Yeah, I guess that’s it.
Episode summary: Bizon and the mind-controlled Hina show up to the battlefield and begin to wreck faces. Luckily, Aoba and Dio show up just in time with the new-type mechas in order to save the day. Just, uh, don’t ask how they managed to retrieve said new-type mechas. Aoba’s soothing voice then snaps Hina out of her mind-controlled funk, and the two of them proceed to Couple with each other. When the Gorgon Cannon fires a second time, the shot goes right at our two love birds, but… uh, I guess the power of their super Coupling protected them from the blast? What ends up happening instead is that a “Time Tunnel” appears. Bizon gets sucked into it, and Hina decides to go after him, thereby trapping herself in a dreaded time loop. Aoba is determined not this let this happen again, however, so he and Dio manage to pull Hina back from the Time Tunnel. At the same time, it looked as though Aoba had killed Bizon, but apparently not as you can see from the screenshot above. And yeah, that’s it.
Notes:
• The Alliance will throw everything they’ve got at the cannon to prevent it from firing off a second shot. As a result, our two heroes will just have to pilot those old-type mechas. Oh darn! Elvira tells our heroes, “However, you guys are not allowed to use these mecha’s Coupling System.”
• Good lord: “A single shot consumes a year’s worth of Zogilia’s Nectoribium mining.” Don’t you think it’s a bit weak then with such an exorbitant cost factored in? A year, man. You should be able to blow up a small continent with such a high price tag. Plus, you’d think a gun that could use up this much resources in one-go would have a little more red tape surrounding its usage.
• Who else felt a little awkward when Bizon screamed out Hina’s name shortly after their forced Coupling? Yeah…
• So uh… where are our two heroes?
• I feel like the Alliance leaders should have planned for all possible contigencies a little better. Sure, you could be reasonably skeptical that Zogilia would’ve found a pair of Coupling pilots in such a short period of time, but shouldn’t you always prepare for the worst case scenario regardless of the odds? I think better leaders wouldn’t have been too surprised to see the enemy employ Coupling mechas on the battlefield considering how their technology had just been stolen.
• So lemme get this straight: Dio and Aoba hopped into the old-type mechas just to disappear for some unspecified amount of time only to return with the new-type mechas? Really? And we didn’t get to see how they managed to accomplish this in the midst of a battle? The new-types didn’t even get good names. They’re just called the Luxon Next and Bradyon Next respectively. Yawn.
• And even in the very last episode, we get the following exchange:
Aoba: “Let’s do this, Dio!”
Dio: “Don’t order me around!”
Dio, please. Aoba didn’t shout a command; those were words of encouragement. You really need to get the stick out of your ass.
• The camera uncomfortably lingers on the new-types as they pose proudly for the camera:
Y..eah…
• Alfried goes, “So that’s a battle between Coupling mechas, huh?” I dunno man, it doesn’t it look all that exciting:
Oh boy, colors!
• Aoba opens up a communication channel with Hina and tries to “un-brainwash” her, if that makes sense. There’s only one small problem: they’ve never really established much of a connection during the course of the series. They fought a few times on the battlefield, they then shared a night on some tropical island, and finally, they had a small talk a couple of episodes ago. Usually, when a character tries to reach a brainwashed character in a story, the characters will have strong emotional ties to each other. I just don’t see it here. Considering how Hina’s lost all her memories, Aoba is essentially starting his relationship with her from zero. And when I think about what they’ve been through, I can’t say he should be close enough to her for this scene to really work. But nevertheless, Aoba’s voice reaches Hina and she snaps out of her funk. Speaking of which, what was Hahn doing during this entire exchange? Did he not consider trying to cut off Aoba’s communication channel, or is that somehow not possible from his end even though he can initiate a forced Coupling remotely?
• The big fuck-off cannon’s about to fire for a second time. That’s two years worth of valuable resources for a single battle.
• So Bizon’s desperately trying to force himself upon Hina–… I mean, force Hina to re-Couple with him, so Aoba suggests that he and Hina connect with each other instead. Oh Aoba, do you really have to rub it into our poor yandere guy’s face like that?
