Anime and Manga Differences

The anime version of DARLING in the FRANXX debuted on January 13, 2018, and concluded on July 7 with 24 episodes. The manga by Kentaro Yabuki debuted the next day on January 14, 2018, as a promotion and is currently ongoing.

Differences

 * In the anime, the opening scene consists of Zero Two narrating the Jian, which makes a cameo, and a scene of her with Hiro surrounded by Sakura trees from episode 17 is shown. In the manga, she includes the backstory to why the FRANXX units were created and what the Klaxosaurs are.
 * In the anime, Hiro is alone in his first appearance, he recalls the story of the Jian and tries to tend to a wounded bird. In the manga, he is with Ichigo and tells the backstory of the parasites. His capacity test with Naomi is also shown earlier in the manga.
 * In the anime, Hiro doesn’t voice his decision to stay at the last minute before almost leaving in Plantation 13. In the manga, he does.
 * In the anime, Ichigo tells Hiro that Naomi survived the klaxosaur attack and is hospitalized. In the manga, Ichigo tells Kokoro instead.
 * In the anime, the scene of Mitsuru and Zorome doubting Hiro piloting Strelizia is shown after breakfast. In the manga, it was before breakfast.
 * Also the scene in the anime of Hiro and Zorome’s fight over whether or not Hiro actually piloted Strelizia is not shown in the manga.
 * In the anime, the scene of Ichigo confronting Zero Two about Hiro and getting licked by her is shown after a drill test. In the manga, it was during Zero Two eating breakfast with the squad.
 * In the anime, Miku was hesitant to join Zorome in the mock battle against Hiro and Ichigo. In the manga, she immediately volunteered.
 * The scene of Hiro giving Ichigo and the other children names in the Garden is shown earlier in the manga than the anime.
 * In the anime, Hiro finds Zero Two sitting and resting in the lobby. In the manga, it was Mitsuru who found Zero Two.
 * In the anime, Mitsuru suggests becoming Zero Two’s official partner while piloting Strelizia with her, and she decided to test him by “letting loose a bit”. In the manga, it was in the lobby while Mitsuru was talking badly about Hiro but Zero Two quickly rejected him.
 * The scene of Hiro asking Goro to apologize to Ichigo on his behalf is seen in a flashback in the manga but makes a cameo in the anime.
 * In the anime, Zero Two watches Hiro train in a training unit. In the manga, it is Mitsuru.
 * The scene of Zero Two showing Hiro the city is shown earlier in the manga than the anime.
 * In the anime, Hiro convinces Zero Two to ride with Mitsuru. In the manga, Hiro tells Zero Two to ride with Mitsuru but changes his mind and rides with her instead.
 * In the anime, Hiro shows symptoms of his illness with a fever, which Goro notices. In the manga, Hiro exhibits expressions of being in severe pain but manages to keep it a secret.
 * In addition, the blue tumor is shown when Goro found Hiro sick and opened his uniform in the anime. In the manga, the tumor is first shown when Hiro opens his uniform while looking at his reflection in a mirror.
 * In the anime, Zero Two announces she will be staying with the squad while jumping on a bed. In the manga, she announces this when she cuddles with Hiro in bed while he unknowingly gropes her and then jumps on Goro.
 * In the anime, Kokoro finds Mitsuru in the greenhouse when she goes to water the plants. In the manga, she follows him there.
 * The scene of Plantations 13 and 26 commencing kissing is more detailed in the manga and narrated by Hiro, whereas everyone gave their own explanation of what they thought ‘kissing’ meant in the anime.
 * Alpha makes his first appearance earlier in the manga, where he first meets Goro and Ichigo at Mistilteinn. In the anime, he makes a brief cameo after the plantations’ kissing but he formally introduced when he first meets Hiro when Zero Two is formally enrolled into the squad after the ‘kissing’.
 * Alpha also tells Ichigo about Zero Two devouring her partners earlier in the manga.
 * In the anime, Hiro and Zero Two are at the lake when she discovers his tumor. In the manga, they are in the bathroom.
 * The scene of Ichigo slapping Zero Two is shown at a lake before Goro finds Hiro’s tumor in the anime. In the manga, it was afterwards in the pistil locker room.
