Girls und Panzer

This is such an amazing series, it's really unfortunate how underrated it is. I rarely see anyone talking about it and most people I know don't know it. People definitely need to watch this as it's much more better than I thought it would be.

Actually, the title pretty much says it all. This show involves a future/alternative history where teenage girls drive tanks as a martial art, to the point that at one point one of the characters notes 'it just looks weird to see a man driving a tank'.

The tanks are restricted to 1945 and before, with some (probably rather unlikely) restrictions to keep from killing off all the competitors. I suspect someone with an interest in World War I & II vintage military equipment would have a lot of fun watching this show just for the stuff in the background. By all accounts, most of the equipment seem in this show in a good copy of existing WW I & II equipment. On a related note, the various high-schools are all mounted on what look like converted aircraft carriers, so there are some more early 20th century military equipment to check out there.

There are lots of interesting side notes in this show, as well. For example, at one point some crew visit a military version of a Dick's Sporting Goods or Bass Pro Shop type store. (for lack of a better way to describe it) Another time, the team gets a hold of a WWII (I think) French tank that was famous for its unreliability in the field. The team starts up the tank, drives it out onto the battlefield, and promptly gets knocked out of the fighting.

I could go on and on, but I suspect you know by now if you are interested in this show or not, so I'll close here.

What makes a girl feminine? Driving heavy tanks apparently. A clash of wills, where kindness and prowess unites resulting in the genius that is our coy and self deprecating protagonist! Still, I will be first to say that the mixture of ludicrousness and bonhomie is a winning combination! A wonderful watch, though in this series the question as to why Japan needs teenage girls to fight simulated tank battles is still not answered. Also, what's up with the gargantuan ships with whole towns and landscape on them? Looking forward for the next romp; where I'm sure all would be elucidated! Panzer vor!

We all know that soldiers operate tanks. Most of them happen to be men. But GUP is about the best tank operators. Of course, we are talking about the most fearsome warriors on the planet today: Teenage Girls. Teen girls populate the Tankery Clubs at HS. Nishizumi actually picked her new school because they /didn't/ have a tank club. She's trying to escape her family's legacy. As soon as she gets there, though, the drive to start a Tankery Club coincidentally begins. One thing leads to another and she practically gets forced into Tankery. Thankfully, she's really, really, /really/ good at it.

Here's what they say at the orientation for the school's mandatory electives: "Tankery: A part of our culture with a long history enjoyed by girls from many nations all throughout the world. A strong but delicate art that aims to make girls and women alike more polite, graceful, modest and gallant both on and off the battlefield. To learn tankery arms the heart of a woman with the soul that embraces and burns with femininity: intense and strong like a tank's iron, cute and lively like the clattering of its track, and finally passionate and precise like its name. If you train in tankery, you will become a better wife, a better mother, a better student, and a better worker. You will become healthier, kinder, stronger, and men from all over the world will fall at your feet. This is your chance. Train your body, train your mind, Embrace tankery and blossom as a woman on the field of battle." (All of this to WWII marching band music).

Without knowing the backstop of how this manga was conceived, it seems obvious that being high (a little at least) probably played a part in providing inspiration. Some of the best stories happen that way. The animation is excellent. The girls look more like Precious Moments characters than warriors. They have round faces with big round, innocent eyes. They talk in sweet little voices. And they know their munitions. The mid 20th century military vibe is lively, upbeat, and really fun,

The action is not only exciting, but it's also enchantingly endearing. It's downright cute. Slapping pink bunny suits on these tanks couldn't make the show any cuter - it's maxed out.

Nishizumi Miho is assisted by Akiyama,Yukari, Reizei Mako, Isuzu Hana, Takebe Saori, and many more. We follow them on several competitions where, as a new club, they perform marvelously. Each of the characters and each school, for that matter, have their distinct personalities. There's even a cucumber-sandwich-and-tea tank club. The character development and the action, along with the overall writing in general, are what make this show special. It's a blast.

If being rolled over by cuteness & excitement doesn't appeal to you, then don't tread here!

QUOTE📢

If you think of it as embarrassing, it will just feel more embarrassing.

