Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt follows two fallen angels who were expelled from Heaven for bad behavior and now work as freelance ghost hunters in a chaotic zone between Heaven and Earth. Episodes are short, punchy and built around high-energy set pieces where the sisters fight outlandish, often sexually charged phantoms. Panty is reckless and flirtatious, Stocking prefers sweets and gothic aesthetics, and their sermonizing handler Garterbelt assigns jobs and collects payment. The show trades serialized plot for rapid-fire jokes, sudden style shifts into Western cartoon pastiche, and pop music cues, so stories are more about outrageous moments and character dynamics than long-term narrative payoff.

Premiered in 2010, the series was created and directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi. It aired as a late-night anime and stood out for its choice to fuse anime production with Western cartoon visuals and a rock and electronic soundtrack.

The show developed a vocal cult following, especially among viewers drawn to its off-color humor and daring visual approach. Its striking character designs, bold color palette and genre-bending episodes spawned fan art, cosplay and online memes, and it remains a frequent reference when people talk about anime that pushes stylistic limits.

Critical reception was mixed but often admiring of the animation energy and inventive direction. On user ratings it scores around 7.75 out of 10 from a modest sample, with praise for its visual inventiveness and music, and criticism aimed at repetitive crude jokes and uneven storytelling. Major themes include hedonism, sibling rivalry, and a satirical take on morality framed as a hyperactive action-comedy.

The series didn’t sweep mainstream industry awards, yet it has stayed culturally visible through fan enthusiasm and retrospective pieces in anime media. While not a conventional prize winner, it’s frequently cited in discussions about experimental anime and has maintained a steady reputation among niche audiences.