Darling in the Franxx (Studio Trigger)

[pwhodges]

SPOILER: Show

001xHiro confirmed OTP

proof  SPOILER: Show

A little soon to say that, I suspect.

I am reminded of the last panel of Noragami before the past year's hiatus, in which Nora plants a kiss on the unsuspecting Yukine. This week we have at last seen the immediate consequences of that which hardly fall under the heading of OTP - though it's a bit complicated.

[AR-99]

Kind of glad that for now MAL forums are down. There was enough chatter about Futoshi getting cucked by Mitsuru after episode 17.

[Mr. Tines]

Also spotted in the PV : are we going to go full-on Gurren Lagann here soon?

SPOILER: Show

This mech looks like it's a pistil. Is it going to be part of the Hringhorni drive system?

---

Forget the above, I think.

Livewatch  SPOILER: Show

Klaxxohime putting out the trash



also
STRELIZIA AZUL MEME CONFIRMED
also
full GAINAX'd Gurren Lagann x Kill la Kill x Nadia x Fafner

Oh, and Kokoro is pregnant.

[Justacrazyguy]

Episode 20:

SPOILER: Show

SURPRISE ALIENS

Sure, why not? And here I thought I knew how this would play out but I guess not.

Man, this anime has been a great ride, I don't really want to leave!

[amitakartok]

Am I seriously not hallucinating this shit?! This is like someone crossed Eva over with Gunbuster and Kill la Kill while staying true to all three!

[Mr. Tines]

Am I seriously not hallucinating this shit?!

I think the hallucinations are at their end after raiding the Gainax vault with the secret stash (of discarded notes from previous projects). Finally, after meandering in place for a dozen episodes (maybe more), it looks like the series might actually try to hit the gonzo, balls-to-the-wall, levels of straight-faced lunacy that the list of the principals would have led anyone to expect in advance of the airing.

[AR-99]

Sums up my opinion of this episode nicely.

SPOILER: Show

[pwhodges]

Darling in the FranXX ep 20. This show finally destroyed itself - it is now fully exposed as being less than the sum of its parts. Every outside influence it incorporates has been used without the background or build-up which enabled it to work in its original setting. Even as a parody of past and current shows it fails to meet the standard set by Martian Successor Nadesico.

There is still a viable story thread to enjoy to the end - I want to know the fate of Hiro and Zerotsuu, but that's all that's left. Zerotsuu started to remind Hiro (and us) that the end of the picturebook had the princess reverting to type and consuming the prince who saved her; but this case is different, as it is the prince whose nature is changing (Hiro's horns). So she will go to rescue him, and in the end they together will, as Hiro's klaxosaur nature is fully expressed, bring about an impact-level event which will destroy the aliens, reset their timebomb, redeem the klaxosaurs (and the magma-energy which we are now told is related to them). Humanity will be chastened and APE (if they have survived this episode) utterly crushed. Or something. But however good an end they make, it cannot now justify the amount of time the show has spent failing to set it up convincingly.

[Mr. Tines]

Yeah, we could have had the boring "Hiro goes to do his job, Papa betrays them, klaxxohime makes her move on Hiro, Zero Two has to cry to free him, then they turn around and destroy Papa and all is saved", but instead the ex-Gainax staffers finally started doing what it is they know how to do and that's -- well, the track record speaks for itself : Nadia -- aliens reveal; Evangelion -- aliens reveal; Gurren Lagann -- aliens reveal; Kill la Kill-- aliens reveal. That's just how that sort of thing works for them.

The "Birth of APE" episode already narrowed down the options for what was going on with the three hooded members to either lizard men from the Hollow Earth or space aliens. Then looking back, even the shooting star scene in episode 7 can be seen as foreshadowing, and not just a bit of lazy animation.

There are certain anime titles that get under my skin when they turn out to be wildly at variance with what it says on the tin and not in a good way, and Darlifra is one of those, not helped by my immediate reaction to 002 being one of "Begone, thot!" : if there's a couple that I have any interest in, it's the much more understated Mitsu/Koko and not the irritating mains. Whether this last minute gear change will give us the crazy action robot romp we might have initially expected, or whether it's an excuse to open the saccharine pumps, only the next few weeks will tell. Given their calendar games in the past (Mother's Day Japan-edition and then the Royal Wedding), I expect episode 21 to be the big Mitsu/Koko one, though.

Also, episode 24 is Tanabata.

---

This episode's word play : VIRM + APE = VAMPIRE. Coincidence?

[robersora]

I think the hallucinations are at their end after raiding the Gainax vault with the secret stash (of discarded notes from previous projects). Finally, after meandering in place for a dozen episodes (maybe more), it looks like the series might actually try to hit the gonzo, balls-to-the-wall, levels of straight-faced lunacy that the list of the principals would have led anyone to expect in advance of the airing.

Sadly, it didn't care to put in the character work to have anything a cra-cra ending could pay off too.[/facetious]

[pwhodges]

if there's a couple that I have any interest in, it's the much more understated Mitsu/Koko and not the irritating mains.

Well, as so often my perspective is different from yours, but that's just how it is. That pair have very little non-generic backstory to give them interest as people, at least compared with 002/016. Still, they are clearly the only alternative source of interest among the children, and Kokoro's morning sickness and hints of memory recall (never mind that APE said they'd dealt with their memories differently from Hiro's and Zerotsū's) make it clear they are still important. (In fact they both have some memory recall, as they didn't even know each other on first return, but have now called out each other's names - though it caused them pain.)

