English Dub Season Review: The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

For Himuro (Lee George), being a descendant of a snow spirit is tough at the workplace when your emotions can lead to snow blasts with snowmen and igloos. Any emotionally charged incident with coworkers can trigger it—conflict, fun, and in this case, romance. And with his lovely and calm coworker Fuyutsuki (Kristen McGuire), he gets more frozen, literally. Get ready for a snow-white office romance that blows in like a blizzard.

Our Take:

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague is an anime adaptation of the manga series written and illustrated by Miyuki Tonogaya. It is directed by Mankyū and produced by animation studios Zero-G and Liber. Tomoko Konparu wrote the screenplays, Miyako Kanō handled the character designs, and Ruka Kawada composed the music. The opening theme song is “Frozen Midnight” by Takao Sakuma, and the ending theme is “Rinaria” by Nowlu.

We all have different ways of expressing our feelings toward others, especially in specific cases when confronted by someone we really like. Although, they usually result in us being in a state of awkwardness if not planned accordingly. We get so excited that it leaves others uncomfortable, or we get so nervous that we wind up frozen in fear. For someone like Himuro, any expression can leave everyone feeling chilly. That is the case with this latest addition to the anime rom-com list that’s always known for warming people’s hearts amid their humorous scenarios.

I don’t usually watch shows and movies involving romance as much as others, but when I do, I occasionally have a good time watching people humorously attempting to make their relationships work. So after watching a couple of rom-com shows like Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out, I felt confident trying out the other ones from that genre involving unorthodox “will they, won’t they” relationships. That’s one reason I was eager to watch The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague. Another reason is the concept involving a combination between real life and fantasy and its approach for the main characters. Considering that I enjoy fantasy-related content and have an occasional soft spot for romance, how could I say no to this? 

Unsurprisingly, The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague features plenty of elements we’ve expected from other rom-com anime shows, mainly the “will they, won’t they” relationship between the main characters. The other aspect is the comedy, which consists of many awkward and embarrassing scenarios which others can misunderstand. In other words, it’s another series that delivers the teen-rated laughs and the heart of its seemingly impossible relationship. However, the amount of wholesomeness and tranquility it provides makes this one stand out from specific rom-com shows like Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out and Miss Nagatoro. 

Instead of focusing on its crude humor and sexual references, The Ice Guy relies more on its subtlety and charm to depict its budding romance between two shy coworkers in an alternate Japan. While it has some comedic moments amid its romance, they’re more genuine than loud, over-the-top, or obnoxious. Its intended tone and making the characters businesspeople instead of students may sound boring at first compared to the other energetic rom-com shows, but it isn’t. Instead, it’s a consistently engaging and relaxing series that uses its interesting take on the genre to provide a charming and often humorous love story within the business environment.

One of the things I enjoyed about the series is the characters, mainly Himuro and Fuyutsuki. Himuro is a descendant of the Snow Woman spirit who possesses ice magic controlled by his emotions. Whenever he gets overjoyed, upset, nervous, or even flustered, he causes blizzards around him or freezes anything he touches. So, he attempts to keep his composure while expressing his emotions in his inner thoughts. Himuro constantly struggles to control his abilities, especially when he’s around his younger sister Yukimi, yet strives to make Fuyutsuki happy. Fuyutsuki is a woman whose gentle personality usually turns off multiple people due to her lack of expression. However, she compensates for it with her generosity and beauty, resulting in her being accepted by her coworkers, including Himuro. Despite the characters’ cool-headed personas, they provide a warmhearted feeling that benefits from the show’s light-hearted nature and the dynamic between the colleagues.

Then, you have the supporting characters, who resort to the usual traits regarding the rom-com genre. First, you have the coworkers, Saejima (Austin Tindle) and Komori (Caitlin Glass), a descendant of the Fox spirit, who also have feelings for each other. Then there’s Katori, Himuro’s overly optimistic childhood friend who’s descended from the Phoenix and works as a salesman. He also has a crush on his manager Otonashi (Emily Fajardo) but has trouble confessing to her due to his childish personality. These characters offer the basics we’ve seen in the other shows, including wondering about Himuro and Fuyutsuki’s relationship in “A Day-Off Date and a Shared Game” and expressing feelings for each other. However, they provide enough enjoyable moments in their humor to make them pleasant distractions from the show’s central relationship, especially Katori and Komori.

I will also credit the series for providing near-perfect casting choices for its English dub version. One particular example is Kristen McGuire as Fuyutsuki. McGuire delivers a soothing and subtle vocal performance that perfectly matches Fuyutsuki’s soft and endearing personality, especially in scenes where she displays her generosity and awkwardness. As a result, McGuire became another strong example of an English dub being as good as the original version regarding the casting. Lee George also did very well manifesting Himuro’s contained personality and capturing his excitement for Fuyutsuki in his inner thoughts. Caitlin Glass and Austin Tindle also made a decent effort to make Komori and Saejima fun comic reliefs without straying too far into annoyance. 

From the technical aspect, the animation is produced by two studios: Zero-G and Liber. Zero-G is also known for producing other anime adaptations like Grand Blue and Farming Life in Another World. One of the best things to come out of its animation style is how it represents the beauty of the characters (mainly Fuyutsuki), the romance scenarios, and the environments. The series occasionally uses animation to display Fuyutsuki’s gorgeous appearance up close, especially when she’s wearing different clothing. This doesn’t come as a surprise since the anime world loves to show how beautiful and sexy its female characters are. Thankfully, The Ice Guy only focuses on using Fuyutsuki’s beauty to drive its narrative instead of portraying her as a one-dimensional sex object.  

Everything else regarding the style is just as gorgeous and serene as the main characters, mainly when Himuro unintentionally activates his ice magic. The scene in “Sleepover in the Storm” when Himuro accidentally transforms the river and trees into a winter wonderland is one of the better examples of its beautiful animation. It is truly a magnificent sight to behold. I also enjoyed the music by Ruka Kawada for matching the tone’s light-heartedness and tranquility.

Overall, The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague puts an icy and tranquil spin on the “will they, won’t they” rom-com tropes and its fantasy elements. The result is an overly charming and delightful addition to the genre that’s as cool as the colleagues themselves. Regarding its likable characters, voice cast, tranquil tone, and stunning animation, the latest romantic-comedy/fantasy series will have genre fans frozen in awe and joy. This is the show that I hope gets renewed for a second season, mainly because of my intrigue in the main characters’ relationship. More importantly, it is a nice breather from the usual rom-com shows involving crude humor and loud, wacky scenarios.