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I just keep thinking of what an explosive gripping start this manga has yet, it continues to sputter out the longer and longer it drags out. The first arc of this manga is absolutely incredible. It could've been a complete 1 shot(As the anime somewhat is) and would've left you completely satisfied. Unfortunately, it is very clear that the author put most of their thought into that first arc and slightly after that arc but, not much into the moments leading up to the conclusion of the story.

This manga also relies a lot on things happening off screen. Which is good to keep you ... on your toes and making characters feel prepared and that they're using their brain to solve things but, since it keeps happening it starts to feel like a convenient way to make sure the characters cannot lose.

I'm not sure if it was because I was able to marathon through 2 major arcs for instant gratification and now I have to wait weekly for new chapters is affecting my enjoyment but, I find that the core elements of that first arc aren't present in these later chapters. The characters feel like they're doing cliche things and that the plot is doing cliche things.

Demizu's art is consistently beautiful and well drawn. I never felt that there was a dip in quality. Her style is extremely unique, soft when it needs to be and jarring or terrifying when it needs to be.

I still enjoy it but, while I felt that I couldn't put the story down or wait for the next chapter...now I find reading it to be a slog and just a general desire to see how it all ends.

It's okay. It's just okay. I should say that I would rewatch the original series' corresponding episode before an episode Progressive.

Where I would consider the original to be the greatest anime of all time this is just okay.

The side characters we are introduced to don't have these distinct personalities as the original. The two most interesting characters would have to Jinyu and Aiko but, even with their interesting quirks I can't say much on them because they never really have that much screen time. I really enjoy Jinyu's design, I think how she drives her car is really interest and she was a ... good contrast to Haruko.

The opening sequences of this anime is what really makes the entire show stand out. Everything about the opening sequences are fantastic. They give you that "what the fuck am I watching, this is sick" energy that is FLCL. They're very well made and I feel like those sequences are the ones that really make you like Hibajiri as a character; it's when she is most like...a person and not a plot device.

The animation is kind of spotty. Sometimes it is rough, sometimes it is good. But most of the time it's rough.


This entire series felt more like an emulation than a natural progression of FLCL. Like, the way Haruko talks feels like the directors were like "Haruko is a crazy character so, just be 'xxDDD rand0m UwU" or they would just be like "throw some random shit here, it's out of place and that's good because we're FLCL 2" . Alot of the time it didn't feel like it was being crazy because that's what the show was but, rather it is being crazy because that's what the original is and it has to be the original. It's just different. It doesn't feel fooly cooly. It feels like it is trying to be fooly cooly.

It was just okay. If this never happened i would be okay with that but, since it did happen I'm just okay with that too. This doesn't make the original any worse but, I don't feel like it adds anything to the original either.

I had these same criticisms of the Samurai Jack reboot too.

If you came into this expecting a Mecha anime then you came to the wrong show. DITFXX is a 24 episode advertisement to buy Zero-Two figurines (as I write this, before the anime has ended, there are already 3 made + 1 Strelitzia figurine).

Darling in the FRANXX has a really interesting world and concepts but, falls flat on everything else. You've met every character before in various other animes because every character is just a stereotype. Our MC, Hiro, is extremely bland and I believe this was done on purpose so, that viewers are able to self-insert into him and thus self-insert themselves into ... a relationship with Zero-Two.

It seems that the writers of this anime spent all their time making us fall in love with Zero-Two that they forgot that they needed an overarching story with the rest of the characters and world until about the final 5 or 6 episodes where there's alot of crazy stuff that's explained poorly or not at all going on.

There seems to be alot of homages to Neon Genesis Evagelion in this anime some are very subtle while others are extremely blatant to the point where it seems to be directly ripping off.

If you are looking for a seasonal waifu that you'll forget about by next season like Hestia or Rem then this is the perfect anime for you. Zero-Two is cute. She's designed to be. That's her entire existence, go ahead and buy the 3 figurines of her that were out before the anime even ended.

The opening theme songs are also really good.




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I wrote this like 4 or 5 weeks ago on Reddit. It contains spoilers. I've updated it for the past few episodes.

The fan service at the start of series was completely unnecessary. You literally get introduced to Zero Two as she's naked for no reason. Thankfully they stopped doing it.