〰🖍 IMHO

🎬85 📝85 🎭 83 🌞84 🎨80⚡87 🎵/🔊83 😅63 😭15 😱20 😯30 😖20 🤔40 💤0 🔚93

Age + Rated TV-14 but this is appropriate for tweens and above (Note: I counted damn ×1 & He!! × 1 while in combat. They sound like generals now and then).

It's warm and reinforces the values of compassion- liyalty- bravery- perseverance and hard work.

Re-📺? I will gladly watch it again with friends or fam.

S1 consists of 14 25-minute English dubbed episodes and is currently on Hidive via Prime. But wait! There's more! There's a compilation recap movie on Hidive and several other offshoot productions were made. Here's the comprehensive list in watch order though it isn't all available for streaming currently:

Girls und Panzer 1; OVA episodes one to seven; Girls und Panzer der Film- No Dub; OVA episode eight, "Alice War!"; Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 1. Hidive. Dubbed; Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 2 Hidive; OVA episode nine, "Taiyaki War!"; Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 3 - Hidive; OVA episode 10, "Daikon War!"

And if you're wanting to watch everything chronologically, you'll have to break things down episode-by- episode.

GuP episodes one to four, OVA episodes one and two, GuP episodes five and six, OVA episodes 3 and 4, GuP episode seven, "Anzio is the Next Up!", OVA episode seven, "This is the Real Anzio Battle!", GuP episode eight, "We're Fighting Pravda!", OVA episode 5, "Snow War!", GuP episodes nine to 12, OVA episode six, "Banquet War!", Girls und Panzer der Film, OVA episode eight, "Alice War!", OVA episode nine, Taiyaki War!", Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 1 Hidive, OVA episode 10, "Daikon War!", Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 2 Hidive, Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 3 Hidive.

The Moe genre is something that has really gotten about every treatment under the sun. It's not a genre I'm particularly fond of because it's just too cutesy, sickly sweet, and all rather pointless. However, I am a big Second World War buff. So, here I go with "Girls & Panzer". An adorable original production from Actas, who are best known for, well, "Girls & Panzer". I have to admit I was skeptical going into this series as it involves the usual bunch of high school girls who look like they're 8 years old forming up a band of misfits into a club where they compete with a rogue's gallery of opposing schools.

The bonus here is that their sport is "tankery". Think of it as a war game, but not war itself. Tanks fire live rounds that can take out other tanks and buildings, but never seem to harm actual people. Despite several big explosions and high impact collisions, there is nary a spot of blood shed by the cast- although they at times appear to suffer mild injuries, broken eye glasses, and a lot of soot covering fires. We must remember they *are* cartoons. And this is a game. Played with tanks. Real tanks.

When I say real tanks, I mean they really went out of their way to add as much realism as possible. The descriptions and designs of these vehicles are true to history. While most are CG produced, it fits fairly seamlessly with the hand drawn animation of the characters, producing some wonderful combat scenes with the most impressive sound effects I've heard in quite some time from an Anime. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were watching a WW2 film with all the quality sound editing and mixing going on. Masterful work! Added into this mix is a wonderful soundtrack that sounds like something Elmer Bernstein would have written along with ballads from other nations. I particularly enjoyed "Battle Hymn of the Republic" for the American tanks and "Panzerlied" for the German ones.

I guess in all this fuss over the accuracy of the tanks and songs I forgot about the plot. It's not a new one, a new student with a past must lead a band of oddballs and misfits to glory in a tankery tournament to save the school. Along the way they grow as a team, as people, and learn the value of friendship. I don't recall many of the characters names, despite decent attempts to give them depth. It's not really a big deal, because this was not going to be a character driven show. This is literally a TANK driven show. Neither the Japanese or English voice cast left much of an impression, as there isn't much dialogue to shine with, so you can go either way when it comes to Sub or Dub.

I want to mention this however- despite the Panzer being given top billing and center stage in this show, NO attempts are made to glorify Nazi Germany or war itself. Names of various legends of tank warfare- Rommel, Guderian, and Wittmann- are mentioned. They are recognized as pioneers and innovators in armored warfare. A status they hold to this day, despite wearing the uniform and serving under the flag of an army of darkness.

Attention to detail and production values save this from just being an adorable little show about cute girls in tanks. It's a good bit of fun. 7/10. Check it out. Cheers!