(L) Girls und Panzer

[Gravitas Free Zone]

One other small safety note:

It looked like the generically-shaped smoke grenades that the volleyball team captain was throwing at Arisa's tank were a modern type, which could still cause burns if, well, improperly handled. But the bursting effect and the glowing bits of material, emitting smoke, stuck to the Saunders flag tank made me think of a more "classic" white phosphorus smoke/incendiary grenade (again, what they were throwing was the wrong size for that).

White phosphorus grenades are not human-safe at all, at least on the receiving end.

This is, of course, on top of the obvious risk of being outside the vehicle while someone is shooting a machine gun at you.

Writing this, I watched Arisa's panicked ramblings again. Aya Hirano really did steal the show on this one.

Minor notes: They CGIed Arisa's head at one point, which was only slightly odder than Miho's CGI pen and map.

[Wild Goose]

Those are commercial smoke flares intended for signaling, as per this video (albeit white smoke instead of orange). Not all white smoke is made by white phosphorus - also a WP smoke grenade is noticeably different, as per this page. Looking at the link, you can see that milspec smoke grenades are of a different design than the smoke flares that the girls were tossing.

Given that these are the kind of flares meant to be used on boats and are supposed to be handheld, I don't think the safety issue is that bad. That said, it's a good thing they were in an open area, else Arisa's tank woulda collided with something it really shouldn't have.

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by RedShocktrooper

I'm aware, but regardless I'm just fond of the Early War -34-57.

Alternatively more early war light tanks - Russia *is* underrepresented, and a BT-5/7M or T-26 might be a fair addition as well.

The Soviet Union is always underrepresented in anime period. I'd personally love to see an actual Vickers 6 ton derivative in action. The 7TP at the end of episode 6 isn't enough to whet my appetite, but a T-26 would be perfect. It's not going to happen though .

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Looks like we're finally getting Miho's backstory next week. Also, Anzio's emblem is... pizza?

Heh. The joke faction has been given a joke emblem. I like how it preserves the three colors of Italy's real flag.

Originally Posted by LoweGear

The official site is also giving away some icons and wallpapers.

Wow. A character with no lines (and no voice actress) is the only one to get an avatar? And it's annoying that they still haven't updated the tank list - they're still only current up to the British tanks.

Originally Posted by Midonin

I'm aware the way I'm interpreting the show is basically backwards by now - but shouldn't the girls have some kind of appeal too? That's why I'm glad for the OVAs, from the looks of things.

I'm simply wondering if there's at least one other person out there who's in the same boat as I.

Girls und Panzer is one of those rare shows where the creators have a very good understanding of what makes their show worth watching, and a limited run time to be overly distracted by other subplots. Since they don't have time to characterize using the standard anime techniques, they do so during the action sequences, and I think that it works pretty well. The action to non-action ratio has been extremely high, and the quality of the action has been a lot better than most anime.

Originally Posted by LoweGear

It's not like the girl's individual quirks don't shine through, from the Freshmen's newbness to the History Club's eccentricity to the Volleyball team's guts and cunning, and of course the Student Council that needs no introduction. It would be nice though if we can get episodes dedicated to just those teams to further flesh them out, even if we need a second season to do so. ( ) Even the background characters get short bits of individual characterization, like Arisa/Alice's adorable loader who's visibly exasperated at her commander's ravings

Arisa was really the star for episode 6. We also got a fair bit from her poor abused gunner - that little high-five at getting rescued was great. Naomi's characterization was pretty neat too, and she barely even got any lines.

[Midonin]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

Girls und Panzer is one of those rare shows where the creators have a very good understanding of what makes their show worth watching, and a limited run time to be overly distracted by other subplots. Since they don't have time to characterize using the standard anime techniques, they do so during the action sequences, and I think that it works pretty well. The action to non-action ratio has been extremely high, and the quality of the action has been a lot better than most anime.

I understand that, I'm just not used to what I thought was going to be the primary element of the show (the girls) kinda shoved off the stage by something that I have no interest in discussing. I'm not used to having people lose their spotlight and importance to machines. The show's not bad by any means, it's just making for an experience that's kind of awkward for me. The characters are defined well enough... but I would enjoy the show (or at least, the show's discussion) a lot more if the scales tipped in a slightly different direction.

This is all stuff that seems to apply only to me, so I hope I haven't been too much of a bother with it.

