Evil creatures called Ghosts are attacking Daten City, a city located on the border of Heaven and Hell, so Heaven sends down two angels (who also happen to be sisters) to stop them. One is an incredibly promiscuous blonde who can turn underwear into guns. The other is a gothic girl with an eternal craving for sweets who can turn stockings into swords. Guided by Father Garterbelt, a black priestwith an afro and a variety of sexual fetishes, and their dog Chuck, they fight ghosts in incredibly sexy, exciting, and just plain old weird ways.Basically, your average Studio Gainax anime.Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is an anime created by Gainax for the autumn 2010 season. The anime is drawn in a strange Powerpuff Girls-esque style, and is probably the weirdest show Studio Gainax has ever produced, possiblyweirder than evenFLCL (and that is really saying something), though some say it's on par with Dead Leaves.After its obligatory Gainax Ending, a second season was confirmed...well, sorta. At this point it's really up to Imaishi. Funimation has also licensed the show.This page comes with its own character sheet and list of shout outs.For the actual Stock Underwear, see Stocking Filler.
Absurdly Powerful Student Council: The Mayor's daughters take over the school in "Les Diaboliques", and before that Barby The Queen Bee Ghost had the whole school at her feet before Panty and Stocking came along. The weird thing is that despite all these girls only being incredibly popular, they seem to have actual power over the school's RRRUUUUUUUUUURRRUs.
Absurdly Sharp Blade: Stocking's katana can slice through an entire semi-truck. Justified because it's a celestial blade and the semi-truck is possessed by a demon.
Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female on Male: When not met with apathy, Brief usually winds up at the receiving end of Panty and Stocking's violent behavior. Zig-Zags a bit in that it's well-established that Panty & Stocking aren't very good people and Briefs is, so we're probably meant to sympathize with him rather than laughing at them.
Accidental Hero: A running gag involves the girls accidentally rescuing bystanders from various plights.
Aesop Amnesia: Brief points that out that Panty and Stocking have already had a "petty fighting gets you nowhere" plot, but that doesn't stop them from going into another all out war on each other.
All Just a Dream: Subverted in "Transwhoremers". At one point Brief wakes up after a nap and thinks that the events of the episode were just a crazy nightmare. In the next second he is reminded that they were not.
All There in the Manual: The names of Scanty's and Kneesocks's weapons (Double Gold Lacytanga and Double Gold Spandex, respectively) only appear in their character bios on the website.
All Women Are Lustful: In addition to Panty, there's Stocking, who gropes a bunch of cheerleaders' breasts, is repeatedly Too Kinky to Torture, and is definitely not averse to spontaneously striking poses for men standing by with cameras, and assorted minor female characters, many of whom are shown to be similarly randy.
The D-City Rock lyrics actually include the line "I'm breaking the news now boys, us girls, we're full time horny too."
Alpha Bitch: Queen Barby in "The Buzz of the Beehive" when Panty and Stocking infiltrate a high school. Unsurprisingly, she's a Ghost, a literal Queen Bee in fact.
So far there's been hard linePowerpuff Girls style (the main art), detailed anime art, stylized anime art, Super-DeformedFlash cartoon and thick pencil sketching. Sometimes in rapid succession.
"Vomiting Point" spends almost its entirety in Little Tokyo, which is as depressing as it is realistically animated. Panty and Stocking stand out even more when they arrive to deal with the Ghost of the Week.
In "The Stripping" there are various moments where the art will turn back into the detailed anime art....just at the moments where the most fanservice opportunities are.
Not to mention the Rotoscoping going on in Part 1 as Chuck witnesses Garterbelt's hand picking up his message, and Panty and Stocking walking out of the kitchen.
During their final attack against the Big Bad at the end of the series, the two girls instantly morph from their usual PPG-inspired appearance to their fanservice-y detailed anime appearance.
The Atoner: The reason Garterbelt is a priest, trying to get Panty and Stocking on the right track.
The ending of "Cat Fight Club", and "Ghost: The Phantom Of Daten City" - where Panty is legitimately worried for her sister. Although, the final episode kinda nullifies it.
Averted painfully hard with Panty and Briefs when, just after they've finally made love (and it really was implied to be that, rather than just sex), and Panty has a chance to save him, she... flinches away from him in disgust because he's in dork-mode.
Garterbelt. Yes, it's fairly obvious from the get-go, but he becomes this a hundred times more when we find out about his past. He was teleported back in time by God to relive all of history from the death of the dinosaurs to now, so that he would come to understand the mission God has given him.
Badass Adorable: Both girls qualify; Stocking has a slight edge in adorable side while Panty has a slight edge in badass side.
Panty in the first Sanitarybox short (Heroine Interview). She strips down from her baseball uniform, to her bra and panties, and finally, her featureless birthday suit.
Panty in "High School Nudical", though it's only for a split second you could notice. Also averted with her in the same episode, just a few moments before. Though not quite detailed, due to the art style of the show, her nipples are clearly visible. Also in the music video for "D City Rock" at the end of Episode 10.
Averted with the Sperm Ghosts, each of which have rather prominent testicles.
Considering that Panty got covered head-to-toe in poop in the very first episode... yeah, averted.
The more usual fight version of the trope is averted in Les Diaboliques, Panty's face is first left with a large red mark in the middle of her face when Scanty punches her, then at the end of the fight her face has a few visible scratches. Panty's panties also leave an apparently permanent burn scar on her face.
Behind A Stick: Panty and Stocking hide behind candlestands while tailing Garter to his bondage chamber.
Berserk Button: It's a very bad idea to eat any Stocking's sweets before she does. Don't call her obese, either.
Beyond the Impossible: Naturally. After all, the folks at Gainax are masters of this trope.
Panty manages to give a man 39 orgasms in one night.
Two dogs fighting each other by driving cars ON THE WALL OF A BUILDING?!?!? NOW I've seen everything...
Pretty much the entirety of "Les Diaboliques" tops everything shown in the episodes before. And THAT means a LOT!
When the sisters start selling their clothes for gambling money in "The Stripping" it starts with $5,000 for Panty's feather boa and ends with someone spending $96,000,000 on Stocking's stockings (Panty's bra just made $ 37,000,000).
Eventually, Panty has so much sex, her body wraps around to virginity. Trust us, this makes sense in context.
It goes without saying that Panty & Stocking is to anime what Bayonetta is to video games.
