I started watching Darling in the FRANXX this weekend, even though it's not usually a series I would get into. I had heard that it was rather fanservicey and that it took a lot of inspiration from Neon Genesis Evangelion, which had left a bad taste in my mouth back in its hey-day. But despite that, I also heard it was good so I decided to give it a chance.
The best part, for where I am now, is the character Zero Two. Though I don't know the specifics of her creation yet, we know that FRANXX pilots are orphans who were raised for the sole purpose of piloting the FRANXX mecha. Zero Two is different from the others though for having klaxosaur blood (klaxosaurs being the giant monsters the FRANXX are intended to fight). This gives her small horns for a slightly inhuman look, though the opening credits suggest she might ultimately have a more monstrous appearance.
All FRANXX are piloted by heterosexual pairs in very suggestive roles (seriously, most of the series seems to be a giant sexual metaphor), but what stands out about Zero Two is just how badly her own desires are treated.
Zero Two is an incredibly accomplished pilot (the women seem to be the one who bond with the mecha and the men are interchangeable), but we're introduced to her as the Partner Killer. No man can survive more than three rides with her without dying.
When she meets the protagonist, Hiro, for the first time, she takes a shine to him, because he doesn't shy away from her horns. But Hiro is quickly put out of the picture by her current partner, who tells Hiro that he can't "handle" her. Zero Two and her mecha are special, and require an equally special partner.
After Zero Two and Hiro successfully pilot her FRANXX during an emergency in the first episode, she repeatedly asks to be paired with him, and the interest is mutual. Despite the fact that Hiro came out of her mecha intact (unlike the dead body he replaced), she is always denied. Hiro is deemed beneath her, they're part of different units, etc. I was incredulous that Zero Two, despite being at the top of her game was not allowed to choose her own partner. And yet, it feels like a very familiar female problem.
I'm not surprised that she lashes out by taking her unwanted partners on a ride they're unlikely to survive, because for her it's been a string of supposedly "good" male pilots who see her as a tool. And the military system is fine with fact she grinds up her partners as long as she keeps getting wins on the front lines.
Hiro works for her, because he's not trying to force himself on her, and he sees her as another human being rather than a monster, which she is utterly delighted by. Zero Two is a bit of a loose cannon, but she can, reluctantly, be brought into line if she no longer sees any reason to fight. Her life appears to be a sad sack of constant battle partnered with a string of jerks so I'm not surprised that she jumps (literally) at the chance of staying with Hiro when he similarly goes out on a limb to declare how much he wants to ride with her.
Seriously, watching them escape her escort while doing a running tango through all the security barriers to get to her mecha was a delight. I wasn't expecting to see anything that close to a commitment as early as the fourth episode.
There's still a chance it could all go downhill from here, but I hope not. I want Zero Two to keep her spirit and for Hiro to continues treating her as an equal rather than a tool or a conquest.
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