They've spent so much time making the anime into "love Zero Two pls we made her real cute 4 u" that it seems like they forgot about the rest of the story.

The Klaxosaurs have almost never felt like a real threat. Until they introduced the Klax Princess. The Klaxosaurs have been poorly animated CGI for most of the series except these past couple episodes and we've barely seen them. It would've been so much better to have hints of the Klaxosaur Princess put in earlier and then the could've been a larger plot twist than it ended it being.

For most of the beginning of the series there wasn't really a goal, or an objective, or an established antagonist, I try not to compare this anime to Neon Genesis because it's extremely large shoes to fill. But the Angels in NGE was clearly the thing we were suppose to be fighting and they always felt dangerous because the stakes werent just the EVA units. It was the entire NERV base with everyone in it. Unlike EVA01, Strelizia always feels like a Trump card. Like as long Strelizia is there, then everything will be okay. There's no stakes and they exemplified that when they show Strelizia just mowing through Klaxosaurs like they're nothing.

The plot of first like 10 episodes was just "this pink hair girl is pretty cute let me pilot with her" "Hiro no".

The characters are standard anime stereotypes. I've met almost everyone of the cast before I even watched the anime.

Hiro is as bland as stale bread. His personality is be with Zero Two at all costs and nothing else. He has no faults, he is a generic shonen protagonist that I really believe was made that way intentionally so, that the viewer can self insert into him and thus imagine themselve with Zero Two which inturn would sell more 02 figurines. Which if you've noticed, there's multiple out already. Anyway, I'm glad that Goro punched the fuck out of him because he deserved it but, literally 2 minutes later they're cool as if nothing ever happened and we're going to space together!

The world of DITFXX is incredibly interesting and they do nothing with it. They decided to drop all kinds of subtle story telling and just exposition dump on the Dr. Franxx back story episode. Like, the beach episode, when they're exploring the ruins of the old world. The viewer is exploring with them. We're left to wonder what happened here. What happened in this world, where did all the people go, how long has it been, etc. But instead they're just like "hey let's wrap this shit up. just tell them everything immediately" all we got out of that episode is the book that motivated Kokoro to have sex.

That episode with Zorome getting lost was a good example of how they could've handled world building and once again shows that they know how to do these things but chose not to and instead continued to go hard on please love Zero Two thing.

This series has alot of ideas and doesn't know to execute on them. For example, Goro loving Ichigo. What happened to that? He's a teenager, why didn't they drive this point harder. They just forgot about it. Ikuno loving Ichigo like FUCK Hiro and Zero Two. Give me that story. Miku's white hair. They forgot about it and if they come back to it then it doesn't even matter because, we've seen that Ikuno's used all he energy and her hair lost its color. She's fine. Nothing happened to her. Futoshi's eating disorder could've been an interesting subplot but, instead they were like "hey stop that. okay sorry". Kokoro and Mitsuru's little arc was sorta interesting and i liked it but its like...what was the point of that? What did it actually accomplish? Why did it even matter, I guess this pregnancy is the point. The 9s squad, what was their propose? What did they actually do this entire series other than having done petty beef with Zero Two that went no where.

Even just now, why is Zero Two's soul in Strelizia Apath? Why does her body take damage when it hasn't before with Strelizia? How can she pilot Strelizia by herself when every other time she has tried, Strelizia turned into a Panther or something? I guess because she has the power of Zero One inside of her 🤷🏽‍♂️

This whole VIRM thing came out of no where. Wish they used some episodes to better establish this new antagonist and their motivations better.

Oh boy, did it go to shit so fast. It was shit from the start but, it went to straight diarrhea. Nothing like time skips because "we forgot to plant seeds for an actual story". This show doesn't even have the signature TRIGGER animation that you get excited for when you see the words TRIGGER. I'm triggered by that.

The final big climatic "battle" that tries to be reminiscent of Gurren Lagann by downsizing from Zero-Two Apath to Strelitizia Apath to Normal ass Strelitzia wasn't even sick. The animation was on par of Shokugeki no Soma. In that it was just slideshows. Slideshows with minimal movement, minimal action. Just people talking. There's nothing special, yeah there were a few cool stills of Hiro as a Klaxosuar, i'll give it that but, everything else bad.

They came here to make you buy some figurines and those things are already sold out. Congrats, you fell for the trap.

That opening song bangs tho