Jan 18, 2023
Completely spoiler-free review, not even character names mentioned. I think most of the hate directed towards this anime is unfounded. Ok, its a mix of Evangelion and Gurren Lagann with some ecchi elements and romance... So what? I still enjoyed this show more than either of these two. To me, Evangelion always felt like "monster of the week" style anime, with some smart and philosophical elements, but very weak character interaction/development. Gurren Lagann is more of an "advanture" and FranXX is more of a drama&romance. So at the core these 3 look the same, but "feeling" they give is *completely* different. FranXX feels like an
...
"high-school relationships" themed romance anime with robots and a sci-fi world setting.
Story: 6/10; Main story is about teen boy-girl pairs piloting robots called FranXX fighting enemy called klaxosaurus, protecting their colonies, humanity etc. World building is secondary and chapters mainly focus on characters and their personal interactions. Despite this, world feels mysterious and very-well thought. It kind of a "dark" world, but never feels depressive. I wish they've explored it further. Its a unique enough story, but not the smartest story nor is a story with full of suprises or shocking unpredictable plot twists. Its relatively complex yet easy to follow, "ok" paced, action-packed, romance and friendship story, that'll make you care about most of the characters. Why 6 points?? -1 points for not paying enough attention to sub-plots. Some were not followed to the end, one would have had bigger implication to the main story where it didn't, and some lead to plot inconsistencies, but none were deal breaking. -3 points for rushed and dissatisfactory ending with utterly retarded art-decisions (which has an impact on the story). If you want a satisfactory conclusion, and don't care less about voyage itself, you will not like it.
In my opinion, last 4-5 episodes needed at least additional 2 episodes to make viewer digest the plot twists there, and some art-decisions in last 2 episodes should have been made differently and with better intellect. For these episodes I've mentioned, writers should learn difference between "fantasy" and "sci-fi". In a fantasy story, people can turn into werewolves, trees can talk, horses can fly and no questions asked about "how". A sci-fi story cannot be written like this. In sci-fi, real-world science can be bend to fit the plot, but there has to be scientific consistency in the world writers build. In Star Trek, Enterprise can have shields or use warp drive to travel between stars. With some technobabble explanation, ship can turn invisible, or dive into a sun; this is all consistent with Star Trek world physics. But ship won't suddenly turn into a flesh and bone human, it would look very very stupid. FranXX generally had a carefully thought over, very-well written sci-fi world but last few episodes contradicted the world physics and logic of the show in a equally stupid fashion, felt more like a terribly written fantasy story. I was like (insert your favourite "what the hell is this" meme here).
Don't let my 6/10 score discourage you though, this is perfectly watchable if you are looking for an interesting story. A good story with some big mistakes (heard of Mass Effect trilogy?) always beats a bad story with zero mistakes.
Art and Sound: 7/10; Animation and scenes are very good. There wasn't a second I questioned "quality" aspect but I am not a nit-picking person. Sound effects, voice acting and music is great too, no problems there. I really commend the bold art decisions regarding world design, some environments and enemies. They struck a perfect balance with a dark, dystopian world that still feels light hearted (like the rest of the anime), and utopian aspects of environments never gives a feeling that would contradict the plot.
Now the negatives. -1: I don't HATE ecchi or fanservice, but I do hate unnecessary ones. For example, the way they sit in the cockpit is not sexy, its just stupid. I won't spoil the show, but lets just say more than once I rolled my eyes for this fanservice. -2: For the art decisions in the last 2 episodes, for the same reasons mentioned in story part.
Characters: 9/10; Characters were relatable and well written, but not overly complex. Some had internal conflicts to be resolved, some had a goal to be achieved for their self-fullfillment. Almost all of them had well written back stories. Most of them evolved during the course of the show. I'd say character development was the top priority of this anime and writers handled this well.. -1 point because a few minor inconsistencies and some events would have had greater implications to some relationships, but were resolved too quickly and without real explanations.
Enjoyment: 10/10; Despite its flaws, I very much enjoyed watching this anime. I dare say, it was one of the most enjoyable anime I've watched in 2022, behind only Arcane and 86. It makes you care about characters, and how events will unfold. Feeling of romance is present throughout the anime (unlike some anime where romance only happens in the very last episode) and its also packed with a lot of well-animated action. I wish they made a second season.
Overall: 8/10; Not a masterpiece -nor it pretends to be- but a pretty fun and enjoyable anime to be watched in a relaxed mood. Don't take it too seriously, don't dig over every detail, and just ignore some stupidities here and there. Its definately no 86 or Code Geass. Treat it like a light-hearted high-school romance anime with robots and good action. If you can do that, then I highly recommend giving FranXX a try.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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