Ichigo (Darling in the FranXX)

Ichigo is one of the main characters in DARLING in the FRANXX anime.

Ichigo is a former Parasite with the codename "015" of the Thirteenth Plantation, where she was partnered in boy-girl pair with Goro to pilot a FRANXX called Delphinium. She was the official leader of Squad 13.

Due to her feelings for Hiro, she struggles between her selfishness and her responsibilities as a leader. Out if the entire squad, she alienates Zero Two the most and almost succeeds in separating her from Hiro for good until she realizes Zero Two is the only one Hiro loves, which prompts her to give up on him for the sake of his happiness and she eventually finds a new love in Goro at the end of the series.

Appearance
Ichigo has soft green eyes and a petite build, being the shortest among the parasites in Squad 13. She wears her straight and short blue hair in a razor-cut hairstyle, where her hair hangs lengthier on the right side of her face. She has free-falling bangs that mostly covers her right eye and one long strand of hair on the left side of her face. She also wears a white hair clip holding back the bangs on her left side, which was a gift from Hiro. From Episode 09, she loses it but later gets a similar one from Goro. She dons the standard Pistil Parasite uniform.

In Episode 24 when she has become an adult, Ichigo's hair is more evenly-cut and longer on the right side. Her fringe is also cleaned up and her bangs on the left side are completely held back by her white hair clip.

Personality
As a child, Ichigo was insecured and self-conscious about her identity, as she cried when the other children showed no emotion and she found it scary that she didn’t share these characteristics with them. It was not until she met Hiro and he gave her the name ‘Ichigo’ to cheer her up and explain the significance of having her own name that made her self-confident. Even when she was in the Garden, Ichigo was awarded a code number in the teens due to her high aptitude results, earning her recognition as an honor student and a natural-born leader. Because of her high aptitude, she was chosen as Squad 13's leader. While normally a very considerate and level-headed person, her crush on Hiro impairs her judgment, especially as regards to his possible partnership with Zero Two. She initially hated the possibility of a stranger like Zero Two becoming Hiro's partner. One of her motivations for agreeing to be Hiro's partner in the training match was because she believes she should be the one to bring out his full potential. When this did not come to be, Ichigo, while not blaming Hiro for their failure, couldn‘t hide her anger, not even when he tried to apologize.

As a leader, Ichigo is reliable, responsible and serious. Despite her serious disposition, Ichigo is capable of giving some notably snippy remarks, as seen in her interactions with Nine Alpha. She is also very considerate and caring for her friends. She tries to see everything in a good light, even if she herself doesn't want to. She can also be encouraging towards her squadmates and insist that teamwork is important for all of them to survive. However, she is strongly emotional and has always been impulsive and driven by her feelings. She is forced between acting as a leader and her own feelings, such as knowingly putting Hiro's life on the line while also acknowledging he's needed, this strain of commanding weighs her down. She would initially let her personal feelings get to her head when in a crucial mission, only to reflect over it when being placed in a dangerous situation. She would think about her poor skills as a leader and blame herself for her putting her friends in danger. She even goes as far as to stating Hiro would have been a better choice as the leader, but he rejects this and praises her positive qualities. She also expresses her anxiety more inside her FRANXX than she does outside of it and is seen breaking down, only to be supported by her FRANXX partner, Goro. She shares a close rela with Ikuno, whom she never hesitates to encourage during difficult moments and even comforted her after Ikuno confessed her feelings to Ichigo.

She has admired and been fiercely protective of Hiro ever since childhood, and supports Hiro the best she can. She is not afraid to voice her own opinions and get people to follow her orders as a leader. She has been deemed by Zero Two on several occasions as "bossy". Despite that, Ichigo does sometimes not say what she truly wants to and is able to put her feelings aside for others if she wants to. This is shown when she lied to Hiro saying she always had seen him as a sibling for his sake and for the sake of the fact that he could only pilot a FRANXX with Zero Two, when in reality she didn't want him to due to the risks it carries. She is a straight-laced and straightforward person, and she always faithfully abides by the rules out of what she believes to be in the best interest of APE and Plantation 13. She held a deep respect for Papa and the adults. However, she seems to have a form of social awkardness, as she spoke louder than normal when praised by the mayor during a medal ceremony.

Due to her sheltered upbringing, Ichigo had no concept of love and she was utterly confused over her feelings for Hiro, as well as her jealousy of Zero Two. Ichigo initially tries to keep her feelings for Hiro in the sideline for the sake of him fulfilling his parasite duties with Zero Two, and she prefers to see him happy with Zero Two if he can’t be with her. She even goes as far as to disregard the rumors about Zero Two after Hiro survives his third ride. However, after learning Hiro’s Saurification process is intensifying due to piloting with Zero Two and she may suck the life out of him, Ichigo responds with intense jealousy and disdain towards Zero Two, to the point she bans her from seeing Hiro and forces the rest of the squad to go along with her. She even tries to have Zero Two removed from the squad and forces herself on Hiro, kissing him and begs him to choose her over Zero Two. Despite this, Ichigo couldn’t bring herself to hate Zero Two, as she was concerned for Zero Two continually operating in stampede mode during the Gran Crevasse siege. She also reluctantly agreed to help Hiro save Zero Two and she was disappointed to see his mind was all about Zero Two.

Over the series, Ichigo slowly learns to put Hiro's feelings and Squad 13's well-being before her own. She learns to accept and support Hiro and Zero Two's relationship, and become nicer to Zero Two to the point of considering her an integral part of Squad 13. She becomes just as fiercely protective of the others, including Zero Two and Hiro, and admits she is happy for their newfound romance. This is further emphasized when VIRM left earth and abandoned humanity; Ichigo becomes so dedicated to looking after the others and ensuring they have enough food, clean water, etc. for survival that she forgets to take care of herself, until she collapses outright in the fields. She also becomes a much better leader; she learns to see the big picture and not let her tunnel-visioned emotions consume her, making decisions that benefit the whole group rather than just Hiro or her designs for him, and she isn't as badly shaken when things go wrong. Although she continues to worry about Hiro and his actions, she resolved to support him no matter what and help him fight what is most important to him. She is saddened when Hiro sacrifices his life to save the planet but accepts his decision and vows to continue help rebuild society so him and Zero Two will have a home to return to. Although she initially didn’t feel the same way when Goro first confessed his feelings to her, her feelings for him gradually began to change after he kisses her, as they are seen to be happily married and expecting their first child.

Trivia

 * Ichigo was the first parasite Hiro named during their time in the Garden.
 * Ichigo is also the only member of Squad 13 outside of Hiro to give another squad member a name, as everyone else’s name was given to by Hiro.
 * Ichigo was the one who gave Ikuno her name.
 * She likes cats and often plays with them off-duty.
 * She also likes stuffed toys and often sleeps with them. According to Goro, whenever they get their annual presents from Papa, Ichigo always asks for a stuffed toy.
 * She is fond of her hair clip, as it was a gift from Hiro. But after she loses it in Episode 09, she wears the one Goro wanted to give to her for a long time.
 * Ichigo’s English voice actress, Brittany Landa, and Hiro’s English voice actor, Matt Shipman, are married in real life.
 * According to Ikuno, Ichigo is a good swimmer.
 * Ichigo placed well in popularity polls, reaching first place in best supporting female character at the 2018 Anime Winter Awards.