but leaves an opening so they can get back their ultra-powerful secret weapon.

In the same way, Gallant listens to the orders of the evil, selfish, and cowardly Party member to search for the asshole that would get her brownie points, while secretly undermining her at every turn. Everyone onboard that ship views him as the commander, not her. He's earned the trust of his men, while she's proven exactly what type of person she's with. She could have stopped him from allowing his men to search for Hina, but she didn't. She knew she couldn't. I suspect she'll suffer an "accident" soon enough.

[shinta|hikari]

Hina boobs.

[Kraco]

Hina boobs.

Yeah, I also feel they were the true main characters of this episode.

It was ridiculous how long it took Aoba to understand this Hina hasn't yet met him. Assuming he did get that fact at all, even after all this. But then again, if he hadn't been this insistent and friendly beyond reason, what Ryll said wouldn't have happened and the loop wouldn't have started to close. Naturally it's not yet closed since they are again separated.

Somebody needs to teach Aoba how to boot the mecha manually. All of this trouble could have been avoided.

[Ryllharu]

Somebody needs to teach Aoba how to boot the mecha manually. All of this trouble could have been avoided.

It was critical that he let Hina go back. Though, now she really will become a Alliance sympathizer.

If he had booted up his mech and taken her back, she would have hated him for a lot longer. He would also have to have taken back her gundam valiancer so she could later use it to jump to the past and protect him. It didn't look like a single mech could carry another back on it's own.

[Kraco]

It was critical that he let Hina go back. Though, now she really will become a Alliance sympathizer.

If he had booted up his mech and taken her back, she would have hated him for a lot longer. He would also have to have taken back her gundam valiancer so she could later use it to jump to the past and protect him. It didn't look like a single mech could carry another back on it's own.

True. This event was needed for his fate, but technically speaking it's unspeakably stupid. Let's say they need to teach it now so that this won't be repeated. It's a huge waste if a pilot and an expensive mecha is lost because the pilot doesn't know how to turn on the thing enough to send a distress call. I guess he didn't learn it through the coupling system since Dio didn't need to think about such things in the middle of a battle.

Hina's side probably has different systems making it impossible for the pilots to boot their mecha, to prevent people from hijacking one and defecting. It seems to be a depressing, totalitarian society, after all.

[Ryllharu]

Well, hers did get flooded and was probably substantially broken.