New PANTY & STOCKING with GARTERBELT

Episode 6

Panty & Stocking is a series that has gotten just two seasons in a decade and a half, so it feels weird to regard any element as a "tradition" for the show. After the unforgettable debut of Scanty and Kneesocks and the knock-down-drag-out fight that ensued in the sixth episode of Original Recipe Panty & Stocking, it was expected that the teased-out new boy angels would make their debut at the halfway point. So it's hardly a surprise when they show up, nor is it a shock when the animation pops off under storyboards by Trigger's eternal Hiroyuki Imaishi.

However, unlike all the other times so far when New Panty & Stocking has traded in shock and awe with its envelope-pushing, it does not need to do that here—it just needs to live up to the hype. Compared to some of the insanity this season has already gotten up to, it makes pulling off the demands of this episode look easy.

It's incongruous enough to start. The Anarchy and Demon sisters are feuding over chores and coins again, like it's the second episode of the season, but a few elements are standing out that showcase how far the show has come to set it apart. Brief's new friend, voiced by Yoshino Aoyama (Bocchi!), is hanging around, and the initial Ghost encounter once again centers on a sympathetic spectre that the characters don't mind letting go. But then, just as suddenly as the Demon Sisters rolled in way back in November of 2010, the boys are back in town and ready to throw down. People were already making fan art and cosplaying them, so there's a palpable pop-off when they do debut. It confirms how real they are, and for understanding audiences, how hard this episode is about to go down.

Polyester and Polyurethane, as characters, were always going to be baseline charming the same way Scanty and Kneesocks were when they first appeared. They're afforded the show's outstandingly slick character design sensibilities, looking like the twin sons of Promare's Galo and Lio. They wear bodysuits with prominent bulges, and their garment-weapon reveals give them away as a hand and foot guy, respectively. We wanted them to be deliciously shitty boys, and they deliver. What's freshly fun about them is how they slot seamlessly into the extra-modern elements occupied by New Panty & Stocking. 'Ester and 'Urethane speak in unchecked, unhinged Zoomer lingo, driving around in a tank of a vehicle that dwarfs even the Demons Sisters' now hilariously outdated stretch Hummer. They're less invested in the rrrrrrules of those prior antagonists, instead worshipping at the altar of regulations, dictating what angels in any setting should be like, effectively censoring Panty and Stocking by sealing their holy weapons in retaliation. They also fuse Scanty and Kneesocks into a horrible Hell-horse creature, because even Panty & Stocking cannot escape the allure of Uma Musume.

The Poly Partners aren't even the only new introduction in this episode, thanks to the entry of Gunsmith Bitch—the aforementioned Yoshino Aoyama character. I hope she sticks around after this. It's not just that she's got a terrific design, but she also well represents the multilayered modern spin of the New Panty & Stocking. She contains multitudes, as Panty learned to embody back in the finale of the original series. She's enthusiastically gun-sexual; she's probably the most accurate adaptation of an American occupant of the Earth realm this show has had yet. Her management of carefully curated clothing-based weaponry calls Trigger's Kill la Kill to mind, and she is responsible for providing the leads with a mid-season power-up that so many Super Sentai and Kamen Riders would be jealous of.

Because that boisterous brawl is the ultimate destination, and if anything, I'm surprised by how highly dosed on references that road is. Panty & Stocking has always been a series to wear its shout-outs on its sleeve, but the monsters mowed down in this episode are a construction straight out of They Live, with the rest of the lead-ins being just as Leo-point-worthy. The Angel brothers' big ol' bus is named in reference to the 00 Riser and referred to as a Transformer as it shifts around. Even the subs (and the dub!) get in on the action, tossing out allusions to everything from the goggles that do nothing to Candy Mountain. It's completely on-brand and keeps pace with the episode's baser indulgences.

This episode is all about the spectacle, and as described, it delivers. It's no surprise that key animators Ichigo Kanno and Shimon Dohi previously worked on Promare—you can see that in the absurd CGI vehicular chase sequence as well as the chaotic pile-ups of personnel action. But the final product is all powered by this episode's energy, baby. I was hooting and hollering during the sisters' power-up sequence and the Angel brothers' transformation scene, even though the latter confirmed that they were cops. Imagine the Sarazanmai Otter Cops dance scene with all the uncompromised horniness of a Trigger joint.

If the biggest issue with this episode is that it wasn't as surprising as previous New Panty & Stocking high-water marks, it still deserves a million points of praise. It's a spectacle of the highest order, and it even plays the viewers somewhat effectively by keeping them guessing how involved the elements introduced will continue to be. I can only hope Gunsmith Bitch and the Angel Bros. continue to be just as involved. This is a worthy successor to what I still consider the best episode of the original Panty & Stocking. If this show ever gets more seasons beyond this New one, I hope this sixth-episode tradition is kept alive.

Rating:

New PANTY & STOCKING with GARTERBELT is currently streaming on Prime Video.

Chris has to slay a bunch of anime reviews to earn his own Heaven and Hell coins, and he hopes his editors won't deduct too much for occasional potty mouth here, given the context. He's probably reskeeting fanart of Panty and/or Stocking on his BlueSky right now, and you can also check out his own back catalog over on his blog.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

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