Ships from Other Works that Give Me Vibes to Buguese/Aqune
I’ll be realistic. The relationship of my OTP of all time is kinda on the unique side, so it’s impossible to find anything that’s a 1/1, but they also use some fairly popular tropes, and I’ve been thinking about them for years, so it’s natural I’d get the same energy out of other things. So this could be a relationship rec list of sorts? Not really my intent, I'm just ranting for myself, but why not? And the reasons why I see the similarity will vary from ship to ship. I also added a status category, because it’s kind of impressive how many of these relationships are canon or close to it. But obviously, spoiler warning, so feel free to ignore that part.
-Ohgi/Villetta (Code Geass)
This one comes up in part due to the fact that I find Ohgi’s character arc has a lot of coincidental similarities to Buguese’s. Both have suffering homes that they want to save, and decide to follow the command of a mysterious but powerful person who hides their true identity. Both have their doubts about this but decide to firmly keep following this person because they believe it's the only way. Both ultimately come to regret that their actions led to people around them being hurt/killed, turn on said leader, nearly end up dead by crashing their mecha/airship but live, and somehow get promoted to the role of leader of their now saved home in the end. Oh, and both happen to find a girl who is on the enemy side who has amnesia, whom they plan to use at first, but end up developing real feelings for in the end. And yeah, I don’t think Aqune and Villetta have too much in common. Not zero (both are good cooks, and Villetta also becomes conflicted over time on which side to choose), but not a ton. And while they are an interracial couple, both are the same species, and they don’t have an age gap either (Ohgi is merely a few months older). But nonetheless, I chose to start the list with them because the similarities that do exist amuse me. And both Ohgi and Buguese have big hate bases. At least I think, if you like Buguese, you’ll like Ohgi.
Status: Canon. They’re married at the end with a kid. At least if we stick with the main series. I don’t really pay attention to the reboot continuity but I think they’re still together there.
-Eden/Aria (Saint Seiya Omega)
So this is a case reverse of the last one where Aria is a lot like Aqune. She’s introduced as this mysterious but kindhearted girl who happens to have lived with the enemy since she was young. And they want to use her for her powers. Okay, actually SSO has a fair bit of similarities to Spider Riders, with the villain Mars even having a similar backstory to Mantid. So imagine if Buguese wasn’t merely his top general, but actually his son, and there we get Eden. Eden was attracted to Aria and kind to her, but he also has his duty and clashes with the protagonists, who want to save Aria and take her away from the villains. And of course she’s torn because she cares about Eden but also about her new friends.
Status: Non-canon. Aria dies about half way into the first season. However, she is referred to in a later point as “the girl Eden loved”, and he doesn’t end up with anyone else, so there’s that.
-Gilbert/Violet (Violet Evergarden)
Truthfully, I didn’t really ship them much when watching the show, nor did I particularly love the show, but I ended up watching the sequel movie while on a 14 hour flight, and it completely changed my opinions around. The main reason I didn’t really ship them was that Gilbert was already dead per the backstory. The main premise of the movie is that oops… he’s actually not dead. Like Buguese/Aqune, this is an age gap relationship, and Violet was initially a soldier under Gilbert’s command. Gilbert, like Buguese likely does after the series, has a lot of PTSD over everything to the point that he pretended to be dead and cut ties with his past life. This included Violet, because he was so guilty over the life he made her lead. That being said, Violet loves him genuinely and will have none of this. The BuguAqu energy is so strong here.
Status: Canon. Allegedly they’re married in the novels, though I personally haven’t read them. Which still hasn’t stopped people from going through hoops and insisting they’re actually like parent and child, just like with BuguAqu.