When Panty borrows Stocking's panties in "Les Diaboliques" and it turns into a second pistol, she can somehow combine the two to a submachine gun or a Sniper Rifle.
Likewise, Scanty can combine both of her revolvers to form a shotgun.
In the Transformers parody, Stocking comments on how the robots' power cores look like marshmallows. Femtron replies that it's their Guimauve, which is French for marshmallow.
In "The Buzz of the Beehive", our protagonists receive 8 (hachi) Heavens. "Hachi" is also the Japanese word for "bee".
Naturally, the heavy amounts of Gratuitous English flying around is this for the Japanese audience.
Bittersweet Ending: In "Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City," Stocking falls in love with a repulsive and jerkass-ish Ghost and is willing to forsake her duties as an angel to be with him. It turns out he loves her too and proposes to her, but the moment she accepts, he ascends to heaven as he was doomed to walk the Earth forever until he could fall in love.
Bolt of Divine Retribution: In episode 11-A "Once Upon A Time In Garterbelt". God revives murdered crime boss Garterbelt and sends him to a mission, but after Garterbelt's Blasphemous Boast, He zaps him with a lightning bolt that turns his hair into the Funny Afro we all know and love.
Bondage Is Bad: Played straight by the mayor, averted by Garterbelt and foreshadowed by Stocking.
Book Ends: "Nothing to Room" begins and ends with Panty asking Stocking about some guy she met at a club.
Bottle Episode: Although there were some episodes before which were obviously produced on a smaller budget than others, Episode 11-B "Nothing To Room" trumps all. The episode only uses ONE SINGLE background image (with some minor modifications to depict different times of day), and the majority of the episode is just Panty and Stocking talking with each other and, eventually, Brief, while waiting for Garterbelt to serve them a meal.
Bottomless Magazines: Panty's and Scanty's guns can be justified by being magical weapons, but the conventional guns they are using in "...of the Dead" don't have this excuse. Especially Garterbelt's; he fires his shotgun much more often than it should have shells loaded.
Breaking the Fellowship: Panty & Stocking are split up at the beginning of Episode 12B, with Stocking accepted back into Heaven while Panty remains stuck on Earth. This becomes a major problem when Panty is attacked by Scanty & Kneesocks - she is barely able to hold them off alone, even before her powers begin to fail.
In the manga, Garterbelt chastises them for talking about protein when they only got eight pages. When Stocking questions this, Panty notes that sometimes the first chapter is shorter.
In "Les Diaboliques," when one of the Demon Sisters calls Stocking obese, she replies, "That was EPISODES ago!"
In "...of the Dead," a zombie survivor does a typical "I'll draw them away" line. However, Panty doesn't even know he was there. He responds with "I've been here since Scene 19! I even had lines!"
In "The Buzz of the Beehive", a teacher is preaching abstinence to a class of high-schoolers. Then, in "Sex and the Daten City", Panty and Stocking are locating and destroying all the copies of a porno that Panty starred in, and they end up retrieving one of the tapes from that very same teacher.
In "...of the Dead", one of the locals accuses cops-of-the-day Panty and Stocking of being impostors because there are supposed to be three angels. After the pair go full angel-mode, the same woman remarks "They're the real Charlie's Angels!"
Brief Accent Imitation: Both Panty and Stocking mock Scanty and Kneesock's penchant for rrrules in "Les Diaboliques".
Broken Angel: Panty. As if Backlace and See Through failing on her weren't enough to bring this point home, her halo becomes visible for a moment, loses its glow, then falls to the floor, just so Corset can crush it under his feet.
Brought Down to Normal: Panty loses her Angel powers and regrows her hymen as a result of breaking the conditions of her penance on Earth.
Brutal Honesty: One of the problems the leaders of Heaven have with Panty and Stocking. While the people of Heaven lie to others to be polite, Panty and Stocking aren't afraid to say exactly what they think.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The titular angels are lustful (Panty), gluttonous (Stocking), and highly unmotivated (both). But when the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) poop hits the fan you'll be glad that they're (kind of) on your side.
Cat Fight: Panty and Stocking in the aptly named "Catfight Club". Panty and Scanty briefly have one in "Les Diaboliques" before returning to a shootout.
"We bid you adieu!" when the Demon sisters make their getaway.
"Repent!"
Censor Box: Used a few times. In "The Runny", used to cover Panty's naughty bits from the audience as she dangles from a Ghost's tentacle protuberance. In "If The Angels Wore Swimsuits", there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it example near the end, when two starfish Ghosts jump up and attach themselves to Scanty's breasts in order to block the view.
The intro has a brief shot of Panty and Stocking doing the Power Walk in tattered clothing (0:25). Their brawl in Catfight Club also makes their outfits suffer.
Scanty and Kneesocks are particularly damaged at the end of "1 Angry Ghost".
Let's not forget towards the end of their volleyball duel in episode 9A.
Cluster F-Bomb: Deployed with gusto. Just to name a few examples:
The whole thing is partially done as a way around censorship laws. While Japanese curse words are bleeped, English ones can air without difficulty and, because of the influx of English media in Japan, most viewers will still get the meaning.
Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: In episode 13 Panty lost her angelic status and regained her virginity as a side effect. Suddenly she notices lots of people making out in cars, then cats and dogs doing it, then a vortex of said animals and people having (censored) sex.
Happens in "Les Diaboliques", when a Ghost jumps into the toilet.
Panty: That's one place we don't wanna go. Stocking: Speaking from experience, aren't we? Panty: Shut it.
Another one occurs when one of the villains calls Stocking obese, triggering leading her to declare angrily that it was "episodes ago".
A subtle one, perhaps: in "Panty + Brief", there is a line chart detailing Panty and Stocking's productivity on killing Ghosts. Before their increase in activity as stated in the episode, there is a notable dip in the chart, possibly as a result of the lack of Ghosts seen in the previous two episodes.
Hell, a lot of scenes are. However, this works because of the already bizarre animation. Especially in "Les Diaboliques".
Cool Car: The Anarchy sisters' pink open top Hummer ("See-Through"), and the Demon sisters' G-Wagen limousine (aptly named "G-String"). Both vehicles even manage to duke it out with each other in "Les Diaboliques".
Covered in Kisses: Panty does this to a TON of guys at her film's release party while having sex with all of them at the same time at the end of episode 2.
