Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

There’s nothing more ladylike than commanding a 25-tonne armour-plated death machine, as Kyle Charizanis discovers when he meets the blitzkrieg babes of new MCM release, Girls Und Panzer.

n a word, Girls Und Panzer is charming. Half slice-of-life comedy, half tactical tank warfare, it’s an unlikely combination whose lovable characters and Fighting Fit Gfastidiousi attentionrls to detail will catch even the mostUnd seasoned anime fan It’s difficult toPanzer pin down exactly what makes Girls Und Panzer so much fun to I off guard. Come for the cute girls, stay for the epic tank battles. watch. The entire anime is a lesson in subtlety. Each episode is animated at a higher framerate than normal, achieving a level of smoothness and visual polish normally reserved for full-length anime films. Backgrounds are brightly The Battlefield coloured and carefully detailed; facial expressions are particularly vibrant and In the future, most teenagers attend school on gigantic oceangoing ships. emotive. The peppy, American-themed army music is a perfect fit for the show’s One of the most popular sports for girls is ‘Tankery’, a competitive team event laid-back yet enthusiastic mood. in which young ladies of class and sophistication hop into 1940s-era tanks and The story’s pacing perfectly balances character interaction with exciting fire live ammunition at each other. There are many safety precautions, including tank combat, yet always leaves you wanting more. Accurate historical trivia modern armour reinforcements and microchips that instantly detect damage about each tank’s design is sprinkled throughout, and the characters even use to the tank’s frame, but safety is never a guarantee. German “strich” to judge distance through the turret sights. Episodes were Miho Nishizumi transfers to Ooarai Academy specifically to avoid the delayed numerous times to make sure everything was up to the staff’s high pressure of living up to her famous family’s history of Tankery dominance. standards; the show even went on hiatus for months just to complete the final She is horrified to find that the school has just reinstated the program, all her two episodes (and it was definitely worth it). Quite simply, Girls Und Panzer is a new friends want to join and a belligerent student council president will stop labour of love. at nothing to get a Nishizumi family member on the team just in time for the international Tankery tournament. The Japan of Girls Und Panzer is probably inspired by the real country’s The Big Guns history of demilitarization following the end of World War II. Its desire to rebuild Without a doubt, Girls Und Panzer’s strongest feature is its cast of characters. itself as a more peaceful nation after the war coincided with an ongoing trend There are about 20 that appear on a regular basis, and each and every one of of Westernization. Girls Und Panzer is full of 1940s-era imagery, and all the tanks them is adorable. While you’re probably thinking there are plenty of anime that are based on designs from this period, but war is clearly viewed as a relic of fit that bill, it bears repeating: they’re all really, really cute, even by typical anime the past. For example, the girls initially have to salvage abandoned tanks from girl standards. nearby forests and marshlands; at one point discovering an old artillery cannon The five main characters all find their way into Tankery for different reasons. being used as a laundry rack. Recreational tank combat is also considered to be Miho’s mother is extremely strict and expects a flawless battle record from all a traditionally feminine pursuit akin to flower arrangement or knitting. Ooarai’s her children. Ironically, Miho’s attempt to avoid the sport winds up with her as sepia-tone propaganda film claims that “if you train in Tankery, you will become Ooarai Academy’s new tank commander. She quickly makes friends with Saori a better wife, a better mother, a better female worker.” Takebe, a fashionable, bubbly socialite, and Hana Isuzu, who similarly comes

30 Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

and so on – but as the show goes on, she starts to devise truly impressive battle plans full of baits, feints and exploitations of the enemy’s unique weaknesses. The final battle feels almost like watching a professional StarCraft match. Almost. Chink In The Armour Surprisingly, Girls Und Panzer’s major weakness is how it handles character development. The people, fight scenes and overall layout of the series are all so complete that there’s no good spot to insert meaningful personality growth. The problem is that the show tries to anyway, resulting in a handful of scenes that feel rushed and tacked-on rather than emotional. In particular, several parental figures seem to exist solely to disapprove of the girls’ decisions, and their eventual acceptance is used to indicate that that character has finally matured. Instead of waiting for these peripheral cues, we should be able to watch these people develop throughout the main event: tank battling. from a family dedicated to the art of flower arrangement (but she loves firing Part of the problem is that the show focuses too much on Miho. She’s the the tank’s main gun). Yukari Akiyama is a proud tank otaku who will bend over exception to this rule – we actually get to watch her grow as a person through backward to help her new (and only) friends, while Mako Reizei, the quiet, her role as the team’s tank commander, because that story arc covers the entire sleepy genius, signs on as the tank’s driver after reading the manual once and season. The other girls’ personal dilemmas always play second fiddle to Miho’s instantly mastering its controls. issues. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as giving Miho so much screen time Even the one-off opponents are likeable, fully-fleshed out characters. Each also lets us see that much more of her strategizing. But it’s unfortunate that her represents a different romanticized nationality: the American team leader is story seems to replace those of the other equally interesting characters. They energetic and all about sportsmanship; English competitors politely sip tea each deserved a full arc as well. before, during and after their matches; and the confident Russian girls always Thankfully, this oversight does little to diminish the rest of the series. It end conversations with “do svidaniya”. There’s a sort of Hetalia: Axis Powers doesn’t make the girls any less cute, the jokes less funny or the tank battles flavour to it all. less tense and exciting. It’s as though someone from the corporate office had looked at the finished script and said, “Oh, these characters need to have Secret Weapon problems, too. Throw in some problems.” What really sets Girls Und Panzer apart from the rest of the oversaturated cuteness market is its sense of humour. It’s often hilarious to watch the girls’ On To Victory! quirky cuteness come out even in the context of WWII-style war games. The Girls Und Panzer will grab you immediately, and you probably won’t even know first-year students paint their tank pink; Miho names her first battle plan why. The show’s fantastic character design and slick art direction make even ‘Operation Sneaky-Sneaks’ (it was very sneaky); a panicked tank commander the most mundane events a joy to watch. No lives are on the line and the stakes shouts instructions in slang that no one understands; one girl excitedly tells are never very high, but Girls Und Panzer still manages to get you completely her tank’s driver to try to “drift”. It’s rare to find characters whose goofy invested in every match. personalities so naturally effervesce regardless of the circumstances. There’s an intangible quality to it that can only be imbued by animators and And cheering the characters on is only half the fun. The other half is watching writers who truly love their work. With the anime’s financial success both in Miho concoct brilliant strategy after brilliant strategy. At first her tactics are Japan and abroad, as well as the upcoming movie and OVA, it would be a crime simplistic – attack from higher ground, run away when you’re outnumbered, against humanity not to see a second season. Well, a shame at least!.

31