-Rumpelstiltskin/Belle (Once Upon a Time)
This was precisely the relationship that made me realize how much BuguAqu draws from Beauty and the Beast. Because basically, these two are, in crazy OUAT fashion, a hybrid of Beast/Rumpelstiltskin/the crocodile from Peter Pan (Rumple), and Belle, obviously. Of course we all know the story of the Disney movie. Belle ends up willingly becoming a prisoner in the Beast’s castle, and then the two fall in love, he lets her go, and she returns and changes him back into a man. In OUAT’s take… well it’s basically like that, but you can’t have a casual conversation about anything that happens in this show with a straight face. It also ends up getting about 3000x more toxic. But yeah, Aqune willingly stays in the Insector castle, and while she doesn’t see herself as a prisoner, the situation is complicated enough that the Spider Riders sure do. Buguese lets her go in the end, likewise, because he came to love her. Rumbelle, like BuguAqu, has an age gap, actually a much bigger one. Like Buguese, Rumpelstiltskin is a terribly stubborn and often petty person who makes frustrating decisions galore and hurts the people around him, but it’s obvious through all that that he always loves Belle and is a wreck without her. Like Aqune, Belle is the type of person who’s willing to try and see the good in others, and is firm in fighting for what she believes in.
Status: Canon. They’re one of the main “true love” couples throughout the series, and they eventually marry and have a kid.
-Zephyr/Takius (Ragnarok the Animation)
Okay, if Rumbelle is BuguAqu but more toxic, this would be BuguAqu with toxicity over 9000 (Yet I still find it fascinating). So let’s see. We’ve got a big age gap here, but like, Zephyr is an outright old man, whereas I don’t imagine Buguese being all that old. Likewise, they met when Takius was still a child. Had a mentor/student dynamic. Also, Zephyr has brainwashed Takius, via the blindfolds that she wears, kinda comparable to Aqune’s masks. Zephyr is obviously a villain, though not the main villain, and it turns out he was just being used as a pawn. And Takius, despite her allegiance to Zephyr, also befriends the heroes and fights alongside them. She’s super strong, albeit can be quiet, distant and mysterious. So why do I consider this super toxic (besides what came up already)? Well, the fact that they were having a sexual relationship when Takius was most-likely underage (though she’s clearly an adult by the time of canon), and that Zephyr, unlike Buguese, is absolutely certified insane. Like, Joker-level insane. It makes anyone wonder what the hell Takius sees in him. But nevertheless, she loves him despite who he is.
Status: Canon, though they both die at the end. And yes, I’ve also seen people argue that they were like parent/child. People with 0 media literacy.
-Hiiro/Towa (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime)
I have this one a lot because aesthetic. I mean, it’s an inter-species relationship and Towa is a dead-ringer for Aqune, except her hair is black. And those side portions of her hair which are actually green remind me so much of Aqune’s earrings I didn’t realize they were part of her hair at first. Likewise, Hiiro is a handsome swordsman with a ponytail. He’s humanoid, but has just enough ogre traits to be obviously not human. They do have some other similarities, though. Towa is like Aqune in that she risks her own health and happiness in order to lend her powers to help her land. She would give up her life in order to save another. Also, she helped heal Hiiro when he was injured, as their first meeting, which is like how Buguese and Aqune allegedly first met in the Teletoon Corp spoilers. And while Hiiro is angry and vengeful over what happened to his people, he obviously cares about Towa a lot, having a soft side for her, and is protective of her.
Status: Non-Canon. Allegedly they’re just really good friends, but it’s not like they have any alternative love interests, and do really good friends make eyes at each other like they do?
-Gale/Aya (Soul Link)
This show might be one I associate closely with Spider Riders because they aired at the same time. But it’s notable for really making me open to age-gap couples when I initially wasn’t. All because Gale and Aya are so danged adorable together. So aside from an age gap, what do they have in common with BuguAqu? Well, Gale is a villain, at least at the start. He and his crew hijack the spaceship, and end up taking prisoners. One of which happens to be Aya. But Aya is an extremely kindhearted girl. She never sees Gale as an enemy, and instead tries to befriend him. And it’s obvious that she warms his heart overtime, even if he’s a bad person who’s obviously done a lot of awful things in the past. It reaches the point that he risks his life in order to save her and send her back to her friends. Also, like Buguese it turns out that Gale and his crew were just pawns, seen as disposable by the true villain.