 * In the anime, it was rain that stopped the altercation between Zero Two and Ichigo. In the manga, it was Alpha.
 * In the anime, Nana tells Zero Two she will be returning to the 9's. In the manga, it was Alpha.
 * The scene of 090 telling the incident with Zero Two is seen in Ichigo's flashback in the manga. In the anime, he tells everyone during a pre-battle meeting.
 * In the anime, Strelizia was allowed to participate in the battle to defend the plantations’ ‘kissing’. In the manga, Strelizia was not allowed.
 * Also contrary to the anime, Hiro and Zero Two had to sneak away to pilot Strelizia and fight against Alpha before heading to the battlefield.
 * In the anime, Hiro has a vision of Zero Two and Naomi while he was close to death. In the manga, he has a vision of a child Zero Two.
 * In the anime, Hiro meets Dr. FRANXX when Zero Two is officially enrolled into the squad. In the manga, it is when Dr. FRANXX appears on the monitor after the battle ends.
 * The Klaxosaur Princess is introduced earlier in the manga after the successful kissing, whereas she wasn’t seen until after the Gran Crevasse siege in the anime.
 * In the anime, Mitsuru tells the group he found an abandoned town near the beach and shows them. In the manga, Kokoro follows him and the others find out when the two don’t come back to the beach.
 * In the anime, Zorome, Miku, Ikuno, and Futoshi explore the mansion in the abandoned town and compare it to their boarding house. In the manga, it was Hiro and Goro.
 * In the anime, Mitsuru saves Kokoro from getting crushed by debris after he yanks her away. In the manga, he grabs her to the ground and accidentally touches her breast.
 * The scene of the squad eating at the campsite and formally welcoming Hiro and Zero Two is shown more exclusively in the anime than the manga.
 * In the anime, Hiro doesn’t have flashbacks of Zero Two as a child until the squad fights klaxosaurs at the Garden and she tries to kill him. In the manga, he starts having flashbacks while exploring the abandoned city.
 * The kiss scene between Ichigo and Hiro from Episode 14 is shown during the beach vacation rather than at their boarding house in the manga.
 * In the manga, the 9’s hold a meeting at the Bird Nest, which doesn’t happen in the anime as the Bird Nest isn't seen until right before the battle with VIRM.
 * In the manga, Kokoro reads her baby book while she remembers when Hiro asked the meaning of boy-girl differences during an assembly at the Garden, which doesn’t happen in the anime.
 * In the anime, a klaxosaur spills goo all over all the squad’s units. In the manga, only Strelizia, Argentea and Chlorophytum got sprayed with goo.
 * In the anime, Delphinium was captured by a klaxosaur while trying to save Argentea. In the manga, Delphinium was captured while trying to save Strelizia instead.
 * In addition, it was Ichigo who was ejected from Delphinium in the anime. Whereas, it was Goro in the manga.
 * The Boys versus Girls conflict never happens in the manga but is the central conflict of Episode 8 in the anime.
 * In the anime, Goro admits his feelings for Ichigo and shows the hair clip to Hiro before Delphinium was absorbed. In the manga, it was afterwards.
 * In the anime, Nana and Hachi learn Goro is still alive. In the manga, it was Zero Two who discovered Ichigo was still alive.
 * In the manga, Delphinium goes into stampede mode while inside the klaxosaur, whereas Delphinium never goes into stampede mode in the anime.
 * In the anime, Argentea rescues Delphinium after escaping from inside the klaxosaur. In the manga, it was Chlorophytum.
 * Ichigo’s hair clip was lost during the rescue attempt in the anime but in the manga, it breaks in half instead.
 * In the manga, Zero Two comments she needs to learn more about humans to find her long-lost darling. Whereas in the anime, she says no such thing.
 * In the anime, Zero Two didn’t start calling Squad 13 by their names until after the battle of Gran Crevasse. In the manga, she starts calling them by their names much earlier.
 * In the anime, Goro and Ichigo feel awkward since his confession while visiting the city. In the manga, it was at Mistiltein.
