Buddy Complex

[iCards]

It's the times. Studios would rather run a safe 12 episode season and see how it goes rather than promise 25 episodes and the show be a flop in the first half. Properties like Gundam, Macross, and adaptions of other popular media stand the best chances of selling. Original projects are risky experiments now-a-days.

They did end on a high note, episode 13 was probably my favorite so far, and the last scene defintly has me interested in season 2 more than any promo this season had for it.

Time travel or "the implication there of" may not have been totally eliminated from the plot considering the resolution we get.

Also, does the enemy professor give off Sugou vibes to those who have watched SAO. He isn't as perverted as Sugou, but he is more than willing to brainwash Hina to get what he wants. Not to mention his eyes just creep me the f-ck out. That and they also share the same seiyuu.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Splitting the season has several reasonings behind them.

Sunrise started it with Gundam 00 and their stated reason for doing so is the break would allow them to amass more budget from merchandise sales. Like Valvrave, I think Buddy Complex is in the same boat. It was always intended to have 26 episodes and was planned as such.

[iCards]

Splitting the season has several reasonings behind them.

Sunrise started it with Gundam 00 and their stated reason for doing so is the break would allow them to amass more budget from merchandise sales. Like Valvrave, I think Buddy Complex is in the same boat. It was always intended to have 26 episodes and was planned as such.

The only problem I have with split shows like this is that, from what I understand the plot can go through a lot of rewrites from what was originally planned.

[Destiny_Gundam]

The same is true of any show.

[Shinji103]

The same is true of any show.

It tends to be a bit worse with split-cour shows though, examples being Code Geass and Gundam 00.
Code Geass was fine for a while, and then.......that ending. I won't say it was bad (I didn't hate it at all), but it's fairly obvious that it was almost completely rewritten, between the spoilers printed for the future episodes in Newtype magazine and the died-in-one-day Knight. (remember the Knight fo Rounds character who was killed off the very day her character was put up on the CG homepage? ^^b)
It got worse in Gundam 00. So many rewrites and retcons........starting with the complete elimination of what they clearly meant to be SetsunaxMarina. (they didn't even take it out of the 1st S2 opening) After making her even appear in Setsuna's dreams[/i] representing his desire to stop fighting in S1 (which was never mentioned again...), she......like, was almost completely dropped out of relevance. What the heck happened there? Did so many fans hate her potential to be a Relena clone that the staff gave in and removed her from the plot, like they gave in to fans and replaced Shinn with Kira as the MC in GSD? Then you have what was clearly a hastened effort to explain away the Feldt-Lockon character conflict that they'd set up in S1, ultimately culminating in the ridiculously unfounded crush Feldt developed on Setsuna. Two conversations represent the entirety of their interaction over the 50 episode-series.
At least they kept Valvrave largely intact between its cours. (though they didn't really have much time to rewrite anything in that one anyway)

Anyway, I look forward to S2 of Buddy Complex at least. I didn't have much hope for this series when it first started, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it definitely grew on me.
And as many comrades say on the forums of the 'net, Aoba and Hina for the win. With all the jabs at coupling and proposing they make with the Coupling System, they'd better end the series with a wedding.

[wielder]

It tends to be a bit worse with split-cour shows though, examples being Code Geass and Gundam 00.
Code Geass was fine for a while, and then.......that ending. I won't say it was bad (I didn't hate it at all), but it's fairly obvious that it was almost completely rewritten, between the spoilers printed for the future episodes in Newtype magazine and the died-in-one-day Knight. (remember the Knight fo Rounds character who was killed off the very day her character was put up on the CG homepage? ^^b)

There's no arguing they rewrote the show, but the bulk of that happened at the beginning and not at the end. Which had more to do with the time slot change rather than with the series being "split cour" in practice. I also don't recall any of the spoilers contradicting or conflicting with the ending. I do remember they literally introduced that new character to die, but it's hard to get worked up over such a thing.

In terms of Buddy Complex, we can speculate they'd only want to rewrite something in order to get more disc sales out of it. But it's also possible they might not see much of a point in doing so, since I tend to doubt anything they could possibly do will suddenly make the series multiply its popularity.

Anyway, I look forward to S2 of Buddy Complex at least. I didn't have much hope for this series when it first started, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it definitely grew on me.
And as many comrades say on the forums of the 'net, Aoba and Hina for the win. With all the jabs at coupling and proposing they make with the Coupling System, they'd better end the series with a wedding.

I don't know if they'll go that far, but expecting a happy ending is definitely reasonable at this point.

[Shinji103]

There's no arguing they rewrote the show, but the bulk of that happened at the beginning and not at the end. Which had more to do with the time slot change rather than with the series being "split cour" in practice. I also don't recall any of the spoilers contradicting or conflicting with the ending. I do remember they literally introduced that new character to die, but it's hard to get worked up over such a thing.

