Anime: Freezing 31az

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Note: This review only covers the first season of Freezing.

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Review
Freezing is yet one more of the ecchi-filled shounen about girls with paper clothing, some sexual-inspired background tale, and a dull protagonist that can only be a subtle message that all fans are idiots or brainless, or at least must shut their brains off before watching. Well... as far it goes, this genre never produced anything truly worth it. It bloomed with Ikkitousen and its unexciting Romance of Three Kingdoms tale of school gangs and half-naked girls fighting, then it "evolved" into Queen's Blade's more direct pornography, Samurai Bride's uber-ridiculous costumes, and many others. Now it comes to Freezing.

Freezing is about a dull guy, Aoi, brother to one famous martyr warrior-girl with incredible power. In this world, women have implants that give them the only means to fight off the Nova, creatures from another dimension who obviously want to destroy the world. Aoi s his dead sister's previous school, hoping to aid mankind by being a er to the warrior girls. There he meets Satellizer el Bridget (god, what a name...), a super-skilled warrior with a terrible temper and something in her that resembles his dead sister.

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1. Look at this...
   Freezing's start is ridiculous. Seriously, look at all those girls with insanely short skirts, pantsu appearing due to ridiculous angles and fighting like insane mind-controlled sluts against each other. This can, and certainly does, throw away any potential viewer who came looking for a bit more of the simple ecchiness and funny absurd of Ikkitousen and Queen's Blade. Give it more time though, because Freezing can be a bit more than what it proposes with its first episode...
   
   Not exactly about aliens
   First, write those aliens off the list. You learn about them, you see them in flashbacks, but they are just a background excuse to something else: shounen ranked combats. Yup. There is a rank in the school, divided by classes, and from the girls' ranks you get the common shounen trashtalk and lots of combats, most of them happening due to people bullying Satellizer or because of her explosive tsundere behavior. There is also a student council, some adults overseeing the horny students, and all types of girls to satisfy many fetishes.
   
   And it does a good job
   Being more about girls scheming, fighting jealously, and bitching turns Freezing much more exciting than if it tried to simply be a "save the world with vaginal power and kill the giant-tentacled-aliens". The dull Satellizer gets more intriguing, you get to hate those bully girls, you see some naked action, boobs, and even a superficial deal at evolving a setting that was otherwise doomed to be simply stupid. We get other schools, there seems to be some kind of order in this "school-only" world, and the combats turn out to be fun with Satellizer not being so uberly ridiculously strong such as male leads of similar shows (a-ham! I'm watching you Mahouka!).
   
   As a matter of fact, fleshing out these angry girls and their internal struggle to become the queen in school makes Freezing perhaps the most interesting of this "paper-clothing" genre, or at least the one you get to be less embarassed of watching and has more content to digest.
   
   And the aliens turn out ok
   Because it focus on the girls at school and their fight for fame and power, when the world-destroying-aliens come to scene you even get a bit excited. They are satisfyingly used without exageration, many girls die, they keep on screen for enough time so you don't get bored with them, and there is no instant win against these beasts. They provide a nice ending, a good change of pace from your annoying school setting (even if the girl-on-girl war is interesting) and they still work for some ecchines here and there.
   
   though...
   This is all from a perpective created from previous similar shows. Despite its successes, Freezing is still that typical shitty ecchi show with a dull plot, bland characters, and only ready to show boobs and pantsu instead of truly probing into the social struggles of girls used to fight off aliens while naked and serving boring protagonists. Yet, for being a shitty show... Freezing is ok, perhaps even great. The animation studio did nothing superb, but enough to entrance us with its action and provide some beautiful ladies and shiny boobs.
   

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Comments
Oddly satisfying. Freezing got me by surprise I must say. It released during my return to watching anime, an hiatus caused by a few shounens getting more and more stupidly ecchi and loli-infested around 2009, so it was quickly tossed to the depths of my watchlist. After years hanging in this list of "shows to watch when I get absurdly bored" I finally gave it a chance and it entranced me far more than any other of its weird genre. It gets a guilty pleasure from the cheap fanservice similar to Ikkitousen, it is not as ridiculously exagerated as Queen's Blade, and it even gets some complexity that puts it on par with the horde of magical school shounens released a few years later. It is far from being a superb work of action and even further from tackling social issues of jealous teenagers, but it nonetheless manage to get a bit of intrigue, give some flesh to its one-dimensional cast, and make you forget the stupid looking and excruciatingly boring protagonist.

