Freezing

Decades into the future, humanity is under siege by an alien race known as the Novas. These inhuman beings leave devastation in their wake whenever they appear, with the efforts to stave them off becoming known as Nova Clashes. Young women known as "Pandoras" and young men known as "Limiters" are implanted with stigmata to give them superhuman powers and are trained in military academies, where they must learn to work together if humanity is to have a chance of surviving.

Freezing tells the story of Kazuya Aoi as he sets out for his first day at the West Genetics military academy, right when a battle royale is being undertaken by the Pandoras. It is here that he mistakes Satellizer el Bridget—a powerful Pandora known as the "Untouchable Queen"—as his deceased sister and embraces her. Though he costs her the match, she finds that his touch doesn't drive her away and decides to take him as her Limiter. The only question is whether or not their partnership can survive the machinations of their upperclassmen and the impending battle with the Novas…

el Bridget, Satellizer Main

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Linchen, Rana Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Aoi, Kazuya Main

Ichiki, Mitsuhiro Japanese

Fairchild, Chiffon Supporting

Inoue, Marina Japanese

Mably, Elizabeth Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Lockharte, Cathy Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Phenyl, Ticy Supporting

Uchida, Aya Japanese

Roland, Ganessa Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

McMillian, Arnett Supporting

Asakawa, Yuu Japanese

Bernstein, Ingrid Supporting

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Abe, Shoujirou Producer

Tanaka, Shinsaku Producer

Watanabe, Takashi Director

Reviews

Apr 10, 2011

KaminaKai

Recommended

*Fan-service aside, this anime did a great job at adapting the manga material.*

It breaks my heart to see such horrible overall ratings and reviews on this anime that, for all intents and purposes, was fairly accurate and stayed faithful to the manga if one were to ignore the anime original contents (eg. mostly fan service and one useless episode). While it is fair to say there are multiple flaws in the anime series that could have been improved on (or unnecessary contents that could have been done without), the anime as a whole has served itself quite nicely considering it is only a one-cour ... series. Covering nearly 60% of the available manga materials at the time the anime finished airing, there really isn’t any way for the production staffs to wrap up the story without ruining any chances for a second season. For the record, the manga material is only two measly arcs ahead of where the anime finished at the time this review was written and the actual plot did not proceed very far.

I fully understand the complexity the anime brings to the new viewers who have no background knowledge from the manga. Numerous terminologies coupled with even more numerous unfamiliar faces does prove to be quite difficult for one to digest at first. Additionally the anime added tons and tons of boobs and nipples sprinkled everywhere in the show from the dormitory room change scenes to intense battles scenes. In short, there are bound to be boobies for the unprepared! Thus this served as another excuse for viewers (even loyal manga readers) to detest and despise the show. Even I have to admit it would have been better if the staffs can use those boobies air time to produce something more constructive like elaborating on certain flashback stories or further develop some characters and their personality or background. So let this be a fair warning to all you potential viewers, only watch this show IF you can stomach the fan services and accept the fact that the story is a work in progress!! With that said, let us finally turn our attention to introducing this anime for those of us who are still interested.

Set in the near future, roughly 50 years from now, the world we know today has already been invaded by an alien race known as Nova. Normal military is powerless in the face of this new threat and thus the world can only rely on girls with special tissues implanted into their backs (called Stigmata) to fight these unknown aliens. These girls, known to the outside world as Pandora, fight in pairs with a younger boy, in order to neutralize a special effect cast by the aliens (called Freezing which freezes anything within the cast radius). Now don’t quickly jump to conclusion just yet. While this may sound like a military action genre to you, the story in actuality takes place in an academy where Pandora are being trained. Following the school life of a second year sophomore, Satellizer el Bridget, the story introduces the problems and threats of the reality very (and I mean very) slowly to the point where one may end up asking more questions than there are answers to. Thus to be fair, I would categorize the anime as ecchi, school life, romance with a fair bit of action, but nothing dramatic nor is it deep in plot (though the manga is getting there). Without a doubt, the story department is the weakest one of all as all the emphasis so far is placed on the characters interaction.

