(spoilers follow)
Darling in the Franxx is truly special. It is bold and brash. It is the apex of slice of life and the midpoint of mech anime and action. It is the epitome of character design philosophy and the downfall of world-building. Darling in the Franxx has incredible triumphs and disappointing losses. I fell in love with it regardless. I want to take a deep dive into this show and analyze what it is about it that I love so much, and why I am disappointed with it at times. Please take the time to read this if you can and thank you so much.

II. A triumph in rhetoric and character design philosophy The themes in Darling in the Franxx are truly special. They are amazing in concept but could have been executed a lot better. They are sloppy and a big turn off to a lot of people. The one in particular, that many people will point their finger towards, is sex. In this universe of robots and aliens, this is ultimately a show about sex. Darling in the Franxx revolves around relationships, whether that be males and females, females and females, males and males. It is a show exploring dynamics between people and those dynamics come to a climax with the theme that this show presents. A large portion of this show revolves around the Franxx, a large humanoid mech controlled by a (most of the time) a male and female pair. From the awkward positions that these pairs have to constantly be into the less than subtle dialogue that occurs when they are in full force, this is a show about intimate human relationships. From a storytelling perspective, this is brilliant. It is imperative to examine why this is necessary in the first place. If we look at the bigger picture, Darling in the Franxx is essentially the redemption arc of humanity and life itself. Humanity, when dissected into its core components, is the same as most life on earth, all life will “[…] have a life cycle […], can grow, adapt to their environment, respond to stimuli, reproduce and evolve. (Wikipedia)” The children in Darling in the Franxx exhibit all these properties. Darling in the Franxx chooses to examine the very bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: reproduction. This is the redemption arc of humanity, if humans are to truly reconnect with who they once were, they will need to once again understand these needs. Darling in the Franxx tells us about the process of how humanity will achieve this. Ultimately the reason why Darling in the Franxx needs to explore this theme is to illustrate how humanity will redeem and reconnect with themselves. They need to explore the carnal desires that drive humans to redeem them. All of this is shown in one of the boldest stories this anime has to tell, the story of Mitsuru and Kokoro.

The story of Mitsuru and Kokoro is one of the most unorthodox stories of teen pregnancy I have ever witnessed. It is shocking and impactful; it illustrates the themes of intimacy and sex better than anything else this show has to offer. To quickly recap, Mitsuru and Kokoro were never supposed to be together. This all changes when Mitsuru is unhappy with how he is performing in battle and blames it on his partner. Kokoro, the caring and motherly figure of the team steps in to help Mitsuru and show him that he is just as capable as anyone else on the team. After this initial test run, Kokoro quickly starts to fall in love with Mitsuru. Remember, that these kids don’t understand or even know of emotions such as love. When Kokoro finds a forbidden book on childbirth and sex, she is immediately curious. She is conflicted about what to do with this knowledge, in a world where human reproduction is no longer spoken of. In the end, she is a child with extreme curiosity. This results in an unholy connection between man and women- sex. Going over a whole arc like this in such a short amount of space will never be able to do justice to how powerful of a scene this is. It was initially shocking beyond belief, to the point where I had to look up both of their ages- 14 -it took me a while to process. In a lot of ways, these two characters mark the beginning of humanities’ true redemption. The start of where the children begin to accept their human tendencies outside of what society has shown them to be acceptable and normal. Kokoro and Mitsuru do this when the whole world seems against them. As they begin to question why they are here in this world they realize that they want to leave a mark on the world before they leave. They realize they don’t want to exist just to fight. As the story progresses, Kokoro is given the unfathomability that she is carrying a child. The first real human child in centuries. Taking this in one step at a time, the remaining children accept Kokoro’s decision without hesitation. She is the first one to take the first big leap towards reclaiming her humanity. Kokoro and Mitsuru’s story is a synecdoche for the rest of humanity. Their story is represented in many others, as they learn to take back their humanity by taking that first step. The scene is meant to be shocking. It was just as shocking to these characters when they learned of these activities. Kokoro was willing to put her entire image and future at risk just to explore her ideals and what she believes in. Does she think that for the rest of her life, she will live by the battlefield and die by the battlefield? By doing this, she opened the gateway for future generations to also be able to understand what it means to be human. In a lot of ways, Kokoro could be considered the savior of humanity along with Hiro and Zero Two. If it was not for her ideals of believing that there was truly something to be gained from intimacy, then humanity would have not had the courage to explore this new frontier.

