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Darling in the Franxxmay be one of the most controversial stories in anime history but it’s still popular due to Zero Two. In fact, her popularity exceeds that of the anime at times. The story is set in the future, where humans have thrown away their emotions and rudimentary desires for the chance to live immortal lives without the troubles that the civilizations of the past brought them. As interesting as it sounds, the main plot quickly becomes irrelevant, only to be replaced by fan service and bad politics.
It’s an original anime by a collaborative effort between Studio Trigger, A-1 Pictures, and CloverWorks. However, fans point to Trigger sinceDarling in the Franxxis typically linked with that studio, given its prevalence in the Action, Sci-Fi, and Mecha themes, which have a powerful presence that easily outshines its partners. Little did they know that the studio couldn’t change the story even if it had full control.
Studio Trigger sheds light on their involvement withDarling in the Franxx‘s story
During an interview with Studio Trigger heads in 2022, they were asked whether the story would have changed ifDarling in the Franxxwas a singular project under Studio Trigger, the same one that later madeCyberpunk: Edgerunners. One of the heads, Hiromi Wakabayashi, said:
If we were just going with the story, the story is by the director, Atsushi Nishigori… So even if we made it ourselves, it probably wouldn’t have changed. At least the story wouldn’t have.
It’s likely that Nishigori pulled Studio Trigger in at the last second. They havezeroto do with the story, and mostly participated in the second half of production. The only reason people think this is a Studio Trigger show is because the committee plastered their name everywhere to draw attention. Atsushi Nishigori is from Studio Gainax himself and not Trigger, and that’s why Trigger wasn’t able to change the main plot.
Hiromi Wakabayashi stated how Nishigori applied a lot more heat to the script and direction than what people realized. In anotherinterview, Nishigori said he regrets nothing regarding episode 14 and the ending of the series but admitted he should have planned out more and slowed down the events in episode 13.
The problem withDarling in the Franxx‘s story and its ending
For much of the first half ofDarling in the Franxx, the focus was on Plantation 13 and the growing relationship between Hiro and Zero Two; basically, make sure the plot is intact. However, the second half ofDarling in the Franxxis where things started to truthfully become unstable. This was largely due to the fact that they introduced a very unexpected new enemy into the fray of this war with no developments at all.
To go from fighting the planetary beings that were the Klaxosaurs to suddenly being faced with the threat of a massive alien race, was a rather ridiculous jump. According to fans, they’d have been far better off sticking to the first half and focusing on Papa, who is, in all honesty, the main adversary. Additionally, a coming-of-age story about rebellion would have been a more reasonable conclusion.
Zero Two’s Devilish Design in Darling in the Franxx was Not Made to Target the Anime’s Success but to Make Her More Cosplayable
Another negative aspect was the fan service and lewd innuendos the show began with. It gave the impression that this was going to be a bit of a trashy mecha series and so it made people take it less seriously and undermined the beauty it would later exhibit. They managed to pull in a whole different audience midway through the series, at the crux, but then turned them off by again switching their focus to the extreme. As a result, this same audience became the biggest of critics.
Somewhere along the line, it appeared to have lost its identity and had to fight to get it back. Their desired destination was only revealed in the conclusion, but the journey there was too haphazard to make the impression they had envisioned.
Darling in the Franxxis available to watch on Crunchyroll.
Anand Bhaskaran
Articles Published :134
A Dragon Ball fanatic who also loves to read and talk about Indian spirituality. An MBA finance graduate with a passion for doing everything that is unrelated to it. Anand has over 4 years of experience under his belt, having worked with leading content heads in the anime community. Currently, he’s more into Slice of Life and Romcom shows than actual Battle Shonen. But unfortunately, he’s stuck with a job writing ONLY about Battle Shonen (smh).
