Darling in the Franxx

Darling in the Franxx (Japanese: ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス, Hepburn: Dārin In Za Furankisu), abbreviated as DarliFra (ダリフラ, DariFura),[6] is a 2018 Japanese animated science fiction romance television series produced by CloverWorks and animated by Trigger and A-1 Pictures that premiered on January 13, 2018.[7][8] The series was announced at Trigger's Anime Expo 2017 panel in July 2017.[9] A manga adaptation by Kentaro Yabuki and another four-panel comic strip manga began serialization on January 14, 2018.[10]

Darling in the FranXX
Key visual
ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス
(Dārin In Za Furankisu)
GenreMecha, romantic drama, science fiction[1][2]
Created byCode:000
Anime television series
Directed byAtsushi Nishigori
Toshifumi Akai (assistant)
Produced by
  • Yōsuke Toba
  • Mikio Uetsuki
  • Eiichi Kamagata
Written by
  • Atsushi Nishigori
  • Naotaka Hayashi
Music byAsami Tachibana
Studio
A-1 Pictures
Licensed by
Original networkTokyo MX, GYT, GTV, BS11, ABC, Mētele, HOME, BSS, BBC, AT-X[5]
English network
Original run January 13, 2018 – July 7, 2018
Episodes24
Manga
Written byCode:000
Illustrated byKentaro Yabuki
Published byShueisha
MagazineShōnen Jump+
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 14, 2018 – January 26, 2020
Volumes8
Manga
Darling in the Franxx!
Written byMato
Published byShueisha
MagazineShōnen Jump+
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 14, 2018 – July 11, 2018
Volumes1

Darling in the Franxx is set in a dystopian future where youth are artificially created and indoctrinated solely to defend the remnants of civilization. The story follows a squad of ten pilots, particularly focusing on the partnership between Hiro, an esteemed former prodigy, and Zero Two, a hybrid human and elite pilot who aspires to become entirely human. The series features symbolism relating to the mythological Jian, an imperfect bird with only one eye and wing and thus may only fly when paired with another.

The animation began international distribution simultaneously upon its domestic release. The streaming service Crunchyroll internationally simulcast the series, with Aniplus Asia simulcasting the series to Southeast Asia. Service partner Funimation began the dubbed release of the series on February 1, 2018.[11][12]

Synopsis
See also: List of Darling in the Franxx characters

Setting

Darling in the Franxx takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future where the remnants of human civilization have abandoned the surface. Adults and children exist in contrasting environments from each other. Adults live in technologically-advanced cities within Plantations and are immortal, but procreation and relationships among them have become obsolete and undesirable. Artificially-created children, termed "parasites", are deprived of individuality and are educated only for piloting Franxx in pairs to defend humanity. The children are kept in isolation from adult society in environments nicknamed "birdcages", which emulate that of a bygone era, so that they can develop the emotional responses required to pilot Franxx.

In the early 21st century, the progress of human civilization was accelerated by ground-breaking discoveries in mining technology, allowing extraction of magma energy for a new low-cost, all-encompassing energy source. Scientists contributing to the breakthrough form "APE", an organization that would gain a large influence on world politics and the global economy as a result of their discoveries. After discovering human immortality, much of mankind opted to become immortal despite the side effect of losing their reproductive functions. A cult of personality surrounds Papa, the chairman of the APE which all humans come to worship akin to a god. Now governing the remnants of civilization, APE leads humanity to abandon Earth's now desolate surface for the relative safety of mobile fortress-cities known as Plantations.

Plot

Pushed to the brink of extinction in a post apocalyptic world, humanity is under constant threat from giant creatures known as klaxosaurs (叫竜, kyoryū), which are sub-divided into at least four categories based on their size: "Conrad",[lower-alpha 2] "Mohorovičić",[lower-alpha 3] "Gutenberg"[lower-alpha 4] and "(Super) Lehmann".[lower-alpha 5] Pushed to the brink of annihilation, parasites are raised to pilot giant mecha known as Franxx[lower-alpha 6] (フランキス, Furankisu) in boy-girl pairs. A male parasite is termed a "stamen" and a female parasite is referred to as a "pistil". Parasites are artificially-created and have short lifespans. A team of ten parasites is assigned to the experimental Squad 13 of Plantation 13. One of them, Hiro (Code:016), is a former pilot-candidate prodigy who can no longer synchronize with his partner and they both fail to complete the training program. While skipping his squad's graduation ceremony, Hiro encounters Zero Two (Code:002), an elite Franxx pilot with klaxosaur blood, red horns, and an infamous reputation as the "Partner Killer". It is rumored that Zero Two's partners are killed after pairing with her by the third time. Shortly after, a Klaxosaur attacks, disrupting Hiro's graduation ceremony and leaving Zero Two's partner killed in action. Despite the rumors, Hiro volunteers to become her new partner, or as Zero Two calls him, her "darling".

