What They Say:
“Eden” and “When the Sakura Blooms”
Having seized Gran Crevasse, emissaries are sent out to demand the surrender of the klaxosaurs’ leader. Meanwhile, the Nines visit Squad 13, and there a shocking discovery is made. Squad 13 is told they will be abandoning Mistilteinn soon, and they decide to go out with a bang by making one last memory of their lives there.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The end is nigh for their time in Mistilltein. Miku gives Zero Two a flower crown just as Zorome beckons them inside. The 9’s have shown up on Papa’s orders which has everyone but Zero Two relieved that they weren’t abandoned. They explain that all the other parasites have been gathered into one place, a camp or sorts; the Franxx are being worked on as well. Ichigo wonders why they were left out and they say that they should ask Nana and Hachi. In Zero Two’s room later, we see that Hiro is growing some horns of his own. Kokoro runs into Delta (green hair) while washing up and Delta finds the book she dropped then shows it to the others. She comes on to Mitsuru while in the greenhouse, trying to seduce him, before he stops her and Zorome calls him for water duty. When asked why she did that, she tells Mitsuru hat she’s wanted to do that for a while. Hiro and Mitsuru have a chat while they swim and Mitsuru realizes his feelings for Kokoro. Back at the residence, Kokoro has told everyone about it and then the 9’s show up asking for the meaning of the book. Ikuno gets mad as Alpha lectures the and slaps him. Before things escalate Hachi and Nana appear to stop things. They interrogate Kokoro about her interest in wanting a child and learn things about the adults and the children. Nana has some sort of relapse and is out of commission. Alpha saw everything and will report their activity, even that with Doctor Franxx. Hachi informs the doctor about the predicament surrounding any further tests. APE members visit the Princess of the Klaxosaurs to ask her o surrender but she ends up killing them when one tries to assassinate her. Kokoro and Mistru have a moment in her room as she cries after the interview. He holds her and they kiss, later they are in bed together.
So, first thing’s first, Kokoro and Mitsuru are the most adorable thing, aside from Zero Two and Hiro of course. It seems that the latter has been on the backburner for a little while since the beginning of this new stage in their relationship, though they are still getting screen time for some fluff every now and again which is appreciated. Now that the main romance has come to fruition and has comfortable consistency, it’s time for a new couple to bring flowers into our eyes. It’s been going on for a little while now since about the time Kokoro and Ikuno switched partners, but it’s only hit major headway since episode 16 where Kokoro took Mitsuru by surprise by kissing him. This episode she tries to seduce him into having sex with her. The obvious underlying reason, that we have known since she found that book on childbirth in the abandoned town, to make a baby. Mitsuru is caught off guard and moves away but it seemed like he was interested, but didn’t understand what was going on. It’s obvious that he cares about her, with his remarks about wanting to make her happy, but this was just something that he, like all of them, don’t understand yet.
This is a consistent theme in this episode since it leads to their undoing in the next episode. Delta finds her book and they confront the group about it where Kokoro tries to plead her case about children and leaving a mark on the world Having children is outlawed and isn’t needed in their current society. Ikuno even stands up to Alpha as he lectures them and Nana and Hachi make an appearance to cool things down. They take Kokoro aside and she has a bit of an argument with Nana about why they have reproductive organs and Nana says they are necessary for piloting franxx. Nana reveals that adults don’t have them which is why only children can pilot them. When Kokoro fires back about why they have these emotions, something is set off inside Nana’s brain that might have been some sort of puberty thing. I don’t know exactly what it was but Nine Alpha comes in later and calls it that. Perhaps the adults have puberty suppressed when they have their reproductive organs removed. Nana is out of commission now so she can’t be involved with anything else Doctor Franxx wants out of the children and Kokoro is devastated. This reveal was not a surprise but helped in understanding what adults are truly like and what they are required be. This all also proves that franxx are powered, somehow, through sex as we have known.
The most adorable scene though is when Mitsuru finds Kokoro in her room after the interview crying. They had all been waiting for her to come back and he knew exactly where to look after she didn’t even make it out to the greenhouse. She feigns that she wants to be alone and that he won’t understand but he declares that he wants to make her happy and kisses her first this time. They then end up in bed at the end implying that some…interesting things went down. I want to say right now, I am very impressed with the development that these two characters have experienced, especially Mitsuru who has shown on multiple occasions since resolving his inner grudge for Hiro that he’s more than just the stoic, mean guy that they made him out to be. He’s kind and has fallen in love with Kokoro over the time that they have been partners. I do feel bad for Futoshi because he has been in love with Kokoro since the beginning, but I think that had always been one-sided and Kokoro has had feelings for Mitrusu the whole time. She is the one who has helped him become the person he is today.
