While it's technically a joint project between Studio TRIGGER and A-1 Pictures, the fact that the former's involved means the anime is bound to have some kickass moments.
Warning: Spoilers Off applies to Awesome pages. Proceed at your own risk.
Episode 1
- Zero Two uses her Franxx while its in Stampede mode to block a laser attack that would have destroyed the Plantation if it had managed to hit, at the cost of injuring herself and her partner. And she was getting ready to jump right back in without one, despite it being even more dangerous to try alone.
- Hiro then offers himself as her partner, even knowing that he could die in doing so. He's perfectly fine with dying if it means he can protect the others.
Episode 3
- Zero Two and Mitsuru in Strelitzia, carving their way through a horde of Conrad-class klaxosaurs with brutal ease.
- Another one comes right afterward, when Zero Two takes offense to Mitsuru's attempt to replace Hiro as her partner, and shows us why she's called the "Partner Killer".
Episode 4
- Zero Two, after hearing Hiro's Anguished Declaration of Love decides go back to him, taking out one of her escorts with a somersault kick and pilfering his assault rifle before landing/skating down a railing, whilst shooting the glass canopy above Hiro's head. Then jumping through said canopy to land in a Three-Point Landing.
- The battle with the Klaxsaur also count as the entire squad helps pin down the beast, leaving Hiro with the perfect oppritunity to kill it. And the death? Executed in a way that can only be described as a lance-version of the Giga Drill Break!
- The smirk that Zero Two gives to Ichigo right before she and Hiro go through the Klaxosaur. Zero Two knows how much she and Hiro kick ass together, and isn't afraid to show it off, especially towards her rival.
Episode 6
- Plantation 26 proves to be rather adept at handling the hordes of Klaxosaur with coordinated teamwork.
- The Ichigo and the others bring down a titanic-sized Klaxosaur by Knee-capping it and creating an opening for Hiro and Zero Two to put it down.
- And when that isn't enough, and Hiro is about to die, he wills himself back to life to make sure to get the kill so Zero Two doesn't have to keep fighting alone.
Episode 9
- Ichigo and Goro get a bunch, beginning with putting themselves in harm's way to rescue Argentea.
- Goro immediately realises they're going to be trapped in the Klaxosaur, so he expels Ichigo from the Franxx's cockpit, well aware that he'll be unable to make it work alone. Later, he attempts to destroy the Klaxosaur by blowing the Franxx up with himself still inside. He doesn't do it in the end, but damn is he badass.
- Ichigo diving in the Klaxosaur to save Goro with nothing but her spacesuit to protect herself. Even Zero Two is impressed and that's saying something.
Episode 11
- Hiro stopping Zero Two from blindly attacking the klaxosaur with a hard pull at the controls. She's actually surprised he took the lead to rein her in.
- Both Chlorophytum and Genista, despite the recent partner swap, hold their own impressively. Futoshi manages to pilot even if he's heartbroken that Kokoro chose to pilot with Mitsuru, while Kokoro, determined to help her partner with all that she has, almost sends Genista into "stampede mode". Her speech about trust was also as uplifting as it was heartwarming.
- Just the fact that Futoshi managed to hold off a Gutenberg-size klaxosaur for the longest time while Mitsuru and Kokoro are incapacitated before getting in a sweet combo that makes an opening for the decisive blow. Boy is determined to protect those he cares about.
- It can't be overstated just how much Futoshi embodies the Heartbroken Badass during this sequence. Despite being an emotional mess before and after, he synchronizes just fine, helps Ikuno get more out of Cholorphytum then she ever did with Mitsuru, and doesn't miss a single trick at the controls despite his ex-parter struggling in front of him. The ability to come through despite emotional turmoil is something the other pilots struggle with, and he does it flawlessly.
Episode 12
- It says something about their skills as pilots when Zero Two and Hiro manage to kill three klaxosaurs with one hit. All while out of sync with each other because of Zero Two's rage hindering their connection and her attempt to take full control of the fight.
Episode 13
- Hiro was ballsy as hell as a kid. He broke out Zero Two and ran away with her. He even tried to take on the adults when they were found until one of them smacked his head with their gun knocking him out.
Episode 14
- Mild mannered as he's now, kid!Hiro got nothing on his current self who managed to escape from his hospital room by MacGyvering up a grapple hook out of his torn curtains and a fruit knife, got out through a window, gave everybody the slip — including guards, medical personnel, all of his teammates, and Miku keeping watch outside his door — made it to Squad 13's dorm and back undetected, and all this while still convalescent. The only fly in the ointment was that he and Zero Two got the other's room around the same time, which contributed to make things go From Bad to Worse.
Episode 15
- It's not surprising that the Nines are the aces of APE. They cut through klaxosaurs like it's nothing, all while lamenting how boring it is for them.
- Zero Two does that, but alone and without talking at all.
- The kids of plantation 13 prove themselves to be one of the most versatile squads out there. Code:090 comments on their recklessness, but he also admits they give him hope.
- One example of this versatility is when Chlorophytum and Argentea are surrounded by Klaxosaurs after they get into Plantation 13's city. Chlorophytum can't use the magma blasters due to using up all the magma reserves earlier. Futoshi's solution? Take a piece of rubble nearby and use it to swat the Klaxosaur away.
- Ichigo straight up slamming into Strelitzia to make sure Hiro gets to Zero Two. She tries to open its mouth with Delphinium's spears and, when Strelitzia bites one off, she discards it, bitch slaps the most powerful Franxx out there, and slams Delphinium's head in Strelitzia's mouth to deliver Hiro.
- The entire climax is one long case of this and a Heartwarming Moment.
