3ET: Buddy Complex

You know it's not your day when a giant robot is trying to kill you.

Studio: Sunrise

Director: Tanabe Yasuhiro

Writer: Various

Main Cast:

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu as Watase Aoba

Uchiyama Kouki as Junyou Dio Weinberg

Hayama Saori as Hina Ryazan

Character Design: Inayoshi Tomoshige, Inayoshi Asako

Music: Katou Tatsuya (Free!, Mirai Nikki)

Oh great, another Sunrise mecha show. I pretty much know what to expect. A promising start devolving into a complete clusterfuck when they realize they forgot to write an ending with three episodes to go (Valvrave). Or making a second season that was completely unnecessary, even if it did stick the landing (Code Geass). Or milking its most famous franchise for all its worth (Gundam). Not to mention the hilarious Sunrise tropes that I've come to know and love (conversing with your enemy during battle, pew-pew lasers, boys-love pandering, main character angst). I'm not sure I can go through this again.

Except, wait, Buddy Complex is actually something different. Yes, there are giant robots and since Sunrise had a budget for this show, it looks really nice. But, there are a couple of touches that I really enjoyed in the first three episodes. Like the fact that the warring squadrons of giant robots function like they're in the military. No overblown egos or philosophical ramblings about the meaning of war; they follow orders and do their damn jobs. And they care when an ally dies, but they don't  have a melodramatic meltdown over it. It's almost like they're actually soldiers. Also, the battles themselves are more visceral, with lasers and beam swords replaced with guns that fire bullets and giant metal weapons for melee combat. And I like it when the giant robots start fighting and the wide angle shot doesn't include a bunch of random explosions. It's realistic as far as giant robots are concerned, and that adds some grit to the battle scenes.

Hot coupling action.

The plot isn't anything special. It's your basic time traveling scenario where a high school boy (Watase Aoba) gets attacked by a giant robot from the future, saved by a classmate (Hina) piloting another giant robot, transported to the future, joins one side in a war involving giant robots, is unnaturally able to perform a "coupling" with the ace pilot (Junyou Dio Weinberg), and begins to fly his own giant robot. Yes, it's absurd, but the fact it's played with a mostly straight face is to its credit and keeps me from rolling my eyes at it too much. So is the fact the cast is likeable and the show doesn't waste time with a lot of zany antics. Also, it takes advantage of Aoba's fish-out-of-water status to bring the audience up to speed on the very basics of why the war is happening. So, while it isn't anything groundbreaking, the execution thus far has me satisfied.

So, Sunrise has done it again. They've sucked me into another of their mecha shows because Buddy Complex is an easy pass. It's doing a lot of little things that make the world it is building feel lived in, as if what I'm watching is only a small part of a greater war. And I like having that viewpoint. The show's short length has me a bit worried. However, that is probably just me thinking that there is a lot going on and being doubtful that Sunrise can pull off a good short mecha series. As always, time will tell.