FIF#67-Darling in the Franxx

In the distant future, mankind is under siege by giant creatures known as Klaxosaurs.  As the last of the human race struggles to survives in mobile cities known as Plantations, the organization, APE, has taken steps to ensure mankinds continued survival.  They have raised children to pilot the Franxx, a next generation giant robot capable of fighting the Klaxosaurs on their own terms.  Hiro is one of these potential pilots who nearly washes out of the program.  That is, until he meets the beautiful Zero Two, a girl with horns who claims Hiro as her “Darling”.  Though Hiro can finally live his dream, what is the secret behind the Klaxosaurs and this girl who only has eyes for him?  The answers to both of these questions might lead the way to Humanitys survival…or final annihilation.

When it comes to Studio Trigger, you should expect the unexpected. This studio is very unpredictable when it comes to their productions and that’s what makes them so much fun.  Kill La Kill was over the top when it came to action and sex appeal and Little Witch Academia soared when it came having fun with it’s magical fantasy setting and characters.  And now we come to their latest offering to the Anime world, the title that, earlier this year, took the community by storm: Darling in the Franxx.  The question is, a couple of episodes in, does it live up to the insurmountable hype it gained?

This is…an odd one to say the least and yet that says a lot.  As I said above, this is Studio Trigger, there is no such thing as normal.  So why does Darling in the Franxx feel so different?  It might be the tone of the first couple of episodes bouncing around so erratically.  There was an instant sense of fun and excitement from the first episodes of both Kill La Kill and Little Witch Academia that now stand out compared to Franxx.  There’s a dark air to these intro episodes, which I guess is fitting considering this is a postapocalyptic setting where kids bred for battle and don’t know what kissing is square off in giant robots that look like girls with human faces against an unknown enemy…like I said, there is no such thing as normal but what the frak did I just type there?

 

Yeah Darling in the Franxx hits you with a lot in the first couple of episodes.  There’s the overall look which reminds me of a fusion of Eureka Seven, Evangelion and Rahxephon (those human faces on the mechs freak me the frak out).  The character designs especially feel Eureka Seven esque.  This goes double for Franxx’s resident femme fatale Zero Two, who when I first saw the images of this show made me think this was an Eureka Seven Spin Off.  Oh and there’s also the mecha piloting system which…ok let me get this in order…is a two pilot system (not unlike Pacific Rim) which has the men piloting in a normal chair while the girls hook into a system at the front of the cockpit hunched over in a very peculiar looking sexual position….ok again, I just typed that and im still wondering WTF?

 

I don’t think it would bother me so much if Trigger was going full comedy with this kind of setup like Kill La Kill and the first half of Little Witch Academia.  However, there’s too much seriousness in every subtle scene, even the humor.  I just get the real eerie feeling that something really, REALLY bad is going to happen to each and every character in this show, not unlike Evangelion, and it is not going to be the least bit pretty.  At the same time though, I get the feeling that Trigger is aware of how everything looks and while it isn’t trying to play for laughs, there’s a subtle hope that such unexpected imagery tied to the giant robot genre will generate that kind of response from the audience without causing laughter Kill La Kill style…yeah that sounded confusing but im also trying to sum up my thoughts about a show that kicks off with a pink haired, horned beauty who introduces teen pilots to the concept of kissing inside a giant robot to make it run…I CANT MAKE THIS UP PEOPLE!!!

 

Ugh, there’s plenty of curiosity brought out in two episodes that might convince me to carry on with this title.  The ending is apparently the source of a lot of controversy in the community (not unlike Evangelion perhaps?).  But that’s still another 24 episodes of WTF imagery and questions to sift through to get there.  Who knows, maybe it might even be worth a full series review down the line if I can manage it.  This is just…wow I never knew what I was getting into.  I’ll say this for Darling in the Franxx, it is continuing Studio Triggers rapid maverick style of Anime productions.  Expect the unexpected…but what could even define “unexpected” with this series?  I guess ill have to check it out to find out.

 

With such a reaction, i guess im glad I saved this FIF for last.  Yep, this marks the end of First Impression Friday once again, this time for the year.  Don’t worry, this series will return in early 2019 with a slew of new shows begging for my initial thoughts.  Will they be as entertaining as the initial reactions I just posted?  Will I be digging into some older titles again like I did with this set?  I really have no clue.  I will say that I did enjoy doing some first thoughts on shows that were immediately airing in Japan, like the shows I covered back in April like Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Full Metal Panic IV.  I’ll definitely aim to do some more of those next year for sure.  Til then, new reviews and Top 5 Wednesdays will roll on and First Impression Fridays will rejoin them next year.  See ya next week for a new review.