Freezing (Season One)
Extra-dimensional beings
What did you watch?
I first noticed Freezing shortly after discovering Highschool of the Dead but was unable to get hold of a copy so I moved on. That was many years ago, so when I started working through my A to Z Anime Challenge and it was readily available, I had no excuse. There are two seasons of Freezing and I decided that I should watch both, which would have been the perfect excuse to pick a shorter series, but I made my decision and I stuck with it. There will be spoilers and it’s also worth noting at this point that Freezing is not a prequel to Disney’s Frozen. I don’t recommend that anyone make that mistake.
What happened?
The world is under attack from extra-dimensional beings known as the Nova. They appear without warning and cause massive damage and loss of life. Humanity’s only hope are Pandoras, girls augmented with special genetic tissue called Stigmata that enables them to fight with superhuman power and speed. They are accompanied by Limiters, boys with the ability to freeze their opponents and nullify the Nova’s freezing attack.
The story follows Kazuya Aoi, a Limiter as he transfers to a new school in Japan. On his first day, he bumps into second-year student Satellizer el Bridget who is in the middle of a training battle. He mistakes her for his late sister, one of the great Pandoras who sacrificed herself in battle and interrupts the fight, causing Satellizer to lose.
Known as the Untouchable Queen, Satellizer is upset with Kazuya but can’t shake an unusual feeling. He follows her around the school attempting to make up for his mistake, but that only seems to make things worse and draw them both into more trouble. For now, they can forget about the Nova as the older students seek to put them in their place.
What did you think?
I came into this series expecting tough women fighting giant monsters from another dimension, which is something I was absolutely ready for. There were a few glimpses of that with Kazuya’s sister, but then it became another high school drama with clothing shredding battles. There was enough to keep me interested, however, I was not expecting it to get quite as dark as it did.
What was your favourite moment?
After putting up with some of the most baffling high school crap imaginable things really started to get going when the Nova attacked one of the Pandora academies. For the first time ever, four Nova attacked at once, defeating all of the Pandora present before vanishing without a trace.
Seconds later, the Nova reappeared at Kazuya’s school, unleashing all of the Pandora they had defeated at the last school in the form of enslaved zombie Pandora. Yessss! This is why I picked this series. If in doubt add zombies, it’s a sure-fire way to make anything better. Satellizer and Kazuya found themselves in the middle of a full-on attack and it was excellent.
What was your least favourite moment?
I’ve already alluded as to where this will go, but I found the hazing and continued lack of order to be infuriating. It started when third-year Pandora Miyabi decided she would make Kazuya one of her Limiters, she already had three. When he refused, Satellizer stepped in to protect him. Miyabi took offence to this and had her Limiters freeze Satellizer and take pictures of her in very compromising positions. I’m not sure who would find this “sexy”.
After Kazuya cancelled their freezing zone and Satellizer fought back, they ended up facing wave after wave of third-year Pandoras seeking to punish them for stepping out of line. This was infuriating and did a lot to damage the series in my mind. I can’t stand this sort of nonsensical hierarchical crap, especially when all they did was defend themselves against a power-tripping senior student.
Who was your favourite character?
Satellizer was without a doubt my favourite character. She had more depth and intrigued than most lead characters in an ecchi style anime. Her back story was well developed and heartbreaking, which was not something I was expecting, making all the shit she had to put up with that much worse. Even as strong as she was, it was hard not to want to protect her which made Kazuya that much more relatable (which was probably his only real quality).
Who was your least favourite character?
Rather than point the finger at any one character, I’m going to attack the organisation that seemed to allow the hazing and internal-discipline to continue. Yes, I know, they’re developing warriors, but how can you expect them to work together at the end if they spend all their time at school fighting against each other. Seemed pretty counterproductive to me.
Which character needs more screen time?
Early on we meet Kaho Hiiragi, class representative for Kazuya’s class. She seemed to be a fairly important part but then vanished to an occasional speaking role. I think we could have seen more of her. It was an odd decision to not use her in a Rana Linchen style role as the rival to Satellizer.
Would you like some more?
Luckily for me, there is another season and I have already watched it along with six OVAs. I’ll have the review ready for season 2 – Freezing Vibration out soon. I will just say that I think this was one of those shows that the fan-service and story didn’t really mesh. Fan-service is supposed to be sexy, but I think with the darker elements of the story it felt a little out of place.
What have you learnt?
One of the main things I’m going to take away from Freezing, which is something that I often waste a lot of time with is names. It has become apparent to me that I can call my characters whatever I want, I mean – Satellizer! As long as the characters are well developed, it really doesn’t matter.
Other Posts in the Series
- A to Z Anime Challenge
- Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero
- Blood-C / Blood-C: The Last Dark
- Cat Planet Cuties
- Dragonar Academy
- El Cazador de la Bruja
- Freezing / Freezing Vibrations
- Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions
- Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
- Is It Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?
- Jormungand / Jormungand: Perfect Order
- Knight’s & Magic
- Lord Marksman and Vanadis
- My First Girlfriend is a Gal
- No Game No Life
- Outbreak Company
- Punch Line
- Qualidea Code
- Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
- Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign
- The Testament of Sister New Devil
- Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle
Freezing always felt it was trying to be both a sexy harem and a shameless EVA ripoff and failed to do both.
I just felt that thy were trying to be sexy in situations that weren’t. If they had gone all out of fan-service with a lighter story or less fan-service with the darker story it would have been much better. I enjoyed the second season far more. The review for that will be out shortly.
See, this is one of those series that makes me wonder about me. Well, in public, anyway. I’ve already come to peace with my view of the world in private.
This series was right in my strike zone.
First, I’ll grant and second your commends on the hazing. I would have dismissed it as unrealistic, but a) I’ve been to college and b) I know some firemen.
Freezing is a bit tame compared to some of what I’ve seen. And can’t unsee. And fortunately avoided. Being a loner has its advantages!
Satellizer was a fantastic character. I was glad to see Kazuya was a strong character who was a perfect patch for Satellizer. I can’t say enough good about Rana, either.
Maybe it’s the military science fiction I read, or maybe it’s my life experience, but whatever it is, shows like this and Magical Girl Spec-Ops Askua, with their mixture of fan service and darkness, capture the sense of people on the edge of human endurance. In Freezing, just watch the OP. Look at how many Pandora get slaughtered! Surviving those encounters, or even going through a school to train you for that kind of combat, would have a profound effect on you. You’d grab what moments of sensation you could, knowing that literally in the next instant, you could get ripped to shreds.
So to me, the mixture fit. And on reflection, I think I’m glad if it doesn’t fit for you. You might well live in a brighter world than the one I do! Or at least, you’ve managed to stay a bit farther from the abyss.
And for the record? The abyss doesn’t just stare back. It’s really grabby.
Yeah, Magical Girl Sep-Ops Asuka didn’t really do it for me either. I will say that I preferred season two of Freezing and I thought that was even darker.
I didn’t dislike Freezing, there were just some elements that I found frustrating. I think I may have gone in expecting too much.