Characters / DARLING in the FRANXX - Pilots of Genista and Chlorophytum

Main Character Index | Plantation 13 | Pilots of Strelizia | Pilots of Delphinium and Argentea | Pilots of Genista and Chlorophytum | APE | Additional Plantations & Squads | Klaxosaurs

Due to wiki policy, trope names will not be spoiler tagged. Reader beware.

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Pilots of Genista

Code:326/Mitsuru

Click ^here to see Mitsuru after Episode 16

Voiced by: Aoi Ichikawa (Japanese), Saori Hayami (child - Japanese), Bryson Baugus (English), Emily Neves (child - English) ^{Foreign VAs} Diego Becerril (Latin American Spanish), Álvaro Esteve (European Spanish), Maxym Anciaux (French), Tobias Kern (German), Pedro Crispim (Portuguese)

Mitsuru is an extremely prideful person with a very sharp tongue. He feels strong rivalry towards Hiro and is adamant that he can prove himself better than him.

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• Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed in the manga, but noticeable. His more jerkish behaviour such as his cruelty to Ikuno is adapted out, making him just more aloof, and he's also the one to think of an idea to save Alpha and Delta from being killed.
• Absurdly Youthful Father: Episode 20 reveals that Kokoro has fallen pregnant with his child. Since the parasites are implied to be 14-17 years old, he serves as an example of this (his tampered memories of Kokoro notwithstanding). In the series finale, Kokoro gives birth to their daughter before a timeskip reveals they've added a few additional children to their growing family.
• Ambiguously Bi: His admiration of Hiro in their childhood and desire to pilot with him (much like Ikuno's desire to pilot with her crush Ichigo) can either be interpreted as platonic or romantic. He ends up with Kokoro in the end.
• Babies Ever After: The finale shows Kokoro giving birth to their daughter. The timeskip later shows the two have added a few additional children to their growing family.
• Beta Couple: Thanks to Hiro's encouragement, he and Kokoro become this in Episode 17.
• Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Futoshi's Betty for Kokoro's Archie, being cold towards Kokoro but still helping her out at times.
• Break the Haughty: When riding with Zero Two, he gets Drunk with Power, raving about how he's a better pilot than Hiro and insisting he's fit to be her official partner, throwing Ikuno under the bus in the process. In response, Zero Two decides to stop holding back and show him exactly why she's called the Partner Killer, leaving Mitsuru gravely injured and traumatized.
• Broken Pedestal: How he claims to see Hiro, citing that he was once someone they admired and would lead them, only for reality to crush the idea when Hiro failed the test while the others passed. From how he states it and the flashback to when they were being named by Hiro, it does seem like he looked up to Hiro a lot, but there is also a bit of Driven by Envy motivating his behavior.
• Character Development: Subtle, but most clearly shown in episode 14. When Hiro brings up his long-forgotten promise, clearly intending to apologize, Mitsuru tells him he had almost forgotten about it until Hiro brought it up. Mitsuru showing Hiro that much respect and being willing to rebuild bridges is in sharp contrast to his earlier behavior.
• Cold Ham: He keeps a controlled tone of voice and doesn't change his facial expression while explaining how disappointed he is with Hiro, but the way he dramatically moves his arms to accentuate his lines makes him look quite hammy anyway. Until he gets a taste of piloting Strelizia with Zero Two, at which point he becomes a plain Large Ham.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Hiro forgetting their promise to pilot a Franxx together when they were little, after Mitsuru underwent a very risky injection to become strong enough to pilot, shattered Mitsuru's faith in people and turned him into the bitter Jerkass he is today.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Downplayed. In Episode 16, Mitsuru admits that his resentment for Hiro was uncalled for, since it wasn't Hiro's fault that he forgot their promise, and Mitsuru only held onto his grudge for so long so he would have a drive. He even adds that without it, he's now left with nothing.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Doesn't like it when people pity him.
• Dramatic Irony: His whole animosity towards Hiro is this. Hiro forgetting the promise he made with Mitsuru was caused by the memory tampering by Dr. Franxx.
• Driven by Envy: He seems to want more than anything to surpass Hiro. During his Drunk with Power moment he wouldn't stop raving how he was a better pilot than him. Following that episode, he continues to resent Hiro for being a better pilot than him, and obsessively wonders why Hiro was able to pilot with Zero Two and not him.
• Drunk with Power: The moment he manages to pilot with Zero Two, he starts raving how he can feel the power and laughing that he'd be her official partner so they'd be the strongest duo.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: His kinder attitude in episode 16 is accompanied by a new haircut from Kokoro, which is decidedly less snobbish-looking.
• Important Haircut: He gets one from Kokoro (at his own request) in Episode 16, with his hair reverting back to its old hairstyle, which is a sign of him letting go of past grudges.
• Irony: Due to him being a Jerkass with no intention of getting friendly with his teammates, he was the only one among the boys that didn't go along with the childish This Is My Side fight in episode 8, making him look like the most mature of the group.
