MiNiSoTaN's Darling in the FranXX Review
Darling in the FranXX honestly starts out pretty great. It captivates you with a mysterious introduction and trilling action sequence. It does 2 things right straight from the begining: world building, and characters. The first shot of the anime shows us the earth of the future. Just about everything is dry and desert looking besides the large dome like structures in the middle of nowhere called "plantations". Just from one scene we get a really good idea of what is going on within the world. It's the future and people can only like inside these large shelters to survive. It sets it up easy and simple. When it comes to characters although it takes a little longer to introduce them all and flesh them out fully I still think that the show does a great job of showing who is who and giving each person a unique personality that fits into the story. Yes, some characters might have some cliche tropes or fit into a typecast, but regardless there is no one within the story that feels useless.
We get all this information handed to us within the first few episodes, and for the most part it is easy to digest. As for the main story, like I said before it starts off well. The plot is easy to understand, the stakes are high, and the action is great. The issue arises the further we move on. Most people would agree that after episode 15 is when the series started to take a major fall in terms of quality, and they're not really wrong. Episodes 1-15 have such a complete story that could've been a season all on its own which is what I wish would've happened. It feels as though the studio intended to have the season finish at episode 15 but they had too many ideas for what they wanted to have happen so they just kept on extending it until they wrote themselves into a wall.
Even the episodes directly after episode 15 aren't terrible in quality. There are cool sequences of all the kids bonding together and learning how to manage without the helps of adults which I believe can add a little bit to the fake authenticity the show is trying to portray. They want to market this show as a "coming of age" story with some science fiction and romance thrown in. The "teenage relatability" aspect falls flat. There really isn't a lot of convincing dialogue or actions performed by any of the characters besides Zero Two and Hiro that I could see as even slightly authentic. Sure they thrown in a side love triangle and a LGBTQ character, but just doing that isn't going to help the sotry and more if they aren't written well to help the story.
Just about everyone doesn't like the ending of the show and that's what leaves a sour taste in their mouths. I would tend to agree. Although I don't have a problem with the idea of aliens being introduced the way it was executed in this show was just bad. It came completely out of left field. If you don't know already, there's like a shit ton of parallels between Evangelion and Darling in the FranXX, I'm pretty sure they just wanted to do the same with with aliens. There was no lead up, hints, or speculation at all of aliens ever being apart of the universe until episode 22. Had the show been split up into two different season with a more fleshed out and well structured story people would probably look back upon this series more fondly but alas it isn't the case. The story isn't terrible, but it just whiffed on a lot of the aspects it had potential in.
Zero Two I unironically think she is actually a great character. I know it's a pretty "normie" thing to say, but come on, I know you somewhat like her too. Even if you hate Darling in the FranXX more than any other anime, Zero Two has some redeeming aspects. She has the semi-dominatrix personality mixed with a protective instinct toward Hiro, it's pretty cute to see. Although she isn't the first anime charatcer to have this personality, she stands out for how well it is animated and voice acted by the brilliant Haruka Tomatsu. Finding out about her back story is pretty tragic as well. Zero Two has a lot going for her in the development department, after all she is the star of the show, it's about her. The downside is so much was dedicated to Zero Two that the rest of the cast got the scraps. So while I don't think she is a "perfect waifu" or "best girl" or anything like that, I believe she deserves a lot of the praise she gets.
Hiro The only other character with any amount of development. In all seriousness Hiro isn't terrible. He's no where near as well written or as appealing as Zero Two, but he has his moments and quirks that add to him being the second best character of the show. We see him at his lowest at the beginning of the show and he shows the audience through training and determination how to overcome the odds and become better. Hiro and Zero Two's highlights are one of the moments I most look forward to in the show because Hiro feels authentic and how someone that age would actually act if a cute girl was being aggressive in their approach to them. One of the few actual relatable moments of the show, but it is done well.
The rest of the characters don't really matter. The writers decided they didn't deserve the limelight in the show anyways. Goro and Ichigo are both alright, but the main reason they exist is to add to the love triangle.
The art and animation department gets no complaints from me. Minimal CGI, great action sequences, and nothing looks out of standards for a late 2010s anime. I think the character designs are exceptional as well. There's a lot of symbolism when it comes to differentiating between the boys and girls which I think it pretty cool. The mechas are also really well done. Strelitzia is obviously the best looking one because so much time was put into designing her, but the other ones look cool as well. Overall art is great, it does its job well.
Wow. Just wow. This anime has my favorite OST of all time. It's just incredible. It's honestly amazing how bad a story can be but have such great music. Each song within Darling in the FranXX is perfect. They're catchy, they're experimental, they're poppy, and they're innovative. Since I first finished the show I've probably listened through the entire soundtrack at least a dozen times.
And These are just the Opening and Ending themes. Even the battle music and the dialogue music is amazing. It's just such a good soundtrack and I highly encourage you to listen to it. Asami Tachibana is the one who composed the OST and she is a genius. Incredible work. I love the music more than anything else from this anime.
Overall I did enjoy the show. I do believe it is a little bit over hyped, but to each their own. There were a lot of good concepts and ideas I saw within the show, but I feel it was all just not executed as best as it could have been. Although there as are lot of the aspects I like about the show and think it did well (music/art) the 2 most important factors are always the story and characters. When those fall flat, the anime will too. I have not read the manga but I do intend to since I hear it is better than the anime. Plus it is illustrated by the same person who did To-Love Ru :).
Favorite Episodes
Ep 1. Alone and Lonesome
Ep 6. DARLING in the FRANXX
Ep 7. Shooting Star Moratorium
Ep 8. Boys × Girls
Ep 10. The City of Eternity
Ep 13. The Beast and the Prince
Ep 15. Jian
Ep 16. Days of Our Lives
Ep 17. Eden
Official Scores
Story: (6/10)
Characters: (6/10)
Art: (8/10)
Music: (10/10)
Personal Enjoyment: (7/10)
FINAL SCORE: (6/10) OK
@MiNiSoTaN