TV Special
Description
Aoba Watase began as a first-year high school student in 2014 Narashino, Japan, leading an ordinary life with his mother Tomoyo Watase, father, and sister Tsubasa Watase. He excelled in athletics, especially basketball, and cherished friendships with classmates Kintero and Kenichi. This routine shattered when a Valiancer mecha from the future attacked him. Classmate Hina Yumihara intervened, revealing herself as a time traveler before sending Aoba 74 years into the future with the cryptic message "Dio is waiting," vanishing herself.
Awakening in 2088 inside the XV-7001 Luxon Valiancer cockpit during a battle between the Free Pact Alliance and Zogilia Republic, Aoba activated the Coupling System with no piloting experience. This neural bonding mechanism instantly paired him—a "Nice Coupling"—with Alliance ace pilot Dio Junyou Weinberg, granting Aoba combat proficiency through Dio's skills. Despite initial suspicion from the Cygnus battleship crew, Aoba enlisted as an Alliance Ensign, piloting the Luxon and later its upgraded XV-7101 Luxon NEXT.
Aoba's personality blends inherent trustworthiness, optimism, and empathy. He openly shares his time-displaced origins despite skepticism and shows courage protecting allies, though initial reluctance to fight Hina—now a Zogilian pilot with no memory of him—led to reckless actions. A forced decoupling inflicted neurological damage on Dio and injured comrade Lee Conrad, fueling Aoba's guilt and self-doubt. He evolved into a determined soldier, prioritizing the Cygnus crew's safety while struggling with the impossibility of returning home.
He is a "Coupling anomaly," possessing near-universal compatibility defying scientific norms. His average neural waveform enabled synchronization with partners like Dio, Fromm Vantarhei, and Hina, but repeated couplings altered partners' waveforms, reducing Dio's compatibility with others. Aoba also demonstrated exceptional pain tolerance and physical resilience, enduring neural strain from decoupling and surviving oxygen deprivation when stranded with Hina.
Key events shaped his journey: discovering Hina's Zogilian allegiance and her lost memories; visiting future Narashino, emphasizing his displacement; encountering Fromm, whose compatibility challenged Dio. Stranded with Hina, Aoba gave her a hairpin from their past, sparking fragmented recall. After her father's death, he invited her to defect, but Zogilian forces captured her, stealing the Luxon and Bradyon Valiancers.
The conflict revealed a temporal loop: Aoba and Hina were subjects of early Coupling experiments, and their future synchronization during the Alaska base battle generated the wormhole sending Hina back to save him. In the final confrontation, their high-sync Coupling combined with an enemy blast reopened the temporal portal. Aoba chose to return Hina to 2014 to prevent her brainwashing, ensuring she retained memories. Both reverted to their original timelines, parting from Dio but preserving their experiences.
Physically, Aoba has brown hair, green eyes, and stands 170 cm tall. He initially wore a school uniform, later adopting an Alliance Ensign's attire: a red-and-white jacket, blue trousers, and brown boots. His pilot suit was white, blue, and red.
Awakening in 2088 inside the XV-7001 Luxon Valiancer cockpit during a battle between the Free Pact Alliance and Zogilia Republic, Aoba activated the Coupling System with no piloting experience. This neural bonding mechanism instantly paired him—a "Nice Coupling"—with Alliance ace pilot Dio Junyou Weinberg, granting Aoba combat proficiency through Dio's skills. Despite initial suspicion from the Cygnus battleship crew, Aoba enlisted as an Alliance Ensign, piloting the Luxon and later its upgraded XV-7101 Luxon NEXT.
Aoba's personality blends inherent trustworthiness, optimism, and empathy. He openly shares his time-displaced origins despite skepticism and shows courage protecting allies, though initial reluctance to fight Hina—now a Zogilian pilot with no memory of him—led to reckless actions. A forced decoupling inflicted neurological damage on Dio and injured comrade Lee Conrad, fueling Aoba's guilt and self-doubt. He evolved into a determined soldier, prioritizing the Cygnus crew's safety while struggling with the impossibility of returning home.
He is a "Coupling anomaly," possessing near-universal compatibility defying scientific norms. His average neural waveform enabled synchronization with partners like Dio, Fromm Vantarhei, and Hina, but repeated couplings altered partners' waveforms, reducing Dio's compatibility with others. Aoba also demonstrated exceptional pain tolerance and physical resilience, enduring neural strain from decoupling and surviving oxygen deprivation when stranded with Hina.
Key events shaped his journey: discovering Hina's Zogilian allegiance and her lost memories; visiting future Narashino, emphasizing his displacement; encountering Fromm, whose compatibility challenged Dio. Stranded with Hina, Aoba gave her a hairpin from their past, sparking fragmented recall. After her father's death, he invited her to defect, but Zogilian forces captured her, stealing the Luxon and Bradyon Valiancers.
The conflict revealed a temporal loop: Aoba and Hina were subjects of early Coupling experiments, and their future synchronization during the Alaska base battle generated the wormhole sending Hina back to save him. In the final confrontation, their high-sync Coupling combined with an enemy blast reopened the temporal portal. Aoba chose to return Hina to 2014 to prevent her brainwashing, ensuring she retained memories. Both reverted to their original timelines, parting from Dio but preserving their experiences.
Physically, Aoba has brown hair, green eyes, and stands 170 cm tall. He initially wore a school uniform, later adopting an Alliance Ensign's attire: a red-and-white jacket, blue trousers, and brown boots. His pilot suit was white, blue, and red.