Hi, people. Welcome!!!! I want to write another post after the "retake" of Tales of Zestria anime series post. I have a few empty drafts on the anime that I wanna post but since they are anime that I've a long while ago (in which I forgot quite a lot of details to do the post for it properly), I decided to do posts for the anime that I've watched more recently while preparing for them.

Cute girls!

Anyway, I think I did mention that on my AniList that I wanted to make one for Sakurasou...well, that plan will be on hold a little longer. Not that I won't write it but I will need more time to write it. Meanwhile, it is Girls und Panzer TIME!!!!!! Let's go! Panzer vor!!!!

WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!

P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

Anime...

The anime series, Girls und Panzer (which is a translation of Girls and Tanks) is a Japanese anime franchise created by Actas. Well, wait...which means the different manga is the result of an original animation project?! Wait, I'm getting a flashback on Love Live and High School Fleet...Ahem! I'm sorry. Let's move on.

What?!

This story has quite a lot of historical references and context as there is a military history advisor, which is Takaaki Suzuki. BTW, he also acted as a military history advisor for Strike Witches and Upotte!!. Interesting...I might wanna watch them next time...Hmmmm...

Manga...

Ahem! Anyway...the TV series was aired in Japan between October and December 2012, with two recap episodes that aired on March 2013 and an original video animation released on July 2014. There are also two manga series, which one of them is the spin-off manga named Girls und Panzer: Little Army. Curious about what the manga is about? It is about our MC, Miho's elementary school days when she was participating in sensha-dou (or what I would like to call Panzer Arts) alongside her elementary school friends. CUTE!!! I wanna read it one day!

The movie...

Anyway, that aside, there is also a light novel adaptation and two sets of movies. The film, Girls und Panzer der Film was released in Japanese theatres on November 21, 2015. Good stuff there. I will talk about it here. Well, the six-part theatrical anime series has been announced, with the first film already released in 2017. AH!!!!! WHY?! WHY a six-part movie?! Anyway, I almost forget. There are six special episodes for the anime. So...yeah, I'm done here. Let's move on.

The new movie...

Plot

Anime TV series

Nishizumi Miho...

...Izumi Hana and Takebe Saori.

This time I'm using this format. OK, let's go! The WHOLE story (yes, the whole Girls und Panzer story) starts with a girl named Nishizumi Miho who transfers to Ooarai Girls High School to avoid Panzer Arts (or Sensha-dou. OK, I won't repeat this every time I say this so remember it!). She got to know two of her classmates, Takebe Saori and Isuzu Hana. She quickly gets to become close friends with them. Nice stuff.

The student council approached her...

Well, well, well, there is a catch. The school was reviving Panzer Art and the school council members coerce her to join as she is only one who has the experience. She has an unpleasant memory of her final Panzer Art moments as she is the daughter of the prestigious family of Panzer Arts practitioners. This bad memory caused her to wanna avoid Panzer Arts and she tried to do it by moving Ooarai Girls High School, which didn't work out because they decided to revive it. Anyway, she eventually reluctantly agreed joined (probably, I'm not sure about that) after her friends tried to get out of being forced into Panzer Arts.

Miho and the 1st panzer found

An initially shy Yukari...

Mako...just get up and walk properly.

As she starts to practice Panzer Arts once again, Miho slowly warms up to Panzer Arts again and got to know one panzer fangirl, Akiyama Yukari and a consistently sleepy girl, Reizei Mako. There are multiple good times with them and hard times during the mock battles and tournament (the National Panzer Arts Tournament, to be precise). The hardest moment is definitely the battle against Pravda (in Russian, Правда, which means truth.). That is where the news of the Ooarai High School will be closed if they did not win the tournament being told to us and the member of Panzer Arts of Ooarai High School.

Truth revealed...

Oh, you are a little curious to know deeper into the anime? Actually, the tanks are the historical World War II-era tanks. Also, there is A LOT of military history reference in this anime, which I can't talk about all of them because they are too many of them to talk about here. Next time, people. Next time.

Let's go to Yukari's course on tanks!

Anyway, in this idealized world, these World War Two tanks are maintained for Panzer Arts, or in Japanese, 戦車道 (pronounced as Sensha-Dou), which is a fictional sport-style warfare competition. I wish that this world actually has it. Anyway, these high school girls' school are on actual World War Two aircraft carriers, which I'm not gonna talk further about. Sensha Dou...means the way of the tank literally. Sounds like Kendo (剣道), the way of the sword. Oh, the SPs and OVA? The SP is a spin-off story in between the episodes of the anime plus tank history lesson by Yukari. So for the OVA, it is the story of the footnote regarding the Anzio Battle that was skipped in the anime (sorry, Italy, your venture in World War 2 can only be placed in a footnote. BOOM!). OK, let's move on.

