A Look at Darling in the FranXX Episode 5

Episode 5 is entirely a setup episode. This means that there is no action at all and has to be replaced with various types of drama. In a progression of worldbuilding and probably the plot, the pilots from a different biodome are "introduced". We aren't given their names and only one of them has any substantial speaking role. I must still ask the question of why there are only about 10 pilots per biodome. It has been implied that pilots all die before they can reach adulthood. The likely outcome of this is that later down the line it will be spoonfed to the first group of pilots and it will trigger some negative drama. The main drama in this episode is that, once again, nobody wants to fight alongside 002 because they don't trust her. This is justified but the line has run dry at this point. We have heard it so often that it no longer holds as much dramatic weight.

There is a nice shot of a spider eating a butterfly. This ham-handed symbolism shows that the strong will devour the weak, just like when 002 has said. This is a rule of nature and will most likely occur unless Hiro develops some plot power. The first half of the episode is uneventful and uninteresting. There were some flirting scenes between partners and between Hiro and 002, as well as a ceremony for meeting up with the other biodome for a procedure that transfers energy to keep the biodomes running.

One of the big things that happened in this episode was the reveal that Hiro has a tumour growing on his chest as a sign of great physical stress due to piloting with 002. It was commented that he has a lot of yellow blood in his system which leads me to believe that the danger of piloting with 002 is that the partner slowly starts to become a dinosaur person. The stress on the body, as we already know, is quite significant. One of the jobber pilots (Goro) finds out about Hiro's tumour, that has been caused by sex piloting with 002, and advises him to stop piloting. This doesn't seem to be out of any care for Hiro but because Goro is a bro. He respects Hiro's wishes to keep quiet about the tumour because he is the only upstanding pilot we have seen so far.

Another drama in this episode was between Ichigo and 002. This is the same one that has been going for a while and there's really not much reason to be interested in it anymore. There are some funky lines of dialogue:

But other than recycled drama and a jealous concern for Hiro, the conflict between 002 and Ichigo has little to offer other than an escalation.

A notable escalation is that Ichigo says that 002 is not a human. This is partially correct since 002 is a half dinosaur, however the hell that works. 002 does not take kindly to the accusations of being non-human, but this is a bizarre reaction considering how differently she behaves to every other human. It should be clear to her that she is different and however much she wants to be a simple human, she will not be. Before getting frustrated, why doesn't she try and see things from the human perspective?

To conclude the episode, 002 encourages Hiro to get himself killed by saying this his tumour, that is supposedly going to kill him, is beautiful. The first rule of male psychology is that if you want a man to do what you say you should tell him he's good at it, or that you're pleased with something about him. Men want to impress and, as questionable a man as Hiro is, the psychology is valid. Complimenting him on his tumour is going to make Hiro more likely to pilot again and get himself killed. This is very reckless, but this is what being a non-human will do to you. A total lack of sympathy and sociopathic tendencies.

Since the only things that happened this episode were recycled drama and Hiro deciding to get himself killed, it doesn't stand out as much as episode 3 and 4 did. It is also not the least interesting episode because episode 2 was harder to get through. The setup will hopefully pay off next week with a good fight and some development for the STD tumour issue.