Darling in the FRANXX (2018)
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Volume 1
Author: Code:000
Artist: Kentaro Yabuki
Publisher: Jump Comics
Synopsis:
In a world where male-female pilot teams known as Parasites defend humanity from giant monsters called klaxosaurs, a washout from the Parasite candidate program encounters Zero Two, a notorious elite Parasite known as the Partner Killer.
Story/Characters:
I was already enjoying the anime series when I saw they were doing a manga adaptation, so I decided to give it a shot. There's not that much different in terms of characterization or plot. The main difference is the more explicit nature of the imagery, which is beyond the purview of this section. There are a lot of familiar elements to people who watch a lot of mecha series. I like the utopian-dystopian setting and the character dynamics. Because this is just the beginning of the story, we only get hints at how things play with the other kids while primarily focusing on Hiro, Zero Two and Ichigo. You'll see shades of Shinji from Eva in Hiro, but he takes charge of the situation more, which should appeal to people who didn't like Shinji's passiveness. This first volume does a good job of establishing the scenario and building interest.
Art:
On one hand, I have to acknowledge that Kentaro Yabuki is a talented artist, but the fact that he ramps up the ecchi factor to the point of gratuity with characters so young really rubs me the wrong way. Yes, I understand that sexual imagery plays into the themes and the line that divides the necessary and the gratuitous varies from person to person, but it crossed that line with me. I mean, seriously, there's no need for a full page nude panel of Ichigo and Miku representing what FRANXX activation feels like for the pistils. I wouldn't appreciate it with adults and really don't like seeing it with with kids who can't be older than 13 or 14. And that's just one example. However, I'm aware that Yabuki has his fans particularly because his work leans to the lewd side.
Other:
We get four full-color poster-style pages. One of them happens to be Zero Two and Ichigo nude. I didn't think they'd actually do that for something that's supposed to be a shounen series, but I was wrong.
Conclusion:
On its merits, I would easily rank this as an 'Own It', but as I've noted above, the perviness of the art goes too far for me, particularly given the ages of the characters. As much as I like the story, I can get it with less problematic imagery from the anime, so I'm not sure if I'll continue on to the second volume. If the ecchi factor isn't a problem for you (or if it's actually a draw), then there's nothing to stop you from getting this.
Rating:
50/50