On episode 6 of DitFXX

 Darling in the Franxx is profiling to be one of my favourite animes this year. What happened at the end of chapter 6 is one of the reasons why. 

You know people, that in anime self-sacrifice is seen as a good quality for a hero. Not to the point of making them reckless but on a much higher grade than we occidentals tend to think of. All those final battles which ends with both sides dead or gravely injured, all those times when a character is left behind to hold back the enemy/s, when one dies to be with their beloved in their final sacrifice…. Isolated, these episodes are not bad, or even together, most of the time the message is to defend your people and ideals even at the worst and then be recompensed even though you could be dead by then, with the end desired. However, most of this come out as being resigned to die or picturing dying as a good thing, idealizing it. Even when the partners and friends are all crying and suffering the message it leaves is that it was worthy, even when it was meaningless.

For me, dying is not a good end, worst if it comes at a young age as I’ve watched in a lot of anime and manga. In Darling in the FranXX we don’t see Hiro intend to die piloting with Zero-Two as something good by other characters. For he it doesn’t matter, but Goro and Ichigo are very worried and even Zero-Two with all her aloof personality was desespering when Hiro was half-dead. She didn’t want him to give up, but to him try with all his forces to pilote with her. That is why he had the vision of his former partner being angry with him, and Zero-Two turning her back on him even with sadness. 

The moment when he realizes this is one of the most satisfying I’ve had watching anime. I expect that in the future, Hiro also give us another reason to fly along her, because for me, this anime show us the travel of how this poor kids (and Hiro, Zero-Two and Ichigo especially) learn to be and live for themselves. To be human.