I know that it was okay at the beginning, but the Zero Requiem arc was totally different from the Newtype Magazine spoilers. (they do little preview spoilers of episodes that haven't aired)
I can't remember the Newtype spoilers word for word, but they said that in the big battle of the last few episodes the Knight of One was still alive and "wreaking havoc on the battlefield." They also talked of Lelouch and C.C. going into a Geass temple to settle the final conflict with Charles. So the way Charles and Bismarck, and the way the whole Zero Requiem arc happened, is very different from what they rewrote it to be in the series. (as I recall these Newtype spoilers were posted a long time ago on Animesuki forums, back when the series was still airing)

I don't know if they'll go that far, but expecting a happy ending is definitely reasonable at this point.

Don't kill my hope. Not when we have pics like these:

http://i.imgur.com/bt7Ce2S.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ve8JZHm.jpg

"HHNNNNNNNNGGGG" at the first one especially. We need a full-color version NOW.

[wielder]

I can't remember the Newtype spoilers word for word, but they said that in the big battle of the last few episodes the Knight of One was still alive and "wreaking havoc on the battlefield." They also talked of Lelouch and C.C. going into a Geass temple to settle the final conflict with Charles. So the way Charles and Bismarck, and the way the whole Zero Requiem arc happened, is very different from what they rewrote it to be in the series. (as I recall these Newtype spoilers were posted a long time ago on Animesuki forums, back when the series was still airing)

I remember reading those sorts of things during the broadcast. But honestly, I don't interpret that as a contradiction. Those episode summaries aren't meant to be taken too literally. "Wrecking havoc on the battlefield" is just a colorful description. From the point of view of a promotional publication, it fits with what happened in episode 22 since Bismark was the only one that actually represented a threat during that fight. Likewise, C.C. and Lelouch did encounter Charles in episode 21 and the conflict was resolved. If they spelled out or spoiled every single detail, that would defeat the purpose.

Don't kill my hope. Not when we have pics like these:

http://i.imgur.com/bt7Ce2S.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ve8JZHm.jpg

"HHNNNNNNNNGGGG" at the first one especially. We need a full-color version NOW.

Hey, I'm not telling you it's wrong to have such hopes or that they won't end up together.

[Shinji103]

I remember reading those sorts of things during the broadcast. But honestly, I don't interpret that as a contradiction. Those episode summaries aren't meant to be taken too literally. "Wrecking havoc on the battlefield" is just a colorful description. From the point of view of a promotional publication, it fits with what happened in episode 22 since Bismark was the only one that actually represented a threat during that fight. Likewise, C.C. and Lelouch did encounter Charles in episode 21 and the conflict was resolved. If they spelled out or spoiled every single detail, that would defeat the purpose.

No, these spoilers were listed by episode. Bismarck was alive and fighting in episodes 24 and 25 according to the spoilers, and Lelouch and C.C. confronting charles was in episode 25, both well after the two of them were dead in the anime.
The Newtype spoilers are always highly accurate for what they say. (they obviously don't go into details of course, they're not supposed to spoiler the episodes entirely) They're not just casual summaries and people take them seriously. (and they are proven to be accurate, with the exception of the rewriting of the end og Code Geass R2) We just haven't seen any of the spoilers from Japan in ages just like nobody posts the series and character ranking polls very often.

[wielder]

No, these spoilers were listed by episode. Bismarck was alive and fighting in episodes 24 and 25 according to the spoilers, and Lelouch and C.C. confronting charles was in episode 25, both well after the two of them were dead in the anime.

Unless you have a verifiable source for that, I'm going to take that claim with a huge grain of salt.

The staff has explicitly said that the ending of the show was one of the things they didn't change.

It's far more likely they were part of the completely fake spoilers that some trolls and naive people spread around long before those episodes ever aired, trying to guess how the show would turn out or presenting their own speculations as something real.

I definitely remember a lot of lies were flying around 4chan, message boards and the like. But just because someone claims something was from Newtype doesn't really mean it was, especially if the concrete proof (scans, photos) never materialized. Code Geass was popular enough that both rumors and misinformation sometimes had just as much of an echo as the actual information.

But this is all water under the bridge, let's try to go back to some Buddy Complex talk now.

[FieryBlitz]

Well, I can safely say that this final episode was rather enjoyable. I especially love the cliffhanger, as it has literally left me saying "Oh, no! Bizon's back, and he's pissed!"

[Compass]

This anime TOTALLY ripped apart the time travel mechanic and now my brain hurts. It looks like it's Future Bizon who's in that wheelchair.

