Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「わたしを離さないで」 (Watashi o Hanasanaide)
“Never Let Me Go”
And with that the ride is over, the adventure is done. Keeping with the momentum of its latter half Franxx offered no new surprises for us in its final minutes, opting instead for a happy romp through the good times via an eight year montage (and longer) which more or less tied everything up while indulging in some fan desires. The world returned to normal(-ish), Kokoro and Mitsuru finally had that baby who of course would be named Ai, and a few other key pairings were confirmed through their own baby making shenanigans (except for Zorome-Miku for some inexplicable reason). Even Futoshi managed to avoid being the NTR poster boy by finding new love and a trucker ‘stache to boot, because nothing says bad boy like a set of grizzled whiskers. Or at least that’s what my family acquaintances tell me.
As for our titular couple they succeeded in their honeymoon mission of stopping the Virm menace at the cost of their material forms (oh the irony), although not without the promise of reincarnation and a return to the good old days of friendship. No matter opinions on the strength of the moment, it’s the ending fulfilling the Jian metaphor and the omnipresent fairy tale storybook, bringing a proper end to Hiro’s klaxosaur/-sapiens ascension and Zero Two’s purpose in life. The darling duo found their happiness and through victory gave a chance for humanity to recover and prosper. Considering the Virm still technically exist and are biding their time the new humanity will have to be ready. Something tells me though the next generation will be more than up to the task.
Final Impressions
Out of all anime airing so far this year, none has come close to popularity (or infamy) that is Franxx. In true Trigger fashion this series has had a wild swing of ups and downs with more mecha references and homages than you could shake a stick at, shooting forward with twists and turns that have simultaneously shocked and infuriated before slowing down to get ready to do it all again. It was the quintessential popcorn show, giving one everything one could ask for in terms of entertainment, but a show which arguably fell short of its promised heights. It was good, but in hindsight could have easily been better.
The main issue with Franxx is structure. By this I don’t mean its story or its characters—both were in fact well-designed and logically drawn out; the problem instead lies in the “arcs” emphasized. Take TTGL (very similar in plot) or even KLK, both those series featured key midpoints and intermediate “boss” fights which gave a sense of urgency to their respective stories. We had some form of enemy to face and hints of something else lurking in the shadows (plus another 12 episodes) to keep the suspense strong and intrigue overbearing—critical elements for retaining audience interest. Franxx however technically did not have this, there was no intial boss showdown or midseason switch, no gradual realization that something “greater” was occurring under the surface. Components incessantly teased to this effect—Papa, the Nines, potential parasite rebellion—never materialized into an actual fight, instead serving as little more than info dump speed bumps on the way to the true enemy in the Virm who themselves also barely received any notable development attention. We had all the enemies one could ask for, but little time devoted to actually dealing with them.
Why this transpired is due to where Franxx lavished its attention: world/character building. In place of the usual “action” shenanigans we received a slew of development heavy episodes focusing on most of the main cast, giving us both fleshed out characters and hints of Franxx’s world (ex. Zorome’s adventure, the beach episode). In isolation these moments of course are mandatory, outside of light novel info dumps they’re the means we learn and grow to care about the main cast. The problem is that Franxx overemphasized this requirement over the other, replacing its climactic midpoint with character development (read: drama) that may have satiated the love for all things darling related, but did nothing for creating a tangible threat to overcome. Instead of a story-esque peak we arguably got a trough, with the result being a final threat—i.e. the Virm—needing those potential midseason enemies quickly disappear to make room for the real fight—and we all know how that turned out in practice.
While there’s no guarantee Franxx would have been objectively better with improved focus and a better midpoint (something something hindsight being 20/20), the show certainly had the components needed to step beyond its actual offering. Those ample aforementioned mecha references gave lots of room for some seriously entertaining action scenes for example (particularly with the wonderful use of 2D animation), and more than a few interesting characters were left wanting of some fleshing out for the benefit of audience entertainment (*looks at Hachi and Nana*). Franxx easily had the anime world by the tail, but—if only to repeat it again—chose to let it go for whatever reason. Whether down to A1’s involvement (see Qualidea Code) or simply Trigger stuck in the originality rut that is Kiznaiver is unclear, but Franxx’s potential success ultimately paid the price for some decisions made as to the nature of its story.
For good or bad though Franxx in the end is going to be a series well-remembered for seasons to come. It may have offered less than expected or (for some) overly indulged in all manner of fan service, but there’s no denying it kept us all fixated and eagerly anticipating every episode set to air. We may not have received the spiritual successor to TTGL or Trigger’s next awaited hit piece, but Franxx shows there’s plenty of room for epic-esque mecha and post-apocalypse stories. Should our darling couple and their baby making ways pave the way for something greater in the future, I think this series, warts and all, has done more than enough to keep our heaven piercing drill dreams alive.
Almost forgot about this!
So the bridal design of Apus constitudes as a wedding?
And now a honeymoon? lol
70 days in the span of our 7 days.
Somehow Blue Oni Hiro fits in Naruto-verse with that eyeliner makeup 😛
In the end Hiro really got eaten, then digested and absorbed into Zero Two?