It is important to address the flaws of how this overarching theme was represented in the anime. The greatest downfall of how it is represented is how awkward it is at times. It is never properly explained why the girls need to be in such provocative positions to operate the Franxx, the “subtle” dialogue feels unnecessary at times, and overall the women are treated much differently as compared to the men. However, there is a reason for this as well. The reason that all this symbolism is present, is to show that to these kids, it doesn’t mean anything. To the viewer, it might be off-putting or even disgusting to some. But to these kids who don’t know that sex even exists, it’s nothing. They don’t have much sense of privacy, because society has taught them in such a way that this isn’t anything to worry about. Where this shines, however, is the case of Hiro and Zero Two. Hiro and Zero Two are shown to never have this kind of relationship where the male is usually the one in control. Zero Two has complete power to override Hiro’s authority at times. Hiro and Zero Two are also the ones who save humanity. The show intentionally creates a state of normalcy where this kind of behavior is what is supposed to happen and flips it on its head when it comes to the main characters. If Hiro and Zero Two are the models that humanity should follow, which is shown by when Ichigo says in the last episode they were more human than all of us, the show is telling us that Hiro and Zero Two are how things should be. Where this fails is that it requires a bit more interpretation on the side of the viewer. For a show, where the main characters are children, it should be more clearly stated.

III. The Apex of Slice of Life In a lot of ways, I see Darling in the Franxx as the pinnacle of slice of life. When you look at this show through a lens that only looks at the parts of the show that are slice of life, it's brilliant. The biggest factor that contributes to this is the characters themselves. All of them have a good amount of nuance to them and the show takes care to make sure every character is at least a little fleshed out. They all have quirks that contribute to the overall team. However, if not for Hiro and Zero Two, this show would not be as half as good as it is. The story of both Zero Two and Hiro is incredibly well developed. I think what sets their story apart from the rest is the evolution of their relationship as well as the dynamics that govern them.

Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship is multi-faceted and dynamic. One thing that makes this relationship shine is how the writers intentionally create huge flaws in one of them so that the other can patch it up. This isn’t revolutionary by any means, but what matters is how this is executed. For the most part, the writers fully understood this and were able to effectively communicate this to the audience. The best example of this is Hiro’s thirst for knowledge. Hiro actively strives to understand the world around him and is unable to most of the time. No matter how many risks he takes, he will never be allowed to have access to the certain knowledge that isn’t available to him. Zero Two can aid him in this regard because she was raised in an environment where huge amounts of classified knowledge were available. She just knows a lot of things Hiro does not. Zero Two’s longing for acceptance is another example. It’s shown time and time again how much she yearns to be human. There isn’t a place that she can find that except Hiro. This sort of character-building makes dynamic characters that the audience wants to get to know a bit more.

The next aspect of their relationship that allows is to flourish is that it is very precise and deliberate. Everything that happens, happens for a reason. At first, it might seem stupid that Zero Two just falls in love with Hiro right off the bat, it’s not realistic and doesn’t make a lot of sense. However, as the story progresses, we learn that Zero Two is still looking for her Darling, and Hiro seems like he fits the mold. There was a clear reason why Zero Two fell in love with Hiro so easily. Just like how there is a clear reason that Hiro fell in love with Zero Two. Why would any sane person fall in love with a girl that has pink hair and horns (stay with me here I know what you’re thinking)? Later we learn that there is an unspoken and unconscious attraction that guides Hiro towards Zero Two. There are suppressed memories that can only allow emotions to slip through the cracks. Not just that but Hiro’s humanity is what allows him to get through to Zero Two. The fact that he doesn’t intentionally keep his emotions is what allows him to understand another character that shares emotions, like Zero Two. They both make an effort to understand each other and what it means to love and be in a relationship. It makes a relationship in a world that is difficult to comprehend a lot more real and understandable.

