Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: DARLING in the FRANXX
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15523 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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My take. Her line about twisted side, is I would say that she generally has the airs of being super nice, that she would keep promises, but she only made that promise to Futoshi to be nice, and really on the inside she would break it. She thinks herself twisted because she is really not as 'nice' as she acts, but I don't think from an outside perspective should be taken as her being nasty, but its fair that she actually be a little selfish and say what she actually thinks. Her attraction to Mitsuru I think fits into her perhaps having a physical attraction, but also looking up to him not feeling pressured to just be nice to other, and that I think she sees him as mature that it gets her feelings going. Generally I think she sees Mitsuru as someone who challenges her a bit, rather than Futoshi who will simply worship her and sooner put her in a bubble, along with a maturity that I think Kokoro is looking for with her maternal instincts. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2560 |
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In this show, Futoshi/Kokoro were well established in thier characteristics and relationship and Mitsuru's motivations relative to Hiro hinged obliquely on one flashback, relative to Ikuno ?? Elixir injection (everybody but Futoshi seems to know), Child Fever, former squad13 all came out of the blue. There may be an opaque reasons for all this or it could be bad writing, time will tell. |
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3767 |
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@Hiroki no Takuya Certainly toxic relationships can be used to good dramatic effect, but in this case, Ikuno and Mitsuru could only go apart. It would be one thing if they were codependent or something, but their relationship was mostly defined by lack of interest in each other on every level. I don't think they would have given each other the time of day if they didn't have to be partners. I can't really see them continuing having borne any fruit, to say nothing of the in-story necessity to switch up a increasingly non-functional pair of pilots.
Likewise I will have to agree with DuskyPredator that Mitsuru may be a better pairing with Kokoro than Futoshi. They were well established in their personalities and relationship but both were very one-dimensional. They were mostly just nice to each other and while it may be nice to have a couple that didn't have any (apparent) problems, if they stayed like that, there wouldn't really be any room for growth. They would have just stayed the nice couple throughout the show, and honestly I think the results here were much more interesting than if that were the case. While unpleasant, this break brought out another side of Futoshi and Kokoro's personalities that made them more interesting characters. While they were likable enough, I can't say that I was all that invested in either of them before this, and honestly I don't think I even bothered to remember Futoshi's name before this episode. |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4390 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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well that theory i could buy. the US will definitely have zero problems when it comes to the birth rates, but in japan is a whole other story so its makes sense that there will be a series thats pretty much using it as an analogy without flatfully saying it out loud. i just hope they don't go even deeper into this heavily controversial subject. that could spell trouble for the series if they plaster it for all to see. |
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Mojave
 Posts: 178 |
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I honestly don't know what the message being conveyed by the show's treatment of Futoshi and Kokoro's partnership is supposed to be, especially in the show's wider context about love and relationships. A lesson about relationships that appear to be good but are secretly struggling? No, the partnership was genuinely working well for both Kokoro and Futoshi up to this point. The need for unhealthy relationships to end? Once again, nope, it was a thriving partnership, probably the most successful one in the whole unit. Honestly, the only possible messages I could glean from it would be extremely negative ones, such as "Leave successful relationships the second that you become the slightest bit interested in anyone else." And then Kokoro has her talk with Mitsuru in the cockpit about betrayal, right after she has knowingly betrayed her partner, which just muddies the waters even further.
Sure, Ikuno and Mitsuru both come out better due to the partner change, but is the main message really supposed to be that the happiness of the one must be sacrificed for the greater good? That seems a bit strange too. Plus, Kokoro hasn't actually given any reasons yet for switching, or any indication that she's actually any happier with this new partnership. The only thing we got was her switching partners and saying "Sorry, Futoshi," which doesn't really tell us anything. Without any clear message or logic behind it, the whole situation doesn't really do anything narratively, except turn Futoshi into a pathetic, tragic figure. Maybe this will all be cleared up in future episodes, but as of right now it's just genuinely confusing and doesn't seem to advance the show's overarching theme any, instead setting it back. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11451 |
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It was a functional relationship as far as the Franxx were concerned, but outside of that it was only perfect in appearance. Go watch again and pay attention to Kokoro's face and body language every time Futoshi was raving about protecting her and being with her forever. Girl was very uncomfortable, most likely feeling smothered, but still wanting to play the "nice girl" role everyone believed that of her. It's an old story.