If you swallow live animals will they know what you think?
Something made by 2 species vs weapons made by countless species.
Is Apus so powerful?
Perhaps the hivemind of the VIRM aren’t that united?
Or does Virm lack love?
The first pregnancy clothes in a long time.
Need cleaning to rid off the mouldy smell 😛
..Oh? Foxy lady thinks.
Ok I guess the outer spacec battle won’t be that interesting (serious).
Scar Hachi and Nana. Nana looks well.
School teacher and kids on excursion trip, lol
Mysteltein… another point thought out by Dr Franxx?
Oh…? More adults without masks!
A group of 7s and 8s 😛
Zorome gets into pleasing the pregnant idol.
Miku get relegated to a corner, literally 😛
Greenery starts to grow beneth the feet of the petrified body of Zero Two.
Return to the battle!
Ok rather another lull period.
Well, its more on interaction, relationships, devlopment than fighting and action.
Its the fighting thats not important this time.
Skipped. Back to earth.
….
Phew, I thought Kokoro died after giving birth.
History is made!
Papa #1!!
New old immigrants 😛
The bespectacled one is naturally smart 😛
Its months after, what are the chances of Goro finding survivors?
Lonely roadtrip.
Looks like Ikuno will bring back Hiro and Zero Two somehow?
Whats the smart one planning?
Did the VIRM make more H-Horni?
2 years!
Wow, VIRM home base is super ultra googol far!
Salesmen appear to sell their service package.
Ok, they did build more H-Horni.
Hiro?
The ‘greater being’ plays on the couple some more…
The VIRM has their smarts.
Stab the bouquet.
Oh…?
Time to neutalize that H-Horni and use it!!
Time to send power DBZ style!! lol
Woah, Papa #1 still looks the same.
Naomi, first and last episodes lol
MIRACLE TIME!!
Ok, not that instant..
Did Goro bring what Ikuno wanted back?
Zero Two’s body became a space telephone.
Looks like Papa #1 rediscovered the concept of love too.
Weapon on!
Energy Strelitzia? Arms folded!
Then they go into reincarnation?
Wow, VIRM can be the ultimate boss of Trigger-verse 😛
The K came back!? Almost thought none survived.
So VIRM survived, the K survived.
8 years.
A new human prehistory.
So nobody ages?
Village of the gods.
Ok, Zerome looks different. Miku too.
Looks like its only Hachi and Nana thats not aging.
So thats what Ikuno was working on.
Can’t it be derived from Nana and Hachi?
Their 4th…!?
The economy is good I suppose.
Futoshi got a non-protag wife.
Humanity survives and all goes well.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2039.jpg
Holy Shit, I think Goro looks a lot like Naruto and Ichigo like Sarada on Burato.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2037.jpg
This had me laughing for a good minute. Also what happened to Goro’s VA?
Hospitalized. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
Goro’s VA got ill so he was replaced.
Now I look forward to SSSS.Gridman
Will it spiral to outer space epic or stay rooted to Earth?
I thought the series as a whole was passable. I, for one, love characters having relationships during a series rather than just wait until the end. Hiro and 02 were cute together. It may have been Abe’s blatant propaganda, but it was still good.
That said, 80% of the mecha scenes were garbage with rampant QUALITY, underutilized robots, and even a boring as shit final battle in the final episode.
just 80%??? you are very KIND.
The mecha aspect and its lack of use was probably the biggest disappointment here IMO, the show was seemingly going to be all about it (as everyone wanted), but it then got replaced by all the midseason drama and the rushed ending. That choice really hurt what this show could have been.
I thought the series was a trainwreck of wasted plot potential. They basically stripped their overarching plot of humanity, evil aliens that are not evil, and evil aliens that are evil to a tiny husk that progressed so rapidly it made no sense and came along with countless plot holes and obvious contrivances that just reeked of well we got to wrap this one up somehow so lets just railroad everything (Why put a dense overall plot and try to have complete character development for a very large cast with no time to do it right, reeks of planning failure on many levels). The pacing and all over the place characterisation and development of the cast wasn’t great either. None of the themes/imagery/emotion they tried to push felt like they had any impact with so many problems with the entire show.
Ya, theres a lot of world building but the anime feels like its telling the story of Squad 13 amidst this world setting. How they interact among themselves and others then grow and struggle.
Then on top of it is the Darling love story.
Thinking again are the mysteries of the world is a lure to appeal to more people?
Are the 2 special episodes planned?
Or put in a rush for the show to change direction?
But the animation quality didn’t drop I think.
But overall the show has been entertaining to me, at least it got me watching weekly.
Not goosebump inducing epicness but a tinny warm fuzzy in the end.
I thought Beatless would be good but I had to force myself to watch it and in the end left it hanging.
I just watched the final episode. I don’t understand how can people can like it. It’s a generic highschool teenage drama garbage with boring, useless secondary cast and their boring, ordinary problems. The production design is great, but the secondary cast and their plots are bland and uninteresting. The only mildly interesting characters are the MC, main girl and 001. Everything in the end lacks impact because they had to speed frantically to the plot to compensate for the amount of time wasted on useless and irrelevant bullshit and characters, and we don’t care about the secondary cast because they are boring, bland, useless, underdeveloped, uninteresting and absolutely everything related to them is forced, boring, bland, useless, underdeveloped, uninteresting and pointless.