• What’s even the point of muting Hina’s voice as she accepts Aoba’s connection? It’s not like we don’t know what she’s saying.
• But y’see, connecting with Aoba is so magical that it makes the red lights on her mecha turn white! Emphater levels are shooting through the roof too! Over 100%! Whatever that means!
• …uhh…
…on the bright side, at least she isn’t naked. Normally, that’s a thing in these types of shows.
• The two shining mechas then fly face-to-face, forming a bright, green light in the sky. When the Gorgon Cannon fires its second shot right at our love birds, the resulting collision forms that familiar wormhole from the first episode. Welp…
• Bizon gets sucked in first. Our heroes then stare at the “Time Tunnel” as Bizon swears at Aoba from a distance. So naturally, Hina is concerned that Bizon will go back in time and assassinate Aoba. As a result, she flies right at the Time Tunnel in order to go back in time and prevent Aoba from dying. Aoba realizes, however, that if he doesn’t stop her from doing tis, she’ll just be trapped in the same vicious time loop for eternity. This time, he’s determined to break the cycle for good. This makes me curious though. How many times do you suppose Hina has relived this same timeline over and over?
• Well, that was easy. All Aoba had to do to prevent Bizon from going back in time and killing him was to kill Bizon now. Still, why did the previous Aobas fail to do this? I think the anime hints that previous Dios had prevented previous Aobas from going after Hina. But this then raises even more questions: while this Aoba might’ve succeeded in saving Hina from her temporal prison, what ends up happening to all of the other Aobas that had failed? How many ruined alternate universes have sprung up as a result of all the failed Aobas and what ends up happening in those futures?
• But what’s even more perplexing is how did this time loop thingamjig even managed to start to begin with? How did the original Aoba come to meet Hina, thereby enraging the original yandere, so on and so forth?
• Hina wonders why Aoba would pass up the chance to return to his original time period. The guy goes, “There’ll be other chances. No one knows the future.” Sure, just dig up a year’s worth of resources, stick said resources into a giant gun, and aim the gun at yourself. But don’t forget to Couple with your lover first!
• Then in the ending scene after the credits, some old Zogilian fogey rolls his wheelchair up to a bunch of other Zogilian fogeys. He then swears that he’ll get his revenge on Aoba. Oh poor Bizon. Even when he dies, he doesn’t die. We then get those familiar words: “To be continued…”
Final thoughts:
So that’s it. Nothing’s really resolved. The world’s still at war and Bizon is still alive. More importantly, will Aoba ever return to his original time period? Obviously, the story’s incomplete, but the ending was nevertheless dissatisfying. It doesn’t really feel as though the story has accomplished much. From the time Aoba traveled through time in the very first episode to how things ended up in the final episode, we’ve gone from Japan… to Hawaii… to Alaska. And that’s it. And not only that, every episode was either another lesson about the Coupling system and its capabilities or a futile “Zogilian attack of the week” affair. Sometimes, Buddy Complex even combined the two. As a result, I feel as though nothing really happened. Sure, Aoba managed to save Hina, but hell, those two didn’t even spend all that much time together. As a result, the ending just wasn’t as cathartic as it should’ve been.
Look, Buddy Complex is hardly the worst anime of the season. In all fairness, it’s just harmlessly mediocre, and I actually don’t think the finale episode was all that bad. I certainly was interested to see how it would all play out even if the episode pretty much went as expected. Basically, I feel the first and last episodes were okay, but a lot of in-between stuff was really inane. For instance, Fromm joins the group then proceeds to do nothing of value for the rest of the series. Oh well. I guess I’ll end the post on this note: I won’t lose any sleep if the sequel never shows up, but I wouldn’t mind blogging it if it does. I just won’t have high hopes for it. So until then…
Moe Sucks 
I was kinda hoping you’d have that shot of Bizon’s face as he’s being sucked into the Time Warp without any machine to kill Aoba… or any prayer. The only suggestion I have with the paradox is that there were always two Bizon, thanks to the time loop. With Aoba undoing the time loop, young Bizon is now at the mercy of the space-time wolves, and probably died shortly after arriving in Aoba’s time since he had no machine and no ability to work with people. That leaves ancient, decrepit Bizon as you showed in the screenshot.
