First Impressions / FREEZING / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「COLOR」 by MARiA
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「Untouchable Queen」

If you were only expecting big-breasted girls getting their clothes torn up in battle, you only have part of the picture for this adaptation of Dall-Young Lim‘s manga. Not only do the Void Texture “stigmata” embedded in their bodies regenerate their clothes, the female warriors known as Pandoras have to cope with getting their limbs chopped off, throats slit, and eyes gouged out too. It’s not quite Elfen Lied‘s level of gore, but the scenes depicted were pretty bloody in their own right.

While this episode seemed to use a cold open, in reality it served as an introduction about Pandoras and how they function and battle alongside their male Limiters against dimensional alien invaders called Nova, which laid the foundation for the science fiction side of the series. This includes how Pandoras can have their limbs repaired if they manage to survive, how they choose a Limiter younger than them due to a higher synchronization rate for their “Ereinbar Set”, and how that partnership allows a Limiter to use his Freezing ability to assist them in battle. It was a fair bit of preamble to get through, but I like how the writers decided to explain everything early on so viewers have a better idea of what’s going on when things pick up. With only twelve episodes slated, this adaptation probably won’t have the same luxury as the manga of slowly revealing things as they go. The same goes for the backstory on Aoi Kazuya‘s (Ichiki Mitsuhiro) sister Kazuha, whose death during the 8th Nova Crash four years ago wasn’t even expanded upon in the first four volumes of the manga, yet was the focus of this very first episode.

In addition to the obvious benefit of showcasing the more gruesome side to this series via the free-for-all “Carnival” taking place, both instructor Yumi Kim‘s (Watabane Akeno) history lesson and student council president Chiffon Fairchild‘s (Inoue Marina) explanation on Pandora/Limiter abilities served as a very good lead-in for Kazuya arriving at West Genetics and immediately latching himself onto the Untouchable Queen, Satellizer el Bridget (Noto Mamiko), who’s the heroine of the series. Compared to the manga that only had a single page indicating that Satellizer reminds Kazuya of his deceased sister, showing Kazuha’s valiant sacrifice and hearing her voiced by the same seiyuu make their unusual first meeting much more understandable. As a result, I was a bit surprised to see that only four or so pages of the first chapter were covered this episode, but felt that leaving off on the cliffhanger with Kazuya inadvertently freezing the queen who can’t stand being touched, and causing her to lose her first inter-Pandora battle at the hands of a very envious Ganessa Roland (Kitamura Eri) worked well in sparking further interest. Heck, I wanted to see the follow-up right away, even though I already know what’s coming up from reading way too much of the manga while researching for the Winter 2011 Preview, which suggests the same interest I had then has carried over nicely to the anime.

In terms of production, A.C.G.T’s work is a tad dated due to the basic shadows; however, I like the character designs, making the old school look less of a concern to me. If anything, the artwork is more akin to Studio Pierrot’s in Bleach and Naruto, both of which use arguably more simplistic animation styles. It’s definitely not something that I’d personally knock the series for since I don’t see it affecting my enjoyment in any way, but I figured it’s worth making mention of regardless. The music on the other hand is a real treat, from the opening theme by Nico Nico Douga singer MARiA to the soundtrack composed by Yokoyama Masaru. The latter’s musical pieces are very reminiscent of the ones he wrote for Queen’s Blade. Some were pretty epic-sounding and worth a listen whether you care to watch that series or not. For those wondering, yes, there is nudity in AT-X’s uncensored broadcast, which is good if you’re one of those people who absolutely can’t stand any televising censoring. Unfortunately, it seems to come with the trade-off of being in 4:3 aspect ratio, which I found odd since TBS even stopped doing this with their broadcasts. To add to the confusion, the opening and ending sequences retained their 16:9 ratio with black borders.

As for the characters themselves, we’ve only been formally introduced to a small portion of the cast thus far, so there are still plenty of faces that will make their presence felt in the coming episodes. Mamiko in strong female leading role again is another huge plus, as she seldom gets them and I really enjoy her acting in the ones she has. Witchblade and Mnemosyne are a couple of examples, the latter of which I feel is one of Mamiko’s best performances. As such, I’m already looking forward to seeing more of Satellizer, especially after this good start to the series.

* Episode end card.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「君を守りたい」 (Kimi wo Mamoritai) by 小林愛香 (Kobayashi Aika)
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Preview

114 Comments

      1. A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME!
        EP 1 doesn’t follow manhwa 1 bit, storyline is twisted it’s Pandora vs Pandora all the way trough EP and it’s full of freaking cheap fanservice.
        Stick with the manhwa and enjoy it.

