Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt A title Im going to shorten from this point on Is a show about two angels whove 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 theyre 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. Shes 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 a gothic lolita girl who has become obsessed with sugary sweets which she consumes almost as voraciously as Panty consumes men. Theyre both greedy selfish arrogant and basically the exact opposite of how youd 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 groups 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 youre probably thinking that a bunch of bored overworked middleaged men must have come up with this scenario via committee while drunk off their asses. And if youre thinking that well Yes. Thats exactly what this is and thats exactly what happened. The Gainax team took a well deserved vacation after they wrapped their work on Gurren Lagann during which 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 gettogethers 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. As for those of you whove 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 Pantys complaining that her food would taste better with some jizz on it. Theres an episode where they fight a shit ghost One where they fight a puke ghost Theres 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. Dont blame me for being offended though I have a Grandpa who fought in that war. The problem with this approach isnt the fact that its offensive Its that it isnt funny. The humor relies entirely on shocking you but it doesnt take long for that shock to wear off and the content on screen to become Well dull if you can believe it. And the actual writing is bare bones and lazy at best. Seriously heres the basic formula: Panty and Stocking act lazy Garterbelt tells them about a mission the girls cram their onenotejoke personalities down your throats until they start to run on fumes end with a victory that rarely ever feels like an adequate payoff. That shock value is really the only thing it has to try and keep you engaged with. Well almost. Theres also the art style which is based primarily on the work of Genndy Tartakovsky. Like Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack this style includes thick outlines bright colors consistent angles and character designs that could almost trick you into thinking it was flash animated. And thats not the only western property that Panty and Stocking touches on The references to western culture are constant and merciless with America as its favorite plaything. There are entire episodes playing around with Romero movies Michael Bays Transformers reboot and even a late nod towards XMen 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 its damnedest to inspire cries of What the Fuck the only WTF question it really deserves to be asked is Why the Fuck? It isnt so much What the Fuck are they doing its 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. Id 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 blondehaired extrovert and a bluehaired introvert with larger breasts and health issues Excel and Hyatt who work for a mysterious individual whos constantly assigning them bizarre missions Il Palazzo and they have an abnormal dog whos 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 politicianOH FUCKING COME ON. The difference is that instead of being wellmeaning girls who are out to conquer the city we have selfserving girls who are out to save the city. However this blatantly obvious Um well just call it an influence Isnt always a bad thing. I may criticize it for probably stealing its basic plot structure from Excel Saga but if theres one thing I can give it credit for its for successfully stealing its 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 its creators. It would drive its unique characters through absurd situations on some days and lampoon the crap out of other series/genres on the other days. Panty and Stocking is the only anime I can think of that was able to steal this tone and make it their own. As Ive mentioned before I have no ear for Anime music. But I loved this animes music. Theres a lot of electronic music in this title and while I dont know enough about electronic music to describe it very well like 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. Ill let the song speak for itself but I honestly cant 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 dont 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 extraperverse lines it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that shes 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 Ive never liked her as a script writer. I think shes one of those rare writers whose quality declines if shes given too much freedom with it. I already talked about her in my Yamadas First Time review calling her one of the tryhardiest writers in the anime genre. With the amount of dirty jokes and movie quotes she managed to jam into this dub I can imagine her primary writing 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 this dialogue sound like anything other than suppressed writers laughing at their own jokes. You simply cant save writing thats this bad. All vulgarity and no wit makes Panty and Stocking a dull boy. Oh while were on the subject of the dub this one kills me as a voicechaser as its a prime example of Cherami Leigh mimicking Luci Christians voice. While I fail to appreciate this anime as a comedy I actually really respect it from an artistic perspective and Im not just talking about the addictive art and animation style. By following Excel Sagas experimental example Panty and Stocking makes room for some surprisingly bold artistic decisions. The art style becomes hyperrealistic during the puke episode a brief change that will leave many first time viewers wondering if theyve wandered into a different show. Theres 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 movie told through barely any dialogue as he battles his archnemesis 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 nonexistent fucks it safeguards itself from criticism. You cant ask why the writing is so bad because its Panty and Stocking. You cant ask why theres so much about it that doesnt make any sense because its Panty and Stocking. You cant bring up any arguments about consistency logic continuity or character development because its fucking Panty and Stocking One of the creators has cited Drawn Togetherand other adult cartoons as a primary inspiration for the vulgarity and overall tone this show but considering how little fucks it gives about its own presentation and structure Id be a little quicker to finger Tom Green as its spiritual predecessor. It doesnt try to give us anything more than whatever the fuck it wants to give us and in doing so it cant possibly fail. And in a weird way as much I hate this I can actually kind of respect it. Oh and theres also an eight minute OVA called Sanitarybox but its entirely pointless and if you dont want to think about discarded foreskins every time you eat a Funion dont 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 Im 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 its best efforts and it sounds great also despite its best efforts and even if you cant call it enjoyable if nothing else you can at least call it unforgettable. I give Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt a 6/10.