Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: DARLING in the FRANXX
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VerQuality
 Posts: 137 |
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(from the review)
I'm not sure I'd go quite this far, but I am definitely starting to get some sense of muddling. Some parts just don't seem to fit together quite as well as I'm sure is intended, and between the relationship drama, the robot fights, the dystopian setting, and the themes of sexuality and relationships, it's starting to feel somewhat adrift. The earlier episodes were strongly anchored by Hiro and 02, but absent that, jumping from character to character is starting to feel very disjointed in just what the series is trying to do. It's almost starting to feel a bit like there's too many cooks in the kitchen. Part of this is the lack of a strong anchor, and once these character establishing episodes are out of the way and we enter into the next 6-episode block, things will snap back together, but at the moment I'm definitely less enthused about this series than I was over the first few episodes. |
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Scherzo
 Posts: 149 |
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I just don't know if it's romantic; I'm pretty certain it's not on Mitsuru's part at least. For Kokoro, maybe, but I wouldn't pigeonhole her into having romantic feelings for Mitsuru just yet. My read has been more her trying to be motherly to Mitsuru; correct me if I'm wrong, but even though she's using babies as an example of 'something that needs others', she doesn't actually use other in a gendered way, right? I don't think this was so much giving Mitsuru a shot of the Not!Gays as much as allowing him to be honest about his emotional need for companionship he'd suppressed since the incident with Hiro.
I think the Parasites emotional hangups are directly related to the dystopian setting, trying to recapture sparks of 'individuality' in order to improve performance of defense. But at the same time the system at the beginning is fairly rigid, Boy Stamens piloting Girl Pistils. While 02's arrival didn't completely overthrow that order, it stirred the pot in a way that's allowing the pilots sense of self to truly flourish, and they find themselves more questioning the ways things are laid out for them. While obviously romantic and sexual relationships are one of the main aspects of the series, I think the show might be saying those aren't the only sorts of relationships that can be meaningful or powerful. That the Franxx are designed to be operated in a heterosexual context might merely be an artifact of the culture of the Plantations, where heterosexual pairs cohabitate out of mere habit. Franxx pairs can be that, but I think it's possible that they can be more than just that. Last edited by Scherzo on Sun Mar 25, 2018 3:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5510 Location: Mexico |
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It was the opposite to me, honestly. If Nana had dismissed it, then you could say the dystopian society is repressing homosexual expressions, but since Nana agreed to testing, that doesn't seem to be the case; rather, the show itself spousing the idea that gay relationships aren't viable whatsoever. |
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zrnzle500
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I agree with Scherzo that I don't see all the pairings as necessarily romantic. I didn't see Mitsuru and Ikuno as such and I don't see Ikuno and Futoshi that way either, and I think Kokoro and Mitsuru isn't necessarily romantic, though I wouldn't write off the possibility entirely. You said it is too early to pass judgement, James, but it kind of feels like you have all but done so. I thought Ichigo's statement after the pistil-pistil test only spoke to Ichigo's not being into women and not to the society's opinion of pistil-pistil pairs or the technical capabilities of the Franxx. I think it is clear that the Franxx could be piloted by pistil-pistil pairs, and their overseers seem open enough to it. They could have easily rebuffed young Mitsuru's proposal for piloting with Hiro by going "We can't because we're both boys" but they didn't seem to do so, though that may become clearer if they explain Hiro's change in demeanor and memory when Mitsuru met Hiro again after the procedure in the flashback. I share your concerns and I can't say it won't go in that direction but you seem to have have interpreted things in the most negative way.
On another note, after seeing a recent Youtube video on the history of Mecha, I have been thinking about Darling in the Franxx's place in the genre. It doesn't seem to be revolutionizing the genre but I think it potentially playing an important part nonetheless because of this "While the plot still has yet to take much shape, the week-to-week experience of watching DARLING remains as fun and intriguing as ever." It's a mecha anime that a wide(r) section of fans are watching, as one of the most popular of shows that started this season on CR and with the second most members on MAL. For a genre in decline like Mecha, this, I think, is important. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, can we say the same about Knight's & Magic? ID-0?? Even those critics who don't see that much potential to revolutionize the genre in it are following this, not (just) out of professional obligation but because they want to see where it is going. The real test will be if people remember it after its done, as Aldnoah Zero -the first season at least - and Gagantia had plenty of views themselves, but I think it could be an important work in the genre even if it doesn't revolutionize it. |
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Scherzo
Posts: 149 |
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Well keep in mind Nana really isn't a member of the 'Adults' either; she has the same sort of individuality as the Parasites. I feel if she had been dismissive and Ikuno had tried it anyways, that would've been much more of a indicator of Ikuno as haplessly tragic. The way it plays out in the episode makes me feel it's more Ichigo's lack of awareness of female emotional connections that hinders the connection than Pistil-Pistil connections being impossible. |
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sfxx
