I’ll wrap this one up quick, ’cause there isn’t much to be said that most people don’t already know.
Panty & Stocking is a giant middle finger to the anime industry. More specifically, it’s a giant middle finger to the squeaky-clean, innocent tropes that plague the standard anime industry. The bland, oblivious main characters too scared to have sex. The proper message of abiding by every daily norm society upholds. The rising popularity of high school settings and cute girls doing cute things. Panty & Stocking takes all of these things and flushes them down the shitty, cum-stained toilet full of tampons and blood stains.
The main characters of the anime, Panty & Stocking, are not your typical duo. Panty, the blonde bombshell, is a nymphomaniac and all-around bitch. Stocking, her younger sister, is addicted to sweets and has just as foul a mouth and attitude as her sister. These two are angels, who are sent to Earth with the aid of their authority figure, Garterbelt, to combat rampaging “Ghosts” from destroying society as a whole.
This anime is disgusting. Disgusting in the sense that it’s just a bunch of shit, snot, sex, and juvenile jokes from beginning to end, almost every episode. At least, that’s what you may have heard, as I did before watching it myself. The series actually isn’t quite as arbitrary as you might think, with episodes being shown in two 7 to 12-minute segments. Some of these are basically “Set up plot → Solve conflict,” but there are a few others that are brilliantly disguised as social commentary or attacking various stereotypes. These segments alone make the show worth watching, but for those who enjoy a nice shitshow, the rest of the series should suit your fetish as well. Just be prepared for a lot of shit and sex jokes, because Panty & Stocking loves them some shit and sex jokes.
The animation also makes the series worth watching. If there’s one thing people can credit Gainax for, it’s their animation style. Lots of various experimentation and clever uses of animation techniques makes the anime a lot more insanely enjoyable. The nods to other series is also a nice little wink to the audience, my personal favorite being the Ren & Stimpy nod.
It’s really about taste here. If you want to see something most anime are afraid of showing, watch Panty & Stocking. If not, don’t. If you’re interested in finding some subliminal messages throughout the piece, you’re gonna have to sift through a lot of shit to get to them. Whether or not it’s worth it is your tolerance for obscene amounts of sex and gore. If you were to ask me, I’d recommend watching only various segments within the series, as the anime at its most “serious” isn’t worth its weight in shit. If I may add one more thing, the ending is perfect for this kind of series, and only further institutes the giant middle finger to both anime in general and the audience. It sure knows how to go out with a bang (pun not intended).
Personal Score: C
Critical Score: C+
The rating for this title and all others can be found on MyAnimeList.
The Visualist's Veranda 