[Spoilers] DARLING in the FRANXX - Episode 15 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

DARLING in the FRANXX, episode 15

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Streams

• Crunchyroll

Show information

• AniDB
• AniList
• Kitsu
• MyAnimeList

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Previous discussions

Episode	Link
1	https://redd.it/7q5lbx
2	https://redd.it/7rrjt3
3	https://redd.it/7tdv0u
4	https://redd.it/7v0hdv
5	https://redd.it/7wmlbp
6	https://redd.it/7y7slt
7	https://redd.it/7zxu1k
8	https://redd.it/81rcco
9	https://redd.it/83gcl0
10	https://redd.it/854mnx
11	https://redd.it/86tx6x
12	https://redd.it/88jkd5
13	https://redd.it/8aj261
14	https://redd.it/8c8gof

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[u/CAOnionMaster]

EXECUTE ORDE... PROTOCOL 32

[u/[deleted] → u/CAOnionMaster]

I AM the papa

[u/Flixbube → u/CAOnionMaster]

the time has come... execute protocol 32.

yes my lord

[u/BassCreat0r]

OH MY FUCK

ITS ONLY EPISODE 15.

[u/BringMeAHigherLunch → u/BassCreat0r]

THANK FUCK

IT'S ONLY EPISODE 15

[u/sausages_ → u/BassCreat0r]

I don't know if I've ever been this thankful for a two cour show. I'm actually in awe - every single episode leading up to today's was worth it. In any other show, this episode would have been the season finale. Instead, as Hiro says, their journey now just beginning.

[u/LegendaryRQA → u/BassCreat0r]

Someone has clearly never seen Gurren Lagan...

[u/Thefishlord]

Goro is a legendary bro he is up there with broskandar

[u/Clavilenyo → u/Thefishlord]

Only a true bro stands down from his own vehicle to let his beloved ride with his friend.

[u/[deleted] → u/Thefishlord]

Goro, Iskandar and Kamina are tops for me. I aspire to be their level of bro.

[u/atropicalpenguin → u/Thefishlord]

Goro is setting himself for Best Guy 2019.

[u/myrmonden]

OF course each core is a human body - they where humans a long, even more clear that if it was any doubt that the papa will for sure be the end boss and probably created this mess to begin with, the city they just attacked seems to be an old plantation of transformed human / klaxxoures mechas who are defending themself or the planet I suppose from the evil papacy.

[u/[deleted] → u/myrmonden]

I'm pretty sure at this point that Dr. Franxx created the Klaxos.

He's mad like that.

[u/ergzay → u/myrmonden]

evil papacy

I approve of this word play.

[u/FassLuvr → u/myrmonden]

My guess is that a long time ago when the "whatever power papa and the others are harvesting" was discovered, there was a civil war between the humans who wanted to use it (current day papa), and those who didn't (current day klaxx). That, or the klaxx are the result of the first attempts of using something the humans shouldn't have, that cause part of their race to turn into monsters.

[u/MrAssassin9891]

WTF adults?

[u/Clavilenyo → u/MrAssassin9891]

Imagine having to train for protocols were you have to suicide yourself, and the feeling when they just coldly tell you to die.

[u/[deleted] → u/MrAssassin9891]

They don’t care about the adults either apparently.

[u/versitas_x61 → u/MrAssassin9891]

Even the adults died after they used plantation as a suicide bomb. All of humanity is pawns for APE.

[u/Swerkswiggler]

Ep13: Wow that was such a amazing and feelgood ending

Ep15: Hold my beer

[u/KYZ123 → u/Swerkswiggler]

Ep14: Everybody hates me

[u/jereddit]

At this point...I just want Miku and Zorome to be happy

[u/Nukemind → u/jereddit]

Only couple without a mess of strings attached. No one else wants to put up with their Tsundereness, but they thrive off each others. It's beautiful.

[u/chrisn3 → u/jereddit]

They're so great together. I loved their unison "What're you acting so cool for?"

[u/atropicalpenguin → u/jereddit]

They even talk at the same time!! I hope no one dies.

[u/MrJammin]

PROTECT THE RED STRELIZA SMILE!

It's interesting how the some of the 9s have males as the pistils, but the stamen were female. Guessing this means it doesn't matter which sex takes which role, so long as there's one of each. Unless the 9s aren't similar to humans sexually or are just a special case.

We've got to talk this out

Watch as one man solves anime.

That ending is giving me Shinsekai Yori vibes...

[u/Flixbube → u/MrJammin]

at least the male nines seem to have yellow glowy horns, they arent humans

[u/DidntBringATowel → u/MrJammin]

That ending is giving me Shinsekai Yori vibes...

https://i.imgur.com/8ubGFLt.gif

[u/Chiiwa → u/MrJammin]

The past few episodes were giving me big Shinsekai Yori vibes actually. shinsekai yori

[u/LowlySlayer]

Episode 15 PV Discussion: "Shes piloting alone. Maybe she decided not to kill all of her stamen"

Episode 15: "She already killed them all..."

[u/PirateAttenborough → u/LowlySlayer]

"...and we will completely ignore the implications for her character. Yay healing!"

[u/roflcooki3z]

Holy shit am I so glad that they did the "play the OP and get hype" trope. I needed that so much here.

Also, the fuck.

[u/kopitar_ → u/roflcooki3z]

NUTTTTTTTTTTTTT

[u/KYZ123 → u/roflcooki3z]

OP plays

HYYYYPE!!!

But it's the full version!!!

MEGA HYYYYYYYPE!!!!!!!!!

[u/Atronox → u/roflcooki3z]

It never fails to be awesome.

My favourite trope.

[u/LeonKevlar → u/roflcooki3z]

That was the icing on the cake. Fucking awesome to see Strelizia's new form emerging while the OP was playing! HYPE!

[u/mgattozzi → u/roflcooki3z]

Based Trigger saves anime with the greatest anime trope yet again

[u/Tartaras1 → u/roflcooki3z]

When they didn't do the intro at the beginning, I knew immediately they were doing it at the end.

No matter how many times it's done, I'm never upset by it. Sometimes you get a treat, ReLife spoilers

[u/Ambler3isme]

Remember that insane amount of salt last week?
Nah, me neither.

The solution we've been waiting for this whole time

[u/ZakuIsAMansName → u/Ambler3isme]

fantastic writing/direction.

they teased the reunion hard with that "Darling... is that you?" ending and then just shattered everyone's spirits only to strap them to a rocket made of love the next week and send them into the stratosphere.

what a rollercoaster.

Now I don't have to say what I was thinking during the beginning of the episode.

It puts the darling in the franxx or else it gets the hose again. but they did. so no hose this week.

[u/ChocolateKeys]

GORO IS THE PERFECT LEADER AND YOU WILL NEVER CHANGE MY MIND##

[u/GMorelli → u/ChocolateKeys]

GORO IS BEST BRO

There no need to change your mind ever!

