Freezing and Fractale – Blood, Babes, and Blades: Otaku Trauma

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In this edition of Otaku Trauma, I’m going to talk about the first episodes of Freezing and Fractale, plus some quick news bites for your everyday [otaku] life.

The main title makes me want to sing the theme song from Jem for some reason…

Freezing Episode 1: Untouchable Queen

Realizing I said if the fanservice was too high in here I would disavow any knowledge of the series, I found my mind changed by three things:

1. I really like pointy weapons!  And there are SO MANY in the first episode alone!  Spears, arrows, long swords, broad swords, daggers, halberds…the pretty, sharp things blinded me.
2. Our main character says like…five words this entire episode.  Her sharp weapon does the talking (and by talking I mean slash slash hack hack stab stab)
3. Kazuya’s sister-complex is gonna be fun to watch.

Warning: there is some nudity, not recommended for those under the age of 16. There’s at least two shots of full toplessness and multiple shots of side toplessness.  You’ve been warned.

Our first glimpse of Satellizer is of her undressing…oh, dear lord, that’s not a good sign

Our main character, Satellizer L. Bridgette (the “Untouchable Queen”) is a one-man wrecking crew.  She also is a woman of few words (again, she says…5 altogether I think).  She is entirely too lethal to be believed.  Takes on 11 people at once!  Blows through the other students like they’re tissue paper!  Never been done before!

In case you didn’t get what I was driving at, Satellizer is SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME.  Who happens to resemble Kazuya’s sister from the back (in bright lighting) and also has the same nick name.  And same weapon.

What’s that? No this isn’t a Rahxephon wannabe…I don’t think…

As for the plot…aliens (called Nova) are invading Earth.  The Pandoras (genetically glitched humans with a special gene) are able to do some awesome thing where they have weapons.  For each Pandora there is a Limiter who acts as a bouncing board and can help nullify the Nova offensive abilities.

Like I said, I was blinded by the glittery pretty pointy weapons.

VERDICT: I’ll likely keep watching till my comfort level is compromised

+++

A world without war…G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate anyone?

Fractale Episode 1:  Encounter*

Clain lives a pretty idyllic life.  In a refreshing turn of events he ADMITS he lives an idyllic life and wouldn’t change it for anything.  First anime character I’ve met who’s content with his life.  Whether or not he’s in denial is put to the test later on, but at first he seems happy.

These are his parents–this world takes absentee parenting to a new level

One fateful night, however, a girl gets chased out of the sky, and, as any good guy does, he saves her from (what appears to be) the bad guys.  In return the girl, Phryne, is cryptic, asks a lot of weird questions, makes some questionable decisions, and seems excited at the prospect of Clain truly smiling again.

Looks kinda like a RPG Gone Wild huh?

After some ridiculousness with the “bad guys,” Phryne and Clain run off to the ruins to spend a chilly night under the stars.  When he wakes up she’s gone, and he grumbles about the problem with people today is that they just up and leave without care for others (hmmm, angst much?).  She did leave him a present, however, and after some messing around with it, well, it’s not quite what he thought it was.

VERDICT: It’s sweet and fantasy-filled, so I’ll watch it until the cavity comes in

(*) It should be pointed out you can view subbed episodes of Fractale from the Funimation site.

Point of Order: I’ll talk about the shows at random from now till the end of season, and at the end of the season I’ll do a full review

Domestic Anime News:
Arrietty the Borrower (aka Karigurashi no Arrietty), Studio Ghibli’s latest finished project (helmed by first time director Hiromasa Yonebayashi), will be getting a Northern American release in theaters!  According to producer Frank Marshall the voice cast includes: Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), David Henrie (Wizards of Waverly Place), Carol Burnett (do I really have to spell this one out?), Will Arnett (Running Wilde) and Bridgit Mendler (Good Luck Charlie).  No release date has been set. (thanks to The Ghibli Blog for the info!)

The Reason I Wished I Lived in Japan:
Japanese iTunes store with Production IG released an App where you can have the Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex folks as your music player.  GitS: SAC is one of my favorite animes; hell, yes, I wish I could do this! (thanks to AnimeNews.biz for making me cry and the news!)

New Releases I Want:
Black Butler (Kuroshitsugi) Season 1 Part 1 DVD set ($65).  Why?  I adore Lizzie?  But otherwise, because despite my misgivings on the fandom (way too many Sebastian/Ciel shippers out there), I love this manga and anime.  It’s pretty and gothic and Ciel is such a sadistic jerk I can’t help but love him.

Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded for the Nintendo DS($35).  Why?  Kingdom Hearts Addict.  You’re looking at the girl who imports the Japanese editions of the games for five seconds of extra material (that’s an exaggeration; it’s usually more).  And even though I can’t read Japanese (that well), I’ve played the American counterparts so often I remember what to hit from memory.  So yes. I need this.  With the recent release of the 3DS Kingdom Hearts trailer…well.  Let’s just say obsessively addicted doesn’t cover my love anymore.