Finally, the most important part that makes this relationship come together. The glue that holds everything together. The intimacy of it all. This incorporates everything together, from the themes of sex found throughout the show to how they fit like puzzle pieces. Hiro’s thirst for knowledge knows no bounds, this extends to intimacy and love as well. He wants to understand his feelings as much as he wants to understand the world around him. Zero Two acts as the bridge of Hiro’s understanding. As mentioned before, Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship breaks the status quo as seen in every other partner relationship of this anime. Zero Two and Hiro have a much more mutual attraction. Whatever intimacy they share, is purposeful and most of the time off the battlefield. It’s not the kind of “subtle” implied sexual tension that is seen with the other partners. It is deliberate and they are both in control. Lastly, it just makes for interesting viewing. Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship are a huge reason why this anime excels so well as a pseudo slice of life show. It’s an amazing and well-crafted dynamic between two very interesting and developed characters.

IV. An absolute disappointment in worldbuilding and pacing. The greatest disappointment of this show and what truly makes it struggle is found in its worldbuilding. It is clear to see that there is a lot of potential here but it is saddening to see an anime held down this much by just one aspect. To be clear it’s not terrible, I have seen worse, but we must hold and judge the worldbuilding to the same standard as all the other attributes in this show. Reasons, why the worldbuilding in this show suffers, is mostly due to it’s awkward and forced pacing and the admittedly poor integration of its action attributes with its more slice of life-esque components. Darling in the Franxx feels a lot like Fire Emblem: Three Houses in some regards. Both have sections where there are kids killing people on the battlefield and sections where it is essentially a dating sim. Both share a lot of the same flaws as well. The story is great in concept but fails in its execution from time to time. The difference between the two is that Fire Emblem: Three houses integrate the battlefields and life sim portions of itself much more seamlessly. Darling in the Franxx does a poor job at this. The reasoning behind this has to be how drastically different the settings between both the battlefield and where the children live. The justification for why the children have to live in an environment of an age long past and why they fight on post-apocalyptic battlefields with giant mechs makes some sense. However, it feels unnatural for them to be able to move from one environment so seamlessly, especially since so much of the character development happens in Mistilteinn (the old-style living space of the children). The battlefield mech elements feel out of place and sometimes unnecessary. The problem with this is that the anime and show would not work without these elements. The battlefield sections of the show are crucial for the show to work. But since this is more of a coming of age story than anything else and almost all of the meaningful character development is occurring at Mistileinn, the battlefield sections of the show should have carried more weight and meaning, so that their time slots were better justified.

