Back to spas-ticShotty's Profile spas-ticShotty's Profile

Another review-slash-opinion on quite the oddball here; Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. All I have to say is......the fuck?

Okay, so, story wise, I'd say it's nothing complex at all, so don't expect a riveting story from this one, although who knows, maybe it will be riveting to you. Just saying, it will most likely be more simple compared to other anime out there. For me, I liked it, but other than that, not much going on IMO.

Let's jump to the characters. There is the angel Panty Anarchy, the blonde, ever-so-slutty girl who has an attitude problem and pretty much is like a diva, too full ... of herself, who can also turn her panties into a powerful, anti-ghost pistol. Despite that, I still love the hell outta her. Maybe it's because she's blonde and slutty.....anyways, there's also Stocking Anarchy, the goth looking, dark-haired, sugar addicted, and curvier sister, who is less full of herself and bratty like her sister, but still is quite a handful many times. She, of course, uses one of her stockings as a katana. Their caretaker, Garterbelt, is a big, hulking black man priest who has a massive afro, and has a hilariously (IMO) stereotypical holy black man voice (in the English dub, that is). Garterbelt is way more levelheaded than the two angels but of course they always run his patience thin with all the stuff they end up doing. Then there's Brief, a nerdy looking ginger teen who is actually very nice, although is usually the butt of Panty and Stocking's abuse for obvious reasons, but is usually a helpful tag-along for the two. Then there's Chuck, who is basically GIR from Invader Zim only even less intelligent (IMO). Moving onto antagonists, each ghost that the Anarchy sisters have to go up against has their own personality to them, some more civilized than others, some more gross than others. There are also the Demon sisters, which are basically the opposite of Panty and Stocking (as in more polite, calm, composed, and well-mannered), and are constantly going against the two angels. There also other side characters who appear once or whatever (including one very random celebrity "cameo").

Sound is something I liked a lot. Sound effects were something I didn't care about too much here but the BG music is something I did like a lot. It was all techno and pop-like, or something like that, and seemed to match the show well enough for me. The voices of the characters, though, were fantastic to me, at least for the English dub. Panty sounded just like what I thought she would to me, Stocking sounded fitting to me, Garterbelt's voice, as mentioned before, is hilariously black to me, Brief sounds nerdy and kind, Chuck just sounds stupid (as in he sounds like he is unintelligent), the Demon sisters sound classy, and the ghosts all have distinctive voices to each of them. As for the opening intro, it's short and simple, but very catchy to me, despite the fact it could be annoying to some of y'all.

Now moving onto one of the show's distinctive features; the art style. It looks like a blend of anime mixed with American animation. Characters move in the way similar to an anime but there are many shots that look like Flash animation seen in many American cartoons. There are also many shots that parody movies and other TV shows that change the animation style around. Overall, it is way more cartoony and flashy looking than a usual anime and that may throw some people off but for others, like me, it was a very unique thing for the series to do.

Another very distinctive thing about this anime is the type of humor it has. It is extremely similar to the adult humor found in many American cartoons such as South Park, Family Guy, and all that, hence adding more "'Murican" factor to this show. It is very profane, to the point that I'm not sure if South Park is more profane than it. It also relies heavily on sexual jokes (mainly from Panty, but even then, it is RAMPANT) so that may also be a big turn-off to some of y'all, but for some others (like me), it was gold. There is also a lot of gross humor outside of sex jokes, which may or may not remind you of South Park if you've ever seen it (which I'm sure most of you have). Racist jokes and all that are actually very absent in this show, at least IMO. The humor here is mainly vulgarity mixed in with a lot of gross, mostly sexual humor, which is of course, not for everyone, but if you like this kind of humor, then this anime has quite a lot of potential for you then. Oh, and mixing that with a slapstick style and there yah go, you have the humor of Panty & Stocking.

My verdict overall is......I loved this anime to death. I am really fond of South Park and Family Guy, so the fact that this show has the same type of humor as both (although more South Park-ish) meant that it was only fitting that this is the anime I enjoy the most out (sorry WataMote, move over). It also has characters that I love because I find them so funny and so unique from one another, even if the majority of them aren't the nicest (minus Brief and maybe Garterbelt). I also am a big fan of sexual stuff, and considering how slutty (especially Panty) the Anarchy sisters are, as well as the Demon sisters, this show did a very good job on turning me on. It also relies heavily on sexual humor so it was a big source of laughs for me as well. However, all this may end up being a huge turn off to y'all, so it's up to you to decide if you want to check this out or not (hell, I originally only wanted to see one episode to see how this one was and I ended up getting hooked to it). I'd say, if you like dirty, overall very vulgar humor reminiscent of South Park, and many other adult American cartoons, along with an interesting spin to the traditional style of anime, maybe you can check this one out, and maybe you'll love it like I did.