• Jerkass: When the show begins, he's a snide, rude asshole who brushes aside any attempts from people to get to know him and looks down on his comrades, only bothering to associate with them when in combat situations. He gets better.
• Jerkass to One: In this case, Jerkass to Two. While Mitsuru is a snide, bitter jerk to virtually everyone, Hiro and Ikuno tend to get the worst of his cruelty. Best displayed in the third episode, where when Chlorophytum is unable to function, he blames Ikuno and unhesitatingly agrees to pilot Strelizia with Zero Two to show up Hiro. Needless to say, once he goes too far, Zero Two lives up to her reputation as the Partner Killer and nearly kills him, and later on, Mitsuru buries the hatchet with Hiro after he found out about his Laser-Guided Amnesia that erased most of his childhood memories, including their childhood promise to pilot together.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: APE removes any trace of Kokoro from his memories after being captured by them in episode 18.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After bragging he could do better than Hiro with Zero Two, he ends up getting completely trashed by Zero Two's overwhelming power. He ends up traumatized at the thought of joining with her again.
• Manly Tears: In Episode 24, he bursts into tears upon seeing his newborn daughter and holding her for the first time.
• Never Be Hurt Again: The core reason for his Jerkass behaviour. After his Broken Pedestal situation with Hiro, he got so heartbroken he decided to never trust someone again.
• Never My Fault: He blames Ikuno for Chlorophytum being unable to function in episode three. And keeps insisting that he wasn't at fault in the following episode.
• Not So Stoic: He's usually composed (and at times, even smug), but there are a few times when he completely breaks out of said demeanor. The first time is when he freaks out about piloting with Zero Two after she left him weakened; the second is when he rants to Kokoro about his promise with Hiro and why he has a hard time trusting others, to the point that he even cries about it.
• Pet the Dog:
  • His interactions with Kokoro in general. He saves her from a falling piece of building and keeps silent on her bringing back a book she took, which is likely against regulations. He's also noticeably less caustic with her than his own partner. This is one reason why they are able to act as partners when the partner-swap occurs.
  • In Episode 14 Mitsuru advises Hiro not to see Zero Two anymore, although he states this purely out of concern since Zero Two nearly killed Hiro.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: By the latter half of the series, Mitsuru eventually learned to let go of his animosity towards Hiro and see him in a positive light once more, as seen when he tells Hiro that apologizing for their forgotten promise isn't necessary, and even smiling with the rest of the gang when Hiro tells them to come back alive in Episode 15.
• The Resenter: It's made clear in Episode 1 that he's not really fond of Hiro. Episode 11 reveals exactly why.
• Smug Snake: Especially apparent in episode three, where he smugly puts Hiro down at every opportunity and insinuates how much better he would be as a partner to Zero Two, despite her clear disinterest in him and preference for Hiro. This bites him hard when Zero Two has enough of his bragging while he's piloting her ship.
• Super Serum: His piloting abilities were originally low, so he undertook a surgery when he was younger to gain a higher capability.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He and Ikuno are very open about how they don't like each other, but that honesty on the subject is also what allows them to work well together. Notable, at the end of the This Is My Side fight in episode 8, while the boys and girls were doing all they could to apologize for the way they behaved, Ikuno and Mitsuru only needed to quickly glance at each other to establish things were back to normal. Since they were never close in first place, they were the ones less affected by the fight.
• Their First Time: In Episode 17, he and Kokoro have sex for the first time.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Hiro forgetting their promise caused Mitsuru to harbor a deep resentment for Hiro. Even after Hiro snapped out of his funk, Mitsuru continues to give him the cold shoulder, even having unpleasant dreams about when he used to look up to him. He even states that he doesn't know if he can ever forgive Hiro.
  • However, it seems that he's on his way there by Episode 14. When Hiro brings their promise up after fully remembering his past, Mitsuru implicitly assures Hiro that there's no need to apologize, and later on even acknowledges that Hiro wasn't at fault for what happened.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • In Episode 14 he tells Hiro he doesn't need to apologize for forgetting their promise and then suggests he should give up piloting with Zero Two, clearly concerned for his safety like Ichigo.
  • In Episode 16, he's gradually acting like his old self again, smiling more often and acting in a much kinder and gentler manner towards all his teammates. Even after being subjected to a Laser-Guided Amnesia, while he becomes a bit more aloof and professional he doesn't revert to his old haughty self.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Flashbacks show that Mitsuru was a lot nicer towards Hiro, even showing a bit of shyness when he asked to be given a name.
• When He Smiles: It's hard to believe, but the few times he makes a genuine smile that isn't a smirk or anything similar is surprisingly heartwarming. This applies even more when he was a child, especially since his attitude was much sunnier back then.

