So we’re two part into Darling in the Franxx and I still don’t know what to make of this show. Trying to figure that out becomes all the more difficult when the show decides to drop its super serious and at times depressing demeanor in order to lighten the mood…when this show has plenty to make fun of as is without it. It’s like when the shows trying not to be funny, it’s hilarious. But when it makes an actual attempt at comedy…it fails. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I already had some shades of this with Vandread earlier this year and I wasn’t in the mood for another round. Although, to give Vandread some credit: I cared far more about the crew of the Nirvana than I do anyone in Squad 13 other than Zero Two and occasionally Hiro…and even then, that’s because of Zero Two herself.
The messed up mentality of the future society of the Plantations continues to be one of the many sore spots with me and this show. Just when you think Squad 13 cant know less about being in love, now all of a sudden the powers that be are surprised that theyre all going through puberty…at the same time…as if they don’t understand the human life cycle anymore. Aren’t there adults in this series who went through similar circumstances once upon a time? Don’t they know what kissing is? It’s sad that the closest any character on this show has come to the concept of kissing is hearing it as the term to describe two Plantations linking up to transfer fuel to one another. I’m scared to think the adults who aren’t ancient and look more machine now than man might be worse off. Shouldn’t there be someone on call to have the big Sex Ed talk with the pilots once hormones start kicking in? And why the hell is Dr. Franxx (the creator of the Franxx go figure) so interested to see how this all pans out for Squad 13? They’ve indicated that their group is a rare one amongst the many other Franxx squads but we still don’t know why that is. Sigh, I should move on otherwise I could harp on this forever…and I’m still not sure I wont do that for every other review at this point.
Squad 13 got to team up with another Franxx squad, Squad 26, to defend against a massive Klaxosaur attack during the fuel transfer. How weird is it that the Franxx of Squad 26 look much, much better than the customized units of the main characters? Theyre even bear boned in design but at least theyre not the terror Lolita like Franxx we’re used to seeing. This was a veteran squad but even they were pretty bad at dealing with Klaxosaurs on their own, especially when the mammoth one got into the fight. Squad 13 initially didn’t fare much better…because Ichigo is the worst Team Leader in history. She’s far less focused on actually accomplishing the mission than she is dealing with her feelings for Hiro at all times and even sidelining him and Zero Two cause she thinks they can handle Klaxosaurs without Zero Two’s help. And go figure, the second Strelizia gets into battle and gets pummeled, Ichigo loses it and everyone freaks out cause they cant come together as a unit. I was starting to think that Zero Two’s obsessive and overbearing nature with Hiro was starting to get grating. At least Zero Two can actually function in battle no matter what. Ichigo is a disastrous choice as Hiro so much as trips and she becomes useless.
Against all odds, Hiro and Zero Two managed to pull out a major win in the end and hey, Hiro survived the three time jinx…despite having a giant growth on his chest that Zero Two seemed to shrug off. Basically, if you cant ride with her and bow to her every whim, Zero Two wants nothing to do with you…at least that’s what I thought until it looked like Hiro actually bit the big one. Seeing her go battle crazy with blood red eyes actually reinforced Zero Two does feel something genuine for Hiro despite her devil may care approach to life. They not only need each other to pilot Stelizia, they need each other to live in general. Hiro’s actually much more relaxed and happier than he was in the beginning of the show when he was incredibly depressed. While Hiro is a character I go back and forth on when it comes to his character progression, whenever he’s with Zero Two, he’s ok. At the very least Zero Two is trying to get her “Darling” (come on, he has a name, please use it Zero Two) to live a little. Hell, she tries to do that with everyone during the “Battle of the Sexes” episode because they don’t know how much time they have together considering their profession. But I’ll get more into that in a second.
After an intense battle it was time for…sigh, a beach episode. Because you cant have a cast to teens in Anime without one, Squad 13 got to hit the sand for fun in the sun and water and the boys got to discover their girl partners looked attractive in a swimsuit. Considering how messed up their society is, should I be surprised that the boys started interrogating Hiro hardcore to learn what kissing was and even attempt to kiss Hiro themselves…ok that was just Zorome but still. I’m sorry, I know I keep harping on this and will continue to do so. But I knew what a kiss was way before I was a freaking teenager. How are these 13-15 year olds unaware of such a simple act of affection? And I’m sure it’s only going to get worse. As fascinating as it was to see the team discover a rundown town from the past (still looking pretty good btw), the big takeaway besides their critique on how good and bad it looked compared to the Plantation (depending on who you ask), was Kokoro discovering a book about making babies…God that isn’t going to end well for anyone. Get these kids a freaking Sex Ed teacher STAT!!!
Surprisingly, Franxx actually gave us a pretty dramatic moment towards the close of this set. I was about ready to right off the Boys v Girls episode because…well it was mostly just dumb except when Zero Two spiced things up with her devilish antics. But then the group discovered sealed off rooms and discovered they belonged to the former members of Squad 13. Considering we don’t know how long the world has been in the state it is or how long Humanity has been fighting the Klaxosaurs, it shouldn’t come as a shock to discover there have been teams being created for years. And also considering Hiro and company have only been trained in combat since forever (I guess), I can see that history wasn’t a subject covered much in whatever school whey went to. But Zero Two knows something about legacy and seeing comrades die on the battlefield. Long story short: There was a whole other Squad 13 and theyre all long dead and now the present day team knows they could meet the same fate one day…no matter how much this show irks me, that is a pretty effective realization for them to have.
Man, I’m not saying we’re in Pilot Candidate territory of bad but Darling in the Franxx is both infuriating me and making me laugh at how ridiculous it continues to be. Save for a cool girl this show doesn’t deserve, every other aspect of the show has been an absolute mess and we’re only one week in. There are too many questions to even list in this closing and there’s a cast of characters that is both heavy on the cliché and the sheer stupidity even when it’s not dealing with a sore lacking of knowing about the birds and the bees. Alright, enough rambling. Time for a break then back at it next week for more Darling in the Franxx.
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