DARLING in the FRANXX - What the HFIL Happened?!

Summary

The video script is a critique of the anime 'Darling in the Franxx,' focusing on its narrative shortcomings, especially in the final arc. The reviewer criticizes the rushed pacing, derivative elements, and lack of originality, arguing these issues detract from the series' potential. They also discuss the show's tonal inconsistency, particularly the absurdity of the 'Strelitzia True Apocalypse' concept, which clashes with the series' serious themes. The critique concludes that while the show has strong individual elements like animation and music, its failure to cohesively develop a compelling story and characters results in a disappointing conclusion.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The video discusses the anime 'Darling in the Franxx', particularly its ending, which the speaker found to be a letdown.
• 🔍 The speaker warns of spoilers and acknowledges that their view may differ from others who enjoyed the series.
• 🎭 The criticism includes the show's rushed final arc and its unoriginal elements borrowed from past Gainax and Trigger properties.
• 🤔 The speaker believes the real issue is not the pacing or unoriginality, but rather the lack of coherence in the show's direction.
• 👨‍🎨 The series' writer-director, Atsushi Nishigori, is held responsible for the show's direction and the resulting narrative issues.
• 🚀 The show's transformation from small-scale conflicts to a space opera is criticized for being too ambitious and poorly executed.
• 😅 The series is said to have shifted from emotional investment to emotional detachment, with serious drama provoking laughter.
• 🤖 The concept of Strelitzia True AP is described as ridiculous and poorly integrated into the show's narrative.
• 💔 The series is criticized for its lack of a compelling antagonist and for failing to develop its villains, the Verm.
• 📜 The script is said to be poorly planned, with many plot points and character arcs left unresolved or underdeveloped.
• 💔 The deaths in the series are seen as unearned and manipulative, as they involve minor characters rather than main or even secondary ones.

Q & A

What is the main criticism of the ending of 'Darling in the Franxx' as described in the script?

The main criticism is that the ending is rushed and lacks originality, borrowing heavily from past Gainax and Trigger properties.

Why does the reviewer believe the last arc of 'Darling in the Franxx' is problematic?

The reviewer believes the last arc is problematic because it tries to cram a full two years of space travel, an endless war, and the rebuilding of Earth into a very short amount of time, resulting in a narrative that is too ambitious and doesn't allow for proper development.

What is the reviewer's opinion on the character designs and animation in 'Darling in the Franxx'?

The reviewer finds the character designs and art direction striking and memorable, and the animation consistently strong.

How does the reviewer feel about the music in 'Darling in the Franxx'?

The reviewer praises the music as incredible.

What is the reviewer's main issue with the narrative structure of 'Darling in the Franxx'?

The reviewer's main issue is that the show is a mess that is less than the sum of its parts, with a lack of coherent vision among the creators leading to a narrative that is all over the place.

What does the reviewer think about the series' handling of sexuality and mecha action?

The reviewer feels that while the series starts with a serious approach to sexuality and mecha action, it becomes inconsistent, downplaying the provocative elements that were initially part of its appeal.

Why does the reviewer argue that the comparison to 'Gurren Lagann' is not fair for 'Darling in the Franxx'?

The reviewer argues that the comparison is not fair because 'Darling in the Franxx' is not equipped to handle the concept of a massive transforming robot in the same way 'Gurren Lagann' did, due to its different narrative tone and focus.

What is the reviewer's stance on the deaths of characters in the final episodes of 'Darling in the Franxx'?

The reviewer believes that the deaths of characters in the final episodes are poorly executed and unearned, as they involve minor villains rather than main characters, which fails to raise the emotional stakes effectively.

How does the reviewer describe the ending of 'Darling in the Franxx' in terms of its emotional impact?

The reviewer describes the ending as lacking emotional weight and substance, with the series resorting to clichés and cop-outs for a happy ending that doesn't align with the tone of the rest of the series.

What recommendation does the reviewer have for potential viewers of 'Darling in the Franxx'?