Code:556/Kokoro

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese), Jeannie Tirado (English) ^{Foreign VAs} Jocelyn Robles (Latin American Spanish), Rosa Moyano (European Spanish), Elisabeth Guinand (French), Katharina von Daake (German), Pamella Rodrigues (Portuguese)

Kokoro has such a gentle personality that the boys in the team consider her as a Madonna-like existence. Even though she speaks very little, when she does, she is very considerate and thoughtful of others.

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• Absurdly Youthful Mother: In Episode 24, Kokoro gives birth to her and Mitsuru's daughter. Since the parasites are implied to be 14-17 years old, she serves as an example of this. The timeskip reveals they had a few more kids on top of that.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Her Fatal Flaw is downplayed in the manga as she's considers openly defying APE before they can dispose of the injured Alpha and Delta.
• Babies Ever After: Kokoro gets her wish to raise a child, as the finale shows her giving birth to her and Mitsuru's daughter. The finale's timeskip later shows her and Mitsuru raising two additional children with another on the way.
• Babies Make Everything Better: The book Kokoro snuck in caused her to be curious about motherhood, particularly pregnancy. It reaches the point where she almost forces herself on Mitsuru in Episode 17 due to her desire to birth a child, feeling that if she'll die as a pilot, she wants to leave something behind before then.
  • Ironically episode 20 shows she was successful - morning sickness. But her mind has been wiped, and she no longer knows what this means.
  • When she is told that she got pregnant in episode 22, after her memories were wiped and so was her motive to do so, she is left paralyzed with indecision to terminate the pregnancy or not. She keeps the baby, giving birth to her and Mitsuru's daughter in the series' finale.
• Beta Couple: In Episode 17, she and Mitsuru become this.
• Childhood Friends: She and Miku have known each other since they were in the Garden.
• Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: Episode 17 reveals that anything related to reproduction, emotions, and gender is practically forbidden knowledge among parasites. When the Nines come across her book, which contains such information, Kokoro immediately finds herself in hot water with the higher-ups.
• Failed a Spot Check: Part of the reason why things go south for her and Mitsuru is because she wasn't more careful with hiding the book she smuggled from the surface.
• Fatal Flaw: Her inability to speak out her mind and performance to avoid conflict. This is what causes her to separate from Futoshi and break his heart.
• First Kiss: Impulsively kisses Mitsuru in episode 16. She is surprised and embarrassed with herself.
• The Heart: In the manga, she is generally the most caring member of the team, willingly nursing the injured Alpha and Delta and being the first to openly start questioning the treatment of the Parasites after recalling Naomi. She also considers defying APE if it means rescuing Alpha and Delta from uncertain doom.
• Hidden Depths:
  • By keeping the book about motherhood with her, she became the first parasite of the team — excluding Hiro and Zero Two, who have their own history with this subject — to question the society she was born into. She kept pondering about the contents of the book even after Mitsuru told her it would be better if she tried to forget about it. (Which, unbeknownst to either of them, is exactly what Zorome did the first time he was faced with similar doubts).
