GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 12 (Completed)

The end is in sight for Girls und Panzer's grand finale, but with Oorai still at a distinct tactical disadvantage, can they really hope to turn the tide in their favour?

With the appearance of what appears to be Kuromorimine's trump card, the behemoth known ironically as the Maus, things certainly aren't looking good for Miho and company, but then again we all know how the fight between David and Goliath ended... with this in mind, Oorai still have some impressive tricks up their sleeve, making full use of the tanks at their disposal with a view to turning the tide in their favour and taking out that pesky Maus.

From here, Miho has a clear plan to take the match into its end-game, and of course this involves manipulating the match into a clear-cut, one on one stand-off between Miho and her sister.  With this achieved, does Miho have what it takes to surpass her family's much-vaunted style and win on her own terms for both herself and her friends?  Of course she does, silly!

So ends Girls und Panzer in perfect fashion to close out what has been an almost perfect series - it might not have the emotional or story-telling depth of an Evangelion or Madoka, but it's still soomething of a masterpiece in its own by taking what is ultimately a rather ludicrous concept and crafting it into a beautiful ballet of massive weapons of destruction, humour, action and tension, and sprinkling it with enough character to make it compelling.  In an age when so many series pour all of their focus into the characters, its been refreshing to see a series where the characters are often secondary to the real stars of the show, that being the tanks themselves.  It's a risky decision but one that paid off massively here - the biggest question for me is whether I'd like to see a second season of the show; a question to which my heart answers yes, but my head responds with "it couldn't ever be this good a second time around".

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 11

It's been a long, long wait since before Christmas, but now at last we're ready to be regaled with the closing episodes of Girls und Panzer.

Having left us hanging not too far into Oorai's national final against Kuromorimine, we return to the action with a bang - quite literally.  With a disadvantage in terms of both numbers and firepower, Miho is going to have to play smart rather than strong to have any hope of winning this particular battle, and luckily she's prepared to do just that.  Cue the copious use of smokescreens and ambush tactics to both play to Oorai's own strengths and their opponents weaknesses, retreating when required and setting themselves up to attack only when the conditions are favourable towards them.

As the tide looks to very slowly but surely turn in Oorai's favour, Miho is revisited by an old spectre as an attempt to cross a river goes awry for one of her team's tanks.  Faced once again with the decision that saw her banished from her family's team, there's little hesitation this time around when it comes to doing what needs to be done, and thanks to the help of all involved the group escape before their opponents catch up to them.  From here, it's onwards to the town and some urban warfare, although Kuromorimine have a distinctly powerful surprise in store for their opponents...

It is perhaps over-blowing the quality of this episode, but my heart tells me that this penultimate installment of Girls und Panzer is nigh-on perfect - its tank-based action looks as great as ever, the tactics deployed are fascinating, the key characters pull through to add something to proceedings (be it drama, emotion or comedy) and the sense of tension and the competitive edge as events unfold is palpable.  In short, this is everything that made me fall utterly in love with this series in a nutshell, and it's great to see that the intervening months haven't dulled its proverbial blade.  Roll on the finale!

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 10.5

Another recap episode wasn't exactly how we wanted to see out the year in Tankery, but I'll take what I can get to tide me over until the final proper episodes of Girls und Panzer air in 2013.

Needless to say, this was another episode designed to (full time and) retread the story since the first recap instalment, while also spending a little more time introducing the stars of the show - not just the characters, but also their tanks.

It's actually some of the technical details that stand out and come some way towards making this tacked-on episode worthwhile - in the midst of the action it's been hard to really get a full grasp of the hardware being used by the various teams, their strengths and weaknesses and so on, and getting a second opportunity with some additional notes to be able to better understand the mechanical beasts that these girls are driving around with is actually pretty fun in its own right.  Whether it's enough fun to make this must-see viewing is far more debatable, of course.

Still, if a reminder were needed as to how hugely entertaining Girls und Panzer has been, this served pretty well as just that reminder - it perhaps wasn't quite as sharp at picking out the "best bits" as the first recap, and that aforementioned technical eye made it a bit more of a dry viewing than episode 5.5, but there have been worse recap episodes created to fill time.  Besides, this instalment has reminded me that I should grab my camera and pay a visit to my local tank museum some time soon...

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 10

Last week's GIRLS und Panzer left us with the cruellest of cliffhangers... although given that there were still three full episodes to go, it perhaps wasn't quite as much of a cliffhanger as it might have been, and it's still nothing on the several months of waiting we'll have to do before we can see the climax to this series.