Status: Depends on the continuity. Non-canon in the first game, where their relationship is really only glossed upon (it’s still sweet though), and both die depending on the route. Non-canon in the anime because Gale dies. Canon in the remake games, where not only do both live, they have an explicitly romantic relationship. (And one of the two remakes is an H-game, so extra emphasis on the “explicit” part.) Blessedly, I’ve very rarely seen people who think they were like parent/child, but it’s happened.
-Gaito/Sara (Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch)
This one is here mainly due to some structural similarities. Like Aqune, Sara is one of the main team of heroes, except she happens to be on the villain side, willingly. That being said, Sara is much more bitter than Aqune, who never really had malice towards anyone. Gaito of course is your white-haired bishounen villain, though unlike Buguese, he’s the main villain (at least of season 1). But despite who Sara is, as she is ultimately purified and returns to her fellow Mermaid Princesses, she still loves Gaito. He’s a complete wreck when she’s gone (not unlike how Buguese was when temporally separated from Aqune), and at the end, she returns to stay by his side as his castle sinks.
Status: Canon, but they both die.
-Sesshomaru/Rin (Inuyasha)
Let me preface that I’m not much an Inuyasha fan, but I still think that this couple deserves a mention. Back when I first watched the show on Cartoon Network, I didn’t ship them, and I was surprised to learn it was a popular ship. I mainly only cared about Inuyasha/Kagome, which FWIW is an interspecies relationship with an age gap, involving a white-haired bishounen who tends to be a massive jerk. Though I don’t think it qualifies for this list otherwise. But I remember coming across someone’s Livejournal who would post about Spider Riders, and started reading it even though they vocally hated BuguAqu because apparently I’m a masochist. And it turns out they were a big fan of Sesshomaru/Rin. That got me thinking, it was kinda odd, when the two relationships are fairly similar. Because it’s cold and aloof antagonistic white-haired bishounen with a big grudge against the MC, who finds a very pure and kindhearted human girl who is younger than him and eventually starts to genuinely care for her. And ultimately lets her go at the end to be with her own people, giving her the opportunity to eventually choose where she wants to be. Yeah, in hindsight I still find it odd that you can like one relationship and hate the other, though I do get that Rin was very young in the original anime, making the ship rather awkward. At least Aqune is clearly more mature. But this person didn’t seem to mind age gaps. Just that it got in the way of Hunter/Aqune.
Status: Canon. The sequel anime has them married with two kids.
This is an incestuous (older brother/younger sister) relationship, which I’m aware will be a turn-off to many, but I’m putting it just due to how well it fits. So, Kajitsu is your mysterious, quiet girl with special powers. She bears the light of Mother Core, which could be likened to Aqune being a handmaiden of Spirit Oracle. This is a power that the villains want of course. And both Kajitsu and Yuuki are on the side of the enemies. Yuuki is Kajitsu’s brother, whom she follows loyally. Yuuki can be cruel and cold, but he cares about Kajitsu more than anything. He doesn’t even realize at first that what he’s been doing has only been causing her pain, and so he decides to leave her with the heroes for her own good.
Status: Canon. It turns out that they’re reincarnated lovers who haven’t dropped the love part despite being reincarnated as siblings this time. Both die, however they’re reincarnated for a second time, now as an interspecies couple, amusingly enough.