That could be. But unless Ikuno is bi, the problem here is that her partnerships with boys in the mechs still worked despite her lack of interest in them on any level. If Mitsuru has sexual feelings for Hiro and not just Hiro-worship, the same problem exists there. Either these kids are bisexual or the Franxx don't just run on sexual energy. If the latter is the case, then piloting Franxx is an object lesson in consent. Both partners have to be on board for it to work. I think my take is still that the partnership with Ichigo failed because Ichigo was not only certain that it would, but actively did not want it to succeed. Whether that's because she's subconsciously put off by sexual implications of the setup (of which few of them seem to be aware), or because it goes against what she thinks is true (only m/f couples work), no telling. |
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Mojave
Posts: 178 |
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I did watch specifically for that. She's slightly put-off at a few points, but never even approaches what you described. I even specifically looked to see if there was quiet reluctance in her agreeing to his promise, but found that her response was cheerful and enthusiastic. If you watch that scene, you'll see that the face she makes during that scene and tone of voice are actually virtually the same as the one she makes at one point with Mitsuru after their development. So I don't think they were trying to convey that Kokoro was actually secretly unsatisfied or uncomfortable with Futoshi. That's why I said the message is so baffling. They would have been fine if they had shown before that Kokoro was actually feeling unhappy or smothered, but instead they portrayed her as actually happy with the partnership with Futoshi. Not a perfect relationship of course, but still stronger than any of the other pairs. And even after partnering with Mitsuru, she gave no indication of unhappiness with Futoshi or explanations for why she left. I guess that's why I'm so confused as to what the message is supposed to be. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15523 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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For me, I think it was looking at her in the battle of the sexes episode, and perhaps when she was in a swimsuit, she strangely put off by Futoshi's 'compliments', then if she was as equally into the partnership as he is. Kokoro seemed pretty good at putting on the totally happy, nice girl look, that I think it only started to crumble when more mature aspects came into play, something she could not so easily put on airs of.
You may think that there was no hint to her having those feelings, but the fact we saw her looking elsewhere earlier, was the hint. The episode itself was being very forefront, that Futoshi's actions are not exactly entirely pleasant. For talks that they were perfect, honestly there really was not a hell lot there. Futoshi would talk game about how much he worshiped her, and Kokoro would just smile. They did not really fight, or feel like they challenged each other in any way, and that goes I think that Kokoro could not be herself around him. If you did not pick up the reluctance of when Kokoro agreed to the promise, I don't know if there is anything I can do to help you there. But to me it felt fake, something she agreed with because that is the role she is in, while I think we had started to see hints of more genuine side of her that was not just that easy smile. And this is the part that she refers to herself as being twisted, that she act as such without actually feeling that way. |
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青白
Posts: 184 |
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Just in case you guys didn't notice, when Kokoro was going into Stampede mode her mech looked a lot like the mech in Evangelion going berserk!
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Panayiotis
Posts: 80 |
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I certainly do not empathize with Futoshi and i'm not sure that the show expects me to either. I'm willing to bet that before this episode over half of his lines were related to food. For this episodes fat joke, we are shown that he literarily sleeps with bread.
https://imgur.com/a/VEFml In this episode he acts like the most stereotypical creepy nice guy possible, and when his girl leaves him we are treated to numerous shots of his incredibly exaggerated crying face. https://imgur.com/a/ht9EE When I see those shots, is the show telling me to feel sad for his emotional anguish or is the show pointing at him and telling me to laugh at how pathetic he is? Unfortunately I feel neither and I just feel incredibly annoyed every time he is on the screen. |
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jl07045
 Posts: 1527 Location: Riga, Latvia |
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I think that the show tells that he's emotionally awkward like the rest of them, but he expresses that by being overbearing - obviously something that many people might find socially unacceptable or, 'creepy'. Personally I don't doubt that he feels some attraction towards Kokoro, maybe in a somewhat possessive manner, may be not, so his reactions to her decisions however he expresses them are to me at least a bit sympathetic. |
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2404 |
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Because she is faking being fine with it which is why she made that comment about not being as nice as she seems. Their shtick is essentially Futoshi is one of those creepy stalker otaku that would go tell some idol that they love them and want to be with them forever, and Kokoro played the part of the idol where they fake it and act happy instead of creeped out.
Why? It absolutely needed to fail. The kids are still just following the rails the 'adults' have made for them. The series seems to be going in a direction where the kids will eventually challenge / question the foundation of their society, and at that point I hope the result is them choosing for themselves what to do with their lives. You could maybe say Ikuno was close to that point when the showed that initiative, but Ichigo is still very much in the camp of doing exactly what papa says. If they just broke free of the 'adults' without even trying like that, the entire adolescence part would be a stupid joke. They have to realize what they want for themselves or there is no point. |
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Chrysostomus
Posts: 335 |
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So, the plot twist is they have the most unhealthy relationship of the cast, way worse than the Mitsuru-Ikuno pair. I'm telling you, this is gonna be OJ Simpson part 2 once Kokoro wants to try out that whole baby thing. Last edited by Chrysostomus on Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:47 am; edited 4 times in total |
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Coup d'État
 Posts: 179 |
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Can you explain this reference? As someone who's not American all I can think of is "getting away with murdering your wife/ex due to insufficient evidence". I don't think that's what you mean. |
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Chrysostomus
Posts: 335 |
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