  • She admits in episode 11 that she's not the sweet, innocent Nice Girl everyone thinks she is. She breaks Futoshi's heart and her promise to him to become Mitsuru's partner instead. Even if she wanted to help Mitsuru, she still knowingly hurt her old partner, and didn't even try to make excuses for it, admitting he would be right to get angry with her.
  • Compared to the other initial Squad 13 pistils, she's surprisingly a lot more forward in her romantic endeavors despite her gentle personality. She chooses to become Mitsuru's partner despite knowing it would hurt Futoshi's feelings, impulsively gives Mitsuru her first kiss, and also tries to initiate sex with him at the beginning of episode 17.
• Innocent Flower Girl: She's the one who takes care of the greenhouse and even explains Hanakotoba to Mitsuru.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Has any trace of Mitsuru erased from her memories after being captured by APE in episode 18.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: She is the most feminine girl in the group.
• Meaningful Name: "Kokoro," which means heart, is a pretty fitting name for a kindhearted girl like her.
• Morning Sickness: Episode 20 shows her going through this.
• Motherly Side Plait: Ironically, she sports this when she goes into battle. Goes both with her caring nature and the fact she picks up a book about motherhood during their trip to the ruined city.
  • In episode 11, she treats a doll as a baby and begins to wonder why humanity stopped having them.
• Nice Girl: She's rather sweet at a glance, assuring her partner that he's doing fine on their first start-up, even if he has the weakest sync rate of the group. She was also the first to notice how Mitsuru's grudges and resentment were affecting his psyche and tried to extend a helping hand, even though he had been acting like a huge Jerkass. However, just because she's the most genial among the girls doesn't mean she's incapable of hurting other people's feelings, even if she doesn't like it.
• Teenage Pregnancy: Episode 20 confirms she is pregnant with Mitsuru's child. Given that she and the other parasites appear to be in their early-to-mid teens, her pregnancy effectively serves as an intentional example (her being mindwiped of all memories of Mitsuru notwithstanding).
• Their First Time: In Episode 17, she ends up losing her virginity to Mitsuru.
• What the Hell, Hero?:Though she's still a Nice Girl, her volunteering to partner up willingly with Mitsuru doesn't sit very well with Futoshi, who gets quite upset and cries quite a bit about it. This right after promising to continue being his partner. By the end of the episode, she at the very least acknowledges she hurt him and wouldn't blame anyone for getting angry at her for it.

Pilots of Chlorophytum

Code:214/Futoshi

Voiced by: Hiroki Goto (Japanese), Blake Shepard (English) ^{Foreign VAs} Roberto Salguero (Latin American Spanish), David Jenner (European Spanish), Jean-Paul Clerbois (French), Malte Wetzel (German), Pedro Azevedo (Portuguese)

Futoshi is an optimistic and straightforward man who loves to eat. He appears to be a boy who lives for bread and always at a pace of his very own but in actuality he is unexpectedly prudent.

