Quote Originally Posted by Doorhandle View Post
...Makes me wonder if this is going to be a trend though, where every 6 episodes leads to a massive change in Hiro's and Zero-two's relationship?
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It looks like that massive change will be split between episodes 12 and 13, this time.


Quote Originally Posted by Doorhandle View Post
Agreed, but to be fair all the pilots eventually become likeable, even that cad Mitsuru. I wish the non-Zero Two girls got more character development though.
My favorite parts are the growing subplot around the nature of the parasites and the dominion of APE.
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Enjoy Zero-Two's joy while it lasts. Ep 6 is rough on her, ep 12 is 2 centimeters from destroying her. Poor girl.
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Anyone want to take bets on whether Hiro's response to Zero Two spirit-choking him is to gently touch her face, which causes her to start sobbing uncontrollably?

I mean, I listened to Komm, Süßer Tod after watching episode 12. ;-)

The partner shuffle is leaving me feeling conflicted and worried about how the show will handle the affected individuals' feelings going forward. If this were a western show, I'd say that Ikuno is coded as lesbian and not bisexual, and that she won't be able to feel for Futoshi as more than possibly a very good friend. That'd still be much better than what she had in Mitsuru, and it'd be fine. However, I feel like the show might lose some(western) viewers if Ikuno falls in love with Futoshi without a lot of setup, some of which should have already happened. The same goes for Mitsuru possibly developing deeper feelings than friendship for Kokoro.

My worries could be unfounded, though, since Mitsuru and Ikuno's unrequited feelings for Hiro and Ichigo have been handled well so far. I think that having the new partner pairs develop strong trusting friendships that work better than their previous pairings would make a great narrative. Ichigo not reciprocating Ikuno's feelings might not be enough to explain their inability to pilot together, but other explanations might. The pistils might not have gotten the right training to fulfill the stamen pilot role at all. Or the piloting system might be hard-wired to only work one way by Dr. Franxx. /shrug