(L) Girls und Panzer Movie

[Ithekro]

Tank fan service. Where do you get that with any kind of regular awesomeness?

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by YF19EX

I for one enjoyed every bit of the craziness and lovable characters that this movie brought and even added. The tank battles were glorious and the sound work through my Bose sound system felt like getting punched in the face every time a shell went off.

On my home theatre system, every shot shook the living room. One of my favourite parts was the Ferris wheel: the audio for that was so well done, I couldn't believe it and apparently, neither did anyone nearby: I got noise complaints from watching that

[arkhangelsk]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Did Yoshida clearly state that in anyway?

OK, I'll put the original up and my translation. Make of it as you will.

Originally Posted by Translation

Interviewer: For this reason, (Chiyo) accepted the fight with Oarai Girls and as a prize for winning promised Alice she'll sponsor the Boko museum. This also provides Alice, the last boss, with a motive to fight.

Yoshida: Yes it does - how to get the higher-ranked UST to get serious against a lower-ranked High School Team (is a problem). If this is for real, they should be feeling really reluctant about crushing high schoolers with their school's disbndment at stake, and they won't be able to put in their full strength. Here is borne the reason to fight seriously for both the team and Alice as Captain.

Obviously, they can't get reluctant about crushing high schoolers with their school's disbandment at stake if they don't know about it first.

For all that, I don't think you have to follow this guidance - what matters is what they finally put in der Film which indeed supports both interpretations. If you really feel you'll enjoy the film better thinking no one in UST was the wiser, I say go right ahead.

Personally, I don't do it because while I'm not a slave to writer's intention, if I think both possibiities are roughly equally supportable by actual content and the author chooses one I'll go with it. Further, pulling out this thorn does not really justify Alice's actions in my mind (a mere museum cannot justify cheating) - what might solve it here is a strong motive (if we assume they don't know about it, I might accept an explicit threat of team disbandment as adequate moral justification for the degree of wrong they did).

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Well, this is a show where teenage girls can just brush off the obvious danger of a live ammo’s impact by continuing to ignorantly (by our standards) poke their heads and half their bodies during tank bombardments that can blow up buildings and make considerably large holes on the ground.

I think an appropriate analogy is this. Suppose we live in a world without contact sports, and an anime demonstrates this "fictional" sport, boxing. We would probably start braying about the obvious and unacceptable dangers of repeated blows to the head, or how even if we accept that there is such a sport there are safer ways to play it and so on. Since anime often exaggerates, there would likely be some punch scenes where if it really happened, the person is likely to be seriously injured at least. But after multiple episodes of showing them coming out relatively unscathed, eventually those who continue watching will one way or another accept that as the "going-rate" for that universe, and that in practicality, reasonable safety is being maintained.

Now, just as we get used to this idea, along comes Alice Shimada, who is already supposed to be a small but very powerful fighter leading a team of large, experienced and powerful fighters (their average mass is twice that of their opponents), equipped with metal-spiked boxing gloves (supposedly MEXT approved) which obviously increases the damage potential beyond the going rate. Are you really going to say we shouldn't think negatively of Alice Shimada because after all this is the stupid universe where they allow boxing?

[Ithekro]

If this is for real, they should be feeling really reluctant about crushing high schoolers with their school's disbndment at stake, and they won't be able to put in their full strength. Here is borne the reason to fight seriously for both the team and Alice as Captain.

Wouldn't that imply they do not know and were given something to make them want to fight rather than slack due to their opponent being a high school?

That or closing a high school is not really that big of a deal as we seem to think it is and we are overthinking it.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by arkhangelsk

Spoiler for saving space:

OK, I'll put the original up and my translation. Make of it as you will.


Obviously, they can't get reluctant about crushing high schoolers with their school's disbandment at stake if they don't know about it first.

For all that, I don't think you have to follow this guidance - what matters is what they finally put in der Film which indeed supports both interpretations. If you really feel you'll enjoy the film better thinking no one in UST was the wiser, I say go right ahead.

Personally, I don't do it because while I'm not a slave to writer's intention, if I think both possibiities are roughly equally supportable by actual content and the author chooses one I'll go with it. Further, pulling out this thorn does not really justify Alice's actions in my mind (a mere museum cannot justify cheating) - what might solve it here is a strong motive (if we assume they don't know about it, I might accept an explicit threat of team disbandment as adequate moral justification for the degree of wrong they did).

