Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: DARLING in the FRANXX
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10086 Location: Virginia |
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The title of the show is Darling in the Franxx it has 19 episodes to go. This means that, most likely, Hiro will survive more than three rides or, less likely, that the title of Darling can be bestowed on others. We were told in the first episode that Hiro was somehow special since he was given the option of staying at Plantation 13 even though he had failed his flight test.
The idea that non of the Parasites will become an adult was foreshadowed. In the opening ceremony they were told to fight to the last drop of blood. |
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ThatMoonGuy
Posts: 364 |
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Hence why I'd see it as surprising if he actually died. It wouldn't be the first show to pull off that stunt and it could deliver the message that getting in a destructive relationship is not something romantic but actually dangerous thing that may end up getting you into serious trouble. For as much as I like Oni, she has some rather abusive behaviour. I get it, she isn't treated as human and all that but a lot of what she says and does is not nice at all. I mean, saying that "weaklings are better off dead" is a pretty evil thing specially if you say that to someone whose partner you (may) have killed. I hope the show calls her out on that or does something with it because so far her little cutesy way is beguiling a very cruel and selfish individual. Honestly, the more I think about their relationship the more I feel that it really isn't a healthy thing. Hiro dying would be a way to show that this kind of behaviour may end up going bad places while, in comparison, the relationship between Goro and Ichigo would be one based on mutual support. But that's all an "what if" and, yes, you're right. This is a show about Hiro and Oni and I don't expect them to do something like the things I said above. I do, however, hope they'll address the more thorny sides of their romance. As for that foreshadowing you mentioned, it can be taken that way but it can also be something more along the lines of SnK's "offer your heart" where it's not that they'll be sacrificed or anything but just that their fight is so dangerous that their survival is less than guaranteed. [/spoiler]If you were not directing this to me, I'm sorryspoiler[] |
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Ronie Peter
Posts: 120 |
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Your comment is funny lol |
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RyuuGP
 Posts: 26 |
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Episode 5 was the best episode so far, maybe one of the best episode this season so far. But at the same time watching it was a bit weird, it felt like watching different anime completely.
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Gurren Rodan
 Posts: 266 |
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It occurs to me that 02's different attitudes are just the result of her relationships with Hiro and... Well, everyone else. 02 is dismissive or even borderline hostile with most people (see her conversations with Ichigo and the other team leader), because she's perceived as a "monster" - she's dangerous to pilots, and her independent personality clashes with the distressingly over-structured society these kids are stuck in. Hiro, on the other hand, accepts her and even pursues her, so she's nice to him and even reminds him of the danger*, because she genuinely likes him - or, at least, she craves the connection she achieved with him that she's never achieved with anyone else.
tl;dr: 02 is callous towards/about most people because she doesn't care or like most people; she's honest with Hiro because the two of them want each other. I'm greatly intrigued by this show, and I look forward to seeing where it's headed; it's hard to say for sure right now, but I feel like DitF really wants to say something earnest about subjects like sexuality and maturity, and how society handles them. *spoiler[Admittely, her offer "out" for him seemed more like goading him into staying "in", but ultimately she does seem to want him to be fully aware of what he could be in for - hence, her happy-dance at the end of the episode when he's "in", and with confidence.] |
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meiam
Posts: 3472 |
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Not watching the show but I'd jump in so hard if the cardboard cutout died and was replaced by someone else. Every new MC could be it's own arc and have it's own theme. New mech form every 4-5 episodes. So much possibility. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10086 Location: Virginia |
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002's attitude that it is normal for the weak to die is likely a defense mechanism. Both fighting side by side (or butt to crotch) and having sexual relationship form strong bonds with another individual. In this case the relationship takes elements of both. Unfortunately, for her everyone she has ever been paired with has died as a result or left before they died. Becoming very calloused is likely the only alternative to being consumed by guilt. This is complicated by the fact that she is not completely human, which has apparently been emphasized to her. To expect her to display a great deal of empathy is asking too much.