If you want action with fanservice, pantsu, boobs, and at the end of the day a plot that is there even if barely decent, well, perhaps Freezing can surprise you by being that and a little bit more. In a industry filled with wannabe ecchi shows with deres of all kind, it seems the closer they get to being hentai without forgetting to tell a tale, the better (or less shittier) it gets. Anyway, give it a chance if you are into shounens and you will certainly be entertained.

I decided to write a review on this because at the time of writing this, the only other reviews existing for this were reviews that I felt were a little more on the prejudice side. This show has a good amount of ecchi (frequent panty shots/upskirts, lingerie, the occasional fully naked breast) and for that, one has to be sure not to allow themselves to automatically assume this is just another show with no potential outside of just being ecchi.

I would say this is definitely nowhere near as shallow as shows like Ikki Tousen, Manyuu Hikenchou, Queen's Blade, or Hyakka Ryōran Samurai Girls. There's actually a plot and an underlying reason as to why the main characters react the way they do instead of just deciding to do things for the sake of ecchi. The first time you think about the plot you might assume it revolves on just the enemies (the Novas, aliens from another dimension causing trouble for the world) and can easily be left to assume that's just an excuse to have female warriors. This twelve episode anime actually focuses its plot more on the development of the two main characters (the male and female lead) as they discover more about not just themselves, the enemy, their classmates, but also their relationship. The plot about the aliens being a threat can be considered more of a "setting" for all of this to take place in.

Being a twelve episode show based off of a currently on-going manga, the show ends itself in a very open manner in the same way dozens (if not hundreds) of other shows have. It definitely sets itself up for an easy way to continue on with a second season so some viewers might end up with a small feeling of "incompleteness". You just have to keep in mind that it's a relatively new series. The manga started in Jan 27, 2007 with 12 volumes currently out and is still on-going along with a spin-off manga series scheduled for release this February 29 2012. The anime began airing January 10 2011 and ended April 7 the same year.

Another thing I'd like to add about this series is that the lead male character, though shown to be a bit on the soft side, actually does take the initiative many times throughout the show. One of the most annoying things to me in many male lead characters surrounded by women is when they take forever to take action in a battle. Fortunately Kazuya Aoi knows when to step in and get directly involved with his Freezing ability.

I gave the character score a 7 because I feel that a lot of information is still left out about many of the characters being that it's only a 12 episode show so far. The character development is there but it leaves a lot more to be done. Other than that the characters are very likable, including the main female lead Satellizer L Bridget, and not even because of the ecchi. Though I feel more could have been explained about her past. I'd also note that Satellizer is probably one of the most solid examples of tsundere.

Another interesting thing to take notice of is Freezing actually has many similarities to Infinite Stratos. Both male leads have an older sister that are either considered or implied to possess incredible abilities and have done something extremely significant in their past. Both male leads have some level of a sister-complex. Both shows take place in a semi-futuristic time. And probably the most significant similarity of all is that both male leads are exceptions to their respective environments (Ichika from Infinite Stratos is the only male able to activate and operate an IS, Kazuya from Freezing is the only male who can hold "stigmata" in his body and use his Freezing ability without forming a "set" with a female partner). Not to mention both shows started airing within just two days of each other.

The musical score is decent, with the opening theme being "COLOR" sung by MARiA, a cover of a Hatsune Miku song. The voice acting was well placed and you'll find some recognizable ones such as Kana Hanazawa (voice actor of Charlotte Dunois from the extremely successful Infinite Stratos, Kuroneko from Oreimo "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute", Mayuri Shiina from Stein's Gate, and many other roles in popular anime). Well timed background instrumentals for not just the battle scenes but other climactic moments as well, on top of great sound effects (the Novas, the choice of sounds for the weapons, the choice of sound for events such as transformation scenes, etc.)

The animation is deserving of being placed among what's slightly above-standard of anime animation within the last year and a half. Really well placed mixture of CG and cel-shaded animation during battle scenes and smooth character animation for the most part, especially during intimate or emotional scenes where smooth animation can help portray the intensity of the situation.

I'll also want to add that I believe a show should be analyzed on it's actual storyline of focus, character score, and presentation regardless of if there's a bunch of nudity or ecchi. One shouldn't allow panty shots and the like to take away from the value of the show, but rather should be isolated from it and at most, be viewed as a "bonus". Let's be honest, if you're actually being distracted by such to a point that it's taking away your enjoyment of every other aspect of the show (plot, story telling, drama, characters, etc.) then that's more of a personal problem.

