You have to be good to get into heaven, but what happens if an angel from heaven is a real.... well, a certain word that starts with a b? Will they get sent straight to Hell, or will they given another possible chance at Heaven? For two certain angels, it's the latter, but the thing is, they have to BUY their way back into Heaven. Ah, geez, you really can buy anything with money, can you?!
Ladies and gentlemen, here is my review of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is about Panty and Stocking Anarchy, two sisters who are angels. The two of them have their own interests; for Panty, it's sex, and for Stocking, it's sweets. Because of their bad behavior, the two angels are kicked out of Heaven and exiled to Daten City. There, they must defeat ghosts and earn enough Heaven Coins to buy their way back into Heaven.
I first heard about Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt somewhere around the time where the English dub was announced. Because of the whole subject matter, I originally avoided the series, but of course, the temptation I had to watch it became too much. Thus, I watched the anime, and what do you know? I actually had fun watching it. In fact, I can go as far as saying that this anime is the one that should be on Adult Swim immediately. Why do I think this? Well, let me tell ya.
First, let's talk about the story. The story in Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is not a great story. Most of it is pretty much filler. However, it's a decent buildup to the last episode, which was really AWESOME. Before then, there are some great episodes, and there are some episodes that are just plain weird. The plot twist at the end was well-executed, and I applaud Gainax for that. At the same time, though, the plot twist does too much foreshadowing to a second season that STILL hasn't aired or even been announced. Maybe they were planning one, but it never came into fruition?
Now, the characters. Panty and Stocking are fun characters all the way to the end, and even though they don't always get along (as you would expect from sisters), I felt that they had good chemistry. I especially liked Panty; she's just a really fun character! Garterbelt, the priest who pretty much looks after the sisters, is an interesting character, and his back-story, which was explained in one episode, was actually quite interesting. Chuck, their pet.... is actually sort of useless until the last episode. There's also a character named Brief, who has a crush on Panty; he can be quite a funny character at times, too. There are a lot more characters in this anime, but to save time, I'll just leave it at that. Still, there are a decent amount of really great characters!
The animation is very unique; it's really not every day where you see this kind of animation style in an anime. It especially stands out in the action scenes, which are really cool. The opening and ending songs aren't much, but for some reason, I can't get them out of my head! Finally, the voice acting for the English dub (done by the ever-so-amazing Funimation) is really well-done, and it was clear that they were having fun in this one. There's a bit of an issue I have, though; couldn't they have cut back on the cursing just a little bit? I mean, was there that much cursing in the Japanese version? (I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there was, though.)
Overall, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt was an enjoyable anime. If you like anime full of adult humor, this is the one for you. You'll be witnessing just how bad these angels can be!
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