Starting on 27 August, 2025 a series of special podcasts episodes featuring conversations between some of the team behind New PANTY & STOCKING with GARTERBELT began airing. It’s our great pleasure to provide English translations of these conversations with permission and approval from STUDIO TRIGGER and FlyingDog. Today we return with Episode 2, Part 1 which continues the conversation between TRIGGER's Hiroyuki Imaishi and Hiromi Wakabayashi along with series Soundtrack Producer ☆Taku Takahashi.
You can catch up with the conversation by checking out the previously published Episode 1, Part 1 and Episode 1, Part 2 translations.
If you would like to read along to the original Japanese audio, the podcast can be heard via Spotify.
☆Taku Takahashi: To everyone tuning into This is New PANTY & STOCKING, good afternoon, this is m-flo's Taku Takahashi. This program covers the recently returned anime series New PANTY & STOCKING with GARTERBELT featuring the creators involved in bringing it all to life. We'll be discussing behind-the-scenes on production, music, and over the course of these three weeks, we'll be going over never before heard trivia. This is episode two, continued on alongside both Director Imaishi and Wakabayashi. It's a pleasure to have you both here today.
Hiroyuki Imaishi & Hiromi Wakabayashi: Thank you for having us.
☆Taku: I myself was involved in the music for the series, but I want to get right into things this week – today saw the airing of episode nine. So that'd be “The Ohagi of Doom,” “Not 2 Home Alone,” and “Six Hundred Sixty Six Candles” that have aired, with everything else also available on Amazon Prime. With the sub-titles for these episodes, are they relatively quick decisions on how they're going to be named? Maybe that's just my assumption –
Imaishi: [laughs] It really does depend.
Wakabayashi: Yeah, it can differ pretty drastically – we went on a work trip last year, and we realized we really needed to lock in the episode sub-titles or we were screwed. Everything was already in motion for the anime, and we had rough ideas for about half the sub-titles.
☆Taku: Like temporary names?
Wakabayashi: Yeah, just temporary ones. And on this trip myself, Imaishi, and Koyama were all sharing a room. So while all the younger staff from the company were out partying after dinner, the three of us were basically forced to be holed up with print outs of the episode titles, some alcohol, and some snacks until we figured out the sub-titles. So we're there in our yukata's locked in on figuring out what we were going to do for the sub-titles for the entire evening. [laughs]
☆Taku: Really makes you wonder what the order of seniority at the studio is. You three must have looked like children in timeout. [laughs]
Imaishi: I mean it wasn't uncommon for the three of us.
Wakabayashi: We wanted out as soon as possible, so we basically spent the whole time together just coming up with different gags for the sub-titles, and we did manage to get each of them together during that session. But fast forward a couple of weeks, when we looked back they were really not that good. And when we realized that, there were several that we had to completely rewrite.
Imaishi: There definitely was several.
☆Taku: What would you classify as not good?
Imaishi: The byproduct of our brains just no longer functioning in the early hours of the morning. Not like they were too much, but just that they were really just dad jokes. There was no substance to them.
Wakabayashi: They wouldn't even pass as dad jokes.
☆Taku: So there was what you made in the moment, and that which you had to adjust. Do you all discuss how you want the sub-titles to look? Or is it just throwing ideas out there and picking from the lot?
Imaishi: Everyone just says their gag titles, and whichever feels like it strikes the hardest we choose and continue. Then when everyone's happy with the outcome, we'll lock it in. You've just got to get it all out there, regardless of how ridiculous or unrelated it is; that's really all you can do is throw out everything you've got idea-wise.
It's like a game of chicken with laughter – how long can you keep the laughter rolling while each suggesting different ideas. And when you get to the end of that all, you're usually left with something that just might work.
Wakabayashi: For episode seven, the working title was “Road Trip,” but over time it become “Independence Dick.”
☆Taku: The gag is something completely different, right?
Wakabayashi: Yeah, it's totally different from the original gag, but I remember on that day between the three of us “Independence Dick” coming up and because it's about the boys becoming their own, us all laughing, we knew this could be the one.