Characters. Many many lovable girls with great looks and even better body proportions, albeit with a nasty attitude. Yes! This is certainly not for the average female viewers! In fact, the anime was never meant for the female audiences as evident from the trailers and even more evident as the series progress with all the boobie attacks on the screen. With that said, the one major downside in the character department for this show is the fact that there are too many girls with not enough time to introduce them properly. It will come as no surprise that you will likely be introduced to a new character in each episode and that the old ones will be brushed aside until close to the finale. On the bright side, our main hero and heroine does have their own lengthy flashbacks and character development for us to “know them better”.

As a manga reader, seeing this series get animated with voice was wonderful. Unfortunately it was not quite to my level of expectation in a few ways. Firstly and perhaps the most obvious is the fact that the broadcast of the uncensored version is at a horrendous 4:3 aspect ratio (and please don’t bother with the censored version, you won’t understand a single thing). Though it remains a mystery as to why the opening and ending animation are in 16:9. The second disappointment, coming from a manga reader perspective, is the altered character looks which may or may not discourage some readers, but it was a disappointment nonetheless. Lastly, and this I am sure is a common sentiment among all viewers, is the miscast voice acting role for Aoi Kazuya. This voice will surely cause some damage to your eardrums. However, other than that one miscast role, it is fair to say this anime has a lot of strong seiyu in the cast. Additionally, both the opening and ending them songs are extremely catchy and are few received by fans in general.

Overall I have mixed feelings for this anime. It was a pleasant surprise when the news that Freezing manga was to be animated. While the fan service ruined some enjoyment of the show for me, I must confess that in the short one-cour time frame I am quite impressed by the production studio with the amount of manga content they were able to include in the series. Most notably the inclusion of certain subplots that really makes certain characters much more realistic and likable. Staying faithful to the original material and introducing some anime-original contents as enhancements to the overall story made me very pleased particularly with the fact that the production studio did not opt for an anime original ending. With that said, I still cannot recommend this series to those who does not enjoy watching ecchi series as this show clearly relies on boobies as its major selling point. However, if the premise of the story does intrigue you then I highly recommend giving the manga a try. Afterall Dall-Young Lim’s manga are quite well received in Korea, Japan, and even Taiwan.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 10, 2011

Skadi

Mixed Feelings

I freely admit that I have a guilty pleasure when it comes to silly ecchi action anime just like Freezing. So initially at least I was quite intrigued with this series and for the first few episodes I was amused. However that amusement soon waned as it was buried under it's dozens of characters, inane nonsensical plot, and confusing terminology and technobabble.

The premise for Freezing seems like it might have had an enormous amount of potential. Mysterious entities called Nova are invading earth intent on wiping out mankind. All that stands in their way are special soldiers known as Pandora and ... their Limiter partners. Our setting is a school/laboratory called West Genetics which trains future Pandora and their Limiters. This is where that potential I was speaking of starts to get lost. The Pandora are all, unsurprisingly all big breasted girls (hey this is anime after all!) and the Limiters are all guys. Given that the Limiters are timid, weak, and mostly useless this is unsurprising and the only thing they really do is hide behind the skirts of the Pandora and yell "Freezing!" and other clichéd nonsense. The girls on the other hand are violent and uncouth and spend most of their free time trying to kill one another or bully their underclassmen.

Now since I have not read any of the original manga I can’t speak to how well this anime adapts its story. Even if the manga has an amazing story (which I doubt honestly) it is completely lost in its transition to an anime. Really nothing is adequately explained from what the Pandora are to what the enemy is or why or how they are even ended fighting. Eventually by the end you do get some explanation and can make some conclusions from the action and context but this is a piss poor way to present a story to your viewers. Additionally for pretty much two thirds of the series nothing of significance to the plot happens. We get introduced to the lead, Satellizer el Bridget, learn a few snippets from her past, watch her take ALOT of showers, and get groped and bullied by the cunts and bitches she has as classmates and seniors. And for about the first eight episodes that’s just about all that goes on. What story there is remains unresolved with the ending. Though it leaves the viewer with the impression that at least one additional season should be expected. This kind of series always seems to get a sequel if it wants one so it’s really hard to hold the ending against it.

For a series that is at its core about fighting, the overall action is a bit disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of fighting but the majority of it is crammed into the last few episodes. Most of the early fighting is uninteresting and more about tearing apart the girls’ flimsy school uniforms to expose their breasts. If you enjoy exposed nipples and breasts then the world of Freezing should be like heaven to you. Like most fighting anime, the characters yell out lots of nonsense. With Freezing most of it is mindless technobabble and engrish and little to none of it is ever explained. While you can get the meaning from some of it through context it sure would be nice for the story to explain this to you once in a while.

