(SPOILERS all throughout)

Darling in the Franxx is probably the first anime series I ever watched with the intention of ironically liking. I heard of it here and there, and I'm always down for checking out any mecha shows, but admittedly, this viewing was kinda tainted by the fact I went in knowing of its ridiculed reputation more than anything. So I pretty much watched it knowing most of the spoilers. But don't worry, I still found plenty to talk about.

That said, I will begrudgingly also admit that I didn't hate it as much as I thought. Granted, there's plenty of eye-roll, unintentionally goofy stuff that only made me laugh the more you sit down and think on it. But stepping back at the whole picture, whether you love or hate it: it's amusing as hell.

The plot is fairly concise and easy to latch onto, but like its setting/worldbuilding, comes at the cost of feeling derivative. Giant monsters start randomly attacking Earth, unsubtle sex themes, the lost love interest, cloning, an evil Illuminati organization named Seel-I mean APE who recruits a reluctant scientist, taking out the monsters' cores, a giant metropolis underground, child soldiers, the robots being made of the monsters the whole time, yada yada yada. Idk it reminds of this little obscure, indie OVA called "Glowy Beginning Evangelical" or somethin'.

At its best, the show excels in calm, tender character moments, and its decently reserved nature, free from all the bombast. Episode 13 remains the best episode in how it satisfyingly explores Hiro & Zero 2's past, through very somber, well-drawn out scenes that cements their relationship as the soul of the series, and the overall moody, cold, but entrancing atmosphere. Which comes to a head in ep. 15 where they finally become one and lovescream their hearts out to victory.

But at worst, DitF's bombshell drop style of storytelling-especially when Kokoro's baby arc gets thrown in-easily becomes the most glaring but enjoyable aspect. Up until the midway point, I could get behind the show's general pace of getting to know Squad 13, their relationships with each other, and how it connects against an EVA-style backdrop. With episode 16 giving nice breathing room in between arcs to see the Squad pull themselves together, and acknowledge their agency outside of APE. Buuuuuuut then Kokoro decides she really wants a baby [insert Japan's low birth rates joke here], which comes off as "Pffffffffffff" inducing. Kokoro and Mitsuru decide to tie the knot despite having the chemistry of an empty water bottle, APE crashes the wedding, memory wipes them, and we eventually arrive at episode 20, which has the single greatest (and I mean "greatest" loosely) bombshell ending that puts friggin' aliens being the real enemy the whole! entire! time! Throughout the whole ending scene, all I could do was smirk sarcastically at how out-of-nowhere and bonkers the reveal was. You can't stop watching, but not for the reasons you wanted. It's goofiness that doesn't think it's goofy whatsoever, and you can't go wrong with that.

Which brings us to its beautifully messy final few episodes, as ep. 23 makes a bold-ass jump from Earth all the way to space with the expertly-made buildup of "check it out! We're in space now! Our FranXX got new space designs now!" Strelizia transforms into Zero 2rue Apus with a design that only leaves you giggling the more you let it sink into your retinas and mind (which is basically DitF's ending in a nutshell), and the finale is a jumble of an epilogue that still has those legitimately tender scenes (mostly between Zero 2 and Hiro), mixed with more unassuming "wtf" moments culminating in Strelizia giga drill breaking the VIRM in the face and saving the day and stuff.

And that's not even mentioning the handful of unanswered questions the show gives little to no explanation or payoff to: Ikuno's white hair, Nana's Klaxosaur headaches, to what extent Kokoro and Mitsuru's memories return or how their relationship gets properly restarted after the memory wipe, and especially episode 10: another memorable episode that focuses on Zorome interacting with an old woman, who seemed pretty heavily implied to be his mother of sorts, only for him to get amnesiaed and this interesting plot point never being expanded or paid off again. Yippee.

Character-wise, Zero 2 is the only one I can confidently say was the best realized. From her backstory, to her pretty well-defined arc, she succeeds in being DitF's standout character. Even when I got annoyed with her stuck-up personality, it was never from a place of bad character writing. Something I can't say for most of the cast. Zorome is flat-out annoying, even if he mercifully improves over time. Ichigo's only interesting traits are her feelings towards Hiro and Goro, Miku just hangs around to be this show's Asuka, Ikuna takes the title of most forgettable team member, Futoshi got REALLY irritating once Kokoro switches partners, and speaking of which, if I may ask: WHAT THE HELL DOES KOKORO SEE IN MITSURU? She acknowledges that he's really strong and bold-hearted or whatever, but that's about the extent of her attraction towards him, with Mitsuro rarely coming off as affectionate beforehand, and all it took was a little guy talk with Hiro for him to change his mind and want to smash now. Which leaves Hiro and Goro as the only other two consistently strong leads, even if their personalities are a bit bland, with most of Hiro's interest coming from his backstory and connection to Zero 2, and Goro's consistent sense of responsibility and levelheadedness. The other characters like Misat-I mean Nana, Hachi, Dr. FranXX and the 9s ranging from mildly interesting but half-assed in execution (Nana being set up as the Squad's caretaker, despite barely getting any time to see her connect to these kids on a deeper level), to needlessly unlikable (Dr. Franxx and 9'a). I did not give a shish whatsoever when they got axed.

But hey, even when a show is dragged by messy writing, at least you could bank on the music and visuals being well-executed. Sure enough, the Klaxosaurs were always a treat to see in action, with truly satisfying designs and attack moves, the FranXX had striking, slim but sharp designs (Argenta looked lame tho ngl), there's a good amount of rollicking mecha action but doesn't overshadow the dramatic scenes either, and (mostly) solid music choices that blend in grandiosity with electronics. "Kiss of Death" still feels grand as ever. Though I shouldn't leave without bringing up the aspect ratio changes, which honestly, feel useless and awkward. Like, sure it adds emphasis, but you could remove it entirely and nothing would change. It works best during the flashback scenes, where it's used like a picture frame, but for the present day, feels wonky. Like the animators just learned about it and wanted to mess around with it, where it's always in-your-face and obvious.

Overall, though Darling in the FranXX didn't live up to the anti-hype as much as I'd hoped, it delivered enough mecha thrills, a memorable enough cast (plus the english dub was stellar), and some unintentional laughs. Had it been better written, had more self-awareness and episodes to flesh its in-over-its-head final arc more, we wouldn't be here poking fun at it. A 6/10, but a very light 6.

Waifubots, aliens, doggystyle, no self-awareness, and a whoooole lotta snickering: Darling in the FranXX biotches!

Best episodes: 13, 15, 16, and 21.

I burst out laughing when two of the 9s got killed in ep. 21.

(This took me a week to write. I had school ¯\(ツ)/¯ ).