I gotta think that it’s been about half a year since I’ve been anticipating a Freezing anime adaptation. Freezing is an ecchi action series which has some pretty good action and has its rather gruesome moments, as you’ll see in the screenshots.
I was hooked in by the incredibly sexy Bridget el Satellizer, the series heroine. From a Korean Manwha, Satellizer has a sexy badass side to her, but when she goes into Megane Mode, brace yourself! Alright alright; enough of my love for the rather healthy blondie who makes this series readable/watchable. No, screw that, I’m going forward with this! Bridget is given the nickname of “Untouchable Queen” due to her lack of interest in wanting a Limiter. The fact that she can do so much without a Limiter is an indicator of how much raw strength she has. On the podcast, we awarded “Most Delicious Anime Girl of 2010”, and I’m already gonna give Satellizer the 2011 honors.
What makes Freezing intriguing to me is the tone of the show. We’re so used to ecchi shows having a sense of humor about itself, we’re accustomed to not dealing with things on such a grand scale. Sekirei is good at balancing between being light-hearted while still having a grand scheme to it, but Freezing wants us to almost have that “I gotta look away” factor with crazy, blood-filled action and the separation of limbs from body and the genuine fear of the girls’ screams. The action as it’s portrayed in the manga is really crazy and over the top, so I’m excited to see it animated, with the couple of action sequences present in episode 1. Bridget (and the blood) definitely gets the most attention when we talk; it’s not a powerhouse in the animation department (more on that in a bit), but things should look cool throughout the series.
This is a 12-ep series, so everything from the manwha isn’t going to make it in here. The first 20 or so chapters went for 40 pages with lots of action and a fair bit of dialogue. This is a series that could come back a couple years from now after more chapters have been published, but I wouldn’t be too surprised (with a side of disappointed) if the Freezing anime was just a one-trick pony. In the manwha’s more recent chapters, the page count sticks close to 25.
The first episode takes a moment from Chapter 25 and moves it into a conversation between Kazuya and President Shiffon. I think this is actually a good decision for the anime to include Nova fighting in the first episode, because the manga took a bit of time before it showed some hardcore Nova battle sequences. It also helps to better explain why Kazuya is an important piece of the puzzle and not just a guy that’s supposed to help a girl out, so I commend the anime on the inclusion of that and Kazuya’s sister’s involvement. The first chapter was long enough to include events that you’ll see in episode 2.
Most of the first episode’s action takes place in this Carnival, which is kind of a sick name of describing a contest for best rank with actual fighting. You see weapons being swung, blood going all around; this is no simulation. You see the scene in the hospital with the doctor not wanting deaths at this year’s Carnival, which shows that Genetics totally welcomes near-death experiences of its students. Bridget is totally beasting girls, but towards the end, she draws Genessa Roland, who should be her best rival at the Carnival.
This show airs on AT-X, so with that I say, “WOO! UNCENSORED NUDITY!” and that these postings on the blog will likely have NSFW imagery. I’ll be sure to put a NSFW tag on the blog, put some text on the feature image, and say something in the blog each week. The show is airing in 960×720, but the theme songs used 1280×720. I was bothered when the recent Ikkitousen series did not air in HD, but it eventually did get a proper Blu-Ray release.