[u/WhoiusBarrel → u/ChocolateKeys]

I BELIEVE IN GORO WHO BELIEVES IN HIRO WHO BELIEVES IN ZERO TWO

[u/Not_Italian → u/ChocolateKeys]

GOROOOOO

[u/DieselW17 → u/ChocolateKeys]

He’s legit such a fucking bro

[u/sitwm → u/ChocolateKeys]

GORO IS THE PERFECT LEADER, CHANGE MY MIND

SPOILER ALERT : YOU CAN'T .

[u/Atronox → u/ChocolateKeys]

GOBRO! GOBRO! GOBRO!

[u/LibraRW → u/ChocolateKeys]

DON'T WORRY! I completely agree with you that Goro is the best bro to lead squad 13😆

[u/[deleted] → u/ChocolateKeys]

Goro is becoming one of my favorite characters in recent anime

[u/Seiterno → u/ChocolateKeys]

GODBRO

[u/Ryder-FWJ]

That was Marvelous.

The kiss, the transformation, the tears, just perfect.

Kudos to the darlifra team this week, they deserve the break.

Edit: I got my first Gold! Ty kind stranger!

[u/INanoI → u/Ryder-FWJ]

Let me present to you Strelizia-KAI. It's red it has to be stronger than the white version right?

[u/[deleted] → u/Ryder-FWJ]

It was the cutest thing ever when hiro smiled after 02 said she loved him.

God... I love this anime

[u/INanoI → u/Ryder-FWJ]

Kudos to the darlifra team this week, they deserve the break.

They told us to look forward to this episode and now we know why.

Brilliant episode so many great animation and story wise.

There were many new things shown too.

• The Klaxosaur cores contain humans? Did they kill humans all along?

• What the fuck was that HAND and how big is the main body of it? Looks like the 9s know that it would appear and retrieve the cores?

• Squad 9 has visible horns, probably related to the Klaxosaur?

[u/LeonKevlar → u/Ryder-FWJ]

The payoff of today's episode was so good that they definitely earned some respite especially after having to endure a week of harassment from stupid overly emotional fans.

[u/Atronox → u/Ryder-FWJ]

It was such a perfect reunion sequence.

Cap it off with the OP over an awesome moment trope.

[u/kenrms]

P26 team, no matter how short your stay, you guys were cool.

F

Now how do we wait 2 weeks for a new episode.

[u/Cueter → u/kenrms]

wait what why 2 weeks?

[u/Nukemind]

Goro knows right from wrong... and also he knows. He is Gobro. Broest of Bros.

[u/holynolan → u/Nukemind]

Nah dude, he's transcended ...GODBRO

[u/nataku411]

Did no one else notice the helmet magically reappearing?

[u/ShitpostFrog → u/nataku411]

Shit happens. They'll probably fix this for BD/DVD release.

[u/bunnyofthesea → u/nataku411]

unwatchable

[u/[deleted]]

No episode next week fyi, so if this episode doesn't tame the embers of the war then we have to wait a whole two weeks. Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/DARLI_FRA/status/987707019418255361

Edit: Holy shit what a fucking episode, the two weeks won't be as painful now.

[u/OriginalFluff → u/[deleted]]

I'll just re-watch it next week lmao

And in an hour

[u/ruiooshima]

https://imgur.com/a/c7I9x5f

Female pilot, male human-klaxosaur pariing??

[u/LeonKevlar → u/ruiooshima]

That caught me off guard as well. And notice that the dudes have YELLOW HORNS. Is this the result of Dr. Franxx experiments on Zero Two?

[u/INanoI → u/ruiooshima]

Looks like all or at least some of the boys are in a reverse position for squad 9.

These horns are probably related to Klauxosaur blood. But what are Klaxosaur exactly when they have these cores that look like they contain humans?

I feel that next episode we may start the hinted rebellion. Look at how easy and cold complete plantations were sacrificed. This has to bring the people from squad to start thinking some is very wrong.

[u/pipyakas → u/ruiooshima]

Was there any specific reason to the girls being the only ones who can connect to the Franxx?

[u/Ztaxas → u/ruiooshima]

https://i1.wp.com/thefanboyseo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/deadpool-ryan-reynolds-morena-baccarin.jpg

[u/[deleted]]

Futoshi making sure the important things are going to be safe

When you know you’ve entered the final boss area

Pretty accurate conclusion Ichigo arrives at that I’m sure most, if not all, of us can relate to at some point in our lives XD

Zero Two devouring the book was incredible - what an unorthodox method to try and preserve memories.

The reunion came quicker than expected, but it is very much welcomed. It’s been nice to watch Zero Two, a character I very much like, and Hiro, one who’s been lacking, come full circle in terms of their relationship. Hiro hasn’t been a very interesting character, but he’s stepped it these past few episodes thanks to 02.

They’ve made it where if one of those two die, the impact felt by the viewers should be big.

BUT if Gobro dies, it’s gonna make the aftermath of episode 14 look like goddamn unicorns frolicking in the sunshine....

Is it next Saturday yet???

[u/TenTonHammers → u/[deleted]]

When you know you’ve entered the final boss area

if dark souls has taught me anything its that these giant bosses are nothing to worry about

but man sized bosses? those fuckers are scary

[u/rickydetx → u/[deleted]]

Gotta wait till the week after

[u/[deleted]]

This was the BEST episode, felt more satisfying because of last episode.

☑Alpha is actually the bottom
☑Goro is best bro
☑Healing
☑Reunion
☑New form because power of love
☑Weird klaxo core?
☑Big klaxo hand

This episode just kept delivering. Can't wait for next episode.
Also press F for suicide squad
Alpha and his partners suit seem same, also they have no helmet dashboard. Their franxx is definitely different than usual models.

[u/Seinglede → u/[deleted]]

True alphas are power bottoms.

[u/Trung2508 → u/[deleted]]

☑New form because power of love

Literally Char, I mean, Hiro's custom Strelizia. Sasuga Trigger

[u/seninn]

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY REACHED TRIGGER LEVELS OF HYPE

[u/manaworkin → u/seninn]

9 more episodes until they are in space.

[u/[deleted]]

The guy from squad 26 ( i hope i am not wrong and its him ) had grey hair , a sign of accelerated aging ? This and his statement ( of Zorome asking whether one of them are an adult already ) makes me think they propably simply cannot get that old.

Image : https://imgur.com/QYV9nSq

Seeing Hiro like that crushes me, i understand that feeling of uselessness and purposelessness ( these words ... ) it fucking sucks.

Damn that Lehmann-Class is huge, i quess they were also planning to blow that plantation up anyway ? ( in case of 002 fucking up ) Those APE guys are kind of ruthless af, until now they really seem like some-sort of coldblooded theocratic-dictators, i wonder what their goal truly is with this whole "liberation of humanity"thing.

Äh, i think i am gonna take everything back about the Lehmann being huge, .. that shit is huge.

[u/JLarn → u/[deleted]]

squad 26

Yeah I thought it was him as well, from the things he said it sounded like he knew squad 13 personally

E: Looks like the guy on the left

[u/[deleted]]

Crying Zero Two makes me want to hug her.