I did like the chat that Hiro and Mitsuru had in the water because it was the first time that they have had the chance to talk since Mitsuru forgave him. It was nice watching them chat about love and whether it was what Mitsuru felt for Kokoro. Hiro basically explains to him what his experience was and Mitsuru could take from that, in turn, realizing he loves Kokoro. It was a nice moment.
The confrontation between the members of APE and the Princess of the Klaxosaurs was interesting. We finally find out who this mysterious girl with the tentacle-things is and what it means to the plot. They were sent to negotiate a surrender and one of them tries to assassinate her garnering a hostile reaction where everyone else dies. It’s weird having a leader in the klaxosaur part of this war because I did prefer the mysterious aspect to it where the klaxosaurs just came out of nowhere and the war was about human survival, so this is a new ballgame now. She also seems to have something with Zero Two where she can manipulate her mind. I think it was her that prompted the weird vision/dream where her dead partners came out from the floor and held her down to be crushed by a giant hand. Something in her Klaxosaur blood must have something to do with that connection.
So, it’s evident that with Hiro growing horns, there are still some lingering effects from riding with Zero Two and perhaps what happened during the big battle a few episodes ago. We knew that things would still be happening to Hiro but I wasn’t sure what they would be. Nothing drastic has been happening, just the horns so far so we’ll see how that goes of course. It’s also significant that she voices her feelings about what’s going on with Hiro, mainly that she feels bad. Last time she didn’t say much at all, just that it was happening and that she seemed oddly proud of it, especially when Hiro had the growth on his chest. Things have changed a lot since those episodes. I also love the idea of Zero Two reproducing the picture book as something they can cherish together.
Episode 18 picks up where the other left off with Mitsuru and Kokoro as they wake up. Ichigo is informed by Hachi that they will be abandoning Mistilltein and that they should be ready to leave anytime. Ichigo wonders where this comes from after they ignored them for a month. They will be taken to the parasite camp. On the walk back Goro reflects on their lives there not being too bad. Hiro stops and tells them he wants to do something before they leave. They gather the others and explain what a wedding is and that Kokoro and Mitsuru will get married and that will be their lasting memory of the place. They spend the rest of the time preparing. Ichigo finds Ikuno in their room lying on the bed. She thanks her for standing up for Kokoro and Mitsuru but Ikuno says she didn’t do it for them. She confesses her love for Ichigo. She sees her old self in Ikuno so she comforts her in her inner turmoil surrounding her feelings. They all gather outside for a group picture after decorating the place. Zero Two is in her room when she senses something and has a hallucination where her dead partners old her down for the giant hand to fall on her. Hiro wakes her up. Hiro and Zero Two are walking before the wedding and she reminds him of their promise to get married when they were children. The wedding goes on as planned until the Nines show up with an army and take the couple away just before they kissed. Zero Two tries to fight them off but is unsuccessful and Hachi runs out to the scene but does nothing. The children are then carted off to the Bird’s Nest, unsure of where their friends are. They see them again at the camp where they don’t remember anything nor whom each other are; they remember everyone else though. Zero Two points out that the same thing was done to them as children; their minds were altered. Hachi visits Nana in her cell and we get some backstory from their time as parasites as he wonders what he could have said to help the children if he had emotions and that Nana would have been better suited in her condition.
I think this episode is ultimately one of my favourites, even though it frustrated me by the end. It was bittersweet all around. It was sad that they would have to leave the place that had been their home for so long and that we had seen them grow and flourish in while enduring the craziness and danger that is being a parasite. The whole idea of a wedding was adorable and watching them all setup and plan it together as a last memory was very sweet. At first, I did expect it to be Zero Two and Hiro being married because they had promised they would as kids, but I was glad when I learned it wasn’t. It would have been way too cliché for the main couple to be the one to be married if there were to be a wedding and it also wouldn’t have been as good. Their relationship has already reached a threshold where it is perfect the way it is for now and it was time for another couple to take the spotlight, as I’ve already mentioned. This was Kokoro and Mistsuru’s time to shine, and damn did they. Kokoro looked beautiful and they both looked just so happy; it was a perfect moment. They all just felt like a family, as they always do in these episodes where they work together towards something for one of their own.
