by Jayden Leggett, Editor

Repent mother f#$*er! Prepare to have everything you think you know about anime drastically changed, as you dive into the chaos of Daten City with Panty & Stocking (With Garterbelt) Series Collection: Purple Edition on Blu-Ray.

A passing glance at this animation would lead one to presume it is a children’s program, thanks to its super-bright color palette and ridiculously cute art design in the vein of many American cartoons such as Fairy Odd Parents and The Powerpuff Girls. However, a closer inspection and a twist of the volume dial will make it very clear that children should be kept as far away from this show as possible.

The titular characters, sisters Panty (a slutty blonde nymphomaniac with an incurable sex addiction) and Stocking (a gothic-garbed girl with an insatiable appetite for sweet treats) are a couple of angels who have been ejaculated – I mean ‘ejected’ – from heaven for being far too foul-mouthed and vile. Garterbelt, a jive street-talking preacher with an unholy appreciation of young boys is their boss, and responsible for tasking the girls with various ghost-hunting missions so that they can earn heaven coins to once more be allowed passage through the pearly gates. Oh, and they have the ability to transform any pair of panties and stockings into some badass swords and pistols. Frankly, this show is all kinds of crazy and messed up, but in the best way possible.

The first episode definitely sets the bar for the rest of the series, as people all over Daten City are mysteriously being sucked in to and killed by their toilets, with a “Shit Monster” being responsible for the killings (no, I am not joking). Another episode follows a “Semen Squad” of sperm soldiers attempting to breach a beach assault to penetrate the enemy vagina, with the soldiers becoming ghosts after they all get wiped out by the enemy tissues. The entire series is rife with smutty and seedy subject matter, from sex-tape scandals to Transformers rip-offs like “Cocktimus Prime” and “Megatwat”.

Then there is the swearing infested dialogue, for which we have to thank Colleen Clinkenbeard (director of the English release, who also plays the character Scanty) and Jamie Marchi (the head writer of the English release, who also plays the character Panty). My initial fears that by watching this series in English would result in something being lost in translation were quickly cast aside, because this is without a doubt the funniest anime I have ever seen. Whether it be Garterbelt describing women’s lust for being thin (“The closer they can get to looking like stage four cancer patients, the better”), or the Sperm Sargent announcing that “It’s time seamen, get off!”, or Panty and Stocking constantly bickering amongst each other whilst using very offensive and smutty dialogue that provides incredibly descriptive (and often disgusting) sexual acts and bodily functions that leave nothing at all to the imagination. Trust me, their cute and innocent looking appearance is truly only skin deep.

Of course, even the best dialogue in the world can be cringe-worthy if given a horrible delivery. Thankfully Panty & Stocking (With Garterbelt) Series Collection: Purple Edition also ticks the “Impressive Vocal Talent” category. Monica Rial is great as the sickly-sweet sounding Stocking, while Jamie Marchi is equally excellent in her portrayal of the sexy and slutty Panty. And let’s not forget Christopher Sabat as the hilariously campy and stereotypically “ghetto” Garterbelt. All other supporting cast members and minor characters, as well as the ghosts and other villains, are also of a solid standard. Simply put, great casting all around.

In addition to the excellent voice-acting and witty writing, this series also excels visually and aurally in many different ways. The action sequences were always intense and immensely satisfying, with fast-paced combat and superbly choreographed fighting. As mentioned before, the majority of the visuals resemble bright and vivid American cartoons, but what I really loved was how often the animation style and art design would completely change. Certain scenes involving Panty and Stocking doing a seductive pole-dancing strip-tease to remove their transforming undergarment-weapons are highly detailed and more reminiscent of “traditional” anime art design, and I literally laughed-out-loud whenever a ghost was destroyed, as these sequences used real-life footage of a model of the monster being blown up with explosives. These constant changes in visual style help Panty & Stocking (With Garterbelt) Series Collection: Purple Edition stand-out from an incredibly crowded market. Combine this with the awesome variety of music (I particularly loved the dub-step infused soundtrack to Garterbelt’s life story) and the solid quality of the sound effects, and it is clear that this anime is a technical masterpiece.

As if the 325 minutes worth of episodes wasn’t already enough, the Purple Edition Blu-Ray comes packed to the brim with special features, which include:

Panty & Stocking with Garter Belt Revealed: Unrated Cut

Interviews with the cast of the English dubbed version, as they describe the show, the characters, their favourite moments and so on.

Sit Down with Panty & Stocking

More of the cast commentary and interviews.

Panty and Stocking in Sanitary Box

Eight extra episodes that are very short but still worth a look as a whole.

Ghost Explosion Collection

Surprisingly enough, a collection of the live-footage of the models of the ghosts… exploding… from different angles.

Ghost Explosion Collection Documentary

Footage of the Japanese crew conducting the explosions of the models, as well as interviews with the sculptures and how they felt about having their works blown-up.

TV Promotional Video

Crazy television advertisement for the series.

Official Home Page Commercial Collection

More advertisements, narrated by the original Japanese cast.

Pre-Airing Commercial Collection

Even more commercials.

Now Airing Commercial Collection

Surprise, surprise, more commercials.

Post-Airing Commercial Collection 2

…commercials.

DVD Commercial Collection 1

…obviously, more commercials.

DVD Commercial Collection 2

No points for guessing what this involves, but here’s a hint: commercials!

Talk Live Animated at Loft/Plus One

A recording of a live panel with the cast and creative team. Live re-enactments from parts of the show, as well as discussions about the series and so on.

Making Of Lingerie Scene

A very informative technical look at was was a receptively simple looking effect that actually required a lot of planning and work. A start to finish look at the entire process. Very cool for a multimedia geek like me.

Outtakes

Bloopers from the American dub cast. Funny. Very funny, especially since the animation was already in place, so the adlibbing after the actor’s mistake perfectly matched the lip synching. Also includes the actors getting to describe their favorite moments, as well as tell a bunch of dirty jokes that were funny, and wrong. So very, very wrong.

U.S Trailer

Another commercial, but this time in English!

Textless Opening Song – Theme for Panty & Stocking

Opening title sequence minus the text and credits.

Textless Closing Song – Fallen Angel

Closing credits sequence… minus the credits.

Trailers:

A bunch of trailers for other anime titles such as The Disappearance of Haruhi Sazumiya, King of Thorn, Evangelion: 2.22 You Can [Not] Advance” and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

If any part of this review makes the show sound like it is full of sexual content and offensive toilet humor, that’s probably because it is. But in the same way that South Park’s offensive nature conceals some brilliant writing and stellar comedy, so too does Panty & Stocking (With Garterbelt) Series Collection: Purple Edition. Many a time was I laughing out loud at something that was either incredibly stupid, incredibly creative or incredibly dirty and offensive, and as a whole I loved the hell out of this show. While the speech didn’t always exactly match the mouth shapes, and every once in a while there was an episode that wasn’t super exciting, anybody who is “tired of the same old anime” would do well to check this show out. Well, anybody above the age of fifteen at least…

ComicsOnline recommends Australian and New Zealand residents purchase their copy of Panty & Stocking (With Garterbelt) Series Collection: Purple Edition directly from the Madman Entertainment website by following this link.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Panty & Stocking (With Garterbelt) Season 1 4.5 out of 5 cream-pie flavored jellybeans.

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