Anyhow, as you might have guessed, Ooarai have managed to see off Pravda's threat against the odds and by the narrowest of margins to book their place in the final, and a showdown against Miho's old school, Kuromorimine.  With up to twenty tanks allowed in the final however, Ooarai are at a massive disadvantage (what else is new?), meaning that their preparations for the big match involve seeking out more tanks and upgrading what they can of their existing firepower.  With a cool (yet hugely unreliable) Porsche tank run by the Automotive Club and another vehicle to be put in the charge of a trio of online tank game-playing friends, Ooarai's arsenal is suitably bolstered.  But will it be enough?

With Saori passing a communications exam, Hana and Mako both resolving their personal family issues and the entire school getting behing and rooting for their Tankery team as much as possible, Ooarai are as well-prepared as possible - but are Miho's plans for the match about to become quickly undone under the sheer firepower and know-how of their opponents?  Find out next March!

Light on action it might have been aside from its closing minutes, but once again this a hugely fun episode of GIRLS und Panzer - its sense of comic timing remains impeccable, its characters might be shallow but they work perfectly well in their given setting, and you can feel the love the show's production team has for military hardware oozing out of every relevant scene but without ever becoming over-bearing upon the wider entertainment value of the series.  It seems ridiculous to call this series one of the best of the year, but.... well, it is, even factoring in the technicality that it now won't be finishing until some way into 2013.

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 9

The Ooarai School girls and their exuberance managed to get themselves into rather a tight spot last week, surrounded as they were on all sides and left sheltering within an abandoned church.  Perhaps not the best time to inform Miho that defeat would literally spell the end of their school....

Of course, that revelation changes things substantially - an honourable surrender is no longer on the cards, which means that Miho has to make the most of the temporary stalemate to formulate a plan to somehow break out of their current proverbial cage and turn the match around, while simultaneously raising the morale of her team-mates as they succumb to cold, hunger and the possibility that this could be the end of their school.  If nothing else, I hope that Miho's tactics are better than her motivational gambit...

Ultimately, there's no more time for prevarication, and having performed some sneaky reconnaissance it's time to break through the barrier that is Pravda's massed forces - cue half an episode of non-stop Tankery action complete with explosions and power slides aplenty, as Ooarai fight against the odds with everything on the line all the way through to an incredibly tense cliffhanger to end the episode.

In other words, this is another demonstration of everything that GIRLS und Panzer does well - it has no shortage of laugh out loud moments, its action is superbly realised and occassionally edge of the seat stuff, and even when its characters threaten to grate on you (we get it volleyball club, you're the volleyball club!) there's enough going on to ensure that the broader experience is a huge amount of fun - and fun is quite clearly the name of the game with this series.

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 8

The Ooarai Tankery team has themselves a new tank, and some new and inexperienced "troops" to pilot it - just in time for their semi-final match-up against the might Pravda at the national tournament!

Before that however, there's still time to prepare for this latest battle, and with the lottery used to choose locations effectively granting Pravda a home tie in their own snowy countryside it's clearly going to be a tough match in terms of both skill and physical endurance.  On top of it all it seems that the student council has something that they want to discuss with Miho, although when push comes to shove they simply can't bring themselves to say it - clearly not good news then....

After Miho plans out her tactics for the big match, given that her own team are again at a major numerical disadvantage, she finds herself effectively over-ruled by her comrades in the build-up to the showdown - while Miho favours a cautious approach her team-mates, buoyed by their previous victory against Anzio and an excess of self-confidence and belief, want to go on all-out attack - something that Miho perhaps gives in to a little too easily.  As a result, Ooarai go for the jugular from the outset, and seem to have their opponents on the back foot as they take out a couple of tanks and put them on the run... of course, "seem" is the opposite word here, as they eventually run straight into an ambush that leaves them surrounded and eventually penned into retreating into a single building while taking some substantial damage under a barrage.  It appears that the game is up, and Miho is ready to throw in the towel, but as the student council finally speak up it quickly becomes clear that this simply won't be possible.  Welcome to Stalingrad, Girls und Panzer style.

Now that we're back to the action, we also get to witness a complete return to form for the series - as soon as the tanks roll out we're treated to a real triumph of smart tactics and well-realised and rendered movement and action from the tanks, offset nicely with a helping of comedy and a bit of drama to keep the whole thing well-oiled and ticking over nicely.  That a show can be utterly daft on the one hand yet tense and compelling on the other is an impressive juggling match of elements, and it's what makes Girls und Panzer what it is once you bolt it onto a clear love of the hardware and military history behind the mechanics of the show.  It still amazes me that this show has become one of my favourites of the season, and I'm sure as Hell going to be sad when it's over.

