Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

• 1. Introduction

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  Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is a Japanese anime series that began with a director's blunt promise. Hiroyuki Imaishi said the theme of the show would be vulgar and indecent jokes. He added, "If we are going to do this, we will try it thoroughly." The studio behind it was Gainax, and the result follows two exiled angels who fight evil spirits with weapons made from lingerie. Critics could not agree on whether it was brilliant or revolting. How does a pitch like that come together, and who are the sisters at its center? Why would a Japanese series borrow the look of American cartoons? And why did the show come back after the studio that made it lost the rights?

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• 2. Daten City Rules

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  Daten City, California, sits on the border between Heaven and Hell, and it is where two angels were sent as punishment. Panty and Stocking, known as the Anarchy sisters, were exiled from Heaven for bad behavior. They live at a church called Cemetery Hills, under the care of the reverend Garterbelt. He relays their missions from Heaven. He is also cursed with immortality and cannot die until he fulfills his given task. He sometimes disguises himself as a masked figure called "Master G".

  The monsters of the week are called Ghosts. They are twisted creatures born from the regrets or suffering of dead people who are lost in limbo. When the sisters destroy one, it passes on to Heaven and leaves behind Heaven Coins. The sisters hope to buy their way back into Heaven with those coins. Panty has set herself a goal of having sex with 1,000 men on Earth. Stocking is devoted to sugary sweets, and she also has a taste for masochistic activities. Both addictions keep pulling them off mission.

  Not every Ghost is a threat. Some are harmless annoyances, and some resist their own nature and try to live peacefully. Ghosts can die by angelic weapons, by killing each other, or by peacefully achieving what they wanted in life. Whenever the sisters win with angelic weapons, the show films a styrofoam model of the Ghost being blown up. That recurring joke gives the series a handmade, low-budget charm.

  Chuck is the sisters' green, dog-like sidekick, covered in zippers. He closely resembles GIR in his dog disguise from the American series Invader Zim. Heaven uses him as a kind of mailbox. He is struck by lightning and spits out a paper with a clue to a Ghost's whereabouts. Opening the zippers on his head releases his brain, a 2-inch tall incubus who is romantically involved with the brain of a creature named Fastener. Stocking, meanwhile, carries a stuffed cat doll whose face changes with her mood. Fastener belongs to the other side of Daten City, where Hell runs a Ghost-making operation of its own.

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• 3. Hell's Machinations

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  Scanty and Kneesocks are the Demon sisters, and they oversee the production of Ghosts in Daten City. Scanty is the older one, red-skinned with green hair and two horns. She is egotistical, and she is Panty's arch rival. Kneesocks is the younger, red-skinned and bespectacled, with a blue ponytail. She is calm and sensible until excitement makes her short-sighted and turns her face bright red. She is Stocking's rival. Fastener serves as their sidekick.

  The Demon sisters answer to Corset, the pale blue mayor of Daten City. Corset wants to find the blood kin of Hell's Monkey, because that person can unlock the gates to Hell. The kin turns out to be Brief, the sisters' friend, whom they nickname "Geek Boy" for his love of science fiction and the supernatural. His true identity is the handsome son of the head of the Rock Foundation, a large corporation in Daten City. The sisters thwart Corset. Then the first season ends on a cliffhanger. Stocking kills Panty, reveals that she is a demon, and joins a weakened Corset.

  The second season explains the twist. Corset had brainwashed Stocking, and a resurrected Panty restores her with help from Scanty and Kneesocks. As a result, Hell banishes the Demon sisters, and Corset is killed. The Demon sisters move into Cemetery Hills as reluctant allies, since they also need to collect Hell Coins to go home.

