I found the story was a pale imitation of Gurren Lagann

Quentintarantado

There were many similarities to Gurren Lagann, and unfortunately, this one paled in comparison. I will not deny the animation here is top-notch but in my opinion, character and story trumps over animation and special effects (off the top of my head, South Park).
Kokoro and MItsuru's arc seems like a long digression to me. Everyone else would seem to suddenly butt in the story just to remind you they're there (like Zorome, who feels like a waste of time and a walking cliche).
The two main characters, Zero Two and Hiro, have a twisted, convoluted, and inconsistent backstory that suspiciously seems written solely to be twisted and convoluted.
Zero Two is unpredictable and interesting (or maybe delusional for liking Hiro), Hiro in comparison is weak. I mean, there are weak characters who are compelling, like Shinji in Evangelion, but Shinji was fascinating even as he was indecisive and weak (his indecision made him actually monstrous sometimes). Is Hiro supposed to turn into a Klaxxosaur or not? In the end, it didn't seem to matter and I got irritated they had to bring the matter up and tease the audience with it.
The Klaxxosaur princess butts into their romance, dies, and I thought, "who cares?" I mean, there are so many "Who cares?" I wish I didn't bother with the series the first place.
What really irritated me was how it seems like it's so similar to Gurren Lagann, and how Lagann did it so much better. It doesn't help that Trigger made this series (which was started by former Gainax employees, who did Lagann).
There are the robots, of course. There is the "cross vast reaches of space to fight the enemy". There's the "put the hero in a spell to weaken him". There's the free-spirit who comes out of nowhere to fall in love with the hero", and there's the aliens. Oh boy, the aliens.
I was already thinking of Darling as a weak Lagann from episode 1, then in Episode 20 (kind of late, isn't it?) the series brings in the aliens and it was like a bike being blindsided by a truck at an intersection. Klaxxosaurs are suddenly friends and allies (who are they? Again, who cares?) and the two (or three? Who cares?) "Papas" from APE are actually VIRM alien villains.
Again, (if you aren't sick of my mentioning it) Gurren Lagann has some very stupid moments. Incredibly stupid. Face-palmingly stupid. What I think is the huge, colossal difference is Lagann uses humor to undercut the stupidity and make it work for the story.
So Kamina is a braggard. He transforms two mecha into one by jamming the smaller one on top of his head (like a hat, or actually, a hand drill). It's goofy (even the witnesses say it's dumb!) until it actually works. The escalation is more measured, the stupid elements are thrown in, and made to marry with all the other elements by making it a joke. Can you buy the ending of the entire series, even if you're not a physicist? Yes you can! Because (and they established this from the start!) "That's the way we roll!" (Actual quote!)
And THAT is what Darling isn't doing. Darling takes everything, even the romance, too seriously.
Which reminds me of another comparison. Batman vs. Superman, and its sequel, Justice League, they're too serious. Can you seriously tell me they were joking during that "Martha" moment? Yeah. Darling is precisely like that.

score 3/10

Quentintarantado 7 July 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4229677/