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 7

If there's one thing I learned very quickly from watching Girls und Panzer up to this point, it's that any drama borne from the show's universe outside of tank battles tends to be very short-lived.  So it goes with this week's episode, as the news of Mako's grandmother's collapse is largely resolved in short order and with nothing much to worry about.

That leaves the rest of the episode free for preparation with an eye towards the next round of national Tankery tournament matches - preparation that takes on several facets over the course of its running time.  For Miho's part, she finds herself considering her family's insistence that she carry on their Tankery tradition, while we also finally get a full flashback to the incident which caused her to quit the sport in the first place despite her brave actions being potentially life-saving.

Also of concern for Miho is the fact that never mind a star of the school, she's now the centre of attention for all of her fellow club members, which leaves her inundated with requests for help and advice that she can't possible hope to field all of.  Luckily it's here that a little team spirit comes into play, with some of the other girls lending their own expertise to help out wherever they can.  Eventually this involves a hunt for yet more tanks on account of Miho's concern that their current line-up won't cut it in their next match - it just so happens that the Tankery club of years gone by has supposedly left some more vehicles just laying around waiting to be discovered by anyone with an inkling to do so, potentially giving them some more fire-power for the future.

Ignoring the largely pointless nature of its drama as it fails to do much for either the plot or the characters, Girls und Panzer doesn't have quite the verve away from the Tankery field as it does on it, but it still knows how to entertain and amuse in sufficient quantities to continue to be pretty enjoyable - at least, it produced a few laugh out loud moments for me and made me smile a whole bunch, so it must be doing something right.  This is but a stop-gap for what we're all really waiting for, that being a return to battle at the tournament - with next week's episode called "We're Fighting Pravda" surely such action will abound!

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 6

After that unplanned break to recap the series last week, GIRLS und PANZER is back back back.  Jesus!

Of course, that also means that we return to the midst of Ooarai's first national tournament game against the much vaunted Sanders College - however, now that their underhanded use of equipment to intercept their opponents communications has been rumbled it seems that the tables have been turned, with Miho using the knowledge of said interception to sell the Sanders team dummy after dummy to send them on a wild goose chase.  When one of Ooarai's number happens across the enemy flag tank, it seems as if the game is up.

That said, Miho and company's prestigious opponents aren't going to give up quite so easily, and with the Sanders College flag tank doing a runner the entire Ooarai team take up the pursuit, only to find that they too are soon pursued by a subset of the Sanders team (who rather honourably only give chase with enough of their team to match Ooarai in light of the aforementioned underhanded tactics).  Who can land the first blow on the opponent's flag tank to win the game?  It appears that Miho's luck has run out, but there's still one final, risky, opportunity for them to emerge victorious.

Aside from another dose of forced drama at the end of the episode (which may or may not add something to the show next week, in fairness), this was another utterly brilliant instalment of GIRLS und PANZER - it somehow manages to balance its loving attention to detail in terms of its tanks and some genuine tension in watching its Tankery battles pan out against an incredibly light-hearted backdrop that is full of larger than life characters, split second perfect comedy timing and ridiculous utterances.  Out simply, I can't get enough of it, and I feel as though I haven't been entertained this wholesomely by any other anime series this year.  It may not be a thought-provoking highbrow classic, but who cares when a series like this can be so god-damn fun?!

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 5.5

No anime series needs a recap after just five episodes, and this is certainly true in the case of GIRLS und PANZER.  Regardless though, the production studio clearly does need a recap episode to buy them some time to work on the rest of the series, and given how much I've enjoyed the series so far I'm a-okay with that.

Of course, this recap is really very bog standard stuff, running us through the characters, scenario and story so far, arguably spending too much time on its main characters and not enough time on the tanks and action segments of the show, which are undoubtedly the best bit.

If nothing else, and in the name of making the best of a bad job, I did at least appreciate a more former introduction to the other Tankery teams running alongside Miho's - it feels like a lot of those characters have been virtually nameless up to this point, so a quick run through was no bad thing.  Similarly, an opportunity to focus a little more on the traits of the tanks we've seen in the show was pretty enjoyable in places too, especially when it planted its tongue in its cheek every now and then ("it has cute round doors"...).

Even with this, filler is filler, but the latter part of the episode at least reminded me (if it were needed) how much I'm looking forward to seeing episode six and more from the national inter-school tournament.  Bring it on!

