Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

I'm not going to mince words here, gentlemen. This right here is what is commonly referred to as an "orgasm of excellence". This series is so good it'll probably kill you by the time it's done. As in, this thing Gainax has made here can roughly fall under the definition of autoerotic asphyxiation. But that's just a summary of the show's quality as a whole, let's break this shit down:

PREMISE:

To put it plainly, the entire point of this show is to take the illusions otaku have surrounded themselves with for the last 10 years and annihilate them through a wanton, infinite assault of sex ... and Western style. This show is not Sora ga Otoshimaru Hime Desu Beats! or whatever the hell it is you people watch nowadays. This is about a gun-toting whore and her diabetic goth friend slashing and shooting giant monsters literally comprised of shit, armies of dead sperm soldiers and their especially polite and well-mannered rivals, and when they're not doing something like that they're getting into some other shenanigans which may or may not involve parodying Transformers. Oh yeah, they're Angels or something under the command of Black Dynamite and have Gir as their sidekick and have to collect coins by killing monsters to get back into Heaven. But honestly, who cares? There are panties in this show that turn into guns and it's funny as fuck.

Behind all this exquisite and sophisticated comedy is probably one of the most feminist morals ever, another thing that separates P&S from your average animu. Through the entire series, the female main characters do what they want, when they want, how they want while the male lead is useless, flaky and gets captured a lot. This motif boils down to "It's okay to be a bitch. Live free and if you screw up have a man clean up after you." As you can see, this show's driving message has all the modesty of its main duo. It's fantastic.

Also, that token Gainax ending. It's there and as wonderful as ever.

It's entirely episodic like a US cartoon, but with an overarching point. There are actually 26 episodes, but they're all 12 minutes long. Each episode is two episodes. That's right, this show has a 2x Quality Multiplier.

THEM GRAPHICS:

This show oozes with style that has pretty much never been tried before in the Eastern world. Think Dead Leaves (if you haven't seen this, take 40 minutes away from that time vampire Korean MMO I'm sure you have minimized in the corner and watch it. Dubbed only. It'll be the best thing you'll see all month) meets Power Puff Girls. The art and animation quality are as incredible as they are unique, using a potent blend of patented hand-drawn Imaishi scribbles, CGI and actual, real-life explosions at the end of each battle. The comic-styled on-screen sound effects from Dead Leaves also make a return here in full force, and they make the whole thing such a cool and unique experience. Another, minor thing I like is that the girls change clothes every episode, a subtle but welcomed touch that more cartoons should employ.

Oh yeah, it should be noted that this isn't an "ecchi comedy" (Those aren't funny or even passable as entertainment. If you came here looking for one of those and are now reading this review with a twisted expression of shock on your face, it should be noted that I personally and sincerely hate you and several things that look like you). Yes, there are more sex jokes than I've ever seen in a 12 minute cartoon segment, but the girls themselves are not fappable. That's the point. If something along the lines of "UNFAPPABLE ANIME GIRLS?! WHAT IS THIS" just escaped the blubber of your face, this isn't the show for you. In fact, most shows and animation in general isn't for you. As said in the previous section, this show was designed to be the antithesis of every ecchi moe series that has ruined anime in the last decade.
The punchline is that there are often scenes where Panty and Stocking become similar to standard, over-proportioned anime women to cocktease otaku, and there are people here who're actually going "i don't get it, why wasnt the whole show like that?". Jesus christ

THOSE CHARACTERS:

This won't be hard. We have /eight/ main characters in the show.

PANTY: She loves sex and violence. Her panties turn into a gun named Backlace. In episode 1, she banged four or five guys. I love Panty.
STOCKING: She loves sweets and goth frills, not to mention looking down on her sister's bad habits. "Serves you right! I hope you shit out all your organs! Hahaha!" Also her stockings turn into katanas and she has a bondage fetish. I love Stocking.
GARTERBELT: A large, angry, black afropriest who tries his hardest to make the derelict angels do their jobs. Dude is awesome and intense. Also, a pedophile.
CHUCK: literally Gir
BRIEF: The nerd who follows Panty around, the anime everyfan that the show makes fun of.

SCANTY & KNEESOCKS w/ FASTENER: Creating a beautiful parallel to our lustful and gluttonous heavenly duo(along with terabytes of more fan art), these two demonic siblings are just grand and add a much-needed team of villains for P&S to unknowingly beat each episode.


OH LORD THAT SOUNDTRACK:

Upon beginning this show, I got five seconds in. I hit stop. I hit play.
Yes, my brain said, the theme song is, in fact, electrorock "PANTY STOCKING, PANTY PANTY STOCKING YEOW!!"
As expected from a Gainax original series, this soundtrack is godlike and like Gurren Lagann's, it's extremely varied. The ED alone makes the whole thing worth getting.

The OST is out now btw. It's missing a few good tracks so gainax can release another one later for more $$$ or something though. Still, it's just swell.

TO SUMMARIZE:

Gainax is trollan' weaboos hardcore while simultaneously resurrecting the entire medium with Imaishi's bare, tired hands. If you like style, great music and actual humor then you'll probably like this a lot. Oh yeah, and it's easily a contender for Anime of the Year, right next to Rainbow, DRRR and Sym-Bionic Titan.

Truly a work of art, the only setback is that it isn't dubbed, and due to crunchyroll's indescribable faggotry, it won't be for a while. I have a strong feeling, that with a patented Funi gag dub(WHICH IS COMING IN 2012 OH MY GOD), this show's quality will burst into dimensions the human mind can't even acknowledge.

(editor's note 2013: the dub is great)

"So what's the point?"

The main argument as to why Panty & Stocking is a masterpiece are all embellished ways of saying "funny," "it's a parody," and "cool art." Some people go as far as to say that Panty & Stocking is actually genius scripting - a juxtaposition between today's current moe anime standard and hardcore "American pop culture." I've even come across the explanation that Panty & Stocking is "a new level of anime," one that doesn't require intricate or meaningful plot, characters, or story - essentially an anime that thrives on emotion and it's acute sense of humor.

That my friends, is complete bullshit.

Panty & ... Stocking is an anime that relies on swears, penis jokes, and violence as its selling point. Now many anime have capitalized on at least one of these points before and have succeeded (Detroit Metal City, Seitokai Yakuindono, and Baccano! in respective order). So Panty & Stocking tried to do all three simultaneously. I found this not only moronic, but offensive. Never before have I actually been ashamed of watching anime. I am a male, and I have even strapped myself to a chair and watched such titles as Boku no Pico, Bible Black, the Ghost Stories dub, and a high amount of other borderline disturbing anime and media with radical content and ideas and not ever have I felt what I felt when watching Panty & Stocking.
I felt stupid.
What do I mean by that? I mean that Panty & Stocking insulted my intelligence and grouped me in the level of humor that one would find in such riveting pieces of American glory like "Family Guy" and "Superjail." I personally watch anime because I view it as a medium that has great qualities that other media culture could learn from. I openly started Panty & Stocking with hopes that it would verily mock the troupes one could find in American media in a way that had not been done before. What I received was a trashbin of repetitive storylines combined with zero-dimensional characters that did nothing but yell about phallus's and excrement. The attempt on grasping American culture (even today's pop culture, which is what I believe Panty & Stocking wanted to poke fun at) disgusted me. Not once did I find the use of references to famous American films appropriate. Not only did the references have nothing to do with the episodes at hand, I felt that Panty & Stocking tried to take such references and use them as a tool of manipulation trying to coax viewers into thinking that Panty & Stocking was legitimately a smart piece of composition. I can easily see where people would be misled, that is with the art looking similar to various cartoons in America, Panty & Stocking must be a parody! Not at all. In fact, Powerpuff Girls had a stronger plot to begin with, and to even group this anime together with that cartoon would be slander to Craig McCracken. The animation may be new to Japan, but it has been seen before in cartoons, and it's been seen better so all exclamations like "The art is weird so it's good!" and "Different art just isn't appreciated!" are false. Gainax, one of the most acclaimed and profitable animation studios in Japan, truly abused the art style to boot. Watching only a few episodes you can see where corners were cut (which is extremely noticeable in episodes 10, 11, and 12.) A recap in a thirteen episode anime, should never be necessary. How is it that anime such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Monster, and Glass Mask, spanning over fifty episodes each never used a single recap episode in its main series, yet Gainax has the balls to put one in a thirteen episode /comedy/ series? Truly outrageous.

