After hearing the news from this year’s Anime Expo, I like many others who are a part from the PSG fanbase, was floored. I don’t know why it took them this long to do this; though there hasn’t been much new information since the announcement, but at long last Panty & Stocking is getting a second season. While its been 12 years since the first season came out, a LOT has changed in the atmosphere – mainly among the ranks of social justice and political correctness. In the beginning of the year I made an article about PSG, and wondered if the show would still hold up in 2022, and depending on who you ask, many would say we’d need it now more than ever. One character in particular doesn’t give a f@#k about political correctness, and thumbs her nose at the law on a regular basis. She also apparently gets more screen time than her fan-favorite sister, and takes the ‘brawn-over-brain’ approach when it comes to hunting ghosts. She’s Panty f@#$%&g Anarchy!

Siblings in anime have always been interesting to me; from your caring ones like Mirajane and Lisanna (from Fairy Tail), to your estranged ones like Sasuke and Itachi (Naruto). Panty and her sister Stocking kinda have a ‘Cain and Abel’ relationship in certain situations, but at the same time they also kick ass together when needed. Also much like gothic best girl, Panty is able to transform her namesake into her primary weapon of choice; the pistol. Her goal while in Daten City is to pretty much screw 1,000 men before going back to Heaven, and I’m not even going into the repercussions one will receive if they decide to go this route. Besides being the popular one among large crowds of people, and being an ass to her sister, Panty has a rebellious streak towards authority – particularly the Demon Sisters. She’s not afraid to speak her mind or gives a damn about political correctness, so basically Panty is the Revy of the series. (There is GOING to be a character comparison post on Panty and Revy, I am NOT sorry!)

Part 1 – So, who the hell is Panty Anarchy?

Okay, so there’s really not a lot you can say about Panty’s origins, because much like Stocking, no ones knows how she became an angel (or fallen angel) in the first place. Many have speculated that during the end credits of every episode, Panty and her sister are human and seen in the various ways that the two of them could’ve died; by train, by car accident, by being stranded in the desert, shot to death, or being decapitated by Chuck. While there’s no real origin story from the creator himself, Panty and Stocking are just angels who ended up in Daten City after being kicked out of Heaven for being too raunchy. I will say that the 13th episode might hold a clue to who Panty was in her former life, but I’d also take that with a grain of salt because the whole thing was staged in order to get Panty to return to Daten City to save Brief during the Hellsgate chaos.    

Part 2 – Panty’s Personality and Skill Set

It should be obvious but Panty has been portrayed as the ‘Hollywood Celebrity’ character of the series. She’s always on the hunt for new men to sleep with in just about every episode (even robot men). She has a spiteful attitude towards her sister, Brief, and of course Garterbelt, and doesn’t actually take her job at hunting ghosts seriously. Panty is also shameless with no moral compass, and has on various occasions danced half-naked on a stripper pole (or full nude in pornos) in front of live audiences. She’s also kinda envious of her sister when it comes to maintaining her figure; as Stocking can eat a truckload of sweets without gaining a single pound. Panty also has no strategy when fighting ghosts, as she believes pure power gets the job done. However, this also causes her to be the most vulnerable when it battle – especially during the heat of the moment when she has to improvise using actual guns compared to her angelic weapon.

While she may be reckless in the way she fights, Panty does have a serviceable amount of skill. She can transform her panties into Backlace; her weapon of choice. If she also has two pairs of panties, she can also create a second gun (or Backlace II) or combine them into a sniper rifle or sub-machine gun. Panty’s weapons have the power to hurt demons, ghosts, and other angels (going by what Stocking’s weapon did), and it also appears that she has enhanced vision; where she can see Brief and the Demon Sisters over 10 miles away. When Panty lost her virginity to Brief in the last episode, she stated that after getting her powers back she felt 100 times stronger than before. (Don’t know how true that is though…)

Part 3 – Legacy of Panty Anarchy

Panty Anarchy is the embodiment of the almighty stereotypical ‘rebellious teenager’ and ‘high school celebrity’ troupe that you’ve seen in any of those high school/college movies of the 2000’s. She thumbs her nose at authority, isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and is shameless in more ways than one. While she may be raunchy and in some cases ‘too raw’ for conservative types, there are guys who are kinda into girls who take charge and don’t back down to societies rules; like Brief. The concept of true love is something Panty has no interest in; as Stocking confronted her about it in the second half of episode 9, but deep down inside she really cares for Brief and possibly might even see a future with him…possibly.