 * In the anime, Zero Two dreams of all the stamen she killed the day before Kokoro and Mitsuru’s wedding. In the manga, it was after the rescue of Delphinium, and she also imagines Hiro among the dead stamen.
 * In the anime, the 9's never come into direct contact with 001 and they only hear her voice during the second battle at Gran Crevasse. In the manga, they are confronted by her while neutralizing a horde of klaxosaurs near the Gran Crevasse before the first battle.
 * In the anime, 001 doesn’t emerge from underground until the second battle of Gran Crevasse. In the manga, she does before the first battle of Gran Crevasse.
 * In the anime, 001 forcibly links with Hiro via Strelizia to fight against VIRM. In the manga, she forcibly links with 9'δ via the 9 Model to gather intel on humanity and Zero Two’s whereabouts.
 * In the anime, Hachi wasn’t suspicious of the medal ceremony. In the manga, he was suspicious because the squad is an experimental unit and something serious must have happened for Papa to have high expectations for them.
 * In the anime, Zorome gets lost in the city after getting distracted by looking at the magma energy plants. In the manga, not only does Zorome get lost but so does Miku (after she ran away when he hurt her feelings and he chased after her), Zero Two and Hiro (both who went looking for them).
 * In the anime, Zorome meets the Old Woman and she tells him how the adults live by receiving emotions from machines, and he talks to her about Miku’s pros and cons. In the manga, as the Old Woman doesn’t appear, all these topics are discussed between Zorome, Hiro, Miku, and Zero Two. Also, in the manga, it was Miku who listed the pros and cons of Zorome and it was Zero Two who explained the adults' way of life.
 * In the anime, Alpha‘s partner, Zeta, died after the second battle at Gran Crevasse due to lack of maintenance. In the manga, she was killed due to an injury to her abdomen from a direct hit in the cockpit.
 * In the anime, Epilson and Delta are killed by VIRM during the second Gran Crevasse battle and the rest of the 9’s, including Alpha, are killed in the battle against VIRM in space. In the manga, all the 9’s, except for Delta and Alpha, are killed by the klaxosaur princess.
 * In the anime, it was Alpha whose final words were it was fun and to give his regards to Zero Two. In the anime, it was Gamma and Beta.
 * In the anime, as the 9’s never fought the klaxosaur princess, Papa never ordered their disposal. In the manga, he does when all but Alpha and Delta perish and he deems the two survivors useless.
 * In the anime, Alpha never shows emotion but he does by crying for his fallen comrades in the manga.
 * In the manga, as the 9’s faced pruning for their failure, it was Kokoro who persuaded Squad 13 to save them, something that doesn’t happen in the anime. In the anime, the 9’s showed nothing but contempt for Kokoro who was frightened in particular by Alpha.
 * In the anime, Squad 13’s doubts about Papa and their rebellion against him doesn’t happen until Kokoro and Mitsuru’s wedding and their memories are wiped away, which makes them realize parasites are not entitled to happiness. In the manga, their doubts and rebellion against Papa don't happen until they find out the 9’s will be pruned for being useless and all children deemed weak are disposed of, prompting the squad to rescue the 9’s.
 * In the manga, Hachi has numerous recollections of Nana’s past and it serves as a motivation for him to go against APE by lying to protect Squad 13, even admitting he doesn’t want to lose them. In the anime, his recollections of Nana’s past have a minimum role but it motivates him to protect the children and admits he doesn’t think it’s wrong to watch them live and prosper.
 * In the anime, Nana has a repressed memory of her late partner when she argues with Kokoro over the latter’s opinion of procreation and feelings. In the manga, it occurred when she saw Kokoro protect the 9’s and beg for the adults not to give up on them.
 * In the anime, Miku finds the unused room and the photo of the previous Squad 13. In the manga, it was Mitsuru.
 * In the anime, Hiro’s curiosity of Naomi’s fate is minimum even when he learns she never returned to the Garden. In the manga, he feels saddened after learning she was likely thrown away and admits he regrets leaving her alone.
 * In the anime, Zero Two’s horns grow bigger during a trip to the Garden and are first noticed by Hiro. In the manga, they grew while Zero Two was staying in Mistilteinn and are first noticed by Alpha.