I started distancing myself after they introduced those alien drama…I’m only hoping for a happy ending for 02 and Hiro and they didn’t give it to me….I mean sure they met again…but that’s without the memory of the past..its a NEW HIRO and ZERO TWO…and I also hate the fact that Kokoro and Mitsu received plenty of spotlight/love
Zero Two was always the alien girl, meant for sacrifice, and Hiro her willing suitor.
I liked this anime. The “cycle must repeat” ending was a little off, but there are stories like that, many stories. Eventually most desire to break the cycle and have a real happy ending.
And the klax species and klax queen gave their lives so all of this could be done, and no one could sack up to just let King Klax use his King Klax Kock to knock up Universe Bride Princess 002,
Its like…the right ending wasn’t even hard. It really wasn’t. Have 002’s bride head become a spaceship, they travel back to earth, and in that time they have hella oni babies. The last scene is the spaceship opening, Hiro and 002 are old, sitting in chairs, surrounded by their children, grandchildren ect, welcomed by the people of earth.
There, I rewrote the ending into something palatable, and with the same core message of the current ending.
Like, mother of god, why did we get the ending we got? They could have had a life and still died and been reunited.
The ending is very off not just slightly off. Cycle of life implies things change with each cycle the only change in this ending is humanity is going to get attacked instead of the Kalxo people. Functionally everything is going to happen again with no major change possible as earth is also unaware of the coming enemy. Just because Nana and co. are biologically immortal doesn’t mean they can’t die unnaturally and the longer you around the more time you have to get into a wrong place wrong time situation.
It all boils down to the characters are happy but we screwed up the plot so much it was actually meaningless. And since people re-incarnate slowly eventually they are all going to have to go through the same thing again and again without breaking or altering the cycle of earth getting pew pewed by the VIRM. I guess that gives them a lot of room to just repeat the season as movies an fix things the Nth time around and get away with everything still happened and you get recton in universe. But that still means this TV instant was meaningless with or without a rework later.
It got a lot of love probably because many people enjoy the drama, which when combined with good motifs and development (at least in Hiro’s and Zero Two’s case) yields a pretty good bit of entertainment. I for example liked the show mostly due to the post-apocalypse aspects and the dystopian mystery which if looked at alone were pretty ingenious. Not enough to make something amazing, but definitely enough to be a fun weekly watch.
Kokoro the fertile.
I gata say i watched a ton of anime and Darling in the FranXX has one of the most satisfying endings ive seen so far im truly content. A jain bird born with only 1 wing unless a male and female come together to support each other it cant fly. but for some reason i find it truly beautiful
I would have thought Nishigori would have gone for something more Anno inspired since he worked more under him and only did animation at Trigger, but he literally went full imaishi ending + reincarnation shit to make the gut punch end with a little feather tickle afterwards.
It’s just sad how you can reduce 24 episodes of content down to a meaningless end by taking all the positivity you built with your themes and killing off the only two good characters making their entire struggle feel pointless.
Sorry, can’t edit so another post.
Looks like part of A-1 Pictures rebranded to CloverWorks recently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CloverWorks
The part of A-1 responsible for Franxx.
Remembered that theres still the 3rd collaboration project, Promare.
XFLAG? Video game?
Weak arc markers, too much character development?
I guess thats what the director wanted, the story he wanted to share with us.
With deadlines and other problems we see in Shirobako, perhaps the vision didn’t come out perfect.
Maybe I’m easy but I’m satisfied 😛
Oh ya.
Thanks for doing the posts weekly, Pancakes 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, I had a blast covering it that’s for sure, nagging issues and all 😛
Finally finished watching the show. I read some of the previous topics and like I mentioned earlier in the previous topic and I don’t really understand why do you people like “Mitsuru”. It’s ironic, right? Kokoro is the one who does everything to bring them together while he just mopes around like a emo, passive bitch. Hiro’s the one who has to talk him into falling in love and marrying her even as if Hiro is his bull and he can’t get it up without him. When Kokoro of all characters is more alpha than you, you know Mitsuru must be the most beta and useless character in the show.
most of the female main casts where “alpha”. Look at Ichigo, Kokoro and even Ikuno where on their own “Alphas” on their way. the dominate Alpha was without doubt Zero Two. But Hiro was also the dominate Alpha on the boys side. Goro and so on improved with time, and then this “alpha” frontier stuff got away… Mitsu was the “first papa”. Kokoro and Mitsu was the prototype for the others to become parents and behave like ones. Nana and Hatchi where the “elder’s” Lighthouse for the young ones, what is right and what is wrong… There are so many hidden social behavior in this anime, it your eyes are open for that and you try to find it in every corner of the anime, then i ensure you you will watch it in an different (higher?) light. Trust me
sidenote:
Even if in this finale some scenes play out of character for me, overall (summa summarum) it was an nice “epilogue” with the right feelings and stuff, also this fasten timeskip at the end was also good.. Seems also like the Klaxuos DNA sip with time into the Humans or where did our “Zero Two” lookalike came from? 🙂 Perhaps making to many “serious” questions will ruin the enjoyment of this Show, it has an message an purpose, it give us an dream. it is not an Real Life documentation in how this is reality
The Mitsukoko arc was the biggest drag because they were both shit characters who never grew.
