What is Darling in the FranXX actually about? (Episode 13 and I feel lost)

So I’m at episode 13 of Darling in the FranXX and I genuinely have no idea what this show is trying to do.

I went in expecting some kind of big twist, mystery reveal, or at least clearer hints about the world by now but instead it feels like I’m watching a mix of:

* awkward teen melodrama
* very heavy boy/girl pairing ideology
* weirdly hostile vibes toward anything not strictly heterosexual
* endless jealousy/NTR-adjacent angst
* and a lot of emotional breakdowns that feel… forced?

The worldbuilding still feels incredibly vague. I don’t really understand the society, the adults, the rules, or the larger stakes beyond “pilot robot, feel feelings, cry.” I kept assuming the payoff would come soon that the cringe or uncomfortable stuff was intentional setup but halfway through the series, I’m still waiting.

So I guess my real question is:

Is this confusion normal at this point?

Is the show supposed to feel like it’s spinning its wheels until later, or am I just fundamentally not clicking with what it’s trying to say? Does it even know what it wants to say? It just seems like it is trying to be a bunch of shows that did it better.

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Commentaires

muzlee012026-01-23 12:24

And you are at the best part of the show. There is a twist but that just makes things worse. The ending is straight up funny because of how bad it is.

AdUnfair5582026-01-23 12:27

Episode 13 was probably the most decent episode. I really don’t like all the characters. Hate the MC the most.

This show just makes me want to watch Eureka Seven, or Evangelion, or Gurren Lagann or Diebuster, or…

Railgun_8S2026-01-23 12:37

>This show just makes me want to watch Eureka Seven

My biggest recommend would be: Do exactly that, maybe in that Order (though Diebuster never worked for me). And honestly if DitF don't work until now it probably won't after that, its only downhill from here IMO. I did finish it though but I also watched it weekly but I actually started rewatching Eureka Seven and Gurren Lagann while it aired and appreciated those two even more (they were already my 2 favorites mechas at the time)

Reemys2026-01-23 12:56

It's very ironic that you mention E7, Evangelion and Gurren Lagann as they have very similar themes embedded in them. Maybe the aforementioned series are just easier to understand.

LeReilly2026-01-23 12:26

There will be one minor and undercooked gay plotline by the end to balance the rest.

My take is that it's mostly a show about; future humans became immortal by renouncing love/sexuality/children which is unfortunately necessary to pilot big robots. So the show is, imo, "trying" to say that love and babies are fundamental to the human experience (which makes sense in a natality-challenged country like Japan).

That's what I got out of it. (and yeah the end is bad lol)

Hereva2026-01-23 12:27

It's Evangelion with cute robots. Sorry.

Also, the heterosexual thing is a bit more complex because basically people, adults, rejected their reproductive nature and basically attained immortality. However, the robots can't be piloted by them due to that, only two people who still have this can pilot the mechs.

AdUnfair5582026-01-23 13:04

Yeah, but at least Evangelion had world building. I’m halfway through the show and I have no idea what is going on or any clue why the world of this show is like how it is.

ValiantNaberius2026-01-23 13:26

It felt like the kind of anime where the creators had one single idea and tried to build a whole story around it; what if mechas, but weirdly *horny*?

World building had to play second or third fiddle to the core idea and suffered for it

AdUnfair5582026-01-23 13:29

I have never encountered a show like this of recent memory that just doesn’t try to world building and have the viewer try to guess. It’s like Dark Souls level but without being able to get lore from item descriptions. It’s really bad.

ValiantNaberius2026-01-23 13:32

To be fair to the show, there is *some* mystery about the background story, but it's not much and not very well done either. I remember wondering what was going on with the adults, but then it got more nonsensical.

Reemys2026-01-23 14:43

Why would you consider it nonsensical? The adults there are simply a reflection of modern childbirth trends worldwide, in developed countries, as well as the logical culmination of primarily egoistical beings.

ValiantNaberius2026-01-23 14:54

You're telling me intelligent, mature humans can science their way to making themselves biologically immortal, but can't engineer a mecha that they can still pilot?

Suspension of disbelief can only take me so far when the rest of the world building goes weird in service of giving us 'doggystyle cockpits'.

Reemys2026-01-24 01:57

Ask yourself - why would they? In-story, there has been a reasonable explanation that their lives were just great, at this point. Adults didn't want to fight back against that logical monster that assaulted them, ultimately.