Time to dive right into the atypical magic girl anime, Madoka Magika.

Premise is that there's a young girl named Madoka, who's all normal and shit. One day, she comes across a creature named Kyubey being attacked by a girl at Madoka's school named Homura. Madoka soon learns about the Puella Magi, magic girls who are granted one wish from Kyubey at the expense of fighting witches. Kyubey takes great interest in Madoka and asks if she wants to become a magic girl. The story then goes on from there.

Story - 10
------------
Story may not sound too interesting to some of y'all but there's more to ... it revealed later on, which ultimately affect Madoka's decision on whether becoming a magic girl or not. It reveals a lot stuff, mainly Kyubey's mission on Earth, why Homura tried attacking him so much, some very tragic stuff involving the formation of witches and some other stuff. Overall, though, the story can get very depressing, which is usually unheard of in a magic girl anime (of course some of y'all may disagree, which is fine, we all have different tastes). I knew what the story was overall way back when since I spoiled it for myself, but I still loved it, especially the very bittersweet (IMO) ending.

Art - 10
---------
I really liked the art style in this one, especially in one aspect. The characters looked appealing enough for me, the scenery was very nice looking (or depressing looking) to me, but the big points go to anything involved with witches. I guess to show how corrupt and crazy these witches are, the art style was made so that the witches' "mazes" looked like a bunch of random cut outs mixed into a big collage of just unnerving and very weird imagery. It was trippy, to say the least. Witches also didn't look like the horror style witches I was expecting. Instead, they basically look like something out of Coraline, and if you know what I mean, yeah, it's pretty creepy sometimes.

Sound - 10
-------------
This was also a big plus for me. The opening intro sounded both light and happy yet also sad in a hidden way for me, and the ending theme was dark yet also kind of badass. The OST also was very good to me. The music was successfully suspenseful to me many times, and also managed to be cheery, albeit, that is rare in this anime lol. Big points go to the more calm, melancholic, and sad pieces from me though. Those really got to me the most. Sound effects were also pretty damn well to me, but really, the music is what I liked the most. Oh, and props to the voice actors as well. I think they did a good job IMO.

Characters - 8
----------------
Madoka is obviously the main gal being focused on here, but the other characters also play a big role. Homura looks cold and emotionless at first glance but really, is actually extremely close to Madoka and Madoka herself doesn't even know it. Madoka was pretty standard to me but I thought she was very nice, so I cared for her. There's also a girl named Mami, who I also liked and thought was helpful, although she sadly has something happen to her early on in the show. There's then Kyoko, a girl who you may or may not hate because she first comes in with quite the bitch attitude. I personally liked her, especially for having such a sad backstory. There's also Madoka's friend who I unfortunately can't get the name fully right. I know it starts with an S though, I just don't want to butcher it. She is also a nice gal to me with good intentions but does have quite a downfall as the story goes on. Kyubey, much like Homura, also plays a major role in the show. There are also other peeps but I'm just rounding out the main ones. I give this an 8 though since there wasn't really one character I was very attached to. Don't get me wrong, I like all of them a lot, even Kyubey, but there wasn't one where I was very close to, but ah well.

Enjoyment - 9
----------------
I really enjoyed this one. I was nervous to watch this one for a while fearing it would make me way depressed, but despite making me feel down, and almost made me cry a few times, I had a fun time. Those action scenes, the melancholic moments, the hopeful moments, the disturbing moments, and especially that bittersweet ending just all combined in making this a sad yet happy (if that makes sense) anime for me.

Overall - 10
-------------
Overall, I am so glad I heard of this a while back, and I am so glad I finally got to watch it. The art, sound, and story were mah high points, and the characters also mixed very well into everything for me. It was sad, dark, depressing, creepy, maybe even scary, but also happy, joyful, and I'd say hopeful, especially at the end. I just love that ending so much. Now I gotta go onto the movies, as a way to basically rewatch the show in a different way.

I don't like making recommendations since people have different tastes, but I'd say, if you want to try a magic girl anime that is quite different to the norm, or wanna tap into something quite sad and depressing at times, maybe you can try this one out. Either way, you make the call.