>>3088528In episode 4 Hiro did really stop giving a fuck about piloting the FranXX, but that situation changed when he found out about the blue tumour. That's why his character "regressed" in episode 6, because he began to think about riding with 002 as a double edged sword, as he himself stated at the end of episode 4. Before episode 6 aired, I had interpreted Hiro as moving past that regression by the end of the 5th, however, episode 6 confirms that when he was looking at the spider after washing his face, he really was thinking about 002 -- this is why he doesn't contradict her when she says that she pilots the FranXX because she is a monster. I hated that scene so much when I first watched it during the livestream yesterday, but before rewatching all the episodes I couldn't place my finger on why exactly that was. 002 herself asks Hiro in episode 4 if he thinks she is a monster (just like, seemingly, everyone else, including herself) and he later in the episode implicitly answers her with "no, you are not a monster". However in episode 6 he stays silent when 002 calls herself a monster.
I also initially thought that 002 moved past her dialogue with Ichigo at the end of episode 5, when she is happy that Hiro accepts to pilot with her. But she didn't actually move past it at all. That's why she doesn't wave back at Hiro after leaving the dressing room: because Ichigo is there with him. And that is why she doesn't answer Hiro straightforwardly, choosing instead to call herself a monster.
God dammit I fucking hate episode 6 with a passion.
