Short Answer:
Ichigo, with the codename 015, is hated because she considers Hiro as her possession and, out of jealousy, ends up promoting hate about Zero Two, who became Hiro’s partner. She fell in love with Hiro from a very young age and wanted to become his partner, but they didn’t become partners due to compatibility issues, much to her dismay. Moreover, Ichigo provoked misunderstandings between Zero Two and Hiro numerous times, compelling the fans to hate her.
Was Ichigo’s personality the problem?
She comes off as an immature girl who often succumbs to her confused feelings, only to regret it later. Like all children, Ichigo grew up in the Garden without knowing about parents’ love; that’s why she finds herself in conflict whenever complex emotions like love are involved. Since childhood, she has displayed an aptitude for piloting and leadership and even became the leader of Squad 13. It is important to note that Ichigo does behave in a responsible manner during missions because she is honest with her role as a leader.
Moreover, she cares about her comrades very much and even takes responsibility whenever they mess up. Her only problem is that she can be easily overwhelmed by emotions which in turn compromises her leadership skills. Sometimes, she seems selfish as she doesn’t know which things she should prioritize over emotions. Later, Ichigo begins to regret that she forcefully kissed Hiro, and her whole team suffers as she fails to give them effective orders at a crucial moment.
Was she just following her feelings for Hiro?
Ichigo holds romantic feelings toward Hiro and wants to become his partner to the point she begins to think of Hiro as her possession. In childhood, she was shocked to see emotionless children living in the Garden as she was pretty different from them, but Hiro helped her by giving her the name Ichigo which rhymed with her code 015. This fateful encounter changed her life and gave her confidence and a sense of identity. From this point onward, Ichigo begins to harbor feelings for Hiro because he saved her from falling into despair.
She wanted to support Hiro during his dark days as he failed to pilot a Franxx because of aptitude issues, but she couldn’t help him, which caused her much grief. She didn’t stop caring for him even after acknowledging that Hiro loves Zero Two, which again shows that Ichigo loved Hiro despite knowing her feelings would remain unrequited.
Look at this video to see how Ichigo forces herself on Hiro who already fell in love with Zero Two!
In a way, she wanted to protect him because every partner of Zero Two dies in the end. She even forces herself on Hiro to refrain him from going back to Zero Two. She even went as far as physically harming Zero Two because Zero Two said that if Hiro dies because he rides with her, then he didn’t amount to much.
You’re heartless! You really aren’t human!
Ichigo to Zero Two
Here’s a video of the scene where Ichigo slaps Zero Two!
Ichigo’s resentment towards Zero Two
At first, Ichigo hated Zero Two for stealing his beloved Hiro as she wanted to be with him more than anyone else. She couldn’t stand her flirting with Hiro in front of everyone, as shown in episode 2 of Darling in the FranXX. Upon discovering the past of Zero Two and how she is called partner killer, Ichigo begins to resent him to the point she calls her a monster and even slaps her.
Just when things are about to get normal between them, Ichigo learns another shocking truth that Zero Two wants to become human, and for that purpose, she will suck the life out of Hiro. At this point, Ichigo decided to separate them even if she gets hated during the process, as she didn’t want Hiro to die because of it. It is important to note that, at this point, Ichigo doesn’t know that Hiro and Zero Two had met long ago, and Zero Two is searching for her beloved darling, who turns out to be Hiro in the end.
Why do some of the fans hate her?
She is also the one who discriminates against Zero Two the most throughout the anime as she deems her a monster that will eventually kill Hiro. On a broader side, It is true Zero Two is not human, but she doesn’t deserve to be called a monster. She even neglected the honest feeling of her comrade named Goro, which is the worst possible thing to do. It is safe to conclude that Ichigo’s selfishness and immaturity took her to the bad side of fans.
Interesting Fact
After acknowledging that Zero Two cares genuinely for Hiro, Ichigo decided to support them while trying to get rid of her feelings toward Hiro. She went through commendable character development in the final arc of the series. Ichigo went as far as to trust Zero Two to save Hiro from the chains of Klaxosaur Princess Code 001. She grows up into a beautiful lady with a kind and caring personality after the time skip. She ends up with Goro and is carrying his child, smiling for what they have now and with hope for the return of Hiro and Zero Two.
Here’s a video of Ichigo where she has already moved on from her for Hiro and is happy with Goro and their baby growing inside of her.
Our Final Thoughts
In the end, We can’t help but think that Ichigo doesn’t deserve this level of hatred from fans. Although she is annoying and unable to bear it at times, she is just a teenage girl driven by her confused feelings at the end of the day. Moreover, she gets backlash because she tried to separate Hiro and Zero Two, but nobody is ready to look on the other side. Ichigo did so because, at first, Zero Two seemed to not care about Hiro’s life a bit, and as his childhood friend and lover, it was legit of her to take action for the sake of Hiro. Some credit for Ichigo’s hate also goes to the creators because Ichigo is often left out on crucial information like she didn’t know about Zero Two and Hiro’s past encounter. She would have definitely refrained from separating them if she had known about it.
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