Due to the nature of the series, some of the linked screenshots and/or cuts are somewhat NSFW. Though never explicit, I'd advise caution
▶ Video
The apex and natural imaginative endpoint for 00s Gainax: they never shied away from gratuitous explosions and unabashed horniness, but never before with such little pretense towards respectablility. Panty & Stocking is a parody of American adult cartoons, its own Japanese creators, and eventually of itself: as such, it is as vulgar and crass as possibly can be, never not angling towards the next thinly veiled sexual innuendo or reason to take its characters clothes off. Its irreverent ideas are structured through vignettes and half-episode long segments which are, for most of the series, held together only by the faintest semblance of continuity through in-universe mechanics. Panty & Stocking was conceptualized on a relaxation trip after Gurren Lagann's production wrapped up, and one can confer this party-like energy within the chaotic amalgamation of interests, references, and individualism. Breaking free from the chains of usual anime production, one could say it is the maximized id: a self-satisfactory (the show itself would call it 'masturbatory') and nearly therapeutic exercise in tastelessness, holding little-to-no consideration for contemporary acceptability. But if id is mere instinctual impulse, then it would serve to find a better descriptor for Panty & Stocking, for its technical precision and unrelenting audiovisual perfection is constantly apparent.Gainax' last big bang features explosive yet effortlessly readable action direction by the ever-impeccable Hiroyuki Imaishi, who now evolves to incorporate bold SFX onomatopeia within frames themselves, further adding to the already perpetually overwhelming setting design. Animation direction for large parts of the series are handled by superstars Sushio and Atsushi Nishigori; the former's drawings are so strong that he's capable of conveying intensity even through chibi models, whereas the latter weaves in high-level horny illustrations whenever the production asks of him. Every segment is directed by yet another new auteur, with legends of the medium ranging from the ever-stylish Sayo Yamamoto and webgen pioneer Ryouchimo, to ultimate otaku Shin Itagaki and even the mythical Kazuya Tsurumaki: every one of these further supplemented by an enormous crew of accomplished animators who were either already industry heroes, or would later become that at Trigger or elsewhere.
Call me a demon but Panty & Stocking is far better when it deviates from its own rrrules and self-proclaimed 'bitch' nature. The most pristine example is Osamu Kobayashi's episode 5B, where the late master of photography got a creative carte blanche to visualize the series' 'other city'; one resembling contemporary Japan more than the cartoon construct the series otherwise resides in. It is detached from the angels' performance, who appear only briefly, and uses cruder drawings to find intimacy in our unforced, daily 'ugliness' (read: beauty), and the acts of kindness that we perform despite our own suffering, to make the world a slightly better place ourselves. I cried for minutes after this episode because it's just too beautiful. Otherwise one could consider Kazuya Tsurumaki's 9B; where he plays closer to the series' established identity, but injects a sensitive romanticism through exceptional character staging and acting as well as montage, generating enormous pathos from ostensibly another stinky script. One must also pay dues to Atsushi Nishgori, whose remarkable and less-stylized character drawings and stunning, artistically mature storyboards recognize Panty and Stocking as malleable, vulgar rockstars, which reaches its climax in the MTV-worshipping music video at the end of episode 10—a performance one might recognize The Idolm@ster's Hoshii Miki in!