The characters in Panty & Stocking might as well have been pieces of shit or drivels of snot. Oh I must have forgotten. They are pieces of shit and drivels of snot. Nearly every antagonist, save the demon sisters whom I will touch upon in a moment, makes the characters from Mars of Destruction look creative. They exist solely to be discarded, and even worse, to swallow precious moments of your time away. The demon sisters who are introduced halfway through the series actually shined a beam of light down onto this hellhole of a production, but only briefly. They were first brought into play standing for everything that Panty and Stocking opposed and after their episode had ended, I hoped for more episodes similar to theirs to occur. But what do I get? A conflict that builds between the antagonists and protagonists for one episode, and then the demon sisters regress into Team Rocket. Never again are the demon sisters relevant as antagonists and most of the proceeding episodes are focused on them releasing some sort of monster and then failing as they fly into the sky. Now the supporting characters might as well be called the crippling characters, because that is really all they do to the overall story. Garterbelt does nothing but hinder the story and abuse the stereotypical "all priests are gay child molesters." If this was meant to be a way to confront the issue in the Vatican, it failed, and if it was meant to be a funny comment on the church's political standpoint, then well, it failed again. Garterbelt assumes the role of mentor to Panty & Stocking but ultimately ends up being a total eyesore and teaches the protagonists nil. And then there's Chuck who is likened by many to Gir from the Invader Zim series. The main difference between the two is that Gir was actually funny. I really don't think I have to go into much detail on Chuck's character design because all he says is Chuck and is then squashed by a larger object. He plays absolutely no role at any point in the series, but there exists an episode in which he is the focus. After watching this episode I was very much tempted to sign up for lessons in Japanese so I could write angry letters to the writer in his native language begging him to quit his career in animation and move onto a medium that won't suffer from his obvious mental deficiency. Then is the character named Brief, who portrays the cliched disgusting otaku with no merits other than his apparently large penis. His atrocious character design is only overshadowed by Panty's single trait - how much of a gigantic unlovable disease infested whore she is. Both her and Stocking are obvious fodder for prepubescent virgin teenagers attracted to the sheer idea of sex. I would even go as far as saying that if this anime did not contain explicit transformation scenes in which characters remove their undergarments it would be nowhere near as acclaimed as it is. That is to say, the fanbase consists of perverts striving to find some deeper meaning in their anime which they try to defend by explaining that if you don't like it, then you must have a poor sense of humor or need to "loosen up." Compare Panty & Stocking to Mitsudomoe - both anime including large amounts of sexual content used as jokes - Mitsudomoe has characters that possess qualities beyond "she likes sweets" and "a huge bitch" though. Panty & Stocking can't actually even compete with Mitsudomoe on a scale larger than sex jokes, because the characters and story are so disabled that it merely strives to fill the void with even more moments of mediocrity. I don't find Panty & Stocking unfunny because it doesn't suit my humor, I find it unfunny because there is no humor to begin with.

Then there's the canon discontinuation. Anyone who tries to makes sense of the abominable ending or any one of the episodes all together deserves to have themselves locked into a sanitarium. Another reviewer describes the two eleven minute episodes per episode as a "times two multiplier" but I would I disagree and say that it's actually a divided by two denominator. The split episodes merely reflect the inconsistency and the lack of coherency that Panty & Stocking exclusively has. One moment the entire cast is zombified, the next everyone is on the beach being sexually violated by sea monsters. Not ever will the story amount to anything beyond not having one.

The sound in Panty & Stocking, I will cede, is very good. The ending song, performed by Lisa, is wonderful and regrettably has very little to do with the anime. In the ending sequence a scene that appears to be a vague backstory on both Panty & Stocking exists, and alas once more, Gainax turned their noses away from such a sweet smelling idea. Even cartoons for the youngest of children have stories explaining the origination of their characters. Dora the Explorer had more character development than Panty & Stocking. Beyond the ending are numerous in episode tracks, whilist very enjoyable, I felt that many of them were overplayed and often unfitting (I can recall about four episodes ending with the song that includes the lyrics "Clap your hands.") The opening is closest thing to piece of satirical work - the song is a shout-out to all cartoons which only repeat the characters name over and over again.

Now if you've actually read this far, I believe you've come to the conclusion that I hate Panty & Stocking. If you thought anything but that, then you're wrong, because I detest Panty & Stocking more than a Red Sox fan from Boston hates the Yankees. It is an insult to the medium of anime almost as much as is when someone says "You like anime? Then you must love anime porn," and I will end this review saying Panty & Stocking does nothing but encourage statements like that. It gives a foul name to anime, for it lacks the fineness that geniuses like Tezuka and Kon worked themselves to death to bring us. When it comes to Panty & Stocking, I am disturbed with anime being associated with it.

And for people who may find this review too serious and that I must not have "understood the point" of this show I would like to say that I did not miss the point. You just made up a point yourself, because this anime lacks one.

If you're going to watch this show, you should know a few things right off the bat:

It is a not a sophisticated series.

As an anime in general, its selling point is not a deep and compelling story with fleshed out characters, exploring various philosophical issues in order to deliver a good message.

As a comedy anime, its humor is not very classy. Its laughs are not derived from insider knowledge (well, most of them) or sublime writing.

So what exactly is the appeal of this anime, you ask?

... In Gainax's own words, "vulgar and indecent jokes".

This is usually not a good selling point for anything, because honestly potty humor is very rarely an effective form of comedy. It is quite possible you will not find this series appealing even if you legitimately give it a try. That's fine.

However if you're anything like me, you'll find the result is surprisingly entertaining and one of Gainax's best (if strangest) shows.

The refuge in vulgarity works fantastically, and the numerous references to western animation/movies, slick animation, awesome music, zany characters, and blatant abuse of engrish makes for a very fun experience; if you've ever played Conker's Bad Fur Day, it's very similar. it's honestly one of the most entertaining anime I have seen in a long time. In typical Gainax fashion, the ending will involve you tearing your hair out.

This is a very love or hate series; either you will find it fun as hell or you'll hate it and find it a disgusting waste of animation cells. I'd at least give it a try, but you should know what to expect before you watch it.

Out of all shows that have been presented in Fall 2010, it seems there is no show like Panty and Stocking which has so decisively split viewer opinions into clear cut groups that either believe it's the best thing that's ever happened since sliced bread, or have banished it to the depths of utter disdain. The question I ask right now and will answer in this review is if one or even both sides are justified.

First thing that one should wonder is what this show was trying to accomplish. I'm not a fan of Gainax, and thus I am not extremely acquainted with their ... works. However it's pretty apparent that Gainax was trying to do something that would be different. What they have isn't a complicated or redeeming story. Far from it. The two main characters Panty and Stocking are impulsive and obsessed with sex and sweets respectively. That's all there is to the main characters, and that never changes throughout the show. The most development you ever see from the story or characters is in the priest Garterbelt, who is given a moderately interesting backstory in one episode complete with some decent use of dramatic and comedic elements. Outside of that, the show cannot be praised for its plot and characters alone. For the most part, the show progresses episodically more or less simply because there is a lack of a cohesive plot.

Given that the show is really not aiming to please its audience with traditional story elements, the main option remaining is clearly humor. Probably one of the biggest factors in creating split opinions among viewers (aside from the deliberately shallow plot) is the decision of the show to choose crude and vulgar humor as its primary form of entertainment. Now please do not take this the wrong way. Crude and vulgar humor alone doesn't ruin a show, but at the same time, there is in fact a right way to do it so that it actually is entertaining. The way I see it, P&S both fails and succeeds simultaneously in this department.

The way P&S fails at humor comes down to how at least half the time, the jokes have nothing to do with anything in the plot. The perfect example of this is Panty's Engrish profanity. You should be ashamed of yourself if you find it funny, because it really doesn't serve any purpose and has no relevance to anything that actually happens. A lot of extremely brief references to pop culture all around the world are made throughout the series, and they might as well not exist since again, virtually none of them have any relevance to anything that happens as Panty and Stocking are destroying things, indulging in worldly desires, playing volleyball, showing off as idols, etc.

On the good half of humor however, some of the show's mini plots do in fact turn out to be truly entertaining and original. Part of the originality comes through the amazing production alone. By itself, the concept of sperm soldiers on a mission to enter the womb might only raise brows at best (given that particular concept has definitely been done at least once by Family Guy as I recall, and only god knows what South Park hasn't covered), but it's the imagination of the developers that truly brings such a concept and a few others to life with vibrant colors, eye catching motions/effects, and sweated detail where it counts. P&S's art style is a bit unusual, comparable more to that of western animation as opposed to what is commonly used in anime. The almost bouncy object designs however work perfectly for this series, which tries its best to be unafraid of venturing into dangerous territory that no other group (besides Gainax presumably) would dare lay eyes upon. It's fair to say that the times that P&S does come up with something original, it is genuinely well presented.

Towards the latter half of the series, while P&S never truly abandons trying to come up with more and more of these good and bad mini-plots, an attempt to create an actual plot direction occurs, but this is extremely brief and intermittent. This isn't to say that there was any extra legitimate plot or character development. However post-introduction of the demon sisters, the quality of action scenes goes from decent to astounding during several interactions between the conflicting angels and demons. Again, the plot and characters really can't be praised for much, but it's at least apparent that Gainax is trying, and it shows in how detailed and well scripted some of the fights become.

All in all, I feel the biggest problem with P&S is consistency. What I believe Gainax was trying to accomplish was anything but a simple task. Being "different" especially in a day and age where there are uncountable records for every original concept that has ever existed is a tall order. Was Gainax trying to be funny? Were they in the end actually trying to make a new kind of story? Or were they just trolling everyone? It doesn't seem far off that they were probably going for a combination of all three, and that resulted in sacrifices in certain areas, or times where they simply just ran out of really good ideas.

