Girls und Panzer

Synopsis: (taken from MAL)
You may have heard of kung fu, but the girls at Oarai High School practice gun-fu - really, really BIG 75mm gun-fu, in fact. It's called Sensha-do, and it's the martial art of operating armored tanks! They take it seriously too, and since winning the national Sensha-do championship is such a huge deal at Oarai, they sometimes go to extreme ends in order to get the best students from Panzer class to sign up. Which is how Miho Nishizumi, who HATES operating tanks, gets drafted to join doomsday-driven driver Mako, even-triggered gunner Hana, highly receptive radio operator Saori and combustible tank-fangirl and loader Yukari as the incomparable Anko Team. They may not be on the half-track to fame and fortune, and maybe a few of them would rather shop for tank tops than become tops in tanks, but once their focus is locked and loaded, they're absolutely driven.

Wolfie's Sense:
After seeing the first episode I have to say that this looks like an interesting series to watch if you're into tanks and whathaveyou. From the looks of things it would seem that Miho has a backgound of having her family involved with girls and thier tanks.

Pretty much if you liked Upotte! then you might just like this series. Granted it's about a team of girls and thier tank than it being girls as thier respective weapon in this series.

Mod Note: The two posts below were deleted due to one being rather offensive and the other in response to said post.

Im trying to figure out why 5 Japanese School Girls are tooling around in a Panzer Mk IV, with a short barrel 75mm. At least give them the long barrel, high velocity gun and the armored skirts. Im a little depressed this doesnt look to be going at least the way that Sora no Woto did. I could get this same thing at world of tanks, and actually drive and shoot them.

Well this show is interesting. It has some very silly flaws which are very annoying, such as having the hatches open while taking fire and hanging out the sides / top etc, lack of radios, ear protection, or even having half sensible clothes, or the lack of any even slight tank knowledge, as well as things like why was a tank down a cliff (why is there even a cliff / mountain on a ship?????).

The Colour of the tanks or the strange plot concept I don't have an issue with tho. I like how the main character reminds me of Yukiho from the Idolm@ster (games not anime). The characters are likeable, except for the student council and the art is nice. Its also quite funny in parts and could be a good show to watch. I'll keep with it for now and hope some of the annoyances either get worked out or I can manage to ignore them.

Edit: Sora-no-Woto is one of my favourites so I'd hope for something on those lines, but I suspect this is not going in the same direction and not as serious.

Well it was the only military thing that was one the moe moe scale. Besides I'm not saying it'll be exactly like that, but more along the line of the moeness to be something around that idea.

In any case I have to go with a certain sub group wit this do to one of them is being a bit trollish with thier subs, weither it was by acident or on purpose, I don't know, but it's making me loose some faith in them as of late.

What is this...a group of girls using tanks in a simulated wargame. I should not like this but actually it was pretty fun to watch. This third episode with them putting cushions everywhere in the tank (an inflatable sitting ring for the driver...just imagine that in the army ) and using it as an alarm clock for Mako was humorous. The focus on Miho in trying to make her into the commander of that tank group is pretty clear. It feels like it will go towards something like we saw in Saki or Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A, not with mahjong this time but with tanks.
Not the best anime around but it is fun .

I love how the ultimate tank otaku, Yukari, after getting three kills in three shots in her first try at a tank gun gets relegated to loader. And then she's all like, "yay, I get to be loader" as if it isn't the crappiest job in the tank.

BTW, I made the mistake of watching a certain speed sub group's subs this week. Tankwondo? Never again!

QUOTE It feels like it will go towards something like we saw in Saki or Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A, not with mahjong this time but with tanks.

I wonder if they will have moe tank superpowers.

QUOTE (AccipiterF1 @ Oct 24 2012, 10:17 PM) BTW, I made the mistake of watching a certain speed sub group's subs this week. Tankwondo? Never again!
I don't know it sounds about right since I think it's kind of like kendo, or even tai-kwon-do. I think that's what they were trying to go with there. Heck I didn't notice that kind of refernece until you brought that up you know.

At least you didn't start off with the sub group doing random Germain words when they weren't even being used.

In any case I have to say I am enjoying this series as of late, and if it turns out to be something like Saki, but with tanks then I'll look forward to that.


