One aspect of coming late to animes is that I can see trends, and one that I am noticing is Women Who Save the World. Now, this is nothing new. I mean, one could say that is the basic plot of Sailor Moon, but it seems that there are more and more shows like this.

“Strike Witches”, “My HiME/My Otome”, “Bubblegum Crisis 2040”, “Burst Angel”, “Shattered Angels”, Sekirei”, and I know I am just scratching the surface. The one in question currently is “Freezing”.

It tells the story of girls (known as Pandoras) who have this ability to freeze an opponent and do damage to them in this frozen state. The world is under attack by Nova Space Beings, who are capable of exacting enormous damage. The West Genetics Academy trains them to be the best fighters that they can, the top of the top being Satellizer el Bridget.

She has everything going for her. She’s pretty, she’s vicious, she’s talented, she’s adored, she’s off limits, she’s busty, busty and busty. Called the “Untouchable Queen” (the last person who touched her, a Limiter, ended up in the hospital, really messed up); she is vying for the top honors in the school, when her climb is disrupted by a nerdy new student, Kazuya Aoi.

Satellizer loses the fight and is relegated to second best, and Kazuya earns her severe enmity. We then learn the complex relationship that Pandora and Limiter have, as well as the involved history of Satellizer and Kazuya and the dark secret he carries with him, which, as it turns out, may force the Untouchable Queen to take him on as her Limiter.

The thing is the plot is nothing new or spectacular, as I mentioned other shows like it. The only aspect is has going for it is some intense fan service. LOTS of up skirt shots and clothing shredding and trying on outfits to see that the boobies are not really covered or protected. (Please note the picture; that is rather tame as to what you get.)

Now, we are training these young ladies to defend the earth and potentially sacrifice themselves in the greater cause, so why are they so catty and vicious? We expect some degree of maturity and here we are, taking cell phone photos of the Untouchable Queen, her butt and panties exposed. Better still, let’s pull them down and really humiliate her! So much for military discipline (but it does make for good viewing!)

It’s just that the relationship between Satellizer and Kazuya runs like a bad romance anime. In fact, if you have seen “The Familiar of Zero”, it’s pretty close to that. What I really want to know is how she can eat all them burgers and manage to keep her girlish figger! I mean, even a frat load of boys don’t eat anywhere near that much and here she is, with bagfuls of burgers, wolfing them down.

Now, I happened to have seen this show with the ‘Modesty Bars’ (in this case, an annoying beam of white light that cuts across the ‘offending’ parts). This is annoying. Let me get this straight: I can see you slash this person with your ugly weapon, ribbons of blood gushing forth, pooling at her feet and there’s no problem in showing me that.

I look up her skirt (or attempt to) and it is verboten, for even a hint of a glance at something south of the border will give me a nose bleed of such massive proportions, that I lay in a puddle of my own desires and lust (like Zucchini from “Magical Play”). So, you cannot see it at all. (I went elsewhere to see it in its unfettered glory and it really wasn’t worth it).

And, adding to the distress, the half-time display cards have our luscious lovelies lounging languidly in their lingerie, as their vital statistics are on display for us. And these images also get blocked from us. *sigh*

Perhaps if I had the disks, I would be able to see more, but for the casual observer, it gets downright bothersome to the point that it affects the watching of the show.

Watching an anime should not be a workout. I am of a chronological age that I can see this stuff without someone censoring it for me (but children might be present!). If it is too much, I’ll just walk away from it (like I did with “Queen’s Blade”).

Can Satellizer learn to love another? Can Kazuya learn to let go of his past? Can the evil forces be stopped before everyone is destroyed? Can I have some of your burgers?

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           8 (It is a good-looking show, and with the fan service, it better be!)
Plot                 6 (Been there, done that, got the t-shirt)
Pacing             5 (Bogged down by the fan service and internecine fighting)
Effectiveness   6 (It runs hit and miss)
Conclusion      7 (It ends, but it feels pasted on)
Fan Service     8 (A similar show would “Sekirei”)
Overall            6 (It’s been done better)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it…unless you saw it elsewhere in another form.