okassulke - 2014-11-16 11:45:06

This is probably my favorite anime because, while there are undoubtedly series that are objectively deeper or more innovative, it perfectly embodies the idea of "a bit of fun."

The premise is ridiculous, but they embrace that ridiculousness and don't get caught up in trying to justify it. Girls drive tanks as a school sport? Sure! Their boarding schools are boats where the upper deck is a whole city? Why not! Tanks are so cool to everyone that there are tank-themed restaurants? Hell yeah there are! It's just the way things are in their universe, and they made a wise choice by not wasting their limited screen time questioning it. Too many series start off with something over-the-top and crazy, but then try back away from it--like a person who's obviously drunk trying their hardest to appear sober but only making a bigger fool of themselves. Girls und Panzer doesn't fall into this trap, and the series is better for it.

The characters are the real point of the series, and as far as I'm concerned they are universally likeable. The five main characters, as well as the student council and the leaders of the opposing teams, are all unique and surprisingly well-developed given the series's short run. The other tank crews tend to each have their own theme with less to separate the individual characters, but I'll forgive them on the grounds that there wasn't really enough time to fully develop each and every one of them.

They also clearly put a lot of effort into making each tank historically accurate. I'm not enough of a military-history nerd to know if they got all the details of their performance correct, but they seem to have at least paid some attention to things like armor penetration and different shell types. It's at least good enough for a casual World of Tanks player like myself. The battle scenes are excellent as well. They found a nice balance between flashy action sequences and nerdy tactical stuff, with some occasional and well-placed comic relief.

Also, can I just say how proud I am of the creators for keeping it non-perverted throughout the whole series? Considering the subject matter, they had plenty of opportunity to sex it up, so the fact that they didn't is commendable. I know this isn't an issue for everyone, but for people like me who find that stuff distracting, Girls und Panzer is refreshingly classy.

johnpaul.marquardt - 2014-11-15 01:01:10

The very idea of "a sport with cute girls driving tanks" was so hilarious it made this show a must watch. I wasn't entirely certain what to expect, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. If you like "mild" political jokes (IE British drink tea all the time) than you will absolutely love this, think Hetalia with lolis.

A huge thumbs on animation, especially the mixing of 3D. Looking back at shows like Dinosaur King only makes the 3D work feel all the more impressive. The tank battles themselves are rather amazing. The choreography is great and makes for great action sequences, while maintaining somewhat realistic scenarios (ergo no tanks breaking the laws of physics, and no "Michael Bay-isms").

All in all it has; interesting lore, great effects and animation, catchy soundtrack, and wonderful humor. I can not recommend this show enough.

tblick - 2014-05-11 19:11:56

I should have known that it would take cute schoolgirls and super detailed tanks to get me to watch a sport anime. I kind of wish that the tanks were completely hand drawn, but that would take so painstakingly-long I don't really blame them, and it looks great anyway. Besides, after watching the promotional video for the Tankery club in the middle of episode 1 (the English trailer is about the same), I was hooked just with how hilarious it was, besides how it was about something called "The Way of the Tank (Sensha-do)." Also, I love the militaristic soundtrack, though you need to watch the original Japanese version of the Katyusha song in episode 8 (which can be found on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/QA-qmYJJUA4). Speaking of the sound, the voice acting in either language is fine, although the English voice actors are not nearly as cute sounding as the seiyuu are (if that matters with you). The story (for a sport/slice-of-life(if you drove tanks in high school) anime) was quite enjoyable, making me root for the characters and eagerly await the next episode.

When I first heard the title of the series, besides being glad that the German classes I have taken in high school were not useless, I thought it was going to be, for lack of a better term, stupid. It can still be called that, but the show is so entertaining that the word gives the wrong impression.

watsica.lilliana - 2013-09-28 07:46:23

An enjoyable sports only-girl anime, that just makes you feel all warm inside (Moe?). Highly recommended. Apparently some people were complaining about how little frames the tanks were moving at, but I seriously don't see a problem. Girls and tanks, how wrong can it go?

aspencer - 2013-09-20 18:34:05

Girls und Panzer is exactly what the title says it is.

If you hadn't already guessed from my username, I am a massive tank fanatic, but honestly I don't think you need to be in order to enjoy this anime. For example, I recommended this to a friend who wasn't an absolute tank-otaku (tanktaku?), and he loved it just as much as I did.

The plot starts out fairly simple, a small school assembles a mockly crew of tankers using old second-hand tanks and sets out to win the International Tankery Championships. It's the underdogs fighting their way up through the pros.

It's not mind-blowingly original, but simplicity isn't bad as long as the plot works and actually has you invested.