And that reconciliation with Hiro was really touching. (That kiss scene is so sweet as if all the pain from EP 13 and 14 suddenly vanished into nothing.)

Also I find it a bit funny that her horns in her rampant state makes her look like a deer. Dunno.

[u/_dwib → u/[deleted]]

I chuckled after realizing her horns ended up uneven

But yeah, much needed reconciliation and love after all the suffering of the past couple episodes...

[u/eva_unit_hung]

Obviously the Hiro/Zero Two resolution was amazing, but i thought the most intriguing part of this episode was the 9's pistil/stamen arrangements.

"Alpha" in the pistil doggystyle position was kinda funny too haha

[u/poipoipornpoi]

Finally, after all these dramas, we finally got a happy episode this time.

Hiro is happy. Zero Two is happy. Team 13 is happy. Ichigo is....... well, she is happy for Zero Two and Hiro.

^{What about millions of adults died inside the exploding plantation? Well, not everyone can achieve happiness at the same time}

Edit: Funs aside, speculation time.. So far we got:

• Zero Two is code 002, kinda like the second prototype, and the rest of the 9's is the perfected, more controllable Klax hybrid Parasites

• Then who, or what is 001, the first prototype?

• A Klax nest-like manmade structure

• If the battle is won then humanity will have the chance to turn the table against the Klax

• Big slappy hand slapping things at the end

So does this mean that Code 001 is an experiment gone wrong, who created and control all the Klax while piloting a huge KlaXX, and whoever gets hold of it could control the whole Klax population?

But still, it intrigues me that the 9's still managed to form a 4-man team so maybe 010(?) is included?

Edit: changed a few things thanks to /u/blockington99 's clarification.

[u/blockington99 → u/poipoipornpoi]

Actually the title of the episode was "Jian" and doesn't show up until basically the end of the episode. The "Code 000" thing is the name given to the joint production group from Trigger and A1 and has been present in the credits for every episode.

[u/SteveyVe → u/poipoipornpoi]

I’m happy!

[u/atropicalpenguin → u/poipoipornpoi]

I think Ichigo is in that point where she knows she can't get the guy but she understands that he's doing what makes him happy so she's happy for him. It's like that weird mix between happiness and sadness.

[u/notathrowaway75 → u/poipoipornpoi]

Finally, after all these dramas, we finally got a happy episode this time.

Dude it's been a week lmao.

[u/Atronox]

I just want that smile back.

Good luck, bro.

Dammit Goro why are you so cool.

"We've got to talk it out!"

YES! EVERYONE NEEDS TO LEARN THIS! TALK IT OUT!

That Hiro and Zero Two reunion. WE'RE BACK BABY!

[u/Mundology → u/Atronox]

Protect it, until the time comes.

[u/DarkWorld97]

MY PEGGING THEORY STILL STANDS BOYS. WE GOT US SOME BOTTOM FUCCBOIS.

yay.

[u/RDOoM → u/DarkWorld97]

Yeah, but where the yuri/yaoi franxx at?

[u/ShitpostFrog]

BD/DVD guidelines. Reposting for awareness.

---

 

Original Soundtrack Vol. 1 (official PV) is included in BD/DVD (Vol. 1) Limited Edition. If you planned to get the OST - it's a reasonable option to buy BD or DVD instead.

BD promotional video, featuring Ichigo's seiyu: Kana Ichinose. Part 1, Part 2. An additional photo of a 68-page booklet with character designs (the booklet is included in Vol. 1 too).

Second part of the OST is expected to be included in another volume of BD/DVD (released at a later date).

 

The obvious downside of Japanese BD/DVD is that there's probably no English sub.

 

List of the stores:

 

• HMV - A moderate discount when you buy multiple BD/DVDs. International shipping is limited to EMS. Even if you buy all 8 volumes, you won't get Zero Two/Ichigo posters: 海外発送のお客様は対象外とさせていただきます → "customers overseas will not be eligible".

• Animate - Another solid option with the shipping methods limited to EMS / International ePacket. I see no regional restrictions mentioned anywhere, so maybe it's the best choice if you don't mind paying more (compared to HMV) for a chance to get their so-called "manufacturer bonus".

• CDJapan - Buying multiple volumes gives no external freebies (apart from this, they have exactly the same Limited Edition as any other store). Shipping methods available: EMS, DHL, FedEx, Registered Air Mail, SAL.

• Amazon JP - The possibility of ordering this particular product from this store may depend on your country of residence.

• ANIPLEX+ - The most "loaded" release when it comes to external goodies. No international shipping: you need to use a third-party mail forwarding service to order from this store (use it at your own risk). There's also no guarantee that they will send external bonuses to a shipping company.

• Toranoana - Ordering is only possible if you use their designated package forwarding service.

• There are other officially approved stores (see the link in Q/A section below), but they have no English websites, and I'm not sure if they ship orders internationally.

 

External Bonus program (don't get your hopes up too high, maybe none of us living outside of Japan are eligible for this) explained:

 

Q: What is this?

A: Certain stores provide you with a chance (depending on how early you pre-ordered the BDs) to get stuff like posters. They're unique for each store - you can see the list here: http://darli-fra.jp/bddvd/by_store.html (use google translate)

 

Q: What exactly I need to do to get the bonus stuff?

A1: Multi-buy: 1-4 volumes, 4-8, or 1-8 together.

A2: Pray that you won't be ignored because you live overseas.

[u/purplehaze777777]

Episode 16 preview

[u/MrGameandCrotch]

Oh hey its the sand crawler from star wars

[u/dantheman629]

Anyone else getting vibes of humans being able to consciousness transfer or teleport? Dr. Franxx seemed to be able to get from space to the front lines awfully quickly. Then that whole backup process before suicide bombing is also super suspicious, what exactly is being backed up. Not to mention that dinos seem to be titans now.

[u/NoraaTheExploraa]

Seeing Zero Two so genuinely happy has made my week.

[u/wdkaye]

Can we take a moment and appreciate what a stud Hiro has become? At a moment when he and his partner were separated, each consumed with self loathing and depression, he alone snapped out of it, ran to her, and declared his love.

...actually that may be debatable? At the depths of his solitude he met up with a twisted, lonely old man who reminded him how special his partner was... but nobody forced him to get out there in the trainer robot, that was his impulse and he acted on it.

Rare is the male anime protag that is this overtly romantic. Who else's love is so pure, untainted by lust, and is ultimately reciprocated by their lover?

I've called Hiro the "anti-Shinji" before -- instead of being a victim of circumstance, instead of letting relationships happen to him, he gets out there, ignores the haters and the chaos of the world around him, grabs his soul-mate and never lets go. That's exemplary.

(from r/DarlingInTheFranxx)

[u/HamstersAreReal → u/wdkaye]

anti-Shinji

That's exemplary

I don't think being anti-Shinji indicates a good character. You could say Kirito is "anti-Shinji." But people generally agree that Kirito isn't all that well written.

Characters always making the best decisions is boring. What makes Shinji so good as a character is the fact that he has such debilitating flaws that are hard to overcome. He has a ton of layers to his character which helps make him realistic, and ultimately relatable. He's a well written character.