Subverted with Daten City. With all the Ghosts attacking the city being lead by Noble Demons and the not-so-heroic Angels protecting the city causing just as much destruction, its clear that it's not a very good place to live. Most of the civilians don't seem to be that bothered by it, though.
"Chuck to the Future", which takes place during "Pulp Addiction".
In episode 11 we get a glimpse of Garterbelt's past.
Decoy Protagonist: "Vomiting Point" actually centers around the ridiculously miserable life of Salaryman Terao. The main duo only show up in person near the end.
Deus ex Machina: Pretty much literally in the 13th episode, where Corset appears to be defeated by the High Heel of God.
Panty: Mom?
Deus Sex Machina: In episode 12, Panty mysteriously regains her virginity, resulting in losing her angel powers. Only by losing her virginity again, next episode, was she able to get her powers back.
Devil in Plain Sight: Really? You couldn't tell that the sisters with the red skin, horns, and devil tails, that were even called The Demon Sisters, were demons?
Scanty and Kneesocks get a very... interesting scene during "D.C. Confidential" involving goat milk. And it's all silhouettes, which really doesn't help matters.
Black Goat milk. A reference to Lovecraft (Shub Niggurath, The Black Goat With a Thousand Young, so, conceivably, a fertility drug/aphrodisiac)
The art style of the soundtrack cover - especially butterflies on there recall the packaging for Glamorous Butterfly, a popular brand of condoms amongst the hip and young in Japan.
"Pulp Addiction" is a long chain of visual and verbal puns. This gets so explicit that the 'hill' the marines are invading has to be censored.
When the action gets really intense, Stocking takes off her second stocking to get a second katana.
Scanty and Kneesocks dual wield by default. Scanty wears two pairs of panties and Kneesocks removes both of her kneesocks so they can dual wield immediately.
Stocking can also spare a pair of her own panties so Panty can dual wield as well.
It should be noted that Panty and Stocking only started dual wielding after the demon sisters upped the ante.
Dynamic Entry: Usually Brief is on the receiving end.
Eagleland/Japanland: Daten City embodies Type 2 Eagleland...and is next to "Little Tokyo", with a color-shifted American flag featuring Blue and White stripes, and a field bearing the Japanese Rising Sun. Probably as a nod to the show being a Western Animation-style show made in Japan.
Eat The Evidence: Panty has Chuck eat all the copies of her porno.
Eldritch Abomination: The ultimate Ghost locked beneath the city's Hellsgate is a gigantic sea anemone/penis with gigantic tentacles at its base and head and caustic semen.
Epic Fail: In the penultimate scene of the climactic battle in episode 13, Panty and Stocking fire their Heaven-Ordered BFG from heaven THE WRONG WAY ROUND INTO HEAVEN (it all ends well though)!
Episode Title Card: Done in the style of American cartoons, complete with who worked on the episode.
The Demon Sisters participate in this together in episode 12, but it's also subverted: after the mayor walks in on them, they're shown covered in massive amounts of cream.
Even Evil Has Standards: Despite trying to destroy the human race, the Demon sisters frequently come off as more morally upright than the Anarchy sisters. Case in point, they are shocked that Panty would let Brief die if it meant she and Stocking would be able to kill both of them.
Even the Girls Want Her: Stocking, as of "High School Nudical", and Panty too as of "The Runny". Not only that, but she manages to get a nosebleed out of Garterbelt of all people.
The devil sisters, Scanty and Kneesocks. Polar opposites to the angels in every way with similar powers. While Panty and Stocking are foul-mouthed angels, Scanty and Kneesocks are complete sticklers for rules and order. "Rrrrrules". They even have a Team Pet named Fastener and their own evil black stretch SUV to complement Chuck and See Through, respectively. Fastener and Chuck also serve as the spare drivers of the team vehicles.
The mayor appears to be the evil counterpart of Garterbelt.
Evil Sounds Deep: Scanty and Kneesocks' Transformation Sequence is accompanied by a song with stereotypical deep-voiced female club vocals, whereas the vocals on Panty and Stocking's transformation theme are much higher-pitched.
Vasquez: It's sort of like my own version of the Mr. Sparkle episode of The Simpsons.
The demon in "Death Race 2010" bears more than a passing resemblance to the Carnage Symbiote. It has red-tinted black skin, a jagged mouth, takes over multiple hosts, and is Ax Crazy.
The panty-eating ghost runner bears a striking resemblance to The Flash.
Panty and Stocking are also amazingly similar to the Flash versions of Kei and Yuri.
Ren and Stimpy have apparently died at some point, as they have two ghost representatives in "1 Angry Ghost". Possibly an Inspiration Nod, as the animation style, pace, and scatological humor appears to have been influenced by their cartoon.
The monkey lawyer in the same episode, once his brain gets electrified, turns into Phoenix Wright.
Brief could totally be Lee Kanker's little brother.
That girl with the whip from "... of the Dead" bears a very strong resemblance to Marie Mjolnir.
Fan Nickname: Fallen angels, for the fans of the series.
Fantastic Voyage Plot: Panty and Stocking, after being slipped shrinking drugs by the Demons and getting fed up with Brief's weird tea parties in "Inner Brief", jump down his throat and stab and shoot him from inside for their amusement.
Foreign Cuss Word: All over the place. It's gotten to the point that citing every single example would probably produce a list as long as this page. Also, see Cluster F-Bomb above.
Panty exclaims "Shit!" when Garter correctly guesses that she's at the Immoral Motel, and is later called "bitch" a few times by the speedster ghost in the same episode.
Panty drops a couple F-bombs in "Sex and the Daten City". Minus the swearing, Stocking subverts it with her very slight accent.
There are so many gratuitous English curse words in "...of the Dead" that it goes beyond Engrish. Quite possibly the creative one being "You Fatherfucker" said in straight English.
In "Chuck to the Future Part 2", the word 'FUCK!' is used as onomatopoeia for a hand formed out of house flies giving Chuck the finger. Seriously.
To sum it up, GAINAX, like SEGA when they made Bayonetta, made this series to see how much could they get away with, even by Japanese standards.
Freeze Frame Bonus: If you're diligent enough, you spot nearly everyformerGainax protagonist in the backgrounds of "The Buzz of the Beehive".
Garterbelt does this about half a dozen times in the season finale.