I think an appropriate analogy is this. Suppose we live in a world without contact sports, and an anime demonstrates this "fictional" sport, boxing. We would probably start braying about the obvious and unacceptable dangers of repeated blows to the head, or how even if we accept that there is such a sport there are safer ways to play it and so on. Since anime often exaggerates, there would likely be some punch scenes where if it really happened, the person is likely to be seriously injured at least. But after multiple episodes of showing them coming out relatively unscathed, eventually those who continue watching will one way or another accept that as the "going-rate" for that universe, and that in practicality, reasonable safety is being maintained.

Now, just as we get used to this idea, along comes Alice Shimada, who is already supposed to be a small but very powerful fighter leading a team of large, experienced and powerful fighters (their average mass is twice that of their opponents), equipped with metal-spiked boxing gloves (supposedly MEXT approved) which obviously increases the damage potential beyond the going rate. Are you really going to say we shouldn't think negatively of Alice Shimada because after all this is the stupid universe where they allow boxing?

About your boxing comparison, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know the exact technical rules in Senshado and its matches, so I can’t compare it to boxing where we know the rules quite well. Oh, and boxers do not brush off the risk of getting injured or even killed by each of the opponent's punches. They actually try to protect themselves from every single punch (either by dodging or defending) unless they're making a go-all-out now-or-never attacks, unlike the girls in GuP who, in many occasions, like to nonchalantly poke out their heads and their upper bodies outside the tanks during bombardments and shooting duels even if they don't have to, dismissing the obvious danger right in front of their eyes (that's something that even the MC did early in the TV show).

About Alice cheating: like Ithekro's post, I think you didn't highlight the important part of the interview: the "If this is for real"-part which indicates and strongly implies that the UST is none the wiser in the actual movie. There’s this crucial indicator whether a show with fictional tournaments (especially GuP) consider the opponent cheating or not: the (strong) protest of character(s) from the protagonist’s side. I might’ve missed something but I don’t see that much protest in the movie from the Oarai’s side and they practically just go with it, unlike the Saunders episode where they accused that “eavesdropper”-chick of cheating even though (after checking) there’s no rule that forbid “eavesdropping” (though it’s still made the blond-leader mad). In the movie, I see no strong protest like in that episode, unless I missed a line or two (if so then please enlighten me).

[arkhangelsk]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

About your boxing comparison, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know the exact technical rules

If you really live in a world where there is no contact sports as suggested by the analogy, then you won't know much about boxing except what the anime tells you. And ordinary boxing maneuvers (to say nothing of anime) would probably look as overly bold to you as Senshado maneuvers look to us since the entire environment around you will be much less permissive of risk in sports.

About Alice cheating: like Ithekro's post, I think you didn't highlight the important part of the interview: the "If this is for real"-part which indicates and strongly implies that the UST is none the wiser in the actual movie.

Frankly, I'm not sure how the line "If this is for real" in any way supports the idea the anime situation would be diametrically opposed to her postulate - if anything it should be saying the author is assuming their thought processes are similar to the postulated, so she feels the need for an extra tack on motive.

There’s this crucial indicator whether a show with fictional tournaments (especially GuP) consider the opponent cheating or not: the (strong) protest of character(s) from the protagonist’s side.

This is true at the beginning of the story (say at Ep5). However, as the universe expands, it'll often provide you with some workings, and you can then independently calculate the correspondence, without necessarily relying on the characters.

I might’ve missed something but I don’t see that much protest in the movie from the Oarai’s side and they practically just go with it, unlike the Saunders episode where they accused that “eavesdropper”-chick of cheating even though (after checking) there’s no rule that forbid “eavesdropping” (though it’s still made the blond-leader mad). In the movie, I see no strong protest like in that episode, unless I missed a line or two (if so then please enlighten me).

The protagonists were too busy to scream, but the chairman did it for them with Tsuji, thus cementing the status of the weapon. You do have a good point (in fact one I advocate) that the way they played it, they might as well take a few more steps that way and just declare the Karl Gerat cleanly legit (it won't account for all the problems, but maybe by not leaving a big burning trail it might forestall a slower speed scan) but that's simply not the path taken.

Frankly, you are the first guy I've seen that tried to claim that there is no evidence the Karl-Gerat is supposed to be illegit - it's frankly a new one on me.

Originally Posted by Ithekro

That or closing a high school is not really that big of a deal as we seem to think it is and we are overthinking it.

That's frankly a conclusion I would not want to take without some pretty strong evidence. Do you really think GuPverse will be a better place if it indeed treats as trivial ethical issues (for example, throwing out 30000 innocent citizens in one night) that by our standards should be very serious?