Of course, in true Darling fashion, things just cannot be happy for too long because something has to come around and mess it up. The 9’s come in with troops and they take the couple away as the others, other than Zero Two, have to sit and watch. It way heartbreaking to watch the 9’s come in all chill and nonchalant because Papa’s way is not this way and they are heathens. They used to be kind of cool in my eyes but the underlying sinister nature they have would make itself known. I knew they would come in during the wedding, even though I wish they didn’t but that’s how these stories go; the enemy comes at the most inopportune moment to remind you of their power.
Hachi even runs out to the scene but does nothing because he didn’t know what he could do. We actually get some great backstory out of this when he goes and visits Nana in her cell to tell her about it. This is also where we learn that they have their emotions taken from them as they age since Hachi asks her what he would have said had he had emotions. So, it turns out that Nana and Hachi were parasites together on the same squad where her partner died on a mission and she had her memory altered, or so it seems. I find it interesting that Nana and Hachi knew each other before all of this and know what the children have been going through. It also proves that the children can, in fact, become adults if they survive long enough; parasites grow up. This is so essential. Of course, I figured that the adults used to be children at one point, but not that most of them used to be parasites. I just assumed they were children during the time before the monsters attacked and they tasked children with protecting them. It’s cool to learn that the two people that have been watching over these kids were once in their same boat.
Once the kids are finally picked up and brought to the camp, they wonder what has become of their friends. Soon enough, Ichigo gets a message that they will be coming out and when they do they remember nothing of whom the other is and have no memory of the events leading up to this point, only who their squad are. This was an infuriating moment for me, but again not surprising. Of course, the punishment for what they did was going to be getting their memories altered; what else could have happened when we already know what happened to Hiro and Zero Two. Zero Two also knows for sure that she knows that Kokoro and Mitsuru’s memories were altered much like theirs were. This is horrible, but also means that they can remember again. Hiro and Zero Two remembered that they knew each other when they were younger and Hiro also remembered the promise he made to Mitsuru. The evidence of this is also clear in Kokoro’s reaction to seeing a cherry blossom during her walk because the wedding was at a time where there were lots of cherry blossom petals blowing around so there is hope. This will definitely spark a sort of distrust and rebellion among the rest of the squad. All they wanted was a good send off for their old home and Papa ordered it to be ruined simply because rules had been broken. It shows his true colours to them and hopefully, they will realize that Papa may have built a life for them that was comfortable, but that doesn’t mean that he is the revered man they have made him out to be.
Now, it’s time to talk about Ikuno’s confession. Ichigo finds Ikuno in their room during the wedding preparations and while they talk Ikuno pushed her down on to the bed and confesses her love for her. In this scene, Ichigo truly understands the position she had put Hiro in while she was crushing on him and she sees a lot of herself in Ikuno at this moment. Ichigo was apparently the one that gave Ikuno her name during the time when they were kids that everyone was following Hiro in naming themselves and each other, and that moment was the one where Ikuno fell for her. She doubts her feelings and wonders whys he is the way she is, but Ichigo reassures her that she is perfect the way she is, not quite accepting her advances, but making her feel better about who she is and why she feels this way. Ichigo has grown a lot as well, going from being love struck for Hiro to accepting that he is in love with someone else only to have that person nearly kill him, and having Goro confess to her out of the blue. I think Goro’s confession prepared her a little bit for this scene because she knew how to react and also knew Ikuno well enough to know what could comfort her. I love Ikuno a lot more now for her courage. She can pilot a franxx no problem, but voicing her feelings to Ichigo was very brave. Even though it came out when she assumed that Ichigo was saying she was interested in her,I believe that it was the right move for her to just lay out her cards because Ichigo reacted perfectly so that her friend wouldn’t feel alienated.
In Summary:
I like how now that Zero Two and Hiro’s relationship has hit a point where other couples can have their time to shine. The wedding was beautiful but it was cut short at the worst time, but necessary for the narrative. Kokoro and Mitsuru finally fleshing out their relationship was great, but having it all disappear felt very deceptive. The Nines are not very nice, but we knew that going in. Nana and Hachi actually have a bit of character now. A possible rebellion could occur and I am curious as to how that would play out. Both episodes were very good, though of course, they weren’t without flaws, there was more good than bad. They made me care more about their situation outside of a battle for once. The princess is intimidating too and I wonder how things will continue to work out with Zero Two while the princess seemingly puts images in her head. I also liked how we finally got to see the Nines, at least a few of them, in their entirety and even give them speaking roles instead of being background to Alpha.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
