「永遠の街」 (Eien no Machi)
“The City of Eternity”

Ignoring all the outrage yet another episode of action-less Franxx is bound to induce, this week arguably gave us the most important episode to date. Even more than prior character development and the few tidbits of ominous teasers we received some very meaty information this time around as the world of adults was opened up and the future of Plantation 13’s parasites was laid bare. Sure we may not know exactly what’s to come yet (it’s a running theme at this stage), but there’s no denying now whatever it is, it’s going to be bad. Really bad.

Without a doubt revealing the adult world was necessary at some point considering Franxx’s plot, but colour me surprised Zorome would be the trailblazer. OK, not really surprised. Curiosity and an overeager attitude have a way of eking out the little things, and there’s no denying Zorome was the perfect fit for the task. There were a lot of details in the latter half here, from the utter lack of adults up and about to the not so subtle showing of a pacemaker/artificial heart and what is almost certainly a virtual world interface. I had a nagging suspicion at the start of Franxx that humanity might in fact be dead/malformed (from the continuous presence of the upper face coverings), but now there’s the chance we are looking at a more insidious Wall-E scenario, where humanity is kept “safe” in plantations and only the bare minimum are kept conscious for the sake of critical functions. Our nameless (or numberless) woman certainly supports the idea, between a “partner” kept on ice, that overt trade of a new pacemaker/heart for turning Zorome back in, and the heavy hint towards actual children no longer existing. It’s obvious she was Zorome’s caretaker for example, and with it the knowledge that whatever happened then cannot linger in the memories. Zorome and the rest were made for an explicit purpose and no amount of compassion can change their fates. If anything it will only interfere with what’s to come.

As for the fate of parasites no effort was spared in highlighting just how damning it will be. The infected children and pitiful children comments are enough of a wakeup call for anyone still in the dark (which you shouldn’t be by now), but that blunt refusal to shake Zorome’s hand for me really sent the message home. Whoever/whatever these adults are, they all view parasites as wrong, as diseases necessary to combat a far more worrisome threat. A simple touch is apparently enough to ruin and/or end lives (notice how Nana and Hachi never touch their charges either), and none are under any illusion as to the fate of these children. For one reason or another no parasite reaches adulthood, period. Zero Two apparently knows this best, as that brooding attitude hid one hell of a physical change that firmly support those hypotheses of irreversible mutation and loss of humanity lying in our parasites’ futures. From her privileged access Zero Two knows the fate awaiting her, and no amount of shiny trinkets and honeyed words can assuage an ailment clearly establishing a time limit for anyone who pilots a Franxx. We likely won’t know exactly what happens when that time runs out for a while yet, but it’s not that hard to guess now. One way or another I think our time in the kiddie pool is over.

From here on out, however, it’s anyone’s best guess just what happens next. With the entirety of Plantation 13’s parasite squad (not just Hiro) supposedly meant to escort Zero Two to the Grand Crevasse we have an endpoint for this ride, but the reason for it (and how we get there) remains just as elusive as Franxx’s constant teasing of suffering and death. Every answer provided only gives rise to more questions, with the only remedy being (as per the best in binge watching fashion) to stick around for more. Whether you consider this approach insufferable or not, it’s hard denying Franxx has sunk its teeth in hard. All we can do now is see if the truth was worth the price of admission.

144 Comments

  1. I hope cour 2 is better, this amount of world building is not needed. Wasting an entire episode in Zorofag (a generic one-dimensional comedy relief side character) and a literall who old lady, this was almost as bad as the flip floppers muh alzheimers episode.

    LandSlave
    1. I happened to like it. The world building is really good in my opinion. Instead of telling us, they are showing us by what it is not telling us. I think that this anime is also secretly a horror anime.

      KF
      1. As I mentioned below, the world building is decent, but its only decent for us, it didn’t impact the characters AT ALL, and it doesn’t matter if we get world building, we don’t need small information like this. if it doesn’t impact the characters then its just trivia for us.

        undeadben
      2. Agreed, what Franxx is doing is the way you want to build up a world: minimal technobabble and infodumps, lots of focus on scenery and setting. There is an argument for the show taking too long to get to the actual story, but IMO we cannot criticize on that until we see the endgame.

        At minimum though it’s looking like Franxx may be a better binge watch than weekly watch.

    2. @Landslave “this was almost as bad as the flip floppers muh alzheimers episode.” YOU TAKE THAT BACK GOOD SIR!!! On the other hand, I’m not quite sure if i understand your complaint about this ep’s world building. I’ve haven’t been a part of the crowd who has praised this anime’s world building because i just think it’s alright (i think we tend to have a habit for praising things for doing the bare minimum or average effort), but if anything, this week’s ep did its world building much more competently than other entries so far.

      sonicsenryaku
      1. Just give me the movie trilogy already, this shouldn’t have been a two-cour anime if the pacing is going to be this bad.

