Wow, wow, wow! This episode had so much going on. The romantic tensions in the last episodes got finally their pay off. And damn, it was beautiful to see Goro coping with his feelings for Ichigo. I admit, I am completely addicted to this show!

Synopsis

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Verdict

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This week’s episode starts with Goro looking at Ichigo, who is playing with a cat and a small and cuddly toy rabbit, from a distance. However, the kids received some presents from Papa. We learn, that Papa gives the pilots presents once every year. Hiro for example wished for a book about birds. Zorome, who is admiring Papa and the APE council, reads the letter they received with the presents. The letter is more or less a motivational onspeache, with some signs of gratitude of Papa towards the children. Knowing, that what they are doing benefits Papa ande the APE council, gets Zorome really hyped up about their task. While Ichigo is spying, Hero gives Zero Two a mirror, because she didn’t get a present. This mirror belonged to Naomi, but she left it behind. Zero Two is really happy about the present and hugs Hiro. She says: “I never knew getting a present from someone could make me this happy.”During a flash back, we see, that Goro wanted to give a hair clip to Ichigo. However, Hiro was faster and Goro never had the chance to give his present. In the bedroom, Goro has a frank talk with Hiro. During this discussion, He explains that Ichigo is looking at Hiro the same way Hiro looks at Zero Two. Furthermore, he confesses to Hiro, that he loves Ichigo. The next day, we see our main characters dooring their briefing before a fight. They expect a Gutenberg-class Klaxosaur. However, it’s still a long way from the plantation. This Klaxosaur is looking like a jelly fish. Zorome and Miku charge in to the fight and get immediately in to trouble. Ichigo intervenes and gets herself and Goro into trouble as well. Goro decides to eject Ichigo to save her life. Now Goro is alone and trapped inside the Klaxosaur. For the moment, the others can’t do anything to free Goro from the monster and retreat. Ichigo is understandably pissed about it. However, the kids have a plan for when the Klaxosaur gets closer. They want to send Ichigo into the monster as well so that she can continue to pilot the FranXX with Goro. She will enter the Klaxosaur by its exhaust. Goro is already preparing the selfdestruct, when Ichigo finally enters the FranXX. We learn, that in the past Goro was not liked by the other childrens. He used to fight a lot with the others. Ichigo and Hiro where the only ones who stood with him. Ichigo furthermore used to help him fight the others. Back to present, Goro and Ichigo are able to escape the Klaxosaur. The monster is destroyed by the emergency energy pack of the trapped FranXX. Freed, Goro has finally the chance to thank Ichigo for his liberation. Futhermore, he confesses to Ichigo. However, the girl is not sure how to react about Goros confession, but Goro keeps his cool.- Unanswered love of Goro to Ichigo. He has learned to cope with the affection of Ichigo to Hiro. However, He finally confessed his feelings to Ichigo.- Goro is willing to sacrifice himself for the others.- All the characters are developing feelings independently from Hiro and Zero Two.This episode is again on of my favourites of this series so far. We get a lot of insight in Goro’s past. We learn for example, that he wasn’t liked by the others except by Hiro and Ichigo. I find really cruel, that he had the same idea for a present for Ichigo as Hiro, but he never got around to give it to his love. This episode shows really good how far the Kids have developed so far. Goro is now able to recognize the feeling and calling “love”.Of course, the relationship between Zero Two and Hiro is the example, but the others are now developing their own feelings independently. However, I strongly believe, that Ichigo has yet to find the right solution for her situation. Seeing her spying on Hiro and Zero Two war really heart wrenching for me. I am really glad to see that the previews, more slice of life episodes, have a great pay off. All this world building and romantic tension lead finally to Goro confessing his feelings to Ichigo. That is the reason why I love this episode and why I absolutely adore this series.Images: Screenshots from the anime