        Klakket
        Reply

      2. Klakket obviously didn’t read my post since I made specific mention of those “concerns”.

        For everyone else, the storyline isn’t twisted from the manga at all. They just changed the order of events a bit (e.g. Chiffon taking Kazuya to West Genetics) and placed more emphasis on the Carnival in this first episode.

        Divine
        Reply

      4. there’s plenty of pandora versus pandora in the manhwa.

        hell, technically speaking in the manhwa (at least up until when i last read it, i’m a volume or so behind), there’s been MORE Pandora v Pandora there has been actual battles against the aliens.
        so i don’t know where you get that that’s out-of-line with the source material.

        Talbot
        Reply

      5. For sure! There are hardly any battles against Nova in the early parts of the manwa. If it had followed the manwa perfectly then I don’t think we would even have seen a Nova this season.

        Znail
        Reply

      6. It seems some people are just too critical. So far episode one doesn’t follow the original and as of now I’m guessing the rest of it won’t but to judge it so hard based on one episode is not fair.
        And the fan service in this is actually quite tame, normal for this actually. Makes me think those of you who have read the manga have forgotten much.

        omgwtf
        Reply

      1. Yea, he is such a waste of space in the manhwa. He is credited with great potential power, and yet he has not done anything at all during actual crucial fights expect screaming at the sidelines like a regular side character.

        xcswmboy
        Reply

  5. The character designs do look good but I hope the animation doesn’t affect my thoughts on it.

    Premise seems good enough so I’ll definitely be giving this a shot, seeing as everyone seems to be pretty into it at this early stage.

    Bass
    Reply

    2. It’s pretty easy to avoid having to watch those kind of scenes if they bothers you. Just watch the censored version instead of the uncensored one. As an extra bonus so is the censored version in 16:9 ratio.

      Znail
      Reply

  18. I’ve gotta say, the 4:3 shocked me. I can’t remember the last time I watched something with that ratio, that didn’t air in or before 2007. But I do like the storyline, and I like that they didn’t hold back on the violence. I get a little tired of watching anime where no one really gets hurt. Or if they get hurt, it’s hidden behind something, or just plain not shown.

    Twentyfaces
    Reply

  21. 1st episode and we’ve already gotten a ton of fanservice. I get that it’s an ecchi anime, but don’t writers get that fanservice works so much better midway into the series, when the viewer is invested enough in the characters for it to actually mean something?

    On a different note, those fodder characters sure did get chopped up.

    caramel_cod
    Reply

    2. I originally pictured Koshimizu Ami as Satellizer after seeing her play Nia in Samurai Girls (whom I was reminded of), but I say give Mamiko a few more episodes to surprise us. She can do a deeper pissed off voice; there just weren’t any opportunities for it in this episode.

      As for Ami, she’s here in a support role as Ingrid Bernstein.

      Divine
      Reply

  31. Every time I read some FREEZING manga (and now watch the anime) I heard Metallica’s “Trapped Under Ice”. Oh boy~

    Better than I expected, maybe because (for my own good) I was not expecting much.

    Lectro Volpi
    Reply

  32. The bow user was stupid. A range weapon and you use it close up enough to be counterattacked?!? Simply perch on teh highest and furtherest point available and shoot away. The pitchfork user was somewhat a LOL since its a farmer’s weapon

    Looks like his sister is still alive since no body was recovered

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

  34. I been waiting for this since i first heard t hat it was gonna get animated. I’m currently reading the manga for it and its a really good read. I cant wait for the next ep. To me the animation did kida look oldish but i can with it. I love to hear Mamiko’s voice love it.

    Itachizame
    Reply

    1. True, the series is more in line with Claymore in regards to featuring women fighting against monsters and not always leaving the fight whole and/or alive.

      I’m on the fence about watching this series. I generally dislike gore involving girls. The manwha is not graphically gruesome like other series such as High School of the Dead, it’s actually more in line with Claymore also, but whenever a Nova appears and they send their forces into battle, you will encounter a lot of scenes like this: https://randomc.net/image/FREEZING/FREEZING%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2025.jpg

      Just about all the girls are busty and cute so I can’t stomach to see them hurt like that.

