What can we say about anime? To put it simple, ITS EVERYWHERE!!! I can hardly go two steps or two clicks on my computer without seeing something about Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha, Full Metal Alchemist, Gurren Lagann, Fooly Cooly, Death Note, One Piece, or even High School of the Dead. So naturally, I always see if there are some shows that hardly anyone has heard of or in this case not talked about for some time. This one is no exception, but it also has its own small fanbase. What's the show in question: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. After hearing a discussion online about it, I decided to check out the first episode. Then, I saw the second one. Then the third. Then, the fourth. It came to the point where I saw all 13 episodes of the first season. What did I think of it? Well, read on to find out. In this review, I will be discussing the following topics: Story, Characters, Animation, Soundtrack, and the Overall Grade.

WARNING: The episodes I've seen are a Japanese dub of the show. So, don't expect me to talk about voices for the characters because I don't know if its considered good voice acting if its in another language. So far, there is no English dub, aside from a couple of fan dubs. The official English dub, done by Funimation, won't be out until 2012.

Story: The basic story is such: The Anarchy Sisters, Panty and Stocking, are fallen angels who were kicked out of Heaven due to their unruly behavior and are sentenced to a city that is said to be on the edge of Heaven and Hell called Daten City under the guidance of the black priest, Garterbelt, and a zipper-dog named Chuck. From there, they are to slay a variety of monsters called Ghosts to earn Heaven Coins to pretty much buy their way back into Heaven. The story seems not only simple, but also unique. We never usually get shows that have the concepts of Heaven or Hell involved and it isn't often that they revolve around fighting ghosts aside from The Real Ghostbusters and Danny Phantom. The only difference is that instead of four guys in greenish-tan jumpsuits or a teen who is half ghost, its two angels. Also, most shows have a different style of humor whether it would be slap-stick, heckling, etc. The styles for this show are the following: sex jokes, toilet humor, occasional pop-culture references, swearing, occasional scenes of fan service, and satire. In other words, the humor for this show is more for adults, just like shows such as South Park, Drawn Together, Family Guy, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Now this would've turned me off, but it does seem to work with a show like this and it gives the show its own distinct charm. That, and by looking at the title of the show, it would be obvious what kind of humor it has. Not only that, but there are some references to popular American films, such as High School Musical, Pulp Fiction, Romeo + Juliet, and even Transformers. Now, some people may be wondering: why are these two called Panty and Stocking? To put it simply, their namesakes are the weapons they use. You heard me, they use undergarments as weapons. How this works is that they have the ability to turn their undergarments into weapons. Panty turns her underwear into a magnum named Back Lace, while Stocking turns her leggings into a pair of katanas named Stripes I and II. There are two more characters who have that ability as well, but I'll talk about those two later on when I get to the characters. Speaking of which...

Characters: Each character in this show is given their own distinct personality. Since there are only at least 9 characters, they each get their own piece of the limelight to establish a form of character. Get ready folks because I'm about to talk about each character. This might take awhile.

The heroes of the show include:

-Panty and Stocking: Obviously the main focus of the show, these two are given their own personality and comedic value. Panty is not only the oldest of the two, but she seems more careless of her job as she doesn't take it seriously as much as Stocking does and can sometimes come across as narrow-minded. Stocking, on the other hand, is the younger, level-headed, and more intelligent of the two who, unlike Panty, takes the whole ghost-hunting job more seriously. As for their comedic value, each angel has their own running gag. Panty is said to be the personified version of the deadly sin of Lust. If you don't know what that means, then the amount of times she has sex with guys may help you out on that one. Stocking is the personified version of Gluttony due to the copious amounts of sweets she eats. In other words, Panty is the blonde whore and Stocking is a sugar-addicted goth. Gainax did this as a way of poking fun at American culture saying that Americans care more about food and sex. Now, I would've thought of this as offensive, but it not only works as satire, but it seems to be executed quite well. Now, if I had to choose as to which one is my favorite, I would go for Panty. The reason why is because she provides more of the humor of the two and in episode 12B, she receives more development than Stocking does.