The plot's simple nature is also a strong point, the characters have a clear goal they are working towards and various challenges they must overcome, so you can focus on the other charms of the anime rather than sitting trying to work out what's going on.

The characters are actually pretty interesting, at first they may seem a bit simple but all of the main characters get enough backstory and development to properly flesh them out as individuals. Only two or three of the supporting characters got any backstory but they were all likable characters with their own motivations, so they get points for that.

The soundtrack is pretty cool too, with different versions of marching songs like Pazerlied, Katyusha, the British Grenadiers, etc, as well as having a really catchy ending song.

Now however, let's get onto the tank battles.

The battles are badass and they look badass, I was literally on the edge of my seat through most of them.

The fact that all of the tank battles are in 3D really played a part I think, and it's stunningly well done. If anyone here has seen Black Rock Shooter's fight scenes, imagine that, but with tanks.

I would highly recommend for anyone to watch this if they get the chance. If you're after a complex plot or a mysterious story, then you aren't going to find it here, but if you want to sit back and enjoy a damn good series, then yes, this is for you.

Also, if you're a tank fanatic like myself, and you have not seen this anime, what on Earth are you doing? You must see this now!

I know I may sound like a raving fanboy but I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to pick out any major faults. The only real cons are that the story is pretty simple, a lot of the side characters didn't get any backstory, and Kuromorimine's girls didn't sing along to Panzerlied or Erika, but that's not enough to bring it's rating down.

Story: 7

Animation: 9

Sound: 8

Characters: 8

Enjoyment: 10

Pravda's girls singing Katyusha: 10

Overall: 9

brooke13 - 2013-09-07 22:57:41

I'll be honest, I normally pass over shows that look like they'll be solely about moe and "cute girls doing cute things" - that style of cuteness has never really done anything for me, and my ratings tend to reflect that. Not even the promise of tanks (which, like every other red-blooded engineer, I'd fall head over heels for) could get me to watch this. It took a surprise endorsement from another who had similar initial impressions as me (no name dropping, but you know who you are) to get me to watch this.

12 episodes later, I have to say I was fairly satisfied. Rather than being a platform to simply showcase different models of tanks surrounded by moe tank otaku-bait, I actually got an exciting series of tank battles, the kind that actually kept me on the edge of my seat. The slice-of-life and moe moments were easily the weakest parts of the show for me, but mercifully those became few and far between as the necessary character development of the first half was done. I still don't know why they thought it was necessary to have the girls freak out over a squirrel in the middle of a winter battle with the Russians, but I digress.

The battles were well-executed and fast-paced (as I said, I was actually leaning into the monitor to see what kind of trick they were going to pull off and inevitably win the match); I actually felt like they were using tactics to win matches, rather than special moves that come out of nowhere (coughEyeshield 21cough). It was accompanied by a very fitting soundtrack; there wasn't a huge variety, but all the tracks, especially the track Panzer Vor, had this very childlike and whimsical military march quality to it - I was fondly reminded of my Boy Scout days. The CG tanks were surprisingly well integrated into the animation, and only the hyper-smoothness of the lines and the lighting gave it away.

My only complaint is that the characters are very flat (not like that!) - I honestly do not remember the name of anyone besides Maho (who I personally found a little too weak for my taste, but whatever), and characters were constantly added but left unused for much. As a side-note, I had to calm myself down whenever I saw someone stick their head out of a tank without their damn helmet on.

All in all, I don't regret watching Girls und Panzer. I was pleasantly surprised by this series, and I proudly award it a 8 out of 10.

PANZER VOR!

leopold.kassulke - 2013-09-03 14:59:37

Well than Girls und Panzer (GuP) first thing I must say it's original.

Okay so why do I say its original well lets get in to the review shall we?

This anime focuses around a time where for some reasons towns have been built on boats (I don't think I've seen that before note me if I'm wrong) with school girls (Yeah I know that pops up alot don't it) Driving tanks and fighting with other schools as a subject ( (O.O) well thanks something new) really thats all that this anime is based on School Girls fighting in TANKS also its a girls only sport (NOW THAT IS SOMETHING REALLY NEW TO ME) other than that everything else is really seen before. Side note : Don't worry this is to a spoiler but I just want to say how well they ended the anime. It didn't look like they rushed it or just ended it because of low funding or something, no this anime had a very good ending and what I believe does not need a second season it finished beautifully

9/10 (Extra point for ending)

Animation

This really just has the same art style and animation as other Moe and school girls anime but just with exploding shells and tanks thrown in.