Funny Money: When the Monster of the Week in "Transwhoremers" is defeated, the cast is drowning in heaven coins. But Garterbelt soon notices that these are "foreign heaven coins" and as good as worthless.
Gainax Ending: Gainax have arguably topped themselves on the weirdest way to end an anime. If the final battle didn't leave you yelling "What?!" in confusion, just wait until The Stinger.
The last 60 seconds of the series almost feels like the winning entry in a "write the most gratuitous Gainax Ending humanly possible" contest.
Gasshole: The Ghost in the episode "Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City" is one. Stocking seems to find it a turn-on.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: Aside from the art style, since Japanese censors obviously don't speak English as their mother tongue, they don't catch cuss words too offensive to air in the west, allowing the creators to deploy Gratuitous EnglishCuss Words with great gusto.
Giant Enemy Crab: "If the Angels Wore Swimsuits" gives us a giant enemy crab ghost.
Our sanity to remain somewhat intact. Or alternatively, the side with the worst luck right now.
Gretzky Has the Ball: In a beach volleyball game against the Demon sisters, the Anarchys win 21-20. In beach volleyball, the winning team is the first to score 21 with a 2-point lead.
Grossout Show: The first episode alone has our heroes against a poop monster. And then there's "Pulp Addiction"'s semen all over the place. Then comes "The Runny" with nose picking (at one point doubling as a innuendo joke) and a ghost made entirely from vomit.
Gunpoint Banter: Panty and Scanty at one point in "Les Diaboliques".
Guns Akimbo: Panty and Scanty do it in "Les Diaboliques".
Gun Kata: Once again, Panty and Scanty in "Les Diaboliques".
Hard Gay: From times it looks averted by Garterbelt, and in a big way, while his attitude towards Brief would imply it, as well (so he just might be a case of Bi the Way).
During a past-flashback, he appears to be hugged by two (female) hookers (and it's pretty much implied he hired them). Later in that flashback, though, he threatens to break God's dick off with his ass, so...
He tells Brief he has a nice ass after putting two fingers inside it... he had a reason to do so.
He organized an underwear-run in "High School Nudical" just for the sake of looking at young men's junk.
In "Transwhoremers", we see a (male) robot running away from some kind of portable bathroom, and then Gartebelt comes out while he is adjusting his pants.
He is shown masturbating to magazines of muscular men.
Heel Face Turn: Considering the looks on their faces at the end of episode 13, possibly Scanty and Kneesocks, to fight against the now-evil Stocking and Corset.
Although whatever policy they have (apparently with Garterbelt Insurance Co.) isn't total coverage - "The Stripping" briefly mentions that the destruction they cause is one of the reasons for their debt (although their consumption of luxury goods is stated as the main reason).
Heroic BSOD: Out of all characters you wouldn't expect to get one, Panty gets hit hard with Episode 12 after not only being rejected from heaven, but losing all her powers, her halo, regaining her virginity and having her love interest kidnapped right in front of her without being able to do anything about it.
Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted in episode 8A, when a Zombie Infectee takes too long requesting that his life-story be novelized*
(Farewell: The Final Journey of the Soul of my Heart)
, with nothing more than three pages of notes. He turns into a zombie right after he kicks down the door to leave.
Hidden Track: Present in the OST confirming the existence of a second season.
Hot Blooded: The Speed Ghost in "Death Race 2010".
Humiliation Conga: Episode 12-B and the beginning of 13-A is one huge-ass conga for Panty.
Hypocritical Humor: Stocking calls Scanty and Kneesocks perverted women (Hentai onna), Cruchyroll translates the line as "bondage-loving skanks". Now, jump down to the Too Kinky to Torture examples...
I Ate What?: Stocking eating what she thinks are nougat cakes in "The Runny." They are really oversized boogers.
I Call It Vera: Panty's gun "Backlace", Stocking's sword "Stripe", and the car named "See-Through".
I Was Quite a Looker: The granny in Episode 13 (assuming that was really her...), and young Garterbelt.
Ignored Enemy: Briefly in "Catfight Club", where the Ghost tries to attack but the ball he uses as a weapon is repeatedly knocked away by a bickering Panty and Stocking as they argue.
Imported Alien Phlebotinum: "Transwhoremers" only happened because Stocking (and then Panty) decided to eat the hearts of the totally-not-Optimus-and-Megatron that conveniently crashed into the church. Strangely, their usual Transformation Sequence is all that it takes to change back.
Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains: In-Universe at least: It's clear the demon sisters are much more popular with the public than the angels. Then again, the angels frequently destroy the chunks of the city and all their money likely comes out of the citizens' pockets.
The Big Bad thinks he can use a giant penis-shaped Ghost to get into heaven. So either they're both insane, or Panty's idea had some merit.
Intentionally Awkward Title: Aside from the series' title, there's also the songs "Technodildo", "Beverly Hills Cock" and "Dance Floor Orgy", and the subtitles to the "Cherry Corrida" drama tracks on The Worst Album.
In another first, the speech is recited while performing a pole dance...
O wicked spirit born of a lost soul in limbo; receive judgment from the garb of the Holy Virgin; cleansed of worldly impurities; return to Heaven and Earth. Repent!
Subverted in "Transwhoremers" when they completely screw up the chant and just start screaming instead.
May the earth shatter; may the oceans dry; may the sun extinguish itself; grant upon us the power of Our Lord Satan in Hell. We are demons! High-class Commander Demons! Scanty! And her sister, Kneesocks!
It Only Works Once: Corset's panic implies this to be the case with Brief's orgasm unlocking the Hellsgate, but it's probably not so if Corset expects Brief to open Oten City's gate next season.
Jerkass: Both girls could qualify, but it's really Panty the one that comes out on top.
A good example: in the second ep, she convinces Stocking to help her find porno tapes of her which will definitely ruin their movie debut. They manage, but rather than share the glory with her sister, Panty has all of Stocking's footage edited out of the movie, only focusing on her. Stocking gets even by posting the last remaining porno tape on the internet.
Marginally averted in the sense that Panty has shown instances where she really does care about her sister ("Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City" and the end of "Catfight Club" come to mind) and has occasionally stuck up for her.
Another example: The Ghost that Stocking falls in love with in "Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City" treats her like crap. By the end of the episode, though, he's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
The Jimmy Hart Version: Of both the Rocky theme and "Eye of the Tiger" in "The Diet Syndrome".
