Top 13 Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt Episodes

Hello again. Just decided to unwind from Code Geass R2 month by watching Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is a series by Studio Gainax, a studio responsible for works such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Gurren Lagann. The series styles itself as a western cartoon rather than a traditional anime, drawing influence from cartoons from Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, and Man of Action.

As such, it openly skewers Western pop culture at South Park-level proportions. It is also a very raunchy series. It has plenty of action, but it also has enough profanity and suggestive content to completely contrast the cutesy art style; putting it in line with Akira and Ghost in the Shell to make a case for adult animation.

So, I am going to list my Top 13 favorite episodes of the series, based on all 26 vignettes that make up the show's run.

13. Excretion Without Honor and Humanity

I put this one pretty low because of how the show gets much better later on, but it's still a great example of what it can do. The first "Ghost" that Panty and Stocking fight is a sentient pile of poo that had been sucking the people of Daten City in through their toilets. This episode wastes no time in subverting expectations for the rest of the series, as Panty's first act establishes her as a "village bicycle", and Stocking has an obsession with sweet foods that it's a wonder she hasn't shouted "FEED ME!" in the same manner as Audrey II. By the time they get to their pole-dancing transformation sequence, you have been fully entrenched in this series.

12. Sex and the Daten City

This episode follows Panty and Stocking promoting a movie that they were making together, and Panty accidentally reveals that she starred in an adult film. Panty then sets out to destroy all copies of it, effectively doing what George Lucas wishes he could do with The Star Wars Holiday Special. Like that case however, the film is then put on YouTube, where everyone can see it; as retaliation for Panty deciding to edit Stocking out of the picture. As part of the second episode, it makes it even clearer what this show's intentions are.

11. The Diet Syndrome

It was promptly established that Stocking loves sweets, and she then makes an attempt to lose weight when she gains several unwanted pounds. She soon balloons to a cross between Eric Cartman and Tetsuo's final form in Akira, albeit with Shin Chan's voice. The cause is revealed to be a Ghost that uses a fluid that comes out of her to fill Stocking's favorite type of cake, causing anyone who eats it to gain massive amounts of weight. This episode manages to cross the line on the subject of food problems back over again from being touchy to offensive to funny.

10. The Runny/Raiders of the Nasal Dark

A nose-picking craze erupts over the citizens of Daten City, caused by a tycoon called Oscar H. Genius. He promptly invites the citizens on his blimp; but the trip turns sour when he is revealed to be a Ghost who wants to use their nosebleeds from their dried-out noses to crash into the moon. It is then discovered that Angel boogers will produce a great sneeze that will rocket them back to earth when placed in Oscar's nose, and Brief, a nerdy "Geek Boy" in a Ghostbusters flight suit; has a supply ready for such an occasion. Another case of the show making a name for itself in the childlike glee of bodily humor; it rises to make the top 10.

9. Transhormers

This episode is a sendup of the Transformers franchise. Not just stuff that's common knowledge, like G1 and the live-action movies; but it manages to fit in just about everything in the franchise's 28-year history. There are parts that take off the 1986 movie, Transformers Animated, Transformers Headmasters, Transformers Vitctory, Zone, and Master Force and even some stuff on the original toys that Transformers was based on, Microman and Diaclone. The voice actors even put in uncanny performances of veteran TF voice actors Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, the late Chris Latta, and narrator Victor Caroli. Definitely a prime showcase at the effort put into the parodies and homages in this show.

8. ...Of The Dead

In this sendup of the more traditional type of zombie films, Panty and Stocking are assigned as honorary police chiefs for a day and come across a town overrun by zombie Ghosts, meaning their usual weapons of enchanted undergarments are useless. There's just something about seeing people fight zombies with vibrators that is utterly hilarious and over-the-top.

7.  High School Nudical

A "lingerie run" (a fun run with the participants doing so in their underwear) is taking place one night at Daten High School, and Panty and Stocking participate (as well as an unwilling Brief) at the moment an "underwear connoisseur" Ghost arrives to gobble up the skivvies of the students. With their weapons on the fritz, Panty and Stocking are forced to improvise with the students' chonies, with varying degrees of success and an ending of underwear falling from the sky.

6. Vomiting Point

This is an episode that a lot of people remember when they talk about this series. It doesn't feature Panty and Stocking all that much, it mostly focuses on a salaryman in Little Tokyo, which neighbors Daten City. That alone is a factor in people talking about this episode, but it also bears a more realistic art style; in line with the work of the late Satoshi Kon and Studio 4-C. It also bears similarities with the Powerpuff Girls episode "Town and Out", where the girls move to a more realistic city; and the fourth episode of Gurren Lagann, which had a different lead animator then the bulk of the series and looked rougher and more simplistic as a result. Both that Gurren Lagann episode and this one caused many fans to remember the episode well. Some reacted negatively to this episode, but I enjoyed it enough, much like the aforementioned Gurren Lagann episode, to include it in this list.

5. Les Diaboliques

This was the point when the show truly got good, as it is when Demon Sisters Scanty and Kneesocks were introduced. With a pair of recurring villains now in place, Panty and Stocking would now have a pair to compete against. They fight back against the rules Scanty and Kneesocks attempt to put in place, and clash with them for the remainder of the show. It was also the point where it truly found its balance between pop culture references, humor, and action.

4. 1 Angry Ghost

This episode centers around Panty and Stocking being accused of murdering a Ghost called Mr. Husband, as his wife Mrs. Wife mourns. They are brought on a game show called Judgment Day to stand trial for their offense. The episode is also largely drawn in that sort of "off-model for the sake of conveying emotion" art style, and I like it that way. There is also a monkey lawyer who gets an intelligence boost into a Phoenix Wright clone. It's just an all-around creative experience.

3. Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City

Stocking, looking for love, comes across a Ghost who is a boorish, unkempt slob. Naturally, she is smitten with him, and they hit it off. This episode is largely a sendup of the 1990 film Ghost, and the vocal performance of the Ghost resembles that of Patrick Swayze, who sadly lost a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2009. The episode comes off having a very touching subtext to it, as rather than be destroyed in the traditional live-action explosion, the Ghost is allowed to rest in peace and rise to the afterlife instead.

2. Once Upon a Time in Garterbelt

This episode revolves around Panty and Stocking wondering about Garterbelt, given how he always frowns upon their doings. They sneak into his room and discover his diary, which tells of him once being a drug lord before being forced to live throughout recorded history until he agreed to become a missionary for God. It manages to be a good look at the man's life, throughout centuries of space and time; drawn in a sort of UPA/Jay Ward/Hanna-Barbera style to boot. Even so, Panty and Stocking fall asleep throughout Garterbelt's tale; making a humorous end to his story.

1. Nothing to Room

I know what you all are thinking. "One of the last episodes?" "The one where it's just the girls sitting in a room for 15 minutes, waiting for dinner?" My answer is, yes. Yes it is. There is something that is referred to as a bottle episode,  when a TV series makes an episode on existing sets with just the actors on hand to keep costs down. In a sense, they managed to make the episode very funny and well-animated; even with something as simple as focusing on one shot in their living room. There are some people who can make reading out of the phone book funny. This is what has been done with Nothing to Room. It produced, in my opinion, the best episode of the series.

So that's my list. I am working on getting the DVD Funimation put out, which includes all the episodes both dubbed and subtitled. As for what I'll do for my next recap: I'll have to think about it. I have something in mind, but I will probably have to watch it again to make sure it will be an entertaining read. Right now, I must get some sleep.