[AR-99]

The rest of the squad is calling them by their names vs. their code names, they could have picked this up from that approach.

There was the earlier discussion around whether Kokoro was pregnant or not and if this had been noticed. If it slipped, possibilities are that no one had given birth in such a long time that the signs were missed, or Dr. Franxx is letting it go through.

Also, it hasn't been commented on yet - 02's blood is now red.

[robersora]

Wow, Episode 20.

This was plot twist after plot twist without rhyme or reason. Nothing made sense whatsoever, subsequently nothing had impact. (lol)
It’s never a good sign if you have to rely on the reactions of the characters to derive which emotions all those „revelations“ and plot twists should evoke, or what they even mean for the story or for the characters.
It’s also not a good sign, if you’re on the villains side, hoping that „the planet explodes, leaving nothing behind“.
Why would PAPA even convene in such niftily slick meeting halls, that doesn't go in line with their utilitarian mindset whatsoever.

EDIT:
I was filled with rage, when I wrote that up. Now I see, that it doesn't make any sense at all, lol. I'll try to salvage it to get my point across.


The writing was even below the low standards the show has set so far.
I’ve never expected such shoddily written exposition dumps in a show that takes itself so seriously. Episode 20 was filled with stuff that One Punch Man persiflages - shows in which the bad guy reveals all his plans to the MC before the final confrontation. Difference being, while OPM makes us laugh, Episode 20 played it straight.
Examples:
Why is Doctor FranXXenstein nailed to the floor by Klaxobride? Why does she refuse to kill him once again?
WHY is Klaxobride spouting all this information? NOBODY has asked her to tell them. WHY is she suddenly using cryptic speech? She never did before. WHY does Klaxobride stop to let FranXXenstein explain what all the cryptic stuff means?
Why do Ape tell their plans to people they immediately kill after finishing?

Don't get me wrong, I know why the staff needed to do it this way. Because they didn't manage to tell us the motivation of those people in 19 prior Episodes.
In universe, it makes no sense at all. It's inelegant, it's lazy, it's BAD.

To top it all off, the staff seems to think their audience is mentally deficient. There was little foreshadowing to this reveal nobody saw coming (lol), but just to make sure and not overexert the audience, let's insert a scene in which the cast discusses all those instances. This atrocious scene ends with characters being shocked that Papa hid information from them. SRSLY. Have we participated in the same events prior.
Let's ignore how stupid that dramatic moment is in the context of the story - the fact that the characters need to spell it out, because otherwise we'd have no idea that this should be shocking is mind-boggling.

The brief romance scene between 002 and MC was cute, tho.

[Blockio]

The rest of the squad is calling them by their names vs. their code names, they could have picked this up from that approach.

Yeah, that seems to be the most reasonable explanation

Also, it hasn't been commented on yet - 02's blood is now red.

Noticed it as well - I wonder if it has something to do with her skin no longer being red? I am inclined to say that it had in some way to do with her piloting Strelitzia together with Hiro, but she already has red blood in the first episode, its only blue in the flashbacks

[AR-99]

^She had been injured previously and that had slipped my mind. She'll run out of blood at this rate before getting to Strelizia, unless that healing factor kicks in quickly.

[pwhodges]

Cue Hiro turning out to have blue blood now to go with his horns...

Re pregnancy: I'd be inclined to suspect Dr Franxx of deliberately letting it through. But I'm so confused by his motives now that really I don't know what to think.

[Mr. Tines]

There's no reason for anyone on the opposing side to know any of the information.

Can't you spot recruitment pitches when you hear them?

Franxx just wants Yui klaxxohime to love him, so he explains all the bridal preparations he has made, before she shoots him down. Meanwhile, as all Hiro wants to do is elope with his dinowife to somewhere that doesn't frown on such bestial practises, rather than stay and be the Parasite Jesus of the Rebellion it seemed he had been built up to be, klaxxohime has to make a shot at turning the rest of the parasites herself.

That she finds herself alone with the first even partly dinosized male she's seen in a million years (maybe more) is just a bonus for her.

She'll run out of blood at this rate

Don't forget

18. Law of Hemoglobin Capacity

The human body contains over 12 gallons of blood, sometimes more, under high pressure.

which probably goes double for dinos. The real subject of speculation here is who pilots her and in which mech (probably Hachi in the old FranXX he used to ride, with his VA reprising his similar role from 11 years ago).

[Blockio]

Cue Hiro turning out to have blue blood now to go with his horns...

At this point I would be disappointed if anything else was the case

[robersora]

Can't you spot recruitment pitches when you hear them?

Franxx just wants Yui klaxxohime to love him, so he explains all the bridal preparations he has made, before she shoots him down. Meanwhile, as all Hiro wants to do is elope with his dinowife to somewhere that doesn't frown on such bestial practises, rather than stay and be the Parasite Jesus of the Rebellion it seemed he had been built up to be, klaxxohime has to make a shot at turning the rest of the parasites herself.

We should never have to hear that information through nonsensical dialogue, especially not 20 Episodes in. We should know about those stakes and feel them.

[pwhodges]

Franxx just wants Yui klaxxohime to love him, so he explains all the bridal preparations he has made, before she shoots him down. Meanwhile, as all Hiro wants to do is elope with his dinowife to somewhere that doesn't frown on such bestial practises, rather than stay and be the Parasite Jesus of the Rebellion it seemed he had been built up to be, klaxxohime has to make a shot at turning the rest of the parasites herself.

Even without picking that apart, the fact that you can write it demonstrates what a mess this show is.