Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt : The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

Review Date: 2013 June 25 15:24

Reviewed by: Bryoz

Released by: Manga Entertainment UK

Age Rating: 18

Region: 2 - UK

Length: 351 minutes

Subtitles: English

Audio: English 2.0 Stereo

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Summary

Panty and Stocking are nasty angels who were banished from the pearly gates for being foul-mouthed bad girls! Now they spend their days hunting ghosts in the lecherous abyss between Heaven and Earth. Panty likes sex, Stocking likes sweets, and their afro-sporting main man Garter Belt has a fetish we can t mention. Packed with over 80 minutes of exclusive extras including 23 min Loft Plus OVA , Making of, Out-takes/Missing Scenes, Promos, and Trailers.

Review

Also known as "Oh God. What did I just watch.". As much as I love to open my reviews with a memorable quote, I'm trying to keep this family safe.

"Panty and Stocking are nasty angels who were banished from the pearly gates for being foul-mouthed bad girls! Now they spend their days hunting ghosts in the lecherous abyss between Heaven and Earth. Panty likes sex, Stocking likes sweets, and their afro-sporting main man Garter Belt has a fetish we can't mention."

It's worth opening with how ridiculously NSFW this series is. It's not the kind of thing the majority of people will be able to watch with their parents in the room. The humour is crude, and the dialogue is incredibly foul. Still interested? I thought so - read on!

The series is split into short episodes, which see the angels, or ‘hookers' as Garterbelt endearingly refers to them, challenge take on mischievous ghosts in order to redeem their way back into heaven. Ghosts include possessed excrement, a nosebleed fueled zeplin, a towering vomit monster and even the vengeful spirits of wasted semen. Believe me when I say, no bodily fluid is left unexplored over the course of the series.

As I mentioned, the dialogue doesn't hold back, but the staff did a great job translating the show for the dubbed version. There are some very imaginative and some very quotable insults thrown in.

The animation is really vivid, and is comparable to Dead Leaves. It also appears to take a lot of inspiration from western shows such as Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab and Invader Zim. The styles of animation often change to parody other shows – there's even a brief South Park reference thrown in at one point.

The series is full of pop culture reference and parodies, to the point where you could re-watch each episode to try and spot all of them.

Potentially my favourite parody was the very end, in which the show parodies other Gainax series with bizarre open endings. It gets a little crazy, and pokes fun at the way the studio seems to tease viewers at the end of a show's run.

The soundtrack is great, and I would strongly recommend the remix album. The music is energetic; a lot of dance music accompanies the action sequences. Thankfully, it doesn't get repetitive and isn't obtrusive, rather it compliments the animation well.

The special features on the second disc are fantastic, and include informal interviews with the voice talent behind the characters. It seems like they had great fun, and they go into a lot of detail about the creative process behind the show's colourful dialogue. There are a few animated shorts, for anyone left wanting more at the end of the series, and for fans of the Power Ranger-esque ghost explosion sequences, there's a full documentary about how these were filmed. It goes into a lot of detail, and includes an insightful round-table discussion with the model makers. Also included are the usual openings, endings and trailers.

Whilst I found Panty and Stocking to be very entertaining, it lacks the substance that I've come to expect from most GAINAX series. I would recommend giving this a watch if you're not easily offended or grossed out. It's definitely not worth judging the entire series based on the first couple of episodes – as I found out, after my false start a few years back. It's great fun, you just can't take it too seriously.

Rating: 6/10

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