The reviewer recommends watching the first 15 episodes for great animation and a pretty good romance, but advises viewers to stop before the end as the last stretch of the series is not as well-executed.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to 'Darling in the Frankxx' Critique

The video script begins with a cautionary introduction to potential spoilers regarding the anime 'Darling in the Frankxx'. The speaker indicates that while the following content won't ruin the anime, it may alter the viewer's perception of it. The critique is set to focus on the ending of the series, with a particular emphasis on the rushed pacing of the last arc and the show's unoriginality in borrowing elements from past Gainax and Trigger properties. The speaker also acknowledges that some viewers may have enjoyed the series despite its flaws and intends to explore why the show failed to maintain emotional investment for some, including themselves.

05:00

🤔 The Misalignment of Tone and Theme

This paragraph delves into the tonal inconsistencies of 'Darling in the Frankxx', particularly the contrast between the show's initial promise of an over-the-top, action-packed series and its eventual shift towards a more serious drama. The critique points out that while the show's premise and design suggest a fanservice-heavy, mecha-action extravaganza, it attempts to tackle themes of sexuality and serious drama. The speaker argues that the show's attempt to downplay the provocative elements typical of Trigger's style results in a narrative that is both incongruous and fails to live up to the emotional depth it aims for.

10:02

📜 Poorly Executed World-Building and Storytelling

The third paragraph addresses the show's weak world-building and storytelling, highlighting the lack of development and follow-through on potentially interesting plot points. The critique focuses on the derivative nature of the show's sci-fi elements, such as magma energy and the alien race known as the Verm, which are underdeveloped and fail to provide a satisfying explanation for the world's mechanics. The paragraph also discusses the lack of character development for the main antagonists, reducing them to plot devices rather than compelling characters.

15:02

😢 The Lack of Consequential Character Deaths

This paragraph discusses the show's failure to deliver on the emotional stakes by avoiding the death of main characters. The critique points out that the series sets up expectations for character deaths but ultimately opts for the death of minor villains, which fails to elicit the intended emotional response. The speaker suggests that the deaths are used as a last-minute plot device to create artificial drama, rather than as a meaningful part of the narrative. The paragraph also touches on the show's tendency to rely on clichés and cop-outs to maintain a happy ending, which detracts from the overall impact of the series.

20:03

🏁 Conclusion and Recommendations

In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes that 'Darling in the Frankxx' is a compromised work that fails to effectively use its characters and plot points. They recommend that viewers stop watching after the first 15 episodes to enjoy the show's animation and romance without enduring the unsatisfying conclusion. The critique ends with the speaker, Geoff thew, signing off from his mother's basement, suggesting a light-hearted tone despite the critical analysis.

Keywords

💡Darling in the Franxx

Darling in the Franxx is an anime series that serves as the central focus of the video. The video discusses the show's narrative, character development, and thematic elements. It's used as a case study to explore the show's strengths and weaknesses, particularly in its latter episodes. The script mentions an emotional investment in the series, indicating the depth of the video's analysis.

💡Spoilers

The term 'spoilers' refers to revealing plot points that could diminish the experience of watching the show for first-time viewers. The video script warns about discussing ending spoilers for Darling in the Franxx, setting the expectation that the content will delve into detailed analysis that might reveal crucial plot developments.

💡Gainax Ending

A 'Gainax Ending' is a term used to describe a sudden and dramatic shift in a series' narrative, often involving a jump to a grand scale or a change in genre. The video script criticizes Darling in the Franxx for having a 'Gainax Ending,' suggesting that the show's conclusion was abrupt and thematically inconsistent with the rest of the series.

💡True Form

In the context of the video, 'True Form' refers to a plot element where characters transform into their true, often more powerful, forms. The video discusses how this concept is handled in Darling in the Franxx, particularly in the form of Strelitzia True Apocalypse, and how it affects the show's narrative and the viewer's engagement.

