Everything from the position of the pilots to the blunt title of their male companion pilots as "parasites" everything in this show is a macro-realization of the clunky and conventional take on courtship and [redacted], every parasite and pilot has a "chosen" companion that meets a certain criteria of compatibility in order to make their Franxx (this universes equivalent of the mecha-robot trope) function properly, similar to an online dating survey. In order to fight the squarish and brutal Monsters of this world, the male and female component of each Franxx team need to be in total sync, and according to the conventions of this world, the female pilot- can't perform her purpose of melding with the platform without a male "parasite" holding the reins (if you need a more visual diagram look [url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c4/6b/b0/c46bb0cc9cbfaec99a95f9f802789490.jpg]here[/url] note the position of Zero- two in her red flight-suit and her parasite Zero-one-six, positioned behind her) The main protagonist Hiro (or 016- typical naming conventions have been dropped in this universe opting for the uniformity of numbers and the order they represent.) performs poorly on a training mission with his pilot and his pilot is dismissed (getting a vibe yet?) the pilot is normally blamed for the poor performance of the team, and Hiro, being a valued parasite who performs well with others is kept. At this point anyone with any level of feminist engagement might feel a bit uncomfortable at this point. In this world [redacted] conventions are not a matter of religious or traditional dogma, but the very survival of humanity in the face of extinction. And all of a sudden here comes Zero-two- an enigmatic semi human female with small red horns and pink hair, An exceptional Pilot with whom no Parasite is technically needed- but whom the powers that be require to have a parasite, because of the massive potential behind such a pairing. And it gets better- according to rumors at the start of thew show, no parasite can fly with her for more than 3 times or they end up either dying or being injured beyond recovery. The initial reaction I have is Zero-Two represents the shaking off of the conventional approach to Courtship and [redacted] in japanese culture, where as the other pilots and parasites are "assigned" Zero-Two chooses Hiro as her "Darling" because of the way she felt about him. The whole scene when they meet for the first time is brilliant- if a bit tropic. (did i use that correctly.) Overall it's pretty blunt and ham-handed with it's use of terminology to hammer home the [redacted] theme, and this is where the whole meditation on the subject falls flat. Applying a term like "kissing" to a complicated technical process in which to massive habitation biomes interlace and connect to form a symbiotic network, made me giggle uncontrollably as I imagined to hulking steel behemoths making out. Considering the sprinkled in innuendos and references to [redacted] around every freaking corner- Even the transports look vaguely like giant boobs- one might think this was the intention of the producer However, the haphazard and extremely blunt nature of the theme also makes it a little harder (hehe get it) to take the overarching tension of the Blue-ball monsters (heh theres another one) seriously. Overall I like the series it presents something new for me and tackles [redacted] conventions in a way that is clever- if a bit overly blunt at times- and seeks to shatter the male dominance stereotype by presenting a true man woman team- ideal even- in which both components are not just working together, but in perfect sync. One where neither is leading the other or controlling the other. Anyways I'm looking forward to watching more. Zero-Two is cool as hell. And she sniffs and licks people in public A; to see what they taste like, and B; to see if she likes them or not, much to the disorientation and upset of the traditional japanese values of the other characters.