Unfortunately, the victims still treat it as fairly serious. Fortunately, at least the other high schools seem to have their hearts in the right place.

Further, let me point out that such an idea helps Tsuji a lot more than Alice. There are also advantages to Tsuji's plan. Saving money and redirecting it to other places is a laudable goal. It's just that it is also insignificant next to the harm of destroying a perfectly good city. But if we arbitarily shrink it down to nearly nothing, then the positives are dominant and Tsuji transforms into a good guy.

Now let's look at Alice. In any case her primary justification is the Boko-kan which I think everyone is tacitly admitting is rather weak. The positives of saving an unpopular museum is sorely limited. Against this tiny positive must be balanced everything questionable and worse she has done. Certain questionable things are provided but others true, but ultimately its her choice to use it, so her guilt is the greater. And she has much less positive to balance it against.

[Myssa Rei]

At this point we've spent pages and pages on this already, and what did we get from all of it? That arkhangelsk thinks that Alice and the University teams, as proxies of MEXT, should not only be treated as simply antagonists, but also should get some sort of karmic come-uppance.... Which is kind of out of place I feel for Girls und Panzer as a whole, not just de Film.

Heck, while I felt that the Karl Gerat and the T28 alone were grossly unfair, I ALSO knew that this was kind of part for course for a movie like this... A sports movie.

Which is basically what de Film is, a sports movie. Of course the plucky underdog Ooarai has to meet a ridiculously unfair challenge (and I kind of saw MEXT trying to bend the rules until it almost broke) in order to make their success at the end all the sweeter.

And that's what happened. For all of MEXT's conniving, it STILL got its come-uppance in the end, and our plucky heroines squeeked out a win against overwhelming odds, and what's more, everyone was a good sport about it. The only thing missing really was a huge party between Ooarai and the University team, to show that there weren't any hard feelings.

I feel trying to frame things in a more cynical light, with underhanded deals, lack of culpability, and the expectation of "justice", seems to be misunderstanding one of the core concepts of the series itself: having fun.

[Top Sergeant]

Well said Myssa, Rei, spot on!

[arkhangelsk]

Sorry about that Myssa. I had kind of hoped to let this cycle end last night but I had newcomers. Won't say I'm completely innocent - I could have not replied. So sorry for any unhappiness caused.

But I must disagree with the idea that GuP doesn't do karmic-comeuppance. In fact, it does it all the time and in a way so subtle that it was only when I felt its lack in der Film that I realized the brilliance with which it was interwoven in the rest of GuP.

For example, you can argue that Ep6 is really all about Alisa's karmic comeuppance for her little eavesdropping in Ep5 (which BTW, actually caused no more damage than ruin Rabbit Team's recce attempt). Really, the vice captain of one of the best teams acting in that panicky manner can, if not correctly massaged, look crude and contrived as pushing an Oarai win at all costs. But because of her deed in Ep5, we are just a little bit more tolerant of her getting some kind of payback, and that along with good execution caused us to accept her promptly losing a vehicle, getting spotted, failing to kill a Type 89 and then being chased for kilometers across the field. Would we really have been as accepting of this flow if Alisa had been 100% honorable and executed her pincer on Rabbit Team using "pure" skill thus showing off how good she is? Maybe not.

In fact, it is getting to the point I'm going "Show, get off Alisa's back. It wasn't that bad!" Completely opposite from how I'm treating Alice, right? I actually defend Alisa, and I diss Alice. The difference? Probably it is the handling of karma. You don't need to set up separate sections for it if you are as good as GuP's team usually is.

Similarly, Katyusha was a bit haughty wasn't she? When she got her enemies, she even cruelly suggests they dogeza and openly talks with Nonna about making Oarai students pick potatoes. Again, our tolerance of a bit more stupidity on their part increases and that carries the battle through again. Subconsciously or consciously, we want Katyusha taught a lesson.

Erika is a much better known case. She picked on our poor Miho, who was still uncertain about her new role, in Ep5. Oh, the karmic price she paid for that. If we are fair, we must acknowledge that Episode 11 wasn't appropriate treatment for the top 9-consecutive-victory team. But who cares. It's not just that the scenes are made in a fun way ... it's that Erika's previous behavior, linked to our latent desire to see payback increased our tolerance to such a flow. We want to see Erika go down a couple of notches. So Erika is effectively the commander throughout Ep11 and she gets humiliated. In between we see glimpses of KMM girls just to make it clear they are very human after all.