Mitsuru stopped moping around when Kokoro showed him kindness ie during the partner switch. He showed that he cared for her, and even when he was being a stuck-up jerk, he listened to Kokoro and treated her without any sort of preconceived notion. Mitsuru grew up, even admitting that who he was in the past was good. It’s why lots of people liked him. He had development. I find him even more likeable than Hiro, the main character who does all the world-saving.
Those people like Mitsuru because they have maximum shit tier taste and ever since episode 3 he’s been associated with NTR and used that as an excuse to not shut up about him.
@tanz
I really don’t see how they even see him as one. Mitsuru is sickly and he’s a jobber at piloting. Even his mech is shit.
I agree with you guys, Mitsuru is much worse than Patrick in gundam 00 and Beecha and Mondo in gundam ZZ.
patrick wasnt butthurt resentful fag, just an unkillable bastard that managed to marry his kancho
The whole thing about ”people like Mitsuru”, “Chadsuru”, ”Mitsuru has development” and “Kingtsuru” is made up by 2-3 Mitsuru fans, which judging by their posts are obviously shitposting and trying to stir up shit.
Great, it’s over. Now all we have to look forward to is the armchair intellectuals who decided this is the perfect place to blog or write their thesis paper. I look forward to repeating this painful cycle when Promare starts airing.
Looks like theres news on Promare @ Anime Expo:
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-07-06/trigger-reveals-more-details-on-promare-anime/.133947
houlda just had the dinosaurs fuck off to mars or something to be the first line of defense in case VIRM returns, not this forced Imaishi shit
Can’t wait for Promare to be garbage too
Unless Promare actually winds up being the TTGL successor everyone is desperate for at this point. There are some indications it’s going to be more mecha than Franxx, and that’s before the staff hints at it following the TTGL/KLK format of balls to the wall crazy. We’ll just have to see.
Thank fucking god it’s over. It really didn’t do a single thing worth mentioning or deserving so much attention, I don’t get why westerners went crazy over it.
I guess it resonated with people?
They want to know whats next and how it would end.
They are hooked by the mysteries?
Its not just westerners though.
At least I’m not.
I am an “westerner”, but a part of my heart grown with much “Studio Ghibli” in short “uncle Miyazaki” was a part of my life and of course others thing influenced me on my way. is this wrong? No its an opportunity
The latest “Up to date” Game could describe how i feel (somehow)… Nioh (the good ending)
At this point my suspects of everything in this series were being tailored to provoke a reaction on its audience is confirmed and the ending is the last straw. I think like you, there isn’t really any that remarkable good or bad on this anime yet everyone lost their mind on certain parts, specially in the first half. The 2 specials on the anime production is also really suspicious, who the fuck wastes 2 weeks in explaining the insides on air instead on bd?
I think it’s an ok anime, but the reaction it provoked it’s insanely high compared to its quality. I liked the ending though, I’m a sucker for good endings.
And what exactly is wrong with that? Some types of theatre (and other artforms) have been setting out to do that for over a century now.
First, the hype.
Had potential.
Had.
Second, it’s bad.
Put the two together and the result is this clusterfuck of execution and public reception.
i dont care about the show, im just tired of the discourse, one side jerking it off as if it’s the most amazing thing ever and the other constantly overestimating about it and how it did this and that
glad it’s over now, since it has no staying power and will be forgotten
If it was so bad, why did you watch it?
I decided to follow it to discover Papa’s plan, but I didnt watch all the episodes.
Probably down to the initial hype, the show’s later focus on character drama and lack of a satisfying latter half (not to mention the baby making shenanigans). It’s the ideal mix to draw out audience adoration and hate, particularly when you factor in instant internet conversation.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2040.jpg
Ikuno (Alpha doing): She recovered most of the lost information to save or slow down the rapid aging of the “first generation” Stamen and Pistils after the War
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
Kokoro (Alpha doing): Became the first mother. See how the girls around her accompany her.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
and
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
Do it really need an Alpha explanation here? they trow the VIRM hundred of years back and give Earth the time it needs to recuperate (they did not extinct the Virm)
Also this Gigantic Bomb they took with Apus there, is this the mechanical “child” replacement from both?
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2037.jpg
He let Kokoro go and found in the end his Love and life and got cured of his side effects of not eating most stuff (where the adults did not care)
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2038.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2039.jpg
I think they made Goro to an Lone Wolf here because of his original Seiyu (get well soon)
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
I just can not understand (until now) what this scene where good for. And Kid that could hear Zero Two’s voice from her Body. Perhaps an mind-wave link over this distance. Perhaps they wanted to add “friendship from all” in this scene. but it came out of the blue (it surprised me)
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
Nana and Hatchi became the Advisors for them
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
Do you see their emotion in their faces? Unsure what the future brings for them?
