DARLING in the FRANXX Episode 11

This week we have another Character Central Episode, and it’s on Mitsuru of all people! I for one was quite happy about that, because I would rather know why a certain character resents another, sooner than later.  Besides having an inferiority complex due to having a frail body to begin with, what actually makes Mitsuru so angry at Hiro, was him forgetting the promise they made.

When they were little, there was a time when Mitsuru idolized Hiro. He was his hero, and wanted to be his partner and be acknowledged by him (not Papa, not anyone else), but he had a frail body. In order to have any hopes of becoming a FRANXX pilot, he needed to take a risk of receiving an Elixir Injection, that has a 15% Survival Rate. Should the patient survive, their parasite aptitude will greatly increase. However, when he finally returned, Hiro (seemingly) had no memories of their promise and ever since Mitsuru felt as if he were betrayed, losing all faith in others in attempt to protect himself from being hurt again.

By the look of it, it appears to be a misunderstanding on Mitsuru’s part… at least on the surface. When he reunites with Hiro, the boy did not carry the same charisma and leadership energy we all saw him have when he was giving a speech as the children’s representative. In fact he looked almost as though he was dead, lost all hope, and perhaps even a part of himself. This makes me wonder if perhaps Hiro had lost a portion of his memories during this period, or the time when he learned it was unlikely he will ever fly. (Goro had already mentioned it was around that time, Hiro had changed as well). If Hiro does remember, I expected him at the very at least to recognize the root of the tension between them, and address it rather than pretend it never happened. But perhaps I am giving him too much credit. Even now I still don’t know how I feel about his character, he perplexes me.

Then there was the Partner Shuffle. This was brought about by Mitsuru’s poor health and individual evaluation, an optional process that enables the pilots to chance to switch partners. Interestingly enough, Ikuno wanted to try Pistil with Pistil, under the claim she wanted to try it out as a backup plan in case of emergencies when they lost a stamen. She told Ichigo that she was serious about it, making me a lot more curious about her characters and reasons for wanting to try it out despite knowing it was likely to fail. I hope we will soon be able to see an episode focused on her.

But the biggest surprise for the group was when Kokoro was the one who requested to pilot with Mitsuru, stunning everyone. They can’t quite understand why she wanted to switch besides perhaps wanting to help Mitsuru, especially since she and Futoshi haven’t had any major conflicts to initiate the move.

Futoshi obviously adores Kokoro, he even constantly tells her how much he loves her. So naturally, her decision to switch broke his heart, especially after they had just made the promise of being partners forever (but it seemed to me that Kokoro already knew it in her heart that it was a promise that would not be kept). But to his credit, he didn’t let it get in the way of the missions. Instead he did his job and was able to sync up with Ikuno, and stepped up to the plate to protect her when Genista couldn’t function properly.

But as it turns out, Kokoro was the partner Mitsuru didn’t know he needed.

He and Ikuno have a toxic relationship, there’s no sugarcoating it, that’s exactly what it is. Neither one of them like being around the other, simply put they are “tolerating” each other for the job. But with Kokoro, it is different. This is actually what makes their meetings in the greenhouse so special. The two of them talk about things they have a harder time sharing with others. It ultimately led up to the point to enable the two of them to be vulnerable in front of each other. Mitsuru breaking down about the forgotten promise that has been plaguing him in his dreams, and Kokoro opening up about how she is not the nice, gentle girl everyone thinks she is. But it was Kokoro who took that leap of faith by truly believing in Mitsuru, even when he didn’t believe in himself, empowering him to put someone else above himself. He didn’t let Kokoro get herself killed by entering Stampede Mode (the one Zero Two would often use when her partners couldn’t keep up with her), he stopped her. After the events that took place in this week’s episode, I am curious to see if he will start to open up to others in the future, but for now I simply appreciate seeing his vulnerable and softer side to his character.

But the the icing on the cake was when Mitsuru found the courage within him to not only accept being punched in the face, but promised Futoshi he will protect Kokoro! It was the first time I thought Mitsuru was cool.

I also loved the part when Kokoro didn’t tell Mitsuru to forgive Hiro. She said that was up to him to decide. There is nothing greater than a character not forcing their opinions on how the other should respond to the situation. Instead, Kokoro makes a powerful point that they are not perfect, and these things will continue to happen, but she still wants to continue having relationships with others.

Although the episode heavily focused on Mitsuru and Kokoro, there were some major plot points that were being brought up. The first and most noticeable was the S-Planning excavation. Squad 13 had no idea what they are digging up, but Zero Two knows better that whatever it is, it is probably nothing good. Most alarmingly, the it is attracting Klaxosaurs like a moth to a flame…