I’d been excited for the return of New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt ever since it was first announced at Anime Expo 2022. Since Studio Trigger is handling the edgy, cult classic anime instead of Gainax, I trusted that the show would be in good hands. After all, Trigger is one of my favorite anime studios, and with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Delicious in Dungeon follow-ups in the works, I had faith the show would live up to its thirteen-year cliffhanger. My trust has yet to be misplaced, but I was overwhelmed by the sex-driven show’s unexpectedly wholesome short about adopting a ghost cat, which turned me into a sobbing mess.
New Panty and Stocking has been a nonstop riot. The show follows two angels, one named Panty, whose vice is that she likes to fuck, and the other named Stocking, who loves to eat sweets. They work for a priest named Garterbelt in Daten City, and they spend most of their time slaying demons. Why those names? The show operates under Dragon Ball Z naming conventions, trading produce references for underwear, naming characters Kneesocks and Brief to match its raunchy energy.
Every Wednesday, as if to make up for lost time since the cult classic premiered 13 years ago, the show has been moving quickly, incorporating plenty of pop culture references and sharply targeting Millennial and Gen-Z humor. One of my favorites is a Fast & Furious spoof that reimagines Dom’s family as sperm, and a Yu-Gi-Oh! meets Magic: The Gathering episode where they joked about the rise of weed dispensaries popping up everywhere, doubling as GPS landmarks. They even managed to create that Fantastic Four spoof, combining Jack Kirby and Space Ghost art styles, just days after Marvel’s new movie was released, honoring the late Space Ghost voice actor, George Lowe, in one fell swoop. All of this is even more commendable considering Prime Video hasn’t been promoting it (or any of its anime, for that matter) at all.
A short segment in the third episode of New Panty & Stocking, “Pet Cematary Hills, Panty Anarchy knocks over a tombstone on her walk home. The next morning, she wakes up to a kitten purring so loudly that it vibrates on her lap. It turns out to be the soul of a cat whose tombstone she knocked over. This is where the waterworks begin, but explaining will spoil the episode.
So spoilers for that.
Because Panty & Stocking’s world involves the Anarchy sisters earning coins like Mario for every demon they slay in the hope of buying their way into heaven, Panty considers murking the cat to get a coin and going about her debaucherous way. Everyone dislikes this, including their former rivals-turned-new roommates, the Daemon sisters, who have all fallen for the cat as their house pet. Plus, the kitten is so small that its death wouldn’t earn Panty a coin anyway.
Nonetheless, Panty hatches a scheme to get the cat, which she names Vibe (named after a vibrator), nice and fat so that it’ll grow up to be worth a gold coin. Her methods to ensure this include hiding the pet toys her housemates bought for Vibe to limit her exercise and being heavy-handed with portion sizes at dinner time.
“Good girl, Vibe. Get nice and fat. Nice and fat, and we’ll both be the fattest cats around!”
In the blink of an eye, Vibe goes from being three apples tall to being a full-grown cat. So Panty decides now’s the time to put her pistol to Vibe’s temple. But she doesn’t pull the trigger. Like the Grinch, she acquiesces and remarks about how Vibe hasn’t been her usual energetic self. All the same, she pets Vibe and promises to bring back more of her favorite food.
“Hey, Vibe, you’re not living up to your name so much these days. All right, all right. I’ll get you a nice, yummy Fish Ghost for when I get back. Be a good baby and look after the house, okay?”
But when Panty returns home, her housemates tell her something about Vibe, causing her to rush outside to see the black ghost cat turn into a transparent hue. Turns out, something was wrong with Vibe, and she’s going to disappear. In another twist, the something wrong wasn’t that she was dying for a bad reason, but that she was able to pass on properly because of the love she received from Panty.
“That Ghost was abandoned by humans. She had never known love. But you loved her, Panty, and now she’s ready to move on.”
I’m honestly getting misty-eyed while typing this. Which of course doesn’t help, especially since Panty’s following line saying goodbye to Vibe with one last forehead boop obliterated me.
“I had big plans for you, you know? You were gonna give me so many Heaven Coins. Vibe…”
And there it is. I’m crying over a cat named after a vibrator passing on because the show’s selfish, bratty lead loved it enough to make up for its misfortunes in life. It also doesn’t help that I didn't cry during the show's memorializing of Vibe in the most Logan-esque final scene possible, by putting up a crucifix made out of pink vibrators outside their house with her name on it.
Like, yo, what the fuck, man?
As someone who also owns an all-black cat named Majima, whom I adopted from PAWS Chicago—learning he was an alley cat for nine years—seeing this scene hit me hard. Like Vibe, Majima also grew accustomed to being called outside by his name, with me jokingly calling him an asshole or brat whenever we’re at home. Still, like Panty, we formed a bond. He’s my little guy, and Vibe was Panty’s baby girl.
Watching Panty, a crude, selfish character, have her tsundere walls break down unexpectedly floored me. Quips are kind of the heart of the anime, so seeing the show stick to telling a wholesome story in an episode where they kill the president and become the Fantastic Four gave me the kind of tonal whiplash I’m still thinking about weeks later.
To my delight, the show didn’t just make a one-time reference to Vibe. In the latest episode, which featured Panty and Stocking battling knockoff Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Panty joked about not giving a shit about pets. Panty’s sister, Stocking, promptly called her the fuck out by mentioning Vibe and how Panty loved her.
The lack of energy from Amazon Prime surrounding one of the most surprising comedy shows of the season—especially since Prime Video is a strong contender with two gems, including the spiritual successor to the best slice-of-life comedy of all time, Nichijou, City The Animation, which is streaming exclusively on its platform—is not surprising but still disappointing. They did the same with Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, so I guess dropping the ball is just what Prime Video does, and promoting itself as a marketplace where people can subscribe to other anime services, such as HIDIVE and Crunchyroll, through its storefront.
Every week, the official Studio Trigger account posts behind-the-scenes materials for its episodes, like Dan Da Dan’s Science Saru, to generate excitement and increase online engagement with the show. It also uploaded a documentary-style behind-the-scenes video to its official YouTube channel, connecting with fans and giving them a glimpse into the production process behind its premiere episode. Meanwhile, Prime Video has yet to say a word about the show’s new episodes.
Regardless, Trigger’s efforts to let their younger artists showcase their skills through lively animation that fills in the gaps of New Panty & Stocking’s storyboards, along with sharp jokes, pop culture references, and emotionally resonant scenes—like Vibe and a moment where the girls help baby turtles on their arduous pilgrimage to the ocean—not only prove the show’s status as a revival of a cult classic worth watching but also serve as reminders that its bratty leads have a soft, angelic side after all.