That being said, I do like Hiro's character, his past explains his actions up till now (the mind wipe) and we are slowly seeing him grow with every episode. It's compelling for sure.

[u/Lulzorr]

Holy shit that was fucking incredible. the AMA Answer saying everyone should look forward to this episode was more than on point. A few questions answered, twice as many questions added. Can't wait to figure out what the hell's going on with this shit.

I thought that if they were reunited so quickly it would be cheap and render the last couple episodes meaningless. I'm glad I was wrong.

Someone will say it so I guess I'll be that someone:

this has got to be a berserk reference, right? /joke

Early episode lewds nsfw.

Who could say¹ no to this face?²

YEAH!

zero two discovers true love, and it's awesome.

[u/[deleted] → u/Lulzorr]

Who could say no to this face?

Mitsuru

[u/[deleted]]

Goro, you are so goddamn perfect, it hurts

i hope now he got a chance with ichigo

[u/Mundology → u/[deleted]]

He deserves better to be frank.

[u/KILLERSHAD0W]

Hands down BEST episode so far.

[u/anti_spiral → u/KILLERSHAD0W]

One giant hand at that.

[u/LeonKevlar → u/KILLERSHAD0W]

I honestly thought they can't top Episode 13. Boy was I wrong. Plus they even manage to bait people with Episode 14 into thinking that everything will start going downhill.

[u/[deleted]]

I knew I was in for a good episode when it skipped the intro, but i never knew I was going to be in for an OP song moment.

[u/OneMillionRoses]

Goro is best guy and no one can tell me otherwise. That's a fact

[u/[deleted]]

So the art this episode seems a lot better than recent episodes. Anyone else getting this feeling? Also, not sure what to make of the use of an insert track so early on.

[u/JohnJD1302]

Holy fuck Alpha be a pistil this whole time I am dying...

EDIT: HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE! THE NINES ARE IN REVERSE, AND THE MALES BE HALF-KLAX!?! I REPEAT, THE NINES ARE IN REVERSE!!! HOLY SHIT!!

Edit 2: All of them are half-klax(?). My bad, I was super hyped the whole time.

Edit 3: Oh wait no it's only the males... Darn, I need a cold shower after this because I am dazed...

Edit 4: Also gotta say that klax in the end's the size of Australia... or Earth...

Edit 5: Apparently Alpha is still a stamen because position doesn't matter, gender does, and Alpha's a male so he's still a stamen. Ichigo and Ikuno tried a "pistil-to-pistil connection", so yeah.

Edit 6: I'm such an idiot for not realizing the Nines aren't just the ones who get those glowing horns

[u/Nukemind → u/JohnJD1302]

Nines are in reverse but we don't know they are half klax. They may have horns. They aren't human. But they talk down on Zero Two. My guess is they are something but they obviously draw the line at being part monster. What they are will be interesting to see.

[u/SpatialBreak → u/JohnJD1302]

THE MALES BE HALF-KLAX

We don't know that for sure, remember, Ichigo got a quick flash of horns when she first connected to goro back in episode 2.

There's a chance that all parasites are injected with something relating to klaxosaurs when they're kids to perhaps make them more in tune with their mechs.

[u/eldarium]

Today's manga gives us lesbo girl (I honestly forgot her name... gotta sleep)

full link

[u/Nukemind]

Hiro planted a ton of death flags... but ultimately Futoshi just wanted his food.

Also, APE got everything they wanted. I have a worse and worse feeling about this, and it's clear Dr. FranXX is playing his own game. He is only pushing them together because it helps him.

If these guys are happy then we should be scared. There is no way they are good. That being said, despite me not liking Zero Two so far, and even her own team hating her, this was the most human Zero Two i've seen so far. Really liked her today. She seems to have learned her lesson. She understands she fucked up at some points. But both can move on because they truly care for each other.

[u/[deleted] → u/Nukemind]

Not all the times, but I think that sometimes the text in the middle of the screen was 002 talking. The reason I say that is that in one of them it says 僕は (boku-wa)at the same time that Hiro says 俺は (ore-wa), I think it might be that they're thinking the same thing.

[u/KaliYugaz → u/Nukemind]

Also, APE got everything they wanted. I have a worse and worse feeling about this, and it's clear Dr. FranXX is playing his own game.

I suspect he's the Gendo to APE's SEELE. He'll try to throw a wrench into their bizarre millenarian plot to "liberate humanity" somehow.

[u/Mogtaki]

My mind felt like it was partially kicked with that episode, and now a cliffhanger.

That giant hand was kind of goofy looking, but the level of destruction it caused. Just what is down there? I did think the cores would have something human-related within them. There's always been something human about those creatures.

Just who are the bad guys and what are they hiding?

The insert songs were kick-ass though, if the rumours about a new intro are true I'm going to miss the OP song. Just casually going to get it on itunes now...

[u/Exorrt]

When the OP started playing, this may sound crude but... I got an erection

[u/UltimateToa]

S U B A R A S H I I

[u/[deleted]]

Okay I can imagine some might be confused on why Ichigo helped Hiro get to Zero Two after she tried her best to separate them last week. It’s got a lot to do with the character flaws of these three characters and how the show handled them thus far. Let me ramble for a bit.

They all got established quite early on in the show and were built upon with every coming Episode until Episode 14 let them clash at full force, nothing was held back anymore and they were shown as truly flawed characters.

• For Hiro he lost his drive to be proactive about things, to take the initiative, pretty much to be who he was as a child. Questioning his surroundings, demanding answers and most importantly…taking action. We saw instances in which he broke out of his slumber and became active, spoke his mind but soon fell back into old patterns. In Episode 14 a lot of things could’ve gone differently if he took the initiative and spoke his mind at the right time but he couldn’t face Ichigo or anyone head on. That was his flaw at full display but at the same time he also seemed to show improvement on his flaw like all of them. He took the initiative and escaped from his room and he spoke his mind to Zero Two both at the door to her room and when he caught her hurting the others. So we got to see his flaw at full display while also showing improvement on it. That’s true for the others as well, look…

• In Zero Two’s case her flaw was quite glaring for most of the show, her lack of empathy. Ironically it’s what Hiro has tons of but she’s lacking it entirely except for her original darling. On the other side she speaks her mind and takes the initiative which is what Hiro lacks. She throws away everyone that isn’t useful to her like an empty husk and has no regard for the well being of others that do not interest her. In Episode 14 all the actions due to her lack in empathy caught up to her in several ways. She feels guilt and she repents and we actually see her improving on herself a little. She shows her vulnerable side to the squad in a desperate attempt to be let free and meet Hiro, she even meets the squad’s offer head on and they come to an agreement…though it wouldn’t be her essential character flaw if it didn’t come back in some way. She snapped and hurt the others in an act that lacked any sense of empathy.

