Deconstructing Magical Girls / Review 2: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

For my second review this week, I'll be talking about something a little different. Don't worry, it still goes into the niche but more so derails into a parody of the magical girl genre as a whole, deconstruction or not. Before starting this review, I would like to mention that every parody can be a deconstruction but not every deconstruction is a parody. Now, onto the review. 

The story revolves around the titular characters who are kicked out of Heaven because of their behavior. They are sent to Daten City, which resides on the border between Heaven and Hell, where they live at a church named Cemetery Hills, under the care of the priest Garterbelt. In order to get back to Heaven, the sisters must collect Heaven Coins by defeating ghosts. However, the two are usually sidetracked by Earth's vices. 

Like I mentioned in the previous post, the deconstruction genre of magical girls is usually darker and realistic. And how parodies operate, they like to make fun of everything, even the nitty-gritty. Panty & Stocking can go into that, but they're making fun of everything. Take the art style for example, it's obviously a reference to western cartoons. This creates a false sense of security, with viewers thinking this is nothing but a run-of-the-mill magical girl anime...right?

Oh, you sweet summer child😏....

And before you say it, yep, that's from the official English dub of the anime. Which goes into my next point, vulgarity. This is where parodic elements come in. Remember the false sense of security and how Panty and Stocking get caught up in their vices than doing their job? Well, that's the beauty of it, its intentional chaos wrapped in satire. Panty's a sex addict who treats men like disposable candy, while Stocking is a gothic sugar fiend obsessed with sweets. Their personalities break the expectations that magical girls are supposed to have. 

Their transformation sequence perfectly mirrors this with the angels literally stripping in a club-like background. Take a look.

Even the monsters are crude, they're vengeful spirits, or ghosts, who died from funny or tragic reasons and haunt the streets of Daten. The only way these ghosts can be defeated is by the holy weapons that the sisters brandish. Panty can transform her panties into a gun called Backlace, while Stocking can transform her stockings into two katanas called Stripes 1 & 2. This highlights the monster of the week and the magical weapons that can only be held by the protagonists. Later in Season 1, the show presents us with two rivals that are sort of a dark mirror to Panty and Stocking. Their names are Scanty and Kneesocks.

(Scanty and Kneesocks are on the left btw)

Magical girls having rivals is pretty common, whether they're evil or friendly yet combatant. In this scenario, the demon sisters are obviously evil. And you're probably wondering how messed up these girls can be to be the secondary villains of the show. Well, they're not exactly "evil" at a first glance. Compared to Panty and Stocking, Scanty and Kneesocks are sophisticated, well-mannered, respects the rules, and so on. Of course, this doesn't mesh well with the angels' raunchy and wild lifestyle and the four clash throughout the season. 

Moving onto the themes, I can say that this show is very sex positive. It's a feminist concept that's open and encouraging about sex and sexual urges/activities. Things such as slut shaming is a sex negative because it shames others and discourages them from doing it. Panty is a prime example of this, while she's called a slut for sleeping with a lot of men, she isn't inherently bullied for it. Not to mention that she doesn't care what people have to say about her promiscuous life. 

Another theme can be freedom, which is a little cliche. Then again, take a look at the setting and the way they act, they're living on the edge! Those angels would rather get caught up in some mess than do their jobs correctly. And while there's nothing wrong with that, there's also nothing wrong with responsibility, which is a foreign word to all the characters in the series.

In closing, Panty and Stocking is that anime you expect to be cutesy and fun but gets turned on its head on the first episode. And while it doesn't look like a magical girl anime from a glance, it still has those familiar tropes that would make any fan of the genre interested. 

Deconstructing Magical Girls / Review 1: Jubei-Chan

When you hear the word, "magical girl" what's the first thing that comes to mind? Is it girls wearing tutu's accompanied by glittery transformations and heart-shaped wands while screaming the triumph of love and friendship? Or is it something darker, complex even. What I'm getting at is that at the height of the magical girl genre, there's bound to be some sort of "deconstruction" of the very foundations that made the genre popular in the first place. In this review series, Deconstructing Magical Girls, I'll be exploring the very stories that drive away from the sparkling optimism and venture into something more serious or even silly.

