Freezing

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Judging by the cover art for each volume, one might assume that Freezing is a series comprised of martial arts, romance, and a touch of ecchi. Even the first few chapters might mislead you into thinking that this manga is apart of the all too common genre starring a plucky hero who somehow manages to be surrounded by nothing but beautiful girls willing to fight to the ends of the world, all in the name of love. A genre where no matter how bad or one-sided a fight seems, the heroes always come out unscathed. However, Freezing is far from being a fighter-harem and at ... the same time is much more than that.

The truth is, plot-wise, Freezing is much darker than it appears to be. The premise of this story is that alien beings, known as Nova, have invaded Earth with the intent to annihilate mankind. In order to combat this threat humanity created a force of super powered individuals through human experimentation. But even though these select individuals are gifted with super powers, they aren’t invincible or exempt from anguish. On the contrary, most battles with the Nova end in heavy casualties for the good guys and no one is spared as even close friends and lovers become the victims of dismemberment and mangling. Novas aren’t the only bad guys showcased in Freezing either. Even humans prey on other humans as rape and sexual abuse are explored.

As far as art goes, the quality of art you find on the cover is exactly what you can expect inside the manga. The level of detail that goes into character design and texturing is very high. There isn’t really any panel where a body part looks disproportionate or the body looks oddly posed either. The background art is also really good in that the same amount of detail that goes into drawing the characters goes into designing the backgrounds. And the combat is really easy to follow too. Each fight scene can span multiple panels and even pages, just to illustrate one character dodging another character only to land one punch.

All in all, as of chapter thirty, Freezing leaves you with the impression of a very well drawn, mature seinen. The only downside so far has been that every now and then there is the unnecessarily intricate explanation of how each ability works. But this is common in almost all manga where martial arts are concerned. Other than that, the authors sort of seemed to pull a fast one with the gore and abuse as they will catch you off guard. The transition from the characters enjoying themselves into being brutalized can happen almost instantly, which further helps depict the fact that humanity is in a war for its survival. If this sounds like the kind of manga you’re looking for then I definitely recommend that you pick up a copy of Freezing and give it a shot.

The Story take place in a time after an extra-dimensional Invasion by the sol-called "Nova's" using tools called "Stigmata", but those Tsigmata allowed the Mankind to fight back, those who fight are the "Pandora's" one of these was Aoi Kazuha, a Pandora who passed away at the end of a fierce battle four years ago as a Heroine.
Four years later and bound by the dying wish of his older Sister, Aoi Kazuya enrolled in the "Academy for Extradimensional Affairs and Genetics" to support the Pandoras in their fight as a *limiter" who are able to use the "Freezing" as a important support for the ... Pandoras. At his first day Kazuya, you can say, faithfully encountered, Bridget L. Satellizer, a Sophomore Pandora at the School well known for her Brutality and with the given nicname "The untouchable Queen" who still fights without a Limiter. so Kazuya decided, against all warnings, to become her Limiter. But this isnt so easy as it may sound....

I figured that I would give my $0.02 on Freezing after catching up to the latest chapter, especially since the plot has thickened in the last 10-20 chapters. The initial setting that the reader is introduced to is our male lead Kazuya Aoi, who enrolls at West Genetics (think of it as a fancy synonym for high school) where he meets our female lead,Satellizer el Bridget. Anyway, the story originates from other worldly beings called 'Novas' that appear on Earth every 3 or so years and go on a rampage of destruction. Female warriors termed 'Pandoras' are the weapons to defend mankind.

Story - 7
It's ... not original, but it's not something that's been done enough to assume how it will unfold. My main gripe with the story is how much Pandora - Pandora conflict there is (although I understand that some of this conflict is necessary, I find some of it isn't). It seems that this type of conflict has a larger emphasis than the Nova - Pandora/human conflict that should be the greater concern. I find it silly that so much of the story line had to do with Pandoras fighting Pandoras. Other than that, I did say the plot is thickening so hopefully Dal Young surprises readers with some plot twists.

Art - 9
Kwang Hyun Kim actually does the art for the Freezing manga and it is quite good. Many characters get introduced rather quickly in the beginning to deepen the plot, but the detailed artwork helps you keep track of who's who. Also, the fights are quite 'busy' with lots of detail that could make it hard to follow, but the drawing and detail really clear up most of the confusing parts. Facial expressions are easy to read and when Pandoras/Limiters approach their limits it is definitive by looking at the detail on their bodies.

Character - 9
As I previously stated, many characters are introduced throughout the manga. Accompanying this is the amount of development made to all these supporting characters and it really keeps things interesting with the amount of politics and Pandora relationships being made. Strong development is made with both male and female leads as well early in the manga so that their relationship doesn't feel rushed/forced overall.

Enjoyment - 8
I have to say that watching the way the characters interact is interesting and fun, but the plot is steady for the most part with little deviancy. The stage is set for some interesting plot twists so I hope that comes through. The fight scenes are quite nice, but at times I feel that there is too much dialogue (mostly about personal beliefs, ideals, etc). Still, I found myself enjoying the different aspects of Freezing because it's not one dimensional, there's many sides to the characters and there's still questions to be answered.

Overall - 8
If you enjoy sci-fi/action mangas then Freezing should be something to consider. I can say that there's a pinch of Mecha, a good serving of Romance, and a generous dash of psychological drama. I believe there's quite a bit of potential in Freezing and since it is Dal Young's best work, I'm looking forward to the conclusion whenever that may be. If you're even somewhat interested, I suggest you check it out! Let me know how you like Freezing :)