[4Tran]

Originally Posted by night_sentinel

The more facts I read, the more I see why Ooarai is disadvantaged and why most schools will probably not take them seriously at first. Better tactics and being underestimated are probably the only aces Team Ooarai has now.

Oh well its fun to root for the underdog anyway.

Since more teams are watching their match, Ooarai won't have the surprise card for too much longer. It won't matter against Anzio, but Pravda is going to be a tough match. In fact, that match should be much tougher than this one.

Originally Posted by Midonin

Saunders may be stereotypically American, but it's a very Japanese-flavored Americanness (of course). Rather Fourze-like. I guess I have to take into account that it's technically a military school, but it doesn't quite match up with what I think of when American high schools come to mind in the way it's structured. I am glad Kei's being played like a Charlotte Yeager kind of American - friendly, laid-back, just a little trigger happy. It's a stereotype of Americans I'm mostly okay with.

The fun thing is that the show itself says that Saunders is doing a good job of Americanishness! So we have a bunch of characters acting like Japanese versions of American stereotypes because they're Japanese girls pretending to act like American ones. I can't recall the last time I watched such an understated piece of metafiction.

Originally Posted by Midonin

Now, we have Saunders hunting Oorai, and two of the teams have been newly named Rabbit and Duck. I can only see a very looney outcome with this set of variables in play.

The Ooarai tanks are:

Pz. IV = Ankou = Anglerfish
Type 89 = Ahiru = Duck
StuG III = Kaba = Hippo
M3 Lee = Usagi = Rabbit
38(t) = Tama = Turtle

I have to like the M3's choice the most. Not only is it a wicked looking avatar, but it has two knives (for obvious reasons ).

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

By the way, Pravda are the current champions right? So why aren't they seeded, as usually expected in tournaments like this?

It's a highschool tournament, so there might not be any formal seeding, but the favorites are probably Pravda, Saunders, St. Gloriana and Black Forest. They would have been the four semi-finalists as well, provided there isn't an upset.

Originally Posted by Tak

Oorai's vehicles from the start were as outdated and outclassed as they could get. But you know what, at least some of those vehicles can actually give Oorai a fighting chance. The Type 89 is none of that. It cannot stand up to anything, period. The vehicle itself is more of a burden than benefit.

You know, even underdogs tend to have a chance. Unfortunately, the Type 89 doesn't give you that chance, and only serve to make a bad situation worse. I am not even sure if it could even serve as an effective roadblock.

- Tak

I agree. This show has been doing a lot more showing and a lot less telling than I expected. Repainting the tanks in this episodes is a very good example of demonstrating the importance of camo schemes, and I imagine that the Type 89 has a similar purpose.

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Also, something most interesting dug up from the official giveout page: Primers for Oarai, featuring character sheets, including their favorite tanks.

The first-years seem to have the best taste in tanks. I get the feeling that this list is a list of the staff members' favorite tanks. The lack of Soviet tanks (save the KV-2) is disappointing since they had the most flavorful tanks of the entire war .

Originally Posted by Tak

Seeing how Oorai will eventually match against Pravda, will Pravda tankers consume large portions of vodka before the match? Or have backup tanks the tankers can run to when they ram initial vehicles into the opposition?

Superior intelligence, brutality and ruthlessness. Just look at Katyusha's character design - isn't that exactly what you'd expect from her?