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• Babies Ever After: Has two kids with another on the way with an unnamed girl by the time of the finale's timeskip.
• Berserk Button: Normally he's a kind if excitable Gentle Giant. His one trigger: Kokoro's safety.
• Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Mitsuru's Veronica for Kokoro's Archie, being a Nice Guy who always tries to look out for his partner.
• Big Eater: He's a bit on the pudgy side, and has been seen eating a lot during breakfast. He even takes bread with him into the locker room.
• The Big Guy: When push comes to shove, he's one of the more versatile pilots in Plantation 13's squad. He can get both Genista and Chlorophytum moving well even at lower sync rates, and when he has his mind set he can pull off some powerful attacks while piloting. It is implied that his strength is downplayed for the sake of not hurting Kokoro, something seen in their early show sync rates and explicitly acknowledged by Kokoro in the manga.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: His eyebrows are also rather prominent.
• Broken Pedestal: It's strongly implied that Futoshi puts Kokoro on a pedestal and idolizes her as a selfless, incorruptibly pure Nice Girl, which she seems vaguely uncomfortable with but not brave enough to openly refute, and she often plays along to make him happy. When she breaks his heart by leaving him, he seems as disillusioned with her behavior as he is heartbroken over her leaving him. This is made more blatant in the manga, where Futoshi is more clingy and worshipping of her.
• Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: in the Distant Finale, Futoshi is paired with a parasite candidate. We never learn her name.
• Declaration of Protection: Makes one to Kokoro at the start of Episode 11. She leaves him that same episode.
• Gentle Giant: The largest, but among the nicest of the guys.
• Hidden Depths: Whenever there are high emotional problems with one of the pilots, their FRANXX starts shutting down until they can work something out. Futoshi, despite being an emotional wreck after the partner switch, was completely able to keep himself under control enough to pilot, showing some impressive emotional resolve beneath his childishness. Notably he's the only pilot who was capable of doing so, with even protagonist and ace pilot Hiro failing to do after getting closer to Zero-Two; and on top of that Futoshi was piloting with Ikuno, someone he hasn't had the best of relations with.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Basically says this to Mitsuru in Episode 11.
• Inelegant Blubbering: After Kokoro decides to chage partners with Mitsuru, Futoshi spends a while crying in bed.
• Innocently Insensitive: While Kokoro never outright says it, some of her dialogues with Mitsuru in episode 11 imply she was uncomfortable with how much Futoshi idolized her, as she knew she wouldn't be able to live up to the image of the perfect, incorruptible Nice Girl he has of her. And indeed she ends completely breaking his heart by volunteering to partner up with Mitsuru after promising to always be Futoshi's partner. Because Futoshi was never corrected, he spends the entire episode wondering what he did wrong.
• It's Not Porn, It's Art: Tries to make a variant of this argument in Episode 8, when the girls get angry at the boys for ogling their backsides when their suits melted instead of telling them. Futoshi tries to argue that he wasn't ogling Koroko's naked body (like porn), he was awestruck by the aesthetic beauty of her form (like a work of art). Understandably, this doesn't make her feel any better.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: There may be tears and mucus running down his face. He may be confused, hurt, and reeling. He definitely will not like it. But if she's happy and safe, he will let her walk away without getting in her way. He's the one asking Kokoro and Mitsuru to say their vows in fact.
• Love Hurts: Episode 11 is not kind to him. Kokoro's decision to swap with Ikuno leaves him heartbroken and confused.
• Loving a Shadow: While he means well, it's likely Futoshi is not genuinely in love with Kokoro, but with what he perceives her to be: utterly selfless, pure, and all-loving. Though as Kokoro states to Mitsuru, she never corrected him to think she's not exactly all those things, and is even hinted to be uncomfortable with living up to that image — which is why she opted to change partners.
• Meaningful Name: The first two characters in "Futoshi" can also be read as "太", meaning thick or fat.
• Nice Guy: He's shown to be thoughtful, worrying about Kokoro's state after the two of them pilot Genista for the first time and asking about Hiro's health after his second time riding with Zero Two.
  • With his heart broken, he never lashed out at Kokoro in hurt or anger. Even at that point all he cared about was making sure she stayed safe. Which really shined when, taking into consideration the circumstances, he didn't get angry at Mitsuru because Kokoro chose him, but because Mitsuru was flippant about taking care of her.
  • When Kokoro's memories of Mitsuru are wiped away, Futoshi doesn't see this as an opportunity to win Kokoro back. If anything, he's absolutely pissed that they were forced apart. Immediately in the next episode, he tells her that he wants to be Ikuno's partner instead in order to return the couple together.
• Nosebleed: When he gets to see some of Kokoro's naked skin in episode 8, thanks to a klaxosaur that was The Nudifier.
• Not Good with Rejection: Downplayed Trope. Futoshi clearly doesn't take it well when Kokoro swaps him out for Mitsuru as a partner. However, he's still perfectly civil with her throughout.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • The kind and gentle Futoshi becomes violently aggressive with frustration and heartache when Kokoro leaves him for Mitsuru and the other boy acts indifferent to it, which Futoshi perceived as a taunt. Gets worse when Mitsuru gets glib about Kokoro's safety.
  • One of his defining traits is being the Big Eater; therefore, it becomes alarming when he suddenly abstains from eating, with Zorome eventually calling him out on forcing himself to eat his food then vomit it out later.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After being subject to a lot of fat jokes and being abandoned by Kokoro all series, the finale reveals that he eventually became Happily Married with a woman he met after the war with VIRM. The manga at least shows him rescuing a girl who looks like the younger version of his wife, so he may be on the road to courting her soon in that reality.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He is often seen eating bread. The eight year time skip in episode 24 reveals he eventually channeled that love into becoming a baker.