☆Taku: [laughs] So there is actual thought behind the meaning. But with the sub-title's credit card at the start, you can't pull from that, right?
Wakabayashi: Right.
☆Taku: But the way you're actually deciding on the titles, it's kind of band-like.
Wakabayashi: Really?
Imaishi: You'd say it's like a band?
☆Taku: Yeah – in a band when you have all your songs together, and everyone gathers to decide the song titles. On the soundtrack too, even though the title's rough, “Beverly Hills Cock” was one that I decided.
Wakabayashi: Ahh, that one was good though!
Imaishi: That title felt very PANTY & STOCKING.
☆Taku: This time I was determined to include dirty jokes like last time, turning Batucada into “Pantsucada” and so on. This time it was definitely 50-50 on that front – putting something super inappropriate in or putting in homages, sometimes getting stopped or told it was a little too much. [laughs]
Wakabayashi: I remember sending an email to FlyingDog at one point saying to let you know that maybe this one's a bit too much.
☆Taku: And me being like, “Ahh, sorry about that!”
I think when doing PANTY & STOCKING, you really can't put restrictions on yourself, you've just got to let it all out, and if something really doesn't work, let someone else tell you so.
Wakabayashi: That's the spirit -- it's definitely better to put it all together without any limitations.
☆Taku: Yeah -- I went through it all with my limiter turned off.
So, how did you feel about last week's questions?
Imaishi: They definitely felt fresh.
Wakabayashi: I felt like the questions weren't just coming from anime fans exclusively – I'm sure that's partially because you put the call out on social media, so there would have been people you know, or people who discovered PANTY & STOCKING through you. So as a result, the overall vibes of the questions were totally different to what we usually get. There was a lot of questions we've never been asked before, so that made it fun for us too.
☆Taku: Yeah, lots of hard-hitting questions.
Wakabayashi: Exactly – were a lot of those from overseas fans?
☆Taku: I'm actually not sure
Imaishi: The proportion from overseas was actually quite high if I remember correctly.
Wakabayashi: So like half domestic, half international?
Imaishi: Yeah, about 50-50.
☆Taku: It definitely seems like overseas fans are the ones who ask questions more often, right?
Wakabayashi: Yeah, when we're doing panels at conventions overseas, the moment we say that we're doing a Q&A session, everyone starts lining up at the mic and before you know it there's this huge line. So yeah, they really like to ask questions. It's a blessing that there's so many things they're wanting to ask us -- it really shows that they care.
☆Taku: Well speaking of such, we've actually got a lot of those questions here today. Jumping into the first one:
This one's for all of us, myself included. “You all often go overseas, and have numerous opportunities to directly come in touch with what local fans love. When making the new series, did you consciously plan around overseas fans' reactions or feedback?”
Wakabayashi: Not really. There wasn't really a moment where we thought about doing something that the fans would probably like.
Imaishi: Yeah, I don't think we thought too deeply about any of that.
Wakabayashi: If there was anywhere in the series where we did, it'd probably be the first episode. Even then, it was more like “let's do something the fans wouldn't expect.” In that sense, we did consciously plan. Just recently I did the script for the new episode focusing on Kneesocks – she's a character who isn't usually too in the spotlight, so I wanted to do something specifically on her. But when it was all wrapped up, and we went to an overseas event Imaishi would do a live drawing session, and we'd have everyone vote for which character they wanted. It was like “Who loves Panty? Who loves Stocking?” and the moment Stocking came up, the audience went absolutely wild.
☆Taku: Oh wow.
Wakabayashi: So it's like, Stocking is more popular than Panty? I mean, I felt that vibe even during the original series 15 years ago. Then when we said Scanty there were cheers, but with Kneesocks the reaction was as loud as for Stocking – like, the ground felt like it was shaking. Before I even realized it, she was already a fan-favorite character, which was definitely surprising.
☆Taku: So it really did all line up.
Wakabayashi: Yeah, that was honestly the most surprising thing from an international convention this year.
☆Taku: And it wasn't a case where you had written the episode because you knew she was already popular?