      Horus
      Reply

  36. Positive points:
    -Old school visual (i’m tired of these animes with hentai visual full of cheerful and super colorful characters).
    -Violence (the fights become more real and i dont think they exagerated)
    -Opening song

    Negative points:
    -Main character, Aoi Kazuya (he’s a cry boy with a sister complex and most of time is useless)
    -Too much fan service (ok showing some tits sometimes, but they overdid it).
    -Satellizer’s voice (too childish. It should be a mature voice of a strong woman)

    i’ll keep watching but for now my score is 7/10

    Hikaru
    Reply

  37. Reading the Manhwa the protagonist stays disappointingly pathetic for a long time so ill have to pass and the animation doesn’t help one bit it’s like getting fruit cake for a present.
    Lets just say the protagonist is a giant fruit cake.

    blackwings89
    Reply

  38. this is a bold protagonist , first time meeting alrdy reach base 2, even other harem protagonist require at least 2 episode, and they always receive punching instead of femine reaction. way to start a series. kudo

    lkaze
    Reply

  41. I think a lot of what contributes to the “old” animation people keep mentioning is the frame ratio it’s produced in. Why is the body of the episode in 3:4, when the OP and ED are in widescreen?

    starss
    Reply

  42. Personally I think it seems like quite a waste to use your most skilled fighters (in preparaion at least), that you have against your funny threat from beyond, as fodder in some kind of tournament. Unless they can heal them up like Divine wrote, but Bridget seems to more outright kill so… (and the hospital scenes didn’t really give an impression of the other little ducklings to go unscathed either, or walking at all).

    I have a bit of problem with shows that have inane concepts like that, but I’ll stick around for some more episodes to see where it goes.

    Greg
    Reply

    1. All of them gets patched up again. It’s not without pain or effort, but they do get well again. It’s a combination of future tech medicine and super healing powers of the girls themselves.

      Znail
      Reply

  46. only thing I really have to complain about is Satellizer el Bridget VA (Noto Mamiko), I am not saying shes bad but I just don’t feel her voice fits this character, her voice is so soft spoken when the character she play is a pretty active fighting manic. I think for example Megumi Toyoguchi who play Chifuyu Orimura in Infinite Stratos would be a better VA for Satellizer el Bridget, cause she just got that commanding powerful tone in her voice.

    Mike
    Reply

  47. At least clothes getting torn off a lot during fights is a lot more “justified” compared to ones like Ikkitousen and all XD (with everyone using some kind of sharp weapon and all, what else can you expect without some kind of armor over the otherwise “normal” clothes? lol)

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  51. Been reading this series, sadly it’s only been translated till chapter 36, I believe, but BOY!!! I’m not gonna spoil anything for you guys, but chapters 41 to 50 is gonna boil your blood so fucking bad, ROFL!! it’s just fucking wow… sadly those chapters that I mentioned are not translated yet, but I saw (can’t say read ;_;) the chapters on some Manga/Manwha-Korean/Japanese site? (not sure) with some help from the translations made by people who can understand Korean on Mangafox’s forum and after checking out those chapters, you’re gonna be left with emotions of… you will know what I’m talking about if you check them out, but overall gonna still be checking out the Anime version and see how it goes.

    Zeta
    Reply

    2. It’s actually a bit connected with the content that they are not translated yet. The translators rage quit after reading the content…
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Znail
      Reply

  52. “limbs chopped off, throats slit, and eyes gouged out too.”………WHERE DO I SIGN UP!?!?! in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit…GURO be thy NAME!

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

  54. “Witchblade and Mnemosyne are a couple of examples, the latter of which I feel is one of Mamiko’s best performances. As such, I’m already looking forward to seeing more of Satellizer, especially after this good start to the series.”

    IMHO, her performance in Mnemosyne was a lot better more than Witchblade.

    Mamiko’s performance in Freezing also peaked my interest in this show. Even though I’ve already read the manga, I’m patiently waiting for the upcoming episodes. 😀

    Too bad though about this being only a 12 episode anime. 🙁

    grss1982
    Reply

  56. Disappointment…

    Tell you what, I’ll watch this – if they take out the Japanese Bitch Boy.

    Characters like these JBBs has ruined what would simply be otherwise great action chick animes. He’s very presence poisons this entire series! Seriously, if I were to take one of those giant pike and shoved it up this kid’s ass, I’m sure there’ll be a look of pure ecstasy on his face!

    Boy oh boy! Is it ANY wonder why US Soldiers based in Japan get laid with Japanese girls like there’s no tomorrow! It’s because they have an entire society of JBB’s to go home to when all is said and done! I’m convince that if women ran Japan, Japan would actually have a standing working military force – instead of just a ‘self defense’ force.

    Tablespoon
    Reply

      1. Dear Dumb-dumb,

        So much for pointing out the absurd by being absurd.