Edit - Buddy Complex April Fool's Thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0M7EB1TpJk

I don't know what I just watched.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Code Geass is a bad example. The studio only gave the show 25 episodes in the first place but the creators gambled on the show being popular enough to get 50. The gamble paid off, but because it was unplanned there were all kinds of bumps in the road (such as the time slot change).

With 00 and Valvrave, they came right out at the start to tell us they would be split. This wasn't the case with Buddy Complex so it has me thinking that perhaps it's another case of wishful thinking.

Regarding those supposed Newtype spoilers, they usually only go a few weeks in advance. Hardly much time to completely rewrite and reanimate episodes (scheduels are super tight as it is). So they were probably fake spoilers.

[iCards]

Edit - Buddy Complex April Fool's Thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0M7EB1TpJk

I don't know what I just watched.

That was weird but I can tell that the enemy commander was poking at the show itself. He was using terms like BGM, character, and even used Sunrise's name at one point.

[Ryujin]

Well, I can safely say that this final episode was rather enjoyable. I especially love the cliffhanger, as it has literally left me saying "Oh, no! Bizon's back, and he's pissed!"

Lol, holding a grudge for seventy years isn't good for you, Bizon.

It'd be glorious if Zogilia started the whole war just because wheelchair Bizon wanted an opportunity to get back at Aoba.

Also, I kind of feel sorry for Mayuka, now that Hina's on board.

[Compass]

http://www.moetron.com/uploads/20140330 ... resize.jpg

That end card, those characters. I think we're going to be seeing some weird Back to the Future stuff soon.

[ZeonsSilverStar]

Finally saw the last and my thoughts are thus: I can't wait for season two and Bizon, dude she's just not that into you.

[Zeonista]

This anime TOTALLY ripped apart the time travel mechanic and now my brain hurts. It looks like it's Future Bizon who's in that wheelchair.

It wasn't ripped apart. Aoba & Dio realized Hina was in a closed loop & would repeat it ad infinitum. So they pulled her out of it, closing the loop for her & Aoba. What happened already, happened. New chain of events begun. Or maybe not begun so much, seeing as what happened to Bizon....

[iCards]

http://www.moetron.com/uploads/20140330 ... resize.jpg

That end card, those characters. I think we're going to be seeing some weird Back to the Future stuff soon.

The characters along with Aoba, Hina, and Dio are the MCs for the Buddy Complex Smartphone game. There is a commercial with them in it out already. Also, they can be seen on the ORBITAL LINE single that was released at the same time as the show's opening and ending singles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec6tLPL2hrY

EDIT: Rewatching the first season for the purpose of "connecting dots" and I found a HILAROUS little nugget in episode 7!

Early on in this thread, or somewhere-else, someone compared the Coupling System to the "Drifting" process from Pacific Rim. Guess what the place that built the Coupling Cockpits is called. The answer is The PNI-Pacific rim Neurosciences Institute! I almost did a spit take on this one, LOL!!

[Raikoh]

Honestly, I think that the finale started showing some cracks in the narrative that makes me more fearful of season two now that I've seen it. If you don't want to see complaining, just skip the spoilered parts.

Spoiler

Namely that it's gone out of Real Robot and into Super territory, with a Coupling Valiancer being able to tank the Gorgon, which was mentioned uses a year's worth of Nectarium for a single shot. I mean, is it too much to ask for a traditional Real Robot series?

Not to mention that the time travel rules are completely inconsistent, with it having different effects on people, the effect on their ages, the effect on their brains, the times it spits them out (I need to elaborate on this one: Hina appears farther in the past than Bizon, despite him getting sucked into the past after him, yet if the element of her being sent to the future - which makes no sense, since when was she even born? - is true, she had gone into the future before Aoba), and the big one is how did the future change so that Dio would go along with Aoba's plan? Because it's not like anything major happened, unless the afterimage of the Skyknight/Firebrand Coupling was the "original" timeline. But in that case, what even changed that allowed the timeline to diverge? And how would Bizon have survived, when episode one showed that he was spat out like two miles above the ground? I doubt that his pilot suit would be able to survive an impact at terminal velocity.

That said, I know some people like Super Robots in Real Robot series (especially producers, for some reason), I just personally hate them. Cut out all the time travel plotholes and this was still a great finale that actually made season two seem not so bad in retrospect. After all, it actually wrapped up the entire plot in the thirteen episodes they had, and when a second season got greenlit they allowed room for growth. Which is sort of a better way to do it instead of some series that just assume they'll get two seasons from the start.

Though I came into Buddy Complex with caution, and the finale of season one has made it hard for me to get comfortable going into season two. Especially, as I've said before, the flaws are starting to show up, and Sunrise has historically had some bad luck with second seasons.