        This episode was shit abd the directing completely undersold it.

        OtakuExile
      2. Oh.. then you should walk into their Studio scream “Your Story is shit!, Hire me to fix that, Trigger or you are doomed!”. I bet they are lucky and happy to have one of your kind for their support. They surly come running with Tea, snacks and… the police

        Worldwidedepp
      1. The time spent on these episodes will be interesting to look back on in 12 episodes that’s for sure. Personally I’m optimistic the show has good plans for using this material (it’s being handled better than Re:Creators for example), but there’s no denying we could be looking at one hell of a letdown before too long.

  2. Whe gotta admit the pacing/amount of info revealed is a huge miscalculation.

    it didn’t build the setting up much at all because they’re holding secrets back for a big “final reveal” but at the same time the last three episodes took up 15% of the entire runtime and there’s been NO internal character development.

    poor pacing no matter your opinion on the matter

    better directors do something like contrast 2 characters thematically at the same time. the symbolism used can then apply to both of them and the setting at the same time.

    this ep just has tons of dead space/time, theoretically it COULD be a directorial trick, BUT they did the same things 7-10 (7 is good though).

    ThomasBlanc
    1. They are not writing the show as it goes, right?
      What people are saying about the pacing, it going no where, reminds me of those manga chapters like that.

      Just hope it won’t be a rushed ending or too open ended.

      iron2000
      1. Very likely not, the writers at minimum have already finished the story, the only thing outstanding may be animation and episode composition (some shows only have their episodes animation a couple of weeks before airing for example).

        The choice of world building and pacing at this moment is deliberate, which is in part why we are seeing all the criticism.

  3. my only problem with it is that they don’t take it anywhere, zorome hears and is told all of these confliting things, “infected children” “they’re victims” “that’s out of the question” and he never inquires further on these, he just goes “ah”.

    furthermore the fact that he didn’t take any of it to the base is ridiculous, after all that he doesn’t even discuss with anyone that he finally met the adults he so much adored (maybe because he was so disapointed and shatered after those 2 guys picked him up that he didn’t want to talk about it …..still tho).
    No one discusses this further, zorome even says he forgot about the whole thing ….. the only change is that he no longer has that dream that was established this chapter so it doesn’t even have any meaning in the general scope of things.
    the world building is decent, but its only decent for us, it didn’t impact the characters AT ALL, and it doesn’t matter if we get world building, we don’t need small information like this. if it doesn’t impact the characters then its just trivia for us.

    undeadben
    1. How he got to the information was also ridiculous. Letting one of these kids get left behind and lost just because he stopped walking flies in the face of everything else we learned this episode. If they’re so damned that adults can’t even touch them then they should’ve been guarded with escorts like they were made out of mithril even if it was all done covertly.

      Aex
  4. Maaan, Ive been trying to watch this show, but all i can say is “i miss GUNBUSTER2!”
    the animation, the characters, the WORLD BUILDING. it all seemed so much bigger and brighter.

    i only bring this up because they are somewhat similar.

    BROOKLYN otaku
    1. Franxx seems very well paced to me – just the right mix of revelation and action.

      Gunbuster 2 was good? I couldn’t tell because the character designs and cutsie look was such a departure from the original Gunbuster that I wondered why they even appropriated the name.

      dlp
  5. I really struggled to watch the eps 7~10;
    The meta theme and “hey, target audience! this is a reference to a thing you know about” crammed in my face constantly was just embarrassing and fucking annoying. The female characters were one dimensional, predictable, cringe worthy, overused tropes and summarize the fanservice, otaku pandering and waifubait, especially main girl and and the male supporting characters ones were extremely punchable.

    I tried to watch, but it was just such a steaming pile of pandering bullshit.

    EmbraceMe
  6. I have mixed feelings about this episode. He’s just as bad as episodes 7-9, despite having raised some questions, it was so bland I don’t even know if I care about any of them.

    Dr. Otacon
  7. Establishing the world of the story and revealing the traits of the characters are all neat.

    Problem though.

    The characters aren’t likable.

    From observations, these select few characters are liked by viewers because:

    002=voluptuous
    015=adorable
    056=nice guy

    I will be putting this on hold until the plot hits a crescendo because I will probably drop it if I don’t.

    McL
    1. 02 = The generic otaku pandering character for fanservice and waifubait, screaming: ”I want the MC’s dick all the time. Besides being a plot device for the development of the MC, as well as one of the MC’s love interest alongside Ichigo.

      015 (Ichigo) the generic ”childhood friend” trope who likes MC and one of the MC’s love interest alongside 02.