Since I don't see any human having sex with any of the monsters we have seen to date, apparently 002 was produced by some sort of genetic grafting. Hiro with his yellow blood cells and likely the other parasites are also very possibly GMOs of sorts. I would say that the likelihood of Hiro dying is fairly slender as they have not positioned anyone to take his place. 002 doesn't give the title of "Darling" to just anyone. Having a new pilot for 002 every three or so episodes would make for a different sort of show though. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Honestly, after seeing the last episode, I'm started to doubt that there are *any* regular humans in this whole show.
The one that *acts* the most human, IMO, is 02. The second most "human" group is the Parasite group, and "our" parasites are considered abnormal by at least the other plantation's parasites (Plantation 26, IIRC). The old folks mention that 016 is a special strain, but don't mention if there are other special strains in the group. Then there is the part about "yellow" blood cells, which AFAIK, don't exist in RL humans. My take: they're all mutated clones created for the sole purpose of piloting the FrankXX machines. The "adults" are the *least* human, IMO. They rarely show any emotion, and they slavishly follow whatever orders they're given. The "Papa" is almost certainly an AI, and the Parasites are taught to worship it, which they do. I wonder if the world (that is, the various Plantations, Gardens, and other such structures) are actually populated and run by humans, or if there are even any true humans left. The Plantations, at least, seem to also serve as a sort of ark, maintaining what little is left of the old world from before things fell apart. Perhaps they're running on autopilot (or AI-pilot) and the parasites are just a defense mechanism against the monsters (and who knows what they really are at this point). So far, the whole society seems pretty sterile and docile -- less so with the Parasites, but still even with them. It's hard to imagine real humans acting the way the ones we've seen so far act. I suspect there will be some Big Reveals on the subject at some point. |
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Niello
Posts: 302 |
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With how they set up Hiro as being famous among the children even outside their own platoon, it more or less reduced that chance to 0%. |
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GoldCrusader
Posts: 1023 |
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I like Hiro a lot. He has this desire and kind of insanity shining in his eyes. He's a really cool protagonist. I just generally like the whole cast. They all have these cool unique traits to themselves.
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Niello
Posts: 302 |
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I hope that they will eventually get around to explaining the code system because at the moment it makes no sense. What we know right now is that the number codes are based at least in some part to the ability to pilot FranXX. However, this seems to be something given at birth and stay that way. So those adults must've some way to evaluate the ability at birth or produce them to be of certain capability (possibly through genetics, which raise the question of how much genetic has to do with piloting FranXX).
There are a number of things that doesn't quite fit here that either are helpful for speculations or a result of sloppy world building: - The system set up seems too robust for these children to be the first (and only) generation of piloting the FranXX. If there are multiple generations then the power-base code system breaks down. What code do they give a kid that's born after? Unless existing children died then the only codes available are the larger numbers. Even if some children died then only random numbers would be open for use and that renders the power-base system pointless. The way I can see this working is if every single one of the children within a generation die. Most likely from expiratory date of some kind because if they wait for them to die from fighting then near the end it's going to thin the defense too much to be practical. Obviously this is a set up for a tragedy. - From what we have been shown, the pilot state of mind and compatibility with their partner are important factors in determining how well they can synchronise with FranXX. That seems to take priority over other aspects such as combat technique or ability to devise strategy. The code system, despite having purpose in ranking the children, doesn't take into account who's going to pair up with who as we've seen children with vastly different numbers paired up. The state of mind is naturally determined more by the environment and upbringing than genetics. Neither of these seem to be taken into account for the code. Despite seemingly able to control or at least monitor a child capability from or even before birth (because how else are they going to know the power level?), it's weird that they don't seem to be capable of cloning them or have ways to reliably create/choose children with high power level. It's clear that these children don't grow into adult so it is likely that they weren't born naturally. Because of that it doesn't make a lot of sense for the adults to not strive for the best. Either this is sloppy world building or it implies that diversity plays a crucial part in utilising FranXX, which also bring us back to why pairing wasn't taken into account when code was assigned. This leads into the plot point of how platoon 13 is the special one with the most diversity. It is also an addition to the genetic theme that's running through the show (genetic diversity is extremely important for a species long term survival, especially in small population). It may also potentially lead into more