1st Episode Anime Impressions: Darling in the FranXX

Japanese Title: ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス

Summary

In the distant future, the people moved to a city they built on the devastated earth, called Plantation. One residence facility they have built there is called Mistilteinn, also called ‘birdcage’. The children live there without knowing the outside world or what ‘the wide, free sky’ is. They are only taught how to fight. The enemy is a giant mysterious creature called Kyouryuu. To face this enemy they haven’t seen yet, the children ride robots called Franxx.

Impressions

Martina

For now, the lead characters in this series are one of my favorites from this season. The main girl, Zero Two, is bad-ass and mysterious but in a good way. Not the shy, little girl, but someone who has power and is not scared to use it. The male lead, Hero, might seem a bit over-emotional at first, but I like how he takes action and seems like a sane person. He is cute and even has a good reaction when facing a naked girl.

The story will be two-seasons long, so I guess they have enough time to explain things slowly. What I gained from this first episode wasn’t all too much. I don’t know what this world is, I am not sure I know what and why they are fighting, and I don’t know what happened with Hiro. However, there are badass fights and great characters. I have great expectations for this series! I can’t wait to watch Episode 2, and I really want and need to know more about Zero Two. She is just amazing.

So in general, I want everybody to watch the series, especially if they like to see a powerful female lead, a great male lead, and mecha. Action and battles should also be your kind of anime, since I guess this will be what this is about.

Jennifer

TAUBUUUURRRRN!! ☆ (If you get this reference then let us be friends). Darling in the FranXX is an anime born from a collaboration between Trigger and A-1 Pictures. I actually came to this series as a fan of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, as many of the main staff (who were part of Gainax at the time) are involved in this show. Although lacking the amazing cheese of TTGL, the series has got off to an okay start. The first episode didn’t really grip me, but I’m hoping things will get better as the series progresses. I find Zero Two to be an amazing character, and Haruka Tomatsu’s performance was absolutely brilliant. As for Hiro, I’m really happy that one of my favorite newbies, Yuto Uemura, is getting a starring role. However, he seems to get typecast as a slightly emo character with a lot of internal monologue such as Atsushi from Bungo Stray Dogs and to a certain extent Jugo from Nanbaka. My highlight of the episode was definitely the naked scene, with Zero Two’s little boob jiggles that are a staple of Gainax-related anime. The soundtrack also seems to be a winner, so I will definitely stick around for a little bit longer.