Dead
If you have listened to our anime podcast then you know that I love Freezing. It’s got crazy sci-fi anime battles, interesting characters, a cool story, boobs and it is a prime example for my argument that all anime kids are fucking mental. One of the more interesting characters in the series has been Chiffon Fairchild, The Smiling Monster of West Genetics, and I have been wondering where she gets that name from. I may be wrong about this but in the main series I don’t remember her being particularly monstrous. They alluded to her being badass but nothing more. But I have a feeling that will change very soon in Freezing: First Chronicle.
For those of you who don’t know the main series, just called Freezing, is set in a world where extra-dimensional beings called Novas have started invading our world and are trying to wipe us out. Traditional weapons (like guns and nukes and shit) have had zero effect so, using science, the Pandoras were made. Pandoras are young women who can use abilities beyond that of normal humans. Paired with a Limited, a man who can lock the movements of people and Nova within a certain area with an ability called Freezing, the Pandoras fight off the Nova and keep humanity safe. You know, when they’re not trying to kill each other or fucking their Limiters. Set a few years before the main series First Chronicle is a spin-off/prequel showing the origins of President Chiffon and her Vice President Ticy Phenyl. It will also probably get into some back stories for the rest of the 3rd year class at some point but right now it’s just Chiffon and Ticy.
There are only two things that I don’t really like about this series. The first is the art. While the main series is drawn by Kim Kwang Hyun, who also drew Aflame Inferno, First Chronicle is drawn by Youn Jae Ho and it shows. While the art isn’t bad, it’s not as good as the art in the main series. I know this won’t sound that clear, but Youn’s art is too anime for me. Manhwa for me has always had an art style that was different from manga and anime. Faces were not as round and bit more defined, irises were more oval shaped than circular and the foreheads were slightly larger. In First Chronicle the faces are rounder, the irises are much more circular and the foreheads are comparatively smaller. Also, the boobs are smaller. Just my personal opinion but big, consistently sized boobs are a cornerstone of Freezing. In this series they are smaller and seem to change size from panel to panel. I don’t really like that. But back to the eyes, one of my favorite things about the art in Freezing is that the irises change depending on the character’s emotion. I know that is standard fare for these things but I really liked the way the iris just turns completely white but the pupil still kind of stands out and the eye itself stays within the parameters of that person’s actual eye size. But in the first chapter of First Chronicle when Annette gets really pissed off her iris and pupil become one white circle with a very hard outline around it and her eye completely changes shape. This may be a stupid thing to groan over but I didn’t like it.
The second thing I don’t really like about First Chronicle is the whole class warfare thing that is currently going on. Freezing did have a lot of that itself it worked it out and moved on. Plus it stayed within the bounds of school class warfare. The upperclassmen looking down on the underclassmen, proper high school stuff. I know when I got into grade 10 I suddenly hated all the stupid fucking 9th graders everywhere. But First Chronicle goes straight to actual class warfare. In the first chapter Ticy is the gofer for girls in her same class because she is a zero pointer (girls in these schools are ranked in strength using a points system) but also because she comes from a family that is not as wealthy as any of theirs. In the first chapter when the queen bitch and her entourage try to induct Chiffon into their little clique they all introduce themselves and say what company their daddy runs. Chiffon then says her father is an regular salary man they all look like Chiffon just rip off someone’s arm and started beating them to death. The original series had some moments like that too, specifically whenever Louis was around, but those moments are either preceded or followed by some awesome fight scene, some really interesting story and most likely some tits. Probably because those moments happen after a few chapters. Here the moment is preceded by Ticy cutting someone with her FFVII sword and those tiny tits that just don’t satisfy. It seems that we are in for some really big fucking ass whooping in the next chapter or so, so that’s comforting. But that still doesn’t help make me feel wrong about that class warfare stuff.
But other than that, I do really like the series. While there are those few instances I talked about above, the characters feel like Freezing characters with their mix of slice of life high school students and deranged sociopaths just on the edge of snapping. I also do like the art, but just not as much as Kim’s. Like I said above Chiffon is a really interesting character to me in the main series and it will be great to see her cut loose with her giant metal claw thing and I’m starting to come around on Ticy as well. What little we have seen of her she was the stoic badass, not saying much and just kinda staring at people when she wasn’t imitating Cloud Strife. But here she is so shy and withdrawn and easily bossed around. I am looking forward to seeing Ticy become that badass over the course of this series. We are sure to get more 3rd years coming and I cannot wait to see what they are like as underclassmen.
Freezing: First Chronicle is currently being scanlated by For the Halibut, Vexed Scans and Sora Scans. It is two chapters deep and if you are a fan of Freezing I definitely recommend this series. If you’re not a fan, you should still check it out. It’s a great series that could turn you on to another great series.
Final Score: 4/5
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