  A new rivalry arrives with the sisters' cousins, the angel brothers Polyester and Polyurethane. They call themselves "newgen" angels, and they hunt with advanced equipment, including a sensor that detects exactly when Ghosts spawn. Off duty, they are polite, but they refuse to hunt Ghosts no matter the situation. Their father is the sisters' uncle, the younger brother of the king of Heaven and the Supreme Overseer of Heavenly Ethics. He lets his sons plot against their cousins. In the second season finale, Brief marries Panty, and they have a child named Junior. Every side in these feuds fights with the same unusual arsenal.

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• 4. Lingerie Arsenal

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  Panty's underwear transforms into a pistol. She can also wield a second one made from Stocking's underwear, which doubles her firepower. Together the two can combine into more advanced firearms, including a submachine gun and a sniper rifle. She can even weaponize male underwear, though its size and usefulness depend on the wearer's anatomy.

  Stocking's stockings become a pair of katana. On the demon side, Scanty wears two pairs of scanties that become revolvers, which she can merge into a shotgun. Kneesocks wears two kneesocks that become a pair of scythes. Corset follows the theme in his own way, wearing BDSM equipment such as buckles and mouth-stretching hooks. He frequently tightens his corset to enhance his upper body strength.

  Polyester and Polyurethane carry weapons from synthetic fabrics, forming theirs from polymer underwear and polypropylene socks. Polyester is the older brother, with blue hair and white clothes, and he wields a gauntlet that fires bullets. Polyurethane is the younger brother, with pink hair and black clothes, and he wears a bladed boot.

  The second season adds a supplier. An arms dealer, who is a friend of Brief, develops and sells lingerie that turns into weapons. The stock is kept in a pocket dimension called the "Pants Dimension". In public she plays a glasses-wearing geek nicknamed "Geek Girl". Even the names follow the theme. Panty, Stocking, Garterbelt, Scanty, Kneesocks, Corset, Brief, Fastener, Polyester and Polyurethane are all garments, fasteners or fabrics.

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• 5. Cartoon Blueprint

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  Gurren Lagann was Hiroyuki Imaishi's previous project, and its broadcast ended with a staff trip meant for rest and relaxation. On that trip, the staff traded ideas about animation under drunken and humorous circumstances. A typical remark was "Next time, I want to try this." Almost all of the concepts for the new series were created during that outing. The names "Panty" and "Stocking" were coined at the very first meeting.

  Hiromi Wakabayashi provided the initial idea for the series. He cited American adult animation as an inspiration for its crudeness, and he named Drawn Together as one example.

  Gainax animated the show in a distinct style that resembles and pays homage to American cartoons. It also uses the Yoshinori Kanada techniques normally associated with Imaishi's work. Because the stated theme was vulgar and indecent jokes, the series contains sexual themes and humor in every episode.

  TCY Force composed the musical score, and Taku Takahashi of M-Flo produced it. The opening theme is "Theme for Panty & Stocking" by Hoshina Anniversary. The ending theme is "Fallen Angel" by Mitsunori Ikeda, featuring Aimee B. The original soundtrack was released on the 29th of December 2010, with a hidden track on the CD. A second album, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt THE WORST ALBUM, followed on the 20th of July 2011. It runs to 24 tracks, with remixes, new songs and "Cherry Corrida" drama tracks. The special edition of volume 4 on home video also carried a bonus CD of television edits and previously unreleased songs.

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• 6. Broadcast and Release

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  The original series aired from the 2nd of October to the 25th of December 2010 on BS NTV and other channels. AT-X showed each episode seven days after its premiere. Nico Nico Channel, a service of Niconico, streamed it through the series' own channel a day after the AT-X broadcast. Internationally, Crunchyroll made the series available for streaming.

  Home video came in six DVD and Blu-ray volumes over six months. The first arrived on the 24th of December 2010, and later volumes came near the end of each following month. The fifth volume, released on the 28th of April 2011, includes a disc-exclusive episode. That OVA compiles eight short stories, and some of them are sequels or conclusions to earlier episodes.