Like the story the characters are also a major weakness. Neither one of our leads, Satellizer or the boy Kazuya are very interesting. Kazuya is your typically weak and unremarkable anime boy with powers (unsurprisingly) far beyond your typical Limiter. He has a special attraction to Satellizer that is both mysterious and due to the fact she reminds him of his dead sister. I know shocking that someone should have a sister complex in anime right? (Pardon my eye rolling) Satellizer, known in the school as the "Untouchable Queen" is a girl of dual personalities. Her external persona is that of a cold and ruthless killer while her true personality is that of a meek and mild mannered girl with a fear of men. Other than learning every inch of naked body through her regular trips to the shower or having her uniform torn off in all her battles we don’t learn all that much about her. What is learned fits into the narrow stereotype her character has its basis in.

The supporting cast is no different. I seem to beat this point to death in an awful lot of the shows I review but the main issue with Freezing's cast is the sheer number of characters in the cast. It is literally impossible to keep track of all the characters. They bring in 2 or 3 a week, many of which looks almost identical to each other. Their main purpose seems to be only to bully Satellizer who for some reason seems to really butt hurt them. Even so, you’re likely to have at least a couple that amuse or even interest you just a little bit. For me it was Rana Linchen who is a quasi-main but whose personality I enjoyed as well as having a pretty sexy character design.

Artistically, Freezing is also weak. For one the character models are absolutely ridiculous in most cases. While I do like the "full figured" look, the extreme and impossible bust and waistlines really detract from the series. Given how much tits and nipples are visible they really should have done a better job with this. Everyone's figures are pretty much interchangeable and the actual animation of all the "jiggle" is really not that realistic or even appealing. The color palette is very drab and depressing, with maroons, dark blues, grays, and blacks dominating the series. The world is also incredibly dark and depressing. While I am certain this is by design that doesn't explain why there is basically no sunlight at all and while they seem to be stuck in a world of eternal midnight.

Freezing's voice cast is quite impressive as it seems to include almost every current seiyuu of note. However this is a double edged sword as the reason it has so many is because the cast is so enormous. Because of this none of the actors really gets a chance to shine. Additionally Satellizer is horrible miscast with Mamiko Noto. While I really enjoy her work and also seeing her portray a bit of a different character than she normally does (though also exactly the same) I just don't think her voice works for her character. The music is solid but unspectacular action anime fair. The OP is particularly exciting but also really drives home how ridiculous, Satellizer's in particular, chest measurements are.

Even though I never really had any high expectations for it, ultimately Freezing is a failure. I was hoping it would entertain me somewhere between other anime it has a lot in common with such as Seikirei and Ikkitousen. But its lack of a coherent story, bland characters, and unappealing visuals make me unable to recommend this to anyone.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 26, 2013

Kapodaco

Not Recommended

Entertainment is a fickle thing. Everyone has different tastes and different opinions, so making a series that satisfies the tastes of every single individual who may come across the series is a fundamental impossibility. Although, the entertainment industry keeps tabs on what has been deemed popular all throughout the course of history, and if nothing else, they use it to their advantage. While certain aspects of entertainment may be popular, that does not always guarantee those aspects can improve the quality of a title. These things could be criticized as the intentional use of said aspects in order to draw in viewers and have them ... pay for something they may not really be interested in. And what is debatably the most recognized aspect of this kind in the anime industry? Sex. Enter Freezing, a series that I would describe as the gold standard of what a title looks like when you only focus on the viewer's primal instincts, and the characters' chests.

The driving force behind the series called Freezing is a busty, young woman named Bridget Satellizer, who's reputation as "The Untouchable Queen" runs rampant among the other characters present at the university. With blonde hair, a different uniform from anyone else, and the biggest bust of the bunch, her role as the main character is set in stone, and it's apparent from the start. While there are other characters introduced before her, it's hard to recall said characters when comparing them to Satellizer's overall design. While she appears menacing and cold on the outside, she's actually cold and menacing on the inside as well. That is, until the appearance of the other central, yet less important character, Kazuya Aoi transfers into the school. From that point, Satellizer's image as "The Untouchable Queen" comes under fire, while a looming threat lingers in the distance.

