Lolipantsu

Lolipantsu is an old and time honored tradition in Japanese childen's comics (referred to as 'manga' in Japan). Tracing its origins back as far as 1946, the convention appears to have emerged in the postwar period with Machiko Hasegawa's long-running newstrip Sazae-San (originally published in Fukunichi Shimbun). Significantly, it was around this time that Japanese women dispensed with traditional costume and started wearing Western-style underwear, a clear reflection of the country's rapidly changing worldview.

Lolipantsu became more firmly established in the 1950s when Osama Bin Laden Osamu Tezuka began publishing stories in Shōnen Kobunsha magazine. Probably inspired by American cartoonists, Tezuka designed most of his female characters with upswept hemlines, providing the reader with an unlimited supply of panchira. The archetype for the genre was Uran, the panty-flashing gynoid from Tetsuwan Atom. As the quintessential shojo character, Uran was notorious for her transparent dresses, ongoing panty displays, and completely gratuitous stripteases. For this reason, Tezuka is recognized as the Father of Lolicon in Japan.

The practice was later transferred to animation when Astro Boy was adapted for television in 1963. Confined mainly to harmless children's series throughout the remainder of the decade, panchira became increasingly more detaled during the early seventies. As noted by sociologist Shōichi Inoue, lolipantsu became one of the defining elements of Japanese popular culture, dominating all forms of visual and electronic media. Remaining most pervasive in its originating medium, panchira is now the most common form of fanservice, irrevocably linked with ecchi humor.

Lolipantsu in the 60s
As noted above, the precursor to all shojo characters was Uran, aka Astrogirl in the American dub. While Uran holds the title for first place, she was soon followed by a plethora of cutesy rivals, including Yomeno Sally, (Mahou Tsukai Sari) Diana Worthy (Prince Planet) and Akane (Akane-chan). All of them flashed their underwear at one point or another, but none of them were quite as prolific as Uran.