  On the 14th of April 2011, Funimation announced it had licensed the series in North America. The DVD followed on the 10th of July 2012, and the Blu-ray on the 15th of January 2013. Colleen Clinkenbeard directed the English dub, and John Burgmeier was head writer. Jamie Marchi, Leah Clark and Jared Hedges wrote episodes. The first two episodes streamed on the 22nd of May 2012 for subscribers to Funimation's Elite Video Subscription service.

  In the United Kingdom, Manga Entertainment released the series on the 30th of July 2012. Faults were found in some episodes, and a corrected version came out on the 10th of September 2012.

  The franchise also ran in print. Tagro's manga adaptation was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine from August 2010 to June 2011. It was collected in a single volume on the 4th of June 2011, and Dark Horse Comics published it in English on the 28th of May 2015. A separate manga illustrated by Imaishi ran in NewType and then moved to Monthly Anime Style. Some of its strips appeared in the art book Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Datencity Paparazzi, released on the 4th of June 2011. The strips themselves have never been collected in tankōbon format.

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• 7. Revival at Trigger

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  On the 25th of November 2016, the official Twitter account for Gainax West posted a teaser image of the sisters in silhouette, with the word "Soon". Gainax West said the coming announcement would not be a pachinko game, a pachislot game, a social network game or a Blu-ray. On the 16th of December 2016, various Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt projects were announced.

  A new anime based on the series was announced by Studio Trigger at Anime Expo 2022. At Anime Expo 2023, Trigger revealed that it had acquired the rights to the Panty & Stocking property from Gainax, and it shared an announcement video. Imaishi returned as series director. He also handled series composition alongside Hiromi Wakabayashi. Atsushi Nishigori created the original character designs, while Shigeto Koyama, Masaru Sakamoto and Sushio made the animation character designs. Amazon Prime Video licensed the new series for global streaming.

  The world premiere event took place at Anime Expo 2025 on the 4th of July 2025, marking the 15th anniversary of the original series. A censored version premiered on the 10th of July 2025 on Tokyo MX, BS NTV and other channels. The uncensored version premiered on AT-X on the 15th of July. The sequel, titled New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, aired from July to September 2025.

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• 8. Divided Verdict

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  Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network called the series "unremittingly revolting" and "generally not funny". The site's episode reviews were equally harsh, repeatedly accusing it of style over substance and of tasteless, needlessly disturbing comedy despite impressive production values. Reviewer Gia Manry found the visuals and sounds overwhelming and the writing substandard, and gave it 1 out of 5. Jacob Chapman called it a "mess" with a "poisonous air hanging around it".

  David Brothers of Comics Alliance described the show as the result of an "unholy union" between The Ren & Stimpy Show and Dirty Pair. He recommended it, saying "it's raunchy, gross, a whole lot of fun". He also said the clash of influences made the series dumb in a way where you could see smart, experienced animators at work. Mike LeChevallier of Japanator admitted that the plot structure was hit or miss. Still, he found the stylization, soundtrack and memorable characters worth watching from start to finish.

  In 2011, the series was among the Jury Selections in the Animation category of the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival. In 2019, Polygon named it one of the best anime of the 2010s, saying it "delivered raunchy, stupid humor in a great animation style". Crunchyroll placed it in their list of the top 100 anime of that decade. IGN also listed it, calling it "an irreverent, entertaining joy-ride with dozens of tributes to western cartoons and a bangin' soundtrack". Gizmodo describes it as a fusion of the style of The Powerpuff Girls with the crass humor of Adult Swim, and says it became a cult favorite.

  Reviews of the 2025 sequel have been generally positive, with critics praising Studio Trigger's updated animation and character designs. The new English voice cast drew a mixed response, and many fans felt the recasting weakened the humor and the characters' chemistry. Fans were also disappointed by the change of streaming home. Joshua Fox of Screen Rant called the 2010 series "one of the wildest anime ever produced" by the studio's founders. He observed that it never earned the same recognition as other Studio Trigger projects but is still held in high regard.

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