In the somewhat distant future, humans have unlocked the key to immortality by harnessing the power of a magma based energy drilled from deep beneath the Earth's crust. In doing so however they awaken an ancient race of biomechanical monsters called the Klaxosaurs. This forces humanity to move into massive mobile cities called Plantations and train young teenage pilots to fight off these monster in giant mechs called Franxx. The machines must be piloted in male female pairs for them to function properly however which serves as a driving force for a good chunk of the drama later on. A captivating, though at some points unoriginal, setting leads us into the characters we will be spending most of our time with.

I wanna preface that I watched this show BEFORE I watched Evangelion (which is considered heresy by a lot of people). In fact this show was probably the first mainstream anime I watched. This is why the similarities with Evangelion don't personally bother me much at all because it feels like this show did it first (when it obviously really didn't). Hiro, though a little bland at the beginning, serves his purpose as the main protagonist well. He isn't perfect but he's compelling enough to keep the plot moving forward. Zero Two is also a solid character, better than Hiro in my opinion actually. Besides being total waifu bait, she has a really convincing character arc that is handled with some weight and is concluded in a satisfying manner a little over halfway through the show. Hiro and Zero Two's partnership feels genuine and both parties have their own reasons for wanting to pilot their Franxx, Strelitzia, together. I can't say there was a time where I wasn't rooting for those two so I'd say their relationship is handled well.

It's after episode fifteen where the show unfortunately trips over its shoelaces and falls flat on its face. After Hiro and Zero Two's character arc is concluded, the show decides to focus on two of the side characters, Mitsuru and Kokoro, a bit more. This arc isn't necessarily bad when observed in a vacuum, it's bad however when you place it right in between the climax of the first half of the show and the build up to the ending (we'll get to that later). In brings the pacing of the show to a screeching halt and essentially becomes a slice of life show for about four episodes. Once it wraps this arc up it basically jumps right into the grand finale leaving little time to explain the new plot threads introduced.

This is the bit everyone has heard about. Is the ending as bad as everyone says it is? Yes, but it has its moments, especially in the final few minutes of the show that are worth your time. I won't spoil how absurd things get for those who haven't seen it, but things get wild. The pacing goes from mind numbingly slow to lightning fast within the last four episodes or so. The show dumps exposition and information on the viewer so fast it just gets overwhelming after awhile. Then something a little weird happens. After the show has fallen over itself dozens of times at this point leaving the viewer berated and confused, it picks itself back up and strides to the finish line with the final moments of the show. It actually wraps up the final conflict, sends off the characters with some real sincerity, and ends with a heart warming final scene that I just couldn't help but smile at.

Darling in the Franxx is a mess. It has pacing issues, side characters that absorb way too much screen time, and an absurd ending that doesn't make a lick of sense at some points. It does however have a great first half that is more than worth your time and it manages to pull itself together and end with a sincere conclusion that left me feeling satisfied. Its a mess, but a mess that I can't help but love despite its glaring issues.~~~~~~