English Dub Review: Darling in the FranXX “For You, My Love”

Episode 21 of Darling in the FranXX showcases a battle of wills between the humans and the VIRM.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

With the world coming to an end and destruction imminent, things look bleak for Squad 13. But even at the end of the world, Zero Two decides that she will keep her promise to Hiro, no matter what. She and Dr. FranXX reach the area where Hiro is located with some help from Ichigo and Goro, and 02 reunites with her darling. Together, even the VIRM can’t stop them… but they do promise to return with their full fleet.

Our Take:

As far as final arcs go, this was a fairly mediocre episode. It wasn’t actively bad or anything, but it didn’t quite possess the kind of urgency and excitement that I would hope for at this point in time. We’ve seen our heroes grow in these past twenty episodes, and the show should be able to draw some tension in their close shaves with death. One of the reasons it doesn’t it probably down to sheer direction. For You, My Love just isn’t executed well enough visually to draw me in. Even the battle sequences, which the show has proved it can do competently before, don’t have any sense of danger to them. So while I didn’t have any major negative issues with this episode, it definitely won’t be going down as one of my highlights from the series.

There was something worth mentioning that happened, though: Darling in the FranXX managed to land one of their themes in a halfway decent way. This episode focused on the war between humans and VIRM, and I was picking up on some anti-war themes for sure. (Still a bland theme, though… it’d take some real guts for this show to take a stance in favor of war.) Star Entity may be a weapon, but it’s purpose appeared to be to bring an end to war, yet it only worsened the situation. The VIRM aliens had come before, and it was for this reason why the Klaxosaurs evolved into monsters in order to fight them off. Now, the humans battle the Klaxosaurs. It feels like Darling in the FranXX is trying to say something about how violence only leads to more violence. Not a novel idea, certainly, but at least it isn’t dealing with gender roles and childbirth this week?

Hiro had a very nice little speech to the Klaxosaur Princess about why he chooses to fight when all hope seems lost. Sure, he may be in over his head, but living – crying, laughing, and falling in love – have opened his eyes to his greater purpose. At the beginning of the series, the only life he and the rest of the Parasites knew was battle and complete obedience to Papa. 02’s arrival changed all that, and set everyone around her on a course for good. 02 saying ‘thanks’ to Dr. FranXX as she leaves him to die may be a bit tone-deaf, considering everything he’s done to manipulate and separate her from her darling, but I actually sorta like that she takes the high road and chooses to see him in a more positive way at the end, since he was the one who brought her to Squad 13 in the first place.

In regards to the dub this week, Matt Shipman and Tia Ballard do excellent work as Hiro and 02. Both of them are given the chance for some big moments, and their performances hit just right. The dub was also filled with great lines this week, like Hiro’s summary of his growth so far:  “I don’t just live to fight anymore. I’m going to fight to live.” Dr. FranXX got a sweet little line, too: “When did she become so… human?”  Even the Klaxosaur Princess got to wax poetic: “Perhaps some lives only shine in unison with another.”

For You, My Love may not offer much in terms of surprise (or even excitement), but it shows that life and all its trials and tribulations are something worth fighting for – and in 02 and Hiro’s case, even risking death for. With the two of them reunited and Strelizia back in the game, the cards are dealt for a final showdown with VIRM to end the series.