English Dub Review: Darling in the FranXX “The City of Eternity”

Zorome explores The City of Eternity in a lore-heavy episode of Darlifra.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Squad 13’s unique qualities continue to make it prime research material. In order to help ensure their future cooperation and loyalty, ‘Papa’ orders a ceremony be held in their honor – and it takes place in the city, where the Parasites have never been allowed before.

However, the award procedure is fleetingly brief, and before they know it, they’re headed back to their familiar territory.  Unable to ignore his curiosity about the adults and their strange ways, Zorome sneaks off from the group and spends some time with a strange woman who seems familiar. When he’s eventually picked up by the guards, Zorome has learned many new things – not all of them pleasant.

Our Take:

I enjoyed this episode a lot, mostly because we finally get some real answers shown to us about the world of FranXX apart from the children. Though the show has given us hints of a dystopian civilization (‘Papa’ being a cult-like leader, the uniformity of the other squads, and the whole ‘Parasite’s never living long enough to become adults’ thing), this is the first time we’ve really gotten to experience it firsthand. The tales the woman tells are sometimes hauntingly depressing, like the fact that she has forgotten the sound of her partner’s voice. There’s a lot to unpack about Zorome’s newfound knowledge, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it might affect him moving forward.

Speaking of Zorome, this episode was a great showcase for his character. While watching him tease and bicker with Miku over the past nine episodes has been entertaining, seeing a different, more mature side of him was welcome. (Though even sipping a cup of tea can’t dilute his misogynistic attitude towards his partner. He describes her as being pleasant-enough to look at “when she keeps her mouth shut”. Yeesh.)

The dub deserves serious props this week. Ryan Reynolds has been consistently excellent as Zorome, and took their performance to the next-level this time around to match the character’s increased emotional range.  The crew did a great casting job with Zorome’s strangely-familiar friend, too, who sounds just as mysterious as her words indicate. It’s nice to hear an older character with such a realistic vocal performance.

All in all, I’m very pleased with episode ten. Seeing more of Zorome (and how he acts away from his squad) was fun, and the worldbuilding in this episode shed new light on what may lie in store for the Parasites. Right now, Zorome’s chances of becoming an adult seem pretty grim.

Score
9/10