      056 (Goro) = the generic ”Mecha CuckGuy” who likes the girl who likes the MC in its generic Bro version who supports the MC like Sai in Gundam Seed and Furuichi in Xam’d: Lost Memories.

      dragoneyes001
    1. Because they’ve been raised in a strict society where they’ve never even had the thought to question the world around them or their very purpose and where their rules, orders and views of the world are practically treated like mandates from holy figures?

      Zorome has lived his life, risked his life,striving for the goal of living in the city. His entire world view has been crushed, of course as a child he’s going to try to repress and forget all of that.

      qwert
    2. they are raised in the perfect “kindergarten” and the best option so far for them, is to fight for the Adults!! i could exchange some things with RL comparing but i want to avoid this shitstorm that will hit the fan

      Worldwidedepp
    3. Probably because as qwert mentions Zorome simply tried to forget it all out of having his ideal image shattered, or (more likely) none of the kids have encountered something that stands out so much to them that it makes them want to talk about it. Could also just be down to writing choice and wanting to leave the “mystery” and its exploration for later.

  8. Now this is how you work a mandatory obnoxious loud 14 year old into a story, i couldn’t help but to compare Zorome to Asta from Black Clover, only Black Clover made a mistake of making one as a main character and Franxx did it correctly, give him screen time, but not too much.

    James
    1. Just watched A.I.C.O Incarnation yesterday.
      Maybe the Grand Crevasse is like the Primary Point?
      Where it all started?
      Where whatever that infects is at the most potent?

      Perhaps Zero Two was found there.
      That white (icicle) forest perhaps?

      Google defines crevasse as “a deep open crack, especially one in a glacier”.

      So its probably at the North or South Pole?

      iron2000
      1. Perhaps Zero Two was found there.

        02 has been found by Papa.

        Papa

        A Klaxsaur who did all kinds of weird orgy rituals and rape stuff with 02 to achieve “redemption through sin”

        was believed to be a demon.

        Gewurtztraminer
  9. So this may not be the most popular opinion, but maybe block some people from being able to post for a while? Or forever?

    While some people are making valid arguments, even if I don’t personally agree with them, I’m failing to see the constructive aspects of the numerous references to cucks, fags and cocks.

    qwert
    1. Let’s no go too far. I like the show but others are free to express their opinion – even if we don’t agree with them.

      Make your point as clear as possible – and then move on. That’s my advice to you.

      KF
      1. Being a nasty edgelord for the sake of it shouldn’t have a free pass in my opinion, the comment section of this anime is ruined. They may be right with that on their usual circle but in Rome do what romans do, which in this case is being polite and respectful and have self restraint. A pity.

        cvb
    2. So long as one is not personally insulting another anyone (as explicitly highlighted last week) I believe anyone should be free to post whatever they want. Banning looks easy, but it can breed its own set of problems, and RC has always prided itself on having an open forum.

      IMO the quality of comments one leaves behind (those words stick around for a long time) is far more damning than any ban could ever be.

  10. LIteraly nothing happened, an entier episode of cock block. about to say something and they don’t, gets cut off. No answers. more questions.
    kids infected with what? like say. they never become adults so…die of claxosaur? die of aids? what?
    this is gonna be another aldnoah zero. NO ANSWERS, EVER. probably writers didn’t tink that far ahea.d. also miku and 02 are still worst girls.

    vonPeterhof
    1. Please!
      I do hope we get answers this time.
      Don’t keep teasing the viewers!

      Otherwise I would feel like Zorome looking at the old guy getting his dose of happiness.
      Viewer = Zorome
      Anime planning committee = old guy

      Anyway I thought the old guy getting his happiness can be some Sword Art Online meme.

      iron2000
      1. Zorome is annoying.
        I hate this dumb “anime drinking” (this is what i call it) where a character is in NO RUSH WHATSOEVER to drink something, yet he hastily eats and drinks and makes sure to choke and let out a loud satisfied sound.
        I understand if the character just finished a marathon and is thirsty, or if he is downing a shot of alcohol, but that clearly doesn’t apply here.

        everydaygamer
  11. https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2036.jpg

    This may have been pointed out already, but anyone else get the feeling the girls are also hybrids but are less human than 02? Possibly more feral considering the muzzles.

    I wonder if the Nine’s Stamens treat the girls more like a component of the machine and a object than a partner. It would also explain 02’s behavior, she’s close to becoming the same (the growing fangs) and hopes to prevent that since finding Hiro.

    Harleyquin
    1. That was one point of the Girl’s vs Boy’s episode. The boys commented on how much they realized they appreciated the girls and that the girls were doing the harder job.

      RedRocket
      1. @ninjapet: sorry to point this out, but at this point it’s kinda obvious this show is gonna be at least 50% Kiznaiver, 25% Gurren Lagann (at most), and 25% something different.

        This episode wasn’t a masterpiece, but a show isn’t horrible just because it isn’t going exactly where you wanted it to. Not every mecha show is all about fighting.