The style of how the children would drive their mechs is symbolically representative of the inevitable intimacy associated with human life, bonding and birth. No matter how you qualitatively judge it, it is there, in the nature, a part of the world's order inalienable from human individuals, no matter what the \*others\* think about it. If anything, it is more sacred than otherwise, as it is the manifestation of nature's beauty.

DerekSmartWasTaken2026-01-23 12:28

You have the proper reaction. Enjoy it for what it is and get ready for its ending (you won't be ready, lol)

AdjustDeezNutz2026-01-23 12:28

You should finish it so you can join us in hating the ending.

Ok_Mushroom25632026-01-23 12:33

it's not a show you should take very seriously I'm surprised you're still trying

I stopped taking it seriously in literally episode 1 or 2 when I noticed them mounting each other to pilot the mech. I thought that was a dead giveaway that it will be piss?

it's entertaining if you just enjoy it for what it is

Reemys2026-01-23 12:57

You seem to have taken the vulgarity at the face value without attempting to anyhow reframe it in symbolic terms. You gave up thinking too early, for a reason or two.

Ok_Mushroom25632026-01-23 14:02

bro it isn't deep even if you do think hard about it

Reemys2026-01-23 14:42

Do you think me to take seriously any depth evaluation from someone using "bro" online?

Evening-Strain-77842026-01-23 12:36

Some fans don't care about specific details, as long as zero 2 is cute

Yotsubato2026-01-23 13:20

ZeroTwoDancing.gif

Adrian_Alucard2026-01-23 12:39

The bad guys just want to execute Nerv/Gendo's plan of human instrumentality project

Reemys2026-01-23 12:57

It is considerably more fundamental than Gendo's plan, it's about the cornerstone forces of the universe locked into an eternal conflict over human mind.

iliketurtles69_boner2026-01-23 12:47

If there is a message it’s trying to convey they do a poor job of getting it across. It’s basically teen melodrama with big robots and some weird sex stuff with a hilariously bad ending, it’s fun though.

Reemys2026-01-23 12:52

It's the culmination of Trigger and Gainax core philosophy seen across their works since Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. An existential adventure of young people trying to figure out what they are, for what they are and for whom they are.

The other half of it is the fundamental universal philosophy of forces driving humanity and, likely, the universe itself: chaos and order, logic and faith/emotions.

In short: yes, this confusion is totally normal if you haven't been exposed to much philosophy in your life. Keep watching and one day you might come back and really understand just what are those signifiers are signifying.
If you have any serious questions, I can answer them in-depth.

AdUnfair5582026-01-23 13:01

Are we talking about the same show? Or do the characters start to question things more in the second half?

Reemys2026-01-23 13:15

They do and a ton lot, they should have started questioning it by now but I don't remember exact episode timeline.

moichispa2026-01-23 13:17

The confusion is not a bug but a feature, enjoy!

redditraptor62026-01-23 13:22

Short answer: Sex.
Long answer: Seeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxx

Seriously though, you have the right read on the situation so far. I’m sure you have been warned at this point, but the show is about to get worse. I remember for the first half of the show. I was a big fan of what I was seeing, because I’m a fan of both Gainax and Trigger stuff so I am no stranger to “over the top sci-fi/mech show with lots of horniness that seems dumb, but is actually pretty deep (while also being dumb/horny, the two aren’t mutually exclusive)”. I thought it was extremely clear that the show was just about puberty and sex and the human condition as it relates to those things, which is great because those things are important parts of our lives so there are good topic to build a show’s thesis around.

…. But as you’re about to find out, they clearly had no idea what the fuck they were doing, and were just throwing things at the wall. Haruhi save your soul.

AdUnfair5582026-01-23 13:26

But for me the show hasn’t been good up until now and I don’t know how anyone can like this. I am looking forward to seeing how bad it can get because right now it is pretty bad. The fights are boring, the characters are tropey and boring. Everything is too melodramatic. The only thing I mildly like is the soundtrack.

redditraptor62026-01-23 17:00

Oh I mean that’s totally fair. I liked the beginning because I’m an old Gainax fanboy, and at that point I was a big Trigger fanboy too, so it’s right up my alley. But soon the show turns into a hollow shell that just copies plot and style from earlier Gainax and Trigger shows without actually doing anything original with it. It just rips off their spiritual predecessors, and does it even worse.

If you don’t like it by episode 13, drop off NOW. you’ve already seen the show at its best, so if it’s not for you then the only thing left to watch is a slow train wreck

Tora-shinai2026-01-23 14:08

Make babies.