Manga 111512 Darling In The Franxx Reviews

Having survived the anime and felt despair on its rushed ending, I quickly searched for its manga adoption once it was announced. However it took me some time to read it through and through, and finally after months I was able to finish it.

My review will have no spoilers, however my review would assume that the reader has watched all 24 episodes of DitF the anime.

DitF the manga is a must-read for the heartbroken admirers and fans of the series. Sure, you might not be hearing Haruka Tomatsu's "Daaahrin" or hear "Kiss of Death" when opening it, but the 60 chapters, rushed as they may ... seem, is an experience worth reliving for.

The manga's strongest asset would be Yabuki-san and his art. Scenes are drawn with extreme sincerity to the anime. The emotion in each panel is palpable and in-your-face, personally finding it stronger than that of the anime. Speaking of Yabuki-san, the naked illustrations of the Parasites are tasteful and sometimes would add to the emotions felt while reading the scenes.

Story-wise, it does not deviate too much from the anime, but instead rethinks how the scenes could have been presented better. This is its other great asset, which is something that the anime was desperately needing halfway though. Some plot holes were still left open though, but they won't be as severe as anticipated. The writing focused the story to Zero Two and Hiro in such a way that all story lines converged into them. To do this, all side stories were redone to be as realistic and as understandable in relation to the whole story as possible. Conclusion: no more surprise cuckoldry!

Nevertheless, being capped at 60 chapters made the plot pacing too fast and it would even gloss over the more significant scenes in anime. This also caused Chapter 60 to finish on a weak note. But... I would rather let you experience that yourself.

As for me, I'm finally satisfied and am at peace with the whole DitF series.

in short: It's different from the anime, and as of right now, it's better

Art is detailed and beautiful, and it really makes you feel what the artist is trying to depict (e.g. Desperation, anger, fear, etc.)

For the most part it follows the anime, but it fixes aspects such as
-removing the "Boys VS Girls" arc which was a waste of time
-making Ichigo more likeable
-giving other characters development

In later chapters the manga seems to be turning away from the anime, but in a good way. It seems like the author is fixing many mistakes with the anime, which makes the manga very enjoyable, more so than the ... anime story wise.

While I miss hearing Zero Two saying "darling" and hearing "Kiss of Death" every episode, the manga's improved story definitely makes up for it.

This manga has lots of potential to fix the bad reputation the anime had in the end, and as of right now, it's very enjoyable to read whether or not you've seen the anime.

ECCHI (what you expect from Kentaro San)/ HUMANS in ROBOT/ WAR AGAINST ALIEN or Monsters)

For those who are here after the anime, I am certain that the manga version (so far) is better than the anime itself. Personally, the female characters are hotter here, and the story is improved (with minor fixes).

***Please be aware that I am trying to ignore the anime and make a review on the manga for "Darling in FranXX" like it is a completely brand new manga. So please, bear with me as this is a review written for the people who have not yet watched the anime and just want ... to read the manga.


As I pick up this manga, it is definitely influenced by the anime. Yet, as I flip through pages of the manga. I felt a sense of ecchi familiarity. Yeah, that is the moment when I decide to look up the artist for the manga and realize that the artist is the legendary ecchi master (Kentaro San).


Story: 9
If you are a HUGE FAN of stories relating to robotic warfare with a tiny bit of ecchi and harem. This is a go-to manga. Thank god the story and plot aren't written by Kentaro San so the amount of nudity is controlled. As a result, the story flows rather smoothly and continuously, and won't digress like that of "To Love-Ru". -1 for potential error as chapter 29 is still too early to tell if this will be a perfect or flawed manga.


Art: 10
Honestly, I don't know if anyone will hate Kentaro San's drawing (from male's perspective). Ecchiness on point. Expression on point. Design on point. Background on point. 10 without a doubt. Zero Two is so hot... >///<


Character: 9
So far, I don't see any unnecessary characters in the manga. But, I will give a -1 for room of error.


Enjoyment: 7-10
I won't rate this one because I am being influenced by the anime. Can't give a fair score on this one.