        FYI, I lived in Okinawa for three and a half year! Two as a member of the US military, one year as an over seas contractor. I know these people have a long memory for bad things. Of course, they forget the THOUSANDS of hours of community service our good men and women have given to the immediate surrounding area! On top of all the good things we bring to them (both on and off the mainland).

        But guess what?! Whenever I walked down the streets in all those three years (on and off the mainland) all I had to do was go up to a gal, said a few words in English and she’d take over the conversation as best she could! Sometimes, right in front of their admitted Japanese boyfriend – who just sat there slumped shoulders with a defeated look in his eyes knowing she’d preferred the company of a real man than a boy! Consensual sex – in general – happens a HELL of a lot more down there than rape! Of course, it probably doesn’t mean something to someone who probably idolizes Japanese women to be demure, graceful, and have no real human personality at all but to act like a 16 year old teenager when she’s in her mid fifties!

        Tablespoon
        Reply

  57. Love the manhwa, but this is like the worst adaption i have ever seen. Why not stick to the manhwa instead of filling the half episode with stupid fanservice.
    Major dissapointment for me.

    Bambam
    Reply

      1. It doesnt matter if there were some explanations between the fanservice scenes. You know what all Topanimes have in common? A good slow!! start. Of course the first scene of freezing was a naked Satellizer undressing :D. Than some sensless fighting, than some explanation, fanservice, fighting. So what we saw was actually Satellizer naked than one hit fighting and in the end this guy shaked his head in her tits thinking it was his sister. No comment. Why change what the manhwa did? If i didnt know the manhwa i wouldve thought this is a joke and wouldve dropped it.

        Bambam
        Reply

    1. Meat dishes of course. Anime seems constitutionally unable to spell English correctly.

      Satellizer is really different from the normal Japanese school girl as they eat cute tiny meals and obvious don’t grow that much.

      Znail
      Reply

      1. I know what they are of course. Do I need a sarcasm sign or something haha. Well obviously she’s different from a Japanese girl. I mean just look at her! blond hair and a different body build. She’s no Japanese.

        0927123
        Reply

  61. I watched this episode and read about ten chapters of the manga to see what the hype was about, but even though I’d love to say I am above such things, blatant fanservice always comes off as cheap to me. It’s like “this is why you’re actually investing your time in our product, isn’t it?” which leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It just doesn’t let me take the series seriously.

    Being a (straight) girl, I don’t exactly get much out of female fanservice scenes period, especially those that focus on the sexiness of the female characters. Heck, I don’t even enjoy male fanservice very much (not that it’s very common), but I can appreciate all fanservice when it is done tastefully or it has some relevance to the plot or humor. This, however, does not qualify under any of those conditions and comes off as sleezy and cringe-worthy. (The story is about girls who fight against aliens, so why am I getting a close up of this girl’s crotch?!)

    It’s a shame, because the manga and the anime do have an interesting premise, and I like this “old style” animation (the solid look ensures more continuous quality in my book, as opposed to the morphed in between frames of anime such as K-ON!), but I just cannot stop rolling my eyes at the fact that Satellizer’s boobs are LITERALLY bigger than her face. (Don’t those things get in the way?! Here’s a secret, NO GIRL WANTS BOOBS THAT BIG. I’m waiting for one to get cut off mid battle.) And even if I could manage to get past the obnoxiousness that are these character designs (does Satellizer ACTUALLY have an altered uniform just to ensure her boobs get some limelight?), it’s not like I could convince anybody to watch this show or talk about it in the real world.

    Well, I tried. -_- No hate towards people who like this show, it’s just that sometimes it’s too much.

    innerchihiro
    Reply

    2. well…
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Germanguy
      Reply

    3. Well, obviously so isn’t this series aimed at girls who get offended by seeing fan service. Although it is possible for you to still watch this if you like as the censored version eliminates almost all the fan service and is shown in 16:9 to boot. I don’t see why you would make yourself watch the uncensored version if you know it will bother you.

      I think your secret is a bit off as there are quite a lot of girls willing to pay hard cash to get boobs like that. But it’s not that rare to see boobs that large of the natural variety either. I have even seen boobs ten times as large, those was not pretty btw, so it kind of boggles my mind when people claim that boobs like are unreal. It might make most girls feel inadequate but I find it far better then the other end of the spectrum when girls looking like 10 year old are supposed to appeal to grown men.

      Znail
      Reply

    4. A well-stated opinion of the series, regardless of whether I agree with it or not. A lot of people could learn from innerchihiro’s example before commenting about something they find disagreeable (in any series).

      Divine
      Reply

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