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 5

The luck (or lack thereof) of the draw has given the girls of Ooarai Girls Academy's a tough start to their appearance at the national Tankery tournament - a depressing realisation that simply won't let go of Miho, and that even a visit to a tank café (of course they have tank cafés in this show!) won't solve.

Things certainly aren't helped by the appearance of Miho's high-flying sister to cast further aspersions upon Miho's ability, suggesting that Ooarai's appearance in the tournament is going to be an embarrassment to all involved.  It's great to have a supportive sibling, right?  With the match against the super-wealthy Sanders College High looming, Miho starts to ponder how to take on a team with a wealth of hardware to choose from and, with a maximum of ten tanks allowed in a match, an obvious numerical advantage.

Thank goodness then for Yukari, who goes on a little "excursion" to inflitrate the rival school and derive as much information as she possibly can from her visit.  With news of their exact line-up of tank hardware, their formation and even how their flag-carrying tank will (or in this case, won't) be defended, Miho has everything that she needs to cook up a plan.  After some surprisingly friendly pre-match banter between the two teams, as the match begins Ooarai's opponents seem to have an almost clairvoyant knowledge of what they're doing, for reasons that become clear and are soon subverted once Miho clocks what's going on.

As per last week's episode, there's something joyous and wonderful about watching GIRLS und PANZER - its positioning of so much military might so far away from any semblance of reality allows it to pull off its concept of girls driving tanks for fun flawlessly (and occasionally hilariously, see the aforementioned tank café), and once it gets down to business and puts the girls into those tanks it really does make for a compelling, occasionally nerve-wracking and frequently exhilarating affair.  There's no way this series should be so good, but it's genuinely vying for a place as my favourite of the autumn season at the moment - no mean feat considering the competition involved.  A shame then that production difficulties mean that we'll have to wait two weeks for episode six proper to reach our screens.

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 4

It's game on for Ooarai Girls Academy's first practice match against the tankery experts and obsessive tea drinkers of St. Gloriana Women's Academy - given their proclivities, you'd almost think they were British or something!

As soon as the match starts, so begins "Operation Sneaky Sneaks" (so named by team commander Miho), in an attempt to make up for the group's lack of experience and the strength of their hardware by, as the name suggests, being sneaky and luring their opponents into a trap.  While this looks set to work well enough, the marksmanship of Miho's fellow tank teams is such that the tables are quickly turned, leaving Ooarai's team outflanked and seeing them lose a couple of their vehicles in short order.

Given this disadvantage, Miho decides that it's time to play some guerilla tactics, making the best use of their home turf to try and turn the tide by darting into the town itself and using their knowledge of the area to arrange ambushes wherever possible - something that, amazingly, the residents seem to rather enjoy even when their homes and workplaces are being half destroyed by the tanks marauding around the streets.  While this tactic is effective to some degree, ultimately it's only Nishizumi's team left standing in a final, desperate face-off.  With the match over, there's time for some short (and rather shoehorned in) family drama surrounding Hana and her mother, before we head off to a national tournament and hopefully more hot tank-on-tank action!

 If I came into this series finding it impossible to envisage how GIRLS und PANZER would work, now I can see why - taken at face value it's totally bonkers, with tanks tearing up and down residential streets and laying waste to everything.  Embrace this insanity however and this episode was a fantastic advertisement for what this series can do - its tank battle was in turns fascinating and scintillating to watch all the way through to its dramatic climax, while the unfolding action also made for some hilarious moments thanks to the show's ability not to take itself too seriously.  In short, this is a perfect recipe for top-notch entertainment, and it seems like there'll only be more to come with the show making a point of fast-forwarding through any domestic drama to keep its focus on those fighting machines and the deployment thereof.  Great stuff.

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 3

It's tough for a schoolgirl to get some shut-eye when there are tanks roaming around the place, and so it goes that Mako's precious afternoon nap is disturbed by a close encounter with Miko and company's vehicle.

Luckily, it seems that Mako is rather quick on her feet when push comes to shove, and after managing to avoid being crushed while boarding the tank in the process, she goes on to prove herself to be a rather proficient tank driver after briefly perusing the manual - a good job too, with the group seemingly surrounding and threatening to be stuck on a rickety bridge.  A few well-placed shots later, we have our victor in the Tankery club's first practice match.