Overall: 8-10
9 is a fair score as to how this manga is being drawn and portrayed. If I actually know "Darling in FranXX" through reading manga. There is no way I am going to drop this manga. The setting and background of the story are interesting. With contents drawn by Kentaro San, this manga is a pure blessing. But, I will leave it a -1 for potential error because chapter 29 is still a fairly new manga



The section contains sentiment attached to the anime. Please read it with caution. (Minor Spoiler)
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If you want me to tell you how I feel about the anime, I will give your 4 words, "STRONG start, WEAK end". Honestly, this might be the hardest review I have ever written. I have never read a manga that is adapted from an anime (it has always been the other way around).
I wish the manga can and will end differently from the anime. There are instances that this can be possible, such as when Mitsuru was never able to ride on the same robot with Zero Two in the manga. Hopefully, my wish will come true. The manga of "Darling in the FranXX" deserves a better ending and create suspense and curiosity for its reader. However, the main story of the manga line will still be the same with that of the anime (Kokoro will find the forbidden book).
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I really hope Code:000 and Kentaro San can change how I feel about Darling in the Franxx. The Manga looks hella promising so far.

I definitely enjoyed this series not only to the great fan service and ecchiness it had to it but also because of the more wholesome and satisfying ending it gave rather then in the anime. while some plot points weren't explained and some information was left out it was still great nonetheless. I loved the whole conclusion it came with instead of the kind of rushed bullshitty ending the anime gave however each to their own. The character development and individualism the series gave was very good in my opinion. I would have loved for a continuation of our heroes and their lives after the ... battle with the antagonist and see how their lives would be somewhat like the anime but not with the MC's ending rather with them included with the main cast still a very good manga one definitely worth reading if you need closure after the anime

First the manga has almost the same story until like 50 chapters and then it takes a major change from the anime. [spoilers] The manga is for the people who wanted a sweet ending with zero two and Hiro both alive and staying together. The anime had a bitter sweet end with both of them dead but staying together. The manga learnt from the anime’s mistake by not adding the VIRM hence not rushing it. But even when they removed the VIRM part the manga felt rushed, it could have used like 5 chapters more to give a full end with a epilogue. Even if ... u have seen the anime the manga doesn’t feel boring bcoz of the “IF” moments added. Overall if u don’t have anything to read and want to read a good short manga then this is for you.

TL; DR: The series had great potential with interesting storyline and characters. However, it is extremely rushed and underdeveloped which takes away a lot of the enjoyment. The art (as expected from Kentaro Yabuki) is definitely the best point.


No Spoiler Review

I think Darling In The FranXX has a really good and original idea with a fine cast of characters. The build-up is interesting and the story develops well, there are good humour and romance.

However, the development is extremely rushed, a lot of details are left out and backgrounds of characters are hinted but then completely left out. The ending is unclear and ... also extremely rushed and a lot of the relationships between characters are left hanging mid-development. I found this seriously intimidating and it ruined the series for me.

The only satisfying conclusion is regarding the two main characters. At least their story is told well. Also, the series is filled with cliches and overused plot structures which are irritatingly predictable.

Maybe I am too harsh but I really think the series didn't live up to its full potential.

ART

The best part for me is the art - Kentaro managed to nail facial expressions, emotions, details, and dynamics.
STORY

The story, as I mentioned, starts strong but then goes completely downhill for me.
CHARACTERS

Also had a lot of potential for great development and interesting background reveals, however nothing of this sort happened except for the two main characters.

This is the first review since the series is completed! So, here it is.

NOTE: I will not be comparing the manga series to the anime, but I will however mention the overall experience between the two in the end.

Story: The story is fair, I score it a 6. It's unfortunately rushed, so a lot of emotion is missed. where the could have built a serious dialogue, I felt like the author put more effort into the art than story building. It's a story that has a lot of big ideas, but not the detail to back up that part of the plot.

Art: The art (like ... most of the manga's by this author) is great. Like really good. I've never come across an artist that can draw naked bodies so realistically (in terms of dimensions and such).

Character: Characters were only fair, there wasn't very much background information on the characters or their feelings, and if there was, it would only have 1 scene and that's it. Unfortunate for this kind of story, since it's essentially post-apocalyptic (since the kids were the only ones around).

Overall, I hate to say it, but it's disappointing. I first watched the anime, and enjoyed it for the coming-of-age aspects and first-love arc's. These did not translate to the manga, and when I first read that the anime was getting a manga adaptation, I was happy because everyone believed that the manga was going to have a more thorough conclusion. Instead, out of absolutely no where, the author revealed that the manga is coming to an end. Then in the end, the fans (including myself), got another rushed ending. Extremely disappointing, and I think I can speak for everyone.