In "High School Nudical," Panty's gun stops working, so she turns it around, peers into the barrel, and pulls the trigger several times.
Justified in that Angelic weapons kill ghosts but are harmless to humans. Un-justified in that they still prove quite effective against Angels, as Episode 13 shows.
Possibly subverted after episode 13. Then again, Stocking might not be using a Heaven-sent weapon... Either that, or she was lying for a reason.
Knight of Cerebus: Invoked to a degree with Scanty and Kneesocks, since their introductory episode was full-length (instead of the eleven-minute shorts of previous ones), we get hints of an overarching plot, and Panty and Stocking face opponents who can actually keep up with them in a fight.
Subverted. The show continues to move at its own pace and is no more serious than it was when it began. While Scanty and Kneesocks' continued presence means they're following through on wanting to kill the angels, they haven't opted to fight it out again and resort to (somewhat) typical Western cartoon-style villainous plans to kill them indirectly*
Indeed, "D.C. Confidential" establishes that the Demon sisters had always employed these types of schemes, much to their boss's chagrin
. However, being that the series is mostly a parody of those Western cartoons, the Cerebus Syndrome makes a return for the finale when Corset appears during the Darkest Hour.
Leave the Camera Running: The episode "Nothing to Room" is essentially a continuous 13 minute shot of Panty and Stocking watching TV and talking while waiting for Garterbelt to finish cooking lunch. There is only one camera move, and a couple of variants on the Whip Pan to show the passage of time.
Subverted. Although the opening, promotional materials, and the first mini-episode all portray Panty and Stocking with the same outfits (the ones seen in the page image), the girls actually wear different clothes in each mini-episode
They also subvert this trope's opposite extreme by occasionally re-wearing outfits from previous episodes, including their original outfits.
Played straight by Scanty and Kneesocks who, when not at the beach or in disguise, always wear their dress uniforms.
Love at First Sight: While it's usually LustAt First Sight for Panty with the sole exception of Brief, Stocking falls in love with a ugly (in appearance and behavior... and personality initially) Ghost in "Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City". May also be a case of Freaky Is Cool on Stocking's part.
Love Martyr: Stocking in regards to a repugnant, ugly, broke, smelly, freeloading, constantly farting Ghost*
you know, those things they're supposed to kill
in episode 9B. She even ditches her usual black and blue Elegant Gothic Lolita look for a pink-overload version and plans to run away with him.
He confuses the word 'angel' with 'anal'.
Lovely Angels: Quite literally. Obviously tipping their hats halos to the original pair.
Made of Iron: Everyone in the entire show. Specially Chuck.
Made of Plasticine: Chuck gets smashed to bits a lot and fairly easily (for instance he was crushed to a paste under the wheels See Through) though he always gets better.
Marshmallow Hell / Funbag Airbag: This happens to the jocks picking on Brief in "High School Nudical" after being hit by Panty and Stocking's car. Complete with Angelic Chorus sound effect.
Their given names aside, Panty and Stocking's surname is Anarchy. Taking into account how much mess they're making in the city, and that their main antagonists are the RRRUUURRRUUU-obsessed Scanty and Kneesocks, it's quite accurate.
Daten City, which sits on the border between heaven and hell, puns on "datenshi", which means "fallen angel".
Medium Awareness: At one point, an annoyed Stocking grabs a bunch of the Written Sound Effects, wads them up in a ball, and shoves them into Chuck's mouth.
When the Anarchy and Demon sisters tried to start a fight, Kneesocks grabs the VS splash screen and throws it away.
When the Monster of the Week goes kaboom, the resulting explosion is an obvious live-action model being blown up, in the style of Kaiju/Tokusatsu.
The Wave Motion Gun Panty and Stocking fire in the finale summons their mother, a gigantic live-action woman (sorry chap, it's really a man) in white lacy lingerie.
Meganekko: Kneesocks, most noticeable when her and Scanty Art Shift during their transformation sequence.
Mind Screw: "Chuck to the Future, Part 3" is presumably a parody of arthouse films, because it's in grayscale, starts off making no sense, and just keeps getting more confusing.
Mini Dress Of Power: Often their outfit of choice. For Panty, it's basically a necessity because she has to be able to slip off her underwear in the heat of battle (Magic Skirt and Scenery Censor then apply).
Mirror Match: Despite being polar opposites in terms of personality, Panty and Stocking vs. Scanty and Kneesocks becomes this. Panty even borrows Stocking's panties in order to dual wield like Scanty.
The Mole:At the last possible second, we learn that Stocking was actually a demon all along...somehow.
Mondegreen: It's pretty hard to make out a small section of the lyrics to the opening; opinions range from "Tell me, baby" to "Cherry, baby". People have a lot of trouble with EPTM as well. Commonly accepted as, "Everybody play the lizard!"
Episode 5 and "Vomiting Point", as described above. Works with the Art Shift.
Episode 9 does this again with "Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City," which is far more tragic than you're initially led to believe.
Then there's episode 12's "Panty + Brief", where we finally get a romantic moment between Panty and Brief and they decide to make love. Sadly, the moment is spoiled due to the discovery that Panty can no longer have sex due to her regaining her hymen and, somehow, her virginity.
Murphy's Law: This kicks into high gear for Panty in episode 12. Panty's active sex life ends up preventing her from being accepted back into heaven (while Stocking is accepted for her efforts). Panty is required to do the Heaven-coin collecting all over again, and without having sex to boot. When Scanty and Kneesocks appear at the party, Panty's gun fails on her, leaving her defenseless, and when she tries escaping with Brief, See-Through eventually fails on her as well. Oh, it gets worse. In the cliffhanger, it's suggested that Panty loses her powers entirely. In short, Panty is, in a figurative sense, fucked.
Musical Spoiler: The OST revealed Corset's real name about a couple of weeks before the show did.
Mythology Gag: "Once upon a time in Garterbelt" features a brief cameo of two Ghosts from the prerelease tie-in manga: the octopus-like Ghost who was stealing all the good lays from Panty, and the Giant Spider Ghost.
Naughty Tentacles: In "If the Angels Wore Swimsuits", Stocking gets ravaged by an octopus ghost. Naturally, she enjoys it.
Negative Continuity: After everyone dies and/or becomes a zombie by the end of "... Of the Dead", this might be the only explanation.
