Monday, December 25, 2017

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt Part 4 Episode 11-13


It seemed impossible but they finally did it…well Stocking did anyway.  That’s right, the sweet toothed Anarchy Sister has made her way back into Heaven, leaving a jealous Panty behind.  Scanty and Kneesocks launch a new, brutal attack, leaving Panty without her weapons and Brief in serious trouble.  As the end of days comes to Daten City, can a powerless Panty stand up to the might of the Demon Sisters and their boss?  Or is it the end for the party loving Fallen Angel?  Oh and be sure to stay til the end of the credits…cause you’ll never see one incredibly WTF twist coming.

For a series so hellbent on being as rude, lewd and crude as could possibly be, im surprised PSG decided to make an attempt to be semi-serious (as much as this show could be) and try to tie everything together at the finish line.  The series finale still gave it a shot while still remaining the same kind of ridiculous and insane kind of fun it has always been.

I’ve got to give this show a ton of credit.  Bringing a ton of threads together across the whole 13 episode run, with everything having such a sporadic connection, is a tall order.  Still, I have to say that this doesn’t really hurt anything that’s come before it.  A lot of Panty and Stocking can be watched with enjoyment without a lot of prior knowledge from episode to episode.  And yet this sudden “everything is connected” twist will definitely make further rewatches a bit more fun because, if you think about it, the bread crumbs leading to this point were everywhere, even in plain sight (everything except a certain twist ill get to towards the end).

Even before we got to the epic two part (which I guess makes it 4 parts since each episode is 2 15 minute tales), we still got one last bit of stand along romping out of the way.  I never thought 15 minutes of Panty and Stocking just chilling in one place, shooting the breeze, could be so entertaining.  This is helped by the fact that theyre actually asking questions ive wondered about since the series beginning.  Panty and Stocking are the exact opposite of Angels.  They’re selfish, borderline heartless and swear every other word on a regular basis.  Why the heck would they ever want to go back to Heaven, a place where their vices would never be allowed?  Funny they would bring this up right before the finale, almost as if the writers needed to ask a logical question at some point and try to acknowledge that somewhere in the back of their out of mind heads they were thinking about this too.  We also got a fun backstory for Garterbelt, watching his rise to Kingpin before his death and subsequent reset at the dawn of time.  Seeing him interact with most of the Old Testament’s biggest events like Adam and Eve and Noah’s Ark was gut bustingly hilarious.

And then it was time to start the march to the end.  It actually makes sense that, between the two vice loving siblings, Stocking would be the one to make it back into Heaven.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s a selfish chick but Panty is a whole level above her, a gun toting sex addict who refuses to help even her own sister hunt down ghosts if the right man catches her eye.  In that regard, I would say it was fitting Panty got put through her paces…because she deserves it.  But depowering Panty and leaving her almost at the mercy of Scanty and Kneesocks was surprisingly effective storytelling.  Factor in Brief getting a sudden reveal as being a handsome rich kid and you’ve got a Panty never before seen: turned back into a virgin and needing to accept certain things to get back to Angel status. 

This all lead to one amazing final showdown as only Studio Gainax could provide.  The visuals went beyond insane, the humor was dialed up to maximum, the banter between Panty and Stocking was at its peak.  I wont say it was a perfect ending but it delivered on the same levels of fun we’ve gotten so far and I loved it for it.  Like I said, it wasn’t perfect.  Corset, the big bad who’s been in the shadows since the mid point of the series, proved to be less of a “big bad” and more of a standard villain of the week for the girls, just another demon or ghost that needed to be expunged without much thought.  Granted the WAY that Corset was taken out was probably the most bizzare thing ive ever seen in an Anime, or it’s pretty up there.  Still, he was way less memorable than Scanty and Kneesocks, who could have been better served by becoming the true main enemies through some random power up to close the series out.

In short (and without even trying to describe just how it all went down…im an English major and I couldn’t even come up with the proper words for it), the day ended up being saved BUT…then we got that sudden freaking twist post credits scene that calls into question EVERYTHING that’s come before.  There’s no build up, there’s not even a hinting of it as the show has gone on.  Nope it just happens and what makes it all the more unbearable, there is no Season 2…yet anyway.  Yes we end Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt on a massive cliffhanger that needs to be resolved eventually.  I would say it should hamper my final rating but, in another way, this feels like a move Panty and Stocking would pull at the finish line.  After all, this isn’t about meeting expectations.  This is about a studio doing whatever the heck it wants (you’re welcome?).

To say that reviewing Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt on this blog has been a challenge is a massive understatement.  In very short words, this show is great and a lot of fun.  Describing why that is, well that requires a lot of detail that’s definitely NSFW.  The grossness, the sex jokes, the imagery straight out of the sickness of many minds, I really wish I could attempt to describe it all...though id probably risk making a lot of people queasy.  At the core though, this is the kind of show to pull up when you’ve had a bad day.  Panty, Stocking, and even Garterbelt, are the inner non Angel in all of us who need to vent at the world in some way.  In that regard, man I cant imagine how much fun the voice actresses are having speaking all of these lines uncut and without restrictions.  The animation was stellar, from the standard to the special episode animations like the Chuck to the Future Trilogy or the hassled Office Worker episode.  The humor never let up, never apologized for being disgusting and stayed true from beginning to end.  Besides one or two tales that even I found tough to watch cause some fetishes are best kept hidden, as well as an underused final villain and (slightly) the surprise extra ending, I’d recommend giving Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt a watch.  It lets the Anime genre of it’s leash and has it go nuts for 13 no holds barred episodes.  You’ll either come out the other side feeling unclean or realizing you’ve had one of the greatest blasts every watching an Anime…or both.  I leave that final call up to you.

I close out Panty and Stocking with Gartbelt with a very solid and strong 9/10.

And yeah.  Baring any unexpected extra surprises, that’s it.  The Gundam Anime Corner reviews for 2017 are officially wrapped up.  Check back Wednesday for my Top 5 Best Reviewed Titles of 2017 followed by the close out of First Impression Fridays on…well Friday.  And be sure to swing by New Years Day as I kick off 2018 with the start of our first series…ONE PUNCH MAN (I’ll have a more extended announcement of the start of 2018 as well at the start of the year).

Thanks for sticking around everyone.  See ya in 2018.
 

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