Index1's Blog

Anime Relations: Darling in the FranXX

The show Darling in the Franxx puts a lot of thought into its endings and titles, often as a way of commenting on the series without adding plot-relevant information (unlike the OP, which is very much tied to the plot). Each one shows the show's girls, but in a different, often modern, setting.

The first ED

The first ending two themes: transit and danger. Ichigo for example is about to step off a bridge, Miku is balancing on a ledge. 02 is on top of a crane. Then, in the second half, we have the characters jump off from their precarious positions and "take flight" (against the motif of birds). In abandoning their lives, the characters have "gained their wings."

In the early episodes, we tend to end the episodes on a similar note.
Episode 2: “The gentle touch of her trembling lips filled me with guilt. The feeling that I’d gotten to fly back then quickly slipped through my fingers and eventually shackled me to the ground once again. It felt like I was bound up in a thousand invisible threads.”
Episode 3: “All I could do was to think back to what she told me before: ‘I can get you out of here.’”
Episode 4: “But now I have found a pair of wings of my own. Even if they’re double-edged wings that will slowly destroy me, I’ll be able to fly once more.”
Episode 5: “Even if those wings that I reached out and grabbed are to snap someday, I’ll still take flight into the sky. Because I feel that’s why I’m here right now.”
Episode 6: “The Jian, also known as “the bird that shares wings” only possesses one wing. When a male and female pair lean on one another and act as one, they can fly as far as they want. If I can be your wings, then even if my life burns out, I’ll keep leaning on you right here. Because that may be my purpose in life.”
So this theme of self-annihilation for the sake of fulfilling one's duty or one's purpose blends smoothly into the ending, which reflects this risk or neglect for one's own life.

But then what to make of the fact that the characters, after running, seem to arrive at a locked gate?

The second ED

The second ending appearing on episode 7, the beach episode, is a swimsuit-themed ending. One thing about it is that the pictures are modified as if to emulate older film.

The third ED

The third ending is divided into two halves. In the first half, the girls dress up in a very flowery way, against a very washed-out color palette for the first half. In the second half, the clothes are much plainer, and it depicts the act of putting away the ribbons into a box. Allegorically, this is Plato's cave, which we see in the transition from indoors to outdoors, in the change of color palette, and in the abandoning of old values. The Darling in the Franxx story tracks a values change in this regard.

The fourth ED

The fourth ending, appearing at episode 13, is related in a very obvious way to the content of that episode, and doesn't really fit into the one's I'm discussing here. That episode is also exceptional in other ways.

The fifth ED

The fifth ending (episode 16) is once again divided into two parts. The first displays the same editing technique we saw in episode 13 -- the static fuzzing we associate with the flashback, which indicates an artificial manipulation. We focus on 02, then Ikuno, then the other characters. We recall the first ED with Ichigo in a jacket, as well as the beach episode with Ichigo trailing someone while running (Hiro?). The second half plays with the duplication of 02. We see many copies of her, moving identically and reaching upwards. At one point, we match her gaze, looking at herself. In line with the contents of the picture book, this suggests an introspective exploration of the “tearing off of wings” and becoming human as a Faustian bargain.

So that's what I've gathered so far! I'm sure there's more to be said.