Wakabayashi: Exactly – I thought she had way less fans, but then it turned out that she was already really popular.
☆Taku: It was such a good episode too.
Wakabayashi: Thank you!
☆Taku: If you go into it without your guard up, I'd say it's one of those episodes that could almost make you tear up.
Wakabayashi: Really? I'm actually glad to hear that. I mean that whole episode was super unfair – both Imaishi and Koyama got to just mess around for their episodes, where I was the only one who had to be serious for my part.
Imaishi: You really did have to play the serious one this time.
Wakabayashi: Yeah; I thought I'd make something so completely serious it just eclipses any other episode. That was my approach this time.
☆Taku: I really liked how the music was placed in that episode too.
Wakabayashi: Yeah, with that – giving away a little secret, back in the original series I mostly wrote Panty and Brief episodes. I really wanted to do another Panty and Brief love story episode, so even before I had the script, I told Taku that I wanted him to write a theme for the two characters – and he really delivered something incredible on the request. But in the end, I ended up writing the Kneesocks episode instead...
☆Taku: So it transformed into a different love story.
Wakabayashi: Exactly, though not quite a traditional love story – this was a story between sisters.
☆Taku: Even still, a story about love.
Wakabayashi: Yeah, familial love. But the title for the song was “Cherry Boy and Angel,” and I remember realizing that didn't fit the episode at all. Yet, I still wanted to use the song. So I reached out and asked if you could change a few specific words in the lyrics after I'd gone through and circled them so it could become something new.
☆Taku: And this was after the recording was wrapped too.
Wakabayashi: Yeah, after the final track was finished.
Imaishi: Already completely done.
Wakabayashi: Totally completely finished, and I still came in to say “Sorry, could we change the title too?” I felt really guilty about that.
☆Taku: Well, we managed to get Sagiri to re-record it. I did struggle a bit though. You know how the song was originally written starting from the lyrics, right?
Wakabayashi: I actually didn't know that.
☆Taku: Well basically, I had to figure out a new phrase that would fit the rhythm of “Cherry Boy,” while still clearly conveying the meaning of the sisters' story – fortunately it all worked out.
Wakabayashi: Yeah, it turned out great. Then after episode 8, for episode 9, I ultimately hit you with another unreasonable request, asking Taku Inoue to --
☆Taku: Yeah...
Wakabayashi: To write a new track for the second half. And the timing was just before episode 9, so the song arrived just in time, and we were able to drop it right in.
☆Taku: Truly a double Taku moment.
Wakabayashi: Exactly.
☆Taku: Think “Double Asano,” but “Double Taku.”¹
Imaishi: “Double Asano” [laughs]
☆Taku: It's the era of Figure 2
Wakabayashi: With the other Taku's track too, we had no idea what kind of song would actually be delivered. In episode 9, I'm pretty sure it was the scene where Kneesocks is changing clothes before the party – I kept wondering what kind of track I wanted to insert there. We'd already used up loads of songs throughout the episode, so I was really hoping for something fresh. And on that front, Taku Inoue really delivered; this up-tempo song with a cutesy sound. I was like, this is perfect, and slotted it right in.
☆Taku: The track Taku and I made, we actually had Christmas in mind a little.
Wakabayashi: Right.
☆Taku: But we also wanted it to work outside of Christmas. So the first half of the track has that “Jingle-Jingle” vibe, and after that I figured you could just use it however you wanted. And then it was like “Oh, that's where you used it!.”
Wakabayashi: Exactly. That jingle gave it a slightly girl-like feeling, so it felt perfect for a scene with two girls changing outfits.
☆Taku: It fit perfectly.
Wakabayashi: Yeah, that one really saved me.
☆Taku: There was another episode like that too, right? A song that we made for a certain purpose that ultimately ended up working somewhere else.
Wakabayashi: Take “Theme of Super Guy Jin” for example – we called it his theme, but in episode 9 there's a slightly Japanese flavor to the motif. Same for the sushi-typhoon episode, and the dojo episode. We've sprinkled Japanese-style bits throughout the series. So even though that track was made as Super Guy Jin's theme, it really became the track we play whenever something with a Japanese vibe shows up.
