Freezing - Review

 The most interesting question in the world of anime has prevailed through yet another season: can the lack of a compelling narrative be compensated for with abhorrent amounts of fanservice screaming in unison with surprisingly bland characters? My inner being would like nothing more but to verbally mutilate the 2011 atrocity known as Freezing, but in a desperate attempt to maintain some sort of decency I eventually decided not to; although as you might have guessed, this review is a highly negative one. Quite frankly, I doubt I’ll ever rate anything lower than this…

Story: 1/10
When an extraterrestrial threat desires global supremacy in the world we humans inhabit, you’d assume that tanks, aircrafts and experienced soldiers would be put to diligent use; but that would be overlooking one of the most efficient resources we have at our disposal: abnormally large breasted teenagers who can be genetically modified and trained in the art of combat. Known as “Pandoras”, these female warriors are paired up with boys of similar age, and attend an academy where they improve on their fighting skills. This is where our protagonists are introduced.

Because the Pandora known as “The Untouchable Queen” resembles his sister in terms of appearance, wussy boy Kazuya is determined to become her partner, and his success is a fact, despite her tsundere personality initially forbidding it. Upon realizing that the Pandoras spend more time fighting and sexually harassing each other, than they do focusing on the actual threat, Kazuya’s pacifist persona is brought to light, allowing him to tediously stop fights and preach about the value of peace.

The overuse of melodrama, the lack of an actual storyline (emphasis on “lack”), and the crucial plethora of unoriginal characters made the narrative into a no-brainer, and unless your thirst for boobs and irrelevant violence is insatiable, I’d suggest you stay away from this pile of excrement. With a better approach matters could have been endurable; a lighthearted tone and deliberately exaggerated action sequences practically go hand in hand, but Freezing explains ridiculous scenarios as if they were highly realistic, and eventually ends up blunting them instead.

Animation: 7/10
Boasting a fairly successful symbiosis between traditional animation and CGI, the visual section isn’t entirely without redeeming qualities. Disregarding the character designs that are devoid of proportional accordance, I enjoyed the ending of the show from a technical point of view: an anime should refrain from depending too heavily on computer graphics, but Freezing features just the right amount to look fine.

Furthermore, the frequently occurring outbursts of violence are choreographed decently, despite recycling the exact same formula that commonly involves exposed mammary glands and plenty of injuries. They are made with care, if a tad too reliant on the use of still images.

Sound: 4/10
For a slice of life show the soundtrack would fit terrifically, but when it accompanies out-of-place melodrama it’s hard to appreciate it. The OP is standardized to the extreme, screeching out J-Pop with glee; respectively, the voice acting is not precisely top notch either. Kazuya’s persona is portrayed by an actor whose talent lies solely in his ability to invoke a strong feeling of hate from the audience; as he nasally chants for his female partner whenever she’s facing danger, you’ll find yourself yearning for the hypothetical scenario in which he dies…

Don’t misinterpret: the music in itself carries its own form of charm with beautifully applied piano music, but its mere existence in a sleazy show like Freezing shouldn’t be allowed. Worthy to note is the equally fanservice-packed Highschool of the Dead that at least realized its limitations and threw in some rock to support key moments: but the crucial difference here is that HOTD knew how to appeal to its audience, while Freezing desperately attempts to seduce both romantics and lovers of Anime explicitness.

I like how they went for
totally realistic
proportions!

Characters: 2/10
Attempts at character development accompany the narrative through various flashbacks and references, but much as I appreciate its presence, greater ambitions would be beneficial; the character studies don’t even try to strike you as realistic. Ecchi is known to derive female characters of their potential appeal, and so is the case here. The ladies in Freezing constantly abuse one another, and of course they merrily participate in the occasional boob-grabbing just for the sake of it. “The Untouchable Queen” is a beautiful title indeed, but its origin can be found in a plot device that’s not very compelling, and as a result her painful history seems less significant.

You can only sit through a specific amount of screen time in which the Pandoras sexually harass each other until you question the academy they attend. Their principal glances upon her school with a solemn and slightly hopeful look; she knows that her students are the only ones capable of saving mankind, but inexplicably refrains from stopping the horrible abuse that’s allowed to occur within school property. Perhaps she should lower the requirements needed to attend her school; independency and individual strength is a must, but is a huge set of bouncing assets really that vital?

To conclude the character section I’d also like to point out the lack of creative design that damage the potential appeal even further, right as the aliens are introduced. They look like poorly scratched together pieces of metal that, hypothetically speaking, my younger brother of seven years would be able to artistically improve. Furthermore, their motive regarding world domination is blurry; as far as I could perceive them, they come without any characteristics at all.

Overall: 1.5/10

Inadequate to be entertaining on all levels except for the animation, Freezing cruelly represents everything that’s wrong in the world of Anime; ecchi prioritized far above coherency, and a narrative whose ridiculous simplicity and lack of realism muddles whatever the show wants to say. A different and more lighthearted approach could have resulted in something endurable, but when the show takes itself too seriously it crosses the line to what the average viewer can tolerate.