Maybe give it a rewatch: it wasn’t as awful as you remember it.
Summary:
Darling in the FranXX had quite a bit of hype, and its character drama and mysterious world attracted many fans.
The ending didn’t explain many of the earlier plot points and was ultimately considered a disaster.
Despite the finale, it was a surprisingly well-made anime, a fact that people often forget.
Darling in the FranXX seems to get a lot of flack from otaku. It’s often called a trainwreck and a complete disaster, and is dismissed as one of the worst works by Studio Trigger. This is a bit unfair, as the series was very solid until a certain point: fans were really unhappy about how it ended.
It was actually good at first
The announcement of Darling in the FranXX was initially met with a lot of hype — as it usually happens with Trigger anime. The fact that it was a collaboration with A-1 (and their, at the time, recent split-off studio CloverWorks) made it an even more interesting project: you don’t often see multiple huge studios working on the same project.
The anime also started out very interesting. FranXX has a huge cast of characters with a lot of tension between them. The relationship drama is set up really well, and it was shaping up to become something really great. In general, the first half of FranXX has very solid character writing with a couple of very touching backstories.
Not to mention the mystery behind the world the characters live in — and the enemies they fight. As the worldbuilding slowly unravels itself, the series’ themes slowly become more apparent. Sadly, a lot of things were left unexplained, which, naturally, upset many fans.
The reasons the finale doesn’t work
The latter half of Darling in the FranXX was where the public opinion on it turned around completely. The ending of the anime fell incredibly flat for many viewers. To many, it was a case of adding elements that weren’t really needed (the classic “Trigger = aliens” meme applies here), and in general, it felt like many of the earlier plot points were just forgotten.
The anime seems to have referenced many earlier series in its final episodes, like Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. All of these are made by Gainax, the studio from which Trigger split off — but they weren’t really appreciated by fans, who wanted FranXX to be its own thing instead.
Only talking about the ending makes no sense
However, disastrous ending aside, Darling in the FranXX is a very well-made show. You also shouldn’t forget the very good mecha action and amazing soundtrack, things that barely get mentioned now.
It’s understandable why the finale frustrated many people, but it’s a bit unfair to remember the anime for its ending only. The same thing applies to other shows as well: Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) fans, for example, seem to only care about the series’ finale nowadays, completely forgetting why they liked it in the first place
Maybe give it a rewatch: it wasn’t as awful as you remember it.
Summary:
Darling in the FranXX had quite a bit of hype, and its character drama and mysterious world attracted many fans.
The ending didn’t explain many of the earlier plot points and was ultimately considered a disaster.
Despite the finale, it was a surprisingly well-made anime, a fact that people often forget.
Darling in the FranXX seems to get a lot of flack from otaku. It’s often called a trainwreck and a complete disaster, and is dismissed as one of the worst works by Studio Trigger. This is a bit unfair, as the series was very solid until a certain point: fans were really unhappy about how it ended.
It was actually good at first
The announcement of Darling in the FranXX was initially met with a lot of hype — as it usually happens with Trigger anime. The fact that it was a collaboration with A-1 (and their, at the time, recent split-off studio CloverWorks) made it an even more interesting project: you don’t often see multiple huge studios working on the same project.
The anime also started out very interesting. FranXX has a huge cast of characters with a lot of tension between them. The relationship drama is set up really well, and it was shaping up to become something really great. In general, the first half of FranXX has very solid character writing with a couple of very touching backstories.
Not to mention the mystery behind the world the characters live in — and the enemies they fight. As the worldbuilding slowly unravels itself, the series’ themes slowly become more apparent. Sadly, a lot of things were left unexplained, which, naturally, upset many fans.
The reasons the finale doesn’t work
The latter half of Darling in the FranXX was where the public opinion on it turned around completely. The ending of the anime fell incredibly flat for many viewers. To many, it was a case of adding elements that weren’t really needed (the classic “Trigger = aliens” meme applies here), and in general, it felt like many of the earlier plot points were just forgotten.
The anime seems to have referenced many earlier series in its final episodes, like Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. All of these are made by Gainax, the studio from which Trigger split off — but they weren’t really appreciated by fans, who wanted FranXX to be its own thing instead.
Only talking about the ending makes no sense
However, disastrous ending aside, Darling in the FranXX is a very well-made show. You also shouldn’t forget the very good mecha action and amazing soundtrack, things that barely get mentioned now.
It’s understandable why the finale frustrated many people, but it’s a bit unfair to remember the anime for its ending only. The same thing applies to other shows as well: Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) fans, for example, seem to only care about the series’ finale nowadays, completely forgetting why they liked it in the first place