It seems that Miho has the tallent to be a commander, but never knew about it since she was probablly the driver. Also, that might be why she was reluctant to take up driving. Although I have to say they now have a really good driver with Mako now. Also, yes using the tank as a wakeup call was a good laugh. Not only that, but it made things easier for them to have the crew already assembled with the tank.

In any case I always thought that a tank was an extension of the group riding it, so with the group customising thier tanks as they did pretty much made it where it kind of matches thier personalities and whathaveyou.

So we finally get to see an actual tank fight. It's a shame that Miho is working with some rather Green Troops here. In any case it might of been a good thing for this to turn out to only be a warmup match. not only that but I had to facepalm myself when the student council missed at a point blank range just like that. Well that's what happens when you fire wildly and not trying to aim at anything.

QUOTE (Kid-Wolf @ Oct 31 2012, 05:51 AM)So we finally get to see an actual tank fight. It's a shame that Miho is working with some rather Green Troops here. In any case it might of been a good thing for this to turn out to only be a warmup match. not only that but I had to facepalm myself when the student council missed at a point blank range just like that. Well that's what happens when you fire wildly and not trying to aim at anything.

Still the student council did show something..never leave a wounded enemy behind.
Miho did a good job at fighting in the end. Too bad she blundered in the beginning when trying to trap the enemy. Maybe now she'll only use her own tactics. Her advantage is in the differences in types of tanks they have. Maybe we'll get to see that in the next fight.
I also laughed at the tank with all the banners. You can't exactly hide with that thing with them sticking out

Episode 4 had a lot of "potential" to shine but it failed to do so in many ways. The trial tank fight was interesting to say the least but I think the latter half of the episode is what really annoyed me to no end. It rushed through a bunch of what some would regularly call "character development." The show suddenly throws a ton of back story about a particular character on the table, flushes it all out as if there were no tomorrow and "resolves it." Not exactly what I call good pacing if you ask me and there's no real good way to relate the character as it doesn't give the audience time to digest. Of course, I'm still not expecting anything out of this series considering it's basically a watered down combination of Strike Witches and Upotte!!

QUOTE (Kit-Tsukasa @ Nov 05 2012, 12:16 AM) ... considering it's basically a watered down combination of Strike Witches and Upotte!!
Well just so you know if you have seen either of those two series I would say that watching this won't be that much of a struggle as you would put it Kit-san. Although to each his own on that one, since you mentioned that it's more or less one of the two series that I have watched personally, while the other one a friend of mine actually liked very much so. (For those who didn't know I watched Strike Witches while by friend watched Upotte!!)

In any case I think the sho is trying to find its way with either trying to focus on one characer at a time that's in the same tank Miho is ridding in, or trying to focus on the actual tanks themselves while Miho is commanding them.

Garuzu & Pansha. I love how carefree and calm the atmosphere of it is. ^^, It reminds me of Raki Suta but with some kind of clear motivational point.
Though all the panzer, war things, and the german words snuck into the subs had me a bit uneasy as starters. Though this series is so special and so ironically intriguingly cute it still makes me want to continue watching it and follow their adventures. ^^,
As well as there are so many cute characters that you just want to keep track of how their lives turn out.

So far it has caught my interest as I have no idea what the clear goal of this series is. Its current level of mystery and everyday cuteness is what has me still cling to it I guess. ^^,

良しチャルゲ！

This was fun with them finally getting serious with their fights. No more colorful tanks but tanks with unique identifying pictures (killer bunny ).
Miho also is starting to show that she is a good commander. Even under pressure she's able to get them out of the trap. In the end she even used the one big advantage she has on that Sherman school: she's got 5 differents tanks with different tasks.
Her small band of sisters even has a tank destroyer. That StugIII is made to ambush tanks and with the rest of tanks being quick and agile (although weak in firepower and armor), she can destroy that group of shermans. Still it was a dirty trick of the Sherman school to use wiretap to listen in on the radio. Well, just using all the equipment to get the advantage i guess.

Since their opponents seemed so nonplussed by Yukari's espionage, it seems that all is fair in love and tankery, even intercepting your enemy's communication. But they did manage to adapt and overcome, and set up a nice ambush with that big banging gun.

