Do you like tanks? I ASKED IF YOU LIKE TANKS!!? *crickets chirping* Ok, so no one reading this anime review is going to say that they like tanks. At least anyone that I happen to know.
"Girls und Panzer" is basically what the title implies it to be, a bunch of girls driving tanks around in war like settings. Yeah... Japan has a thing for girls. Not that I am complaining, it just rides on the border of obsession. I mean have you heard the back story to Strike Witches? Actually it isn't even the back story, but still... Anyways, back to the story. Nishizumi Miho appears to be an average kultz with no friends. One day she finally gets friends and on that day she learns that the school she goes to is starting up "tankery." This causes her distress. Her friends are gung-ho about it though. After being pressured by the student council she finally decides to take up tankery.
A lot of that was rather vague... But that is because it starts out vague. As the story progresses, you learn that Miho is actually quite accustomed to the "art" of tankery. Before she transferred to her new school, she was in fact a part of the tankery club (I guess you can call it that) and was going for a ten match winning streak, but her decision to help her teammates cost her the match. Which could explain her decision to transfer. They never out right said what it was that made her decide to transfer. To top this all off, Miho comes from a line of tankery women. The family line is so famous that they go on about the "Nishizumi style of tankery," as though it has been around since the first tanks were deployed.
A bit about "tankery." Tankery, the "sport" known as tankery, hasn't been around that long (forty years... maybe...) and it consist of tanks from the WWII era or before. There are two types of matches: Annihilation and Flag. The most common in the anime is flag. Annihilation is what it sounds like but I'll explain it since it is rather easy to comprehend. You start off with your tanks in top performance and the other team tries to incapacitate your tanks with any means necessary. Whether it be taking out the engine, turret, or the whole damn tank (at least most of it) itself anything goes really. One way of taking the whole tank out would be flipping it over. Which for some reason is easier than it sounds. Flag is similar to annihilation but you only need to take out the flag tank (the tank with the flag on it...) This means that you can be greatly out numbered and still win the match.
Now back to the story. The school (whatever it is called) decides to enter a tournament. They manage to win the first two rounds without too much difficulty. The third match they go a bit overboard and end up cornered. This is when you learn that if they don't win the tournament, the whole school is to be shut down. The pressure has risen and the next move for them! Is to dance... (I'm not kidding...) After the dance, which boosted morale, they go on to take the match. Next up is the finals, in which Miho must fight against her toughest opponent yet! Her sister Maho. Will Miho be able to defeat her sister? Will she save the school? Is the school on an aircraft carrier? Is this ridiculous? The answer to all these questions is, yes. But I still enjoyed it.
You may be wondering to yourself, "what the fuck is so great about this show?" My answer to that is... I am not really sure. What can I really say when I mention girls driving tanks? Ever since "K-ON!," Japan has been on a all girls cast kick. At least that is the impression I get. So the idea of girls driving and firing tanks isn't the strangest thing on the planet, at least for Japan. Just one of them. I have to admit that I really enjoyed the battles. Very fast paced given the fact we are talking about tanks. Which brings me to one of the most ridiculous things about the anime... tank drifting. I'm not kidding. Final episode, boss battle, there is a tank that is drifting... Let me go over some of the other ridiculous things about the anime: there are entire cities on top of aircraft carriers, in one scene there is a fucking cliff on said aircraft carrier, dancing in the middle of battle, and girls driving and firing tanks as a sport. Could you make it a little less plausible, Japan? Though I have to admit I want to see a real tank drift now.
All ridiculous things aside, I did enjoy the anime. It isn't going to take the place of my favorite anime anytime soon but I would watch it again for the battles. I also enjoyed seeing the different tanks they used. I don't have much to say on that.
Well I think that wraps it up for Girls und Panzer. I doubt I will find anything as ridiculous as it, but this is Japan we are talking about. Until then "panzer vor!"