        Aex
    1. Why don’t you accept it’s good and it’s not trash?
      Why is it us who have to accept your view?. Shut up, you egocentric trash. Only extreme disgusting egocentrism can explain unironically asking people to accept your opinions on a TV show as objective factual truth

      bassgs435
  12. Zorome episode?

    Blue blood, this one doesn’t leak in?
    So the Franxx just got their IP56 treament? lol

    Another observation scene of the Seven Sages.
    APE, they look like monkeys, evolution, humanity.
    Are the Seven Sages humans? Machine? Alien?
    They observe the P13 squad with interest.
    We viewers observe them in interest.

    Looks like by episode 12 will be some big battle in the Grand Crevasse.
    What if the P13 kids are not human although they show so much humanity.
    Then the Seven Sages are humans but are too futuristic and hide in inhuman cladding.

    How long has it been since they became Squad 13?
    The HQ guy call Zero Two a former Nine?
    Some what feels like Nine is an elite squad with 9 members.
    I hope they explain the weird fashion the “adults” spot.

    Rather empty feeling praises, no heart in them.
    Rejected handshake, urgh.
    The kids have their image of this event, they have expectations.
    Read them from books? Saw it on some patriotic broadcast back in the Garden?

    Somehow the city reminds me of Fate EXTRA, lol.

    …what if they really cannot grow up?

    No one in the city at all?
    Feels like theres only a handful of aults left, spread out among all Plantations.
    People like Hachi and Nana.

    Zorome notice the emptiness.
    The lone “adult” ignores his call.
    Has the off, creepy feel to me.
    The contrast between the white walls and the orange glows of the dark “city”.

    !! Development!
    Some sincere talk between “adult” and “children”!
    Ok, they are not of the same species…
    Pet mode!?

    O…longevity…life preservation?
    Wow, they wear their hearts outside!
    The aging population problem has really gotten into Japan.

    I start to think about A.I.C.O Incarnation where that Artificial Life Form can somewhat be used to prolong life. I suppose anime creators are putting their view on solving world problems in their works.

    Just what is the year in the show?
    That pregnancy book is rather well preserve though.

    Its a calm meeting but its still feels creepy and off.
    Getting a dose of happiness? Eh!?
    Will the female turn her head 360 next, “Do you want more tea?”.
    lol. maybe not.
    Though the advancements it looks like she still tire.
    Looks like talking burns the most calories in this this city.
    Woah….humanity really went downhill in ways in this world.

    I wonder how many generations of humans(?) had live this kind of life.

    Zorome felt the motherly feel from the ault and cried?
    She say impossible with a big smile…
    “After all, you are…”
    WHat? Not human?

    Infected children?
    Klaxosaur particles? Magma poisoning?
    So thats why the adults are all masked?

    Theres the creepy and off points here and there but in the end they kind of laugh it off.
    So Zero Two is very infected?
    Then the Klaxosaurs are really….

    iron2000
    1. Nana NEEDS to be in a pistil suit.

      You can’t just, make that body, and not put it in a skin-tight suit.

      Hiro riding Nana’s ass would be an absolute 10/10 bonus too.

      MorwenLaicoriel
    1. https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
      She is the Anime’s Adrenaline (mostly) Ichigo is also an Leader but not so strong as ZeroTwo (so far)

      So, if the best “Horse” is down and drowning in self-pity (Hiro notice it, but are to “gentleman”. Perhaps when Hiro and Ichigo “teamup” to ask for ZeroTwo’s problems.. Ichigo because she is a girl?), then the rest of the Team should compensate it. But this Episode it was to much of an falling tide, that the beach sand was seen.. We need Water, many water. No Scene how they “desperate” trying to find the boy. So no “counter action” to compensate the ZweroTwo’s downtime

      Yeah, i use symbolism again

      I think they should go slowly with the “Kill la Kill” Episodes formula. A bit of all mix would be good now

      Worldwidedepp
      1. the only Pair, where i really want to know their progress, would be the “Glass” girl book worm and the Mr.Ice Cold “doing just my work” Partner

        Kokoro and his partner are also in “love”, i do not think they need an entire Episode to show us his “I want to protect my Partner! with all i have! I will put my big body to use!”. Their FranXX are really an display of each other. His Big Body is their Armor coat, and she has this Weapon.