All in all, P&S does have its moments, both good and bad, and generally it will be easy for most people to focus on either the good things or the bad things, but not both. To its credit though, it is different. Ultimately I would personally look towards American sitcoms, probably South Park in particular if you're looking for something actually funny. Otherwise it is up to you to decide where your tastes lie when considering this show.

This show is awful. Its so low brow, anyone with half a brain will turn away and go watch something good like Bakemonogatari.

Everything in this show is "LOL SEX JOKES" "LOL LOOK BLONDE IS A SLUT, I GET IT" "HURR DURRRR PENIS AND VAGINAS" "xDDDD TOILETZ GUYS YAH!."

I am afraid that Gainax has officially become a shit studio. First, they make that awful toddlercon loli bullshit, and now this? What the hell happened to the great studio that made my brilliant Gurren Lagann, Gunbuster/DieBuster, and FLCL? I'll tell you what happened, they are trying to appeal to the masses, i.e. abandoned all ... integrity. They need to "REPENT," as Panty or Stocking say in the show.

So yeah, to be completely honest, this anime offends me. Not a single thing about it didnt offend me. Its so bad I felt its needed that I tell everyone that its an abomination and I cant even be nice about it. Now here comes why...

Story - None, this is an episodic series with no progression in site. It follows the same plot every time, something goes wrong and it a ghost's fault so the protagonists must stop it. there's nothing beyond this format to be seen.

Art - Its a poor attempt of taking Cartoon Network cartoon styles like PowerPuff Girls and throwing a bit ... of Japanese style in there. Its nothing new, even the pet dog, Chuck, is a rip off of GIR from Invader Zim. Green dog, black ears and a zipper, drawn somewhat differently but obviously refers to that.

Sound - The music in general is almost the best part about the series, its not totally bad at some points while others once again try to twist the nipple of western culture leaving it weeping and violated.

Character - The characters are as one dimensional as you can get.
Panty - A sex crazed bitch
Stocking - Sweets loving bitch
Garterbelt - their boss and a gay priest
Chuck - a spastic non-important dog

None of these characters show any traits beyond this, they dont ever develop and it doesnt seem like it ever will.

Enjoyment - The attempt at humour was abhorrent. It attempted to use western humour and failed...miserably. It threw in at a non-stop rampage of vulgarities, sexual and bathroom humour to the point it has no meaning or general punchline. It angered me, Ive watched plenty of anime and cartoons in various genres and this series really falls out as so far the worst.

Overall - Its depressing that GAINAX had its hands in this. As a fan of their works its sad to see them spiral downwards with more and more sub-par works. This has hit rock bottom. This anime is so bad I cannot even produce a counter argument so I can show that I can be reasonable about this.

Unless you are forced to watch it, don't.

"Fuck if I have a clue." -Panty
I'm not one to normally start off a review with a quote, but from my perspective nothing summed up this show quite so perfectly. Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is the anime parody of western cartoons. To put it accurately, you take the Powerpuff Girls and cross them with South Park. The result, an amalgamation of crude humor, sex jokes, false ecchi, monsters of the week, Team Rocket, and two "Angels" who may just be the antithesis of angels. Allow me to say that it was fucking incredible.

Story: ???
Yeah, I'm not really certain of how I should label ... this aspect of the show. I mean, c'mon, you read the description, what the fuck is this? How can I possibly score that? It's a bit easier to talk about it rather than apply a numerical value. The story on it's own is fairly solid, our two bitches with halos have to fight big monsters throughout the city to try and get back to heaven. The specifics have a flare of creativity about them, but the basic concept is nothing even remotely new (not that it's trying to be). I won't deny that after two or three episodes this unoriginal concept started to feel pretty damn stale. The monsters and their respective renditions of chaos certainly did not provide a reason to watch this show. This does change for a little while when the monster of the week scenario is coupled with Team Rocket's nefarious plans to enact evil upon the city, through the use of weekly monsters. I say Team Rocket but really they're just a group with the exact same dynamic as team rocket (this is a parody show). The entry of this evil trio also eventually felt stale because the question of "what's their plan and how is it going to fail" can only hold one's interest for so long. But ultimately, the monsters and nefarious stratagems are not why we're supposed to watch this show.
Oh, and fuck Gainax endings. That one after-credits scene didn't happen until they decide to announce another season. I'm fairly certain that the studio was just delivering us with a pointed jab in reference to their reputation, but honestly, fuck that.... >.>

Art: 8
The art style is just like what we 90's kids (and older) used to watch on Saturday mornings. It sustains a cartoonish feel from the character designs to the panoramic shots of the city. The action is balls-to-the-walls and over the top with big explosions and bold faced text. What's so bloody amusing about having this art-style is the fact that this show is still an ecchi, but the art-style prevents sexual arousal in any format whatsoever. Sorry guys, you'll have to look elsewhere to get your fix. Parodying the ecchi aspect of anime by using western styles is honestly rather brilliant, but with that said, I wasn't a fan of it. Throughout the show we occasionally see an abrupt change in animation style. The only recurring instance of this is when our two Angels undergo a "magical girl outfit change" of sorts. The animation adopts the modern anime style and showcases the girl's removing their signature garment in a lewd fashion, all the while being next to a stripping pole. This serves as a tease of sorts to the audience with the creators taunting us by saying: "Heh heh heh, look what you DON'T get to see." The reason why I disliked the cartoonish feel prevalent throughout most of the series is because I don't think it added anything. I do not believe incorporating that style was a bad-idea, this is meant to be a parody show through and through, but I would have preferred a balance between how the show was drawn. The initial fun of seeing that manner of art with the anime influence lost its charm after the first few episodes. Throw an episode of cartoon here and original there, maybe incorporate one episode meant to be like Gurren Lagann or any other anime with a distinctive method of animation. They could have parodied other anime along with the western cartoons. Beyond the modern anime design we occasionally got art reminiscent of Transformers, South Park, and even a 1/2 episode that almost looked akin to rotoscoping (I'm not entirely sure if that was the method they used, an eye for art is not my forte).
The actual quality of the art is a bit difficult for me to judge, but I am going to say it was very solid on the whole. It was simple, but I never picked up on any instances where the animation seemed choppy or distorted, the overall quality seemed consistent throughout the entirety of the 13 episodes.

Sound: 10
The soundtrack is surprisingly awesome. I never would have imagined that this little parody could produce a genuinely good musical score. Featuring a heavy amount of electronica that blends perfectly with the feel of the show. A few of these tracks quickly found their way into my musical library.
The true standout aspect of the sound however is most definitely the English dub. At this point the dub has become rather famous, sticking true to the parody aspect, a HEAVY abundance of crude humor and profanity is draped over the dialogue. I'm not one to instantly say that swearing=humor, but in this scenario it is a concept that works beautifully. Adding in a few "fucks" every sentence isn't a good recipe on it's own, thankfully Funimation pulled out their A-game to present us with an excellent cast to accompany the profanity ridden dialogue. With Jaimie Marchi and Monica Rial at the helm, Cristopher Sabat as first mate, and Joel Mcdonald as the cabin boy, the respective performances of Panty, Stocking, Garterbelt, and Brief were positively stellar. The supporting cast also did fantastic as well, Cherami Leigh and Colleen Clinkenbeard as the demon sisters were particularly memorable as their haughty arrogance and composure in the face of ridiculousness provided a hilarious dichotomy. Though I do give special applause towards Monica Rial for playing Stocking. Not necessarily because her voice-work was more impressive, but rather due to the fact that Stocking is juxtaposed to nearly every other role Rial is cast in. On most occasions Rial is employed by playing the sweet and kind characters with the high pitched voice and lovable demeanor. Sure, Stocking has the high pitched voice, but when her first line is "Fuck off! Don't talk to me till I've had my sugar!" Damn it all, we're in for a treat.

Character: 9
Haha, oh damn, these characters. To start this off let's talk about the two Angel sisters, or the two hoe-bags, hookers, cum-dumpsters, etc, etc. Just think of a derogatory name generally applied to females and these two are likely called it at some point or another. Panty and Stocking Anarchy, the two seem to be the personification of Lust and Gluttony (respectively), which is a bit ironic considering they're you know, ANGELS. Panty is the blonde, sex obsessed slut. She loves taking the spotlight and is generally more rude than her sister, employing a higher amount expletives and bearing a persona with a vast increase in crudeness. Stocking is the goth angel with an unparalleled love for sweets. She's a bit more calm than her older sister, though she is definitely capable of outbursts due to rage. She is masochistic and though no where near as addicted to sex as Panty (she prefers to be a bit of a tease), she is far from innocent. You can draw quite a few parallels between their personalities and their names. Panty who is far more outright, with removing one's panties being effect simile of an invitation for sex. And Stocking, the more tame sister with a tendency to tease, and removing one's leggings is more of a teasing aspect. A not so subtle interplay between character names, designs, and their personalities.
You also have Garterbelt, the splendiferous, afro-wearing preacher that serves as the caretaker of Panty and Stocking. He's constantly annoyed and exasperated with the Sister's antics, and insulting them is their primary form of interaction. For being a preacher he's quite amoral, but when you have angels like Panty and Stocking, who the fuck knows what religion we're dealing with.