I'd say the manga is a lot better than the anime i the way that it changes the story to be different but better than the anime.

it has this way of telling the story in a different more satisfactory way but still coming out with almost the same results.

it is true there is a lot more development for the other characters in the plantation 13 squad and it takes you a bit more in to their feelings and thoughts adding more of an attachment to the characters than the anime.

the changes in the manga are not bad by any means and i cant wait to ... see how they end this.

Darling in the FRANXX is very famous because of it's anime, i tried a while ago to watch and I dropped it because i used to believe that it was only made for fanservice.

Well, the manga so ? It's quite the same but I prefered the manga that I have finished. The issue of the anime that the manga doesnt have is the rythm of the story. The rythm is boring and too slow in the anime and as you can see with my note for the story, it's not something that you want to "taste" slowly. The manga is based on action, so it's ... fast to read even if the chapters are quite long compared to some other mangas. Obviously you do not have a bunch of text and you have many drawings.

Darling in the FRANXX is a fast food manga, it doesnt mean it's bad but do not wait to read a masterpiece that masters the storytelling and the character development. The main focus of this manga is the fanservice.

Basically, you have a shounen made for the action with mechas, you have romance, a simple "naruto"'s plot and unlike the anime, nudity.

Let's say it, this manga has been made to sell (and it worked, it's probably the thing that masters the author, the ability to create a profitable manga like SAO even if it's a novel). For some reasons, it was readable because the story is short (as I said, chapters are short to read), it took me two days to read it but you can easily do it in one, count 5 hours max to read it entirely. And you really need to be slow to read it in 5 hours.

Let's begin with the story. It's not very interesting and it's quite bland. The story accompanies the fanservice and not the opposite like in a normal manga with a little bit of fanservice. First point is that you cant really relate to the universe, it's not explained. You re in the fog. I would have liked to know some information that even the end dont tell you. I have the feeling that this "post apocalyptic" world is there and there are no explanations. It's here and nothing else to add. Because it was better for the fanservice I guess. As a reader, you will never immerse in the story. It's absolutely not possible. The "drama" scenes were quite useless and only added to make an attempt to deepen the story. Drama with the relationship between X and X, drama with 002 that leaves the HQ. The good point is that those drama were solved quickly so at least even if it didnt bring anything to the story, it was solved in the next chapter.. Classical example, if the manga shows you the "death" of a character, you wont never feel anything. I was surprised to react like "wait he's dead, seriously ? I didnt see it coming, well no matter". Honestly I didnt attach to any of the characters. The story in itself is a little bit original but not too much.. Ennemies were quite kind for ennemies, it's the Naruto syndrom, ennemies become kind for no reason and they help the main characters. The motive of some ennemies (the adults) were shaddy. I still dont understand them...

Once again the story is really basic and it accompanies the fanservice and not the opposite so yes it's at best average. Fortunately it was fast-paced because if the story was slow and long, I wouldn't have rated this manga 6.5 but 4.5.

I rated the characters 6 for some unknown reasons. I appreciated the main character that at the bravoure to do what he needs to do at least. 002 was the main good thing, her fanservice was good. The romance between Hiro and 02 was still better than in any other shounen were MC is in love with a girl, the girl is in love with MC but htey wont do anything unless the last chapter where you learn that they are now married 10 years later. (Hi naruto, Hi my hero academia later). It's probably the best thing about this manga. The author had the guts to do a real romance and not a half baked thing like any other shounens.

The art is ot a masterpiece but it was beautiful as we can expect from an action manga.

All in all, this manga is a fast food manga to read if you can read a manga that doesnt have a deep story. Actually if you like shounen you shouldn't be annoyed with this one. His main good thing is the romance so if you are interested in a shounen manga with a decent romance in it, you should give it a try. If you are someone that wants a deep story, deep relationships, deep character developments and drama then just skip this you will probably hate this manga. As a piece of art, this manga is quite bad to be honest. I probably overnoted it because i like romance and i'm proud to see a shounen konwn by a bunch of people with, finally, a decent romance in it.