And, Margaret was the voice of reason for once. That can only be described as a miracle, given all the boneheaded mistakes she made.
I have to agree that this series was pretty medicore, given all the wasted potential, though I am apt to say it is a contender for worst anime of 2014. They do want a second cour, but I’ve seen shows that tried this and never got that chance (*cough*Rio! Rainbow Gate*cough*). Frankly, I’d be better off with this just being the ending and Sunrise realizing that people weren’t too invested in BC, even with a manga and iPhone game. Even big major anime studios have to know when to fold, and since nothing is in the works as far as the studio is concerned, the possibility might be that they decide to just call it quits and let this be the ending.
Seriously, “no” to a second Buddy Complex.
Margaret actually changed like Lady Une (Gundam Wing) did except it didn’t have any effect on the show… And I actually forgot that scene after a few minutes…
I think it’s a little too early to say if it’s going to be one of the worst shows this year. There’s plenty of time for anime to lower the bar.
Oh, I’m expecting that, for sure. But I’ll keep this as my current contender until then.
WTF? What just happened?…
““A single shot consumes a year’s worth of Zogilia’s Nectoribium mining.” Don’t you think it’s a bit weak then with such an exorbitant cost factored in?”
I wonder how many mechas, bombs, unmanned drones, defensive turrets, battleships that much energy could power? If it was me I’d rather use them up to produce all of the above.
“But what’s even more perplexing is how did this time loop thingamjig even managed to start to begin with? How did the original Aoba come to meet Hina, thereby enraging the original yandere, so on and so forth?”
Ok, you’re right, that’s one big question that requires answers (that we’ll probably never find out). But check this question out too. How did Hina even started existing?
Dio was a cool guy until Aoba started infecting him with stupidity… I think Zogilia actually started its early days during episode 1. The name was on the news on tv… well, whatever… Bizon… that’s one heck of a dedicated yandere we have here. Even time and space, as well as old age and a banged up body, won’t stop him.
“How many times do you suppose Hina has relived this same timeline over and over?”
Wait… doesn’t that mean Hina is a lot older than she looks right now? Her age is being reset every time but she’s still the same Hina every time soo…
The only things I like about this show are: Hina’s face, Fortuna, the opening song, and the ending song. That’s all.
I hope they stop slacking off when they make a 2nd season.
There was a similar thing in Star Wars. There’s no way the Death Star is an efficient use of resources. Nevertheless, it was built as a symbol of fear. Perhaps the same thing could’ve been said about the Gorgon Cannon, but since it didn’t show up in the story until practically the last minute, kinda hard to strike fear in anyone.
In Star Wars’s case, the Death Star was mentioned right off the bat, and for the unsuspecting viewer back as early as 1977, the name “Death Star” sounded intimidating, even if you didn’t see it.
The Gorgon Cannon was first mentioned in Episode 12 of this series, and destroyed in Episode 13. Not necissarily imposing, especially as how easily it was eliminated, and how wasteful it was to Zogilia.
There’s your totally reasonable answer… and then there’s the Free Pact Alliance who knew about it all along and chose to simply watch the enemy build it. Those poor soldiers (the ones hit by Gorgon Cannon) probably never had a chance to realize how stupid their leaders are.
I was wandering around Buddy Complex’s wikia page. The name of the new mechas were spelled as Luxon NX and Bradyon NX.
as if that matters anymore.
it looks like they were trying to do a Homura Akemi with with Hina’s time travelling storyline. but with all the plot holes they had here, everything just falls apart (Madoka Magica did have plot holes of their own, but those were definitely handled way, way better).
…
Bizon probably traveled 50 years or so to the past, considering that he is still alive at present time. Unless they have invented a way to prolong lifespan. Not likely, seeing how he is in wheel chair and all wrinkly.
I don’t think there is anything special about Bizon’s scream. The highlight is definitely Hina when she was forced to be connected with him. You should take a screenshot as she moaned “Aaahnn… ahhh… ahhh…” and squirmed.