This is an overall very enjoyable show to follow if you're looking for a decent action/drama with a bit of romance and a decent plot. Also, if you're looking for ecchi, plenty of fanservice, frequent panty shots, leg action, and the occasional naked breasts, this is also for you. If that bothers you, then I suggest referring to the previous paragraph. If it bothers you on a matter of principle (somehow?), then stay away from this. All in all I believe this show can be enjoyed by a wide range of viewers, whether you're looking for a well animated light story with a lot of action, some drama, and a decent plot, or lots of ecchi (or both), this is near the top of that list (along with Infinite Stratos).

Have fun, enjoy and be sure to keep an open mind when watching anime =).

Consider this a review aiming at all similar anime such as this. They are all the same shit and an identical text in all of them would make no difference.

Freezing is the latest attempt at a line of anime that poorly try to convince us they are more than just sleazy ecchi. No sir, they are serious drama, great action and unexpected turn arounds… NOT! No matter how much they try to dress the damn thing, whether the show is called Ikki Tousen, Queen’s Blade, Kampher, or Freezing, the end result is one. You jerking off with 2D bimbos that have a hard time not showing their underwear or find clothes not made of paper.

I am not going to pretend anything about this show and its predecessors. It is porn for minors, end of story. They just try to fool you it is not by claiming it has no actual sex and that it has a story, colorful characters, and lots of fighting… because for some reason hentai can’t possibly have all that.

Anyways, the excuse of a plot in this one is these alien robots from another dimension (for real?) that want to destroy humanity or something and these tsunderes are killing each other (huh?) so they can fight them back I think, and there is a drama around the lead girl being a bitch because she keeps being bullied and the like, and the lead boy is very kind to her you see… Um, seriously, does anyone care about all that when you get nude and violence every five minutes? Not that there isn’t an actual plot present; in fact Freezing does by far the best attempt at depicting a plot and a personal drama than all the rest. But that is all it is doing, attempting, since you barely care about it. It is closer to “Wow, I got a boner again; oh, right, there is a story somewhere in here.”

They also keep firing at you all these weird names and terminologies so to make you think it is deep when in reality they are just unnecessarily replacing simple words with fictional ones. I bet this works just fine with Narutards and Pokemon fans. It also has the entire plot taking place in schools with teenagers, so it will feel very keen to all those who have fantasies about their female students having cat fights. It also presents all girls to be tsunderes, coolderes and bitches, while males are wimps and jerks, so it is again helping the “proper” target audience to identify with all that. This show does many tricks to manipulate your inner desires.

In any case, don’t be fooled to think there is any actual depth in of characters (unless their holes count) or story (unless holes count here too; the plot ones). It never gets beyond the basics and ruins even that with overabundant ecchi that makes you forget there even is drama in here somewhere. As for the whole alien robot invasion from another dimension (lol) color me stunned if it heads anywhere in particular. All the action is mostly training in school and bullying each other in forms that easily as sexual harassment.

But you know what? To its core Freezing is just softcore for underage boys and thus it doesn’t matter if it sucks in story or characters. It sure has more plot that the plumber coming to fix the lonely housewife’s sink. It also has nice production values, in case your eyes can focus to anything else other than pantsu or boobs. The action and the nude and the sexual harassments are enough to please all Narutards and Pokemon fans who never get to see that outside of doujins; so in this regard the show is very entertaining.

Too bad I don’t belong in those categories though. For me it really is a piece of crap, since if it ain’t hentai, I expect to see interesting characters and storylines; a thing Freezing lacks severely. As all similar anime do. Recommended to all those who want to see the plumber having sister complex and the lonely housewife being a heartless bitch who loves to beat up her schoolmates, while wearing clothes made of paper, and whose goal is to beat alien robots from a different dimension.

And now for some excused scorings.
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So far not so bad. The story takes a few odd turns but over all it is good.

In the very beginning there is the "Untouchable Queen" and I say "in the beginning" because that's about how long it last. Aoi Kazuya (the main man so to speak) is CONSTANTLY touching the "Untouchable Queen" (aka Satellizer el Bridget) which kind of makes you want to slam your head into a wall :brickwall:
There's a SERIOUS :nosebleed: amount of boobs shown....and undies -.- which is both good and bad. They do seem to (lightly) tone it down by the 5th episode.
The violence is greatly welcomed because it is accompanied by a good story line. It isn't just hacking and slashing at each other.
A small warning though, if suggested rape/molestation is a nose turner for you I suggest you stay away, since it plays a key role in the story line. While some of the characters are extremely skilled it some times begs to be questioned..."how the hell did she just learn that attack if they just used it on her? o_O "
if your itching for an anime with chicks who can be sexy while beating the living hell out of each other while still making sense, watch this.