This isn’t the biggest problem with this show. The worst problem with this show is how terribly paced it became in the late game and how poorly the worldbuilding was at that point. All the possible praises that could have been sung are over. As was said before, this is a two-pronged problem: poor worldbuilding and terrible pacing. To understand why the pacing of this show is bad, we need to examine the show as a whole. From the start of Darling In The Franxx, we are given little bits and pieces about a decimated, probably, humans themselves. The best example of this can be seen in the arc where the kids hit the beach and find an old human living space. It gave the kids, as well as the audience, a look into the world before. It’s not a lot of info at once, it is deliberate and very controlled. Another example of good worldbuilding in this show is the existence of the Klaxosaurs themselves. They exist as an enigma, but it is evident that there is more to them. They appear throughout the show and we can learn a little about them through each battle, such as their behavior and mannerisms. A deliberate and controlled flow of information. There are even more examples of cool and small tidbits of information we can gather as the show progresses. The main theme that ties them all together, is that that are concise pieces of information, that we as an audience are left to ponder due to lack of information. The writers deliberately make the audience employ their brains to figure out what is going on. This all changes following the arc of Dr. Franxx. The first offense of this arc is that it comes out of nowhere, with no pretense or set up, the episode just cuts to the backstory of Dr. Franxx and the world. Normally this wouldn’t be that big of an issue, lots of other shows have done this. However, this is a show that has built itself up through careful, meticulous worldbuilding. It breaks consistency by giving this to us suddenly all at once. The show's entire pacing is thrown off the rails because of this. A good story is defined by consistency. Whether that be consistently chaotic or consistently controlled. This show has already shown us well it’s a prior form of controlled and worldbuilding through exploration and discovery could work, so why break the pattern now? In the end, this shouldn’t matter if the story it has to tell is fascinating and worth the wait. Sadly, it’s not. This story arc is supposed to be the grand revelation to explain all the is unclear of Darling in the Franxx. All it provides is mediocre explanations and insight into how badly thought out some of this stuff was. All of the info that is provided is easily predictable or filled with plot holes or is just incredibly unsatisfying. The timestamps, as mentioned by Mother’s Basement, are incredibly problematic. APE’s imminent takeover of humanity just doesn’t make sense given how short of a period it was. Magma energy is explained to be…Klaxosaurs…returned to the earth? Yet somehow magma energy is the source of all life? The lamest excuse of an explanation as to why the Franxx’s need to be piloted in the way they are. The answer is to relieve stress? There are more examples of this but it should be easy to see now that was an uninteresting and unclimactic resolution to a lot of the problems that the story presented. For this mode of storytelling to work, the resolutions presented in this arc needed to be truly groundbreaking. Sadly, they were not well thought out and poorly written.

The greatest flaw found in the story-building and pacing is easily guessed: VIRM. To be fair, the concept of VIRM is cool when looking at it through an evolutionary perspective. As Kurzsagt explains, the reason why we have yet to meet an alien life might be because they were all wiped out by a barrier that all life meets and has yet to overcome. VIRM fits that description perfectly. They are the wall that evolutionary life cannot overcome. That’s where the praise ends, however. There are just so many things wrong with them that it doesn’t make any sense. First, they have no backstory. Nothing. They just exist to assimilate all physical life into a collective consciousness. That eternal consciousness should bring eternal peace and pleasure. Why do they want this? Their motivations are not complex and not interesting. The existence of the VIRM also completely throws pacing and worldbuilding out the window. There was not a single mention of the VIRM in the entirety of the show before this. That alone shows the lack of thought that went into this entity. It’s impossible to even call it a character because characters have the slightest bit of depth or personality. The introduction of the VIRM out of nowhere is truly the nail in the coffin when it comes to this show’s pacing and worldbuilding. It’s unfitting for a final antagonist is probably the coffin when it comes to this show’s pacing and worldbuilding. It’s unfitting for a final antagonist is probably the biggest reason why this anime is so deeply flawed.

__V. Conclusion __I still love Darling in the Franxx. It’s a beautiful mess. For all the flaws it has, it contains some of the greatest themes and rhetoric in anime and was special. It was the first encounter I’ve ever had with a mecha anime and has led me to want to watch more of them like Neon Genesis Evangelion. Darling in the Franxx has left a huge hole in my heart because the story of its characters was more touching than the actual story it was trying to tell could ever be. However, it would be stupid to overlook all the flaws it has and say it is a masterpiece. It’s far from it, however, I feel like that’s part of the appeal of this show. For all the flaws it has, it’s amazing to see how much it affected me as well as so many other people. This anime is a testament to how flawed an anime can be and still be exceptionally impactful and powerful, it’s part of what makes it so special to me.

(i previously posted this review, im reposting it now with better formatting)