8/10

Sound

The voice acting in this (I watched eng subbed) was generic really nothing to special about it with again sounds of exploding shells and tanks along with the sound of tracks coming off nothing special really.

Characters

Some how I don't want to talk about the characters because I feel it would ruin the experience of the anime some how so I'll just talk about the MC I already forgoten her name (forgetheirnameus sorry :P) this girl is shy and in the begining tries to avoid Tankery but we find out why later . She becomes the schools Commander for Tankery thats all I'm going to say on characters.

10/10 (Large group of characters with all kinds of personalities)

Now here comes my OPINION

Did I enjoy this anime?

I very well did. YES YES there have been anime involving school girls playing sport but in enjoyed this for the reason that they were playing a sport. (GuP) is a very original anime that kept me coming back for more thinking would they end up winning or losing

9.9/10

kennedy79 - 2013-07-06 20:59:56

Girls Und Panzer mixes two things that go together very naturally. Moe schoolgirls and Tanks.

The story is rather simple. In this day and age it is the lady-like thing to drive vehicles of mass destruction. Each school has its own tank club which wages "war" with other schools in battles of panzerfen.

However, the tank battles are amazing. Each episode has this odd mix of tension and moe that seem to be balanced perfectly. It's always interesting to see how the undertanked and under experienced Oarai Girls Academy uses strategy to win their matches.

The characters are all pretty decent. None of them except Miho (who starts off by hating tank operating for story reasons) get any development, but they all have a certain charm to them. A lot of them are rather cliched, but mesh together very well.

The antagonist (other school) characters are varied and each represents a different country and brings new obstacles for the characters. No tank battle is the same!

The animation is kinda middling. In the first episode (among the only episodes with no tank battles) there is not really much to see, but parts of the tank battle they really used more of the budget on it especially later on as the show gained a lot of traction in Japan. The music that plays is very military (like anthem like or old patriotic stuff) which usually represents the country they are fighting. It's not spectacular, but fits very well.

Girls Und Panzer hits most of its targets. It has an inoffensive cast and compelling tank battles. The quality of episodes stays the same or gets better with each one meaning there is not a lot of let down as far as the show goes. I salute this anime.

smith.hortense - 2013-06-26 02:20:00

Something that I have discovered whilst watching Girls Und Panzer is that trying to convince people that it is genuinely a fantastic show is nigh on impossible. I don't blame them, if someone had told me before I watched it that I'd be rating it an 8 and calling it a highlight of the year then I would have greeted them with a doubting look, wondering whether they were joking or whether they just had bad taste.It's obvious why there's so much doubt, it's the premise. Cute girls driving tanks immediately brings up memories of shows of "cute girls doing cute things" or of "Cute girls doing [insert unusual activity here]", both have which rarely produce anything other than mediocrity at best. With this overwhelming abundance of poor shows, the ability to believe that Girls Und Panzer could be anything other is incredibly difficult.Believe me though, Girls und Panzer is really the diamond in the rough.The natural question here is what sets it apart from the rest? To put it simply, it is its comedy, its earnestness, its action, but above all its execution. Girls und Panzer is a show with a ridiculous premise and setting, the show acknowledges this and embraces it to deliver great comedy. No matter how ridiculous the happenings or plot points, like friendly tank battles being held in town centres, or a man thinking it's good luck that a tank crushed his shop, it plays it straight and just lets you enjoy it, without it pointing the joke out to make sure you got it. It mocks clichés by putting them into stupid contexts and then blowing them completely out of proportion. There will always be something there to make you laugh, the humour of the show is very consistent, and though it's not the biggest draw of the show, it's what helps to make the show so enjoyable.The characters are incredibly likable and work perfectly within the context of the show. There are a large number of characters, but every single one, whether it be someone on the Panzer squad or someone on the opposing team, will bring a smile to your face at some point. These aren't deep characters, but they don't need to be, they often have stupid and ridiculous traits, but that's the point, whether it be the girl who also sits on her lieutenants shoulders to put her above everyone because she's got a complex about being childlike, or the vice president who's usually calm and collected who goes crazy when she's battling in the tanks, they bring enjoyment by being so stupid.The really surprising aspect about Girls und Panzer is how realistic yet still ridiculous the tank battles are. The people who choreographed the battles obviously knew the tanks involved inside out, providing startlingly realistic battles, all whilst the tanks are running around coloured bright pink or with Edo period flags. The battles are amazing in how much the intelligence of the realism and tactics conflicts with the bizarre and absurd nature of events. You will be entertained, and there is sometime genuine tension in the battles, especially the later ones. The animation of the battles improves greatly as the series progresses, in earlier episodes the CGI looks awkward, but by the end it's much better and used very well with solid animation, providing fast exciting action. The camera angles are done very well, particularly in the last showdown where I can only say they were perfectly done.The animation as a whole started off fairly average, but as the episode count increases it's obvious that the budget increased significantly, by the end the animation was excellent, it's visually appealing and there are no mistakes or off model characters. The soundtrack was strong on the whole, with some great military marches and themes that really added to the scenes and battles. The voice acting was strong, making sure to keep everything straight (and often hilariously over the top) so that the humour was conveyed correctly. The opening "Dream Riser" is an uplifting track which suits the series well, and the ending "ENTER ENTER Mission" is generic but rather catchy.Overall, I'm not saying that Girls und Panzer is the best show out there, but it executes what it's trying to do flawlessly. The show plays everything so honestly and with such earnest that you cannot be cynical about it, but wish to enjoy the show like it wants you too. This show is really the height of entertainment, and during the weeks that I watched it, despite myself I grew to love the show more and more.You may still be doubtful that Girls und Panzer is the brilliant show I'm painting it to be, but I whole heartedly recommend you go and give it a try, as it really is pure and enjoyable entertainment at its best.