Darling in The Franxxx manga

The setup is really interesting, a post apocaliptic setting, where children/teenagers that brought up to be soldiers have to pilot mecha robots in male-female pairs, defending mobile cities that cling on survival.

It was intriguing in multiple psychological planes. One is the child/teenager soldier aspect which is not that new, but the female-male pair with the teenager aspect rejuvinated the setting. Of course it got more crazy with veteran soldier (who's seen to many death) vs naive rookies, love interests [pretty well worked out, especially considering teenagers], and how those rookies learn and mature into the people they need to be the ... defend humanity..

The main duo was the highpoint of the show, but even the other characters in the squad have distict personalities, which made it really enjoyable. Sadly some of their character arc was cut shot, which brings me to maybe the biggest flaw I had with the series.

Pacing. The manga takes it's time introducing WB and characters in really great manner, but the mange shift pace around chapter 40 which could be considered act 2, then atc 3 start at chapter 55, the onyl problem is? the whole series in only 60 chapters. So in the last chapter they needed to come back from the lowpoint, have a big final showdown, and then close al the threads. It felt really rushed.

I would give it an weak 8/10, it could be better even a strong 9, but the pacing, the missing character arc ends, and the rushed ending hurt it significantly.

How it fare against the anime?
I would say most of the direct changes is in favour of the manga, is has far superior characterwork. Although some changes can be justified because their are sometimes a dozen chapters without any fight and just introspection and character building, which wouldn't translate well in anime format for some viewers.

The story of the two deviates around the halfway point, which is also great considering that the anime just jumped off a cliff after ep 16, but sadly it meant that the good elements in the anime after the halfway point wasn't in the manga as well, and certain times the things we got instead were inferior.
Still would recommend the manga over the anime, even if we only consider the first 16 ep canon, although...

Tasteless and unnecessary nudity. I am not fond of any nudity in storytelling, but I learned to accept it, when it is important for the story. The Darling in the Franxx manga is not that. There are chapters were the first two pages just show a character showering. And I was just thinking why do I have to see an !underage girl! showering, what purpose can it serve in terms of the story? The answer is: nothing. The manga just wanted to be (h)ecchi and show naked girl any chance it got.
Does it take down from it's objective score? Maybe.
But it surely lowered my subjective take on it immensely.

Honestly I enjoyed the manga and its better then the anime it has the right amount of comedy, action and ecchi parts and it has great fan service and atleast they survived at the end after enduring so much hardships together. I loved the conclusion of the manga instead of the bullshit ending of the anime. The character development and individualism the series gave was very good in my opinion. I would have loved for a continuation of our heroes and their lives after the battle with the antagonist and see how their lives would be somewhat like the anime but not with the MC's ... ending rather with them included with the main cast still a very good manga one definitely worth reading if you need closure after the anime.

I like studio Trigger animation very much, and their attention to details. That makes the bullshit ending a little more tolerable. That was my expectation when I got to this manga.

I truly think this manga is not good overall. It's rushed from the start, characters are VERY black or white, underdeveloped, and a lot of moments seem to have changed just to please the internet critics of the anime, without any actual reason in the story. The hated characters have less time and do even more hateful things, the beloved characters don't do any hard choices and are protected and righteous to the end. But ... I guess that's what people wanted, and a lot of more random unneeded boobies (but without all the sex and actual adult content). It went from a complex adult story with weird teen innuendos to a full blown young male teen shonen.

For the most part I had the feeling that I only could follow this because I already had watched the anime, especially at the ending. Better ending? I don't know. I don't think it's an ending even. None of the characters story actually ended. It's just without all the bullshit, but also without all the development of the anime.

Maybe if this manga had time to develop like the anime did, maybe if it could exist out of the shadow of the anime (for better or for worse), or maybe if Trigger actually let Code 000 tell the story he wanted from the start. Maybe if wasn't one of the most expensive per chapter anime of recent years, they could better explain the whole VIRM space thing for another whole season, then maybe people would see the story differently.

Doesn't matter... it is what it is...
and some kids will just be toxic and try to kill random people because they didn't get what they wanted from people that never owed them anything...

After binge watching the anime (and loving it) I've decided to give this manga a try. Regrettable decision.

Don't get me wrong, it isn't a bad manga. But it pales out in comparison with the anime. It's fine to change a story to adapt it to a new medium, as long as you don't kill it in the process.