-Garterbelt: The reverend of Daten City who is a tall, black man with an massive afro. He serves as the one who shows guidance for the sisters and who gives them their mission in the form of a small note sent by God. Being the priest, some may ask if their are any jokes given to him about molestation. The answer is "yes". However, the thing is that its not really shown as much as others may think. Its actually really down-played throughout the show. Also, he, apparently, has an alter ego named Master G, where its just him in a cape and a luchador mask, pretty much making fun of intentionally bad disguises in American animation. He does have more to him as shown in episode 11A, but I won't spoil it for you.

-Chuck: Putting in only one sentence: Annoying little zipper-dog, who looks a lot like Gir from Invader Zim, who only serves as slap-stick abuse and getting killed in every episode like Kenny from South Park, and who constantly says his name over and over again as if he was a reject from Pokemon. Moving on!

-Brief: Pretty much your stereotypical nerd character who constantly gets treated horribly by everyone else except for Garterbelt. Not only that, but he has a little bit of satire just by his appearance. Remember when I mentioned The Real Ghostbusters? Well, Brief dresses up like a Ghostbuster with the jumpsuit and a proton pack to top it all off. Just by looking at this kid, you instantly think Ghostbusters. To add to the nerd persona, he has a crush on one of the main characters. Which one is it? The answer: Panty. However, he does have as much development as Panty did in the same episode. So overall, he's an okay character.

Now that the heroes are done, let's move on to the main baddies of the show starting with my favorites for not only villains of the show, but also my favorite characters of the show:

-Scanty and Kneesocks: To put it simply, these two are the exact opposites of Panty and Stocking. Whereas Panty and Stocking were more unruly and careless, Scanty and Kneesocks are more "by the rulebook". Also, whereas Panty and Stocking are angels from Heaven, Scanty and Kneesocks are demons from Hell. However, just like the Anarchy sisters, the demon sisters also have their own distinct personality. Both of which are obsessed with rules, regulations, and conformity claiming that it will solve the chaos of freedom. Scanty is quite excitable, and becomes extremely frustrated when things don't go her way. Her excitability during such situations often unintentionally leads to her and Kneesocks' downfall. Kneesocks, unlike Scanty, is calmer and more reserved, but tends to fly off the handle when the rules are being disparaged. Oddly enough, she blushes quite easily, causing her face to become a lighter shade of red. Scanty is a high-class lady, though she enjoys bringing pain and humiliation to others. Along with her sister, Kneesocks, she comes up with various schemes to kill or otherwise humiliate both Panty and Stocking. Kneesocks is an intellectual that uses elaborate traps and trickery to fight against the Anarchy sisters. She has more control over her emotions and thinks things through better than her sister. She loves her sister very much, and often acts confident around her. Ever since their first appearance in episode 6, they have shown themselves to be formidable adversaries for Panty and Stocking showing that they're not only superior in terms of appearance, but also, physically and mentally superior as well. They are also the mayor's daughters just to add to their superiority. Also, just like everyone else, they too have their own running gag. What's that you may ask? I'll tell with one simple word: RRRRRRUUUURRRRUU!! What's that you may ask again? Once again, simple: its the Japanese Romaji saying of "rule" with rolling R's. It would be annoying if it wasn't so fun to say. Also, remember when I said that there are two other characters that have the same abilities as Panty and Stocking? Well, Scanty and Kneesocks are those two. Scanty wears two black thongs that turn into two revolvers named Double Gold Lacytanga, while Kneesocks transforms her, well, knee socks into dual scythes named Double Gold Spandex. I don't know why, but I always found scythes to be cooler than swords. The reason why Scanty and Kneesocks are my favorites is because whenever they're on screen, they're so much fun to watch. They're not only devious, but they can also be funny. That's why Scanty and Kneesocks are my favorite characters in this show. However, some may be thinking this: which one do I prefer? It's really hard for me to choose which one of the two I prefer. However, if I had to choose I would say Kneesocks. Why? I think I can relate to her more due to the obsession with rules, being more reserved, and for being logical. That, and wearing glasses has to count for something.