One thing about this series that I never understood was its priorities. This is part of my claim that this series is simply a combination of popular anime tropes. At one point, the series focuses on developing the relationship between Satellizer and Kazuya through the role of damsel in distress, as one of them is placed in a difficult situation, while the other rescues them (or attempts to) from their conflict. This is typical in shounen series and Super Mario games in particular. At another point, they focus on melodrama based on testing the bond between the two of them as new characters are placed within the plot. Then there is also the evident antagonist threat, those called Novas, that eventually become a threat to everyone involved at the school and the world. These creatures are written off as unknown creatures with unknown purposes, which may or may not be an excuse for lazy writing. The sudden shift from one situation to another is more distracting than anything, and it shows an unusual desire to move on from a certain plot point into something new, which may also be a result of lazy writing.

Everything I've said up to this point about the plot was basically underlying problems, problems that arise after digging deep into a title and finding nothing. But what isn't underlying is the inexplicable amount of fan service shown on the outside. Sex appeal and the violence. The strongest argument I can give to support my claim is the apparent focus on these two qualities. Throughout every episode, these two qualities make themselves known in almost every situation. Whether the situation stem from tension between characters, the closeness of partners or comic relief, Freezing finds every single possible excuse to show exposed breasts or unnecessary violence. And while the violence isn't as prevalent throughout the series than the skin, it still panders to the whims of the viewer, finding unreasonable excuses to have the characters duke it out and show off their exaggerated weapons and speed. While this may not be a problem, it starts to become expected. And to expect something before it happens takes the pleasure of being surprised by the creativity of writing out of the equation. And what does this series become memorable for? When someone or something repeats a certain action enough, they become what they do, and they're remembered for that reason alone. How do I remember Freezing? Fan service alone.

Characters within Freezing are about as typical as the writing of the series. They display qualities similar to that of other characters from other series. Satellizer is a tsundere with a remorseful past. Kazuya is the equivalent of the male harem lead. Every other character serves to back them up. They each have one quality that defines who they are, and never develop past that. Their designs are a different story, however. Satellizer's appearance is memorable and does well to support the viewer's interest in her life and problems, if not her chest. The uniforms that all other characters wear are enough to draw interest, but some issues arise in the fact that they're either never in them due to fan service, and that their battle armor looks identical to it. Which, in turn, leads to the quality of animation, which is slick and shiny enough to keep even a sloth awake. The art is of higher quality compared to other titles released during that year, but doesn't take any risks to ensure a place in history. It's well done, but it's nothing different. And with the glorious amount of exposed sexual features, it's within my power to state that they're well done, but with how much it's shown, anyone would expect them to pay attention to detail.

In a society where money is everything, it's easy to assume that titles like Freezing will be prevalent far along in the distant future as much as they are today. As long as sex and violence remains a popular spectrum in the minds of viewers and they use their money accordingly, these things won't disappear anytime soon. At this point, those against it have to at least applaud their durability throughout time. And to those who are so against it, perhaps they should take the chance to see how it can be improved in the future. Fan service is not a bad thing. It lets the viewer identify with the writer or writers of a title and provides them with evidence that these writers had them in mind. But that isn't to say that a series should only rely on fan service, as there are other parts to a story that need to be constructed in order to make a quality work. This statement is both controversial and a gateway to debate. A debate that I hope everyone will take seriously and will take into consideration when watching series in the future. What makes a title successful? Its revenue or its attention to quality? Freezing is a good example of this, as nothing of its quality outside of fan service could be considered good in any sense.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Freezing Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Yumekichi11 - Mar 12, 2011	61 replies	by paternoaka44403 »» Aug 18, 3:32 AM
	Poll: Freezing Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 ) kiba1996 - Feb 25, 2011	96 replies	by LonelyPanda105 »» Mar 19, 11:50 AM
	Poll: Freezing Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Yumekichi11 - Feb 18, 2011	94 replies	by LonelyPanda105 »» Mar 19, 11:15 AM
	Poll: Freezing Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Kanade-chan - Feb 12, 2011	78 replies	by LonelyPanda105 »» Mar 19, 10:55 AM
	Poll: Freezing Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Yumekichi11 - Feb 4, 2011	99 replies	by LonelyPanda105 »» Mar 19, 10:09 AM

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