The Maus appears and pops two vehicles and in the end crushes a 3rd. Yet no ill-will can possibly accumulate because then we are immediately treated to it being destroyed in a creative, humiliating, funny and well-justified end that shows off the team cooperating. KMM gains significant no secondary effect advantages. The only complaints were defending the Maus, saying it should not have died that way! And I think that's the direction things went because of karma management - Maus crew, you have paid, ALL is forgiven.

The Elefant and Jagdtiger, the next up symbols of KMM's power-based ideology (wrongs) get killed by a M3. Ahh, the catharsis. I didn't even like Rabbit Team nearly as much, or evaluate them as highly as I do now, and it was still a great scene.

Throughout all this, Maho keeps her hands almost completely clean - Erika was doing almost all the commanding we see. Nobody feels the need to "pre-buff" Maho's reputation by having her do stereotypical villain things like kill off most of Miho's friends. All killing will be done by her mooks. No "blood" is on her hands.

If Nishizumi Maho is any good, if she's no good, all will be proven when she fights the one fight she has to. Her karma load is nearly at the minimum.

The fight starts, and the rest of the team are still fighting, still doing their parts (not crudely taken off the stage in advance). Maho fights very well using a vehicle that still feels like a Tiger and not a Type 10. And the show does not forget to give Erika a moment of epiphany as well. It is a great redemptive moment, her hubris finally broken.

Eventually, Miho wins. And even if you were harboring less than positive feelings on KMM before the match, it should be dissolved by the end of it. Sure, KMM now looks a bit dumb, and cracks about how it is such a waste of taxpayer's money fly, but it also looks a lot more human, They are forgiven.

I will also note that in ALL these cases, the people that were wrong failed to gain the thing they wanted. Alisa and Katyusha failed to advance. Erika did not win for the 2nd time, against an enemy it should by all rights have won. If that's not karma, I don't know what is.

Do you now notice certain missing elements in der Film's portrayal, which was always focused on more action and more excitement, always trying to reach the next scene?

Another thing GuP was very good at is not limiting its viewers to one interpretation. Shiho's clapping has received a wide variety of generous and less generous interpretations. All are permitted.

Even Director Tsuji got a much cruder end that still allows for interpretation. I think people didn't feel Tsuji got his comeuppance on screen. Calls for his early retirement, transfer to be a minor official in JSF, even calls for him suffering an "accidental" death abound. And der Film still allows all these options.

For some reason, however, they feel such open endings are not appropriate for Alice, and so in the back of the film, they snuck in a shot of the Boko-kan being renovated after all. For the first time in GuP, someone that did wrong nevertheless gets her goal. Oh, that karma houdini. How about at least letting ME make the judgment as to her worthiness, der Film?

I must also point out that not getting the Boko-kan will be a great character development moment for Alice. For the first time in her life, she loses and she will realize that losing has costs. It hurts (and by extension, making other people lose is not harmless). Which is not something that can be learnt by watching Boko, who pops back up as if nothing has happened in about 5 seconds and doesn't even sound like he's hurting that much when being bashed around. It might even be the impetus to ensure that if she's given such choices again, she'll make the right one this time.

Instead, the authors "froze" her development by giving her an end that will not impel her to change.

I hope this explains my point of view and sorry again for any unhappiness caused.

[Infinite Zenith]

No need to apologise: this is a forum, a place for discussion, and though I might disagree with a particular outlook, it's always interesting to dig deeper into the rationale for a perspective.

For Myssa Rei, this means it's not necessary to complain about how one particular discussion has been going on "for pages and pages already". People are allowed to have their own thoughts on things, especially where they take the time to explain themselves. Lockstep this forum isn't

[Myssa Rei]

Originally Posted by ForwardUntoDawn

Lockstep this forum isn't

Which would have been fine, if not for the fact that every time I browsed this discussion during the course of the Kantai Collection Spring 2016 event, it was still the same goddamned argument thread.

I know that people will inevitably have the urge to "look deeply" at things, and poke at inconsistencies in the narrative either in a more serious manner, down to using certain viewpoints or critical theory, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing... but good GOD man, the argument turned circular long ago.

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by arkhangelsk

Instead, the authors "froze" her development by giving her an end that will not impel her to change.

Didn't Alice develop anyway? She had so much fun fighting Miho's team that in the post-movie OVA she decided to leave college and enter high school so that she could live the youth that was missing from her life, as well as become a rival to Miho in senshado. I'd count that as character development, although it's true that the movie itself doesn't make it so obvious.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

A line had been crossed, when someone is so desperate to turn a little girl into a villain, he would think it it a good thing to shut down the Boko museum.

