Panty &amp; Stocking with GarterbeltPanty &amp; Stocking with Garterbelt Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Story. The show revolves around the exploits of the Anarchy sisters, Panty and Stocking, angels who were kicked out of Heaven due to their bad behavior. They are sent to Daten City—a pun on the Japanese word —a place on the border between Heaven and Hell, which is besieged by evil spirits referred to 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 buy their way back into Heaven. However, Panty and Stocking are constantly sidetracked by their respective interests in men and sugary sweets. Development. Following the broadcast of Imaishi's previous project, "Gurren Lagann", the show's staff went on a trip for rest and relaxation. At that time, they aired their opinions to each other under drunken and humorous circumstances, saying such things as "Next time, I want to try this" in approaches to animation. Almost all of the concepts for the anime were made during the initial  trip; the names of main characters, "Panty" and "Stocking", were coined at the very first meeting. Hiromi Wakabayashi, who provided the initial idea for the series, cited American adult animation, such as "Drawn Together", as inspiration for the show's crudeness. Media. Anime. The television series was animated by Gainax and directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi. The series' animation is done in a distinct style resembling and paying homage to American cartoons, along with the Yoshinori Kanada techniques normally associated with Hiroyuki Imaishi's work. The series has many sexual themes in every episode. The theme of the anime is "vulgar  and indecent jokes", with Imaishi saying, "If we are going to do this, we will try it thoroughly." The series ran from October 1 to December 24, 2010 on BS Nittele, a free-to-air satellite service of Nippon Television. It was also shown on AT-X seven days after the premiere of each episode, and made available online on Nico Nico Channel (a service of Niconico) through the series's own "channel" a day after AT-X broadcast. On terrestrial television, it was syndicated in eight markets, including a few JAITS members like Tokyo MX, and TVQ, a TXN  affiliate in Kyushu. Internationally, the series was made available online on Crunchyroll. The series was released in six DVD and BD volumes respectively over the course of six months, with the first DVD/BD volume released on December 24, 2010, followed by succeeding volumes near the end of each following month. The fifth volume, released on April 28, 2011, includes a disc-exclusive episode (OVA) compiling eight short stories, some of which are sequels/conclusions to earlier episodes of the series. On April 14, 2011, North American anime distributor Funimation Entertainment announced their license to the series, which was released  on DVD on July 10, 2012. The Blu-ray was released January 15, 2013. The English dub is directed by Colleen Clinkenbeard, with John Burgmeier acting as head writer and Jamie Marchi, Leah Clark, and Jared Hedges serving as episode writers. The first two episodes were made available for streaming on May 22, 2012 for those subscribed to Funimation's Elite Video Subscription service. Manga Entertainment released the series in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2012, although upon release, faults were discovered on some of the episodes. A corrected version was released on September 10, 2012. On November 25 , 2016, the official Twitter account for Gainax West posted an announcement teaser image featuring silhouettes of Panty and Stocking with the words " Soon". An announcement for "something new with "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt"" was to be made on December 16, 2016, which Gainax West stated would not be a pachinko, pachislot, social network game or Blu-ray. On December 16, 2016, various "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt" projects were announced. Manga. A manga adaptation of the series by Tagro was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's "Young Ace" magazine between August 2010 and June 2011. The series was compiled in a single  tankōbon volume, released in Japan on June 4, 2011, and was published in English by Dark Horse Comics on May 28, 2015. Another manga illustrated by Hiroyuki Imaishi was serialised in "NewType" before moving to "Monthly Anime Style" magazine. Some strips were included in the "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Datencity Paparazzi" art book, released on June 4, 2011, but the series has not been published in "tankōbon" format. Music. The series' musical score is by TCY Force produced by Taku Takahashi (of M-Flo). The opening theme is "Theme for Panty & Stocking", performed by Hoshina Anniversary. The ending theme is  Fallen Angel, performed by Mitsunori Ikeda and featuring Aimee B. The original soundtrack was released on December 29, 2010. A hidden track is on the CD. The special edition of the volume 4 BD/DVD includes a bonus CD containing television edits of certain songs from the official soundtrack, as well as previously unreleased songs. A second album, "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt THE WORST ALBUM", was released on 20 July 2011 and features 24 tracks, including remixes of previous songs from the original anime soundtrack, some new songs, as well as "Cherry Corrida" drama tracks. Reception. "Panty & Stocking" received a  polarized reaction from critics. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network found the show to be "unremittingly revolting" and "generally not funny". Anime News Network's individual episode reviews were equally critical, accusing the series more than once of having a style-over-substance approach and generally flawed, tasteless and needlessly disturbing comedy in spite of its impressive production values. Reviewer Gia Manry found the visuals and sounds to be overwhelming and the writing substandard, ending in a 1 out of 5 score. Critic Jacob Chapman considered the show to be a "mess" with a "poisonous air hanging around [it]" and  thoroughly unpleasant to sit through. However, David Brothers of Comics Alliance claims that the series feels like the result of an "unholy union" 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." Mike LeChevallier of "Japanator" says that "where plot structure is hit or miss, the pure stylization, soundtrack and memorable characters  make this a series one worth watching from start to finish." In 2011, "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt" was part of the Jury Selections of the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival in the Animation category. In 2019, "Polygon" named "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt" as one of the best anime of the 2010s, stating that it "delivered raunchy, stupid humor in a great animation style", and Crunchyroll listed it in their "Top 100 best anime of the 2010s". IGN also listed "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt" among the best anime series of the 2010s, describing it as "an irreverent, entertaining joy-ride with  dozens of tributes to western cartoons and a bangin’ soundtrack". Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Story. The show revolves around the exploits of the Anarchy sisters, Panty and Stocking, angels who were kicked out of Heaven due to their bad behavior. They are sent to Daten City—a pun on the Japanese word —a place on the border between Heaven and Hell, which is besieged by evil spirits referred to 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