#code016

And guess what? She did!!!! :3

But before I go on about what has been ticking me off the past day about Studio Trigger and what they did to Ikuno I’m going to state what this awesome gal did.

1) Ikuno risked her life along with the rest of her squad to fight against creatures trying to kill the human race and survived! Not many pilots live long. And some may not survive after a few missions. But she did!

2) She finally confessed her feelings to her teammate that she kept a secret and bottled inside. Even though they were unrequited her teammate still saw her as a precious friend and didn’t try to ostracize her or make her feel bad.

3) she started learning around age 16 (estimate) about biology, the human body, medicine and pharmaceutical drug creation all on her own, yes she taught herself, and because of all of her work she allowed for the survival of all the pilots who had accelerated aging and became a doctor her friends could rely on. The reason why any of them can live is because of all her research and dedication, without her they would have all been dead! Yeah without her starting that work they would have all died young.

4) she risk her life and expended her lifespan and shortened it by piloting and releasing enough energy to blast a hole through a sealed passage so that her friends could go save their teammate and stop what was a world destroying bomb.

5) despite having a weaker body, or I believe it was implied in the series that her numbers were always on the lower side but that may have also been because her her partner not being meant for her..., she pushes herself to do what she can with her short life.

6) she was essentially trusted by Goro to look after Ichigo and the others when he went out to travel and distribute food and supplies to other survivors (That’s how I interpreted the scene anyhow...)

7) even if she isn’t a romantic partner it is hinted that she and Naomi have a very strong bond after the 10 year time skip as over the years Naomi helped and looked after Ikuno

8) She’s an adorable lesbian lady who helps the ones she loves and do what she can to make sure they are happy and healthy. (Her smile thinking about how Ichigo’s baby will be like and Ichigo’s smile back show how much Ichigo cares for her still and how Ikuno’s live confession in the past did not strain their relationship)

Now to my beef with some of these idiots...

They are claiming Studio Trigger is trying to do the “Bury your Gays” trope because Ikuno was dying. And well I can’t claim Trigger is or isn’t homophobic because I don’t belong to it... but guess what? They had bisexual characters, a lesbian character, role reversal, questions on humanity, characters who showed what it means to be human, it’s showed people who were fooled into false beliefs, it showed obsession, codependency, revenge, depression and sucidality, anxiety, teen pregnancy, child experimentation, deforestation, racism, and many many many other things.

What I hate is that what they are taking away is that Ikuno is dying and Ikuno is a lesbian therefor the studio must be homophobic and trying to bury the gays. No Ikuno is dying faster than the others because of the strain she went through and how hard she pushed herself despite knowing the risks because she wanted to protect those she loved. And besides there is more to Ikuno than her being a lesbian. (As I listed above) so yeah I think those morons should feel ashamed because they are seeing a trope and not the wonderful character Trigger gave us.

And if anyone brings up: well they are pushing heterosexual relationships. Umm well guess what? All of the adults were soul ascended and all the younger adults and children are what is left which are still quite fewer in number. A lot of those people are probably going to have children. To leave behind a future. But guess what!? Not once is it said that a girl liking a girl or guy liking a guy is wrong!

And if I hear the whole: well what about Ichigo she turned down both Goro and Ikuno why is she with Goro?

Umm well for one... she was originally in love with Hiro, two she has insinuated that guys are her thing (the whole pilot connection seems to also be linked to sexual orientation somewhat. Not entirely but somewhat. Most emotional syncing though I believe.) and Ichigo’s feelings about Ikuno were not romantic at any point. She lives Ikuno just not romantically.

And then is people go with Well why did Mitsuru have to end up with Kokoro?

Honestly even if he is bisexual it doesn’t make him any less bisexual by being with Kokoro -.- truthfully I always thought their relationship seemed very one sided but Mitsuru acted on his own emotions and feelings and wasn’t pressured and now lives a very happy life so that’s that.

And then if anyone says anything about the Nines: who believed gender got in the way of a lot of things and was only tolerated for piloting. Well for one they were conditioned to think a certain way and believed in those thoughts wholeheartedly. Heck they are all assumed to be bisexual at the very least, or something around those lines. And if anyone says “well they are doing the bury your gays “ thing with the Nines the answer is. Are you stupid? Or rather what have you been watching? Alpha blatantly tells Ichigo that they need maintenance in order to survive. And Dr. Werner Franks said that they were clones of Zero Two (who is a clone of the Kaloxosaur princess) who didn’t inherit her Klaxosaur blood. They are clones of a clone. They are inherently not going to last long without proper medical procedures that unfortunately weren’t available for them and the last three decided to go out as warriors as they were literally made to be soldiers. They made their own choices and died they way they wanted to, in a fight not in a bed.

Studio Trigger May be many things and I’m not saying that Dating in the Franxx is flawless because it isn’t. But this was a beautiful story with a lot of symbolism, imagery, moral conflicts, and just a lot of emotion and allegory as well as call backs to earlier stated materials. It never forgot where it started nor the story it was going to tell. So please treat the studio with respect. As an anime first show this was a wonderful ride.