Darling in the FranXX Chapter 9 Discussion

KKRais said:
Hiro's reaction was completely different, Hiro and Zero Two were both suited up (compared to the anime where they were in their "casual" clothes), Mitsuru came off as desperate and pathetic (compared to the anime, where he came off as condescending and arrogant), and they left off on a cliffhanger as to whether Hiro or Mitsuru was inside Strelizia.

That could mean the manga will be splitting from the anime from this point on. That would be very interesting, and there's plenty of precedent for it, too - the Neon Genesis Evangelion and Eureka Seven manga versions both ended up going down VERY different roads than their respective anime.

But even if they're just trolling with this cliffhanger, the way this chapter played out could still signify that there are going to be some differences down the road revolving around the personalities of the characters.

Hiro seems noticeably more proactive, Mitsuru seems desperate and kind of pathetic (he is in the anime too, but he didn't wear it on his sleeve in the anime like he did in this chapter), and the way the cliffhanger left off makes me think we might see Ichigo acting differently next chapter as well (that scene played out slightly differently compared to the anime, which likely means something considering nearly every scene has been 1:1 so far).

So even if things don't necessarily end up playing out differently now, differences in the characters' personalities could very well end up snowballing into major differences later. Guess it's time to wait and see.

TBH I wouldn't be surprised if the TV show ends up being "good/happier ending" and the manga ends up being "bad/darker ending". That's how the Eureka Seven anime/manga split played out.