Code:196/Ikuno

Voiced by: Shizuka Ishigami (Japanese), Leah Clark (English) ^{Foreign VAs} Alondra Hidalgo (Latin American Spanish), Núria Samsó (European Spanish), Sophie Pyronnet (French), Dagmar Bittner (German), Karen Nunes (Portuguese)

A girl with a very calm and collected personality. She likes reading books and that is what she seems to only invest herself in.

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• Anguished Declaration of Love: Gives a very tearful one to Ichigo in episode 18, while admitting that she felt bad for constantly looking at her and being jealous every time a guy approached her. Before that she spent years keeping her feelings hidden.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason she's in love with Ichigo is because she changed her name from "Ikuro" to "Ikuno", as the other kids thought that her name sounded weird.
• Beneath the Mask: She acts very cool and stoic most of the time, but Alpha Nine heckling Squad 13 and and her Anguished Declaration of Love to Ichigo reveal that she feels very passionate emotions deep down.
  • Also, when Kokoro gets in trouble with the Nines for her curiosity over why humanity stopped having babies, Ikuno gets so angry with Nine Alpha for his Smug Snake Culture Policing that she slaps him clear across the face and yells at him for saying such horrible things. The others think she is passionately angry and standing up for her friends, but Ikuno reveals to Ichigo later she secretly agreed with him, strongly, and only acted out to hide it.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: She backhands Nine Alpha after he tells Squad 13 that gender identities are just a hindrance they tolerate so they can pilot FranXXs.
• Cast from Lifespan: In Episode 21 she fires a huge blast from her FranXX cannon to clear away rubble in a collapsed tunnel, but is left drained and grey-haired. The finale confirms that she doesn't have much time left, and eight years later she's shown to be bedridden and hooked up to medical equipment like a geriatric.
• Chronic Self-Deprecation: She admits to feeling pathetic due to her feelings for Ichigo making her feel jealous, somewhat obsessive, and borderline possessive.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: During her love confession to Ichigo in Episode 18, she admits she was extremely jealous of the boys due to their ability to pilot with girls, and by extension, resentful of her own inability to pilot with Ichigo.
• Cute Bookworm: She's often seen with a book.
• Does Not Like Men: She doesn't have anything against men, per se, but she's bitter about gender identities because it makes her wish to pilot with Ichigo impossible. Additionally, she and Ichigo have zero compatibility due to their different orientations, and she admits to resenting the other boys who are able to get close with Ichigo.
• Foreshadowing: There were several hints pointing towards her orientation before she admitted it herself in episode 18:
  • She sports Luminescent Blush when she glances at Ichigo and when Ichigo is encouraging her directly. She was having a hard time syncing up with Mitsuru prior to that, but was able to activate Chlorophytum while thinking back of Ichigo's encouragement.
  • When Miku is ogling Plantation 26's stamen in episode 5 Ikuno bluntly tells her she isn't interested.
  • During the Beach Episode (episode 6), the book she is reading is decorated with lilies, the floral symbol for yuri.
  • During the This Is My Side spetacle in episode 8, she commented that she wouldn't mind if the boys and girls in the team remained separated forever. As soon as she finishes speaking, Zero Two licks her neck and comments that it "tastes like a secret".
  • The "partner shuffle" discussion in episode 11 basically confirmed her attaction to Ichigo. She claimed she wanted to try a pistil-pistil arrangement in the event they ever lose a stamen, but her frustration when she failed to connect with Ichigo tells otherwise. She is able to connect and pilot successfully with Mitsuru and Futoshi, but doesn't care for the former and is indifferent to the latter at best, and the series hasn't really made it clear what the exact conditions are to connect. The manga shows that Ikuno thinks of Ichigo when she's connecting with the boys.
  • Just to drive the point home, the 5th ending song has a scene where she tries to kiss Ichigo.