Sorry, but i used this time Pictures to explain it better
Those kids are horny….only Miku and Zorome are not horny….I guess there is a reason why I love them after Hiro and 02
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
Lol top 10 anime sword(ahoge) fights.
Such a beautiful ending.
Yeah, I thought they were actually going to have Hiro snatch a happy ending from the jaws of defeat. All this talk of him not being like a shounen protagonist, and yet he still ends up being FORCED into a tragic sacrifice for the sake of humanity. I was hoping for the ending to be something like the end of Zeta, where all you see at the end is the burst open cockpit of Gold Strelizia crash landed in a desert somewhere, with footsteps coming out of it.
Not just some open end reincarnation bullshit.
Agree, as well Zero Two return to her body with smile and will waiting for Hiro’s return. Also it’ll be cool if they start a real wedding for Hiro and Zero Two and some funny stuff.
Yuri saved the patriarchy, who would have thought?
I’m in peace with this ending, Ikuno had a happy ending and that’s what I care.
They can’t even make a fucking good one. How many other mecha shows have bittersweet endings that are actually good and fit the themes of the show?
Zeta
The AEUG takes down Scirocco saves the earth sphere for the time being, but Kamille is made retarded
Gunbuster
Noriko and Kazumi sacrifice everything to save the people of earth and the future of humanity, and even though everyone one they cared about is dead they sacrifice is still remember and honored
EoE
The world is fucked and almost all of humanity is still stuck in the tang, but theirs hope for the future and changing yourself as a person with Shinji and Asuka opening themselves to each other even though they know they might get hurt.
CCA
Plenty of good people died in the fight, but through one man’s sacrifice the hope for peaceful human evolution was saved.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%2042.jpg
I kinda like how the anime ends. Now all they need is two-part recap movies where the second movie has bigger final battle with VIRM and larger-than-galaxy-sized mecha.
Well one can hope, but they’re just as likely to dump the fights in favour of more darling shenanigans and character drama because that’s clearly what we all wanted 😛
Maybe a GOOD ending, with the same story.
And thank you for the weekly review, Pancakes!
I been silently watching this and can finally say what comes to my mind. I will call the pilots of the Chlorophytum “Darling failures” for they were the only pair that had little or no special bond like the other four. I mean Futoshi which I see as a “Kokora failure”, what did his suffering mean. I’m a little content he married. But thinking about it further, he just ends up with some fourth rate lady out there. Regarding Iknuo, I feel she ended up in critical condition due to her partner. Like Futoshi, she failed on her first love. Had to end up with a “reject” of Hiro. Still I like who she ended up with if it can be called a relationship.
Yeah, the supporting characters are underdeveloped, bland, useless, boring, uninteresting and threi relationships are absolutely absurd, forced, pointless and surreal.
for example…
Ichigo was still in love with Hiro, but she married the megane-kun, being she never showed any love interest in him.
That stereotypical bubbly gay guy who has never cared about anything but his gay childhood dream and the MC’s dick only fell in love and married Kokoro because MC told him to do this.
Most anime is awful, because most authors are advanced NEET/Hikikomori losers with a poor grasp of the opposite sex, relationships and interactions with other people, their works look more like a childish wish fulfilment fanfiction than some shit we can take seriously. Some basic notions on the opposite sex, interactions with other people and relationships are sorely needed when it comes to constructing a plot. Or characters. Or basic story formatting.
That 2 lights falling down to earth in the ending …… OMG!! Darling In The Franxx is part of GUNBUSTER UNIVERSE!!
I have nothing against whoever they got to replace Goro since his original guy ended up seriously ill… but they seriously couldn’t grab someone that sounded even slightly similar? Every single time he spoke it was such a jarring and uncomfortable disconnect from what I’d expected from the previous 99% of the series. They didn’t even bother going out of the way to avoid giving him lines in situations where absolutely anyone else could have spoken and it seriously ruined some scenes for me these last two episodes.
You mean anyone expecting a Imaishi involved project to be good BTFO, now we know that Trigger turns literally everything they touch into trainwrecks.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
But why? Why do this? The other characters did jack shit and got everything handed to them.
MC’s did everything and got shit on.
Is this some kind of race allegory?
The issue is that they had 24 episodes and all supporting characters ended up underdeveloped and unremarkable + they had no idea where they wanted to go with the story.
I think that my nick has been hijacked. X(
The series was ok but a bit rushed and the ending is well it not bad but everyone though they’ll have happy ending like Zero Two & Hiro survived, head home to everyone, and VIRM defeated and say one last evil speech that they’ll return someday or whatever. Not Romeo and Juliet style. I mean they’re promises they must fulfill to letter at less and Darling music, I thought they’ll have a mega happy ending. Hope they made reboot series or OVA with another good ending unlike the this. Also I lthought Miku and Zorome made the move like others, but no….????
If this is a game with multiple chooses these with be the chooses
1. Sacrifice yourselves to defeat VIRM and save the earth.
2. Wait until your friends come save you…..
3. Eject yourselves with Strelizia to before the bomb is off.
4. Life is the bitch…
The show could be good if done right, he had some interesting ideas that turned out mediocre because of bad pacing and bloated secondary cast, especially irrelevant and useless characters like Mitsuru and Kokoro that added absolutely nothing to the main plot and the battles and were a complete waste of time.
