Catch-Up Review: "Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt"

I had heard about "Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt" for the past few weeks from people referencing the show.  Because the names of the characters all reference some piece of underwear in some way, I thought that someone created a show with anthropomorphized underwear similar to what "Hetalia" did for countries.  My curiousity was further piqued when Funimation announced a few days before Anime Boston and on the day they launched their new beta site that they had picked it up.

So, of course, I had to check it out.

Reaction: Oh. My. Gosh.

If you have a demented, sick sense of humor, this is definitely the show for you.  Do you laugh at poop monsters?  This is your show.  Do you find "South Park" or "Drawn Together" funny in any way, shape or form?  Then this is definitely your show.

The basic plot goes like this -- Panty and Stocking Anarchy are fallen angels who are tasked to fight ghosts with the assistance of the priest Garterbelt.  Panty, the blonde who wants to live a superstar lifestyle, is obsessed with sex.  Stocking, the lolita goth and more responsible sister, is obsessed with sweets.  Garterbelt often gets mad at the sisters over their obsessions and the fact that they don't seem to care about their jobs.

The animation is very much influenced by American style of design, and actually uses several styles at different points.  When the angels transform, it's one style of animation. When the angels do different things, sometimes you don't know what kind of animation you're going to get (one episode had a scene done in South Park style).  And when the ghosts are defeated, it cuts to a live action papiere mache model getting blown up.

A lot of the situations involve Panty's obsession with sex, and the men's willingness to go along with it. This can get old after awhile, although I'm hoping that a second season won't focus so much on it.  In fact, a lot of the dialogue involves sex in some way or another, with different characters revealing different fetishes.

And the one thing I don't think I could really get used to -- the characters swearing in English.  That's right -- you'll be reading the subtitles, and all of a sudden you realize that what they are saying is VERY clearly in English and didn't really need to be subtitled.

Is the show funny?  It is if you have a dark sense of humor.  And it can get very, very dark at times with the humor.  It's definitely a show for adults.  There were times when I was watching the show that I couldn't believe what I was watching. But then it had some really funny parts in it.

You have been warned.

The show can currently be viewed on Crunchyroll.

Review: Ramen Fighter Miki

Miki is a very active, boisterous 20 year old delivery girl working in her mother's shop. But everyday it seems like the same old routine.  Her mother gives her a delivery, and every day something gets in her way that prevents her from making the delivery proper, prompting her to fight.  Add to that her battle with the bakery shop girl rival Megumi, a just graduated college student named Kankuro who tries to fight Miki but doesn't understand why she doesn't remember his name, and the neighborhood mean dog Toshiyuki whom Miki is able to understand for some reason, and she leads a pretty busy life. On top of that, there is the local grocer named Akihiko who is addicted to the sensei show Super Space Battle Team Star Rangers, and a teacher named Ms. Katakana who unintentionally scares her students but manages to smile when she eats ramen.
And that is pretty much Ramen Fighter Miki.  But you're missing out if you pass this one by.

I'm sure we've all seen old Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry cartoons.  Well, this is the anime version of that.  The show is composed of two mini stories tied together with a common theme (for example, one episode starts with Miki trying to "expose" Megumi at her bakery in the first part, and in the second part Megumi goes to the ramen shop to find out why the shop is so busy at lunchtime every day). And although the show is violent, it's so cartoonish you can't take seriously -- no one seems to get seriously hurt despite the blows they take.
The show parodies a lot of different types of anime and films.  When characters encounter Ms. Katakama, for example, they see her initially as a vengeance spirit similar to that of the spirit in The Ring. You also have Akihiko's addiction to super sensei shows, similar to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  And the opening sequence can be seen as a parody of other fighting shows that feature characters on a "great quest."

The writing is pretty good on this one, with characters breaking the fourth wall on occassion.  The jokes are spot on in this show, and really highlight the silliness of everything going on around the characters.

The only problem I had was that this was only available as a subtitled show.  It would have been nice to have a dub, as well, so that I had a choice.

Overall, pick this one up when you see it on the shelves, or you can view it streaming at Hulu or Crunchyroll.

4.5/5

Review: The World God Only Knows

This is a show that sounds like it might be some metaphysical, deep drama from the title. You wouldn't think a video game comedy. But that's what we have. And it's actually pretty good.

Keima Katsuragi is not a typical 17 year old boy.  Hes super smart, and has an interest in girls.  However, the girls he's interested in are the 2D kind found in dating simulation games. On the internet, he's known as the "God of Conquests."  He answers a mysterious e-mail one day, thinking that he was being invited to play another game.  However, when a 300 year old childlike demon named Elise shows up telling him that he signed a contract to conquer real women in order to capture loose souls in their hearts, he tells her that there was a mistake -- he'd never "conquered" a real life girl before.  But because the consequences for breaking the contract are great, Keima goes along with helping Elise, using his knowledge of dating sims to guide him on their quest.

For a premise like that, it sounds rather weak.  But the writing in this show is pretty quick.  Parodying the conventions of the dating sim is nothing new (Excel Saga did it in one episode), but the writers play with all the conventions and the different types of girls you see in these games.

I will say that Keima is a hard character to like, at least at this point in the show (a second season is set to air in April). He's a bit full of himself a good portion of the time.  But he shows in his conquest of the girls that he does have a caring side.  And he's well-written -- his arrogance just adds to the charm of the character when he makes his conquests.  I like Elsie better, because despite the fact that she's a demon she's got some moe characteristics to her that make you want to watch her.  You feel bad for her when Keima constantly insults her.

Overall, The World God Only Knows is one to catch.  You can find it right now online at crunchyroll.com.