When Darling in The Franxx came out, it led viewers on a rollercoaster of emotions. Ichigo, the leader of the team, had a crush on Hiro who couldn't successfully pilot a Franxx. When he is about to depart for good, a chance encounter with a half-human girl named 002 changes that.
After the two pilot together, 002 takes a liking to Hiro, but Ichigo doesn' take kindly to this strange girl with a devilish appearance. In fact, Ichigo does everything she can in order to make it hard for 002 and Hiro to be partners, despite their obvious attraction to one another. Is what Ichigo did really that wrong, though?
10 SHE DID NOTHING WRONG: She Wants to Protect Hiro
From the very start of the show, you see that Ichigo and Hiro are close friends. It's obvious that she cares deeply for him and would go to great lengths to protect him. She never wanted to hurt Hiro; she just wanted to protect him from the unknown.
Realistically, this is what many close friends would do if put into a similar situation.
9 SHE'S THE WORST: She's Possessive
The problem with Ichigo being protective over Hiro is that, at times, she is possessive. It's obvious that Ichigo lets her jealousy run rampant and cloud better judgment, and it plays into some of the chaos that she causes for the couple.
The possessiveness that she often had over Hiro is what made so many fans dislike her in the first place.
8 SHE DID NOTHING WRONG: She Grew To Love Goro
After the dust settled and Ichigo got over the shock from the events surrounding her, she settled down with Goro. They didn't just run off and get married, though. As it turns out, the couple grew to love each other over a long stint of time.
This feels a lot more natural as Ichigo was obviously still pining over Hiro for quite some time. It was only after she got over that heartbreak that she found true love.
7 SHE'S THE WORST: She Ignored Goro's Feelings
Goro told Ichigo about his feelings early on, but she pretty much only focused on trying to ruin Hiro and 002's relationship. Goro even protected her despite her passing him off because he truly loved her.
In fact, many fans even believe that Goro is too good for her. The other characters on the show even had to tell off Ichigo for how she treated Goro.
6 SHE DID NOTHING WRONG: She Expressed Her Feelings
The fact that Ichigo loved Hiro isn't really a problem; they were teenagers and didn't know how to properly deal with emotions. The fact that Ichigo could express her feeling at all was a bit surprising since the parasites weren't taught about love.
Ichigo had a right to let Hiro know how she actually felt. Being a teenager is already hard, but in the shows dystopian world, the children aren't brought up with proper knowledge.
5 SHE'S THE WORST: She Forcibly Kissed Hiro
One of the worst things Ichigo did in the show was forcefully kissing Hiro. This was in no way romantic, and she did it knowing full well how he felt about 002 who she was constantly trying to get rid of. It should also be mentioned that this was the moment that got many viewers to turn on Ichigo.
Ichigo should have never kissed him and deserved to be turned down afterward. It's a pretty well-known rule that you shouldn't try to force yourself onto others without their consent.
4 SHE DID NOTHING WRONG: She Doesn't Want Hiro to Die
It's no secret that those who rode with 002 didn't come out in good condition. When Ichigo learns what happened to her other co-pilots, she has every reason to worry about Hiro being killed while working alongside 002.
It's no surprise that she often got into arguments over Hiro's safety. Ichigo dopes genuinely care about Hiro's safety, and when looking at 002's other co-pilots, she have every right to be concerned.
3 SHE'S THE WORST: She Hit 002
What Ichigo should have never done is berate 002 and then slapped her across the face. This was one of the moments in the show that really made fans hate her. Instead of trying to talk to Hiro, she physically assaulted 002 behind everyone's back.
This was blatant abuse, and one of the reasons it's so hard to side with Ichigo.
2 SHE DID NOTHING WRONG: She Believes 002 Doesn't Really Care
Ichigo and 002 get into several fights over whether she truly cares about Hiro or not. To Ichigo's credit, though, 002 isn't the best at expressing her real emotions and comes off as a cold-hearted girl. This only fuels Ichigo's hate, further leading to more altercations.
Most friends who noticed how 002 was acting would be concerned, especially with some of the off-handed comments the character regularly made to Ichigo.
1 SHE'S THE WORST: She Proclaimed That 002 isn't Human
One of the reoccurring thoughts that Ichigo has is that 002 isn't human like her. While this is kind of true, 002 is still half-human and does have very real emotions. She has gone through tons of discrimination and can't help her blood.
At the very least and despite the things she has done, 002 still deserves some respect and understanding. Ichigo is rather insensitive about this from the start, which puts a bad taste in many fans' mouths.