History Anime / BuddyComplex

** So many to ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'', especially in the second half of the series. A few highlights include [[spoiler: Aoba & Hina being stuck on a tropical island while waiting for pickup mirroring Athrun & Cagalli's island episode, the Zogilians infiltrating Hawaii base much like how the le Creuset team infiltrated Orb, and a climactic battle at Alaska with a superweapon being activated.]]

* ForWantOfANail: In all previous timelines, Aoba and Dio failed to connect using Skyknight and Firebrand. This time around, they did, leading to shared memories on both parts. [[spoiler: Because Dio sees Aoba's memories, he helps Aoba to rescue Hina from the singularity, instead of stopping him in previous timelines.]]

*** Unfortunately [[spoiler: this just sets the ''real'' loop back on track. Hina originally met Aoba in college. Hina vanishes during the initial Coupling tests, and pilots the Luxion first time around. She fights Bizon and they both get sent to the past (two or three years before Hina's original time). Hina goes to Seio High then finds out that so did Aoba. Bizon shows up and they continue their fight, then get sent forward in time where Hina ends up de-aged further in Zogilia, thus starting the above inner loop]]

An anime produced by Bandai and {{Creator/Sunrise}} that premiered during the Winter2014Anime Season.

* {{Expy}}: Many people are comparing Aoba and Dio to [[Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator Haruto and L-Elf]], respectively. Apart from looking ridiculously similar to each other, Haruto and Aoba were both ordinary kids suddenly thrust into the center of a huge war, while Dio and L-Elf are hardened soldiers and experienced pilots despite their age. Some people are also comparing Hina to Saki from the same show, but so far they only seem to be similar in design. The decision to air ''Buddy Complex'' mere days after ''Valvrave'' ended, and the knowledge that the same studios worked on both shows, does not help with stopping the comparisons.
** Zogilia is also being compared to [[Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator Dorsia]], considering their use of younger albeit prodigious soldiers, militaristic uniforms, and use of a very germanic-sounding battlecry. The Alliance seems to be a combination of Jior and the ARUS from the same anime, only [[spoiler: minus the fact that the ARUS wound up as the bad guys.]] Other people are simply comparing them to [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Zeon and the Federation]], minus the space travel aspects.
** Wilhelm Hahn seems to be an Expy of Werner von Braun and thus embodies [[FantasyCounterpartCulture a version of the]] HerrDoktor trope.

* ObviouslyEvil: The Empire army's commander controls the 666th Independent Mixed squadron, which is fighting Aoba's squad. Plus, [[{{Expy}} his appearance reminds people]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam of a certain maniacal prince...]]

* {{Eagleland}}: They are of the first flavor, considering they make up most of the Confederate Treaty of Liberty Alliance, which is the side which the protagonists fight for.

* FamousLastWords: 'Dio is waiting for you.'

* HaveWeMetYet: An odd variant. Episode 2 is canonically Aoba and Dio's first meeting, yet they both assume that the other knew of them beforehand. (Aoba due to Hina's [[FamousLastWords last words]] before disappearing, and Dio due to Aoba's introduction upon meeting him). Needless to say, a lot of confusion (and suspicion, at least on on Dio's part) ensure.

The story follows Aoba Watase, an all around OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent from the year 2014. However, his normal life suddenly ends when a HumongousMecha with an AxCrazy pilot obsessed with killing him suddenly lands in the schoolyard. Aoba is rescued by his classmate and former friend of the mecha pilot, Hina, who reveals that both she and the other pilot are from the future. In order to escape, Hina travels back through the portal that sent the enemy pilot to the past to begin with, leaving Aoba with a message: Dio is waiting for him.

* HairDecorations: Hina has a pink, cat shaped one, which falls into Aoba's possession after she disappears.

* {{Eagleland}}: So far, they seem to be of the first flavor, considering they make up most of the Confederate Treaty of Liberty Alliance, which is the side which the protagonists fight for.

* FacelessGoons: The first Zogilian pilot that Aoba killed was notably this. He wears the same transparent helmet as every other Zogilian pilot, but his face was literally blacked out during the cockpit shot just before he died. Presumably, they didn't bother coming up with a character design for a guy whose sole purpose is to die.

* Foreshadowing: The Coupling System's ability to send information back in time later turns out to be an important plot point.

* CallBack: Aoba's visit to his hometown in Episode 4 has several shots that have the [[https://imgur.com/a/vG8ih exact same angles]] as shots from Episode 1, to show how much it has changed over seventy years and that [[YouCantGoHomeAgain he most likely can't ever go back]].

** A pair of old prototype Coupling Valiancers are introduced just as Zogilia was launching an operation to capture Luxon and Bradyon. Gee, I wonder what will happen next...

** During a military operation, after being cautioned not to hit the civilian vessels standing on the military base, a Zogilian pilot answered, that "there is no way in hell he would do something that disgraceful", although in a flashback, Zogilian military was shown to bomb civilian sectors of a city.

* AppliedPhlebotinum: The "Nectar" substance, which is used for a wide variety of purposes, though we mainly see military applications of it in {{Ray Gun}}s and DeflectorShields. There are also some references to it as being an energy source for civilian use.

** During the final battle, Wilheim Hahn has a VillainousBreakdown and starts ranting about how he wouldn't have lost if he had better parts (pilots). The mobile game has him following up on this by piloting a Coupling unit himself, hinting that he wouldn't have stayed a NonActionBigBad had a second season been made.

* {{Brainwashed}}: Wilhelm Hahn brainwashes [[spoiler:Hina]] with some kind of drug to comply with any order given in battle, even to kill [[spoiler:Aoba Watase]].

* CosmicDeadline: The natural consequence of compressing an entire season into two episodes: By the time of the Final Chapter, ''everything'' started moving at a breakneck pace, regardless of how little sense they make.

** [[spoiler: Also the epitome of the AwesomeButImpractical part, as it turns out that firing it even once costs Zogilia a years worth of Nectroibium. It's actually mentioned that firing the cannon too many times could ''bankrupt'' the country.]]