DARLING in the FRANXX Episode 22

Okay how should I put this? Ughhhh, so there are a number of things that is infuriating me right now.

Let’s start with how Hachi and Nana discovered the adults’ memories have copied and archived, and yet they didn’t bother to search up their own memories. It is kind of mind-blowing to me that we saw that Nana had a relationship in the past, Hachi may have been secretly in love with her, and yet we don’t get to see them be fleshed out, see them show us, or provide crucial guidance to the squad.

For starters, why bother bringing this up, if they aren’t going to use it? You can’t expect us to believe that they got their memories back off-screen! And if they choose to make that point that next week, well I am going to be hella pissed because not once has it been indicated this episode that they rediscovered their past. It is driving me insane, because this is a huge opportunity to flesh out both Hachi’s and Nana’s characters and further establish what makes them different to the remaining Adults, who continue to blindly follow Papa’s orders. In fact, more than anything, I wanted to see Nana be there for Kokoro, and I am livid to see that Nana will be going to space with the rest of the Squad, while Mitsuru and Kokoro are stuck with Nana 2.0 (who is incredibly unreliable due to continuing to follow Papa’s program). 

Following that, they neglected to explain the purpose of the children (such as Naomi) who were deemed unfit to be placed in these capsules. Dr. Franxx was the one who put them there, a secret chamber that was given access to Haichi and Nana once he died. Dr. Franxx’s final “orders” was for them to serve as the children’s new adults…

In fact, this leads to my next frustration: This week everyone learns Kokoro is pregnant, including herself, and the poor girl who has no memories has no idea what to do because she is stuck with Nana 2.0. Even though Hachi and Nana are back, neither one of them go to check up on her, or even speak with her. I feel like we missed a huge opportunity, that could have followed had they recovered their memories. I say this because both Hachi and Nana has shown before they undergone the indoctrination , they too had Human emotions. They understood the feelings of love, frustration, despair, anger, and loss. With Dr. Franxx gone, no one else understands what these emotions truly mean besides Squad 13, and that is a huge loss for everyone.

Since Kokoro is pregnant, she can’t pilot the Franxx which I am confused about because she was piloting the Franxx just fine last week, with the small exception but otherwise after that she was back to normal. I don’t think any of us believe she can’t do it, in fact on the contrary to that, some of us actually believed being pregnant could have potentially unlocked a new power. But obviously that’s not going to happen when “new power” has been shown to be exclusive to the Klaxosaurs specimen, which both Hiro and Zero Two now are.

A lot of us were frustrated with how the Kokoro’s and Mitsuru’s brief distress was handled last week. And it was something that irked me as well. One minute they were in distress, the next they are going along to fight no problem, this is where the contradiction of Kokoro being unable to fight comes in, because the two of them got out in one piece against their fight VIRM of all things. But if there’s one thing that carried over, it’s Mitsuru’s increasing concern for Kokoro’s well-being, and it’s not just that, he is also a lot more aware of her.

Hearing she was pregnant shocked him, but I think what shocked him more than supposedly being unable to pilot the Franxx was the fact he to his disbelief, somewhere in his heart, he understood what this meant. Having no memories of course, he has no idea how to cope with this bombshell. But by the end of the episode, if there was any indication, it looks like Mitsuru has made the resolve to make sure he protects Kokoro, after he seems to have figured out that he cares for her deeply. Reaching into his pocket appears he was reaching for the ring he had previously taken off.

Actually this is something I wanted to address real quick: Because Mitsuru’s and Kokoro’s relationship was so rushed, for most part we saw Kokoro making the first move. And as much as I would like to see a parallel where the roles have been reversed, making it so this time, it is Mitsuru who supports Kokoro, I don’t think we we are going have to the opportunity to see much of that. And as it stands right now, I don’t like how they are handling Kokoro’s pregnancy. I dislikes how Kokoro is left on her own, where she is lost and confused and more than anything, it pisses me off that nobody is stepping up to share any of the information she has shared with them. With everyone going to space, all she has is Mitsuru now, who doesn’t have any memory of the knowledge she has shared with him, nor is aware she is carrying their child. All Mitsuru will be able to do is simply provide support in any way he can.

And then we have best boy Goro, running around and unwittingly becomes the leader. Hiro was not in his right mind, so he can’t be relied on at all, Ichigo gets sick from a fever due to overworking herself, and Nana 2.0 is useless (“I cannot make any decisions without papa’s approval” ARE YOU @#!*(@ KIDDING ME?) so he has no choice but to take the initiative and lead the charge. All hope seems to be lost when they discover their crops have failed due to the lack of nutrients in the soil, no thanks to the extraction of the Magma. Fortunately with Hachi’s help, they are able to locate Mistilteinn, and determine it is their last hope for growing any crops that will help them survive. But before they do that, the group is heading off to space!!!!!

Now why are they going to space? Well guess what, Zero Two’s consciousness is trapped in the Strezlia. Apparently, in the name of love… Zero Two decided she would head off to space to fight the VIRM without Hiro, and leave her body there on Earth. However despite her body not being present in battle, she is somehow still getting physically wounded, and Hiro needs to go to space to help her.

And how are they going to do it?
Why with a Klaxosaur spaceship of course!!!!!!!

I mean, since VIRM has no intentions coming to fight on Earth, we knew the team would have to go to space at some point…

But if there was one thing I did like this episode, it was the way Ichigo and Goro’s interactions were handled. They could have attempted to force the pair together, but I like that they are maintaining their friendship/partnership without crossing the lovers line. It was nice to see the two have plain conversations with each other, especially since it feels like it has been a while.

Another plus is seeing that the Nines were not completely wiped out, but Alpha and his other two buddies look like zombies at this point. I can’t imagine they will be coming back after this fight in the condition they are in at the moment… which sucks because I would like to see them get a second chance at life too. More than anything, they are sure to want revenge against Papa for betraying them and killing their comrades. Or so I hope…

Two more episodes, hang on tight and hope your favourites come out of this alive. The one I am mainly concerned for is Ikuno right now, since I don’t know how much longer she can really keep fighting on for.