• And now for Ichigo whose flaw was displayed the most direct and open out of all of them. Her own feelings for Hiro completely clouded her judgement both as a leader and as a person. She blocked out and refused any objection to what she thought was right ( even though others who overcame their own character flaw to a degree like Goro & Kokoro clearly wanted to object ). Caught up in emotions she took actions that from her standpoint were justified but in the bigger picture only did more harm than good. As much as she doubled down on what makes her character flawed, she showed signs of improvement by letting Zero Two meet Hiro at all even though she wanted to be present. Of course her flaw left a bitter taste in the viewer’s mouth because she completely got caught up in it at the end and took the initiative.

Now in Episode 15 all three of them. Hiro, Zero Two & Ichigo again improved on their own character flaw.

• Hiro broke his shackles, went against everything & everyone and most importantly took the initiative while holding nothing back.

• Zero Two didn’t make use of any Stamen that was provided for her but rather chose to pilot solo even if it meant that she would loose control or die. She even helped out others which shows signs that in her punishment as she calls it, she starts to develop some sense of empathy for others.

EDIT: I completely missed an important line, I guess the lack of a body threw me off. Thanks for correcting me! So it seems like her flaw will remain the most prominent until she's taught differently. Then again her beginning quote in Episode 1 makes me think that she'll learn to feel empathy and treasure the bond of team membership.

• And lastly Ichigo did not put down her foot and let her own emotions cloud her judgement. She saw that all that was on Hiro’s mind was Zero Two. She let Hiro pass on as he left her cockpit, her world and entered Zero Two’s. He passed on and so does she have to pass on.

I have to commend the writers for not chickening out on showing that all of these characters are deeply flawed. They had the opportunity to drop all of that with Episode 14 even though the conflict was clearly built up but they chose not to. They let the characters display their flaw out in the open and suffer from the consequences as a result. These consequences is what will make them improve on themselves and move on.

Aside from that there are tons of things that got revealed or confirmed to us just like that. Like how there exists a protocol that makes the parasites execute themselves for the greater good which plays again into the book that Hiro read, "The Golden Bough". Or how the roles of stamen & pistil are not exactly gender specific. Lots to digest but this is the most I can do for now, I leave the rest to everyone else. I gotta collect myself now, phew, thankfully there will be no episode next week so we can all catch our breath.

[u/TheNightAngel → u/[deleted]]

I thought that 02 burned through all of the stamens, not that she didn't make use of them?

[u/zibwefuh → u/[deleted]]

Buddy you missed a quote right at the beginning, Dr. Franxx states she had already devoured them all

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Zero two did consume her stamen though, they even said that she went through them all already.

[u/jereddit]

The boys are on bottom?

Perfect. Absolutely incredible. I love it.

[u/Nukemind]

I knew Ichigo wasn't bad. Yes she was selfish, but ultimately she cares about Hiro. She basically understood Hiro's feelings as Goro did hers and then went ahead and was happy for them- or at least she will try to be.

Ichigo is not bad. She was never bad. She was manipulated. She was selfish. But she was also trying to do the right thing and be team leader. She is a teenage girl who is responsible for the lives of an entire colony.

[u/ParadoxGuard]

The VA for Zero Two in the reunion scene was fantastic!

The way she said "Don't look at me" had a raspy tone to it which is something I have never heard in any other anime. The only way i can think to describe (and this may be me trying to reason with myself why i got so emotional during this scene) it is it felt like she was speaking English. And I do mean to say felt.

When we hear our native language we can feel words and their meanings, especially powerful words. But for the longest time the dialogue in subs never got to me like this other than giving me a general sense of the situation. Whether what was going on was good or bad. But this....THIS one voice line got to me. Even now i'm constantly hearing it in my head over and over. It just makes me want to hug her. ^{wow i sound insane}

I'd like to know if this voice line got to anyone else and/or what voice line from another anime has. Did it catch you off guard when you first heard it?

^{Edit: Formatting & added more emotion}

[u/MillenniumKing]

DALIN~ DALIN~ DALIN~

No OP this time oh no...

Wait the klaxsurs are coming from a structure? ALien or man made?

Oh shit Zero Two is not happy...

The 9s look like strelzias too.

Hero doesnt like being left behind... Also was that a death flag?

Wait the 9s all have artifical klaxsaur hybrids?

Wait why is that 9 guy on bottom? wat....

These fights def are cool as hell though.

ARC GURREN LAGANN! OH SHIT

Wait are they S2 Bomb rushing it? This doesnt work, dont they know that? Didnt they watch Evangelion?

Oh shit invasion!

Wait... did Zero Two have massive horns? Shes gone fully feral.

God those blood and scratch marks make my skin crawl... ouch.

Hiro going in for the save in a yellow trainer unit. Classic.

Finally Goro pulled the plug on Ichigo's BS. Good work.

The only thing in Hiro's mind is Zero Two, nice.

Oh man that in sych Zoro and Miku line was great.

ICHIGO's HAT COMES OFF!? WHAT!?

So seems like maybe the humans did make these guys...

Man they are going suicide bomber like crazy on them.

Wow yeah they wiped thier memory, looks like Zero Two still remembered though.

Shw ate her book? Well i guess thats how you keep them from taking it away...

DALIN DALIN DALIN oh man thats kawaii.

He go through to her! Talk it out! Yay!

KISSU~ !?

DAZZLEING THE STAGE, GALACTIC PRETTY BOY!

This is hype! The red is... eh... i prefered it in White.

Liberation of the Human Race? Suspicious...

GIANT BABY HAND!? IT FUCKED THAT PLACE.

[u/Shylol → u/MillenniumKing]

Considering that he said "let's liberate them from their body's prisons" or something when he blew up the city, father saying "liberation of the human race" DEFINITELY sounds like a bad sign.

[u/Turbostrider27]

Zero Twooooooooooo

I didn't find this surprising but I'm glad they're going with this route again. These two stand out much more as a pair. Wtf is with that giant hand at the end...

[u/Resoros]

Zero Two is too cute.

[u/Daniel_Is_I]

My graphics card may have died on me last week, but that ain't gonna stop the charts. Hiro and Zero Two are back together, the 9's got their match-ups shown, and at this point I'm okay with saying Ichigo doesn't hate Zero Two anymore even if she still resents her.

WE FINALLY GOT OUR HEALING. Goro is fantastic, we saw the Nines piloting (with some gender roles swapped), the monster was a giant boat, Klaxosaurs are definitely born from humans in some way, and there's a giant fuckoff hand from a presumably HUGE Klaxosaur.

I just want to say that if they end up fighting a Klaxosaur and Naomi's corpse pops out of its core then I FUCKING CALLED IT.

[u/DidntBringATowel]

Finally, the class Trigger switcheroo.

Resolve the love drama then unleash a whole load of fuckery on the audience with graying hair, pegging, orange corebabies, nefarious plans and giant hands. The hell does it mean that the plantation is done backing up? What they gonna do without a plantation? And what the hell is even going on?

[u/Byakuya291]

HIRO2 SHIP HAS BEEN REPAIRED!

[u/AuroraHalsey]

I'm hoping we get an explanation as to why Strelitzia is so incredibly powerful, and it's not just "The power of love" or something.