Enjoyment: 9
This is honestly one of the best comedy anime I have ever seen in my life. I felt like I was watching a brilliantly scripted and acted abridged series as opposed to a legitimate production. The dialogue is so foul and outrageou the entire show was a goldmine for one-liners. I'm certain that I'll have to go back and rewatch the show a few times just to ensure I didn't miss anything while laughing. The pop-culture references littered throughout the dialogue added an extra dose of hilarity as it ensured the jokes never got too stale . References like referring to the View as "Four bitter lesbians".
If I had to name one aspect that I didn't enjoy it would have to be the pervasive amount of toilet humor. I reach a threshold where jokes about shit, vomit, piss, and picking one's nose aren't funny (said threshold generally being one joke). I understand that the creators were taking a no-holds-barred approach, but it got stale very, very quickly. Luckily, even when these odious elements took center stage, the dialogue not pertaining to the vileness that permeated the scene salvaged the episode on the whole.

Overall: 9
This oddball of a show is certainly deserving of a nine. You have to rate it on a certain scale, but for what it was trying to accomplish it was approaching perfection. Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is a peculiar comedy that should honestly be watched by anyone who has ever laughed at a joke from South Park.

Eh, what's wrong with you people hating PanSto? Why did you watch this at first rate? What did you expect of it?
As for me, i expected nothing less from Gainax. We all knew that it will be a good anime which will include "PowerPuff Girls" and "Dead Leaves" in it, that it will be a bit of fanservice, but... BUT GAINAX, I LOVE YOU, you just made my morning with it - it was higher-higher-higher of all my expectations. PanSto just made of win.
If you don't like shit, sex and sluts - just don't watch that. I don't wanna see anymore of you who ... read annotations and watched it anyway.
It has good stand-alone art, SUDDEN opening and SUDDEN ending; this ED just adds some humor, if you think about WHY so good song is the ending of THIS anime and not the ending of some slice of life or shoujo.
Just sit back, enjoy and laugh as you can.

Overview:

There are certain opinions that are accepted on MAL, and certain opinions that stir up lots of anger. Certain anime series can't be praised and others can't be criticized without creating an absolute hailstorm of "unhelpfuls". I don't mean to come across as a mean spirited contrarian and kick any sacred cows, but I have to be honest. This is one of my least favorite anime comedy series. I don't think I laughed once the entire time. That's an accomplishment! I'm pretty easy to make laugh. YES, I understand that the director intended the series to parody the crass stupidity of American comedy and show ... what American comedy feels like to a Japanese audience. The problem is that this is NOT a good parody/spoof of American stupidity. It is just a very lazy and totally ineffectual copy of it. Mike Judge's Idiocracy with the short "film" OW My Balls! was a parody. Panty and Stocking is just like watching a bottom 50% episode of Family Guy or a bottom 10% episode of South Park where Trey and Matt are really off their game that week. I don't actually hate Hiroyuki Imaishi and I KNOW that he can do better, but this series simply wasn't one of his best efforts.

Plot and character: 2/10:

There is no real engaging plot obviously. The basic premise is that 2 naughty girl angels get kicked out of Heaven and must use lingerie items as weapons in order to fight ghosts and eventually buy their way back into heaven with the requisite number of award points. To be frank, the plot to Ren and Stimpy was better than this! Panty and Stocking is highly episodic in nature and each episode is as painfully unfunny as the last. The characters are insanely obnoxious, unfunny, and have none of the appeal of the characters in South Park, Family Guy, or any of the shows that this allegedly is spoofing. This is NOT coming from someone who thinks Family Guy is a well written show BTW. I HATE Family Guy! I just happen to hate Panty and Stocking a LOT more. Why? Because Family Guy can on very rare occasion still make me laugh, unlike this giant shit monster! Did anyone else think the Giant Shit Monster in episode 1 was an allusion to the show itself? The thought certainly crossed MY mind.

Art: 6/10

The art is actually pretty decent. It is a long way from the best Gainax is capable of, but it is clearly the highlight of the series for what its worth.

Enjoyment: 1/10

There are few things in life worse than sitting through a comedy that's extremely unfunny. This is like watching a version of "Meet the Spartans" that lasts for 6 hours!

Overall: 3/10

So what could this series have done differently? Could it have been saved and remade to actually be funny? The answer to this previous question is YES! Panty and Stocking has plenty of potential, but it was highly flawed in its execution. Firstly, the 2 main characters are simply WAY too annoying. It is acceptable to have a comedy with a fairly annoying protagonist, but there is a certain line in the sand where once you cross it, the comedy becomes un-watchable. This is why nobody liked The Love Guru, Freddy Got Fingered, or Biodome. If the characters just grate on your every nerve, 100% of the time they are on screen, it stops being funny and starts becoming an absolute chore to watch. Secondly, Panty and Stocking really needed to better develop its own sense of humor, more like Imaishi's other works Gurren Lagann and Inferno Cop. There is a difference between "homage", "spoof", and lazy ripoff. This felt like a lazy ripoff. Lastly, Imaishi's high energy absurdist humor can quickly begin to wear on the viewer's nerves. Much like Seth McFarland's style of comedy, it can be decent in small doses and VERY annoying in large doses. Panty and Stocking would have massively benefited from having much shorter episodes in the style of Imaishi's later work Inferno Cop.

TLDR: If you want a goofy Hiroyuki Imaishi anime, please skip this one and go watch Inferno Cop instead. You will be very glad you did!

What's more important? Dazzling animation or a gripping story?
Well Gainax definitely chose animation over everything with PSG.

STORY: It's about two fallen angels, Panty and Stocking, who got kicked out of heaven and are now trying to work their way back by defeating ghosts by using their namesake items (a pair of panties that transforms into a gun,and stocking socks that transform into swords) to combat them and to try to earn coins so they can return back, all in a episodic rate.

Well that's pretty much the gist of the plot.

This is also, by the way, a comedy... a very rauchy, gross, and repeatative one in ... fact.
Panty's intire joke throughout each episode is "Oh boy am I a slut," that's even her character. While Stocking is a goth loli girl (Well dresses like one) who loves sweets, who doesn't seem to have anything else that would be considered interesting about her character.
All Panty really does is remind you is she a total slut, and has sex in every episode. Well that is, unfortunately, the anime's signature run on joke.

With lots of cursing, sex jokes, and very gross situations (Panty gets literally covered in shit in the first episode, and is also a slut, in case you haven't heard me the first time, because the anime won't let you forget and neither will I) some would say this is like South Park. However South Park is actually funny and can be very smart satire (When it's not being gross or even when it's gross), award winning satire in fact, while PSG is just run on gags and gross toilet humor, it's more like a rauchier, gross, adult version of the powerpuff girls.

There's really nothing redeeming or creative about this anime EXCEPT-

ANIMATION: -This is some of the most awe inspiring animation that even people who complain about Japan does nothing different with animation will be left with their jaws dropping to the ground, but the whole transformation pole dancing scenes (Yeah you read that right, oh yeah, Panty's also a slut) are just there to be models for obvious figurines to market off of, but does feature incredible animation for said scenes.
And when Panty and Stocking defeat a ghost, it does a live action sequence where a model of the ghost gets blown up, which only adds to uniqueness of the animation direction.
Very gutsy and highly experimental animation, though many will be turned off by it, more will be turned off by it's so called plot.

SOUND: Very catchy background music and a great ending theme song.
The opening theme though, I found it annoying to say the least.
Though it was amusing to hear the characters swear in english, the dialogue is highly offensive and can be just as gross as it's subject matter.

OVERALL:
The Good:
+ Great Animation, something totally bizarre yet inspiring.
+ Catchy Music, specifically the ending theme song.

The Bad:
- Repetitive comedy that only rely on low brow humor.
- Very gross, The first episode alone is disgusting.
- Story?
- Highly Offensive to all audiences.

PSG, is the amazing animation and catchy music worth it to keep people watching? For me, no way in hell (Though I can see myself visiting it again, oh yeah and reminder: Panty's a slut), but this is something that will definitely get a cult following for sure.
The story and comedy are uninspiring and annoyingly repetitive, and is quite disappointing from the same studio who produced FLCL, Gurren Lagann, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but this is (surprisingly) something I would reccomend anyone to check out for the animation alone and ultimately let you decide if it's worth your time or not.

WARNING: This review contains mature language and content that may not be acceptable for all readers.

Panty and Stocking is a unique anime in the sense that in not only has some of the fastest jokes I've ever seen in an anime, but this is the dirtiest, sluttiest, grossist, most foul mouthed anime I've ever seen, including hentai!!!

Story: The story is your basic monster-of-the-week story with Panty and Stocking fighting a different ghost in each episode and each ghost having his own unique powers. However, I will point out that because this is such a short anime, the episodical nature of the story doesn't wear ... you down as much as it would for animes with 100 episodes or more.

Also, I don't want to spoil anything, but by the final episodes the story gets much more climatic and you have to keep watching to the end.

