DARLING in the FRANXX

In a desolate post-apocalyptic future, Earth has been reduced to a barren wasteland. Humanity’s last sanctuaries are mobile fortress cities known as Plantations, which shield survivors from the klaxosaurs—massive beasts that have become the planet’s apex predators and driven mankind to the brink of extinction. Life within the Plantations is equally grim; adults exist in a state of sterile immortality, having abandoned love and reproduction, while children are artificially created and viewed merely as tools. These youths are bred solely to pair up and pilot the Franxx, giant mechas designed to defend the strongholds. Hiro, a former prodigy, is expelled from the piloting program after failing to synchronize with his partner. His decision to skip his graduation ceremony leads to a fateful encounter with Zero Two, a mysterious girl with horns whose previous co-pilots have all died. She declares Hiro her “darling,” forcing him to confront the meaning of such an intimate term in a world devoid of love.