Written by Rikun
So there you are after a long day, and you’re waiting and anticipating for the newest anime series to come out. But when you’re looking through new titles to watch, something really bugs you: all of it is starting to look the same.
You’re sick of seeing the same big eyed, moe-ness of every single anime girl out there, and you’ve had it with ridiculous shonen battles with complex systems and convoluted stories. Every new anime is starting to remind you of something else, and the entire medium is looking more stale and boring the more you watch. Is there no hope in sight?
Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: the newest anime series to come out of studio Gainax and the kick in the pants that anime has needed for the last several years.
The premise is simple:
Panty & Stocking are two earthbound angels who have fallen from grace and must earn their right to return to heaven. To do this, they are tasked to defeat the Ghosts of Daten City and collect Heaven Coins under the watchful eye of Reverend Garterbelt. Every episode is a new battle, and every day they save the day and are one step closer to returning to the choirs invisible.
So far, so stock, right? Under a lesser studio, this story could’ve easily have become another boring anime. But this is Gainax we’re talking about, whose previous works
include Evangelion, FLCL, Dead Leaves, and Gurren Lagann. So leave it to these guys to take this premise and go completely mental with it. And go mental they did, for Panty and Stocking is one of the most refreshing series to have come out of Japan amongst years of mediocrity.
Let’s start with the obvious:
Panty & Stocking doesn’t look like your typical anime. Gone are the petite big eyed girls and ridiculously handsome bishies, and in comes a heavily stylized and bold art direction that’s more reminiscent of Powerpuff Girls than any anime that’s out there. The episodes themselves are split into two stories, much like how an American cartoon is featured, and all the stories are rather episodic rather than covering one huge arc.
To top it all off, the humor in this show is nothing more than the
most unapologetically absurd, offensive, and completely over-the-top that I’ve ever seen in anything since Dead Leaves: and let me tell you it is GLORIOUS.
As for our leading ladies, you might think that just because I say two angels they would be the noble souls who are determined to redeem themselves in the eyes of the Lord, but really they are anything but. Panty is a foul-mouthed femme fatal who brings a new man to bed every single day while Stocking is a gothic-lolita with a ridiculous sweet-tooth. Both of them are selfish, crass, and would rather laze around all day then fight another monster, but when they do get into their Ghost busting mode they do it with an almost maniacal glee.
And in order to bust these ghosts, Panty and Stocking whip out their weapons from their namesake undergarments; meaning that Panty’s panties turn into a gun and Stocking’s stockings turn into swords. Why yes, it IS as crazy as it sounds. And yes, this means that every battle is a potential striptease in the making, along with the insanity that comes with fighting a creature that’s made of human excrement.
And all of what I just described is just what you get in the first episode. That’s right…this is only the tip of the iceberg.
A fair warning to any interested in watching Gainax’s newest endeavor: this series pulls no punches. Good taste has gone straight out the window and any line that can be cross will not only be crossed, but blown apart at the seams.
Sexual innuendo, potty humor, gratuitous Engrish swearing; if it can offend someone, then expect Panty and Stocking to take it and beat you over the head with it. While to some this may seem like a great turnoff, others see this as a completely welcome change and a sign that this is a series that isn’t afraid to push the boundaries. In an industry in which too many studios are playing it safe, this is exactly what we need.
There is so much to describe about this series that no mere article review can do it justice. Every new misadventure our dirty little angels get into manages to trump the last one in terms of outrageousness. Just when you think you have Panty and Stocking figured out, Gainax manages to throw another curveball and keep the fans reeling. You’ll never really know what to expect next, and I guarantee that every episode will have you saying, “Did they just seriously do that?!” Perhaps Gainax likes screwing with its fans a lot more than we realize, and for that I consider them to be one of Japan’s most awesome animation studios ever.
What we have here is truly a mix of wacked out animation, stylish characters, and the creators just having tons of fun. It takes everything that has made anime stale and boring and completely turns it on its head,
from creating outrageous monsters to turning a magical girl transformation into a pole dance. Even if crass grindhouse humor isn’t your thing, nobody can deny just how unique Panty & Stocking is when you compare it to your “typical anime”. The graphic “PPG” style may confuse anime fans at first, but once you get caught up in the craziness you’ll realize that you wouldn’t have them look any other way.
So to all of you anime fans out there who are yearning for something different, give this shock to the system a watch.
You’ll never look at Japanese animation the same way again.
Now if you excuse me, I have to fly away now, fly away now, FLY AWAY!!!!