Characters: I can describe Panty and Stocking in one word, "bitches". If you search the words "Angel + Bitch", Panty and Stocking will be the first things to pop-up. However, I love Panty and Stocking because they're bitches! I love watching them argue, I love watching them neglecting their responsibilities, I love watching Stocking eat sugar and Panty hump every man that walks down the street. I can't explain it, but if Panty and Stocking actually behaved like angels this anime wouldn't be anywhere near as good!

I also love the side characters. I love watching Garterbelt scream at Panty and Stocking for not doing their jobs, I love how Brief is so hopelessly in love with Panty, and Panty and Stocking's enemies, Skanty and Kneesocks, I love them too because they're the complete opposite of Panty and Stocking as in they're both behaved, polite, intelligent, and demonic.

I would've liked this anime more if it was a slice-of-life instead of action. My favorite episode of the anime is when Panty and Stocking just spend the whole episode just hanging out in their living room eating junk food and watching TV.

However, the one thing I didn't like about this anime was the gross-out humor. Panty and Stocking fight a ghost made of poop, a ghost made of snot, a ghost made of sperm, a ghost made of vomit, a ghost that ate people's underwear, and a ghost that shot milk from her boobs. That was too over the top for my taste :(

Overall: If you are at least 17 years old, then watch this anime immediately! It was funny and it had great unforgettable characters! Also, make sure you keep watching to the end because the ending is amazing!

Gainax decides to take on Western media and produces some interesting results.

As always, my reviews are spoiler free.

Story - 3/10

Panty and Stocking, a pair of angel sisters are rejected from heaven due to their questionable natures. In order to get back in, they must kill ghosts to collect heaven coins. It seems like a pretty simple story, and that's because it is; each episode (with a few exceptions) is divided into two halves, each killing a ghost wreaking some sort of havoc in the city. This havoc is usually directly involved with some sort of crude humor (the tissue factory has been ... taken over so men can't "relieve their frustrations, all of the city's sewer waste has been possessed, etc.). Panty and Stocking will show up and, with an interesting incantation and poll-dancing mahou shoujo transformation sequence, destroy the ghost with their weapons made out of their... panties and stockings. There really isn't so much fighting as their are one liners.

This is a comedy anime, but not the average one. It relies almost entirely on dirty jokes, which can get old pretty quickly. On the other side of the heaven coin, however, there are many witty scenes and parodies to appreciate. A favorite of mine was sperm soldiers assaulting a beach with a certain "mound" being their final goal. Therefore, we have a mixed bag of stale sex and bathroom humor and relatively thoughtful parody, although the former certainly dominates the show.

Animation - 7/10

The animation is totally different from any other anime I have seen. Many say it is like South Park, but I would say it looks much closer to cartoons like Invader Zim. It is likely going to be a very polarizing factor, but I liked it. They will occasionally change the art style to a more traditional anime or chibi style for various purposes (meaning sex appeal or comedy). Overall, I liked the change of pace, with a nice color pallet and comic book sound effects written into the backgrounds.

Sound - 9/10

Whether or not you enjoy the humor or animation of the show, most people would agree that the soundtrack for this show is superb. I want to also mention in this section that the dub would be far superior to native English speakers. I found the Japanese audio with subtitles to be totally unfunny, but the banter between Panty and Stocking is much more entertaining in English, profanity and all.

Character - 7/10

Panty, Stocking, and Garterbelt are not particularly good characters in their own right. However, when they are combined together, the situations they get themselves into can prompt some hilarious dialog. The arguments between the sisters are brutal but funny, and Garterbelt's attempts to keep the two in check never go as planned. Each of the characters has a few overarching personality traits. Panty is completely sex crazed (her goaling being to sleep with 1000 men on earth before returning to heaven) and lazy in her ghost killing duties. Stocking's adoration for sweets is unbelievable, but she is the more serious of the two in both daily life and ghost killing. While she is not a total whore like Panty, she shows strange interest in the opposite sex and is into some exotic bedroom activities, like bondage and electrocution. Garterbelt doesn't act like the priest he is in any way, other than the stereotype of enjoying... younger company. Together, they make a good comedy trio. The other characters are essentially useless.

Enjoyment - 5?/10

How much you enjoy this show will depend entirely on how much you like the characters and if you like the crude humor. I liked the characters, but not so much the humor.

Other Thoughts

-You will probably like this show if you enjoy Western cartoon aimed towards adults.
-It contains a large amount of crude humor, foul language, and sexual themes.
-Watch the dub (another strange exception to my Japanese language preference).

Do you think you’ve seen everything in entertainment that would make you wide-eyed in disbelief in its various forms of hedonism and debauchery? I’ve got one show for you to feast your eyes on, and, to no surprise, it is thanks to Gainax, by the lead people responsible for Gurren Lagann, unsurprisingly. The name of this title is Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. If you think I use the terms hedonism and debauchery in any negative fashion, trust me when I say it molds those two things into one glorious package.

A way to describe Panty and Stocking, in a nutshell, is to think of ... the show as Japan’s answer to western animated TV shows, particularly in America. They are open about the aesthetics of the animation and art style it encompasses that feel right at home to some of Gainax’s wackier creations. Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi has once again managed to pull off more of his balls out creativity with Panty and Stocking. The creative process that he most likely had in mind for Panty and Stocking would be, “What if I made a sexual and vulgar version of a Looney Tunes cartoon?”

If you were to watch it all verbatim, those cartoons have some influences with the humor in their pacing and visuals. Jokes that involve having sex with multiple guys at once, abortion, strippers, masturbation, gluttony, and toilet humor aren’t exactly for the faint of heart. Fast-paced animation fits very well with that style of comedy because of the general nature of those aspects combined. Primarily since the humor generally features slapstick antics between our main characters. With Panty and Stocking, it manages to make most of the jokes work without having them rely on redundant situations in each episode. They all depend on the racy writing and how they intertwine with witty charisma from our two main protagonists and the rest of the cast.

I would start by analyzing the plot of Panty and Stocking as I do with every review, but what plot is there to be given this treatment? This is, by and large, an episodic formula that mostly follows two parts each episode that follow a specific type of theme. There’s not much in terms of character growth for Panty or Stocking, but it is, in essence, a show that wants to be up-in-your-face with its attempts at being crazy and nonsensical. Usually, this would be a problem if the comedy only works half the time, yet Panty and Stocking manage to prove themselves exceptions to this rule. I’ve already mentioned how great the humor works, and it does not skip a lot of beats in keeping them feeling fresh. Hell, one plot arc involves Panty and Stocking sitting on a couch doing nothing but going about their day. No intense battles take place, no nothing, and it managed to be still delightfully humorous as the rest, considering that it’s so different in tone.

Characters range from the painfully awkward and downright insane in the personality range. Either way, most of them possess many qualities from their personalities to make them lovable, at least with our two leading ladies. That is not to say the rest are mediocre by any stretch, but they are not as attention-grabbing visually or verbally speaking. Garterbelt is still good from his pretty funny attempts at trying to keep both Panty and Stocking in check from having too much fun from their respective duties. The “nerd” of the cast, Rock Briefers, is funny on occasion, especially with one moment involving him on a toilet. Numerous side characters crop up from every direction and fill in their roles with the amount of screen time needed.

Now onto the main dish of the course, Panty, and Stocking, the girls themselves, that is. They embody the entirety of what makes the show phenomenal from beginning to end. Their constant barrage of quick and snappy dialogue is always a splendor to experience. Excess in sexual body fluids and constantly berating each other for their physical appearance are but a few that these two have to offer. Even with the moments that might make them, in hindsight, unlikable from the context of their actions, they still invoke stellar charm in their chemistry. What is also noticeably poignant to them is their voice actresses, which I would argue are tremendous both in the English and Japanese dubbed tracks.

After mentioning how the art and animation help the humor by themselves, they are unique compared to what most anime studios generally draw. I also like how it’ll sometimes morph characters into different sizes based on what is happening at that particular moment. Sometimes they are small and chibi and sexually drawn in a realistic fashion when they do that striptease transformation sequence. Making it have a multifaceted look lets Panty and Stocking feel special in that regard.

Panty and Stocking show no boundaries is an understatement at the utmost highest level. Anyone with the tolerance levels of vulgarity at the lowest level possible would most likely drop the show from the very first minute of it. With the lengths it goes to shock people, it is hard not to admire it for doing so. Many conceive comedy to go far with its material and delve more profound to the point where it almost makes the audience uncomfortable, making good humor a brilliant one. The only thing that keeps Panty and Stocking from being perfect is that it didn’t go far enough, saying something.

Grade: A

Remember watching cartoons as a kid, such as Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon? If you haven't remember or paid attention to the details of it, it's very much no connecting story for every episode; as each episode had its own scenario for itself, and did not drag on. This is the purpose of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, except it's not for the kids anymore. So yes, your cartoons as a kid, did finally grow up along with you.

To be forewarned, Panty and Stocking are not for the faint of heart, or even the intelligent. As GAINAX is clearly making the point that this is clearly ... a man's anime, it does have a manly intellect behind it. Violence, sex, sexy characters, bad language, humor, and no confusing storyline to have you needing a score card to keep track of the events. If you even object to any of the mentioned, you might want to reconsider watching this series, because it contains a massive amounts of the mentioned.