With a second season announced there could be some speculation on what happens with Panty and Brief’s relationship, but then again, it could be just a one-off deal. So in review; Panty is the older sister of Stocking, loves sex more than anything, doesn’t take her job of hunting ghosts as seriously as she should, is a shameless plug, and has more screen time than Stocking. (Maybe that’s why she cut her up into 666 pieces, but I guess we can now deem the end credits of season one as a joke.)

And that’s it, that’s all I gotta say about Panty Anarchy.

Until next post, stay nerdy! 😉

Waifus. Ask any anime fan in the community, and they will give you a list of them that they absolutely adore. We’re no exception to this, as we have our choice waifus as well; mine of course would be Stocking Anarchy from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, while Aaron’s would be Hestia from Danmachi…and for some reason Kurumi Tokisaki from Date-A-Live. Speaking of which the fourth season of the series just ended, and reviews of the show (from fans) have been a bit of a toss up between ‘okay’, ‘meh’, and ‘no’. Although I’ve only watched the first two seasons and part of the third, I STILL don’t get the full story of Kurumi; how is she the most dangerous and most malevolent out of all of the spirits, and what’s with the time-traveling powers?! Well, I had to dig deep for this one, and hopefully I’ll get the answers to my questions in this little One-2-One, on Kurumi Tokisaki.

I’m late to the party on this series, but there was a point in time where there was a fair amount of cosplay of the main cast from season one of Date-A-Live at anime conventions. Basically massive ‘spacequakes’ are being caused by these ‘spirits’ and Shido is the one who has to seal them up; the first of which being Tohka. As the series went on Shido sealed these spirits by going on ‘dates’ with them, while keeping their emotions and feelings at high levels. Sure, it seemed like a walk in the park for ol’ Shido after he got the hang of it (sealing spirits and all), but when Kurumi came into the picture, everything changed…

She’s reported to be the worst spirit to ever try and seal, and is near-impossible to do so. Kurumi’s also the only spirit with a lot of blood on her hands; 10,000 pairs of hands to be exact. When it comes to female anime antagonists, there are just some things that they’re better at then male anime antagonists. (That is a hill I’m prepared to die on! XP)

Part 1 – The Worst Spirit: Who is Kurumi Tokisaki?

So, what’s Kurumi’s deal? Why is she the most deadly out of all of the spirits Shido has sealed? Why does she have sexy music playing every time she appears? (Like another Sonic character we all know.) To try and figure her out we need to go back to the time before she became a spirit. Kurumi was a human girl who came from a rich family (that’s usually how these origin stories start), but on her way home she was attacked by a monster known as a ‘Spirit’. That monster was killed by a girl wearing a dress made of light, and revealed her name to be Mio Takamiya; claiming herself to be an “ally of justice”. She told Kurumi if she wanted the same power she has, she would have to absorb the Sephira Crystal and bond with it thus turning Kurumi into a spirit.

Both Kurumi and Mio were taking on other spirits and everything seemed to be going fine, until Kurumi discovered that Mio killed her best friend; causing her to inverse (which I found out is actually a bad thing). She managed to stop herself from transforming by using her ‘4th bullet’ to reverse the inverse, but afterwards Mio came clean about her motives. She was using the Sephira Crystals to bond with humans while turning them into monsters before they kill them, in order to refine them. When it was all said and done, Mio thanked Kurumi for ‘her service’ and caused her to blackout. The rest of course, was history…

Part 2 – Personality, Skills, and Abilities

Kurumi is difficult to read, and most of the time with characters like this it’s so easy for them to manipulate others because of that. Right off the bat Kurumi dislikes humans (while Goku Black loathes them entirely) to the point of not trusting them at all, and somewhere along the line she’s also got acting chops; which plays into her difficult-to-read personality. While she may put on a cute facade from time to time, underneath is a mad woman who will disregards all human life and only sees them as ‘food’ to help restore her time. I know there’s some Goku Black x Kurumi fan fiction out there, and God help us if those two got together.