For the first review, I'll be covering Jubei-Chan: Ninja Girl.  It revolves around an ordinary schoolgirl named Jiyu Nanohana who's living her life until she runs into a scatterbrained 300-year-old samurai. He tells her that she's the reincarnation of Yagyu Jubei. With the help of the Lovely Eyepatch, she transforms into a legendary samurai and fights adversaries that wants to reclaim that title. 

Now just from the synopsis, there's already some deconstructing going on. Most magical girls don't take on samurai aesthetics in terms of clothing or power. They only brandish the katana which is infused with magical energy. There's also the Lovely Eyepatch which helps Jiyu transform. And yes, it wouldn't be a magical girl anime without a transformation scene. 

Onto the other things, a few things I noticed was that Jiyu's friends knew about her magical girl persona earlier in the series. Usually, magical girls try to separate their superhero-ing from their personal lives. But somehow, it always bleeds through, and the villains use it to their advantage. Same can be said in this anime but it doesn't affect the relationship between 

Speaking of villains, Jiyu's aren't monsters but humans that looked like they came out of a samurai movie. Which makes sense if we're going off the show's motif. Also, a running gag is that every villain works at Jiyu's school and every time one of them dies, they get replaced by the next villain. It's a great way to setup the whole "monster of the week" thing that most magical girl anime has. 

As for the themes, it dives into some mature territory beneath its slapstick humor and flashy fight scenes. One of the core themes is identity and inheritance, the struggle between who you are and what others want you to be. Jiyu didn't ask to be the successor of Yagyu Jubei, yet she was burdened with centuries of conflict and revenge. This contrasts sharply to the "chosen one" narrative magical girls who want to be heroes of justice and love. Jiyu's journey is about reluctance, responsibility, and ultimately, self-acceptance. 

Another theme is that it clashes with the past and present. This is especially evident in the sequel, Jubei-Chan 2: The Counterattack of Siberia Yagyu. It's about Jubei's daughter, Freesia, coming back from the dead to take revenge on her father. She goes to Jiyu's school to befriend her and try to take the Lovely Eyepatch for herself. It leans into the generational curse motif---the sins of the father being carried by the daughter then passed onto Jiyu, who had no real stake in the ancient feud. Like I mentioned before, the show uses samurai elements not for style, but to explore how outdated ideals such as honor, revenge and legacy, clash with modern life. It's almost satirical: ancient warriors reincarnating to fight their old battles in a middle school suburban middle school setting.

The show also toys with gender expectations. Instead of the stereotypical magical girl tropes---cute, nurturing, and selfless---Jiyu's alter ego is confident, battle-hardened, and downright intimidating. The Lovely Eyepatch doesn't only give her power but shifts her personality completely. It's almost like the show is asking viewers what would happen if ferocity and femineity were put in a blender. And the answer is a magical girl wielding a katana instead of a wand.

All in all, Jubei-Chan is a very interesting deconstruction anime. It takes the magical girl tropes and turns them into something more "niche" and original. Magical girl shows that revolves around samurai, ninja, and other warriors from the past is a bold creative twist that rarely gets explored, even today.

Internet Meme Assignment

 

When crafting my meme, I based it around the saying, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." It means that while people may have noble intentions, these intentions can often result in negative outcomes if not acted upon effectively. It also emphasizes that wanting to do good is insufficient and that your intentions and actions must align to make a good effect. Instead of saying the quote in the meme outright, I decided to format it where it's completely original but doesn't stray away from the original. Hence the "eternal damnation" bit which is a description of hell itself. 

Photo Remix Assignment

 

For this assignment, I decided to use the saying, “An eye for an eye makes everyone go blind” which emphasizes the futility of seeking revenge or retribution. It suggests that when people act on their grievances leads to a cycle of violence and hatred, ultimately harming all parties that are involved. The saying originated from Gandhi who used it to criticize the cycle of violence and advocated for peace instead. With everything going on in the world recently, I feel like I can relate to this quote more than ever. Whether that’s from a personal or worldly standpoint. While revenge may be sweet, is it all worth it in the end?