Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

***Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt*** is a Japanese anime series.  It started with a manga series which was written

    by TAGRO, published by Kadokawa Shoten for the magainze Young Ace, and originally ran from August 4, 2010 to June 4, 2011, for 1 volume in total.  After that came the anime series.  It was written by Hiroyuki Imaishi, written by Geek Fleet, musically composed by Taku Takahashi, and produced by Jun Fukuda, Takashi Imamoto, Soichi Tsuji, Satoshi Fujita, Kazuya Masumoto, Natsuki Uetake, Tomoko Suzuki, Katsumi Yasuda, and Studio Gainax.  It originally aired from October 1, 2010 to December 24, 2010, for 13 main episodes and 1 special episode in total.

## Plot

The show revolves around the benefits of the Anarchy sisters, consisting of Panty and Stocking, two angels who were kicked out of Heaven. They were sent to Daten City, a place that is on the border between Heaven and Hell, which is surrounded by evil spirits that are referred as "Ghosts". The sisters take refuge under the care of the reverend Garterbelt; under his watchful eyes, the sisters are tasked with using their ability to transform their lingerie into weapons, and using them to destroy malicious Ghosts. By doing so, the sisters earn "Heaven Coins" with which they intend to one day use to buy their way back into Heaven. However, Panty and Stocking are constantly sidetracked by their respective interests in men and sugary sweets.

## Why it Rocks

1. All the characters are very likable, especially the main protagonists.
2. The characters have very distinct personalities.
	* Panty Anarchy has a huge interest in men.
	* Stocking Anarchy is addicted to sugar and sweets such as cake and ice cream.
	* Garterbelt is the minister of Daten City and is the grumpy guardian of Panty and Stocking Anarchy.
	* Brief (AKA "Geekboy", according to both of the Anarchy sisters) is a self-proclaimed ghost hunter who has a vast interest in science fiction and the supernatural.
		+ He is a parody of the *Ghostbusters*.
	* Scanty is the older of the Demon sisters, the main antagonists of the series, and is obsessed with rules and conformity, in contrast to the Anarchy sisters' more erratic and out-of-control behavior. Her design is a partial reference to Nia from *Gurren Lagann*, which was Gainax's previous series.
	* Kneesocks is the younger of the Demon sisters and although shares her obsessions with rules and conformity with Scanty, she is slightly calmer than her older sister.
	* Corset is the boss of the Demon sisters, and besides being Garterbelt's acquaintance and mayor of Daten City, he is obsessed with pure evil by producing "Ghosts".
3. A ton of interesting references and parodies to pop culture.
	* Chuck and Fastener, the respective pets (A dog and a rodent) of the Anarchy sisters and Demon sisters is a reference to *Pokémon*.
	* The Ghost of the Week formula is a reference to *Super Sentai's* (*Power Rangers* in the US) Monster of the Week.
		+ Ghost #36, "Giant Brown", is a reference to *Ghostbusters*.
		+ Ghost #37, "Crazy Crazy Crabbie", is a reference to *Death Race 2000*.
		+ Ghost #38, "Queen Bee", is a reference to both *Barbie* and Vexus from *My Life as a Teenage Robot*.
		+ Although collectively both Ghost #39, "Bloody Hood" and "Gal Ghoul" are both a reference to *Little Red Ridding Hood*, plus the wolf that ate her.
		+ Ghost #42, "Secret Speed Star", is a reference to *The Flash*.
		+ "Ghost Bot" is a reference to "the Fallen" from *Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.*
			- By an extent, Masculimus Surprise and Femitron are a reference to both Optimus Prime and Megatron from *Transformers*, respectively.
4. It is one of the few shows that challenged the stereotype that animation is just for children.
5. The fight scenes between the Anarchy sisters and the ghosts are really fantastic.
	* By an extent, it's really interesting to see the animation change from "classic cartoon" to actual anime when they're about to take down a ghost.
6. The animation is quite refreshing for an anime.

## Bad Qualities

1. Excessive amounts of toilet humor.
2. Can be offensive to people who believe in religion, especially to Christians.
3. Nonsensical ending.

## Trivia

* Funimation's English dub of the show was made vulgar than the original Japanese version at the request of Gainax themselves.

## Reception

Critics had mixed feelings about this show due to that while it told a really interesting story, they found the series very vulgar too, vulgar to the point where they had mixed feelings. Carl Kimlinger of the Anime News Network found the show "unremittingly revolting" and "generally not funny". Although despite that, David Brothers of Comics Alliance claims that the series feels like the result of an unholy combination between *The Ren & Stimpy Show* and *Dirty Pair*. He recommends it, saying "it's raunchy, gross, a whole lot of fun" and that "the mix of disparate influences and material makes it a refreshingly funny anime, and dumb in a way where you can clearly see the hand of smart, experienced animators at work behind the scenes.