Though she has a twisted sense of justice, a majority of the people she’s killed were animal abusers and rapists. (So maybe some of her actions may have been justified…some.) Kurumi’s ultimate goal is to go back in time to kill the first spirit (Mio) and prevent spacequakes and the appearance of spirits from ever happening in the first place. Of course if she did that, she’d also wipe out Kotori and all of the other spirits that Shido helped to seal as well from existence. Kurumi does not think of herself as a great person by any means, and has shown Shido (and Phantom) that she’s the worst kind of person. However, Kurumi likes cats and is kinda embarrassed about it, so I guess she’s not all bad…but she’s pretty bad.

Her skills and abilities as a spirit are on another level. Living up to her reputation as the ‘Worst Spirit’, Kurumi is a brutal fighter who will stop at nothing to ensure she comes out on top. She’s able to amass an army of clones at a moments notice to overwhelm her opponents; making it impossible to even land a hit on her. Kurumi is also quite the unique spirit because she possesses two Sephira Crystals which allows her to call on two ‘Angels’; one of them being Zafkiel which takes on a large clock with roman numerals with a pistol and musket that serve as the hour and minute hands respectively. Kurumi also has Time Manipulation abilities that she uses through her powers of her shadows, Reiryoku, and time itself as fuel.

The type of effect her time bullets have will depend on the number her Angel as well as her flintlock. The downside to this ability/skill is the fact that these bullets consume her time (or life force), and depending on the number of the bullet, it may consume more time than the others. Her first bullet accelerates her target’s time, and can increase her speed in battle. Her second one does the opposite and slows the enemy down, and Kurumi can save a little time this way. Her third bullet speeds up the aging process of her target. Her forth bullet restores injuries on its targets. Her fifth bullet allows Kurumi to see into the future (like Epitaph from JoJo). Kurumi’s sixth bullet sends the target’s consciousness back to their past self, which also puts the amount of time and Reiryoku into a loop.

Bullet number seven freezes the target’s time for a short time. Bullet number eight creates a clone of the target, which might explain why Kurumi has so many clones. Bullet nine allows her to share her senses with someone on a different axis of time. Bullet ten peaks into the object or target’s past, which is how Kurumi regained her memories. Bullet eleven sends the target into the future, while bullet twelve sends its target into the past. This is the bullet Kurumi wants to use on herself and has been experimenting with the most in order to go back in time and kill Mio. Kurumi is able to devour her victims through Shadow Manipulation (which she uses for quick escapes), and her ‘City of Devouring’ (which ‘devours’ the time/life force of those caught in its barrier).

Okay, that was a lot of information, so let’s get to the final verdict. >.<

Part 3 – The Legacy of the Worst Spirit

Kurumi is just as strong as the first spirit (Mio) and has struck fear into the hearts of those she encounters due to her reputation. Her sense of justice can be seen as sick and twisted from a moral prospective, but there’s a small sense of heroism inside of her – even though she doesn’t want to be called a hero. Kurumi is the kind of character who knows she is evil in her own right; much like Evangeline A.K. McDowell from the first Mahoru Sensei Negima manga, and Junko Enoshima from Danganronpa. Most of the time anime characters like this don’t appear to have any redeeming qualities whatsoever; whenever they commit mass genocide or other unforgivable crimes, but in Kurumi’s case, the only way she believes she can redeem herself is by killing the spirit that turned her into a spirit – saving millions of lives in the process.

Characters like this who believe humanity has no redeeming qualities can be quite fearsome and terrifying, and in some cases can (and will) expose humanity’s shortcomings at any moment it serves them. Anime protagonists like Shido try to tell them that not all humans are totally evil, and can redeem themselves (even her), but Kurumi and characters like her are not trying to hear it. She’s proven that if she wanted to cause worldwide destruction, she can and she will. I’ll never understand why despite her reputation of being the ‘Worst Spirit’, Date-A-Live fans find her alluring, captivating, sexy, and waifu material. Kurumi has redeemable qualities, but will not embrace them because of who she is.

