I've long believed that the people over at Gainax happen to be artistic geniuses. FLCL remains one of the most inspiringly creative pieces of animation I've ever witnessed. They are the sort of people who can work within an environment that is dominated by convention and derivativeness and still stand out as startlingly unique in all their products. What's more is that they do it with a level of stylistic finesse that I've had a hard time spotting an equivalent to in any modern art in any medium. Almost like Tarantino's movies, their shows ooze style out of every pore, and they never stop. Part of what makes FLCL so great is that everything is essentially turned up to eleven. If there was any theme, any aspect, that Gainax wanted to emphasize they did not only emphasize it, they pushed it so far into hyperbole that reality warped around it. In the very first episode Haruko doesn't just smack Naota in the head with her bass and knock him over, she sends him careening through the air dozens of feet where he hovers for a moment flipping in place before plopping to the ground. Then when she goes to "resuscitate" him she tosses her helmet into the air before a long-distance slow-mo pull-in that wraps around the scene before zooming in on the moment of the "kiss" with sparkles and cherry-blossoms garnishing the image, then pulls back to circle around Mamimi's supremely exaggerated reaction shot before being punctuated by a return to normal speed as Haruko's helmet clatters back to the ground. This is to say nothing of later in the episode when the entire show spontaneously transforms into an animated comic book for a short sequence. I can't source a quote, but I've heard it extolled that the greatest animation is that which does things that live action can't, it displays things that so bend the laws of reality that no budget on Earth could allow you to do the things it does in live space with live actors. Gainax displays this beautifully in everything they do.
I'm taking this time to harp on FLCL so much right now because at its heart, Panty and Stocking is a direct spiritual successor to it. However, in the same way that FLCL turns everything up to 11, Panty and Stocking turns it all up to 111. If I had to describe the entire show in one word it would be "indulgent", and this overarching theme of wanton gluttony pervades every single aspect of what Gainax created here. There is absolutely nothing subtle within miles of this show. It also happens to abuse its medium to such a degree that I'm not sure I'll ever call another piece of animation a cartoon ever again (and yes, I'm going to call it a cartoon and not an anime, for some very good reasons I believe).
The basic premise of Panty and Stocking is as such: there are two angel sisters who fight ghosts who terrorize the populace, and to do so they remove their underwear and turn them into powerful weapons. If you haven't heard about the show up until now, then the emotion you are most likely feeling now is entirely intended. In fact, I'd say it's a crucial part of the experience of the show. If there's any aspect that makes you uncomfortable about anime, it will be present in this show in spades (with the notable exception of the troubling trend towards pedophilia in a lot of anime, which is certainly touched upon in S&P but gratefully never indulged). To say the show was parodying these things would be slightly misleading, though clearly the intent to make fun of the cultural milieu the show takes its context from is among one of Gainax's top priorities. It might be more accurate to call it camp. Panty and Stocking has the same sort of relationship with anime that intentionally campy horror movies have with the classic B-movies they draw their inspiration from. It draws out every little embarrassing nugget and exploits it brutally. One of the things you may find yourself noticing after watching two or three episodes of the show is an inexplicable loss of the ability to feel shame.
This, again, is intentional on Gainax's part, because the prevailing theme of indulgence depends on it. In the grand scheme, the explicit message of the show is nearly a direct celebration of hedonism. The major character traits of the two main characters display this, Panty is defined by an obsession with sex and Stocking an obsession with decadent sweets. Their rivals in the show (demon twins named Scanty and Kneesocks) are defined by a strict obsession with rules ("RRRRRUUUUURRRS"). Hell, Panty and Stocking's last name is "Anarchy". Even more so it's displayed in the way the show was written, because the show never, ever misses a chance to take anything a step too far. There is not one instance I can recall in which the show missed a chance to "go there". It's not only in the utterly ridiculous action scenes and fan service. If they could think of something over the top, or uncomfortable, or controversial, they went out of their way to display it in full glory. Tentacle/bondage fetishes, bizarro masochism, an entire episode of masturbation puns, and incestual lesbian food sex, they nail it all, and explicitly rather than implied. Perhaps I don't even need to mention that they're pretty liberal with profanity. This is a show I couldn't possibly imagine being published in the US, and I'm honestly surprised they got away with it in Japan. I could go on and on along this vein, referencing their hilariously flagrant abuse of Christian symbolism or any symbolism at all for that matter (it's a beautiful inversion of the phallic symbolism of a key in a lock when the key in question is literally a character's penis), but I have to cut myself off at some point, because I need to get to the animation.
Gainax does something really wonderful with the animation in this show. It's not merely that they refuse to be tied down to traditional styles of animation, but they refuse to be tied down to any style at all. In fact, the show cycles amorphously through styles that run the gamut of animation, whisking out a new style for whatever fits the moment. The reason I'm loathe to call the show an anime is because it is just so incredibly varied in its influences, it nearly transcends the labels. Its visual style is as much a product of the Power Puff Girls and Genndy Tartakovsky as it is your traditional anime fair. It's clear how broad the creator's influences extend just by looking at the number of references littered throughout the show. Off the top of my head, some of the references I recall: South Park, Invader Zim, Transformers, Ghost Busters, Gorillaz, Watchmen, Phoenix Wright, Dawn of the Dead, Saving Private Ryan, Sin City, Sex in the City, the Leonardo DiCaprio Romeo and Juliet, High School Musical, and this is a paltry fraction.
With this show Gainax really established a tour de force of style, but to really understand what I'm talking about you more or less have to just watch it (which luckily you can do here on youtube).
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