Bloody hell, this episode was both incredibly fascinating and infuriating to watch. Inhumanity at it’s finest alright! The backstory of the the cost of attaining Immortality, APE as an organization and Dr. Franxx’s involvement, all were very intriguing and I loved how it all came together, but dear God, I can’t tell you how many times I yelled at the screen and just wanted to walk away from this from the sheer stupidity coming from Hiro in particular.
THIS GUY: THROUGH ZERO TWO’S MEMORIES, HE HAS MORE OR LESS WITNESSED THE IMPORTANT DETAILS HAS HE FORGOTTEN, AND YET HE STILL, THOUGHT THEY COULD AS EASILY GO UP TO ASK PAPA TO RESTORE MITSURU’S AND KOKORO’S MEMORIES. LIKE COME ON!!!! Nothing annoys me more than characters doing stupid things like this. There is no way in hell Papa is going to grant their wish! How could they possibly even have a shred of trust in him after all the shit he and the adults have done? And if anything, they should count their lucky stars that their accomplishments were enough to litterally protect themselves from being dragged off to be indoctrinated right then and there! Of all the members of the squad (besides Zero Two), Hiro is the only one to have witnessed and been able to be able to remember the horrors the adults have afflicted onto them.
The only thing I am glad about is that the squad were collectively frustrated with Zorome’s stubbornness, of refusing to recognize what Papa and APE has done to Mitsuru and Kokoro, was a terrible thing. Finally (albeit I am not holding my breath for it), he realizes that they were merely tools, and their “purpose of life” is to serve as weapons until their last breath. On the flip side: Futoshi though, my man!~ He isn’t having any of it. He not only refused to pilot with Kokoro again (upon her request), but also demanded an apology from Papa. Even though his actions were not going to get them anywhere, it was just nice to see him cut through their crap and call them out for it. If they are going to spill the beans and stuff about how they don’t trust the adults anymore, you might as well be MAD AS HELL about it.
What’s incredible to note however, in how in just a little over a decade, APE basically took over the world. And Dr. Franxx played an important role to that accomplishment. Having heard about his research on clones, APE picked him up. What stood out in the flashbacks however was how Dr. Franxx was never within APE’s inner circle. He was merely a VIP guest who sought out to fulfill their ambitions. It was thanks to him that they were able to discover how to attain immortality through the Magma Energy, and eventually appointed him as the lead developer in the Anti-Klaxosaur weapons. The only reason why he was able to meet the “Queen Bee” (Klaxosaur Queen), was under the condition he brings back a sample of her DNA. He never appeared to have questioned their relationship any more than that, but it certainly rings a lot of alarm bells. There are a few things to consider, when we think about the Queen referring to APE’s officials as ‘wanna-be Humans’. APE emerged as a group of scientists with no known origins or nationalities. They were responsible for introducing a revolutionary mining technology, and attaining immortality (or at least for the rich).However at the same time, this came with grave consequences: the Magma Mines caused the rapid desertification (but were ignored) and the emergence of the Klaxosaurs.
It is still unexplained why the Klaxosaurs, who have been proved to be an ancient race/civilization with revolutionary technology, has been dormant or at least irrelevant for much of Humanity’s recorded history. The Klaxosaurs’ body composition are said to be both mechanical and organic, which goes to show what I think Dr. Franxx was able to achieve to some degree. He was a man who was engrossed in his research, one that often took a higher priority than his love life. And as seems to appear, he may have also been the one who created Zero Two, off the DNA of the Klaxosaur Queen herself, and likely responsible for creating the Nines (who have shown to harbour similar strengths to Zero Two as well).
But long before he got to that point, Parasites were created because in order to pilot the FRANXX. However in order to do so, the pilots not only required reproductive genes, more yellow blood cells, but also for the sake of their own lives, they needed to be paired up with a boy and girl in order to alleviate the stress caused by the FRANXX. This is why when we see pilots enter stampede mode, more often than not (Zero Two being an exception), it kills them. They were and continued to be used as disposable tools. Overtime they eventually figured out an effective way to eliminate Klaxosaurs, and the garden was founded as a facility to nurture the children. The importance of emotions however, was something that only Dr. Franxx seemed to have valued.
Dr. Franxx was truly an intelligent scientist, who at one point, before descending into madness and for most part losing his own Humanity was one to even foresight the consequences of immortality. He knew he was long gone when the Queen bit his arm off, as part of his punishment that will be worst than death for harming her brethren. But now what will he do? He was mad at APE for indoctrinating Mitsuru and Kokoro, and now even challenges Hiro to change their fate, and “Become Human”, which is basically the objective and message of this series. He acknowledges he is just as much at fault as his superiors of APE, but he is probably the only one to even show any sign of remorse, showing that there is still a glimmer of Humanity left in him.
Honestly, I don’t know what Squad 13 will do from here on out. But it’s safe to say APE is gravely underestimating their anger, should they choose to tap into it. It would be incredibly stupid and naive to simply follow, let alone trust Papa’s “promise” of completing their next mission. More than anything, I want them as a group to think for themselves. The trickiest part however would be protecting Kokoro and Mitsuru, who have been “reprogrammed” to follow orders as instructed. In fact, things are looking pretty darn grim and downright depressing with how neither one of them believes they will ever “fall in love”, mainly because neither understand the concept of it anymore. As we seen with Nana, it will take A LOT to trigger even a speck of memory, but perhaps piloting together may be the key to initiating that.
Next week, another special is scheduled, and so Episode 20 air June 9th!
Another “Darling in the FranXX Playback II” special is scheduled for June 2nd. Episode 20 will air June 9th on Tokyo MX https://t.co/jN7ffhzdCAhttps://t.co/O3zzhaMxPp pic.twitter.com/nzBZOCc3OT
— moetron | pKjd (@pKjd) May 26, 2018
So much mixed feelings about this episode. I mean, the episode itself was great but I am talking the events of this episode. From the story of Dr. Franxx, to APE appearing to show mercy on squad 13, then Mitsuru & Kokoro claiming there is no possibility of them ever falling in love, Futoshi’s child like but understandable rage, Zorome’s question to Papa, and the consequences of the advances of science and technology.
Who knew back in the end of episode 11 that DiTF would have this much depth by this point. It has to be said, that for the first time, violent deaths, and pools of blood are shown in this series. Makes me wonder if some of our main characters would have “red” around them later in the series.
Mitsuru: “… even if they[squad 13] are telling the truth, I don’t think I’ll ever develop those feelings for you[Kokoro]”.
Kokoro: “Yeah, It’s probably the same for me”
That dialogue hurt quite bad. But if this is what it takes for humanity to take over APE, then so be it.
I think it’s better for Hiro to ask Papa directly. Because only by asking them directly like this that the rest of Hiro’s friends finally realized that their Papa is not how they thought they were for good. Maybe Hiro actually already knew what kind of answer they’ll get but still ask them just so that his friends will know the truth with their own eyes and ears, thus clearly revealing Papa’s true heartlessness and how they only see them as nothing but disposable pawns.