Kurumi is a character that is hard to read. Its hard to understand what she’s thinking most of the time, or even why she’s the most provocative out of all of the spirits. At the end of the day, she is who she is; a malevolent spirit with a sadistic disposition and alluring charm, who hates humanity and doesn’t like being called a ‘kind person’. She will achieve specific goals that she’s set for herself and will do whatever it takes to accomplish those goals. Although her role in the series as shifted to that of an anti-heroine, Kurumi retains her sadistic and cruel nature to those that dare oppose her, or get in the way of her ultimate goal. If looks could kill, her name would be Kurumi.

That’s all we’ve got for this One-2-One, so until next post, stay nerdy! 😉

It’s the Monday before the 4th of July, which means another recap of all of the content we shot and uploaded onto our youtube channel; D&A Studios Entertainment! Our 30th Nerdz of the Decade episode is currently in production; as we’re trying out a brand new format for our podcast (which also includes a new intro), so in the meantime we’ve got our 29th episode and an after video from our 23rd episode. That’s all we’ve got for now, so until next post, stay nerdy! 😉

Being a 90’s kid comes with a lot of things; childhood nostalgia, exposure to the online world, graduating high school and going to college only to find yourself back at your parents place a year later because rent is too freakin’ high! (Like $1600 a month, bro! For what?! Extra roaches with a side of mice?! Nope!) Despite the many headaches that come with ‘adulting’ as a Millennial, being a 90’s kid did have some perks – one of which being Toonami. The GREATEST ACTION CARTOON BLOCK EVER CREATED; has brought me through some tough times growing up, and out of all of the shows that made their debut, there was something special (and weird) about this one in particular. Space Dandy made its way into the block around 2014, and when it comes to a show like this, just be prepared for some “what the hell just happened?!” moments in the series. Now it’s time for our One-2-One with the booty-lover himself, Dandy! 😉

If you told me that this series takes place in the same universe as Cowboy Bebop, I probably would’ve asked you what kinda drug trip are you on? But its true; Space Dandy does take place in the same universe, but at a much later time. So what is this show about? Well, its about Dandy being a dandy guy in space who happens to be an alien bounty hunter with his crew; consisting of an anthropomorphic cat, and a robot with T-Pain’s autotune. His mission is to visit all of the intergalactic locations, indulge in his fetish for booty (like most men), and chill at his favorite ‘breastaurant’ “BooBies” (or Space Hooters). Every episode is an adventure, and because I’m not one to spoil, you’ll have to watch the series yourself to see just how crazy and zany it is.

Part 1 – So What About Me, Baby? (Origin Story, I Guess?)

Honestly, there’s not much to his background other than the fact that he’s an alien bounty hunter who’s about 27-ish but could be older. As far as origin stories go; this is one of those “he’s just here now” situations, so there’s not much else to him. Sure, he’s got a hairstyle like Fonzie from Happy Days and talks like one of those disco dudes from the 1970’s, but despite his boorish attitude and lax disposition, Dandy can be…well, a dandy guy.

Part 2 – I’m Bad, And It Feels Good Baby! (Personality & Skillset)

Get this; Dandy is actually…an anti-hero protagonist. If you’re not surprised by that, don’t worry, we figured that out upon first glance. Dandy’s kinda lazy when it comes to menial tasks and usually dumps the workload on QT, and also complains about Meow (yes the anthropomorphic cat is actually named after the sound a cat makes) being useless. Dandy can be a jerk sometimes and contradicts himself, but he’s never above helping the opposite sex; and occasionally men if it helps with his interests. When it comes to combat, well…Dandy’s good at improvising. Dandy is capable of taking out large aliens that are bigger than his mecha pod; Little Aloha, and is also a professional surfer. (Didn’t know that was on his resume.)

Somehow Dandy knows the secret to warping, and due to his genetic makeup; may be the only person that has the power and capability to travel between universes while maintaining his form – human or otherwise. He also is aware of the many different ‘versions’ of himself across multiple universes. Yes, Space Dandy has a multiverse; Marvel, I don’t wanna hear it!