        So, back to glass girl. i do not mind if they want to touch her sexual feelings.. But i thing she is just an “shut in” in her book fanatsy world. and the Mr. Ice Cold partner is not helping her.. Both have to move on, the Squad depends on them… SQUAD not Pappa.. Squad is what they see every time to protect.. Pappa? only on occasions

        So anyway.we should enter a bit faster then planed the Main story drive, with some Action to pump the Blood of the Fans. to awaken them, or they fall asleep even with best intentions. Time for the “Birds” to leave their Cage and Fly on their own.. But they need the support to stay alive.. Perhaps an “rouge city” where the Adults are really caring and not lost their will, can take them in.. Perhaps Dr.Franxx here is the Key, for good of worse, is up to the storyteller

        So enough “fan fiction” world-building, i bet Stilts and Passerby have something similar inside their minds

        Worldwidedepp
      2. It is time for the “rebel ship” of “Last Exile” (the original) to be their new Home, and Dr.Franxx could be the Scientist that keeps the “last Exile” ship flying.. yes, the “traitor” of the guild

        So enough of my World building rant.. sorry

        Worldwidedepp
      3. Show Spoiler ▼

        Dorcas_Aurelia
      4. Show Spoiler ▼

        Dorcas_Aurelia
      5. @Dorcas_Aurelia

        Wow, nice write up

        It sure add some Ecchiness spice, but Nana is a bit to old for their Squad. Adding her in this Squad as an active member is just really Fan service without reason. I do not see any “death flags” flying for the female cast for Nana an her partner need to ride an standard FranXX to defend the City as part of the old Defender squad when Squad 13 was still young to Pilot (in the meantime someone had to protect the City right?). Remember the “Adults” also cast aside these troublesome things like emotions…Imagine an World like “Demolition Men” with Sly Stalone (Yes this one with the mussels to clean up the back…) or an World of “Zardoz” with Sean Connery where one Human bring back the Human Emotions

        The thoughts pf you would raise the ecchi onto “Eromanga-sensei” or even “High School DxD” level

        But we already has some decent ecchi and spice of to Love Ru level… Well mostly it stand out in the Manga (even there the FranXX get some love)

        If they really need to play the Nana ecchi card, then only for an quick ride. Because Nana is their caretaker but need his partner to ride and no one in the Squad13 boys have an “chemistry” with “older woman’s”.. No not even our Mr.Ice. he just want to surpass Hiro and rub it into all faces that he can is better…

        if they play the ecchi card (like some episode ago with their Suits) then it should be their own partner.. then this https://imgur.com/gallery/Yvf3htW could be an critical emotion for the boys.. aka “Why do it itches so strong, i do not need to pee” (we are slipping into Doujins) and would destroy the build up of the respect for their partners, it would turn into an single Harem show

        – So Ecci-ness of to Love RU level are good and well implanted. We do not need stronger one or we lose the focus and respect of the Squad13 and then we just want to see skirts upshots or breast of the Girls badly

        – The mix so far of FranXX are okay in my eyes, but we should now raise the “Adrenaline” for the fans, they are now leeching for action. Trigger and A-1 tamed them very well, but Trigger and A-1 has an name to uphold and now they should deliver the “Action” part. A-1 should also swim a bit with them, so no more “breather Episodes” for an while.. no not even Onson or beach ones we already had them :). Perhaps the “breather” ones are the Slice of Life in the hanger or City, the calm before the storm

        Uff.. wall of text, i hope this is enough as an reply and my thoughts. But anyway Trigger and A-1 should do their thing, i am here just “fan fiction” and i also love more of surprises how they handle the story. I do not “bend” my will into this, i just want to express my thoughts what i “want/love” (adjust. Same direction but slightly less or more) to see, too

        Anyway, you got my respect for this wall of text of yours. You surly made your thoughts about this

        Worldwidedepp
    2. Show Spoiler ▼

      Dorcas_Aurelia
    3. Show Spoiler ▼

      Dorcas_Aurelia
  13. Wow, contrary to the comments, this episode was actually interesting. And kind of disturbing, especially the way that woman’s ‘partner’ was smiling. I’m worried though, what’s up with zero two, and why did Zorome’s dream suddenly stop? Some kind of closure? How sad…

    Anonymous
    1. I’m not sure if his dream stopped as much as Zorome wound up with other things on his mind. Daily living has a way of distracting away from even the most embedded of memories, at least for a time. I imagine that bit will feature for Zorome again soon enough.

      1. This is just a WAG, but are we certain that all these kids were grown in a lab? Is it possible that some were conceived naturally? I looked at the possibility, especially with the imagery, that the woman could be his actual mother and the ‘dream’ could have possibility been memories of his actual birth.

        They obviously have had some wacky stuff done to them physically, so it’s not too far a stretch to think that they might be able to remember things others couldn’t. Could you imagine if you remembered what it was like to be born? Probably pretty close to being surrounded in darkness with a light at the end, that grows larger and envelops you (being outside the womb), and then letting out a loud scream. Sounds like birth to me.

        7godeohs
  14. The comments are full of people who are stupid. Seriously. IF you hate the show so much, if you think it’s so bad: Isn’t it a waste of time to keep watching for you? Or what, do you think hating stuff makes you “better”? “more objective”? Putting on that pretentious “not easy to please” hat and shitting on everything isn’t “smarter”. You’re all trying too hard and it seems you only watch the show to shit on it, and to look down on those of us who like it.