💡Mecha

Mecha is a genre of science fiction that features large robots, often piloted by humans. The video discusses Darling in the Franxx as a mecha series and how it handles themes of mech combat and the associated action. The script mentions mech action as a central element of the show's appeal, particularly in contrast with its more dramatic and emotional storylines.

💡Character Development

Character development refers to the growth and evolution of a character's personality and abilities over the course of a story. The video script critiques Darling in the Franxx for its handling of character development, especially in the latter episodes where it argues that characters become less engaging or lose their distinctive traits.

💡Slice-of-Life

Slice-of-life is a genre that focuses on the everyday experiences of characters. The video mentions 'slice-of-life' episodes in Darling in the Franxx, discussing how these episodes provide emotional depth and connection to the characters, but also how they might have been better balanced with the show's action-oriented content.

💡Pacing

Pacing refers to the speed at which the plot unfolds. The video script criticizes the pacing of Darling in the Franxx, particularly in the final arc, where it argues that the show tries to cover too much narrative ground in too little time, leading to a rushed and unsatisfying conclusion.

💡Tone

Tone refers to the mood or emotional quality of a narrative. The video discusses how Darling in the Franxx shifts in tone, moving from serious drama to more light-hearted or comedic elements, and how these shifts affect the viewer's experience and the show's overall coherence.

💡World Building

World building is the process of constructing an imaginary world, including its history, geography, culture, and rules. The video script points out issues with Darling in the Franxx's world building, suggesting that it lacks consistency and leaves many questions unanswered, which detracts from the viewer's immersion and understanding of the story.

💡Clichés and Cop-outs

Clichés are overused elements that lack originality, while cop-outs refer to avoiding difficult or complex narrative choices. The video argues that Darling in the Franxx relies on clichés and cop-outs in its storytelling, particularly in its conclusion, which results in a less impactful and less satisfying ending.

Highlights

Warning about spoilers for the ending of 'Darling in the Franxx'.

The video discusses the show's transition from emotional investment to emotional detachment.

Criticisms of the show include a rushed last arc and unoriginal borrowing from past works.

The show's attempt to balance drama and action is acknowledged.

The series' character designs and art direction are praised as striking and memorable.

The animation and music of 'Darling in the Franxx' are highlighted as consistently strong and incredible.

The writing of individual episodes is noted for being powerful, poetic, and funny.

The show's messiness is attributed to a lack of coherent vision among the creative team.

The series is criticized for its inconsistent tone, shifting between fanservice and serious drama.

Comparisons are made to 'Gurren Lagann', with arguments on why the comparison is unfair.

The concept of Strelitzia True Apocalypse is criticized for its absurdity and poor execution.

The show's failure to develop its villains and the lack of a clear antagonist are pointed out.

The script is criticized for being poorly planned and failing to follow through on interesting plot points.

The deaths of minor characters are discussed as attempts to raise emotional stakes without success.

The series' ending is criticized for being too happy and uninteresting, lacking emotional weight.

The recommendation to watch the first 15 episodes for great animation and romance, but to stop before the end.