Despite his poor hand-to-hand combat skills, Dandy makes up for it everywhere else (including being a straight shooter during long-range combat) due to his godlike biology, and the ability to travel to different universes other than his own. Again, I’m not one to spoil, so if you want to know what happens with Dandy’s godlike ability, you’ll have to watch the show. (All two seasons of it.)

Part 3 – What’s The Verdict, Baby?

I think anti-hero anime protagonists are probably some of the most interesting characters in any anime genre. They don’t follow the same heroic protocol that your usual main MC would, and while their actions (some of the time) may be deemed ‘antagonistic’, they also aren’t fond of villains either. Anime anti-heroes have a specific goal (or goals) that they’re trying to achieve, and if any hero or villain gets in the way of that goal, they are dealt with in the most ‘loose cannon’ way possible. In Dandy’s case, he just wants to indulge in his booty fetish while hanging out at “BooBies”. His mission to visit other locations around the galaxy was just molded around that.

Dandy is just one of those guys where at first; he’s a dim-witted moron who’s lazy, serviceable at best when it comes to his alien hunting job, and only cares about booty, but can be a hero when he wants to be. He’s not a deep thinker, but he’s self-aware of his ability to travel through different universes, and when he sets his mind on a specific goal, there’s nothing that’s gonna stop him from achieving it. I guess when you look at it we’ve all got a little Dandy inside of us; there are moments where we may be lazy, lax, and boorish, but there are moments where we spring into action to help out our fellow man (or woman). Dandy’s just a dandy guy in space just trying to live life to the fullest; whatever that ‘fullest’ may be, but at the end of the day, he’s Dandy. Whether he’s fighting aliens and saving maidens from certain doom, or complaining about Meow’s freeloading behavior, Dandy’s just being…well, dandy.

That’s it. There’s not much else I can add. That’ll d it for this One-2-One on Dandy, so until next post, stay nerdy my friends! 😉

Listen. For every anime title deemed “overrated” by a fraction of the fandom, there’s at least 10 titles that a majority of the fandom deems “underrated”. Such as the case for these unsung heroes of anime; as they’ve been “Luigi’d” (overshadowed) into the background to make room for the ‘A-listers’ (or “Mario” titles of the world). Even when some of the story arcs from the popular titles are low-balling it, they’re still shared among the fandom; and still praising the overall experience of the product and its franchise.

While many don’t see that as a bad thing, you kinda miss out on potential diamonds hidden in the rough. That’s why for this One-2-One character analysis, I’ll be looking into a series that is REALLY underrated. Kirito and Asuna aren’t the only sword-welding couple in anime; because there’s another! Get ready for the scorching-hot crimson-haired beauty with a fiery tongue to match known as Stella Vermillion from Chivalry of a Failed Knight!

Honestly this series doesn’t get talked about enough. When it comes to sword-welding anime maidens, many of them have a personality as sharp as their blade. (Other times they’re either Tsunderes or Yanderes with weapons. I’m lookin’ at chu’ Future Diary!) Stella may seem like the ‘high-and mighty’ type upon first glance, but in reality she’s actually quite the skilled swordswoman.

So Chivalry of a Failed Knight is a 12-episode series about the main male MC known as Ikki Kurogane, as he attends a school for students with extraordinary skills known as Blazers. Basically he and the other students are either modern-day knights, samurai, archers, or spellcasters; and participate in a tournament to select the top-tier fighters to be in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival. On paper it seems like just another generic anime school-life action/fantasy drama, but the reason this title hits different…is because of the character development of the two main characters; Ikki and Stella. There’s SO much more to Ikki, but we’ll cover him in a later post.

Part 1 – The Origin Story: Why Should You Care About Stella?