Story - 6/10. Why are the children fighting? Why can't adults do it? What's APE up to? What's the message this manga tries to convey? The anime already had some problems with rushed plot, but here it becomes almost nonsensical. And a good chunk of the original message ... (love, trust, bonding, finding yourself in the eyes of your lover) is lost. And let's not talk about the ending, that while happier is by no means satisfactory.

Art - 9/10. Rushed in a lot of parts, but still pleasing to the eyes. I think it's great they gave it some "ecchi treatment" though, with plenty shots of the girls. (Specially Zero Two and Ichigo.)

Character - 6/10. Mitsuru and Kokoro's relationship was never fleshed out, so Kokoro's motivations, crime and punishment were never fleshed out either. Goro, Futoshi, Miku, and Zorome might as well not be there, and the story would still go on. Ikuno got some spotlight but it felt rather irrelevant. Oddly enough Hiro got a mixed blessing, since he's a bit more decisive but loses character development in the process. Zero Two got it the hardest though, I won't spoil it but TL;DR: all that femme fatale aura is broken.

Enjoyment - 6/10. I'm trying to be fair here - I could see myself reading this again in the future, but there's more interesting stuff out there.

Overall - (6+9+6+6*2)/5 = 6.6/10, rounded up to 7/10. I definitively do NOT recommend it if you enjoyed the anime, but if you're into some generic mecha action you might like it better.

My main gripe with the original DiTF anime series was that it had a lot of unnecessary things happen just to fill up that 24-episode run. Not only that, there's quite a few plotholes that i am bothered by (especially towards the second half of the season).

This manga adaptation starts out roughly the same way as the anime did, but it made do without some of the more 'filler' arcs of the anime and got straight to the point. The way the manga's plot progresses differently also (imo) fixed some of the main characters' personality to be more likeable. This is one of the ... reasons i prefer the manga more than the anime.

Quite a few plotholes were also fixed in the manga, and i won't say much about the ending, but i found the manga's ending and final arc much more enjoyable as it didn't break the flow set by previous story arcs unlike the anime.

Regarding the art of the manga, it is pretty well drawn and replicates the visual style of the anime quite well. Although i found it questionable that there are a few uncensored panels which i thought was pretty unnecessary.

Overall, i found this manga to be much more enjoyable than it's anime counterpart, with a story that flows better and actually likeable. Give it a read if you felt the anime was lacking.

[SPOILERS ALERT]
I Know many people are happy with the manga with its ending where they both survived
but it is incomplete bcs in the anime there was a lot more plot after this and the writer will continue in the manga which will lead to the ending which was in Anime and will remain the same. As they have not destroyed the VIRM and their forces which was not even properly mentioned in the manga that is why I believe manga is incomplete and more chapters will ultimately lead to the ending similar to the Anime where that Stretzia ampus will go in the space ... to defeat the forces bcs they will attack again and in the manga it was also not confirmed whether the invaders namely papa and other two were dead or Alive so I think it is incomplete and the writer intended to continue it as he said but I think he is not due to fans liking the manga ending but for me it is incomplete. Anime was better but was not directed well and rushed. Still I will prefer both but for additional info Anime has further complete plot and manga has detailed but incomplete plot

This review is intended for people that have already seen the anime, as I did when I started reading this manga. also be warned because I will go over spoilers.



STORY 7/10

I found the story to be much better than in the anime, the first half it will not be that apparent other than some changes to specific scenes, but the latter half got completely changed, and for the better. they got rid of virm, which was a good decision because virm did not make any sense in the context of the worldbuilding and came out of nowhere.

ART 10/10

the art in this manga was ... Outstanding. I did find there to be a bit too much fan service, but maybe that is to be expected of ecchi manga. I do not know for sure because I do not read that much ecchi manga.

CHARACTER AND ENJOYMENT 8/10 and 6/10

I did not enjoy the manga that much in particular, but that is mostly because I am more of an anime person, and this is completely up to personal preference. the characters were all amazing, I wont dive to deep because I don’t want to spoil.

OVERALL 7/10

I thought it was a good manga and that is why I give it a 7.