This is, overall, the best anime I have seen for 2010. I can finally now enjoy watching something that is themed around the same direction as the cartoons from my childhood, except since I'm older, the content is older as well. Now to figure out how to obtain the full ending theme song.

Warning: this review contains some foul language. If you can't handle that, then this review is over... don't watch Panty and Stocking.

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt... A title I’m going to shorten from this point on... Is a show about two angels who’ve been expelled from heaven, and must destroy ghosts in order to be accepted back through the pearly gates. They follow the lead of a mysterious black priest named Garterbelt, who shelters them, manages them, and aids them in finding their targets. However, now that they’re living new lives as mortals, what will be more important to them... Their quest ... to return to their old home, or the vices and sinful pleasures of their new home?

Our central character is Panty Anarchy, the older of the two sisters. She’s obsessed with sex, and has become addicted to the feeling of human intercourse. Her weapon, appropriately, is a pair of panties that can turn into an angelic gun. Her little sister is Stocking Anarchy, who has become obsessed with sugary sweets, which she consumes almost as voraciously as Panty consumes men. They’re both greedy, selfish, arrogant, basically the exact opposite of how you’d expect an angel to act.

They have a dog named Chuck, who is constantly abused, thereby justifying his existence. They also obtain a sidekick named Brief, an introverted virgin boy who acts as the group’s moral center, to absolutely no avail. Their manager, Garterbelt, is a priest, and... Do I really need to explain him any further than that?

Their archenemies, Scanty and Kneesock, are a pair of demonic sisters, who oddly act like the exact opposite of our heroes... Stuck up, reserved, dignified, but just as selfish and arrogant.

So, hearing this plot description, you’re probably thinking that a bunch of bored, overworked middle-aged men must have come up with this scenario via committee while drunk off their asses. And if you’re thinking that, well... Yes. That’s exactly what this is, and that’s exactly what happened.

The Gainax team took a well deserved vacation after they wrapped their work on Gurren Lagann, they all came up with this gem while drinking together. The plot, the characters, and almost every other detail was cooked up by people too wasted to cook, and yes, that includes the art style and tone.

Like all alcohol fuelled get-togethers, the conversation inevitably diverted towards dirty jokes and adult humor, which they of course decided would be the focus of the show. They committed themselves to it, and if nothing else, you have to admire their tenacity. Panty and Stocking is vulgar all the way through, containing more fucks and shits than any televised show could be expected to have. They used these words in English to get them past the Japanese censors, but even without the foul language, there are entire episodes devoted to sex, bodily fluids, and often both.

And for those of you who’ve gotten this far into the review while thinking the material may be tastefully done, think again... Taste, as it turns out, is the one word that seems to have been banned from the script. Unless of course Panty’s complaining that her food would taste better with some jizz on it.

There’s an episode where they fight a shit ghost... One where they fight a puke ghost... There’s a nose picking ghost who they have to fight with their nosebleeds... And yet the only episode that ever offended me was the one where they have to fight a platoon of sperm ghosts who died storming the beaches of vaginal Normandy. Don’t blame me for being offended, I have a Grandpa who fought in that war.

The problem with this approach isn’t the fact that it’s offensive... It’s that it isn’t funny. The humor relies entirely on shocking you, but it doesn’t take long for that shock to wear off, and the content on screen to become... Well, dull, if you can believe it. And since the actual writing is bare bones and lazy at best, that shock value is really the only thing it has to try and keep you engaged with.

Well, almost. There’s also the art style, which is based primarily on the work of Genndy Tartakovsky. Think outlines, bright colors, consistent angles, and character designs that could almost trick you into thinking it was flash animated. And that’s not the only western property that Panty and Stocking touches on... The references to western culture are constant and merciless, with America as it’s favorite plaything. There are entire episodes playing around with Romero movies, Michael Bay’s Transformers reboot, and even a late nod towards X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Episode titles will be puns on American movies, even when the episode itself has nothing to do with said movie.

For an anime that tries it’s damnedest to inspire cries of ‘What the Fuck,’ the only WTF question it really deserves to be asked is ‘Why the Fuck?” It isn’t so much ‘What the Fuck are they doing, it’s ‘Why the Fuck are They Doing It?’ As well as, ‘What the Fuck Were They Trying to Accomplish?’ And the answer, I believe, comes back to Excel Saga.

I’d like to believe one of those Gainax executives was an Excel Saga fan. Because this show reeks of Excel Saga.

Seriously, take a look at the similarities. You have two eccentric heroines, a blonde-haired extrovert and a blue-haired introvert with larger breasts (Excel and Hyatt) who work for a mysterious individual who’s constantly assigning them bizarre missions (Il Palazzo), and they have an abnormal dog who’s always in constant danger (Menchi, although he looks like Gir), and they eventually take on a third member who has trouble fitting in with them as they consistently get abused... And come from a surprisingly affluent background... (El Gala, for those of you who read the manga). And they have to battle an opposing syndicate lead by a corrupt mayor(OH FUCKING COME ON!). The difference is that instead of being well-meaning girls who are out to conquer the city, we have self-serving girls who are out to save the city.

However, this blatantly obvious... Um, we’ll call it an influence... Isn’t always a bad thing. I may criticize it for probably stealing it’s basic plot structure from Excel Saga, but if there’s one thing I can give it credit for, it’s for successfully stealing it’s bold, experimental tone as well. Excel Saga was a blank slate anime that used every episode to do something entirely different, depending on the whims of it’s creators. It would drive it’s unique characters through absurd situations on some days, and lampoon the crap out of another series/genre on the other day. Panty and Stocking is the only anime I can think of that was able to steal this tone, and make it their own.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have no ear for Anime music. But I loved this anime’s music. There’s a lot of electronic music in this title, and while I don’t know enough about electronic music to describe it very well at all, I can say that I found it very enjoyable. Even the autotuned tracks... And there are many... Are ridiculously catchy. But the highlight, for me, was the ending theme, an entirely english song called Fallen Angel. I’ll let the song speak for itself, but I honestly can’t see any other song working as well when placed in the background of an ending video that features chibi bobbleheads in a number of perilous situations. The result is just... Adorkable. A word I don’t even like.

And then, we have the English dub. Good lord, do we have the English dub.

The English dub takes the vulgarity of the series, as well as the pop culture references, and cranks them up to eleven. And after hearing how much Jamie Marchi enjoys reading her extra-perverse lines, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that she’s the one who wrote the damn thing. Mostly.

As much as I love Jamie Marchi as an actor... For the record, I think the majority of her performances are fun and full of life... I’ve never liked her as a script writer. I think she’s one of those rare writers whose quality declines if she’s given too much freedom with it. I already talked about her in my Yamada’s first Time reviews, calling her one of the most try-hardiest writers in the anime genre, and with the amount of dirty jokes and movie quotes she managed to jam into this dub, I can imagine her primary tool being not a pen, but a crowbar. although the engrish swearing in the sub was pretty damn funny, I only laughed about a dozen times while watching the dub... Which consists of thirteen episodes.

The casting is perfect, the actors do their best, but in the end, no amount of sincerity can make it sound like anything other than suppressed writers laughing at their own jokes. you simply can’t saver writing that’s this bad.

All vulgarity and no wit makes Panty and Stocking a dull boy.

Oh, while we’re on the subject of the dub, this one kills me as a voice-chaser, as it’s a prime example of Cherami Leigh mimicking Luci Christian’s voice.

While I fail to appreciate this anime as a comedy, I actually really respect it from an artistic perspective, and i’m not just talking about the addictive art and animation style. By following Excel Saga’s experimental example, Panty and Stocking makes room for some surprisingly bold artistic decisions. The art style becomes hyper-realistic during the puke episode, a brief change that will leave many first time viewers wondering if they’ve wandered into a different show. There’s an entire episode done in one continuous shot, save for some time skips. And my favorite episode of all is Chuck to the Future, an episode where the dog Chuck goes through what can only be called a David Lynch style story, told through barely any dialogue, as he battles his arch-nemesis Fastener. And since they had time left over after this segment, the writers just said “Fuck it,” and did a music video that parodies a huge chunk of the western popular music scene.

But that loose style also carries a huge drawback. The thing I hate the most about this show is that it knows how plotless and irrelevant it is, and by coating itself in a thick shell of non-existent fucks, it safeguards itself from criticism. you can’t ask why the writing is so bad, because it’s Panty and Stocking. You can’t ask why there’s so much about it that doesn’t make any sense, because it’s Panty and Stocking. You can’t bring any arguments about consistency, logic, continuity, or character development because it’s fucking Panty and Stocking!

One of the creators has cited Drawn Together(and other adult cartoons) as a primary inspiration for the vulgarity and overall tone this show, but considering how little fucks it gives about it’s own presentation, I’d be a little quicker to finger Tom Green as it’s inspiration. It doesn’t try to give us anything more than whatever the fuck it wants to give us, and in doing so, it can’t possibly fail. And in a weird way, as much I hate this, I can actually kind of respect it.

Oh, and there’s also an eight minute OVA called Sanitarybox, but it’s entirely pointless, and if you don’t want to think about discarded foreskins every time you eat a Funion, don’t even bother with it.