Sadly, this may not be the case as Zombie!Panty and Zombie!Stocking are seen in the very canon clipshow episode "D.C. Confidential."
Adding to the confusion is "Geek of the Dead", a Sanitarybox short which reveals Brief dating Zombie!Panty hours after events in "... Of the Dead" (even as she is reduced to a rotting, mindless undead), which closes as Brief is devoured, chewed up, and shat out by Zombie!Panty. Could be a gag short, but still...
This trope is somewhat inconsistent on the show, continuity only becomes clear in episode 6.
Their Transformation Sequence changed them to their original form in "Transwhoremers", it might be the same thing here.
New Job Episode: "The Stripping" forces Panty and Stocking through different part time jobs.
In "Transwhoremers", Brief manages to convince Masculimus and Femitron to stop feuding and form an alliance... in order to destroy the world.
Panty in the final episode when she refused to catch Brief as he's falling after regaining her powers. He falls right into the Doomsday Machine, his "key" landing perfectly into the slot and activating it.Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen.
In the Beach Episode, Panty and Stocking do a variation, though it's less "Yo ho ho ho ho ho!" and more "Pu pu pu pu pu".
Stocking also does a crazed variation in "The Diet Syndrome" to indicate that dieting is driving her batshit insane.
Pulled by Scanty and Kneesocks, who start sounding like howling baboons in short order.
Noodle Incident: We never do learn about "that little incident" that happened the last time Garterbelt and Corset met before the series began, though it did seem to leave some kind of huge yellow cross-shaped scar on both of their chests, which mirror each other's.
No Dialogue Episode: The "Chuck to the Future" trilogy, other than replaying some of Garterbelt's lines from the point where things branch off, contains no dialogue (beyond Chuck and Fastener's Pokémon Speak). The demon-girl-brain thingy says "What was?", and that's it.
Nosebleed: Used in The Runny to propel a blimp into the moon... Long story. Used traditionally when Brief finds out that Panty's ear is an erogenous zone.
No Tell Motel: It's blatantly labeled as such on the sign!
Panty is shown clearly taking a dump in "Excretion without Honor and Humanity" and the episode's Ghost is a conglomerate of feces that sucks people down toilets. Also, Stocking is shown on the toilet in "The Buzz of the Beehive".
In "Les Diaboliques," Panty and Stocking have a whole conversation while both are sitting on the toilet in neighboring stalls.
In "Transwhoremers" Panty deliberately spends ages on the toilet to spite Stocking, who desperately needs to go.
What makes this even more bizarre is that both are in their robot forms at the time. Making this a case of "Everybody Poops"?
Now What?: At the end of "...Of The Dead", everyone is turned into zombies aaaaaaaaaand... that's it, basically. No big deal.
108: Two instances in episode 5 part 1. Stocking's eating a sweet composed of 108% concentrated egg cream (or so she thinks...), and then the party for the 108th anniversary of Oscar H. Genius' company.
One-Winged Angel: In the last episode, Chuck turns into a giant hellhound and Fastener turns into a two-headed dragon. Corset also fuses with the Hellsmonkey.
Opposites Attract: In "Ghost: The Phantom of Daten City", Stocking has a romance with a very gross and ugly ghost.
Order Versus Chaos: In this case, the Anarchy Sisters versus the demons and their rules (Or RRRUUURRUUS, if you prefer).
In "Vomiting Point," Terao actually hears "Fly Away Now" playing when Panty and Stocking arrive.
At the end of "Les Diaboliques", while on the roof of the school, Stocking deflects a group of bullets from Scanty's gun. The scene then cuts to a slow-motion effect of all the bullets bouncing off the floor and back to Scanty and Kneesocks' weapons. All except one, that is, which deflects upward and bounces literally off the top of the screen back down to the two demons.
Panty Shot: Literally. Panty's panties can turn into a gun.
As a result of this, it took seven whole episodes for her to play this trope straight, finally doing so in "Of the Dead". Stocking even beat her to it in episode 3.
Queen Barby.
Scanty subverts this twice in "Les Diaboliques" (It's too dark to see, but just as well cause she's going commando) and then later plays it straight in "Panty + Brief" and "Bitch Girls 2 Bitch".
Panty Thief: The Ghost from "High School Nudical" steals and eats panties.
Pizza Boy Special Delivery: In "Excretion Without Honor and Humanity", Panty and Stocking come across a woman flirting with a plumber, and after mistaking the latter for a ghost, Panty, being the Lovable Sex Maniac she is, decides to have sex with him.
Playboy Bunny: Panty and Stocking dress as this at one point of "The Stripping". Then, after the two switch into more formal clothes to enter the casino, Brief ends up wearing Panty's bunny costume. And never takes it off.
Plot Coupon: Collect all the Heaven Coins a boss drops and complain how little it is each time.
Police Are Useless: Subverted in "Death Race 2010" where they manage to subdue a demon via ramming it with dozens of police cruisers.
"Les Diaboliques" introduces Scanty and Kneesocks, devil sisters with astoundingly similar fighting ability. Their leader, the mayor of Daten City, corresponds to Garterbelt, and their pet Fastener to Chuck.
Putting on the Reich: Scanty and Kneesocks outfit of choice is a dress uniform complete with arm band, which they impose on the entire school in "Les Diaboliques."
Recycled In SPACE: Referenced in a secret track on the soundtrack announcing season 2. Panty hopes the seasons keep coming until they make "PANTY IN THE SPACE!"
Red Herring: The farm skit in "Bitch Girls" is intended to fool certain viewers into believing a larger Time Skip has occurred than it really is. Grandma, who shows up with the same dress color and facial features as Panty's, is suggested to be Panty having grown old as a result of her mortality, while the real Panty is implied to be Panty Sr's relation or a child who happens to bear an uncanny semblance to Panty Sr. This illusion is promptly broken after Brief is shown not to have aged one bit and the whole scene is revealed to be a mere act planned out by Garterbelt to motivate Panty to rescue Brief.
Panty's the red, Stocking's the blue. Heck, their trademark outfits practically color-code them.
Although they're both pretty blue relative to either of the angel sisters, Scanty is more excitable and emotional than Kneesocks.
Refrain From Assuming: Before the soundtrack preview, "Theme for Scanty and Kneesocks" was called "I Want You" by the fandom, given that was the song's original name before it was remixed for the show.