Like Italy in WW2, Anzio is placed in the footnote. RIP.

The Movie (not the 6-part movie)

The exhibition match...

As for the movie, it starts off with the news of closing down of Ooarai High School after a good Panzer Arts exhibition match despite having a promise of not to do so. Why? The Ministry of Education who is the person who promised Anzu to not close the school down if they win the tournament decided to close it down anyway despite making the promise. Wow...what a dick. That asshole.

Saunders incoming again!

Anyway, the girls are forced to leave their school ship but their tanks are successfully kept with the help of Saunders University High School. With Anzu's effort in bringing together with a bunch of important people, including Miho's mother, Nishizumi Shiho, forced the minster's hand to hold a match between Ooarai and a university Panzer Arts team. BUT this time, it is done with a written contract to ensure that Ooarai will not be closed should their team win. However, the rules put Ooarai's team at a great disadvantage, as they must face a team composed of select university students led by child prodigy Shimada Alice, fielding thirty tanks against Ooarai's eight, and held using elimination rules, which require the winning team to eliminate every enemy tank.

That asshole minister...

Wow...how on Earth do they even win with that fucking rule? He is a fucking asshole until the very end. Anyway, with the help of students from other schools (Saunders, Kuromorimine, Anzio, St. Gloriana, Pravda, Chi-Ha-Tan and Jatkosota High School), they successfully even out the teams' numbers by taking advantage of a loophole in the agreement to join as temporary Ooarai transfer students. Hehe...payback to you, asshole minister.

The fight...intense.

The fight was tough at first because of the superior skill and power of the university girls team. They managed to turn it around in an abandoned amusement park. The Ooarai team managed to win with a slim margin of having ONE tank survived because of Alice joining in the fight. That was a good fight BTW. Anyway, the ending is that all of the girls are went back to their respective schools and Ooarai getting back their school carrier. Good ending. Anyway, the movie OVA is pretty cute. Hehe~. Ahem! Time to move on.

YEAH!!!!

Anime Rating

Anime TV Series (including SP and OVA)

Story (Rating: 10/10)

The story is about Panzer Arts, which are a type of sport-style warfare competition in this world. It looks like I have repeated it again. Back to the actual thing, the story mainly revolves around the Panzer Arts and the national competition. Ooarai's road to victory under Miho's leadership is really an amazing thing to behold. The plot of this story is quite a typical one but it grips my attention all the way. Good stuff. The story's pacing and flow are well-done. The typical and uncomplicated plot of the story makes it an easy watch. As for OVA, I will say the same for it. As for the SP episode, the side stories are really good and also the lesson from Yukari...ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA!

Time for the last round of fighting!

Art and Animation (Rating: 10/10)

The arts and animation by Actas are pretty good. The tank battle scenes are well-animated. The cute girls are well-drawn too. The scenery and background are well-drawn too. Well, I have seen better arts and animation but I decided to give it a full mark because I'm biased and also, the fact that it has been well-done consistently.

A sleepy Mako during bath time...

Sound and Music (Rating: 10/10)

I like the opening song and the good insert song and background music, especially Katyusha, a Russian folk song. As for the ending song, I like it quite a lot but not as much the opening song. xD

A weird moment...

Characters (Rating: 10/10)

Only can give it a 10 out of 10. Miho's growth into a true leader of a style outside the frame of her family traditional method is great stuff. And also, the growth of the love for Panzer Arts that she wanted to reject is amazing. She learns to enjoy it with her good friends that she made during her time practising Panzer Arts. Good arts! Miho's friends (Yukari, Mako, Saori and Hana) are also amazing in their character growth! Also, the whole of the Ooarai girls! Their improvements are a testament to their will to win the tournament to prevent school closure (not really as it only gives more bargaining chips to prevent closure, rather than directly preventing school's closure). Relatability? Probably their attitude and their growth. Of course, the Panzer Art thing is non-existent in this world. I hope it does but NO, it doesn't (sadly).

The Panzer Arts team!

Enjoyment (Rating: 10/10)

Yeah! Good job, Panzer Arts team!

Overall Rating: 10 (10)/10