Well I don’t about that Mitsubishi and Kokomo thing it’s sweet but well if they just add more episodes about maybe 100 with more informations, battles, and more heart. If we made that demand…
Also about the ending?? Possible they’ll make a good ending in possible reboot and OVA in near or far future?
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2042.jpg
Well I don’t about that Mitsubishi and Kokomo thing it’s sweet but well if they just add more episodes about maybe 100 with more informations, battles, and more heart. If we made that demands..
Personally, I hated it from both the previews and Episode 1. God, the first episode was awful. Ep. 2 got me just a bit and then Ep.3 was pretty bland. Ep. 4 was where I got really interested and then that carried on for 5 and 6.
And then Episode 7 came along and I knew the series was doomed.
Everything outside of the Hir02 arcs was such a drag, but I held on because they’re a refreshing couple in the age of beta, isekai, and kissless virgin MCs.
Then they give them an ebin heroic sacrifice even though Hiro would not have even done so by choice. Then all the shitters survive and PROCREATE, and basically forget about the sacrifice made, not even making a statue of those who saved humanity.
Yeah I liked how Hiro was actually a Chad compared to other MCs. Kinda disappointed how Zero Two became so boringly nice and sweet to everyone after Red Strelizia.
Why these gang have so many children: they don’t have condoms, guys.
Ahhhh, that funny ????
Ahhhh, that funny ????
Squad 13 was not the only Survivors, some other Pistols and Stamen survived the first War, then they defrozen the Kids they found in the basement.. So its not only Squad 13 here.. Seems like some fans rushed with the anime, too
It is almost like this show was purpose built to pull in a certain audience (gachafags, more specifically, FGO fans, since 98% of fanarts on pixiv, tumblr and twitter are being made by FGO fans and 99% of comments posted on tumblr, twitter, AnimeSuki, reddit and MAL are being posted by FGO fans) with no real intention of developing a rich and interesting plot or character with the exception of the MC and the main girl.
I feel like this was such a shitty series overall (with some fantastic highlights thrown in) that they could’ve at least given us a good ending with Hiro and Zero Two. I mean come on. Your show has pretty much no emotional value beyond fanservice teenage drama bullshit at least finish it up with the fanservice.
They even implied a fucking happy ending with the last episode on a cliffhanger, and threw dirt in your faces at the end.
This either stinks of a garbage production where they just half-assed something at the end, or setting up bait for a movie where they fix it all.
They may make a movie and fix all, just hope they give us a new happy ending where all the Squad 13 are all together including Hiro and Zero Two alive.
If there’s any movie followups they’ll be recaps and not corrections, hard imagining Trigger rewriting a story after the fact when they can try again with a new franchise. A lot easier to start with something new than correct what already exists.
@Pancakes it is easier to just move on to something new but it takes real guts to admit you screwed up and actually fix it properly. An MMO like FFXIV can pull off an impossible task of re-writing their story and rebooting their world in a cohesive manner with paying customers along for the ride. And in TV/Movies/Manga/Anime retconning is a pretty common occurrence.
One thing Trigger should consider before choosing the just move on and work on something else is that goodwill loss can be very harmful to future success. Walk away a lot from defective products and it can seriously affect a hard to measure quantity of goodwill from viewers.
I’ve thooght about it for a while and i think the best ending would be them repearing as full clwasoxsaures to the team and guiding them towards a new few future with Hachi and Nana. I am interesting if Nana and Hachi will meet the reincarnation of the two since they are still alive.. The whole series would be OK if zero two took a moment, really looking at him, really remembering him and then offing him he candy. And And when he accepts, he remembers to am extent. Just like the kids walking on the beach on Air.They’ve been passed on, but they have the potential to be better. To live.
If they really wanted to go all in on the bird imagery scale it up to the entire species working as one towards the future. Even if they couldn’t wipe out the VIRM this time the next they will not be unprepared. Instead we get one line about Klaxo species souls are essentially great fertiliser so lets just have them all mass suicide to grow some plants (Waste of premise potential). With a few thousand years and a ton of future tech, space ships, … farming is not exactly requiring of magic.
hank god this trainwreck is over , i jut hope it doesnt get cult following , the only good thing that may come from this is horned girl hentai
So much for the Death Flags. XDDD
I will add Hiro to my list of “characters who did nothing wrong yet suffered anyway”
did nothing wrong and still died for it. Fuck Nishgori
So the spider was Nishigori?
My favorite part of this series is how irritated people are that others liked it and that they were willing to watch the whole thing just to complain about it online.
I would like to repost my opinions
They did not know what they were doing with this show
In the first half, this looks like it’s going to be a story about sexuality and how it affects teenagers, but the fanservice and lewd stuff fades away so quickly, you’ll never think it was all over the threads back then. Then it has a bunch of relationshit drama that, now that the show is over, had 0 place in the story and was just for drama. That said, at episode 15, I could see that this was really a romance story for Hir02 and I could accept this.