Refuge in Vulgarity: It's pretty much guaranteed that any episode will make you say "What the FUCK did I just watch?"
Retraux: "Chuck to The Future, Part 4" from the Sanitarybox shorts. Watch as 8-bit Chuck paces through an overly sexualized version of Super Mario Bros.
Roof Hopping: Only used in "Vomiting Point". Usually they drive by car to get from A to B.
Rule 34: Though considering the nature of the series, it shouldn't be a surprise that it exists.
Scenery Censor: Considering a lead character uses her easily removable panties as a handgun, this is necessary to keep from crossing the line straight into NSFW territory.
As a sample, the whole of "Death Race 2010". Panty crashes into some sort of toy store and loses her panties (and by extension, her weapon). Immediately after, she sees them... on the head of the Ghost they're fighting. Everyone (Even the news crew got several upskirt shots) gets an eyeful, not that she seems to care. The viewers, however, get nothing. Her "naughty bits" are covered by her thighs, or her boots, or in one instance, light reflecting off the camera lens.
In "The Diet Syndrome", we get Panty saying "Peek-a-boo" over and over as she keeps lifting and dropping Stocking's shirt, which hid a body-weight loss machine. Cue Stocking's Noblewoman's Laugh, Laughing Mad version.
Schoolgirl Lesbians: Scanty and Kneesocks complimenting each other's looks quickly degenerates into a barely-offscreen sex scene in "D.C. Confidential".
Sequel Hook: See Shocking Swerve. Now it's apparently up to Brief and Chuck to fix everything. Oh, and Scanty and Kneesocks are there in the background.
Something Else Also Rises: Garterbelt's afro expands in size when he gets, er, frustrated. It eventually explodes from the pressure.
Left the Background Music On: In "Vomiting Point", the angels' transformation leitmotif starts playing before they actually arrive and Terao looks around in confusion as if he can hear it.
Soundtrack Dissonance: The ending theme features visuals of Super-Deformed bobblehead versions of Panty and Stocking amongst deadly situations (such as falling off a cliff on See-Through or being eaten by a monster), all while the peaceful and slightly upbeat "Fallen Angel" plays.
Spanner in the Works: In episode 7, Scanty and Kneesocks are running a casino in order to feed a money ghost and make it more powerful. This seems to be working quite well, until the two heroines show up and have copious amounts of dumb luck. Not even Kneesocks stepping in and rigging the roulette wheel further can save them once they start selling their own clothes to fuel their gambling addiction.
Spoof Aesop: "The Diet Syndrome" closing aesop is broken several ways intentionally. Stocking snaps back from the only consequence of her Sweet Tooth after exorcising a fat-inducing ghost. She concludes that self-control is bad for you, and that you should eat all you want... but that only applies to her.
"The Entertainer" plays in "Nothing To Room" when Chuck eats his food in front of Panty and Stocking while they were waiting for food.
Earlier exmaple: In "Chuck To The Future, Part I", Chopin's "Chanson De'L Adieu" plays when Chuck and Fastener remember their school days together. And in the same episode, after Chuck unzips Fastener's head-zipper and a demon mini-woman walks out and away, the "Funeral March" starts playing, also from Chopin. Cue Chuck's My God, What Have I Done? face.
Starcrossed Lovers: Stocking and the Ghost in "Ghost: The Phantom Of Daten City". It actually ends on a bittersweet note.
Status Quo Is God: Panty and Stocking will never make it back to Heaven, they'll always complain about not getting enough Heaven coins, and Garterbelt will always chew out the angels for their bad behavior (to no avail). Panty will also always treat Brief like a geek, though she seems to have gotten close enough to him to stop calling him "Geek Boy" and use his real name instead.
Some of the Ghosts are this; so far we've had a Speed Demon and a Queen Bee.
In "High School Nudical", Brief's underpants turn into a shotgun. It's used for a short time before it goes limp. Think about who they belong to for a second.
The robot that screws Panty in Transwhoremers. You could say he's... A sex bomb!
"Hellsmonkey" sounds odd, but it makes a bit more sense when you realize mon (門) also stands for "gate" in Japanese. Thus, "Hell's Gate Key".
The Stinger: The Season finale ends on this to the point that it's practically self-aware.
The most screwed up example yet would be the final act of the Sanitarybox shorts, which makes every other Flash animation in the series look vastly superior in comparison.
Some of the sound effects, too. While they might not represent actual sounds, per se, they do show the work the creators put into the English they use.
"D-City Rock" has some pretty good English. Catchy, too.
The grammatically correct English lyrics of "Chocolat", which is performed by Stocking's seiyuu, are fairly well-pronounced and intelligible.
Swirlie: Panty and Scanty give each other Swirlies while they fight each other in the school.
Switching P.O.V.: In "Vomiting Point," we get to see Panty and Stocking from the POV of the average person.
Take That, Us: Mayor's response to the report on Crazy Crazy Cabbie: "So there was a noticeable lack of intelligence in that plot..."
Tasty Gold: Garterbelt bites down on a Heaven Coin that the robot Ghost left behind, confirming its origin, and that it's worthless compared to the coins the girls normally earn.
The girls' Transformation Sequence is accompanied by a very long incantation. Subverted in "Pulp Addiction" where they simply recite the first line and Panty ends with a "yada yada".
Subverted in the finale: Garterbelt is impaled by Corset when he turns to chastise the Anarchy sisters, forgetting he was fighting Corset.
Talking Poo: The shit monster from "Excretion Without Honor and Humanity".
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The gang at the beginning of episode 13 riddles with bullets the farm of Panty's grandma, killing everyone inside but Panty, then sets it on fire, then destroys it with a missile launcher. Averted in the end, because they were just actors playing a part, everyone is alive and well.
Once an Episode isn't enough; Chuck dies repeatedly. This goes without comment and rarely any notice.
Fastener as well: he's shown lying with a knife embedded in his back in episode 12, when the Mayor discovers the Demon Sisters doing... something together.
At the end of "Vomiting Point", Panty and Stocking give Terao an autograph for his daughter's birthday, not that anything else is much better.
Episode 13, more or less for the fans: Panty and Brief finally do the deed. In mid-air. About 5000 feet up. Give or take. Of course, Panty goes back to treating Brief the way she usually does, but she does stop calling him "Geek Boy".
