English Dub Season Review: New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Season One

Panty and Stocking Anarchy, the titular angel twin sisters, have even more ghosts to exorcize in Daten City, thanks to the failed opening of the Hell Gate. They must continue their ghost hunt alongside their longtime rivals, the demon sisters Scanty and Kneesocks, who must earn Hell Coins to return to Hell. On top of that, the Demon sisters are staying at the church with Garterbelt, the Immortal priest in charge of the Anarchy sisters. These two polar opposite duos will have to set aside their differences if they wish to collect enough Heaven and Hell Coins to complete their mission and return to their respective realms.

On the technical side, director, and also handling series composition alongside Hiromi Wakabayashi and Atsushi Nishigori as character designer. The opening theme song is “Theme of New PANTY & STOCKING”, performed by TeddyLoid & ☆Taku Takahashi with Ashley & EVP, while the ending theme song is “Reckless” by m-flo loves Adee A.

Fifteen years after the first series aired in 2010, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt finally returns with a sequel that delivers the same outrageous energy that made the first season a cult phenomenon. The long delay was driven by licensing hurdles and the eventual dissolution of Gainax, the studio behind the original. At the same time, former Gainax staff established Studio Trigger and built a reputation with acclaimed titles such as Kill la Kill, Darling in the Franxx, Little Witch Academia, Delicious in Dungeon, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. After years of effort, Trigger re-acquired the rights and, with Hiroyuki Imaishi and the original creative team on board, partnered with Amazon to produce this continuation, which premiered in July 2025. The series immediately reintroduces its signature chaos, with the Demon Sisters taking on a more central role and new characters, such as the “Gunsmith Bitch” and the Poly brothers, injecting fresh dynamics into the already irreverent ensemble. 

To make this as non-confusing as possible. This is technically Season Two and the series consistently strikes a balance between its episodic “monster of the week” hijinks and callbacks to its roots, leaning heavily into western cartoon parody while maintaining the anarchic momentum that defined the first season. Episodes shift seamlessly from quarter-length sketches to elaborate set pieces, creating a sense of unpredictability that mirrors the series’ chaotic heart. The humor remains intentionally vulgar and irreverent, sharpened with pointed satire and self-aware absurdity. From ghost hunts devolving into ridiculous tangents to the sisters’ foul-mouthed exchanges, the show thrives on its own excess. The closest to a linear story would have to be in Episode 5, with the newly introduced Poly brothers as recurring rivals to the Angel sisters, who want to declare their superiority and play a much larger role in the last two episodes, while the “Gunsmith Bitch” works as a recurring supporting character even if we’re left to question how dubious her dealings can often be. And Brief, despite consistently being the wimpy mortal with an endless crush on Panty, diligently helps the sisters from time to time, and occasionally gives the show its levity and soul.

Despite this mostly working as a faithful continuation, the revival is not without its shortcomings, chief among them being the English dub, which was a defining feature of the Funimation Dub, which ad-libbed a lot of clever jokes and references while keeping true to the show’s episodic story structure. Understandably, this is due to Amazon now holding the reins and a new cast in place with Courtney Lin as Panty and Christina Vee as Stocking. The performances felt almost out of place at first, especially since the script leans toward a direct translation rather than Funimation’s wildly localized brilliance that once gave the first dub its unique bite. Over time, the new cast became serviceable and eventually started to grow on me, particularly when they started spouting the original dub’s signature catchphrase “Repent, Motherfucker!” with intensely unapologetic aplomb.

In terms of visuals and sound, Studio Trigger staffed many animation veterans from Gainax, infusing the show with a polished yet still chaotic energy. The animation retains its western cartoon-on-acid style while modern production tools give it more consistency and vibrancy. Episodes frequently experiment with different art styles ranging from hyper-detailed sexualized transformation sequences and close-ups of the female characters, often switching up art styles for some unexpected parodies of 80s John Hughes films, Old-Timey musicals, Sci-fi/Body-Horror films, Conan-style fantasy adventure movies, and even the nostalgic works of Jack Kirby and Hanna Barbera, keeping the series visually unpredictable. It even goes as far as to maintain the recurring gag of blowing up styrofoam ghost models with the angels’ weapons, emphasizing its playful, over-the-top spirit. The parodies themselves all seem fine. But as I’m typing this, I hope they’d parody stuff like The Simpsons or Beavis and Butt-Head at some point since the 2010 series already parodied stuff such as Zombie films, Ren & Stimpy, and South Park’s iconic art styles. The music, spearheaded once again by TeddyLoid and Taku Takahashi, is just as crucial as ever, blending EDM, pop, and remixes of classic tracks to amplify the show’s kinetic absurdity. Each transformation sequence, vulgar sight gag, or fight scene hits harder thanks to this synergy of visuals and sound.

Overall, New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt manages the impossible: recapturing the chaotic brilliance of its predecessor while offering just enough evolution to feel fresh. Its crude yet clever humor, outrageous creativity, and fearless energy prove that some things don’t lose their spark with age. The dub recasting may be a disappointment, and the episodic structure still produces a few weaker entries, but the sheer spectacle more than makes up for these flaws. Fifteen years later, Panty and Stocking remain raunchy, unpredictable, and utterly unlike anything else in anime. Whether you’re a returning fan or a newcomer, this revival stands as both a nostalgic throwback and a bold reassertion that the “stripper angels” are still here to cause trouble and maybe, just maybe, save the world in the most obscene way possible. And with the recent announcement of another season in the future, we can only hope we don’t have to wait another 15 years to get it…