Darling in the FranXX Review — D

Kids pilot robots with the power of heterosexual sex.

What a disappointment. I started out quite enthusiastic for this. It had robots with cute faces, some good animation, what seemed like an interesting world, and most importantly, I wouldn’t mind Zero-Two stepping on me.

But oh my god was this a disaster. The first half was just mediocre (the only reason my rating isn’t an F), but the second half… lord have mercy. A complete, unmitigated, poorly planned ill-conceived disaster. Most people were smarter than me and jumped ship before things got really bad. A lot of people in particular quit when the gay guy became straight. In retrospect, everyone was right in that that was a sign of things to come. The politics behind this show are awful. But, that was a relatively minor moment compared to the things that followed that could have been reasonably interpreted in multiple ways.

The latter parts could not. The central thesis of the show seems to be that the only way to be fully human and become an adult is to produce babies.

I mean, I can sympathize with concerns about a declining population but how about fuck you.

Then the ending of the show has some of the dumbest plot twists I’ve ever seen. The first half had some dumb shit too but it keeps getting worse and worse. Eventually aliens appeared and then I just couldn’t bring myself to even pretend to take it seriously anymore.

What a waste of the talent of everyone involved…

  • Storytelling – F – 
  • Voice – B – Cool style at least.
  • Characters – D – Started out okay, went straight downhill.
  • Attention Grab – D – Lost all interest by the end.
  • Production – A – A beautifully polished turd.
  • Overall – D

Recommendations – Eureka Seven, Kill la Kill

2 thoughts on “Darling in the FranXX Review — D

  1. As someone who lives in a country that’s very aggressive about the “communal womb,” or the “nationalized womb,” I’m not too surprised.

    And y’know, considering the name of the show, with the XX, I’m not too surprised it turned out that way. I might still watch it. It’s actually rated pretty highly on MAL, though that increasingly says less and less.

    It’s interesting how many mecha shows turn out to be about repopulating the world, or about sex, following Neon Genesis Evangelion. You mentioned Eureka Seven, and there’s RahXephon, obviously, and remember Captain Earth? Honestly, this show seems to remind me of that, and I jumped ship out of that one early.

    Which reminds me, still need to watch Star Driver.

    1. “Communal womb” / “Nationalized womb”… wow, that is pretty damn creepy. I’d never heard that before.

      Yeah, mecha shows often do include themes about sex. Not that there’s anything wrong with that when it’s done well and doesn’t try to say something shitty.

      You should watch Star Driver, it’s a great example of sexualized giant robots living up to their full potential.

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