☆Taku: Right – Chan, chan, chan, chan
Wakabayashi: The track starts a little slow, but really picks up in tempo midway, meaning it works great for battle scenes.
☆Taku: Yeah, it fit great.
Wakabayashi: That was one of those tracks that ended up with a lot of use cases, it was super helpful.
☆Taku: Sticking to the topic of music for a bit, here's another question. After I'd get directions from you, Wakabayashi, with something like “We want a song like this,” we'd first have a meeting with the director and you, right? What approach was taken to land on results that matched your vision? Were there points that we scrapped or revised things mid-way?
I don't feel like we really remade much. I'd get references on how you wanted the song, and sometimes I'd lean into it, but other times I'd keep the flavor but still make something different. There was also a few instances where I'd pitch alternative ideas. But honestly speaking, there was a lot of scene-by-scene guidance; with the road-trip track, we did talk about how maybe it was leaning in a little too much, right?
Wakabayashi: Yeah, I remember sending over that request and it was so on the nose that even I wondered if it was okay.
Imaishi: It was too accurate.
Wakabayashi: Right, this time around, not even just with the road-trip one, but I remember thinking “Wait, we're allowed to go this far?”
☆Taku: I had a few thoughts on the matter – sometimes references are ultimately just hints. This time around, I thought it'd be better to just go all the way. Musically, I'd still change up chord progressions, switch up the rhythms, and really make it our own, but I figured it'd be a more enjoyable experience if the homage was recognizable.
Wakabayashi: The series definitely pushes that homage into your face, so I'm glad the music does too.
Imaishi: Exactly.
☆Taku: I mean, if the visuals are already going there --
Wakabayashi: Right, it'd be weird if only the music held back.
☆Taku: Moving onto the next question: Last time, we used a lot of up-and-coming musicians, and this time, we've got familiar faces from before plus a bunch of new artists. What was our procedure in picking the lineup this time around?
This time, apart from “Let's definitely bring back TeddyLoid,” I was told that I had free reign over my choices. People often ask me this, and my answer is always the same – I choose artists who feel fresh to me, people with a solid style of their own, and even beyond TRIGGER works and PANTY & STOCKING, artists who have a sound that feels global. The bar to me is whether or not their sound feels in-line with something that could play in American films or on American radio. So I invited people who make world-class sounds, even while being based in Japan.
Wakabayashi: I remember early on you'd share the artist you'd be thinking of for a certain track, and send over their social media links asking what I thought. We talk the talk about being picky regarding music and wanting all sorts of songs, but if I'm being honest, we're still amateurs when it comes to the topic.
☆Taku: Yeah, I imagine it's difficult visualizing from just the links.
Wakabayashi: Even with the links, I'm unable to really tell just what kind of music that artist could make.
☆Taku: That's always one of the most difficult parts.
Wakabayashi: So I remember telling you that I honestly had no idea, and if you think you're onto something, to run with it.
☆Taku: We did have that exact conversation.
Wakabayashi: If you were to tell me point-blank that this is the track, this is the vocals, I'd be able to tell you whether or not it fits. But from social media alone, a tiny snippet of music, it's really hard to picture it. It'd be different if it was an illustration – but again, this is one of those places where I could really see you professionalism in music.
☆Taku: Honestly every artist we invited was so happy to join too. Like, wait, you know this show? [laughs]
For example Adee A. who sings the ending "Reckless," he quickly responded with how much he loves the series.
Wakabayashi: Oh wow, that's awesome.
Imaishi: That makes me happy.
☆Taku: He even said that it all felt so unreal. I was thrilled, and you could see in their output just how genuinely excited the artists were to take part.
Imaishi: So that's how it was on your end.
Due to length we're cutting it here for Episode 2, Part 1, check back in a couple more days for the second part!
¹ “Double Asano” is in reference to popular late-‘80s drama Dakishimetai! which starred Atsuko Asano and Yuko Asano, often referred to as “W浅野” or ”Double Asano.”