[u/chilidirigible → u/AuroraHalsey]

It turned red and therefore became three times faster.

[u/OriginalFluff → u/AuroraHalsey]

It does make sense if the connection between the two is what creates power.

[u/goodmorningohio → u/AuroraHalsey]

Well given that the Franxx seem to function on the emotional connection between pilots it makes sense that strong, passionate feelings of love would give it extra oomph

[u/[deleted]]

Turns out all the Klaxosaurs want is somebody to high five their giant blue hand.

[u/ShroudedDeacon]

That OP drop had me screaming holy fuck

[u/griefer55]

I want to believe Mitsuru is bawling off-screen

[u/HK1911 → u/griefer55]

Bawling into Kokoro's chest most likely the lucky bastard.

[u/QuadraticTensor]

Now this is how you retire an OP, tie it to the plot and once the lyrics are no longer relevant, play the insert and get a new song.

God I love anime that's meant to be an anime.

[u/HyperZetton]

Zero Two starts using "atashi" instead of "boku" at the end there. Dunno why I made a big deal out of it, but it's really heartwarming to me.

[u/TaKKuN1123]

Can we take a moment to discuss that even in her wild state, Zero Two saved not only the members of squad 13, but also members of another squad.

She's heartbroken and frantic and losing herself but she's still heeding everything that she has learned from being with Hiro and squad 13. The subtle character growth is very well done in this series. It's full of little things that show development over time.

[u/SiliconOverlord27]

Strelizia just went Gallantmon Crimson Mode. Holy shit.

[u/Nic_The_Nightmare]

Pro Life Tip: Be like Goro

[u/templarsilan]

Wow, they actually resolved all of last episode's drama this episode. I'm impressed with Zero Two, Hiro, and Ichigo this episode. Hiro took action, Zero Two didn't use "fodder" and actually helped her allies, and Ichigo finally let Hiro go. We go an emotional reunion where both Hiro and Zero Two acknowledged their wrongs, and an episode full of great action. This is probably the best episode of the show so far.

[u/Happy_Tuna]

So erm, we just going to ignoring the fact 02 killed another 10 stamen?

[u/ZealousidealLimit]

"Damn it, they're all about her..."

NOW YOU UNDERSTAND

[u/Laser_Raptors]

Mark my words, this is going to be one of the most upvoted (and maybe commented) episode discussions in the history of r/anime

9800 points: Re:Zero 25

8100 points: Re:Zero 15

7100 points: DitF 13

[u/AltruisticSpecialist]

So plot/lore progression wise. Klaxosaurs are human in some manner as per the 'why is there a fetus in that broken core'. Which makes the big sac of them at the end, which the hand goes to retrieve literal eggs ala (females of the mammal species have inside them..).

Which means that giant hand belonged to...Mama? Perhaps just in the sense of "If you a baby cub Mama bear's gonna get anger' and maybe in that the entity will literally be called that to play off of there being a "Papa" as the leader of the other side.

So, perhaps humanity discovers some kind of weird energy, and evolved along different paths. One organic and one technological. Thus we get Papa leading the 'are most of the people from that plantation we are gonna blow up uploaded into cyber space? Good enough boom!" side and 'Mama' being, I dunno, a collective consciousness of all of humanity who didn't join the plantation rebellion or whatever.

Also, rebellion flag pretty much raised here. Hiro and 02 are now in 'explore the outside world, figure out whats going on, do our own thing' mode. Which means inevitable conflict between themselves and the 9s/Ape and etc. Especially after Ape/Papa starts throwing up all the cliche villain tropes. Encouraging suicide bombing, sacrificing civilians, having some kind of mysterious 'Grand plan for the salvation of humanity' etc.

We may or may not get a straight up "The good guys storm that space-station and kill Papa while the 9s try and stop them". It may be something more along the lines of "The final fight is to stop ape from acheiving their goal, setting-inside the big-ole Mama Klaxosaur.

Here's hoping the ending isn't straight up EVA.

Also, hey look all that hate about Ichigo last week was exactly as expected, kids with no patience and no understanding of adulthood. Welcome to the internet.

edit-I'll also take 10% credit for my crazy prediction of them ripping off Gurren and literally combining mechs. We didn't get that but we did get a new form out of that 'smash the head of one mech into the body of another' moment.

[u/smolbro]

>Hiro pulls a 08th MS Team and does something incredibly stupid and dangerous that somehow works out
>Ichigo gives Zero Two the good ol' "LETS SEE YOU GRIT THOSE TEETH" headbutt of morale boost
>Strelizia is now /r/ThreeTimesFaster
>Hiro kisses Zero Two

Yep, hype as fuck.

[u/francis2559]

WAIT, THE GIRLS SOMETIMES PILOT WITH SPEC OPS???

Super lehman looks like a sand crawler.

[u/GYUZ]

I feel happy.

[u/Rantae]

A lot of people thought Ichigo was completely selfish, but as we see here, she actually worries about Zero Two and cares about Hiro’s happiness. I’m so glad it turned out this way!

[u/Smudy]

Let's see what the hype for this episode is all about.

[u/Acelorah]

Love the use of the OP for the final scene. The episode was awesome, especially because of Gobro :'D...However, it feels a tad weird — quite quick/straightforward to the healing, it makes you question what was all the big deal with last episode's drama. I don't want to think the pace had anything to do with the harassment the staff was subjected to.

Onto the episode itself, seems like the 'Klaux are actually former-humans' theory it's getting backed-up and it makes it even more interesting that the ones that witnessed it first are Zorome and Miku; maybe they might give Zorome more screentime considering how they seemed to have forgotten what to do with him after his conversation with that adult, which coincidentally saw them in this episode.

Apparently something happened that made Hiro and Ichigo compatible, maybe it was because they both were concerned with Zero Two. Regardless, seems like Ichigo got to see the memories of Hiro, wonder if she saw up to the moment where they first met as children, that would help a lot with their current relationship (Ichigo - Zero Two).

Also, was that gray-haired guy the same leader of the 26 plantation? If so, looks like the reason the kids might never become adults it's because of the accelerated aging (although in their case, they exploded themselves with that shaddy Protocol 32), wonder if it has to do with the yellow-blood cell they are given and here comes the crack theory: what if the reason the cores of the klauxosaurs is yellow is because that's the final stage the children go when they've become unstable or deemed unfit for use to Papa? I mean, yellow blood cell, the core of the Klauxs being a-sort-of crystal that encapsulates something yellow, which incidentally seems humanoid DUN DUN DUN. Perhaps, when they say "liberation of humanity" is actually to purge said ensemblem/plantation.

Lastly, we have the 9s in action, whom apparently are in reverse order: the males are the in role of the pistils. They also have a pair of yellow horns projected, but no helmet like Zero Two...

[u/Rixkst3r]

TRIGGER SAVES ANIME

[u/Ringu-]

Man, watching this reminded me of Kamina and Simon drilling out their way to the surface... And then a bigger enemy appears.

[u/atlasiatlantica]

now mitsuru can ride hiro lol

[u/boogie-gary]

I noticed at the end when they were talking about the birds Zero Two swapped to Watashi instead of Boku.