- When Hiro sees that Zero Two fixed the mirror that he had previously given her in Episode 10, he wastes no time in piloting a training unit — which isn't just effectively weaponless but also tiny by Franxx's standards — to a battlefield almost literally chock-filled with Klaxosaurs just to see her.
- Then when the training unit (predictably) gets destroyed, Goro willingly gives up his seat in Delphinium to let Hiro take over by stepping out, completely unprotected onto the aforementioned battlefield.
- When Delphinium takes him to Strelitzia, Hiro talks to Zero Two in a heartwarming, cheesy reunion between the two. He manages to snap her out of her guilt-fueled despair, kisses her and, the second a bunch of klaxosaurs attack them, they immediately unlock Strelizia's new form. They proceed to absolutely demolish the klaxosaurs that had been overrunning the Plantation. All with the opening blaring in the background.
- Perhaps a moment of Creepy Awesome, particularly as it undercuts the above moment, but just as the the above finishes, a GIGANTIC hand, absolutely dwarfing than even the plantation-sized Klaxosaur they just killed, comes out of the dome and SMASHES the plantation to bits! There's no Shocking Moments like Studio TRIGGER Shocking Moments.
Episode 17
- The Klaxosaur Princess is, to put it gently, not fucking around. It takes her less that thirty seconds to kill APE's messengers with her tentacles. All while remaining seated in her throne, right after countering the ultimatum given to her by making an implied big reveal that shreds APE's supposed advantage and causing one messenger to shit his pants and the other to try to assassinate her. Bonus points for her top notch Slouch of Villainy.
- Regardless of their role in the story, APE doesn't leave a great impression. Seeing some of their number brutally killed after all the horrible things they've done is satisfying purely for the catharsis factor.
- Ikuno walking up to Alpha Nine and giving him a backhanded slap was really satisfying. Goro and Ichigo had to restrain her so she wouldn't attack him again, and even one of the Nines has to whistle, impressed.
- Zero Two is a downright amazing artist, having perfectly re-created the illustrations of her beloved storybook, from memory.
Episode 18
- While she ends up being outnumbered and outmatched, you still have to give Zero Two credit for even trying to put up a fight against the other Nines.
- And to the credits of the Nines, their teamwork was impressive; it shows they are used to working together.
- The episode may conclude on a sad note, but Hiro's ending narration makes it clear that he's finally had enough of APE's bullshit, and even implies that he's ready to fight back against them. And given that the rest of the squad witnessed APE's true colors, he won't be fighting alone.
Episode 19
- Hiro has one big crowning moment when he confronts APE. Even after what the latter did to Mitsuru and Kokoro, Hiro somehow manages to maintain his composure and be calm when he makes a deal with the adults that in exchange for their services, they get their freedom in return. There's a reason why Hiro was a Father to His Men even when he was a child. When all that's done, Hiro shows to Dr. FranXX that there is a Tranquil Fury inside him and if he ever harms Zero Two, he won't hesitate to tear him limb by limb.
- The Klaxosaur Princess, once again, makes quick work of APE's men, simply sending one of her minions to kill them and then orders it to spare Dr. FranXX. The reason? She senses he has the scent of her brethren on him, as he had experimented on a Klaxosaur corpse non too long before their encounter and recently developed the FRANXX, and figures he deserves a special punishment.
- A Minor one but Dr. Franxx managing through all the above to get several strands of the Princess' hair and surviving. Which ultimately lead to Zero-Two's creation.
Episode 20
- Zero Two delivers a simple and much deserved verbal smack on the Nines, who are so pissed off they can't even keep their usual composure. No wonder her teammates look so proud of her after that.
- Losing a dangerously high quantity of blood will not stop Zero Two from trying to get to Hiro. She's limping and barely standing, but she will save him no matter the cost.
Episode 21
- Hiro was able to prolong the time bomb with his willpower alone despite being infected by it and being in intense pain. The Klaxosaur Princess had completely given up, but he holds onto the simple belief that people are meant to fight for living their lives at their fullest, and not vice versa.
- Squad 13 breaches the Grand Crevasse to help Hiro and Zero Two. They all get their chance to shine, from Chlorophytum pulverising a barrier of debris with a singke shot at the cost of its power and Ikuno's energy, to Genista and Argentea holding the enemy back to protect Chlorophytum, to Delphinium soloing two of VIRM's mooks and losing an arm in the process.
- The Nines going absolutely all out on both the Klaxosaurs and Virm after Epsilon and Delta are murdered. The one thing they got from Zero Two is definitely the combat prowess.
- Hiro and Zero Two send VIRM running for their lives by taking control of Strelizia Apus, the most perfect franxx in existance, and pushing it to its ultimate form and obliterate the reconnaissance fleet with a single, gigantic laser beam. They're so synched with it that Virm's manipulation system is destroyed from the inside.
Episode 23
- Squad 13 and the Nines take to space combat Like a Duck Takes to Water, carving through VIRM forces in zero gravity like nobody's business. Squad 13's Franxx upgrades, featuring black Klaxosaur armor and matching cross-bladed magma energy spears, are pretty damn badass, too.
- Hiro finally turns into a klaxosaur hybrid like Zero Two.
Episode 24
- Ikuno, despite having no academic training beyond being able to read any write, manages to cure the Parasites' Rapid Aging through nothing but years of relentless study.
- Hiro and Zero Two's Dying Moment of Awesome in which they break away from Sterilizia True Apus to form a Golden Super Mode of Sterilizia and then forming a lance out of pure energy to dive themselves into the Klaxosaur bomb to finally defeat the VIRM.
