Freezing takes place in the distant future of today, approximately 40 years later. Earth has been invaded and is currently at war with extra-terrestrial beings called the Nova. The story follows japanese teenager, Kazuya Aoi, a young boy who is just attending a school for girls genetically modified (with a special tissue in their back) called Pandora trained to fight and their male partner, Limiters, which use special skills called ‘Freezing’ to limit the Nova’s movement. Due to a misunderstanding on his part, he meets Satellizer el Bridget who is appeared to be the most powerful in her class who has yet to choose a limiter. Despite classmate warnings, he decides to become her limiter.
Story:
Plot-wise, the manga takes a much darker theme than it appears to be. A select few have the power for their bodies to adapt to the stigmata, but even then, they are not spared from anger or death. Lovers and comrades are no exception to the mangling and dismemberment. Freezing shows people of all nation’s working together to fight for humanity, which shows the dire situation that Earth is in with the Nova. There are a lot of fight scenes and aside from all the ecchi-ness and fanservice, the fights are actually good – (although there is no sense in pandora-vs-pandora with a war raging on). On another note, the siblings arc ending made no sense whatsoever. After terrorizing her to the point of aphephobia (a fear of being touched) during her childhood, they act like nothing happens after the problem is resolved. It was too traumatic to get over in the span of a week, let alone a day.
Art and Animation:
As for this area, everything is done rather quite well. Character designs and texture is highly detailed, helping you keep track of who’s who with the distinct features to the characters constantly being added to the storyline. The background is well done, with the same amount of quality as the characters. Fights can be easily followed and there aren’t any panels where the body is oddly posed or disproportionate. Each action can span from one panel to a whole page for the simplest actions, such as powering up for a super move or stabbing a weapon through someone’s stomach. The facial expressions on them are also highly detailed. When Pandoras/Limiters reach their limits, it’s clearly evident on their bodies and their faces.
Sound:
N/A
Characters:
Throughout the manga, many characters are introduced along with countless character developments. Each of them come from different countries and with their own unique volt weapons, nova-type equipment used for fighting Nova which can be ranged from scythes to highly charged particle beams. Personally, my favorite character was Chiffon Fairhchild who is dubbed as the ‘Unmatched Smiling Demon’, ranked number one in the whole world. (SPOILER: Prior to her death, I had absolutely no attachment to her in the beginning whatsoever, but the way she sacrificed her life to save all her friends was too much.. TT.TT)
Summary:
All in all, don’t judge a book by it’s cover..Kinda. If you’re looking for some hentai or something of the sort, this is not for you. Yeah, it has partial nudity but it also has some gore and dismembered body parts, but that’s to be expected in war. Plot is good and not to complicated for the average manga reader. The art is well-drawn and the characters are enjoyable. Surely, there are one or two characters that you can come to like in the whole lot. In conclusion, this manga was an enjoyable one, although I’m not quite finished. (as it is an ongoing manga series)