I agree with Kit that the attempts at character backgrounds are too rushed to add anything of value to the show. The exception to that would be Miho because her background is central to her character's reluctance to join the club, and eventual family rivalry on the battlefield. They should really spend more time on her background, and cute tanks doing cute things, rather than wasting time on the backgrounds of the other girls.

Well I guess on the up side at least they are using tanks instead of just hanging out in a club room talking about tanks.

In any case I have to say that it would seem they are trying to strech out this series as much as possbile with doing an episode 5.5 for this week now. Although I have to say it might be for the best if they either focus on Miho's sister's matchup or something of the sort here.

In any case if only they did a better background on the characters, but then again they might of rushed all of that to get to the part where cute girls are doing badass things with tanks.

So a sort of flashback episode this time. Nice to see the character introduction of all the girls in the school team however a continuation of the previous battle would have been better.

A recap episode. yay. Good thing they did that, 'cause there is no way I could have kept up with this complex story-line of this show without the perspective it provided. Especially with the contents of five entire episodes to try to keep straight in my mind.

Well after episode 6 I have to say that it was bound to happen here. Although I have to admit that Miho does know how to try and keep everyone together here. The only down side here is that it seems that the only two tanks in the group that have a decient firepower and they end up being the StuG III and the Panzer IV here. Although I would of added the 38(t) to that list but it seems that thier gunner doesn't even know how to shoot the broadside of a barn though.

In any case the stunt Miho pulled here did help them win out in the end of course. Although I have to say that the other 4 tank teams here really do need to know how to use thier firepower here, but it makes me wonder if those groups will have a time to shine anyways.

Although it is a good thing that the 38(t) is the flagship since thier gunner needs a lot of work on target practice.

QUOTE (Kid-Wolf @ Nov 21 2012, 05:09 AM)Well after episode 6 I have to say that it was bound to happen here. Although I have to admit that Miho does know how to try and keep everyone together here. The only down side here is that it seems that the only two tanks in the group that have a decient firepower and they end up being the StuG III and the Panzer IV here. Although I would of added the 38(t) to that list but it seems that thier gunner doesn't even know how to shoot the broadside of a barn though.

In any case the stunt Miho pulled here did help them win out in the end of course. Although I have to say that the other 4 tank teams here really do need to know how to use thier firepower here, but it makes me wonder if those groups will have a time to shine anyways.

Although it is a good thing that the 38(t) is the flagship since thier gunner needs a lot of work on target practice.

I agree. The only two tanks that seem able to handle the fight were the StugIII and the Panzer IV. The rest was just bad in shooting, maneuvering and even in the chase at the flag tank they showed that they are too slow. They really need an upgrade for those three tanks like firepower, armor and speed. Otherwise they are just bait..Those tanks that the other schools were driving in the short scenes are way stronger than Ourai has...they can't even make a dent in that armor..
Miho herself does seem to have trouble to keep her wits about though. The fact she just sat there watching her trembling hands suggest she may break down and reveal why she hated to drive tanks.

Episode 7 and it was okay. To see the grandmother who makes it very clear why people are afraid of her was nice. The history of Miho was also good. Sure she was right in saving the other crew (why do i get the feeling that it is going to play a role...).
As Kid-Wolf said they needed an upgrade in firepower and it seems they got it. That barrel which was used as a laundry rack may get some good use. The Renault is a good tank and a lot better than the three weak tanks. That other tank looks pretty familiar when compared with the flashback of Miho's history. Is it really a Tiger? However something seems different about it.
The weak part of this episode came in the end though. Why did we not get to see the battle with Anzio? That was so bad that it ruined the episode for me.

edit: that tank in the ship's hold has the top entrance to the side of the turret while the tanks in the flashback have it behind the turret. So it must be a different type of Tiger...If Miho is smart she is going to keep that tank a secret for as long as possible as that one gives them an edge. Still they need a crew for it or are they going to switch crews?

edit 2: after some investigation it seems this may be a tiger (P). Only one ever was used and that was as a command tank. However it has some serious break down issues. It can destroy other tanks easily though. So Ourai has two tank destroyers now.