WTF are we watching porn? *facepalms*
You never know. In the news recently, scientists were reportedly able to reverse the aging process in mice.
As far as extending Bizon’s lifespan, it’s pretty clear he’s got a very short window of time left, as anybody who requires artificial respiration can’t hang around for long, with his only intention to be getting revenge on Aoba (hopefully he figured out he never had a shot with Hina, because if he didn’t, then he’s arguably the most pathetic old fart in existance). His budget might not be as much as what the Gorgon Cannon was, but in mecha shows, it’s pretty clear that money was not spent on medical breakthroughs, otherwise Dio’s sister would be rehabilitating on how to walk again. And, that’s even less of the case with a militaristic, Commie Nazi empire like Zogilia, where most, if not all, the capital budget annually is invested into the military program.
When you think about it, the universe clearly hates Bizon, and he’s doomed to die a failure in any possible way… but not until Episode 13 of the hypothetical second cour, for some reason. Here’s how I view his problem…
I look at there being four universes as a result of this series, which go as follows:
Universe 1: The Chicken or the Egg Universe. Somehow Aoba was flung into the future or Hina got to the past on their own terms and met casually. Aoba didn’t know Hina, but he felt something was there. This makes Bizon jealous.
Universe 2: The BC universe that Hina had to live in where she kept getting bounced around 2014 and 2088, in which she keeps forgetting important events and has to ensure Aoba’s safety. In this universe, there are two Bizon, because Bizon somehow got transported 10-15 years later, early in Zogilia’s creation. And, because as I said about the universe hating Bizon, he AGED up to 20 years when he got plunked (since Hina got younger). Due to him understanding Zogilian history and also being right up the alley of whomever wanted to create the regime, he helps build Zogilia.
Universe 3: The universe plays out exactly like Universe 2, but as a result of Aoba deciding to break Hina’s loop, they can spend the rest of their time together in this age (probably), and only ancient Bizon is left, since that guy got flung into Zogilian infancy. Again, that Bizon got old, real quick.
Universe 4: The universe created as a result of only Bizon being flung into the time warp, without his Valancier, since he’d land right in 2014, and not in Zogilian infancy. The one thing more difficult than explaining you’re from the past is explaining you’re from the future, and if you’re an asshole like Bizon, you aren’t going to live long. Without Bizon being able to affect anything, Aoba lives a normal life, and Zogilia most likely never got past the formulatic stage, and was easily crushed, ensuring the events of BC never happen. This is purely a hypothetical universe, as we’ll never see it.
I look at it more like that the Bizon at the end was the Bizon who got transported in Episode 1, and this Bizon will never be seen again.
It is special because Bizon’s an asshole. He’d be a jerkass woobie if it wasn’t for the fact that all of his faults are self-inflicted. Seeing Hina in pain was pretty unpleasant.
“hopefully he figured out he never had a shot with Hina, because if he didn’t, then he’s arguably the most pathetic old fart in existance”
I guess Bizon’s crazy chain of thoughts is something to look forward to when a season arrives. I actually want to see him still obsessed with Hina. It’s not much fun if he’s just out there to kill both Hina and Aoba.
Yeah. The old fart will try to kidnap Hina, and force a ‘coupling’ to her.
Just finished watching this and the 2 parts of the special ending.
(You can watch it at http://www.funimation.com/shows/buddy-complex)
The 2 special episode (that were supposed to be a 2nd season, but cut into 2 episodes), at least, gave a kind of conclusion. The only missing part I think they might have skipped is to bring old Hina & Aoba into Dio’s timeline once through their own timeline.
After all, Aoba do tell Dio “Until next time!” before going back to his own timeline.
It would have a better ending if Dio was to meed old Aoba (and Hina) as he landed back to Earth (which he would be around 8X years old) and having him say something like “Long time no see, buddy!”
After all, if Aoba returned to his own timeline, he would know more or less what would have happened and could have managed to say around until that moment while staying in the “shadow” (so that old Bizon doesn’t find out about him) as much as possible to keep his promise.