-Sandor/Sansa (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Note that I’m mainly referencing the books here, as I don’t care for the show and have barely seen any of it. But yeah, another age gap relationship in a medieval fantasy setting that takes obvious inspiration from Beauty and the Beast. Sansa, while more naive than we ever see Aqune (of course, she starts the series off as very young and sheltered), is a good-hearted, idealistic young girl. She ends up stuck in an enemy kingdom, and encounters the bitter, jaded and monster-like Sandor (though he is very much human). Despite everything, she manages to work her way under his skin and he becomes protective of her in his own way. Though they part ways, it’s clear that she continues to think fondly of him, despite his (perhaps deserved) reputation to everyone else.
Status: *shrug* Given how long it’s been since book 5 came out, I don’t really expect this series to actually continue. But I mean, she comforts herself thinking of an imaginary time when he kissed her. I think it has a good chance if they both live.
-Char/Lalah (Mobile Suit Gundam)
This is another ship where I never particularly thought about it when I first watched it years ago. But it’s hard to deny the influence of Gundam on many anime that followed, and it’s pretty clear it had some influence on Spider Riders too. Buguese is a Char clone, plain and simple. He even has the same seiyuu as Rau from Gundam Seed, an even more obvious Char clone. But he’s the rival to the protagonist, wears a mask, has a hidden agenda, affinity with the color red, pilots a custom Machine Sector… oh, and he also clashes with the protagonist over a particular mysterious and quiet girl with special powers, who seems to have romantic feelings for the both of them, and he’s basically her savior after taking her in from a bad alternative. And as you can see, Aqune herself is something of a Lalah expy, though she also has some traits with Char, like the mask and a long-lost sister. It was watching GQuuuuuux that made me realize how danged good Char/Lalah is. Mainly because it’s the first series to really put emphasis on the importance of the relationship, especially from Lalah’s perspective. Otherwise, she was more like The Lost Lenore for Amuro, who had more chemistry with Sayla anyway.
Status: Non-canon… I guess? Both are dead. But it was at least canon from Lalah’s side.
-Gamma/Yuni (Katekyo Hitman Reborn)
This one, I could take arguments why they don’t count, but my getting so many BuguAqu vibes from their aesthetic is the primary reason I watched the show. Firstly, it’s an age gap relationship. Secondly, Yuni definitely shares traits with Aqune. Because she’s another girl with special powers who are important to the villain’s plans, and is both a compassionate and self-sacrificing person. I wouldn’t say Ganma is a lot like Buguese, but he definitely had reason to hate Yuni at first (in his case, finding out one day that she was the daughter of the now-dead woman he was once in love with). But similarly to Buguese, he comes to care about her the more time he spends around her, and becomes very protective of her. And while Gamma does start off antagonistic, he really wouldn’t qualify as a villain in the same vein that Buguese would. Anyway, when he princess-carries her, it screamed BuguAqu to me.
Status: Canon-ish? It’s basically text, but are they really gonna go out and make a het ship get married on a series that runs on its BL fandom? Plus the manga doesn’t really have a proper ending.
I’ll say this is more thematic/aesthetic again, as the main things they have in common is an age gap and one is a villain. But let’s see. Karigari is jaded and fixated on revenge, just as Buguese is. Sasagawa is a very compassionate person. While she obviously doesn’t have any sort of powers like Aqune, she always does what she can to help and support the heroes, even if that’s merely cheering them on. She’s also able to trust in Karigari fully despite knowing what he’s capable of. Karigari cares about her very much, and it’s her influence that gradually makes him a better person (and this culminates with crashing his mech into a large building at the end in a heroic sacrifice, but lives, much like Buguese). Also, he keeps her at a distance, generally believing it would be in her best interest, as her role directly contradicts his. (As opposed to an Insector general/eventual Insector leader and Spider Rider/Oracle Handmaiden, they’re a wanted criminal and TV celebrity, respectively.)
Status: Non-canon. As of the way things end, they’re just really good friends. Same as Hiiro/Towa. But Karigari does want to confess his love one day, and Sasagawa’s VA/namesake supports it, so… Hopeful. And again some people insist KariSasa is like parent/child, despite Sasagawa being like late 20’s when they first met, so not child, and the whole episode where Karigari built a whole scheme around confessing to her and only didn’t due to being interrupted by a life-threatening crisis.