I decided to read the manga adaptation a few weeks after finishing the original Anime. I thouroughly enjoyed the anime but was left feeling empty and fairly unsatisfied with it's ending. The manga on the other hand had me feeling the complete opposite.

From a story perspective the manga and anime run parallel up until a point. Once this point is reached, the manga in my opinion shoots leagues ahead of the anime and truly delivers the character and story treatment Franxx deserved. Not only does it do a wonderful job at captivating you with the plot, it also adds in information and backstory / character ... development that the show just seeming brushed over.

I really felt like Franxx the anime walked so that manga could run as I found myself flying through each chapter eagerly wanting to know what happened next, even though I'd seen the anime. The ending also really is leagues better than the anime one as it felt more natural and "complete."

All in all I feel like the Darling in the Franxx manga is a brilliant adaptation and story in it's own right and should 100% be read / consumed after watching the anime to really help you appreciate the story and show a lot more.

Boy oh boy, Darling in the FranXX is a manga about kids fighting for humanities survival whilst being inside robots with "great designs", after comparing this to the anime I can tell you that this is 100% better. Now when I first picked up this manga I was shocked (excited) by the amount of uncensored content there was, I knew this was an ecchi manga but damn. (I'm new to ecchi mangas so I don't know if that's a common occurrence) you could also say that the uncensored scenes bring more emotion and make it feel like they're connecting more but let's be real my ... man just wanted to draw some boobies. You can read the censored version but who's gonna do that.
Note: as the series progresses the amount of nudity slowly fades which ultimately led to my depression.


STORY ~ The story is pretty straight forward and as mentioned above it's just some children fighting monsters inside robots but it was really great and captivating, it's 60 chapters made the pacing sorta fast but in my eyes that just meant there was never a dull moment. For me, Darling in the FranXX's story was great and easy to follow.


ART ~ Well depending on what person you are you may LOVE the art or you may read the censored version. Personally, I liked the art for obvious reasons but seriously this mangas art was beautiful, fantastic from the fights to when they were simply just standing there. I find nothing wrong with this mangas art and I feel it perfectly captures the characters' emotions. OUTSTANDING WORK.


CHARACTERS ~ Well, this series throws 10 characters your way, you can love them, you can hate them or if you're like me you'll think they're "ok" and move on with your day. I feel none of the characters in this manga are memorable, they each have fine personalities and their interactions are solid and don't make wanna erase myself from the planet but I wouldn't say that any of them are my favourites nor would I say that I hate any, they are simply ok characters.


ENJOYMENT ~ There's, not much to say with this I really enjoyed almost every second I spent reading this and that's about it.


Overall this manga is a great read and I would recommend this to a friend, the only aspect I would say this manga needs to improve on is with its characters but I feel that the problem is me and not with the writing itself. FABULOUS STORY, AMAZING ART, MID CHARACTERS and one great manga.

Before writing a review about this opera it is absolutely necessary to make extremely clear that Darling in the FranXX is an ORIGINAL ANIME SERIE.

This means that the anime came first, and I strongly advise to watch that first and then, if you really must, read the manga.

The anime did have a rushed and somewhat confusing and arguably meh ending. Which is why the manga came out and many people end up reading it after the disappointment of the anime, but the truth is that not only the manga is worse in every aspect (starting with the excess of really not needed fanservice).

The biggest problem ... with the manga is that it COMPLETELY MISS THE WHOLE POINT of the anime.

Darling in the FranXX is a brilliant work that bring a lot to think about about how society is evolving and a BIG take on transhumanism all the way up to getting tangled to other kind of extraterrestrial entities which I won't mention more for spoiler reasons.

Now the anime ends up addressing and making tha point that it took over 20 episodes to try to make, although in a rushed and dubious way. The manga basically wipes everything out and take an easy way out.

All the way to the point of completely swapping out the main villain!

If the anime is a serie that tries to bring some ethical questions about what's to come in our society both in a civil and spiritual way the manga is a battle shonen with absolutely no point.

I was expecting a chance to read something that expands on the rushed ending and of the plot points of the original anime work but what i find is a manga that trivialise and throws away all the interesting plot points and rewrites the whole thing in a pointless mecha battle thing with zero depth.

Honestly just watch the anime and take it as it is. I feel like all the people complaining about the ending completely missed the point of it. Sure it felt rushed and it could have been excecuted way better but at least it had some context