With many lessons learned and this first encounter with tanks out of the way, it's time for some much needed upgrades to these vehicles.... not in terms of tread, armour or weaponry, but rather with the addition of custom paint jobs, cushions and slippers to stop the inside getting dirty, which I'm sure is an entirely historically accurate series of concerns for tank operators.  These cushions will soon come in handy too, with the announcement of an official match between our new Tankery heroines and the much-vaunted St. Gloriana Women's Academy.  With a full complement of members and Miho voited to take charge of the whole endeavour, we're all set for a big match-up in episode four.

As per last week's episode, Girls und Panzer is best summed up as "dumb but fun" - it's premise makes entirely no sense, but who cares when so much fun can be derived just for watching a bunch of (beautifully rendered and animated) tanks tearing around fields and taking pot shots at one another?  Given how enjoyable a pastime this is, I can somewhat forgive the clichéd and broadly rather dull characters at this point; although I'm sure nobody will be believe me I really am watching this show for the tanks and not the girls.  Honest.  Stop looking at me like that, I really mean it.  Mostly.

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 2

Having caught everyone by surprised with its final pull-back and reveal at the end of the first episode, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Girls und PANZER might take a little time to explain just why this town exists aboard what looks more akin to an aircraft carrier.  However, think again, as this situation gets nary a mention in episode two.

Instead, our focus is largely upon finding some tanks for the girls before the arrival of their instructor the next day - with one tank safely holed up in the club's garage, it's time to go hunting around time to find the other tanks used by the former Tankery club of years previously.

With those vehicles found successfully in short order, and with Miho gaining a new friend in the form of admirer and blatant tank otaku Yukari Akiyama in the process, the flashy (and probably rather expensive) arrival of the new class instructor Captain Ami Chouno means that it's time to start learning how to drive and operate these newly-found tanks.  Captain Chouno certainly doesn't seem to be a believer of taking things slowly, sending all of the groups of wannabe Tankery experts (or wannabe volleyball players in the case of one of the teams) straight out into the field to partake in a mock battle.  Probably not the best place to go and take a nap then...

Despite its scenario becoming ever more ludicrous between some of its characters and the entire setting of a town atop an aircraft carrier, there's a heady blend of outright fun and educational content that actually makes this instalment surprisingly enjoyable to watch.  It perhaps speaks a lot of the show's clichéd characters that it's the tanks themselves which are the stars of the show - learning a little about them and how to operate them is a pleasure in itself - but there are also some decidedly smart snippets of humour within this episode as well.  If nothing else, this show has the average Internet conversation nailed, with a request from one of the girls for some pointers on driving a tank veering between "Google it you idiot" and "start by taking off all your clothes..."  It's these little moments that add another dimension to the show at this juncture, and although I'm not sure whether its idea has the legs required to last the whole series as it currently stands I'm still enjoying it thus far, meaning that I might have to make tracks if it proves me wrong.

GIRLS und PANZER - Episode 1

There are few cooler human inventions in this world than tanks.... so how about a series featuring cute girls driving, err, cute tanks?

That said, it seems that the protagonist of Girls und Panzer really wants to stay as war away from tanks as possible, and despite some rousing opening scenes as we watch some female tank-driving teams trying to outmanoeuvre one another, we're quickly brought back to earth by following the clumsy yet cheerful Miho Nishizumi as she embarks upon her life as a high school student.  Despite being the only girl from her particular neck of the woods at her new school, luckily for her she soon makes a couple of close friends in the form of Saori Takebe and Hana Isuzu, who duly take their new buddy into their charge.

However, even these bonds of friendship are quickly put under strain once the school's student council enter the scene, insisting to Miho that she take up "Tankery" on account of the heritage of her family as accomplished tank drivers.  Of course, this is exactly the pastime that Nishizumi joined this school to avoid, and things only become worse as her friends become enthralled by a promotional video inviting as many girls as possible to join the school's Tankery club as an elective subject.  Even when her friends swallow their ambitions to support Miho, the student council are having none of it, and ultimately it seems that our heroine has no choice but to become a tank driver once more - a high-pressure decision for her, as the only person with any kind of experience in the Tankery group.

In spite of its utterly daft premise (made even more insane by the final establishing shot which closes out this first episode), this opening gambit for Girls und Panzer actually seemed kind of fun. Some of its elements are as bizarre as its concept - Nazi girl, half-missing glasses moe and all - and its slice of life aspects are sickly sweet, but there's some real promise in its "girls and tanks" idea underneath it all, and moments like those opening scenes and the wonderfully tongue-in-cheek Tankery propaganda video sold me on what this series could offer on top of some pretty and colourful animation.  Hopefully there are some fun times ahead, and even if all else fails - well, tanks are still cool.