Transcripts

in about 30 seconds this video will be

jumping into spoilers for the ending of

darling in the Franks the first things

I'm gonna show you aren't going to ruin

this anime except in the sense that once

you see them it's gonna be impossible

for you to take it seriously anymore but

I figure it's worth warning you anyway

and from that point forward it will get

increasingly spoilery later on I'll also

be discussing a certain similar element

from the ending of gurren lagaan that's

not in itself a huge spoiler unless

we're talking physically and is

generally well known even to people who

haven't watched the show but some of you

may still want to avoid seeing it

however I can't avoid talking about that

element because well just [ __ ] look

at this this trainwreck which I once

thought would be one of the best shows

this year didn't just go off the rails

it's somehow d4 seed into an alternate

reality where the rails never existed in

the first place within the span of 24

episodes I went from being so

emotionally invested that at the series

peak it made me cry to being so

emotionally detached that all of its

attempts at serious drama had me crying

with laughter I'm aware that some people

made it through the comedic brilliance

that is strelitzia true APIs with their

respect and love for the series intact

and that's great if you came away from

darling in the Franks and think it's a

10 out of 10 flawless masterpiece made

by Haruhi herself I'm happy for you I am

glad that you could enjoy this anime and

stay invested in the story straight to

the end but I couldn't and this is my

youtube channel so I'm gonna spend the

next 20 minutes or so trying to figure

out why that is buckle up

it's time to figure out what the hell

happened to darling in the Franks

to be clear we're not gonna be playing

blame the studio here because it's the

individuals with creative control of the

project not the company's involved in

its creation who are ultimately most

responsible for the direction that the

series took particularly writer-director

atsushi nishigori two big criticisms

that I've seen levied at darling in the

Frank so that one the last arc of the

story is really rushed and - the series

borrows pretty liberally from past

gainax and trigger properties in shall

we say less than original ways I think

that both of these complaints are valid

but they failed to get to the heart of

what's really wrong with this show yes

obviously three episodes is a bit of a

tight squeeze for an anime to suddenly

make the transition from mostly

small-scale ground conflicts to the

massive starship fleet battles of a

full-blown space opera and cramming a

full two years of space travel and

sleepless endless war for the fate of

the universe plus the gradual

reformation of humanity and rebuilding

of the earth into 23 minutes is

ambitious to say the least I'd say on

par with the last episode of Charlotte

in that regard and it's definitely a

problem that anyone who's seen a guy

next show before can call every twist in

the series a light year away including

that sudden jump to space but it's not

like the series suddenly started

cribbing from dine axes playbook as it

got bad and got to its gainax ending the

good parts of the show also reuse and

remix ideas that we've seen before in

fact when it started the omage was kind

of part of the appeal for a lot of

viewers at least up to the point where

it became obvious that the show was a

little light on original ideas and many

of the show's best episodes and arcs

move at a breakneck pace I mean after

episode 14 fans were ready to riot over

developments in 0-2 and Hiro's

relationship that were resolved in a

very satisfying manner just one episode

later now some might argue that the show

could benefit from condensing some of

its more dull slice-of-life Yepez ODEs

to make room for more action but those

slice-of-life bits are what give the

show its heart and let us connect with

the characters there as necessary as the

fighting robot bits if not more so they

could definitely have been better

written especially from episode 16 to 19

and maybe spread out

a bit more evenly but I think the ratio

of drama to action in francs is at least

on paper pretty well balanced and on

paper if you break darling in the francs

down to individual components basically

all of it is really good the character

designs an art direction are striking

and memorable for the most part the

animation is consistently strong the

music is incredible the writing of

individual episodes and bits of dialogue

can be powerful poetic and genuinely

funny yet cram all of these individual

elements together and what you get is a

mess that is less than the sum of its

parts a lot like the other recent much

hyped and much maligned mecha series all

NOAA zero all of the teams working on

darling in the francs clearly had a lot

of passion for the project but it feels

like all of them had slightly or

sometimes wildly different ideas of what

the show should be and nobody ever

bothered to sit down and talk to

everybody and actually figure out a

coherent answer to that question if you

step back and look at the product as a

whole darling in the Franks is kind of

all the [ __ ] over the place its designs

and premise suggests that we're in for

an over-the-top balls-to-the-wall

cavalcade of fanservice and mecha action

I mean zero - spends literally all of

her time either naked or wearing a plug

suit in the first couple episodes yet

for a show about drift compatible