However, they have wasted too much time on two bland and uninteresting characters like Mitsuru and Kokoro, and their boring/uninteresting/forced/bland ”NTR and Pregnancy” plot with no mecha fights, in short, Kororo, Mitsuru and their plotline were never relevant to anything ultimately, completely switches things around to what things are about and literally kills the show, and thanks to this, the Klaxo princess, VIRM, Dr. FranXX, adults, Hachi, Nana and the klaxxos not been given the attention and screentime they deserve. By the end of the show, everything’s all over the place and some of the easiest themes that needed to be answered disappeared at the end.
DitF seemed to never really know what it wanted to do. It’s funny because back when Ichigo kissed Hiro, I called out the show for thinking all they knew was relationship teenage drama and that they didn’t know what they were doing. As it turned out, I was right about the latter, but not for what I thought.
It’s par the course for most popular series these days. Some people just get a kick out of complaining for whatever reason lol.
My only fear is that someone will try to bring Darling in the Franxx back as a similar series where all the characters are there but nothing like beforehand, a la My Hime Otome, Mai Otome, etc.
Honestly people have been crying for a high school miniseries for a while now, if only because the characters and interactions were far more satisfying than the clunky plot.
if it meant they fought instead of staring at each other like Otome I’d be all up on that
If it was exactly like Mai Otome I wouldn’t have a problem personally, that was pretty fun for what it was. I doubt a Franxx remake could do the same though, too many issues to simply patch over with a few character switch ups.
This show went way off the rails when they introduced the aliens, I mean WTF!! That came soo left field I just stared blankly at the screen.
Everything boils down to too many hands writting the series, at times it tried to be serious, at others it was fanservicey, at times it tried to do interesting and novelty things with the story and the world building, at others it was full of unnecessary homages to gainax/trigger etc.
I’m sort of ok with what we got but it could have been much better, If I have to put the bame on someone for wasting the potential of this thing it’d be Mitsuru, Kokoro and trigger.
The alien reveal wasn’t the primary issue as much as its reveal timing IMO. If the show had gone about dealing with Papa, APE, and ultimately the Virm in a different manner we would have received something akin to TTGL and KLK in terms of material.
To be honest the ending of this episode is too sad for me????. I always prayed for Hiro and Zero Two return to earth and create future together along with their friends. And maybe reicarnated a symbol of their friendships & love will live on the flow of time. ????????????????
🙁 🙁 🙁
It’s all finally over. Between the writers and the fans, no one can hurt this show any more.
It was a great show but still sad about the ending and end of series, the characters have so much life and the story was beautiful along some of the episodes. I will always thinking of the better ending until end of time, as well the story but will proserve its some of its beauty.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2039.jpg
Man i dont care if im ended up raving about the whole damn ending but one thing for sure, both of my Goro and Ichigo finally prevail <3 they kept ON saying how the triangle would destroy her, how hopeless Goro was or maybe Ichigo would gone astray and ended up with Ikuno instead; but boy oh boy did they prevailed when Goro and Ichigo finally got together and got married (and shes now preggy <3)!!! It was really an angsty turbulent for everyone in this show, and whadda ya know? Its all because of the aliens. No big mystery guys. And after 24 episodes running, this is one satisfying ending for Darling in the Franxx.
I love how they handled the ending; i love how they gave it a Macross Frontier ending instead of leaving it hanging like Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series; i love how they show everyone is happily ever after with their choice of partners and getting some babies. Its no surprise when both Z02 and Hiro didnt make it (or return to earth) after many years have passed after the new world revival. I mean, its all there in the second Opening. We all know Z02 will definitely "die" physically and i would seriously burn the studio if they ended up reviving her instead; her "death" and sacrifice for the world and how she became another combination with Strezia in her final form (bride form tbh) was honestly beautiful.
Ahh, Darling in the Franxx started out as Spring's most controversial anime of the season; not only the innuendos were strong, the questions to basic human rights and basic human emotions (even sexualities) for both children and adults living in a dystopian world were all messed up and always debatable. Fans were always headbutting against each other, how they roast our poor Ichigo and had that #bitchigo tags running around the internet and the silly uproars; the sinking ships and weekly theories about the world's mysteries. But after more than 24 weeks, Trigger's original anime has finally wrapped up with a heartwarming ending. Im happy for everyone. Though there were some pacing issues but hell i dont care anymore. Both red oni and blue oni then reincarnated again after several years passed by, bind by fate and as promised, meeting up again as strangers but definitely we all know where their destiny will head to. Gahh im a happy mom XD
So glad that i decided to follow this until the end. It was a good ride (XD) and Z02 has proven herself that shes indeed everyones favorite darling, and i really have to agree to this as well. She was well written, well designed, her voice actress Haruka Tomatsu did a great job at setting her bearing well with the story progression displaying the exact feelings we need to understand Z02 as character; and last but not least, they gave her a heroic ending that she deserves. This what makes her special and memorable. Well done! And as for Goro and Ichigo, you two couple are my second best after Z02…Kokoro and Mitsuru, thank you for giving an actual birth with an actual labor scenes and showed them all that this is how a man and a woman should support each other in relationship. Kudos!
