, often shortened to just Panty & Stocking, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Gainax, as well as a series of tie-in media developed around it. The series ran from October to December 2010 on BS NTV and other channels. The rights to the series were later acquired by Trigger. A sequel, titled New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, aired from July to September 2025.
Story
The series revolves around the exploits of the Anarchy sisters, Panty and Stocking, angels who were exiled from Heaven due to their bad behavior. They are sent to Daten City, California, a place on the border between Heaven and Hell, where they live at the church Cemetery Hills under the care of the reverend Garterbelt. The city is besieged by evil spirits referred to as Ghosts, which the sisters are tasked with destroying through their ability to transform their lingerie into weapons. By doing so, the sisters earn Heaven Coins with which they intend to one day buy their way back into Heaven. However, Panty and Stocking are constantly sidetracked by their respective addictions to sex and sugary sweets.
Throughout the first season, the Anarchy sisters clash with their demonic counterparts, the Demon sisters Scanty and Kneesocks, who oversee the production of Ghosts in Daten City. The Demon sisters serve under Corset, Daten City's mayor, who seeks the blood kin of Hell's Monkey to unlock the gates to Hell and unleash the evil forces within; this kin is eventually revealed to be Brief, the Anarchy sisters' occult geek friend, whose penis functions as the required key. After Panty and Stocking thwart Corset, the season concludes with a cliffhanger twist ending in which Stocking kills Panty, reveals herself to be a demon, and joins forces with a significantly weakened Corset.
In the second season, Stocking's demon nature is revealed to be the work of Corset's brainwashing, and a resurrected Panty returns her to normal with the aid of Scanty and Kneesocks; the Demon sisters are consequently banished from Hell, while Corset is killed. Afterward, the Demon sisters take up residence at Cemetery Hills as reluctant allies to the Anarchy sisters, sharing a similar mission of collecting Hell Coins required for their own return home. The four also compete against the Anarchy sisters' cousins, the angel brothers Polyester and Polyurethane, who harbor their own agenda against the angel sisters.
The post-credits scene at the end of the second season introduces two new characters named Bastard and Junior. Junior is the son of Panty and Brief, while Bastard's origins are unknown. Stocking, showing a new appearance, acts as the high priestess at Cemetery Hills Church, taking the place of the now-deceased Garterbelt.
Development Following the broadcast of director Hiroyuki Imaishi's previous project, Gurren Lagann, the series' staff went on a trip for rest and relaxation. At that time, they shared their opinions to each other under drunken and humorous circumstances, saying such things as "Next time, I want to try this" in approaches to animation. Almost all of the concepts for the anime were made during the initial trip; the names of the main characters, "Panty" and "Stocking", were coined at the very first meeting. Hiromi Wakabayashi, who provided the initial idea for the series, cited American adult animation, such as Drawn Together, as inspiration for its crudeness.
Characters Main
The older Anarchy sister, also named , is a foul-mouthed, sexually promiscuous blonde-haired angel whose only interests are looking for men to have sex with and basking in the popularity of being an Anarchy sister. She does not take her Ghost-hunting duties as seriously as Stocking, preferring to fulfill her personal goal of having sex with 1,000 men on Earth before returning to Heaven. Her underwear transforms into a pistol called . She occasionally wields a second Backlace using Stocking's underwear, doubling her firepower and allowing her to combine them into more advanced firearms such as a submachine gun or sniper rifle. She can weaponize male underwear, though the weapon's size and usefulness depends on the size of the original wearer's penis.
The younger Anarchy sister, also named , is a pink-and-violet-haired goth angel with a gluttonous appetite for sugary foods. While she does not have the same level of interest in sex as her older sister, Panty, she does show sexual urges and interests and is generally more interested in masochistic activities, such as bondage and electrocution. Her stockings transform into a pair of katana called and . She owns a stuffed cat doll called , which changes its facial expressions in accordance with Stocking's mood.
The reverend of Daten City, and the Anarchy sisters' guardian. Garterbelt is a large black man with a massive afro. He relays missions from Heaven to Panty and Stocking, practices bondage, and displays interest in young males, particularly Brief, disguising himself as a masked figure called "Master G" while undertaking such hobbies. He is cursed with immortality and forbidden from dying until he fulfills his given task.
Panty and Stocking's sidekick, a green dog-like creature with zippers on his body who closely resembles the character GIR in his own dog disguise from the American animated series Invader Zim. Chuck is often subject to mortal injuries. He can only be immobilized by opening the zippers on his head and releasing his brain, a 2-inch tall incubus who is romantically involved with Fastener's brain. He is used by Heaven as a mailbox of sorts, getting struck by lightning and spitting out a piece of paper containing a clue to a Ghost's whereabouts. He transforms into a Bull Ghost by turning himself inside-out.
A self-proclaimed ghost hunter with an interest in science fiction and the supernatural, for which he is nicknamed "Geek Boy" by Panty and Stocking. Brief is enamored with Panty and tries acting as the voice of reason for the Anarchy sisters, but instead becomes the butt of many jokes in the series. His true identity is , the handsome son of head of the Rock Foundation, a large corporation in Daten City. In the second season finale, he marries Panty and they have a child together called Junior.