yoshiko.quigley - 2013-05-31 02:13:19

There are no spoilers in this review
Girls und panzer is one of those anime like Initial D or Broken Blade which are highly appealing to my interests. When I first heard about it, I heard it compared to K-On! What I am glad about is that it ended up not being like K-on! at all. It was its own show in its own right and I liked it a lot.

Story
When it comes down to story, you are probably going to find Girls und Panzer a bit predictive. But frankly, what made this show great in my eyes wasn't the story. It was the action and it was the preparation for the action which peaked my interests the most.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story a lot as well, but it was predictive.
The strong points about the story where the details and not the big picture. The small details where the social interaction, the talk about tanks and the action whilst the overall view was the plot of the story.

I came to this show for the tanks and cute girls and it certainly delivered. The small amounts of technical talk and tactic/strategy talk was an added bonus which added to my enjoyment of the show.

I remember at certain points thinking to myself, you should move your tanks in this way if you want to win and I was glad to see sometimes that's what happened. It made me feel competent in my own knowledge base, but it was equally as exciting to see them [Miho and her team] do something unpredictable and pull off great feats.

My admiration of all these things may be a bit childish, I admit, but I feel no guilt or shame enjoying this and I certainly won't take back anything I have said. Basically I enjoyed the story greatly and I think this will be one of those anime which I will re-watch a lot and stay in my top 5 favorites (but just maybe). 

Tech
I'd like to keep this section short, but I don't think it will pan out that way. Anyway, the technical side of things. I overall found the animation, art, sound, effects and CGI to be of high quality, generally speaking. But it's not perfect.

I found again being annoyed by the under detailed faces and profile shots which seem to be a lot more common in more modern anime. It's not a trend I enjoy and I appreciate a bit more detail, which is one of the reasons I like the 90's art styles the most. It sure is a little thing to pick at but its one of those thing which some of us don't like.

But other than that I was impressed with the art of the show. The CGI was of quality and suited the show well. I'd even go to say the CGI and 2D animation blending was almost flawless. The visual special effects I think could have been been better I think. Besides the noses I think it's the lowest factor about the art of the show. Which at this point is probably just knick picking.

The audio and sound selection was much to my liking. No complaints about them from me. The Opening and Ending had great music to them and the OST was highly enjoyable for me.

Characters
Characterization in this show was good in my opinion. There are a lot of characters in this show and I think a lot of them developed well. It was enjoyable seeing friendships being formed on the field and off the field, and it's always good seeing members of different teams getting along and being good sportsmen.

It's one of those anime where I don't think there is a single despicable character in it. There are some which are unpleasant at times but it seems to be a very sort of lovey dovey kind of world. I know this alone would be enough for some people to not enjoy it as much, but for me it made the show all that more enjoyable.

Conclusion
I just have to say this is the longest review I have written for a single show and that alone is an achievement in my books. I just had so much more to say about why I liked this show than anything else I watched. That being said, it's a show with flaws. It isn't perfect and they are the most obvious in the story. But if you can get past that I think you will enjoy it.

If you have a thing for tanks, this is the show for you. There is a lot more tank action than there is to be expected. The last battle went for around 30-40 minutes and was divided up between 3 episodes. The action is not lacking and it's refined. This is a great light-hearted show about determination and fighting spirit in a sportsman like fashion.

My enjoyment of the show and the relevance to my interest did bump up my score for the show.

Score 8/10