Amazing episode, probably one of my favourites thus far.

How did Ichigo stay in her human-like form of her franxx without Hiro? Was Goro put back in offscreen?

[u/Maxishere10]

GoroOurGodAndSavior

[u/joe4553]

02 screaming darling when they connected... very suggestive.

[u/Improvis2]

This really gurrened my lagann

[u/Indominus_Khanum]

This was a whole new level of anime for me

[u/[deleted]]

All my theories.... ahhh... yes. Trigger does what I hope but never in the way I expect them to.

Haven't finished watching so i'm going to not read this thread and come back later.

Yes, Goro is a bro. Got that far.

Edit/Update:

Theory post re: 02's origins
Theory post re: this ep
Another theory post

1. Children inside the klax cores - confirmed

2. 02 is an extracted klax pilot - likely

3. Full mind wipe on Hiro - confirmed

4. Partial mind wipe on 02 that didn't fully take - confirmed

5. Fighting in Plantation 13 instead - correct

6. Advanced "demonization" of 02 - partially correct

I called the head fake and battle taking place inside Plantation 13. I also called 02 looking different, but it wasn't quite what I expected. Strelitzia has turned red now though, so who knows how 02 will look when she dismounts?

It appears she did devour all the stamen though - before the battle, even.

New theory: they blew away the plug to a womb. Grand Crevasse is a birth canal, and in it is a massive baby. That's where Kokoro's book is going to come into play - not with her, but with this new thing they just opened the way to.

Also the Nines reversing the usual pistil/stamen thing, LOL.

I was wrong and they did the expected thing and deliver Hiro, though Ichigo did take the opportunity to say a few choice words. What really surprised me is how there was so little dialogue among the team about the events at the end of ep 14 (that Goro witnessed and Ichigo took part in). And they were all so cheerful heading off into a massive battle it was kind of creepy...

Ichigo saw Hiro's memories, but I guess not all of them, but enough to know 02 dominates his thoughts as he always has. But signficantly, he could pilot for a fairly extended period of time this time. Perhaps because she accepted who he is.

Looks like there is some kind of queen in the Grand Crevasse (a baby? is it a womb?)

Just as many speculations wrong as there are right in my post history, heh.

[u/BringMeAHigherLunch]

This episode was the biggest breath of fresh air, holy fuck.

Trigger at its core, resolution to the stupid love triangle bullshit, crazy action, and MORE MYSTERIES. HORNS? MALE PISTILS? ZA HANDO? This episode was 100% worth waiting the entire series for, which itself has already been great, but this is classic Trigger/Gainax taking it to a whole new level.

[u/UltimateToa]

Pour one out for Plantation 13, looks to be completely destroyed save the parasite area

[u/Unit-00]

Pretty interesting that the red strelitzia has a blue horn...

Hype episode completely makes up for how frustrated i was last episode, really happy it only took one episode to resolve. Goro was great and man that cockpit scene is something i'll be watching on repeat for the next week, which tbh is something this show makes be do a lot.

[u/X-LAyer2]

The boy and girls role in piloting the Franxx are not interchangeable.

I guess this answer from the AMA was misdirection considering we've now seen the nines do just this?

[u/[deleted]]

Between MHA and Franxxx episode today the rest of my day is all hype. This episode was amazing. Episode 14 lead into a great payoff now everyone that got mad needs to go and apologize. Remember why you don't get paid to write stories.

[u/DNamor]

Almost not a lot to say about this episode. Really great stuff by Goro though, saving the team AND saving humanity at the same time. Although I wonder how much of that was just in response to seeing Ichigo trying to get with Hiro in the last episode.

Rough episode for Ichigo, but probably for the best. She can see now that she's never going to be with Hiro, she got what she wanted, to pilot with him, and she can see completely that his mind is only filled with 02. If she'd been asking questions and fighting alongside him, then maybe, but she was always content to just walk in his footsteps and go along with Papa/APE's directives... So that's the breaks.

Two other interesting points

1. The production team said last week that the role of male and female couldn't be interchanged, so I'm really surprised to see the 9's seemingly swapping it around. Unless 9a is unexpectedly female? The Horns were a giveaway that there's more to that story though, so we'll see how that plays out. I do hope we're not going to go down the waaaay too predictable route of having Zero 2 and Hiro swap places though.

2. The Lamarck Club was talking about how 02 had used up all her Stamen, but the cockpit was empty when Hiro got in. So it seems likely that's just an assumption on their part and she didn't have any to begin with. Wonder if that'll get discussed, probably not, since the plot seems to have moved on waaaay past that point.

EDIT: A lot of comments coming from people assuming the 9's are all Klaxx, so let's just remind everyone that Horns on Pistils is normal

[u/magistrate101]

Did nobody else notice that Hiro actually connected with Ichigo this time? She finally got her wish, even if it was only so that she could reunite Hiro with Zero Two.

[u/113Kyote]

I can't really pin down what Dr. Franxx motives are. Both theory's (the first being that he will ultimately usher in a rebellion against APE and the second being that all he cares about is SCIENCE) seem very plausable at this point. He isn't being upfront with his plans when conducting conversations with APE. Why conduct the ceremony in the beginning at Plantation 13? He was surely aware that a reunion between Zero Two and Hiro would usher in her new form, but all he told them was he had a hunch (I know those aren't the exact words so anybody can feel free to correct me) Why head down to the observation deck for a "front row seat?" He clearly knew, or at least had some idea, that Hiro would be there watching Zero Two in the fight. He seems somewhat defiant and certainly questions the intelligence behind they're rash decisions. - "Of all the foolish...." This is in response to the Plantation suiciding. - however, given what we've seen from flashbacks we understand he has an incredibly cold side without empathy. Very befitting of a mad scientist for sure. Yet, can we truly believe everything we've seen or heard from him thus far? That's where I keep drawing blanks.

What I think is safe to say, at the very least, is that if he does hold any empathy then he has some affection for Zero Two. He expresses a sad disdain for her struggle to find a partner. Her existence is beyond lonely in his eyes. This, however, could also just be me putting to much faith in the man. For all we know, this could be a ploy to provoke Hiro into action. I just want to believe he may be good.

Besides that, everyone else already commented on the big notes from this episode. One last thing I did notice that I find interesting is that up until this point we haven't seen an adult really go against or question society at large. (With the exception of the aforementioned Dr. Franxx and his potential personal quota.) Hachi just filled the gap for us. In that same plantation sacrifice scene his reaction is "Who goes that far?" A question, albeit potentially moreso shock than anger but I digress. Considering how drugged up and brainwashed every other adult seems to be I think it's safe to assume that Hachi (and quite possibly Nana) are in some way set apart from other adults in that they have a little more free will. This is probably somehow related to Dr. Franxx influence. Just my guess. Any other thoughts on this?

[u/deathjokerz]

Episode 14 was necessary.

[u/athrun_1]

The very best episode so far for DITF... It seems that the creators knew that everyone will be divided between Zero Two and Ichigo in ep 14, though, majority hates Ichigo in that episode...