Media

Anime
See also: List of Darling in the Franxx episodes

The 24-episode anime series is directed by Atsushi Nishigori, with Nishigori and Naotaka Hayashi handling series composition, Masayoshi Tanaka designing the characters, Shigeto Koyama acting as mechanical designer, Hiroyuki Imaishi serving as action animation director and Asami Tachibana composing the music.[14][15] The opening theme song, titled "Kiss of Death", is sung by Mika Nakashima and produced by Hyde,[8] while the ending themes titled "Torikago" (トリカゴ) (ep 1-6), "Manatsu no Setsuna" (真夏のセツナ) (ep 7), "Beautiful World" (ep 8-12, 14), "Hitori" (ひとり) (ep 13), "Escape" (ep 16-20), and "Darling" (ep 21-23) are performed by XX:me (read as "Kiss Me"), a unit consisting of the series' main female casts—Zero Two, Ichigo, Miku, Kokoro, and Ikuno.[16] Crunchyroll is simulcasting the series, while Funimation has licensed the series and is streaming it with an English dub.[17] Aniplus Asia is simulcasting the series in South East Asia.[18]

Manga

A manga adaptation by Kentaro Yabuki and another four-panel comic strip spinoff manga by Mato started their serialization on the Shōnen Jump+ website on January 14, 2018.[10] The manga adaptation made major divergences from the original anime.[19] As of May 2, 2018, the manga has sold 400,000 copies in Japan.[20]

No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBN
1 February 2, 2018[21]978-4-08-881454-4
2 May 2, 2018[22]978-4-08-881493-3
3 October 4, 2018[23]978-4-08-881620-3
4 February 4, 2019[24]978-4-08-881752-1
5 May 2, 2019[25]978-4-08-881854-2
6 September 4, 2019[26]978-4-08-882048-4
7 January 4, 2020[27]978-4-08-882196-2
8 April 3, 2020[28]978-4-08-882277-8

Mato's four-panel spinoff manga ended on July 11, 2018,[29] and was compiled into a full-color physical book released on October 4, 2018.[30]

No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBN
1 October 4, 2018[31]978-4-08-881621-0

Soundtrack
Darling in the Franxx Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Asami Tachibana
ReleasedApril 25, 2018 (2018-04-25) (volume 1)
July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25) (volume 2)
August 29, 2018 (2018-08-29) (volume 3)
March 27, 2019 (2019-03-27) (digital)
GenreSoundtrack
Length51:38 (volume 1)
48:34 (volume 2)
1:06:40 (volume 3)
2:46:52 (total)
LabelAniplex
Producer
  • Asami Tachibana
  • Yasushi Horiguchi (co-producer)
See also: Kiss of Death (song)

The series' soundtrack is composed by Asami Tachibana and published by Aniplex. The first disc containing 21 tracks is enclosed with the first home video release volume of the anime which was released on April 25, 2018.[32] The second disc also containing 21 tracks is enclosed with the fourth home video release volume which was released on July 25, 2018.[33] The third disc containing 22 tracks is enclosed with the fifth home video release volume which was released on August 29, 2018.[34] All three soundtrack volumes were released digitally on various online music stores on March 27, 2019.[35]

All music is composed by Asami Tachibana.