The monsters of the week in the series, Ghosts are twisted aberrations born from the regrets or suffering of people who have died and become lost in limbo. Panty and Stocking are tasked with their destruction, which allows them to pass on to Heaven, leaving behind Heaven Coins. Although most Ghosts are savage or destructive, some are relatively harmless annoyances or even oppose their true nature and try to live peacefully. Ghosts are usually slain with angelic weapons, but there are other means of destroying them, such as Ghosts killing each other or peacefully accomplishing what they wanted to achieve in life. As a recurring joke, whenever Panty and Stocking defeat a Ghost with their angelic weapons, a styrofoam model of the Ghost is filmed being blown-up.
Recurring Introduced in season 1
The older of the Demon sisters, and Panty's arch rival. Scanty is a red-skinned demon with green hair and two horns. She is egotistical and prone to angry outbursts when her pride is hurt. She wears two pairs of scanties that transform into revolvers called , which she can combine into a shotgun.
The younger of the Demon sisters, and Stocking's arch rival. Kneesocks is a red-skinned demon who wears glasses and has blue hair worn in a ponytail. She is calm and sensible, but becomes short-sighted when excited, which causes her face to glow bright red. She wears two kneesocks that transform into a pair of scythes called .
Scanty and Kneesocks' sidekick, and Chuck's rival. Fastener is a pink rodent-like creature with zippers covering his body. He can only be immobilized by opening the zipper on his head and releasing his brain, a 2-inch tall succubus who is romantically involved with Chuck's brain. He can turn himself inside-out into a Hydra Ghost. In the second season, he delivers messages from Hell in the form of stone slabs when his body is filled with lava.
The mayor of Daten City, and the superior of Scanty and Kneesocks. Corset is a pale blue-skinned demon with a conical hairstyle who wears various types of BDSM equipment such as buckles, mouth-stretching hooks, and a corset that he frequently tightens to enhance his upper body strength.
Introduced in season 2
The Anarchy sisters' dutiful but spoiled cousins. They are self-proclaimed "newgen" angels who use technologically advanced Ghost-hunting equipment compared to their cousins, including a sensor that detects precisely when Ghosts spawn. When off-duty, they become cordial but refuse to hunt Ghosts regardless of the situation. Their weapons are formed from polymer underwear and polypropylene socks: Polyester, the blue-haired older brother dressed in white, wields a bullet-firing gauntlet, while Polyurethane, the pink-haired younger brother dressed in black, wears a bladed boot.
An arms dealer and friend of Brief who develops and sells lingerie that transforms into weapons, which are stored in a pocket dimension called the "Pants Dimension". Her public persona is a glasses-wearing geek nicknamed "Geek Girl".
The Anarchy sisters' uncle, father of Polyester and Polyurethane, younger brother of the king of Heaven, and Supreme Overseer of Heavenly Ethics. He allows his sons to plot against his nieces.
Media Anime
The television series was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi and animated by Gainax. The series' animation is done in a distinct style resembling and paying homage to American cartoons, along with the Yoshinori Kanada techniques normally associated with Hiroyuki Imaishi's work. The theme of the anime is "vulgar and indecent jokes", with Imaishi saying, "If we are going to do this, we will try it thoroughly." As a result, the series contains sexual themes and humor in every episode.
The series ran from October 2 to December 25, 2010, on BS NTV and other channels. It was also shown on AT-X seven days after the premiere of each episode, and made available online on Nico Nico Channel (a service of Niconico) through the series's own channel a day after the AT-X broadcast. Internationally, the series was made available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
The series was released in six DVD and Blu-ray volumes, respectively, over the course of six months, with the first DVD/Blu-ray volume released on December 24, 2010, followed by succeeding volumes near the end of each following month. The fifth volume, released on April 28, 2011, includes a disc-exclusive episode (OVA) compiling eight short stories, some of which are sequels/conclusions to earlier episodes of the series.
On April 14, 2011, Funimation announced they licensed the series in North America, which was released on DVD on July 10, 2012. The Blu-ray version was released January 15, 2013. The English dub was directed by Colleen Clinkenbeard, with John Burgmeier acting as head writer and Jamie Marchi, Leah Clark, and Jared Hedges serving as episode writers. The first two episodes were made available for streaming on May 22, 2012, for those subscribed to Funimation's Elite Video Subscription service.
Manga Entertainment released the series in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2012, although upon release, faults were discovered on some of the episodes. A corrected version was released on September 10, 2012.
On November 25, 2016, the official Twitter account for Gainax West posted an announcement teaser image featuring silhouettes of Panty and Stocking with the words " Soon". An announcement for "something new with Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt" was to be made on December 16, 2016, which Gainax West stated would not be a pachinko, pachislot, social network game, or Blu-ray. On December 16, 2016, various Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt projects were announced.