English Dub Review: Darling in the FranXX “Triangle Bomb”

“Maybe we can’t win alone – but we can when we’re together.”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

As Goro’s feelings toward Ichigo become more clear to him, the squad engages in a heated battle with a bomb-dropping Klaxosaur. When Chlorophytum is trapped by the monster, Goro ejects Ichigo to safety. But she cares about him a lot, too, and does all she can to bring him home in one piece – even if she isn’t sure how to react to his confession of love at the end.

Our Take:

I’m glad to see Goro’s feelings providing the driving force in this episode. As Ichigo reprimands him, he always seems to be putting himself second, whether it’s to save Ichigo from harm or to preserve her relationship with Hiro from strife. Getting to explore how Goro views his part in the love triangle (rectangle?) the show has set up provides some further insight into his character. It turns out, he was almost the one to gift Ichigo with her signature hair clip, but Hiro beat him to the punch. Goro’s loved her ever since but is only realizing it now thanks to observing how 02 and Hiro act together.

There was a good sense of suspense throughout episode nine, which really helped hammer home everything Goro was going through. Moments like Ichigo swimming solo inside the Klaxosaur and Goro struggling to breathe as his Franxx’s power drained were all interspersed with flashbacks to their childhood, making it seem like Goro’s death was not unlikely. He’s had multiple death flags over the course of the show, so I’m happy that he’ll be sticking around for now.

The dub continues to be of high quality, with some wonderful performances by Austin Tindle (Goro) and Brittany Lauda (Ichigo). 02 saying she wouldn’t sacrifice herself for Hiro like Goro was for Ichigo was a funny line. (Though it was probably a little disheartening to Hiro’s ears.)

Darlifra combined solid writing with two of my favorite characters to produce one of the most enjoyable episodes in a while. It had some intense battle scenes along with moments of quiet contemplation and emotion. No matter what the future holds for Goro and Ichigo, their strong feelings for each other are undeniable.

Score
8.5/10