    I really despise this hate culture where hating stuff is seen as “being more objective”, “having better taste” or “having higher and better standards”. To me, it looks like an edgy hate worship, like a cult based on acting how hatred is proof of intellectual superiority. It honestly makes me puke. Get off your high horses already.

    All your comments and crtiicisms are as objective as my enjoyment of the show (that is, purely subjective).

    I had to let this out

    bassgs435
      1. “tiny brain” Because I like something? Maybe you’re the one with the tiny brain if you can’t accept different opinions and need to insult people because they don’t think they same things you do about a TV show

        bassgs435
  15. So the parasites have parasites. Okay, easy enough, glad I caught that early.

    They’re going to die young. Figured, but it’s now confirmed to be from more than dying in battle.

    Piloting a Franxx is turning them into the monsters they’re fighting. Possibly, Zero-Two isn’t the best person to base that on.

    Now the big-money question that will make at least Hiro jump ship if it’s going where I think it is: did people start mining magma because of the monsters, or did the monsters show up because of the mining. If it’s Option 2, then how bad is mining for the planet? I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but after meeting a genuine adult I’m putting my money on this new, “advanced” society being entirely for selfish reasons and the parasites aren’t noble heroes, just poor kids being used as guard-dogs by their criminal owners.

    Aex
    1. Oh, wait, duh. The mining corrupted the surface, so part of humanity retreated underground and the klaxosaurs are the corrupted versions of everything else left behind(why some look like animals). Zero-Two is so different and valuable because she was found on the surface and they’re trying to figure out how she has so much “human” left in her, meanwhile the “parasites” are to slow down the changes in the pilots while they are being exposed to point-blank magma poisoning in the Franxx.

      Genuinely embarrassed it took me this long to catch up. Now we can all laugh when I’m totally wrong!! XD

      Aex
      1. So…the kids are infected with a virus that allows them to pilot knockoff Gunbusters at the cost of dying young, Zorome’s mother is too much of a faggot to tell him the truth and give him good feels, Zorome himself is too much of a dipshit to question loose lipped guards spilling state secrets right next to him, and 02 is regressing to a more bestial form.

        We’ll probably get more boo hoo melodrama once she runs off and joins the biomech dinos, at least until Hiro reminds her of muh one winged bird analogy and drags her back into best robot.

        So I guess it’s all but confirmed that Hiro will pilot Strelulzia alone THROUGH SHEER UNBRIDLED MASCULINITY, and reclaiming his waifu will finally activate Lulzy’s yet-unseen super mode.

        If only there wasn’t 15 more episodes of filler before any of that actually happens.

        Instead, it’ll be more pointless slice of life schlickbait up until the last 15 minutes of this multi-million dollar turd.

        It’s times like these that I miss Crass Ange and Valvrape; at least those were bad in a funny trainwreck sort of way.

        Anyway, thanks for reading my blog senpaitachi.

        asimpson2006
  16. Finally! We get to see just what they’re fighting for AAAAND…… it’s pretty sad and depressing. This will no doubt come to a head later one when one, a few, or all the parasites revolt upon the realization of just what humanity is doing to them.

    This is a Zorome episode. I would’ve liked he not have one considering he hogs all the attention already, but he’s really funny running around unsupervised.

    My guess is that that woman was indeed Zorome’s mother. I mean they quickly cut to shots of she and her partner having sex (it was literally a split-second cut!), and she began to feel very parental feelings toward him. I was wondering if we’d see her die this ep, but nothing like that happened.

    starss
    1. As you can all see, the mandatory pairing system by the government works. Everyone is happy with their partners. There is no discussion, no arguments, no yelling, no back-talking. Life is harmonious by the partners interacting together at an absolute minimum. The happiness machines will ensure that everything is fine.

      Mitsuru and Ikuno are really model citizens. None of them talk with each another. None of them interacts as necessary.

      ninjapet
    2. If she was indeed his mother that makes this society even more dystopian because it raises the question of how parasites are selected. If they are not bred separately, what exactly are the handlers selecting for? Also it would take some serious coercion (or a significant lack of information) for a mother to give her child up that willingly.

    1. Trigger fans

      They can’t accept that Trigger would produce a mediocre show like Darling in the FranXX so they pretend their favourite studio had little involvement or seek out external factors mitigate this feeling (I.E. It was A1 pictures fault). Unfortunately that’s how fanboys/fangirls work. It’s self-confirmation at it’s finest.