So what about Stella? If she’s an A-rank Blazer and the second imperial princess to the Vermillion Family, how did she get this strong and this skilled? Well that answer to that is…she was born with it. I’m not kidding you, Stella was literally born as a prodigy; having 30 times the base level of magic most Blazers have, which means that during her childhood she had to work extra hard to even master any type of control over her abilities. Being the second princess of the Vermillion Kingdom, and the daughter of Sirius and Astrea Vermillion, Stella is pretty much living the dream. However, after mastering her abilities she left her country and made her way to Japan because she didn’t want to be labeled as a ‘genius’ by the people around her. Sure, Stella may have been born as a prodigy and given the life of luxury, but its quite humbling to know that she’ll never really flaunt it nor boast about it because she genuinely doesn’t want to be labeled. And many of us know what that feels like…

Part 2 – Skills and Personality

Stella has a feisty and hot-blooded personality, as is the case with many red-haired anime girls. In this case however, its because of her sheltered upbringing. This is seen in the first episode of the series when Ikki walks in on her changing; not even realizing that he was her roommate. Though her temper was hot in the beginning, Stella later admits her mistakes and even starts becoming much friendlier around others and wants to be the one to make Ikki happy. She loathes being called a prodigy; stating that everything was given to her and never had to work hard for anything, and wants to prove that there’s more to her than meets the eye – and sword.

Also because of her sheltered life, she never got to experience what a man’s body looks like. Which explains that she has a bit of a perverted side when it comes to Ikki. (Not that I’m judging or anything.) Her relationship with Ikki was a bit platonic at best in the beginning, but eventually they became girlfriend and boyfriend. I’m not gonna spoil too much because there’s more going on in their relationship than what I’ve told you so far, so let’s get into Stella’s moveset!

Stella is a freakin’ powerhouse when it comes to her moves; as she has an immense amount of durability and strength due to her magical powers being 30 times that of a normal Blazer. Her base level of magic is on the same caliber as Kaio-ken x30 Son Goku. She is a Master Swordsman and has the Imperial Sword Style as her main method of offense and defense. Her device (or sword) is called Laevateinn and is used as her main weapon in battle. She has a noble art known as Dragon Breath, as it covers her in a flame barrier to protect her from projectiles and incoming attacks (as seen in the third episode of the series). Her other technique; Dragon Fang, allows her to strike her opponents from long-range with a flame-like serpent. Many of her attacks are flame-based and resemble the flames of a dragon, so its no surprise that she has a fiery personality to match her fiery skills! (If you read the manga, Stella actually has a LOT more moves.)

Part 3 – Overall Analysis

Stella is an individual who despite coming from a noble family, doesn’t believe anyone should get treated differently or ostracized because they don’t have family wealth. She herself doesn’t like the idea of being called a ‘prodigy’ or a ‘genius’ because she was naturally strong, instead she saw who Ikki was during his battles. She knows what it like to strive for a goal and to work hard at something, which is why she hates that people treat Ikki like he’s worthless; like he’s nothing compared to her. There’s more to Stella than just her beauty and looks, as she’s one of the most humbling main heroine characters in anime.

Although she wasn’t too fond of Ikki when she first met him, she saw a little bit of herself inside of him. While he didn’t have the same level of magical prowess that she did, she saw the driving spirit deep within him. To her; Ikki was more than just her boyfriend (and eventually fiancee), he was a man who wasn’t gifted at all, and was cast aside by his own family accept for his sister Shizuku, who sees him as more than a failure. Stella would be the kind of person to stand up for the weak and fragile, and has a hatred for cowardly acts of violence. (As shown in the third/fourth episode of the series.)

Ikki and Stella’s dynamic is something rarely seen in anime, and represents two sides of the same coin; what it means to be gifted and deemed by others as a ‘prodigy’ in a particular field, while the other was shunned for not having any sort of talent or gift at all. Some parents even raise their children the same way; with one of them being the successful one while the other is the ‘black sheep’, or even suffer the ‘middle child curse’ if there’s three or five children. Chivalry of a Failed Knight is a love story centered around Ikki and Stella’s challenges, relationship, and what they strive to accomplish together. Stella never saw Ikki as less than, instead she saw him as a part of herself that wants to prove that she’s more than what others saw about her. When its all said and done, Stella and Ikki are one in the same.

That will do it for this One-2-One, until next post stay nerdy! 😉