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And it's the same when it comes to Mitsuru and Hiro's. To me it just seem like he admired Hiro, like an idol. Someone on reddit compared Mitsuru's situation to that of the villain from Incredibles, he looked up to person to the point of trying to be more like them and strived to stand beside them, only to be dissmissed (from his point of view), which caused him to hold a grudge for years. And unlike Ikuno's crush on Ichigo and her homosexuality, that was heavily implied from episode 4, the assumption of Mitsuru being gay/bi (and not just worshipping Hiro) is drawn from an ambiguous line of wanting to pilot franxx with him (we don't know whether he meant WITH him or alongside him). Since Darling in the Franxx is quite heavy on pretty forward foreshadowing, you can't really decide, if he's gay, bi or straight and just sees Hiro as a hero, based on one uncertain line of dialogue, like the reviewer did. If he really had or has a thing for Hiro, it will probably be further implied or outright said in the future episodes, so we should wait a little bit more, before we know for sure. |
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Scherzo
Posts: 149 |
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He's waking up from the dreams sweaty and with a blush on his face. It's clearly more than admiration. His dialogue with Ikuno I feel only makes it clearer. |
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AksaraKishou
Posts: 1412 Location: End of the World |
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...Wasn't that because he was sick? Or am i just miss-remembering stuff? |
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Vaisaga
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That's because he was sick. I also don't consider his feelings for Hiro as romantic because I was just like him when I was a kid. There was they one boy who was the super cool kid that I'd follow around like a puppy. It'd go so far that if he didn't pick me for his team during recess I'd go run off crying. It's just something I grew out of. The problem with Ikuno being unable to pilot is probably because Ichigo is straight. Had Ikuno been the one connected to the franxx I bet it'd have worked. |
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sfxx
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As for his interactions with Ikuno this episode implies that he knows about her fellings for Ichigo long before that, and a few episodes ago he said that they're nothing alike. Though I admit this one is more ambiguous. As I said before, we should wait a bit more, before we know for sure, now it's not really 100% clear. |
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Scherzo
Posts: 149 |
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Yes, an illness that suddenly clears up when starts to get past his emotional hangups...
I think the visual intent of it was pretty clear, and you'd kind of have to be willfully blind to ignore the blatant homoeroticism. The fact that he wasn't much moved by the Battle of the Sexes shenanigans speaks even further to that. |
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Chrysostomus
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15524 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I for one believe that Kokoro does have a crush on Mitsuru, there is certainly a romantic aspect there. I think it went a ways to explore Kokoro herself. I really was not looking forward to this, because I was thinking that Mitsuru would be a poor choice to her, especially since Futoshi already seems so dedicated to her, but this episode went a good ways to actually explain and explore that.
Futoshi, was kind of pathetic. I know that sounds mean, but the promise he was forcing on Kokoro felt like less of them accepting a mutual exchange of feelings, and more that he is totally insecure, he latches onto his feelings of attraction to Kokoro, his feelings of wanting to protect and covet her, that he feels the need to secure those feelings in suddenly getting her to promise herself to him. While on Kokoro's side I think it looked more that she agreed because she does care for Futoshi, appreciates him caring for her, and is in general a nice person that she does not want to upset him. But what is clear is that Kokoro has been having other feelings, an attraction towards Mitsuru, and it is kind of growth that she explore that side. I think it might have even been the battle of the sexes episode that Kokoro especially realized she was not as comfortable with Futoshi as she thought, while there was something to another. And I think Mitsuru actually shown a sort of compatibility. When Futoshi got so angry that he punched Mitsuru, talking about the need to protect Kokoro, rather than chivalrous, I think it came across as gross. Futoshi's talk of not letting Kokoro do something dangerous, felt more along the lines of removing her ability to make her own decisions, like protecting a pet or something. And I think we were getting some focus that Kokoro and Mitsuru actually do sort of butt heads in the positive way that was characterised by Miku and Zorome, while I don't think the same could be said where Kokoro was with Futoshi. |
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sfxx
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In the battle of sexes, he blushes(not to the extent of the others) when Ikuno clothes melt. Splitting things by gender doesn't affect him, because he isn't that close with Ikuno, as other are with their respective partners. And "the blantant homoerotocism" with Mitsuru is ambiguous homoeroticsm, unlike with Ikuno. It's not as clear cut as with her and can go any way(gay/bi/straight). I suspect bi or straight (bi if they clear things about his feeling for Hiro) if anything, since they paired him with Kokoro, that has the whole connection to motherhood and children, and there is a theory that the show is analogy to Japan and it's declining birth rates, society getting older, so it might try to push the ideology of "make as much babies as you can". Currently all of this is speculation and it's up for personal interpretation, so deciding which of these options is definitely true, is not really possible. Last edited by sfxx on Mon Mar 26, 2018 11:54 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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AnimeIsLiterature
Posts: 12 |
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I liked the chapter. I am trying to follow all the psycological plot. However, I still don't have a clue of the reason for Kokoro's attraction to Mitsuru and how this relates to her maternal instincts, a hidden twisted personality, his antisocial resentment or Futoshi's unhealthy worshipment for her. I don't think she sees Mitsuru as a child figure or some kind of symbolic potencial father. If someone could enlight me with some ideas, it would be really useful.
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