Overall, Panty and Stocking will be different things to different people. Some of us will find it hilarious, some of us will find it an intriguing art piece, and some of us will just roll our eyes and be alienated the entire time. As far as i’m concerned, these are all valid reactions to one of the most original anime shows to come out in the last decade. It looks great, despite it’s best efforts, and it sounds great, also despite it’s best efforts, and even if you can’t call it enjoyable, if nothing else, you can at least call it unforgettable.

I give Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt a 6/10.

ah Panty & Stocking, probably one of the most controversial shows from Gainax in quite a while, and since they made good ol' Evangelion, that's saying quite a bit. P&SwG at heart is a love-letter/parody/pastiche/you name it/ to/of Western pop culture. Filled to the brim with toilet humor, references, asinine plot elements and even more inane characters, it's like I sat down to watch some animu and ended up watching something on Adult Swim/Comedy Central. Is it a show everyone can enjoy? Definitely not, it's pretty much cut right down in the middle between lovers: people who absolutely adore it and everything it stands ... for, and haters; people who wonder how this show even managed to crawl its way out of the depraved minds of the people who thought this insanity up. Will you enjoy it? You can probably just watch the first 2 minutes or so of the first episode and decide whether its an anime for you or not. Unlike many other shows, Panty & Stocking won't win over the people who didn't like it in the later episodes, but at the same time it will not alienate the people who originally liked it when it started up. It doesn't make any compromises and sticks to its guns through thick and thin. Still it's not possible to write off all the flaws simply because its different, nor is it possible to write off the show entirely for its presentation. It can be looked at through an *GASP* objective point of view despite being absurdity-incarnate.

Let's start with the art and animation. It's been stated maaany times before, but the art is a fusion of the classic PowerPuff Girls and Dead Leaves with a tinge of South Park thrown in for good measure. The result? A wildly memorable art design and a slick sense of style. Yes they look like something out of a Western cartoon but that's definitely not a bad thing in my book, rather it makes the whole thing stick out from the rest of the generic shit that gets pumped out year after year. Gainax being the enormous fanboys of Western culture as they are, shamelessly throw in god-knows how many references to cartoons such as Courage the Cowardly Dog, Samurai Jack and even Ren & Stimpy. In this regard, I'd consider PSG to be quite the innovation at least in its art and content, something that hasn't been seen in Japan since well.....ever. Not that its the first of its kind, Dead Leaves had tread this ground years ago, and Gainax has always been doing wacked out stuff for as long as its been in the business. Nevertheless, PSG still manages to be fresh and bold with its simplistic and outrageous artstyle.

The animation...oh lord where to begin...

I can imagine it now, right when Hiroyuki Imaishi had the brain fart that created this travesty. He rounded up all of the giants among Gainax's in-house animators and proposed to them PSG's premise and let them off their leashes. Yup, similar to Parallel Works, we've had just about every notable animator over at Gainax giving their shot at PSG, even getting some notable freelancers such Ryotimo and Hironori Tananka to do some directing and animating. Basically they all got together, circle-jerked onto some paper and called it animation. The result is JEEBUS CUHRISHT GLORIOUS!!!!!111!!1! Easily some of the most colorful, high-frame, excellently directed and cut animation I've seen all year. Half the freaking hype for this show came from the sakugafags who were frothing at the mouth just thinking about the prospective animation staff for the next episode. I take my hat off to Gainax, they really do a good job with the animation and never fail to disappoint in this category in their original works. A special note for the CGI work that was done, especially in episodes 6, 10 and 13. Its the single most impressive implementation of 3D with 2D animation I've ever seen. Obviously Gainax is known to work some magic with 3D animation but they really outdid themselves here. I didn't even notice how many of the car-on-car action scenes were 3D until someone pointed it out, it's THAT good! The only other anime I can think of that has animators going crazy this year is probably Tatami Galaxy (another great anime worth checking out).

The sound needs no real praise from me since its been universally praised to hell and back. I'm jumping on the bandwagon and saying that its equally as excellent as the visual design. All the tracks that get played are memorable and that's definitely something worth commending. The techno is FABULOUS~ and really accentuate the whimsical nature of the show. All the tracks are overflowing with energy, hell I catch myself singing some of songs under my breath everyone now and then. The OST comes out on the 29th, so get your wallets/piratin into gear, it'll be one helluva an OST to remember. Fly away now~, Fly away now~, FLY AWAY!~
On a similar note, all the voice actors/actresses did a terrific job with the script (or lack of). What I really enjoyed is the fact that Panty & Stocking themselves had very unique voices despite me having heard the same VAs in different roles. A shout out to all the Engrish that went into this show, it made some of the scenes hysterical (looking at the zombie episode in particular!), ah the Japanese cussing in Engrish, it truly never gets old.

Now lets wind this down and come to some of the problems I had with the show concerning the characters and plot. "Plot" he says? "Character" he says? "In PSG" he says? Yeah I'm off my rocker but hear me out for a second. PSG is structured like most Western cartoons in that it's split into mini-episodes into the 24-minute run. So in reality most episodes were about 11 minutes in length, 2 per airing. So each episode has a radically different director, storyboard, and content to it. What does create? You named it, a rather large fluctuation in quality and a lack of consistency. Don't get me wrong, this style is largely what made PSG so different in the first place and its probably PSG's greatest strength. This structure allows for each director to be experimental and that's arguably what makes up PSG's strongest episodes. Episodes like "Vomiting Point", "Nothing to Room" and "Once Upon a Time in Garterbelt" are examples of this, and what a haphazard style of directing can create. On the flip side, its also its biggest weakness as this style can create episodes with little to no direction and lack of coherence, episodes like "The Runny", "If Angels wore Swimsuits" and segments of "Chuck to the Future" are examples of the latter. Nonsensical events and shenanigans is what this show is about and is good at. It works up till a certain degree, until it becomes too much and stale.Which is why plot and direction become exceedingly important, it keeps things moving and changes everything up, maintaining a firm grip on the audience's attention. Consider episode 6 "Les Diaboliques". It was a perfect mesh of good sound design and appropriate tracks at the right times, awesome animation during the climax and subsequent fights, a balance between crazy and well-written humor (RUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRs anyone?), and just enough direction and plot intrigue (the introduction of the Demon Sisters). Best of all, I didn't feel that they sacrificed anything in favor of the madness that made up such a large part of previous episodes. Rather this madness was still there but actually had rhyme and reason to it now. Thinking back to it, IMO its the best episode of any anime this year. A great example of what could (and could not be) done with this show.

Fast-forward to the finale, and I was absolutely ecstatic at what was going to happen after what episode 12 had set-up. This would be episode 6 but a much larger scale right? Going back to the idea that PSG needed to strike a balance between its more absurd qualities and a more tried-and-true approach, it makes it all the more frustrating to see them find that balance as demonstrated in episode 6 only to get lost in their own cesspool of ideas during the finale. It wasn't bad by any stretch of the word but it was underwhelming compared to what episode 6 had accomplished before it. Without any coherence, everything was just a whole load of Gainax animators animating their insanity before I could properly register the hell I ended up watching. I can only remember awesome bits and pieces that happened in 13, if you asked me describe the whole episode in detail, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a proper synopsis. In effect, the whole thing was a blur to me, in contrast I can pretty much describe all the scenes in episode 6 quite well. That sums up my gripes with PSG, a lack of consistency (which could not have been avoided given its structure) and a lack of proper direction (could have been dealt with). Its nice to see all the Gainax animators working up a frenzy to create some mind-blowing material but sometimes it really ends up being their own scribbles.

And a final mention of the last two minutes, those moments were just Gainax being so unabashedly Gainax that it was truly a sight to behold (we don't get much of that these days so cherish it!). I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get a second season since this is Gainax we're talking about but I'd absolutely love to see more. Despite my personal feelings on the subject, this show was a breath of fresh air and reminded me how much fun anime could be. Yeah it could have been better, but than again, it was already incredibly entertaining and charming (never thought I'd use that word to describe this anime) to begin with.

The main outlines of this show are angels, getting Heaven coins to go back to Heaven. However, the lack of creativity within the episodes are absolutely dreadful, so they have to parody other popular show in order to get better publicity. The characters are also major stereotypes and have no real plot devlopment thrown at them, just make them completely one-sided and that's it. Going back to the story, there's not much devlopment for the characters or story, which proves to have a bunch of pointless and uninteresting fillers. Also, the main "humor" parts of the show are sexual references, not like the occasional sex ... joke, this show is swamped with them, and engrish.

Overall, I think the story is bad, uncreative, and does not put up to the standard it set. The animation is pretty good, as the characters are colorful, but strays from it at times and make it look either lazy or sexual. Some of the music was enjoyable, but there were annoying sound effects that have to go with it and therefore ruin the couple good tracks altogether.

I wouldn't recommend this show, unless you're the type of person that thinks parodies of overrated shows, mixed in with bad story development, sex jokes and people of different language trying to say english is funny.

Supposedly, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt was created when the staff of Gurren Lagann got drunk together and ranted about how they wanted to try something different. (At least that's what I gathered from looking up information about it). The result is a series with the theme being "vulgar and indecent" jokes inspired by American adult animation. How does it fare? Let's take a look at Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.

