Freezing 4

Uh…déjà vu? Another week, another crazy upperclassman with a bone to pick. This time it’s Ingrid Bernstein who challenges Sattelizer, but rather than wanting her limiter like Miyabi, she wants revenge for first-years abandoning her and her friend while they fought off an S-type Nova. She survived, her friend didn’t. So she’s angry. Grr.

I get that, but this still seems like a flimsy premise for targeting Sattelizer. I mean, why her, specifically? Isn’t her beef with all the first-years who were there? Ganessa was too, but Ingrid doesn’t even know who she is. She’s another traitor, yo! Finish what you start! But no: she just wants to fight Sattelizer, with or without a limiter. Aoi offers to join with Sat, but she demurs for the umpteenth time.

What follows is the same battle where boobs are inevitably exposed (that this is so overused really takes away from the serious tone of the series) and despite having a baptism, Aoi saves the day with his unbelievably powerful solo Freezing. This could be the way it’s going to be: Sat doesn’t want to be touched, and Aoi doesn’t need to be her limiter to do what he does, so it seems like a perfect fit. Now all she needs are clothes that won’t fall off at the drop of a hat… Rating: 2.5

Freezing 3

Okay, it’s offficial: most of the students at Genetics are assholes. Sattelizer just minds her business and kicks ass, but everyone looks down on her for seeming so aloof and untouchable. This grates at Aoi, who thinks she’s merely shy and misunderstood. For Satellizer’s part, she’s astounded that Aoi is the only person who can touch her without her feeling ill.

Miyabi, an upperclassman who goes by the name “The Limiter Eater” learns of Aoi’s existence and immediately tries to “recruit” him into her male harem. Satellizer tries to stop her, but with three limiters against her none, she quickly succumbs to their freezing. What follows is an incident that would result in a swift explusion and likely criminal charges for the Limiter eater, but apparently stripping a fellow student down and taking phone pics of her isn’t that big of a deal.

Aoi doesn’t stand by and watch helplessly for long. He’s able to cast a powerful freezing over Miyabi and her minions, allowing Satellizer to get the upper hand. However, by the time Chiffon shows up, it appears as though Satellizer was the primary belligerent, as she has a sword at Miyabi’s throat and all. Never any luck, this girl…

Still,  she and Aoi are on the fast track to ‘baptism’ – the contract between pandora and limiter. They’ll have to contract soon – defeating a sempai means other sempais will challenge them before long. All of this begs the question: are these psychos just going to keep whaling on each other, or don’t they have, you know, a common enemy to fight, the Nova-something-or-other? Rating: 2.5

Freezing 2

After a fast-paced first episode, Freezing slows down a bit, having introduced a lot of stuff to digest, then re-starts the battle between Sattelizer and Ganessa Roland. The latter slaps Aoi when he gets in the way to stop them, causing some of his blood to spill on Sattelizer’s face. Then she activates her pandora mode to counter Ganessa’s and takes her out in one blow.

I appreciate that the students at this academy have a tough job to do and they have to steel themselves to be fighting machines in order to face their foe and not immediately get wasted. Still, this Roland girl seemed a bit over-the-top in her hatred of Satellizer. It went far beyond rivalry or jealosy. She got way too worked up. Maybe it’s because the last show I watched (IS) also featured a bratty English girl who picked a fight… She also said “Sattelizer el Brigitte” waaay too many times : P

Anyway, this episode established that Aoi and Sattelizer are a match pair, just as Aoi’s roommate is Roland’s limiter. So this rivalry is sure to continue, or possibly evolve into cooperation, considering they both share the same enemy. But considering how much was packed into the exciting premiere, this episode felt a bit lacking, in everything but fanservice, which remained ridiculous. Rating: 3

Freezing – First Impressions

After a few minutes of Freezing I was immediately reminded at first of Chrome Shelled Regios – what with all the shapely warrioresses and the sudden downpour of terminology (Nova clashes, carnivals, pandoras, limiters, Eringbar Sets, etc.) But while it’s tarted up with lots of terms, Freezing is fairly easy to get: there’s an Angel-like implacable alien foe (the Nova) that’s invading earth, and it’s up to pandoras (genetically and bionically-enhanced high school girls) and limiters (their male underclassman partners) to defeat them.

Freezing does a good job stuffing lots of bloody, exciting battles with an introduction to this world and its systems. It shows that pandoras endure a lot of physical and mental suffering to gain their superhuman advantages. Sometimes this means lost limbs and slit throats, sometimes its lost tops (this show is right on the edge with the service, with more boob shots inserted for no practical purpose). But there’s no negotiating with the enemy, so if humans are to survive, they must soup themselves up and steel their psyches.

Of course, like us, the male protagonist Aoi is being exposed to all this for the first time, as he has just enrolled in “Genetics”, the training facility where pandoras and limiters are made and fight one another for rank. Aoi’s older sister defeated a Nova (at the cost of her life), but when he spots the school’s top-ranked fighter (Bridgette Satellizer…porn name much?), he thinks she’s resurrected and immediately gropes her. Well, the kid’s new, anyway. None of the characters stand out much, but one thing’s certain, Freezing will provide epic action with a healthy dollop of ecchi mixed in. Animation, lighting, and soundtrack were all above par. I could watch this stuff all day. Rating: 3.5