DARLING in the FRANXX - it's literal
- Thread starter Ford Prefect
- Start date
- Anime
Strunkriidiisk
THE LEGEND
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Keep in mind they're all
Also I give it 10 episodes (from Episode 4) at most before the focus switches to taking down The Man.
DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
You've got a point. I mean, this is trigger. Episode 14 of one of their OTHER series had the focus change to
fighting the evil aliens that gave humanity the concept of clothing and jumpstarted evolution so they could parasitize the planet earth
Alastor Mobius Toth
***** ***
- Location
- Neon Ghetto
I knew I wasn't the only one who thought that!
tankdrop24
Tread First into Hell
- Location
- The Center of the Universe: Toronto, Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
And it being this show, I'm not even sure if it was unintentional or not.
True horror.
Trung-t-rung
Solve problems by crashing asteroid into them
- Location
- Vietnam
This episode is pretty good. Not great, mind you. It's hard to take that title when my definition of it is Fafner EXODUS ep 9 but I really like it. I like the cheesy confession, the crazy dialogues and the final attack with all the yelling which would be perfect for a SRW game so get on it, Bandai! They are the things that keep me interested in anime and its sub-culture in general. So far, Zero Two only seemed to care about Hiro for now and expressed disinterest if not total contempt for other parasites, which would surely spice up the already chaotic relationship between them in the future.
I'm pretty sure that's intentional, much like how Evangelion had SEELE who did those conference calls, you generally get the idea that these people are good dudes. On another note,
I'm confused, I thought this was one of Abe's whacky scheme to get his countrymen to reproduce.
They are the plastic badge things whatever, if this is Abe's PROCREATE FOR GLORIOUS NIPPON anime then they probably won't sell what you think they are selling at all.
When they actually start practicing/drilling again instead of lazing around. It seemed like Hiro is the only still keeping with the training ever since they got selected as official parasites so far.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
What is that image, anyway? I don't recognize it.
Strunkriidiisk
THE LEGEND
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's an electric shaving razor.
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Given how they reacted to Hiro still running around in the practice unit it doesn't seem like they've done much of any sort of training since they were deemed capable of being Parasites, and given Nana's mention that Zero Two is a part of the units operating on the front lines the squad are essentially the local militia.
Now its kind of hard to tell if Zero Two's whole "They'll be dead soon anyway" is because she's seen other such units wiped out while she was fighting closer to the front...or if she just outright doesn't care about people because they mostly just see her as a monster or a thing that isn't human. I get the feeling that there's going to be some tension between Hiro, who still views the other parasites as his friends and his new relationship with Zero Two who pretty much wants to run away with him.
The other thing I'm hoping for is that they take care of the whole Ichigo and Hiro unrequited crush thing without resorting to "Ichigo's confession screws up Hiro and Zero Two's ability to pilot right when this horribly powerful Klaxosaur is going to attack" or pitching Ichigo as the person that Hiro should end up with.
Dream Logic
An offseason swallow
- Location
- In transit
anyone else notice that Z2 says 'you want to ride ME'? It could be because of sex metaphors but it also might imply she and Strelizia have a bit more connection then is normal.
I mean, what's his face literally talks about Z2 eating him and in the OP Protag gets eaten by it in the beast form before it becomes humanoid.
I mean, what's his face literally talks about Z2 eating him and in the OP Protag gets eaten by it in the beast form before it becomes humanoid.
Edit: also just noticed when the girls speak it's the mech but the boys get the pilot view. Given how much Ichigo seems to dictate the actions of her mech I wonder if it's more symbiotic then we first thought.
Edit; dumb thing I just realized. Z2 is associated with Honey quite heavily. Besides coming from how bees pollinate flowers(which I swear to god is going to be tied into the system somehow), honey is also used as a term of endearment in romantic relationships. In the OP alone she eats honey and she eats her honey.
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PhoenixMercurous
Soaring through the stars
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm not sure that's true. Piloting the FranXXes requires the two pilots to synchronize. It was mentioned in episode 3 that Ichigo, Hiro, and Ichigo's partner (Gato?) grew up together at the same orphanage and are basically siblings*. I think we see a shot of Delphinium's startup sequence showing Ichigo and her partner at ~113% sync, which is the highest shown AFAIK. This suggests a closer relationship results in better sync scores. This notion is further supported by the events of episode 4.
Hiro training on his own is probably a result of his hyper-focus on piloting and lack of teamwork. If he spent more time interacting with his comrades, learning to better understand and consider other people's feelings, and putting work into maintaining his relationships he'd probably be in a much better spot.
*That might give some unfortunate implications, but I don't want to deal with those right now.
--
On another note, this show is crazy. I'm not sure if it's crazy in a good way or a bad way though. It feels like someone smashed Evangelion and FLCL together in a particle accelerator and put a Kill-la-Kill color filter over the resulting particle tracks. I'm not sure if this show is going to be great, a train wreck, or a combination of both, but I bet it's going to be one of those.
Also, does 02 remind anyone else of Haruko from FLCL? I can't put my finger on why though. Maybe it's just the show's art style and the two character's shared association with the color red.
Edit: It's been years since I watch FLCL, so I may be incorrectly remembering things.
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Strunkriidiisk
THE LEGEND
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Goro.
It helps that they both fit the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, too.
PhoenixMercurous
Soaring through the stars
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I've been thinking on this a bit more. One of the similarities is their roles in the plots. Both are mysterious women from outside the male protagonist's small world that overturn his status quo and into
Edit: Another random musing about this show: I was thinking about why 02 is, in my opinion, the best character in the show and came to a possibly interesting realization. Hiro is (in my opinion) boring, but he's boring because he lacks agency, not because he lacks character*. 02 gives him agency in the plot and that, combined with her crazy personality, is why she carries the show.