This is another comedy without a major overarching story. Rather, it's very episodic with most of the episodes having nothing to do with each other except for using the same characters and humour. The ... setting is that two angels are on earth, fighting supernatural monsters called ghosts to earn heaven coins so that they can return home. Moving on to the important question, is it funny? Well, the humour is based largely on bodily fluids, pop culture references, and sex. It's pretty juvenile for being targeted toward adults. It kind of reminds me of a cross between Conker's Bad Fur Day and Ren & Stimpy. It's fine for what it is, but it certainly isn't intelligent humour.

The characters are pretty one-dimensional tropes. The main protagonists have personalities that revolve mostly around their vices (sweets and sex). The supporting characters generally get a few personality traits and that's it. None of the characters get developed or fleshed out over the course of the anime either.

The art is mostly exaggerated and reminiscent of a children's cartoon. The few moments where they use a more traditional anime form are used exclusively for fan-service. I'm not necessarily against their usual art, even if it does come across as pretty lazy, but why couldn't they at least be consistent? Do we really need a bunch of fan-service moments? Did they just figure that if the show's theme was designed for extremely immature young men they might as well give them something to ogle? It's this sort of thing that makes me hate being lumped together with other members of my demographic.

The voice acting tends toward exaggeration. Although not as much as you might think. One other issue is that the random Engrish seems out of place. It's almost like they just wanted to throw random expletives in because expletives are somehow funny? Other than that, the voice acting isn't the strongest I've ever heard, but it's fine. The music varies from bad techno to actually well sung music with a good beat.

The yuri factor is a 2/10. The demon sisters have one short incest scene but there's nothing aside from that.

Is Panty and Stocking good? Well, if you like that sort of crude humour you'll probably enjoy it. As for me, I have to give it a 3/10. I outgrew laughing at body fluids and considering sex funny a long time ago. As such, the jokes come off as crass and generally pretty stupid but it's a mostly harmless type of stupidity.

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is the most obscene, vulgar, and over the top anime that I’ve ever seen. That is what makes this series so unique and enjoyable. It does, and says things that you’d never expect to see in an anime, and it does it all really well. But with that said, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is not without its problems.

Story:

The story in this series revolves around the Anarchy sisters, Panty and Stocking. They are angels that got kicked out of heaven because couldn’t follow the rules. A handler named Garterbelt accompanies them on their mission to obtain the currency of heaven ... called Heaven Coins. Their goal is to collect enough Heaven Coins to buy there way back into heaven, but the only way to obtain the coins is by killing ghosts. The story of this series is really difficult to judge. Not only because the actual plot of the anime is very simple and straightforward, but also because it is comedy series. And not just any comedy series, but it’s a parody comedy series. Each episode is named after a movie or television series. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt will take elements and ideas from those shows and movies, and implement them into the episodes. They chose from a variety of different types of series’, from High School Musical, to Night of the Living Dead. If you’ve seen the particular show or movie, it makes the episode that much more funny to watch. But that’s not the only reason I considered it a parody. The series could be taken just as an anime portrayal or parody of the western animation style and humor, but it’s a little deeper than that. This series also juxtaposes several elements and themes throughout the series. From angels that aren’t very angelic, to demons that aren’t incredibly demonic. The animation itself is in contrast to the themes of the show. While this series is animated like something you’d see on the Cartoon Network on Saturday mornings, the language and themes used in the series are far from kid friendly. Even with a plot that isn’t incredibly original or complex, the comedy, and contrast that the show provides makes it extremely interesting and engaging. With all of that said, the ending of the story was terrible. The story had flowed very nicely and was on the road to a satisfying conclusion, but at the last minute they decided to ruin it by throwing in a cliffhanger as a tease for the next season. And since, to my knowledge, there is no news about the second season, there will probably never be any sort of resolution for the gigantic curve ball they threw us at the end.

Animation:

The animation in this series is obviously inspired by American animation, and it is really well done. The animation reminds me of shows that I would watch on Saturday mornings when I younger. While the style isn’t what you would typically see in an anime, it really fits this series well. The characters and backgrounds are both animated really well, but the best parts of the animation are the fight scenes. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt was produced by Gainax, the same studio that produced Gurren Lagann, so it’s safe to say that they are used producing some crazy and over the top action scenes. They also mix in some more traditional anime style animation, as well as live action explosions at the end of each battle, which adds to the comedic effect of the show. The entire series is all really well animated and entertaining to watch.

Sound:

The sound in this series is excellent. It’s definitely something that I’ve never heard in an anime before. It’s a mixture of dance and electronic, which are two genres of music that I’ve never really listened to. This show served as a good introduction to those genres of music, and I really enjoyed it. The music also really fits the overall style of the show, as well as the tone and atmosphere of the scenes where they are used. The opening and ending are both really well done. They both are catchy, and really enjoyable to listen to.

Characters:

This series has four main characters. Panty, a sex addict who is able to transform her panties into ghost slaying pistols, Stocking, Panty’s sister, who has a serious love of anything sweet, and can transform her stockings into swords, their handler, Garterbelt, who is a priest with a violent past and questionable interests, and Briefers, a want-a-be ghost hunter who has a crush on Panty. Instead of giving these characters a lot of development, this series gives them all lots of personality. The characters are all very funny and likable. The way the characters interact with each other is hilarious, and very fun to watch. There are several side and supporting characters, but most of them are only in one or two episodes. The ones that show up multiple times also have lots of personality and are very fun to watch.

Enjoyment:

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt was a breath of fresh air for the comedy anime genre, and I really enjoyed watching it. It isn’t trying to be anything really deep, or thought provoking; it’s just pure entertainment. Even though it wasn’t anything spectacular, the way it contrasted several different things in the series did give me something to think about while I watched it.

Verdict & Breakdown:

Story: 3.2/5

Animation: 4/5

Sound: 4.4/5

Characters: 3.5/5

Enjoyment: 3.8/5

Verdict: 3.8/5

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt isn’t for everyone, but if you can tolerate ridiculous amounts of vulgarity, sexual jokes, a story that isn’t serious, you should definitely give this series a try.

Well. This was an experience.

PSG is essentially Powerpuff Girls meets South Park, without the social commentary (mostly). The vulgarity is ramped up to 11--so much so that at parts it even made me a bit uncomfortable. (Not an easy thing to do!) If you think that today's crop of adult TV animation is boundary-pushing, then you haven't seen anything yet. The series follows two fallen angels (Panty and Stocking) as they attempt to buy their way back into heaven by eliminating numerous earthly 'ghosts,' which are constructed from the regrets of those who have died. Unfortunately, a lot of these regrets are based around ... various unsavory elements, which means that Panty and Stocking, when they're not clashing with one another, are fighting giant shit monsters, giant snot monsters, giant vomit monsters, giant lactate monsters, giant sperm monsters, etc. Things do vary a bit--there are monsters based on high school cliques and even one duo of ghosts that mimic the relationship between a prostitute and her pimp, but by and large the show aims for nonstop gross-out.

When there's not action on the screen, we mostly follow the lives of Panty and Stocking, who begin the show as being very unlikable, and end it as being only marginally more likable. Panty is a sex-obsessed blonde, convinced of her superior beauty--she wields the power to turn undergarments into firearms. (As you can imagine, this leads to some pretty interesting 'transformation' sequences.) Stocking is a lolita-goth girl whose love for sweets may even exceed Panty's love for sex. She can turn stockings into swords. The two lack any other noteworthy talents, other than being exceptionally adept at hurling insults at one another. There are other characters as well, the two most important being Garterbelt, who acts as their guide and mentor, and Brief--a regular guy who falls hopelessly in love with Panty.

If you are bound and determined to watch this, allow me to suggest that you do so with the English dub on. Who would have guessed it, but the Japanese were even more limited in their vulgarity than the English dubbing crew was--the director himself prefers the inventive vulgarity of the English script. (That said, the Japanese version does have its charms, and is well worth watching, as well.) Things do get off to a bit of a rough start in the early proceedings, but about halfway through a surprisingly decent sense of continuity is established, and it does honestly build to a hell of a concluding chapter. Let me just say that this anime ends with the Gainax ending to end all Gainax endings--stick around after the credits have rolled and be prepared for the most ridiculous, over-the-top, shocking stinger of all time. I genuinely hope this show gets a second season. It needs one.

Does this show have any redeeming values? Mmmm. Depends. It is vulgar and juvenile yes, but the action sequences are frequently jaw-dropping, and, believe it or not, there are a couple moments that actually generate real pathos or sweetness. PSG is more than just caffeine-fueled sex-obsessed juvenile wanking--it's got a heart in there somewhere. (Buried very, very, very, very, very deeply.) And some of the tributes it pays to various other films and anime are genuinely very well done. All that aside--you're not going to enjoy this unless you've got a strong stomach and an open mind. I hate to admit it, but I found myself enjoying it quite a lot, especially as it moved past the half-way point. And a couple of the experimental episodes (particularly one that takes place entirely in a single room with only one static background) are pretty exceptional--they work way better than they have any right to. All told, it's sort of a wonder to behold.