The same museum that Miho also loved.

If you really think a "happy ending" is the closure of a teddy bear museum, I don't know what your definition of a happy ending was.

[Ithekro]

In GuP, even when you lose the victor seems to do something for the loser. Darjeeling gave a tea basket, a really good one it seems. There were parties held with Anzio and the like. Perhaps Miho and Maho pulled strings and get the Boko museum some funds as well.

Alice it seems does transfere out of the University, so they lose their top tanker for three or so years until she graduates from high school (she's even young for that come to think of it). She probably would have joined Miho's school if she didn't enjoy playing against Miho more than wanting to be a school with her as a classmate. The question will be, should they continue on, what school will get Alice? Will she continue as a rival, or join the teamup come the World Tournament in two years?

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

The question will be, should they continue on, what school will get Alice? Will she continue as a rival, or join the teamup come the World Tournament in two years?

That's definitely a point that I can see coming up in a sequel. While it does work nicely a closure to the franchise, the movie also set up the framework for a potential sequel well, and I really hope the staff will eventually follow up on it because at this point I really cannot have enough GaruPan.

[Ithekro]

I can see them ending after the World Tournament, and make that closure. Be that Miho's graduation, or Rabbit team's graduation (the last first years graduating from the original group), I can see them ending at that point.

Unless someone want to try to pull off an extended GuP series that is basically more sports anime with tanks. I don't enough know if I'd want their to be a plot, just interesting tank matches like you'd watch E-SPN or whoever for any old sports game. Because tank sports would look really nice (in anime form), be it what we have seen, or even the occasional tankette race in the desert.

Also, do we have something to define Shimada style and Nishizumi style?

[arkhangelsk]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Which would have been fine, if not for the fact that every time I browsed this discussion during the course of the Kantai Collection Spring 2016 event, it was still the same goddamned argument thread.

Wait a second, the same argument for all of Kantai Collection Spring 2016 which ended on 1 June? Well course, I've been holding similar views in my heart for some time, but I was pretty sure I only really dug into Alice starting June 9 on post #320. The thing lasted for less than 36h at the time of your post.

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

A line had been crossed, when someone is so desperate to turn a little girl into a villain, he would think it it a good thing to shut down the Boko museum.

My thinking is, that museum was promised to Alice for winning (which let's face it considering what she had was a pretty low bar). Since she did not, given the atmosphere this show has already set up, overall shutting it down is the better move - plus it does have the character development advantage.

Also, they can always leave it blank, and people like you can imagine the museum was saved if it makes you happy, and people like me can imagine the museum went down as planned if it makes me happy. People who unlike me, have no bone to grind about UST have also asked about that museum.

Here's my question. Do you think Miho will be willing to accept the shut down of that Boko Museum if it means Alice will grow a little more from this incident? I'd like to think she would. Boko is a beloved, but nevertheless small part of Miho's life - I think she'll care about Alice's growth a bit more.

Originally Posted by Tempester

Didn't Alice develop anyway? She had so much fun fighting Miho's team that in the post-movie OVA she decided to leave college and enter high school so that she could live the youth that was missing from her life, as well as become a rival to Miho in senshado. I'd count that as character development, although it's true that the movie itself doesn't make it so obvious.

Here's the thing: In Japan, any form of officially skipping grades is extraordinarily difficult compared to how it is in say the United States. And of the two forms, jumping into a university is actually easier than jumping into high school because the former is governed by a Ministerial Order while the latter is by Legislative Act. So Alice going straight into university without spending any time in middle or high is in a Japanese context, realistic.

I'm not sure if the writing staff was completely cognizant of these technicalities, and we can of course say GuP Japan is a little different, but there must a sense of how hard and how exceptional Alice's case must be. From this viewpoint, Chiyo-mama must have jumped through a bunch of loops and cut deals just to get Alice to university. And then our little Alice pouts "Mummy, I want to go to High School." At this point, I start feeling a bit sorry for Chiyo.

I don't even know what hoops Chiyo-mama jumped through this time, or whether everyone conspired to allow a victimless illegality pass. Anyway, again the world bends over for our princess, and she abandons her UST team, which are loyal to her and did give their very best for her. What, Alice, how can you do this?

And here's another thing ... according to the present continuity, Alice's obsession with High Schools will turn out to be short lived. We have to fit in Drama CD5 Track 6 which was about Megumi, Azumi and Rumi bonding with Alice and promising to make hamburger with eggs with her (apparently, the three of them will have to learn how to do it themselves first ) and then we have to work in the still uncontradicted Little Army II continuity which says by winter break, Alice will definitely be a university student again. A few days, maybe a few weeks, and she'll be back at university.