teenagers piloting mechs doggy style

it's surprisingly tame like yeah there's

the one episode where the goop gets on

the plug suits and makes them start

melting and then the girls and boys go

to war but the aggressive sexuality and

in-your-face jig leanness of stuff like

killa kill and gurren lagaan

just isn't there in the same way the

series makes an active effort to

downplay the Gainax enos or i guess you

could say trigger eNOS of everything

making a statement early on that while

we're gonna be having a bit of fun here

we're gonna be looking at the themes of

sexuality through a more serious lens

this is an action drama not an action

comedy which isn't the worst idea in the

world to be honest it's neat to see

someone take these distinctively trigger

designs and ideas and use them to tell a

more grounded subdued story and for the

first 15 episodes the romantic tension

between hero and 0-2 and

drama that unfolds between them and

their friends and the adults is

legitimately gripping but if serious

dramas what you're going for ah what the

hell is this what in the ever-loving

[ __ ] are you doing stop when I posted my

reaction to this nonsense on Twitter a

few weeks ago quite a few people brought

up gurren lagaan in response some just

making comparisons others using that

series to defend the choices made in

this one but I don't think that

comparison is fair and I say that for

two reasons firstly the whole design of

strelitzia true APIs is inherently

ridiculous and stupid this is not parts

of a robot rearranging themselves to

look more like the person piloting it

this is a metal shell transforming into

a human with flesh blood hair and makeup

somehow and like goddamn the tiny

bottles that yazi buys from Sephora are

already crazy expensive I don't even

want to imagine what a few hundred

meters worth of lipstick and eyeshadow

would cost you can't just blow a regular

ass human up to planetary scale without

it looking either super goofy or super

creepy I mean that's almost half the

concept of attack on Titan on a

fundamental level this just looks an

order of magnitude dumber than super

tengen toppa gurren lagaan which

benefits from being made out of spiral

energy and not you know a hundred square

miles of human skin with titties the

size of literal mountains but even if

true APIs didn't have a god-awful

character design darling in the Franks

was simply not equipped to make this

concept work not in the same way that

gurren lagaan pulled it off anyway

because the idea of an absurdly massive

transforming robot taking out thousands

of spaceships at once with a barrage of

lasers fueled by the power of love is

right at home in an ever-escalating

balls-to-the-wall action series like

Guren but it feels about as alien as

well sudden aliens in a moody

coming-of-age teen romance story darling

in the Franks is not a show about

pointy-haired kids and rad sunglasses

making bold declarations about digging

equipment with anime bravado

it's about sad teenagers arguing and

crying and in

bracing each other and most of what

happens in the last few episodes is

totally incongruous with that tone which

makes it hilarious not moving not

exciting hilarious when during the

show's big emotional climax the comatose

girl on earth turns to stone and

reappears as a half mechanical giant s

orbiting Mars I wasn't crying I was

laughing my ass off when everyone on

earth decided to spend hours holding

hands with a rock prompted only by a

little girl saying the word darling in

order to somehow help hero thousands of

light-years away escape space hypnosis

all so that he can commit mass genocide

for peace and justice that goofiness

stopped me from appreciating the moments

of the show's epilogue like showing all

of squad 13 grown up with kids that are

pretty well executed and have the

potential to be really powerful there

were a few moments in the last couple

episodes that almost certainly would

have been really emotional for me if I

was still able to care but every time

that I was about to be moved by

something I was seeing I'd remember this

heck sometimes the show would cut

directly from a potentially affecting

scene to this and immediately all of the

emotional energy that the show had been

working to build up was released through

laughter instead I've banged on for a

while about this disaster and I don't

think I can overstate how stupid true

apus is or how badly it damages the

integrity of the show's narrative on its

own but even before it warp jumped over

all the sharks in existence darling in

the Franks was in trouble because as big

a problem as true apus is literally and

figuratively the show has a much bigger

one the script is poorly planned and

fails to follow through on just about

everything potentially interesting that

it sets up I've been over the messy

world building and storytelling in

episode 19 in depth so I won't repeat

what I said there here but subsequent

episodes of this show do nothing to

remedy these problems not only are the

reveals that follow about the true

nature of Frank's robots magma energy

and ape all painfully derivative of

other

better works of sci-fi they're also

super bare-bones examples of those

tropes that don't really explain

anything help some of the reveals just

create bigger plot holes like magma

energy is really the lifestream of sorry

clack so Sarju s-- and it provides life

energy that allows the earth to be

fertile alright but then like how did

clack so sapiens evolve and develop

their civilization without already