      Bored_Ming
      1. Or maybe we think the show is good, have different opinions from you and there’s no “fanboy mentality” involved. Just different opinionss.
        No, clearly it must be studio fanboyism and people who disagree with a wise person blessed by God with factual objective opinions about TV show instead of the inferior subjective shit we inferior humans have are delusional
        Shut up. Your statement about the show being mediocre is nothing more than a subjective view. Not an objective fact. The moment you stated your opinion as fact is the moment you were wrong about everything. Keep crying because mean evil stupid fanboys like stuff you don’t, lke children do. Hopefully, you’ll grow out of your childish mindset some day

        bassgs435
      2. Also, it’s funny you blame the fanbase, when I see a lot of personal attacks coming from people who hate the show. We are just defending our right to like the show and to not be insulted because of it.
        If you attack people, of course people are going to counterattack or just defend themselves. It’s how everything works.

        bassgs435
  17. I think the “overt trade” of pacemaker is probably the woman being given a replacement heart to replace her current one – which is probably contaminated with whatever germs/virus/Klaxsaur poison Zorome might be carrying.

    SMinstrel
    1. Yeah. Her growing weakness during his visit, that she said was due to her not talking this much in one sitting? … her pacemaker is being contaminated!

      Or they gave it to her as hush money for not blabbing to anyone about this encounter. Either one.

      starss
      1. Zorome’s feelings towards the Adults were imagined. The point is that no one was look out for him or wanted to protect him. Granny rejects him time and again.

        All of the characters in this show have lived inside their heads so far.

        Mitsuru with his abandonment issues, Goro with his safe distance towards Ichigo, Hiro with his messiah complex, Futoshi with his eating disorder, Kokoro by trying to keep up images, Ikuno with her secret crush, Zero Two with her facade and her self-hatred, Ichigo with her idealization of Hiro, Zorome with his idealization of the Adults, Miku with her childishness — they have all been living inside their little shells.

        “The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world.”

        Darksorrow29
  18. Wow, the .98% of the people who hate this and the this all post here along with the 3.19% who dislike this episode really like to post here. Numbers from the current episode on My Anime List. I liked when the trolls and negative people were mainly on My Anime List.
    Proving again that people who dislike are way more likely to write than those who like. The My Anime List poll does have a problem in that it is done by self-selection but normally that tends to inflate the negatives, not positives. Unfortunately being a troll is popular enough currently that I normally have to treat all negative comments as from trolls. I’m sorry but trolls have basically removed the ability for people to take a real negative comment seriously. And whey I see popularity rating like above I have to assume most of the negative are trolls.
    Most of the negative posts seem to be those who cannot enjoy a slower moving story. Often being able to enjoy a slower moving story is a sign of maturity but for others, I assume this show is just the food they dislike. The food you dislike is just a personal trait nothing good or bad about it.
    Other than 02 I don’t expect a conversion too or from a monster. But the other kids might be infected with an artificial trait that borrows from the monsters but I would guess it kills them not converts them.
    But the two adults who don’t cover their faces might be former crews.
    As one person I read concluded children are the crews even if they reach adulthood they are always considered children and never let into adult society. And adults have never been called children at least in the recent past, in fact, there may be not noncrew children as the population is kept alive forever.

    RedRocket
  19. Well… I mean, I liked the episode. I think it was much better than the other “filler” episodes. I would agree that the last episode with Goro sucked because it literally did nothing for the story. But, this advanced a few plot points and was overall enjoyable. I think that, from the first few episodes, people expected a more “Gundam” style story with a 75% fighting and 25% story development situation and clearly that’s not the case here.

    Arin
      1. That’s probably the reason, although IMO anyone who paid attention to the staff should’ve realized early on this was not going to be the next TTGL or KLK. So far Franxx is more in line plot-wise with the likes of Suisei no Gargantia or Qualidea Code.

    1. people expected a more “Gundam” style story with a 75% fighting and 25% story development situation

      Please don’t insult the Gundam anime with such uninformed accusation. The core Gundam series are nowhere near as bad as you claimed. Most Gundam shows are all about plot progression and story development. For example, the recent Gundam IBO was even relentless on that department since the story kept going and moving forward each episode. Even the Gundam spin-off kiddy series like GBF & GBFT had decent plot progression among the hyped mecha-fights.

      That makes we wonder, have you actually watched a Gundam show?

      Oby
  20. Wait for something with Imaishi as main director and Nakashima as main writer if you want a TTGL or KlK
    The mainn director and main scriptwriter here are different people.So, of course, the show would be different. It’s a product of different minds, and not two minds are alike

    bassgs435
    1. The series started very crude, first the enemy seemed to be really dangerous and every mission could be the last one but now is like a slice of life with some combat highlights. I don’t like this pacing too.

      cvb
    2. Maybe the director wants it this way?
      Perhaps he will explain it in some commentary in the DVD or some magazine interview.
      His artistic reason and what he wants to bring across.

      iron2000
      1. But this lies all in the future, right now he need to bring this Ship into save waters and in the end into an save harbor, to write his stuff 🙂

        “Man sollte den tag nicht vor dem abend loben” aka “one should not praise the day before the evening”

        Worldwidedepp
  21. Dear Pancakes, what has happened to RandomC comment sections? They used to be filled with civilized posters and comments (mostly). But now it’s worse than Reddit and is almost as bad as 4-chan. I miss the days when I can have long intelligent and civilized discussions/arguments like back during the Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans & Re:Creators era.