• Gayngst: Due to being a lesbian in a series that basically runs on heteronormativity for Applied Phlebotinum-related reasons. The parasites may have little understanding of romance or sex, but Ikuno knows enough to realize she's different, and grows increasingly troubled as her squad-mates begin to experiment romantically and sexually. She admits that her own feelings cause her no shortage of grief when she confesses to Ichigo in Episode 18.
• Goroawase Number: Stands out because 196 should be either Ikumu or Ikuro, neither of which are actual names. The digit 6 itself does kind of make the kana for "no" if turned on its side however. This is exactly what Ichigo did, giving Ikuno a name she liked and chose to keep. It marks the very beginning of what would turn into Ikuno's crush on Ichigo.
• Hopeless Suitor: Episode 18 proves once and for all that she is in love with Ichigo, though Ichigo doesn't reciprocate her feelings.
• Hyper-Awareness: She was able to notice that Ichigo lost her hairpin and had it replaced with an identical one.
• Incompatible Orientation: She has strong feelings toward Ichigo, who's only attracted to boys, particularly Hiro.
• Letting Her Hair Down: She pulls her hair out of its ponytail immediately before pinning Ichigo to the bed and confessing her love for her in Episode 18.
• Lie Back and Think of England: The comics confirm that when Ikuno is piloting with Mitsuru and later Futoshi, she's really thinking of Ichigo to get going.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Both in anime and manga adaptation never shown any sign that Ikuno has some tomboyish streak.
• Luminescent Blush: Sports one when getting encouraged by Ichigo in Episode 4.
• The Medic: After the war with VIRM is over, she dedicates herself to studying medicine and biology. She is credited with the treatment that keeps the Parasites' Rapid Aging in check and when Ichigo is pregnant, she goes to Ikuno to for prenatal care.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The calm and collected Ikuno is reduced to crying, sweating, shaking, and begging for more time in episode three, when she has trouble synchronizing with Mitsuru to get their Franxx going.
  • Happens again when Alpha Nine warns Squad 13 against breaking Papa's "No Hugging, No Kissing" laws, claiming that gender identities are a nuisance that are only tolerated to pilot Franxx. Ikuno is so furious she marches up to him, slaps him clear across the face, and heatedly yells at him for saying such things. Ichigo later lampshades that she's never seen her that angry.
• Pair the Spares: May or may not end up in a relationship with Naomi during the timeskip. When the rest of the squad is by the cherry tree blossom reminiscing about Hiro and Zero Two, she is holding hands with Naomi, alone in her infirmary room.
• Pragmatic Pansexuality: Ikuno is a lesbian, but willing to co-pilot with Mitsuru, despite lacking any attraction to him whatsoever.
• Rapid Aging: The worst offender about it. While the rest of squad 13 looks like young to middle-age adults by the finale, she is implied to be bedridden and needing medical equipments to maintain her health.
• Stoic Spectacles: She's the only pistil with glasses and is the most stoic.
• Straight Gay: She is in love with Ichigo, but keeps her orientation secret, doesn't engage in any stereotypical mannerisms, and doesn't act any differently from the other pistils of Squad 13 − outside of being a little distant and quiet.
• The Quiet One: Compared to the other girls she speaks the least.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: She and Mitsuru are very open about how they don't like each other, but that honesty on the subject is also what allows them to work well together. Notable, at the end of the This Is My Side fight in episode 8, while the boys and girls were doing all they could to apologize for the way they behaved, Ikuno and Mitsuru only needed to quickly glance at each other to establish things were back to normal. Since they were never close in first place, they were the ones less affected by the fight.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After enduring torturous Gayngst, unrequited love, and Rapid Aging all series, the finale implies she finds love with Naomi, giving her some comfort in her rapidly approaching death.
• Youthful Freckles: She has freckles to add with her appearance.