having magma energy in the earth to

allow plants to grow what did they use

to fuel their incredible impossible

technologies like the clack so czars

themselves you know the giant robots

that humanity at the height of its magma

energy fueled development still had a

lot of trouble reverse engineering into

Frank's where'd they get the energy to

make those the answer is don't think

about it

seeing huge gaps in world building like

this is frustrating but I guess it's not

super important to the narrative overall

you know it is though the main villains

of the whole story the verm you guys

kind of just forgot to give them a

backstory motivation or personality

aliens showed up out of nowhere

thousands of years ago and we're bad now

thousands of years later they're back

and they're still bad that's literally

it I mean their stated motivation is

bringing immortal hivemind peace to the

universe but if a species turns them

down they then immediately go to war

with them which is the opposite of peace

there's no philosophical consistency

there and we're never shown any reason

why they'd endanger themselves or the

peace that they've worked so hard to

create and they say that they want in

order to achieve more peace may be the

verm aren't even as fleshed out as the

anti spirals they're really just evil

for the sake of being evil because the

plot needs that even though they have

dialogue you can barely call them

characters let alone villains their plot

devices ultimately they have about as

much personality and drive as the

tsunami or earthquake in a roland

emmerich film and because the verm are

responsible for the clock so czars being

violent as well that kind of leaves the

story without a real antagonist and

without a real

to fight the sole driving force of

darling ends up having to be the

interpersonal drama of squad 13

particularly the romance between hero

and 0-2 and the conflicting feelings of

Goro and Ichigo and until episode 15

that does keep the show going but after

that point zero 2 basically loses her

whole personality like in Prior episodes

when she's hanging out with squad 13 she

is clearly a [ __ ] disturber poking fun

and prodding at others for her own

amusement and generally being very

haughty and full of herself but after

reuniting with hero she's just nice to

everyone all the time and doesn't stir

up any conflict ever it's like the

writers think that being in a

relationship somehow magically solves

all of your emotional hang-ups and

personality quirks that's uh that's not

how organic character growth works and

that lazy writing leaves the series

spinning its wheels from that point

forward forcing it to focus on weaker

characters who just can't carry an

episode as the primary focus like Mitsu

rouge sole defining characteristic is

his man crush on Hiro which is already

basically resolved and three out of the

four paragraphs on the series wiki

describing cocoros personality are

literally just about how she wants to

[ __ ] Matt suru and have a baby while the

other one just says that she's really

nice not exactly the most complex

characters in the world yet our

investment in their interactions and

eventual wedding has to fuel the a plot

of three whole episodes with zero action

when the series does eventually try to

get back on track with the war against

the clock so SARS the writers to their

credit realized that they've given us

zero reason to care about the outcome so

their solution for injecting some

emotional drama into these final battles

is to tear Hiro away from 0to again so

that they can reprise episode 15s fight

to bring them back together only this

time it's her saving him and then

because they have three episodes to go

and zero ideas left they do the exact

same thing again but in space this time

and if you strip those repetitive

elements away there is next to nothing

in these episodes that we can be

reasonably expected to give a [ __ ] about

because all of the surrounding casts

basically does nothing and nothing

really happens to them the entire time

that darling in the Franks was running

viewers were shouting incessantly about

death flags left and right and eagerly

anticipating the [ __ ] just got real

moment when a member of squad 13 would

finally get killed off and it really

makes sense with such a huge cast of

untrained kids fighting giant monsters

one of them has to die at some point

right well apparently not

the writers clearly felt that someone

had to die to raise the emotional stakes

in these final episodes because for

significant established characters do

die across these last two battles but

the thing is none of the deaths our main

characters not even any of the useless

ones instead of taking characters who

we've spent a lot of time growing to

like and that our heroes have an

emotional attachment to darling and the

Franks tries to wring some cheap

unearned tears out of the audience by

killing minor villains a big blue snake

a small blue lolly a barely developed

mad scientist and a blonde kid who's

literally never been anything but an

[ __ ] every last one of these

characters follows the same pattern

they're introduced as some kind of

threat early on in the series that 0 -

and hero will have to overcome and

characterized in such a way that you

look forward to seeing them get their

asses kicked

but then the show needs to meet a death

quota so all of a sudden they do one

good thing and immediately die

afterwards and we're just expected to be

sad about it because [ __ ] if I know dr.

