It is no secret that GAINAX has a long history of making some of the most interesting, and/or bizarre anime creations in the world; yet their latest pick is without a doubt the most bizarre of them all.Whether in conjunction with the manga, or an anime original is pretty much irrelevant at this point, it's the franchise that I'm wanting to get into.
The series -- whether you are going off of the Manga or Anime -- features two female ghost fighters named Panty and Stocking. They are angels that have rather interesting abilities and even more carnal desires.
Panty can use her panties to form a gun, and Stocking uses her (what else) stockings to form two swords. They are somewhat under the guidance of a man named Garterbelt who is a huge black man with an afro, and who wears a priest's suit. Together they go about fighting evil, or injustice, or generally making a mess of the city.
The have a dog named Chuck, who gets the worst of the deal, constantly being the painful fallout of their antics; such as getting a used filled condom tossed at him from Panty, only to barf up its contents moments later in the first chapter of the manga.
The Anime is scheduled to broadcast soon, and with the history that GAINAX has for picking strange stories and characters, I have to say that this series takes the cake, hell it takes the whole freaking bakery!
The last anime produced by GAINAX was the comedy romance Hanamaru Kindergarten, which featured animation that was reminiscent of the American cartoon series The Rugrats. Now with this latest endeavor, GAINAX's newest wonder seems more like an alter-persona Powerpuff Girls raunchy duo!
Already there are fans of this series cheering and ranting over the brilliant idea, but I really don't think they understand just what it's about, or the heavy mature subject matter. For a comedy that is no doubt going to cross all sorts of barriers, I'm curious to know which side of the fence the fans will be standing on after they watch the first episode, and if GAINAX is going to tone down the sexuality.
It's doubtful that they will, since that is one thing GAINAX doesn't do. They make no qualms, and offer no apologies for their content. Especially that hunk of garbage Gurren Lagaan and their knack for ending most of their shows on a tragic note.
It is surprising that a studio that has spawned such memorable classics as FLCL, Gunbuster, Diebuster and Evangelion, has started going off in this vein of entertainment. It comes as no shock that titles with more mature content are the best sellers of the medium, but this will make two titles in a straight row that have little more going for them than the art work. Whereas Hanamaru Kindergarten was warm and lighthearted, it was still a far cry from a masterpiece.
I guess like everyone else, I'll just sit back and go along for the ride. Hopefully when it's over, I won't be barfing up my lunch with disgust, or loathing them even more for my time wasted on some of their other titles.