Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt - Episode 9

No anime is complete without a beach episode, and of course that axiom goes for Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt too - this series being what it is, we skip virtually any preamble and get straight on to the serious business of the show's two titular characters wearing swimsuits.

However, Panty and Stocking aren't the only ones who have a day at the beach planned, as who else but Scanty and Kneesocks also turn up, laying claim to the beach all to themselves.  With the rules set in stone as far as they are concerned and with no intention of fighting, there's only one way to settle matters - with a good old game of beach volleyball.  Cue ever crazier volleyball antics, a brief opportunity to riff on South Park for a few seconds, and an inevitable ending involving everyone's clothes falling off and an octopus Ghost giving Stocking a pat-down that even the TSA couldn't hope to match.

While the second half of this episode is, as per usual, all about a Ghost, it takes a rather different angle in delivering its story, as we see Stocking inexplicably falling in love with a slovenly and decidedly disgusting Ghost that repulses everyone else around him.  Somehow this becomes a serious relationship for Stocking as the two begin dating, and no matter what Panty does to try and change things it looks as though nothing will split up this decidedly odd couple.  This takes us on to what is actually a slightly poignant ending to the episode - not quite the kind of thing to leave a tear in your eye or lump in your throat, but it was oddly sweet in its own decidedly Panty and Stocking-esque way.

Although this episode didn't do anything spectacular, I somehow found myself enjoying it a little more than other similar instalments of this series - the second half of this episode in particular managed to be fresh simply by moving away from the usual frenetic pace of the show, while the first arguably worked simply on account of its simplicity, not worrying too much about any semblance of a plot so that it could just goof around for a bit and mix some slick moments into its otherwise decidedly Abode Flash-esque animation.  This instalment wasn't up there with any of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt's best moments to date, but it wasn't half bad either.  Besides, a Stocking love story?  Awwwww.