[Duo Maxwell]

With all the show that is heavily focusing on the girls instead of the subject at hand, I welcome the change as GuP where it doesn't stray off from its original theme. Not saying I don't like other shows, but GuP made me realize there are also way to characterize the cast without the need of narrations or dialogues.

Saki is also a good show for that.

In the mean time

Images

Join Senshadou now

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Seihai]

Originally Posted by Midonin

This is all stuff that seems to apply only to me, so I hope I haven't been too much of a bother with it.

Not at all. I too find it a petty that I can't understand the machinery part of the series as much as other people do and I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I did. This thread receives a lot of posts about tanks and all I can do is skim over them to see if there's anything my brain could relate to, which is not likely. Well, at least it's amusing to see German stuff and words pop up here and there, being German and all.

Originally Posted by Duo Maxwell

Images

Join Senshadou now

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Join Tankery now! Please send the application form to Oarai High School! Note: On §6.5, please tick "I'm a pu***" instead of "I'm a d***" so we can make sure you're the right gender! We will look forward to your cooperation. -- Girls u. Panzer & Co. KG

[Sumeragi]

Images

Waiting

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

If only that character was that moe.....

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Duo Maxwell

In the mean time

Images

Join Senshadou now

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

My comment on fanartists being too conservative about Yukari's proportions was actually in regards to seeing that specific image.

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

Heh. The joke faction has been given a joke emblem. I like how it preserves the three colors of Italy's real flag.

A little piece of pizza trivia - the Margarita pizza, named for Queen Margarita, is styled to resemble the three colors of the Italian flag: red from the tomato sauce, white from the mozarella cheese, and green from the oregano sprinkled on top.

I sell pizza over the phone on a daily basis.

Girls und Panzer is one of those rare shows where the creators have a very good understanding of what makes their show worth watching, and a limited run time to be overly distracted by other subplots. Since they don't have time to characterize using the standard anime techniques, they do so during the action sequences, and I think that it works pretty well. The action to non-action ratio has been extremely high, and the quality of the action has been a lot better than most anime.

Agreed, I've been pleasantly surprised by this show. When you watch and don't realise the time has slipped away... that's how engaging this show is.

Arisa was really the star for episode 6. We also got a fair bit from her poor abused gunner - that little high-five at getting rescued was great. Naomi's characterization was pretty neat too, and she barely even got any lines.

This show is very good at "Show, don't tell."

[whitecloud]

so...next episode we got tank upgrade and new tank according to the previous poster? i hope all of them not just the Panzer IV

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by whitecloud

so...next episode we got tank upgrade and new tank according to the previous poster? i hope all of them not just the Panzer IV

The only one I've seen is an upgrade for the Panzer IV's gun, although there may be more.

I'm not sure how upgradable the other tanks are, though. There's nothing really they can do for the Type 89: even if they could legally put better guns or armor on it, its engine is really too weak to move it properly now, let alone after adding more weight. In the end, trying to fix up that thing would probably cost more than getting a better tank. The M3 Lee and the 38(t)... looking at wikipedia, there aren't really any big improvements among the variants. The 38(t) could possibly get some more frontal armor bolted on, but not enough to really make a difference against the types of guns they tend to face. None of them are listed as having any significant weapon improvements aside from the Panzer IV, and I don't think they're allowed to make custom variants that weren't actually used in the war. Honestly, I think upgrading Team Ankou's weapon is the limit of their ability to improve their current hardware.

[Marina2]

^
^
I think M3 and Stug can upgrade their guns

EDIT: *Look at tanks' spec again* Oh, my mistake, it seems both tanks already have best gun. However, can't M3 upgrade to 76mm? (in theory) (will it have balancing problem?)

[Duo Maxwell]

Isn't that the best gun the Lee is using already?

The only thing you could do with the Type 89 is throwing it away. The volleyball team deserves better tank.

[Chiaki_chan]

Spoiler for moe:

Spoiler for fairy panzer:

[jwai]

I wonder if it's the case that neither the volleyball team or the council team were told just how vulnerable their tanks are so as to keep morale up.

[Chiaki_chan]

[Sumeragi]

Images

Singing Onee-sama

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Chiaki_chan]

Spoiler for England and America *O*:

[SPECTER]

Originally Posted by Chiaki_chan

[SPOILER="moe"]

Are the characters fan made or do they come with the tank?

[Chiaki_chan]

really?? good

Are the characters fan made or do they come with the tank?

I think so but I'm not sure....