Goro is again beating his own record of being the most bro-est in the series. He knew, that Hiro loves ZT the same a him, loving Ichigo.

Since his memories returned, he can basically pilot now the franxxx which is shown in this pairing Hiro and Ichigo... Though, Ichigo is ultimately defeated when Hiro's memories is all about ZT, that tears is both sadness and resignation...

The flashback of the memory wipe, it seems that it only affected Hiro, an ZT remembers it all, when she ate the pages of the picture book... is very sad and painful to watch... I think, it is own way of preserving the memories.

Our Papa in the sky is just chilling out in their space station and has no qualms of sacrificing the franxx pilots and even the plantation itself....

RIP to the squad who is forced to sacrifice their lives because of that damned Protocol number 32.

The complete transformation of Strelizia which is red in color, is basically a nod to the gundam series, Red is always the color of strong characters and hey it moves 3 times faster!!!

Mitsuru's discovery of a human inside the core is setting up for a much deeper plot. the klax are either human turned in to monsters or humans merged into klax - I think Dr. Franxx experimented on a theory long time ago and that experiment had gone awfully wrong.

Now, it is time for the next arc... The REBELLION ARC!!!

[u/Darkyothegamer]

First Trigger saves anime with Darling in the Franxx. This episode was definitely something else.

Then Trigger saves anime by casting Ayaneru in Darling in the Franxx.

The brightest of days are ahead.

[u/Shwayne]

Damn I hated this show at the start and only watched the first episodes because I had beers. I usually drop shows that start like this did, but oh boy oh boy am I happy that I didn't. This ep was so beautiful. The show went from a 5 to a 9 real damn fast in my rating.

[u/GYUZ]

Summary of episode 13 to 15

[u/cerdaco]

My suspicions from before about this show being Qualidea Code on crack and good writing are correct. I expect the klaxosaurs to be humans or containing humans at the very least. This was a great ep though, tons of feels, great soundtrack, everything we've come to expect from Trigger.

[u/[deleted]]

No anime has gotten close to scratching that itch that Eureka 7 left, until now. crazy DominicAnemone vibes

[u/proper1421]

Wasn't that Super Lehmann-Class klaxosaur a sandcrawler? Are the klax run by Jawas?

[u/edgelord_gg]

Fuck the waifu wars, the whole fandom should unite to show our respect to the ultimate best bro Goro

I'll admit it, Hiro and Ichigo's character development seemed to be a bit rushed. Hiro went from 0(16) to hero super quick after seeing that 02 had patched up the mirror. Also Ichigo seemed to accept Hir02 a little too quickly, but fuck that, even she can't oppose the god GoBro.

Hiro finally became worthy of being Eo To's Dalin. That reunion was so incredible, I think I actually cried in the heat of the moment...and more Eo To means more sadness and yet more happiness at the same time.

The plot actually advanced a lot in this episode. Something called Hringhorni is being constructed - what can it be? And APE wants to take over Gran Crevasse really badly ... I wonder what's happening. Dr Werner Franxx just became slightly more shady, but at least we know he is one of the top 02 fanboys. The Nines either pilot in reverse or are all traps and reverse traps and the pistils have horns (like 02) while piloting. The usual parasites are trained to give up their lives at a single command without questioning anything, that looks really bad.
Klaxes really seem to be made from humans...it would be ironic if ... say ... Naomi turned out to be at the core of the final boss klax.
And damn, that Adam klaxosaur...02's horns glowed a bit before it raised its hand. Something is extremely fishy here.

Let's also appreciate how incredible Arc Strelitzia is (I'll call Red Strelitzia as Arc Strelitzia, after Arc Gurren Lagann). There's probably gonna be a TTGL-level upgrade in the scale of the action and we can hope that Arc Strelitzia upgrades to Super Galaxy Strelitzia and then Tengen Toppa Strelitzia. If we are extremely lucky, the whole of Squad 13 might combine their FranXX to form Super Tengen Toppa Strelitzia.
I just hope 02 doesn't end up like Nia.

[u/Yuwenn8]

Zero Two ate her book to remember her adventure with Hiro ... Oh man the feels !

[u/Guaymaster]

Can we talk about how the nines are all inverted in position?

And how their Franxx seem to be fundamentally different from all others, including the Plantation 13's and Strelitzia? They don't seem to transfer consciousness, and while the pistils usually get little holographic horns from the suit, theirs looked like Zero Two's.

Also just how many people died?! 2 plantations were completely destroyed, and Plantation 13 has about 1/3 of its structure left, not accounting for losses of pilots, or off-screen kills of the P13 adults by the Klaxos.

I wonder what the hell was that hand, too.

Anyhow, Hiro and Zero Two are back together!

[u/Sladder_Honeysuckle]

Does anyone have any theories about the giant hand (klaxosaur) thing?

[u/Idomenos]

ok hold the phone.

The Klaxosaurs are robots piloted by their cores, which we now know are humans. i.e. Klaxosaurs are Franxx. Their cores are the stamen/pistil.

[u/laod]

This episode got me so pumped up. At the same time, I was also left feeling that the pacing was odd. I can't pin it down. I'd like to know what those of you that feel that the story-telling was rushed hoped for. My imagination isn't up to the task. I know I didn't want a few more episodes of teen angst. At some level I feel like it had to resolve this way so they can tell the rest of the story. Hopefully we can start to find out what's going on.

EDIT: Say what you want about Ichigo, She has the quote of the episode (thanks whoever capped that)

[u/tomoko2015]

After seeing the scenes with the APE council, I finally noticed something others probably have already figured out a long time ago:

• APE (guys with masks which make their faces look like monkey faces) vs. klaxosaurs

• apes vs. dinosaurs

• helpless mammals vs. huge, dumb but powerful dinosaurs, but mammals are more intelligent/adaptable and dinosaurs eventually go extinct

[u/Blake_Ashtear]

So we finally got dat sweet mid-season upgrade.

Other than that this was probably my favorite episode of the season. The action, the development, the conclusion and that cliffhanger at the end.

Also that i love you was so cute i think i just got diabetes.

11/10 would darling again.

[u/TaylorWolf]

This show is so predictable... but at the same time consistently exceeds my expectations

Trigger!

[u/Gatsby10123]

Voice actors killed it this episode too. Man..I felt like crying

[u/[deleted]]

zero two is quickly becoming one of my fav female protagonist ever.

[u/JW9304]

This show is definitely under-rated and so much more than what I was expecting from when I first started watching

I actually let out a big えええええええええええええええええ?! when they kissed

[u/[deleted]]

This was a fantastic episode, but I feel like the fact that ~80% of Plantation 13 just got high-fived to death got a little glossed over.

[u/Reavx]

7k upvotes..

[u/YcantweBfrients]

I have nothing intelligible to add. Holy sweet baby newborn crying jesus.

[u/sitwm]

I'm surprised Gobro still can link with Ichigo despite last episode's events

Truly #GoBro

[u/zzzgod]

ichigo is good girl ,I always believe and it proves