    Now, we have people casually throwing around words like “faggots” and the likes like nobody’s business. Maybe it’s time to have a regulation on civility in the comment section. Maybe it will lessen the clicks but it will certainly make the environment better.

    Oby
    1. Not sure, from my experience it ebbs and flows depending on the season and the show. It’s been a while since we got a true Trigger show from Trigger for example, and that level of “hype” (per say) also invites those just here for sh*ts and giggles.

      I cannot say if we will do anything—unregulated commenting is a feature of RC after all—but I can chat with Stilts and the rest and see if some additional ground rules might be warranted.

    2. Unfortunately, batoto closed and 4chan started to smell musty, its dwellers started to lurk other sites and that’s how we have this clusterfuck. At least they mainly lurk on hyped animes, they can be avoided.

      cvb
      1. I myself have been going to Animesuki for decent discussions lately. The have a pretty good environment for civil discussions due to good regulation of civility. If you have recommendations for other good anime forums for discussions, I’m all ears 😉 (tried GameFAQs but it’s full of rude haters too)

        Oby
      2. Animesuki is strict with their rules and enforcing them, also you need an account to write there. Spoilers get punished not just censored (you get points) and etiquette is also an big thing there.. i learned my lessons before coming here.

        Also with time i found my own rule

        Respect is for knowing, Trust for friendship and love comes from heart

        Worldwidedepp
    3. You should write this more to the side Admin. He is the real one with power to change things. But yes, the Admin would hear the thoughts of the others.. But we had many “Shitstorm” in the past and we still are here (even me)

      Worldwidedepp
  22. You’d almost think the entirety of the comment section has been locked in a basement and forced to watch this show once a week against their will and nothing else besides eat and sleep with the way everyone is whining.
    Man am I thankful the pacing hasn’t gotten me like this. It’s heaps slow and just keeps piling questions rather than provide answers, but this is fine with me since its a 2 cour.
    Speaking to the pacing, there are better ways to move the plot, flesh out the characters, and keep the dystopian mystery afloat without potentially bleeding out the audience…but idgaf the show is still cool so far.
    The only thing that will change my mind is if this cour ends on a colossally bad note, which I can’t particularly imagine considering the best story episode and the best action episodes we received we pretty damned good.
    We shall see, meh.

    Kabble
    1. “Speaking to the pacing, there are better ways to move the plot, flesh out the characters, and keep the dystopian mystery afloat”

      That’s my biggest complain of this show so far, they haven’t weaved the story in a entertaining way. If we take the episodes as single they are fine by themselves, they clumped all the action at the beggining and now there is just character developement.

      cvb
  23. I don’t mind FranXX taking time to build the world.

    It’s way more enjoyable to watch this than Beatless… Arata Endo can join Oh My Shoe for “most annoying and whimpy MC”

    Henrietta Brix
  24. I’m not sure if it wasn’t obvious but both Nana (007) and Hachi (008) are genetically engineered too, they have no reason to distance themselves from the children.

    Still waiting for the episode where Kokoro figures out from the book that parents are actually supposed to be loving and take care of their children, not leave them in solitude. Smells like a bit of childish rebellion is in the air.

    weasl
    1. alone the point of bust milking the child… I bet this will create an huge confusion of female chest anatomy understanding.. Then the boys and the girls will have different eyes for that for an while.. I bet the girl with the biggest one of their Squad will get hear some “you should give an good mother with that big things of yours…”

      Worldwidedepp
    2. There are some hints that Nana and the guy standing next to her (he has a name?) are the last survivors of the former P13 squad. In the picture of the former squad were two children, who looked similar to them. Their number based name is another hint.

      Enan84
  25. “All we can do now is see if the truth was worth the price of admission.”

    In any ongoing series it should be about the journey. Sure, a bad or inconclusive ending can be disappointing but I think it’s a mistake to put that much weight on it. If you get a half hour of enjoyment every week, well, a series is about weekly entertainment, not a prize at the end of the rainbow…

    I do think there’s a bit too much commentary that insists every series has to be perfect to be enjoyable. My own criteria is that an individual episode doesn’t bore me. If the final series also ends up providing great insights or emotional resonance, that’s great, but it’s not as important as “are these 25 minutes FUN”

    If you’re having fun NOW, it’s a good series. If you’re not, it’s a bad series.

    dlp
  26. Ep 11:

    – Put your Life Jackets on, because this Episode made an hard Turn. So hard that someone could get overboard

    This is an teaser. More when the Episode if live here

    Worldwidedepp

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