Darling in the Franxx Original Soundtrack Volume 1[32]
No.TitleLyricsPerformer(s)Length
1."cÅGE"cAnON.Anna Pingina4:56
2."Vanquish"Benjamin, mpiMonique Dehaney2:40
3."Odds and ends"  2:23
4."o-DOR"  1:48
5."Dino-S"  2:01
6."BEAST"  2:46
7."Counterattack"  3:03
8."Operation"  3:04
9."Reversal"  2:47
10."In the FRANXX"  2:09
11."Trente"  1:51
12."Distopia"  1:52
13."Godliness"  2:20
14."Aile"  2:24
15."Clarity"  2:29
16."Nuance"  1:50
17."Miel"  1:30
18."Dropping"  2:08
19."CODE:002"  2:36
20."VICTORIA"  3:06
21."Torikago (BGM-Rearrange)" (composed by Katsuhiko Sugiyama, arranged by Kohta Yamamoto)  1:55
Total length:51:38
Darling in the Franxx Original Soundtrack Volume 2[33]
No.TitleLyricsPerformer(s)Length
1."FUSE"Benjamin, mpiClaudia Vazquez3:01
2."Battle Cry"Dj L-SpadeDj L-Spade3:30
3."Your smile"  2:17
4."Abandoned Places"  1:41
5."The Seven Sages"  1:43
6."Klaxosaur"  2:23
7."Gutenberg"  2:23
8."Shady History"  2:37
9."ADuLt"  1:35
10."One's Word"  1:52
11."Vita"  1:53
12."CHiLDRen"  1:31
13."CODE:015"  2:52
14."Lilac"  1:52
15."Red Hibiscus"  2:28
16."The Sands"  2:09
17."Boys×Girls"  1:44
18."VICTORIA -piano ver.-"  3:10
19."Lilac -guitar ver.-"  1:51
20."Mistilteinn"  2:30
21."D#regards"cAnON.Anna Pingina4:12
Total length:48:34
Darling in the Franxx Original Soundtrack Volume 3[34]
No.TitleLength
1."CODE:016"2:29
2."RoCco"1:59
3."Lotus"1:59
4."CODE:001"2:26
5."CoiL"3:16
6."DESPAIR"2:25
7."InVaDeR"2:44
8."GLADIOLUS"3:52
9."JUSTICE"2:20
10."Requiem"2:55
11."Cherry blossoms"2:23
12."HIRO and ZERO TWO"3:41
13."cÅGE -piano ver.-"1:57
14."JUSTICE -Epiano ver.-"2:28
15."Pray for.."5:49
16."cÅGE -SPS ver.-"2:43
17."FUSE -instrumental-"3:01
18."Battle Cry -instrumental-"3:30
19."Vanquish -instrumental-"2:40
20."D#regards -instrumental-"4:12
21."cÅGE -instrumental-"4:55
22."Torikago (BGM-Rearrange) -guitar ver.-" (composed by Katsuhiko Sugiyama, arranged by Kohta Yamamoto)2:56
Total length:1:06:40

Reception

Critical response

Reception to Darling in the Franxx has been generally positive,[36] with the series itself being praised most notably for its coming-of-age elements. Cactus Matt of Anime Q and A found the series enjoyable, as he commented “I think that's a beautiful way to end this series, with the same message of hope for the future that was always an undercurrent (and later—the entire plot) of the series.”[37] Cal Win of Shinyuusite liked the series’ interpersonal drama and character development despite lack of feedback in the second half of the series.[38] Nate Zen of OtakuKart praises the quality of the animation and character development but commented the series lacked creativity.[39] Crunchyroll gave the series a 4.3 out of 5 stars score for its elements of action, sci-fi, comedy, drama, coming of age, and romance.[40]

Some of the series' themes were received with controversy regarding sexual innuendos of teenagers, the lack of plot development regarding the alien species VIRM, and the rushed pacing of the storyline following episode 15. While the series was received positively by viewers in Japan, the Western reception has been mixed. Eric Van Allen of Kotaku described the series as having "moments of brilliance that will stick with me as much as its hasty, rough conclusion", and was "truly fascinating to follow", despite the ending.[41] Skyler Allen of A Piece of Anime appreciated the first half of the series as an "excellent, if flawed, coming of age mecha story with a lot of heart behind it", but described the concluding portion as a "thematically incoherent mess".[42] Kyle Rogacion of Goomba Stomp called the series "an endearing character-driven coming-of-age story", but criticized it for having by the end "eschewed everything that made it great and settled for the easy way out”.[43] However, Random Curiosity voiced a more positive opinion to its ending, stating the series will be "well-remembered for seasons to come" and "kept us all fixated and eagerly anticipating every episode set to air".[44]

Awards and nominations

At Newtype Anime Awards 2018, Shigeto Koyama was awarded Best Mechanical Design, with Zero Two and the series itself being runners-up for Best Female Character and Best TV Anime respectively.[45]

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result
2018 Newtype Anime Awards[46] Best TV Anime Darling in the Franxx Runner-up
Best Character (Male) Hiro Nominated
Best Character (Female) Zero Two Runner-up
Best Voice Actor Yūto Uemura (Hiro) Nominated
Yūichirō Umehara (Goro) Nominated
Best Voice Actress Haruka Tomatsu (Zero Two) Nominated
Best Theme Song Kiss of Death by Mika Nakashima Nominated
Best Soundtrack Asami Tachibana Nominated
Best Director Atsushi Nishigori Nominated
Best Screenplay Atsushi Nishigori and Naotaka Hayashi Nominated
Best Character Design Masayoshi Tanaka Nominated
Best Mechanical Design Shigeto Koyama Won
2019 Crunchyroll Anime Awards[47] Best Opening Sequence Kiss of Death by Mika Nakashima Won
gollark: Hmm, so arbitrary SVGs?!
gollark: Also, fun idea: add a command to provide arbitrary striped lime emojis on demand.
gollark: What's the difference?
gollark: Interesting fact: cryoapioforms approach from the north.
gollark: That's just a/the bad definition.