of the pairs changing in the future. As of right now each pairing are made up of characters with similar personalities, most likely because it is assumed to the best compatibility for them. If the thing about diversity is true then at some point they are going to change around most if not all of the pairings (except 02 and Hiro) to overcome stronger enemies. - The code that slightly indicate each child's ability is static and doesn't change over time, despite how the factors involved (state of mind and pairing) are contradictorily dynamic. It appears as if they want to make connection between the code system and genetic theme. The dynamic parts, including the changes Hiro is experiencing as of episode 5, could be a metaphor of epigenetics (regulation genes activation). It still doesn't make sense what could possibly make the code useful by being fixed though. It's also kind of inefficient to simply name every children as number code if they are going to experiment with some of them (like Hiro being special but is code 16, which doesn't necessarily stand out or intuitive). Also not really all that functional. I'm blanking on what could make this useful. ____ Unrelated to the codes, but another thing that bothers me is that it doesn't seem like these children were taught much about Klaxosaur at all. Not their types, their behaviours, their weak point, nor the strategy for fighting the different types. Last edited by Niello on Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Chrono1000
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This episode was a lot more character focused giving more information on the characters and what they know about the world. Or should I say how little they know. That the other parasites just react in shocked surprise when Zorome asks about how many of their group have become adults says a lot about how ridiculous that idea would be. There is a good chance that the parasites are disposable bioweapons that aren't meant to last long due to the number of battles they are thrown into. That would explain why Zero Two has a severe case of nihilism. I am guessing that in the next episode our cheerful newbies will see what happens when a battle doesn't go well.
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I'm used to shows, and the community, falling quite in lo...lust with the dangerous type characters, and I totally get it, honestly. But for me, I'm at least with you on this. 002 is certainly sexy, and I do like her as a character, but I've never been into the dangerous outsider that comes and rescues you from your boring normal life type, and that's exactly what she is. I'm used to anime love interests being that character, and they usually win too, and I'm also used to the danger of that never being called out, because that type of escapism is pretty much part for the course. I don't expect it to be explored here, because what it seems they are trying to do thematically would be mostly counter to that, but if they can somehow balance both, and explore 002's effect on Hiro and her other partners, as well as the potential danger of that type of relationship, I'd be very happy. I do think this episode entertained the idea of exploring it, which was good enough for me to rate it as the best episode yet, but I don't think it'll play a major part going forward. Hiro will likely go through this transition period, and once his body, inevitably, accepts the blue stuff, he'll recover and be able to pilot with 002 issue free. I hope they have more adventurous ideas though. |
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Mojave
 Posts: 178 |
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I'm not so sure that we can really consider 002 to be a manic pixie dream girl any longer. She may have fit that mold for the first few episodes, but we now know that she is for sure a social darwinist, almost certainly a nihilist, and quite possibly a psychopath. And yes, those traits extend to her treatment of Hiro as well, the man she claims to be her special partner. She doesn't express those traits as strongly towards him as she does everyone else, but she still clearly expresses them towards him. That is much, much darker than the manic pixie dream girl trope.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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My view is that the numbers have nothing at all to do with ranking (at least in any straightforward sense). I think they're simply designators: the number you're born with designates your base genes. 016 has 016 genes, for example. But, I think they modify the base genes in various ways to see what happens and to see how creatures grown from those genes perform and interact with creatures born from different sets of base genes. Science is about observation and recording those observations in order to obtain data and create hypothesis. The overall goal seems to create creatures that combine in a way that creates the most optimal link with the FrankXX, and thus the best protectors of the Plantation. I don't think ranking has anything to do with it, per se. They simply observe which genes do best and try to figure out why so that they can reproduce more of the successes. As I said, the Parasites seem to be nothing more than disposable experiments to those in charge, who are mainly interested in getting as much mileage out of them before they're destroyed by the invading entities. The only reason they're not *more* disposable is that they have limited resources, so they can't afford to just toss aside even those who are marginal failures/successes. Previous uses of gene 016 must've produced some sort significant success since they were prepared to let Hiro remain even though he failed to combine. Even so, there would probably be a point where they would cut their losses and get rid of him if 002 hadn't shown up. |
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