All in all, after Little Witch Academia, Darling in the Franxx was one hella ride and satisfying closure to boot. So thank you studio Trigger x A1 Picture for the anime, thank you seiyuus for the awesome performances, thank you Pancake for blogging this and thank you everyone for the participation and discussing the anime every week and making everything one hella journey and memorable experience. Im not entirely happy for Kill la Kill's ending or even Kiznaiver's, but this one…studio Trigger has again lived up to their tags: "How Trigger Saved Animes", and this time for sure, i think they really did.
Bravo!
Maybe the ending??
According to Trigger at Anime Expo, A1 was mostly responsible for this. The character designs and themes were Trigger, along with episode 4 8 and a smattering of others, but it was A1 running the plot and deciding where it would go.
The ending was a terrible ending in my books. They literally let the Virm win the war of wiping out the klaxo species. They were so rushed that their solution to writing out an entire species was to make them into magic dirt. It’s like they had too many characters to deal with so all the world building got really messed up.
Goro the Explorer.
I’m gonna miss this series more than Tigger Stuido other works, Little Witch Academy and gurren lagann. I really hope they make two part movie and OVA, with a GOOD ENDING. Unlike this one, it still sad, but beautiful, but sad.
https://randomc.net/image/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx/Darling%20in%20the%20Franxx%20-%2024%20-%20Large%2042.jpg
The ending isn’t sad to me as it is more disturbing how they basically sell it as a bittersweet good ending for all the characters but forgot that their world building a total mess by the end with one line writer driven total species suicide/genocide glossed over with souls are great fertiliser. Contrasted with the characters abdicating any responsibility with we won’t use magma soul energy after this directly so we will get the authors to make it happen (And then they all died because it should be for humanity…)(Their world building failures makes my brain tremble and seems like fantastical xenophobia). They focused so much on the imagery and characters that their major plot points make no sense and felt beyond rushed to the point where they really could be removed entirely and not much would change.
Consider that ultimately the VIRM lost a major battle but won the war in the end. The heroes failed to stop them and the VIRM will still be coming back. To twist the knife even more so the VIRM achieved their strategic objective to wipe out the Klaxo species for good for there resistance. Then even more problematic earth is totally unaware of the continued threat as they think they succeeded in saving earth when they actually just delayed things. I doubt it was intentional but the cities also now look like the futuristic cities the Klaxo people had around the time the VIRM first attacked and its been ?????? years as well.
If they manage to salvage a well written ending via retcon with a movie/ova that would be interesting but of course unlikely given the structural problems the plot has throughout.
Ok agree about the comment in some parts and hard to grasp some of it, but they’re animators & artists which we all wanted to be. They can change the story whatever they want with new senses and endings just like Rebuild of Evangelion movies, Gurren Laggon, YuGiOh V Arc, and some other old anime series. And we can comment on that and they’ll answer that call in near or far future.
This is one of the worst mecha animes since Gundam Age. Anyone who likes this garbage has more than likely never watched another mecha anime in their lives. Just like those who think Wing and Macross Delta are actually good shows. Those people will whine when their “favorite” pos of a mecha show is bashed by people who watch more than a crappy teen drama.
It don’t know it not that bad but if you prefer turn it into super robot theme about life or evolution. Or better yet the Unicorn Gundam green glow that save the protagonists lives or Trans Am Burst style that could work.
Also those the robot girls kinda cute, if only they go beyond their development.
Can someone tell/remind me how Naomi lost her arm? It’s been bugging me.
Probably she lost it in first episode…
I thought she still had both her arms, but that would make sense, thanks.
Hiro’s and Zero Two’s relationship truly beauty and heart warming, than Kokoro & Mitsuru love story which by the way 2th place. Sure their relationship was rocky at first in episodes 1 threw 15, but they managed to make it through. Believing they’ll survive in the chaos of war to the end and return to everyone and see Kokoro‘s first child Wuxi by the way cute.
Do you all agreed that Hiro and Zero Two should a GOOD Mega Happy Ending and their relationship is PLUS ULTRA. Their love can piece threw the heavens!
So, Nana can’t reproduce? When they mentioned second puberty or something, I thought she and Hachi didn’t undergo the conversion. Since they might just be 07 and 08, I thought they were still somewhat able to pilot a Franxx. But then Hachi says the two of them don’t age, while the active pilots actually have accelerated ageing. Wasn’t it immortality that caused the loss off reproduction, sexual attraction and maternity instincts? Then again, wasn’t MAGMA energy essential to the immortality thing? There are still so many adults left.
I think I’m thinking way too much about the side characters in this series…
Maybe or maybe not, the story was too rushed with little information. If they just give us more episodes along the way. To be honest i thought Nana may have a happy ending or a shocking guess that Nana was Hiro’s mother, but I was wrong. But it’ll be a great shocker
Really mediocre anime honestly, dont really get what all the hype and popularity is about. All this show had was one cute waifu and fan service shots and thats about it.
Hope in near future they’ll make another HAPPY ENDING in the story 107% and hope VIRM dudes be defeat for good with a cruel fate like 108%…