English Dub Review: Darling in the FranXX “Flap Flap”

Hiro finally flies in an episode about overcoming his fear of 02.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After seeing how Mitsuru’s ride in Strelizia has left him battered and bruised, Hiro experiences misgivings about partnering up with 02 again. But when a powerful Klaxosaur has his teammates in a bind and 02 is about to depart, he is forced to overcome his fears and accept the risks.

Our Take:

While not a whole lot happened in Flap Flap, it was interesting to see Hiro struggle with his feelings towards 02. Though his fellow Parasites regard her as a monster (especially after seeing Mitsuru’s health post-partnership), he has admired her strength and determination from the moment he set eyes on her. Once he’s pushed to the brink of losing her, he admits that it was never about wanting to pilot a Franxx – it was about wanting to pilot a Franxx with her. Now that Hiro and 02 are all in, I’m curious about how everyone else will react. Despite disobeying direct orders from ‘Papa’, it seems like 02 will be allowed to stay since her second pair up with Hiro has given the statistics needed to determine that they are compatible matches with each other. Surely, though, they will be punished in one way or another. In the dystopian world, the Parasites live in, disregarding orders from above is not going to be taken lightly.

Ichigo has decided to push her feelings for Hiro away in order to focus on being the leader the team needs. This is a good decision for the moment, as it allows the group to take on a gigantic worm-y Klaxosaur without any pair’s bond breaking. Ichigo says early on in this episode that she won’t try to talk Hiro out of his partnership with 02 again. Perhaps she’ll become more open to it as she fully discovers how beneficial they can be on the battlefield.

The animation didn’t impress me as much as last week’s outing, but the visuals are still above average. 02’s VA got a chance to shine, and the dub did not disappoint. The scriptwriters are doing a good job of keeping the dialogue away from cringe-y territory, which is quite the task with how often 02 uses the word ‘darling’.

It was obvious that Hiro and 02 would get the chance to partner up again very soon, but Flap Flap was still enjoyable despite being largely predictable. 02’s escape from the armed guards was thrilling, and it was great to see Hiro step up and take ownership of his desire to pilot with her. After several episodes with back to back battles, I’m hoping Darlifra will take a step back next week and give us more time exploring how these new developments affect the morale of Ichigo and the rest of the Parasites.