*He might also be a bit generic.
I realized this somewhat extends to the other stamens, they only gain the ability to pilot FranXXes through the pistils. On the flip side, the girls can pilot the FranXXes on their own, but it's incredibly dangerous, or so we're told. This setup of "men requiring women to gain agency" is contrasted with the patriarchal society the story takes place in; the leader's title is Papa. Who knows if this is intentional on the writer's part, or if they'll do anything with it.
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- Location
- The Hague
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I actually thought they did alright in the most recent episode. They set up a good ambush, they're able to pin the klaxosaur down, and so on. Given how much stronger it was compared to the previous episode's klaxosaurs, they did okay.
That's actually a really interesting perspective. From the time the mechanical designs and title were revealed I expected it would involve the female characters 'becoming' the robot in some way, with the male characters as pilots, which I was a bit hesitant about because of the boys controlling girls thing. But it didn't exactly turn out that way, what with Ichigo being in charge of her partnership and the wider team, but I'd not really thought it could be taken in the other direction.
Dream Logic
An offseason swallow
- Location
- In transit
I don't think the rest of the team is incompetent so much as they're out of their depth. The narrative seems to imply they're either a test bed for new stuff or just set up to fail.
Given that the group managed to hold their own against one head and pinned it for the finale they seem to be getting better quickly.
Given that the group managed to hold their own against one head and pinned it for the finale they seem to be getting better quickly.
Trung-t-rung
Solve problems by crashing asteroid into them
- Location
- Vietnam
Not exactly helping when most of them, except maybe Goro, either pity or express absolute disdain for him. Even Ichigo did in some way. Staying with them would only further his own self-loathing.
And while I'm sure closeness with their partners would result in better sync rates, even the three most stable pairs have trouble with putting down a small Conrad-class, Mitsuru was basically being carried by Strelizia and 02.
I agree that Zero Two is interesting but Hiro has enough potential as an excellent MC, or at least an interesting foil to her and could lead to them butting-head in the future.
Zero Two's goal is to opposing the system and escaping somewhere, while Hiro is indoctrinated to believe that piloting is their sole reason for existence. At the same time, he had shown tendencies to not fully agree with the system(giving other kids names, and in the last episode, actually went against orders to confess to 02) and he still remarked that he was part of the squad, meaning he still considered them to be valuable people to him. While Zero Two couldn't give least of a shit when it came to any parasites besides herself or Hiro, citing them as no different than just a number in the statistics. This could either lead Hiro's attempt to change Zero Two's viewpoint and succeed or Zero Two managing to sway him to her side and it's up to the others parasites to convince them the opposite.
PhoenixMercurous
Soaring through the stars
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Okay, I should rephrase. I'm guessing Hiro's single minded obsession with becoming a parasite and solo training was, at least in part, what lead to his situation at the start of the show. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding the show.
I think I need to recollect my thoughts on this and correct my previous position. Zero Two is the driving force of the show, so she's the character the most interesting things happen around. I ended up mixing that up with "most interesting character." Ichigo is probably my favorite character so far, though ymmv.
Also, there are several things that make it hard for me to see the details of Hiro's character; I hadn't even thought about many of the points you bring up.
Derek58
Rocket Punch is Best Punch
- Location
- Getter Valhalla
That group from the other Plantation are super dead.
We didn't even get any of their numbers.
Generic character designs, generic mechs = cannon fodder.
And Hiro's got some weirdass pulsing blue growth on his chest
Just in time to face a horde of 100+ Klaxosaurs
We didn't even get any of their numbers.
Generic character designs, generic mechs = cannon fodder.
And Hiro's got some weirdass pulsing blue growth on his chest
Just in time to face a horde of 100+ Klaxosaurs
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- Location
- Outrealms
That group from the other Plantation are super dead.
We didn't even get any of their numbers.
Generic character designs, generic mechs = cannon fodder.
And Hiro's got some weirdass pulsing blue growth on his chest
Just in time to face a horde of 100+ Klaxosaurs
Near as I can figure out, either Hiro is becoming part Klaxosaur like Zero Two, or he's pregnant. Complete with not wanting his family to know.
Derek58
Rocket Punch is Best Punch
- Location
- Getter Valhalla
Oh! He's literally becoming the Blue Oni to 02's Red
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
Well, 8 said that his >yellow blood cells were way higher, which was the opposite of that usually happened
So at a guess, hmm. Maybe it's an immune thing? You pilot with someone you "cant tell where one of you ends and other begins" - theres probably some kind of contamination going on in there. Everyone else who got with best girl had the immune response to the klaxosaur part of 02 and died, hiro is compatible and so while its taking its toll on him, he might actually be able to properly take it.
I'm assuming it's the oni part of 002 given the blue on hiro matches their blood.
So at a guess, hmm. Maybe it's an immune thing? You pilot with someone you "cant tell where one of you ends and other begins" - theres probably some kind of contamination going on in there. Everyone else who got with best girl had the immune response to the klaxosaur part of 02 and died, hiro is compatible and so while its taking its toll on him, he might actually be able to properly take it.
I'm assuming it's the oni part of 002 given the blue on hiro matches their blood.
Also this better not just be a STD metaphor- it's got some tinges of it but it doesn't feel like that's what they're going for.
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
There's yellow bone marrow, but not cells. You could be generous and say some of the other stuff in the blood counts as a sorta, but there is no yellow cell.