-Fastener: Way, way, WAY, better than Chuck. He's pretty much the opposite of Chuck. Chuck looks like Gir if drunk and on crack, but Fastener is more sleek and more badass looking. Chuck repeats his name constantly, but Fastener only does small "yelps". So, Fastener is so much better than Chuck in my honest opinion.

-Corset: The mayor of Daten City and the main antagonist of the series. First showing up at the end of episode 6, Corset is brought up in a mysterious way making the viewer wonder who this guy is and what he looks like. In episode 12A, his plan begins to show itself as well as his appearance. Near the end of 12B, his form is fully revealed. In my opinion, he looks like the Joker from the show Batman: the Animated Series if he became a Dark Elf from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. At the end of the first season, I felt disappointed in terms of Corset. I felt as though he wasn't revealed as much as he should have been. We never really know much about him except that he's more into bondage than everyone else. That and he thinks that Ghosts of nowadays pale in comparison to those of back in the day. So, he pretty much thinks that it was much better in his younger days.

Finally, that's all the important characters out of the way, let's move on with the review.

Animation: The animation in this show seems like a mixture of anime and Western style animation with shows like Powerpuff Girls, Transformers: Animated, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Teen Titans, and Johnny Bravo to some extent. The animation is very vibrant and colorful when compared to other animes like Death Note, Gurren Lagann, Inuyasha, or even Bleach. Even when not compared to those shows, its still colorful and vibrant. Also, at times, there will be a switch in animation from the show's style of it, to either a more chibi style to it or a more traditional style that we see in animes such as High School of the Dead. Not only that, but the animation of the show really does add to the humor at points that can help it be really funny. Last, but certainly not least, the action scenes are fun to watch especially the battles between the angels and the demons.

Soundtrack: This is a rather interesting subject to talk about since this series has at least 3 CDs: The Original Soundtrack, The Bonus Soundtrack, and THE WORST ALBUM. The music I'll be mainly talking about will be from The Original Soundtrack since that's the one with most of the songs being in the show. Some of these songs are actually pretty good with my favorites being Fly Away, D-City Rock, and the Theme for Scanty and Kneesocks. Others can have an "interesting" name to them. Keep in mind that some of the humor in this show is sex humor. Some of those songs include Juice, Dance Floor Orgy, and, get this folks, Technodildo. Now despite their unusual title, these songs are actually really catchy and I would almost say that they are my favorites if I already didn't have any. To put it simply, the soundtrack actually has some really catchy tunes.

Overall: I love this show. I think the story is unique. The jokes, I thought, were hilarious at many times. The animation does add to humor and it makes it stand out as a special type of anime. There are a lot of really likable characters if you took the time to watch the episodes. Last, the soundtrack can be really good and catchy at times. The only problems are that the character Chuck is completely useless at many times and can be annoying when he's not needed and that Corset should have been brought out more than he did since he is the main villain.




The final grade for this show: A
                                                4.5/5
                                                4 1/2 stars out of 5

If you're looking for a show just to get a good laugh, then go ahead and check this out. If you're a fan of Gainax's work such as Gurren Lagann and FLCL, then check this out and see what you may think. If you're a fan of shows like South Park, Drawn Together, Family Guy, or Aqua Teen Hunger Force, then this might be right up your alley. However, if you're not into sex jokes, toilet humor, pop culture references, fan service, or satire, then this may not be for you, but I say try watching a couple of episodes and see what you think. This must have been my longest review I have done so far. So until next time, in the famous words of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime: "TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT" and to quote Scanty and Kneesocks, I bid you adieu.

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