-Reiji/Ina (Shinkalion: Change the World)
Okay, these aren’t hugely similar, but I definitely got the vibes. So, Reiji is definitely comparable to Buguese, being the masked, white-haired villain trying to get revenge on the heroes, and protect a certain world. Also pilots a mech. And he brainwashes Ina, despite (or because) he’s clearly in love with her. It reminds me of the possessive angle with BuguAqu anyway. But Ina isn’t much like Aqune, aside from the fact that they’re both very righteous. Aqune could never have that chaotic non-malicious-mad-scientist energy.
Status: Non-canon. Despite it being basically text. But yeah, here’s our third case of, canon says they’re totally just really good friends.
-Sanzo/Goku (Saiyuuki)
Is it odd to have a M/M ship here? Well, I think this one fits really well. Firstly, Sanzo is similar to Buguese down to the two having the same Japanese voice actor. But yeah, cold and angry, generally doesn’t like being in the company of other people. But he ends up saving Goku, who’s like your typical mysterious girl with special powers archetype except for being a boy. Like Aqune, Goku is a generally amicable person, developing a strong bond with Sanzo due to their time together (though it's also practically a reincarnation romance) and he’s the only one Sanzo will sometimes show care for, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. Also, there’s an age gap but it’s actually Goku who’s way older. Sanzo certainly appears older though, so it kinda goes both ways.
Status: Non-canon, but good grief, for the fourth time I’m not buying that they’re totally actually just good friends, especially when you factor Sanzo’s past life stuff.
-Grey/Maria (Chojin Sentai Jetman)
So with this one, Maria is a would-be member of the titular sentai team, except that she’s unceremoniously killed in the first episode. Except it turns out she’s not actually dead, and she returns as a brainwashed enemy. A key difference though is that unlike Aqune who’s only made to fight against her will, and otherwise joined with the Insectors willingly, Maria is fully brainwashed and doesn’t even realize her previous life. Though, neither does Aqune given her coincidental amnesia. Grey is one of the enemy generals, not unlike Buguese, who ends up becoming close to her and developing a genuine affection for her. This is to the point that he decides to help her and even let her be with the heroes if it's for her own good. It’s also an interspecies thing, Grey being a robot. Though, he isn’t too much like Buguese otherwise. Actually, his personality is more similar to Stags.
Status: Non-canon. Both are dead, and Maria is definitely conflicted when she remembers her previous lover (though he ends up moving on with someone else).
-Hyunckel/Maam (Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken)
Hyunckel is a silver-haired enemy, a swordsman who initially holds a grudge against the heroes. Maam is a strong warrior whose powers come from “jiai”, or compassionate love/kindness. Note that the incantation when Aqune transforms (though this was changed in the dub) is “Oracle no jiai”. In short, both girls have such strong compassion that it’s emphasized by the narrative. Maam is the first to try and understand Hyunckel, even though he had taken her hostage at that point. He later switches sides, and is shown to care for her a lot.
Status: Non-canon. And I can’t even “but actually” this time. I mean, the show is open-ended enough that it’s not sunk, but it also heavily pushes the Popp/Maam ship, and Hyunckel goes off on his own to try and atone for his sins.
....
I feel like I'm probably forgetting some other obvious ones. This is something I've actually meant to do for years, oops. I'm also open for more suggestions, because I consume more anime than anything else, so it obviously gives my resource pool bias.
I wanted to do a redesign of the Spider Riders characters with their spiders being more inspired by their real life counterparts, but then I remembered that Aqune’s spider is named Portia and..... I haven’t figured out a way to make that not be super fucked up so we’re just not gonna do that
I want to go through my disaster of an image folder, but it’s just too much of a disaster. But I stop to look at pictures of these two and die a little, because I’ll never get over how cute they are together.
