(L) Girls und Panzer

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by novalysis

What went through the mind of the creator of this monstrosity?

We've had (skirtless, animal-eared) girls as fighter planes, and girls as assault rifles.

Really, the only weird thing here is that they take five girls to crew a tank instead of just one girl turning into or wearing one.

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

Well, to be fair things like the Pz 35 and 38, the PzII,a nd the BT series were pretty tiny.

When it comes to the size of AFVs, I think mostly in terms of profile as that's what will get you killed. And any AFVs with less than a 37mm main gun aren't really meant to actually fight anything.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

We've had (skirtless, animal-eared) girls as fighter planes, and girls as assault rifles.

Really, the only weird thing here is that they take five girls to crew a tank instead of just one girl turning into or wearing one.

I'm actually surprised that the creators are going the mostly realistic path, at least insofar as how the tanks work. There's a clear delineation of the main tank roles: commander, driver, gunner, loader and radio operator. There's already enough information to figure out who is in what role for the PzKpfw IV, the StuG III and the 38(t). Although I'm not sure what the radio operator actually does since everyone seems to have those fancy throat mics.

[Dark Wing]

Originally Posted by novalysis

What went through the mind of the creator of this monstrosity?

It has the Saccharine cuteness and positiveness of K-on, crossed with Tanks. In a school on-top of a Cruise Ship, in a bizzaro world.

Well to be fair the cruise ship with a town on top is an anime original idea as far as I know. Besides that everything seems to be on the straight and narrow. Well everything aside from only girls do tank battle as a sport they could have done good without that part.

[jwai]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

Although I'm not sure what the radio operator actually does since everyone seems to have those fancy throat mics.

Communicate with other tanks in the unit, or higher command?

[gaiar31]

i not sure there 2 tank in ep01 is this.

[Endless Soul]

Originally Posted by NK_500

Will we see a King Tiger tank and Panther in this show?

If you look closely during the first episode, we briefly see the turret and engine deck of a Tiger I around the 19:30 mark. Also, in the ED there is a snow camoflaged Tiger I, and another one in shilloette near the end of the ED. I'm pretty sure we'll see it later in the series. Not sure about the Konigstiger or the Panther.

Looking at the ED, we'll definitely see Shermans, a T-34 and a IS-3 (spotted by LoweGear earlier in this thread).

Originally Posted by Julio C

I never realized that tanks were that small during that era. Were most of the tanks that small during WWII era?

Yep, most of the tanks at the beginning of the war, with a few exceptions, were actually pretty small. Some of the, such as the Pz. I, were only armed with machine guns. Of course, as gun sizes increased, and armor was added, the size of the tanks increased.

Endless "Tanks!" Soul

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by jwai

Communicate with other tanks in the unit, or higher command?

There are only 20-something students in the Tank club, and the five tanks shown will need 23 crew to man, so that should be all of them (minus mechanics). If they were part of a larger command, then the Type 89 and the 38(t) would never have been deployed to face British infantry tanks.

Originally Posted by gaiar31

i not sure there 2 tank in ep01 is this.

That's them all right. The anime even depicted the rivets on the Matilda II correctly.

Originally Posted by Endless Soul

If you look closely during the first episode, we briefly see the turret and engine deck of a Tiger I around the 19:30 mark. Also, in the ED there is a snow camoflaged Tiger I, and another one in shilloette near the end of the ED. I'm pretty sure we'll see it later in the series. Not sure about the Konigstiger or the Panther.

The reason this show exists is because someone loves German tanks. They're not going to leave out the sexiest of them. Allied tanks are a different story though. You'll never see a Comet or an Archer even though they're awesome (or awesomely bad!).

Originally Posted by Endless Soul

Looking at the ED, we'll definitely see Shermans, a T-34 and a IS-3 (spotted by LoweGear earlier in this thread).

That should be an IS-2 in the credits. IS-3s have a sexier turret and forward hull.

Originally Posted by Endless Soul

Yep, most of the tanks at the beginning of the war, with a few exceptions, were actually pretty small. Some of the, such as the Pz. I, were only armed with machine guns. Of course, as gun sizes increased, and armor was added, the size of the tanks increased.

The early war also saw some of the largest tanks fielded as well: the KV-2 and the amazingly bad T-35. The Char B1 bis was pretty big as well (even if it's not that heavy).