I'm really trying to think as positively of Alice as the evidence allows, so here's my stab as to the flow of events. Shortly after she leaves Oarai, she remembers about the UST, who are her team. She also realizes she can be a rival from that position. Chiyo and MEXT breathe a sigh of relief. She goes and joins Megumi, Azumi and Rumi for the bonding event, and decides she can live there after all.

[Xeiros]

I can never take Senshado seriously as an in Universe sport when the winner is not merely determined by that days crewing/command skill and collective experience, but in the quantity and quality of tanks each team has. In order for matches to be fair, both sides should have both the same number of tanks as well as as close to identical quality as well.

Imagine any team sport where one team could have twice as many members on field as another. We have scenarios wherein a crew will lose an encounter despite outplaying the other entirely because they're operating a terrible tank. See Duck Team's Type 89 as a prime example. They're easily one of the best crews in Oorai, but their awful tank's thin armor and weak firepower, put them at such a disadvantage they often lose even when they've gotten the better of their opponent like in their early series practice match encounter with Rukuriri's Matilda II. By the movie, the crew has become so skilled and experienced at necessary guerrilla tactics, they're able to lead other crews into securing eliminations they otherwise wouldn't have.

Turtle Team is almost the opposite of this. They start out with a decent light tank that becomes pretty good due to its upgrade by their match with Black Forest held by back Momo's horrendous gunner skills. She single-handedly turns the Panzer 38(t) into a near non factor for the enemy team. It shows how a lack of skill can't be wiped away even when you're crewing a respectable tank for its category. When Anzu finbally takes the gunner position against Pravda we see first hand how much of a difference a good gunner who can actually aim makes by transforming what was wasted potential into a valuable asset even before its upgrade. By series end, with Yuzu driving, Momo loading, and Anzu shooting they're able to make the most of their already good Hetzer whereas the Duck Team's Type 89 forced its crew to learn and hone skills they wouldn't have needed with a good tank which allowed them to improve their on the fly planning and problem solving skills.

Could you imagine Alice and her tank crew realistically/believably accruing 11 eliminations with a Type 89? I sure couldn't. Then again she'd likely be commanding one so heavily modified you couldn't consider it a Type 89 anyway. The tanks themselves shouldn't be a factor. The victorious team should be determined entirely by how well each team crews and commands their respective tanks. That's partly why I liked how St. Gloriana's Darjeeling chose to at the very least match Oorai's tank numbers for their practice match despite obviously being able to field more. Wait maybe that was just an agreement for that particular match. Well whatever. In the movie, Alice gets to cheat with the Karl which provides a two fold advantage. Well at least for a time.

Alice conceded the hill uncontested because she knew she could simply bombard them off of it and deployed her entire combat strategy around them not knowing that an illegal machine had been OKed for the match, rushing to take the hill, only to realize that it was an indefensible position and hastily retreat. Had they not had the option to force them off the hill with artillery, the uni team would've obviously taken a very different approach. It's worth nothing that the hill would've been a nigh-insurmountable tactical advantage were it not for the Karl, since those fancy drift maneuvers would have been completely impossible uphill. The battle would've likely become a stalemate, with the university team having no practical way to challenge the hill, and Oorai having no reason to move from it.

Still we want to see entertaining underdog fights its way to victory matches. The fairest matches wherein both teams have identical numbers and tanks don't make for a good story. It's why pretty much every official match has the protagonist team at a clear disadvantage. We love to see them overcome adversity and win.

[Random Wanderer]

So, my conclusions upon watching: Chiha-tan is made up of idiots.

That MEXT official is probably corrupt and is just begging to have the story of what he's pulled on our girls get into the press.

Fights were great, the girls are great.

And let that be a lesson to you! Don't ever try to take our girls' home away again! Because they can and will move Heaven and Earth to bring your plans crashing down.

[Myssa Rei]

Originally Posted by arkhangelsk

Do you think Miho will be willing to accept the shut down of that Boko Museum if it means Alice will grow a little more from this incident?

I would think that Miho would definitely saddened if the museum closed AS A CONSEQUENCE of winning against the university team, as winning back Ooarai is a much higher priority, but would she DELIBERATELY try to win to FORCE character development? Miho's too kind-hearted to do that.

One does not lead to the other in this case.

Anyway, I grow tired of you, so congratulations! Welcome to my block list!