Franks is the only character out of any

of them who's had more than 5 seconds of

screen time where he has any chance to

appear sympathetic but his death is too

hilarious to be sad this Boulder

crushing him has the framing and timing

of an actual roadrunner gag look just

replaced the sound effects

this all smacks of last-minute rewrites

to me I mean in episode 18 the nines are

displaying fanatical devotion to Papa

after he reveals that he's an evil alien

and plans to blow up the whole planet

they were clearly intended at some stage

to be the final bosses faced by squad 13

and give us some mekin mech action

before the finale yet instead of

following through on that the show backs

down having nine alpha gets sick and

turned good for basically no reason and

it simultaneously uses the deaths of

these villains to back down from killing

off any members of its main cast who we

actually might care about all in order

to give them a happy ending like if I

had to wager I'd be willing to bet that

in an earlier draft of this script it's

Mitsu supposed to take the role of

heroes male pistol leaving Kokoro back

home on earth and he's the one who

ultimately sacrifices himself to help

Hiro reach zero - not only would that

pay off the earlier set up when Mitsuru

says that he wants to be hero's partner

it would be a lot more meaningful and

emotionally satisfying for the audience

than the death of this random [ __ ]

and it would make for a much more

powerful moment in both his and cocoros

character arcs than just having him stay

back at home and be a happy dad

seriously killing off at least some of

the squad members this late in the game

would give these episodes the emotional

weight they so desperately need to work

as the climax to this kind of melodrama

it would also shape up the cast dynamics

in a way that would make these otherwise

bland episode plots a little bit more

interesting instead the series takes cop

outs at every turn to preserve the

dynamic that the writers are comfortable

with on the way to an unambiguously

happy and totally uninteresting

conclusion okay so some people are gonna

argue that hero and zero to dying makes

this ending bittersweet but come on all

of their friends live long happy lives

without them and they get to go off for

two years doing exactly what they've

wanted to do from moment one of the

series just be alone together they die

at exactly the same time so neither has

two more than the other and to top it

all off there

incarnated Souls are apparently

cosmically intertwined so that they can

be together in a time completely free of

conflict in the future without that

reincarnation scene it would be a little

ambiguously sad but with it you

literally couldn't write a happier

ending for these characters without I

don't know making them immortal gods who

get to spend all of eternity in love

with each other or something and to be

clear there's nothing wrong with ending

a show what they all lived happily ever

after and reincarnated happily ever

after but it's not really in line with

the tone of the rest of the series and I

don't think it really says much of

substance at the end of the day the only

message that darling in the Franks

really puts out there despite all of its

philosophical meandering is love's good

have babies and that's a shame because

when it started it seemed like a show

with a lot more to say but maybe that's

just because it borrowed so much from

series that actually had something to

say either way darling in the Franks

feels like a compromised and poorly

planned work one with no idea of how to

pay off the plot points that sets up or

how to effectively use the characters

and concepts that it develops in lieu of

that the writers chose to fall back on

old cliches and cop outs which only

exacerbate those issues still while the

last stretch of it sucks the first 15

episodes provide a satisfying enough

emotional journey and while it doesn't

have much in the way of concrete meaning

if you stopped watching at that episode

hey it doesn't if you finish the whole

series either so if you're interested in

darling in the Franks I do recommend

riding it out to that point for the

great animation and pretty good romance

but just make sure that you disembark

before the train turns into a wreck I'm

Geoff thew professional [ __ ] signing

out from my mother's basement

[Music]