Title Drop: An odd visual example. The angels' "Mom" happens to be wearing panties, stockings, and a garter belt.
In "Excretion Without Honor and Humanity", Garterbelt mentions that he'll have to punish the girls when they get back home. Stocking hopefully asks if it'll involve chains.
In "Catfight Club", she's tied up and being pulled back and forth by a ghost, with the rope tied rather suggestively, while the scene is shown in Art Shift mode. She says it's not that bad and she could get used to it.
In the same episode, Stocking is looking for her pudding in her room, and one of her closets show some dildos, handcuffs, and such.
Happens again in "1 Angry Ghost", when the girls are restrained. Stocking comments that it could be "a lot tighter".
Later in the episode, they get electrocuted. Stocking's response?
Stocking: Ecstasy.
Towards the end of "If The Angels Wore Swimsuits," Panty and Stocking get attacked by a giant octopus ghost. Panty breaks out with no problem, while Stocking...doesn't even try.
Stocking: So tight...
In the D-City Rock video, they get stranded in the desert and decide to make signs to hitchhike. Panty's actually has where they're going, but all Stocking wrote was "Please buy me."
Transformation Sequence: Technically, only the weapons transform (since for their transformation both the main girls and the Demon Sisters instantly change outfits before it happens and once they're done they're just wearing whatever they were wearing earlier anyway), but it still has the flashiness of a traditional Magical Girl transformation so it counts anyway. To top it off, it takes the Fanservice aspect Up to Eleven by including pole-dancing and striptease.
And now there's apparently going to be a second season. Considering what we got for an ending, all bets are off on what's going to happen next.
Troper Critical Mass: Just look at how much this page has developed! And the show's only been out for five months! It's not at Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann levels yet, but it's getting close...
Two Shorts: In keeping with the American style of the show. Episode 10 has three (well, more like five), however.
Villains Out Shopping: "If The Angels Wore Swimsuits" has Scanty and Kneesocks out on vacation. Granted, it crashes the Angel's own plans, but it's a coincidence. Averted by Kneesocks, who planned all along to use instant ghost juice on the ocean to create lots of sea ghosts. Played straight by Scanty, who just wanted to win the volleyball match.
Virgin Power: Inverted. Panty needs to lose her hymen to get back her powers as an angel.
The entirety of "Pulp Addiction", albeit far more blatantly.
In "The Diet Syndrome," the Monster of the Week shoots a whole fountain of thick white fluid at the girls, and in retaliation, Stocking swallows all of it. Huh...
As if that weren't enough, some of the stuff splatters onto Panty's face while she watches in awe.
"High School Nudical" involves Panty taking other guys' underwear and turning them into guns and... Brief's is a shotgun...
In "Transwhoremers," there's some literal screwing. As in, with screwdrivers.
The soundtrack cover depicts Panty and Stocking with drops of white something all over their faces and naked upper bodies. The rest of the art suggests it's actually water, but come on.
"Fly Away" is much longer than the show ever uses it for and actually does have lyrics besides "Fly away now!"
The mix of "Theme for Scanty & Knee Socks" on the OST is different from the show's; the show's cut used actual (or well-sampled, anyway) pipe organ, whereas the OST cut uses a synthesized instrument that sounds like a clarinet, if anything. Sure, it's not bad by any means, but it's a bit of a waste. The "take it down and turn it up!" lyric also shows up in different places and at different speeds on either cut. The TV cut appears on the bonus soundtrack included with the special edition of volume 4, though, so it's all good.
"Corset Theme" plays for about 20 seconds in Episode 13, directly before the girls' Theme Music Power-Up. The full song goes for a full 4:35, has short vocals, and is really catchy.
Wave Motion Gun: Panty and Stocking call one forth by putting together a lotof heaven-sent underwear in episode 13. Subverted when Panty and Stocking fire it and it turns out they were aiming it backwards. Then double-subverted when the mis-shot summons their mother (probably) who crushes the big bad.
Episode 6, we learn that there's an overarching plot, Panty and Stocking finally have opponents that can keep up with them, and the mayor is a potential antagonist.
Again with Episode 12, where the Big Bad's plan is revealed, and it turns out Brief is a major part of it; not to mention that Stocking has ascended to Heaven without Panty, who has lost her powers as an angel.
And once more with Episode 13, where Stocking returns, the Big Bad is seemingly defeated, then Stocking wonders if the Heaven weapons can kill angels. She proceeds to chop Panty into 666 pieces, reveals she's actually a demon, and then leaves with the still-alive Big Bad that popped out of Brief's penis.
What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome?: Angels vs. Demons in a match of volleyball in "If The Angels Wore Swimsuits". It eventually escalates to the point where both sides are forced to use their powers.
When All You Have Is a Hammer: Pop quiz: It's the Darkest Hour. Your partner in crime-fighting has been Put on a Bus, you've been left depowered, and the friendly neighbourhood Big Bad has kidnapped the closest thing you have to a Love Interest in order to open a gate to Hell with his penis. So, what do you do? If you have any idea what this show has been like previously, you should know that Panty's answer is fuck a guy. The best part? It turns out to be EXACTLY the right thing to do.
At rate that its weirdness increases, the show might gain the ability to turn people into raving lunatics by the time it reaches the end of its run.
They fought against hundreds of semen ghosts, and let's not get started in the flashbacks of Portshach's journal. It easily out does every other thing on the page, and it hasn't even finished yet!
The Ghost in "The Diet Syndrome" must be seen to be believed. Most likely completely cementing this as biggest Widget that ANYTHING has ever put out. (Here's a hint: take what's below a cow, stack them up and give it a face)
And just in the off chance you thought Studio Gainax couldn't pull off another epic Mind Screw, you get "Chuck To The Future".
The ending. HOLY, SHIT, THE, ENDING of this season!
Wild Take: Done by Brief after Stocking cuts Panty into diced bits.
With Catlike Tread: In "The Buzz of the Beehive", the girls have to infiltrate a school:
Students: Who're they? Rich girls! Goddesses!
Panty: No, we're angels!
Stocking: Panty, do you even understand what the word "infiltrate" means?
Not to mention that they had just plowed through the wall with their car.
Zombie Apocalypse: "...of the Dead" centers around this. Keeping with the tradition of the genre, no one makes it through alive, including the the heroines.