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

....just one girl turning into or wearing one.

LOlss.. Transformers????

Are they going to use live ammunition coz that'll be cool... imagine that that every battle one of them dies.... LOLS...

[Endless Soul]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

The early war also saw some of the largest tanks fielded as well: the KV-2 and the amazingly bad T-35. The Char B1 bis was pretty big as well (even if it's not that heavy).

Yep, that's why I said "with a few exceptions".

[Znail]

I wonder if there will be a Japanese server for World of Tanks if this series is a hit?

[panzerfan]

My thoughts for yesterday would be that these girls won't ever get ammo rack'd, scuttle their tank, run out of fuel and using their tank as a pillbox, nor get much time to work with engineering specialist tanks (AVRE).

On Saki... what started out as cute girls doing cute things have turned into "playing mahjong is suffering". Don't think Panzerkraft is going to be that way.

[ZeKeR]

now I wait for the appearance of an IS to ruin their day.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Znail

I wonder if there will be a Japanese server for World of Tanks if this series is a hit?

No, they'll either play in the SEA server or the North American server.

[risingstar3110]

So the school club have one M3, three Panzer III, and one Stug III? I really feel the tank of the three girls looks slightly different with the other two Panzer II through

[Sumeragi]

So, as I was watching, I began thinking of what kind of world would the art of panzer be a tradition of women? My current train of thoughts leads me to a pretty dark history.

Two things to consider:
- Why does Senshado use tanks from the WW2 era? Why not something afterwards?
- Why is Sensha-do considered traditional martial art for girls?


My current conclusion is that everything stems from a much bloodier WW2.


For some reason, it was likely that women (and by extension, girls) had to be the ones to operate the tanks. Assuming that the start of WW2 is the same as OTL, something must have happened during the war to have women be the ones operating the tanks. My guess is that one way or other, there was a massive wave of deaths among most of the troops fighting. It would be some kind of bioweapons, it could be chemical weapons, but for some reason a large hole in the manpower happened that forced women to be the ones operating the tanks. Basically, we're talking about a death rate that might exceed the 70 million of WW2.

Now assuming the above did happen, why has tank development seemingly stopped? Well, my assumption is that the war came to a more total conclusion than what happened in OTL. Instead of just the Third Reich crashing down, we have at least the Comintern collapsing, with possibly a more general collapse. With everyone not being up to fighting, and with the women now holding a major card (tanks), possibly we have a new version of the Kellogg–Briand Pact, combined with the idea of the United Nations. Basically, war itself has been finally banned after the bloodiest conflict in history. Of course, this does not mean the outlawing of military forces (who knows when another Hitler or Stalin might come around), but in general we have conversion of large military assets into a more civilian purpose, such as building a town on top of an aircraft carrier (why? who knows?) or using tanks as a form of (possibly non-lethal) martial arts.


I also had a short brainstorming session concerning Miho, but I'll save that for later.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

- Why does Senshado use tanks from the WW2 era? Why not something afterwards?

The difference between Archery and Kyūdō.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%ABd%C5%8D

Kyūdō is archery that is intentionally antiquated. You don't aim to hit a target by hook or by crook and used modern composite bows etc. The idea is that Kyūdō builds character, and that hitting the bullseye is merely the side effect of the training.

This is what the Tank Training in this show is about. They are intentionally using antique tanks because they aren't in it just to win. They are meant to do the best they can with limited means, and as a result became better people.

The Western equivalent is Historic motorsport.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_motorsport

[Seiryuu]

Is it strange for me to want at some point for some guys to be present, and as they stare at the girls in the background someone raises the angle on the tanks' cannons...

[Zaku_II]

Tanks and cute girls... I'm sold

For the modelers interested:

http://www.1999.co.jp/search_e.asp?T...rls+und+panzer

[MeisterBabylon]

The older the tank, the more impractical, the more honorable it is.

(Hence why I'm writing a fic about using nothing but French tanks. But hey, at least there's a superheavy that actually made it to mass production.)

[Endless Soul]

Originally Posted by Zaku_II

Tanks and cute girls... I'm sold

For the modelers interested:

http://www.1999.co.jp/search_e.asp?T...rls+und+panzer

I would actually consider getting a couple of those, if they were about $10-15 cheaper.

Endless "Budget modeler" Soul