See also

Notes
  1. A-1 Pictures' subsidiary Kōenji Studio rebranded to CloverWorks during production.[3][4]
  2. Miniature klaxosaurs (few meters large) are called "Conrad" level, originally from Conrad discontinuity named after Austria-Hungarian seismologist Victor Conrad.[13]
  3. Midsize klaxosaurs (dozens of meters large) are called "Mohorovičić" level, originally from Mohorovičić discontinuity named after Croatian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić.[13]
  4. Giant klaxosaurs (hundreds of meters large) are called "Gutenberg" level, originally from Core–mantle boundary named after German seismologist Beno Gutenberg.[13]
  5. The largest klaxosaur class first seen in episode 15, spanning kilometers, originally from Lehmann discontinuity named after Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann.[13]
  6. It has a nickname of "Steel maiden".[13]

References
  1. "The Winter 2018 Anime Preview Guide DARLING in the FRANXX". Anime News Network. February 5, 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  2. "Youth in Revolt: The Uncertain Future of DARLING in the FRANXX". Crunchyroll. May 3, 2018. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  3. "A-1 Pictures' Kōenji Studio Rebrands as CloverWorks". Anime News Network. April 2, 2018. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  4. Chapman, Paul (April 4, 2018). "A-1 Pictures Rebrands Their Kōenji Studio as CloverWorks". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  5. "On Air". Darling in the Franxx Official Website (in Japanese). December 28, 2017. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017.
  6. "有楽町マルイ 「ダリフラ」展開催決定！". darli-fra.jp (in Japanese). February 27, 2018. Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  7. "DARLING in the FRANXX Anime Video Reveals Story Teaser, January Premiere". Anime News Network. October 18, 2017. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  8. "DARLING in the FRANXX Anime Reveals January 13 Premiere, Opening Theme Song". Anime News Network. December 13, 2017. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  9. "Studio Trigger Announces 3 New Anime Titles (Updated)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  10. "To Love-Ru's Kentaro Yabuki's New Manga is DARLING in the FRANXX". Anime News Network. December 16, 2018. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  11. "Funimation Announces Start of DARLING in the FRANXX SimulDub". Twitter. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  12. "Crunchyroll Announces Winter 2018 Simulcast License Acquisitions". Crunchyroll. January 8, 2018. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  13. "Keyword". darli-fra.jp (in Japanese). April 2, 2018. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018.
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  18. "ANIPLUS Asia to Simulcast DARLING in the FRANXX". Anime News Network. January 14, 2018. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  19. "Kentaro Yabuki Says Darling in the Franxx Manga Will Have 'Major Divergences' From the Anime - Interest - Anime News Network". Anime News Network. January 14, 2019. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  20. "Roundup of Newly Revealed Print Counts for Manga, Light Novel Series (March - May 2018)". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  21. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 1 [Darling in the Franxx 1]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  22. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 2 [Darling in the Franxx 2]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  23. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 3 [Darling in the Franxx 3]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  24. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 4 [Darling in the Franxx 4]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  25. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 5 [Darling in the Franxx 5]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  26. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 6 [Darling in the Franxx 6]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  27. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 7 [Darling in the Franxx 7]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  28. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 8 [Darling in the Franxx 8]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  29. Ressler, Karen (July 9, 2018). "Darling in the Franxx 4-Panel Spinoff Manga Ends". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  30. "Mato's "Darling in the Franxx" 4-koma Compilation Launched! - WOWJAPAN". October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  31. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 1 [Darling in the Franxx! 1]. Shueisha (in Japanese). Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  32. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 1 [Darling in the Franxx 1]. darli-fra.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  33. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 4 [Darling in the Franxx 4]. darli-fra.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  34. ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス 5 [Darling in the Franxx 5]. darli-fra.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  35. オリジナルサウンドトラック配信決定！. darli-fra.jp (in Japanese). March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  36. "Anime Addicts Anonymous - AAA 435: Darling! Go Deeper in My Franxx". August 23, 2018.
  37. "Darling in the Franxx Episode 24 Review". Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  38. "Darling in the Franxx Episode 24 Review". Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  39. "Darling in the Franxx Review". Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  40. "Darling in the Franxx". Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  41. "Darling In The Franxx Doesn't Make Good On Its Promises". Kotaku. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  42. "Darling in the Franxx Review - A Piece of Anime". Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  43. "'Darling in the Franxx' Check-in: Ending With a Whimper | Goomba Stomp". Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  44. "'Darling in the Franxx - 24 (END)". Archived from the original on September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  45. "Newtype Anime Awards 2018 Winners and Details Announced". Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  46. "Idolm@ster SideM, Bungo Stray Dogs Film Win Top Newtype Anime Awards - News - Anime News Network". Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  47. "Crunchyroll - Winners of the 2019 Anime Awards—Updated Live!". Retrieved February 16, 2019.
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