Girls Und Panzer has a lot of characters. Almost the entirety of the show consists of high school girls operating tanks and fighting in the Tankery games. Tankery is an old martial art that is practiced at schools and throughout the nation, the martial art also known as Sensha-Dou. There are different teams and schools that partake in this martial art. Girls Und Panzers' characters are in the Tankery club in Ooarai High School, and have been divided into five sub-teams of three to five girls each. The most important group and focal point of the show is the Anglerfish team of Ooarai High school, who commands the Panzer IV. Here are the main characters, and a little information about them.
Main Characters
Miho Nishizumi
Miho is one of the first characters viewers are introduced to and serves as the main protagonist of the series. Miho hails from a long line of successful Tankery practitioners. Her mother is a distinguished instructor and her sister is a prodigy. In her past she was involved in Tankery, but wanted to stay away from it when she went away to high school. She chose this school because it didn't offer Tankery. Unfortunately for her, her past followed her to Ooarai High School as Tankery became a new elective class for all students to take. Miho was ecstatic to make new friends and had a very happy-go-lucky attitude in regards to starting school and making new friends. When she first meets her main friends, they have no idea about her past experience in Tankery. During a student assembly, the student council shows a Tankery recruitment video, something that looks straight out of a propaganda film. The girls are all fired up and want to join the new program. Miho wants to avoid this at all costs and tells her friends she is going to sign up for something else. These girls really like Miho, so they follow her. That is, until the student council tries to force Miho to do it because they know about her past. During a heated argument between her friends defending her decision and the student council trying to persuade her, comes a telling moment of Miho's character. She knows her new friends really want to do the Tankery class and she makes the personal sacrifice to try Tankery again.
This proves to be a great decision, as Miho has all the necessary skills to be an excellent leader. She has a familial background in the discipline, not to mention being called graceful, modest, and polite, all good attributes for a leader. Miho is a good friend who gives advice when needed, especially in times of battle. She has two different sides to her when she's practicing Sensha-Dou. Decisions come easily to her, and she has confidence in her plans and leading the others around her. As the commander of all the teams at her school, it's up to her to make the right decision under pressure. Miho is very decisive when she's in command, but not when she's outside of the game. For example when she started school she was shy and apprehensive when meeting new people. All of this indecisiveness subsides as she grows into her role as a leader.
Throughout the series Miho must also contend with the disapproval of her mother. Miho is an excellent practitioner of Tankery yet her mother never gives her praise. Her mother is a hard person to please because she is one of the most legendary players of Sensha-Dou there is. Miho lives in the shadows of her mother and sister, who is also incredible. Miho eventually learns to make it off of her own skills and become a force of her own, not tied down to her family legacy.
Saori Takebe
Saori Takebe is one of the first friends Miho makes. She is part of the Panzer IV team. Saori has long reddish hair and brown eyes, and sometimes wears glasses. Her role is the radio operator of the team, even though at first she was adamant about being the leader of the squad. She realizes in the middle of the first battle that she'd be better suited elsewhere. Saori isn't afraid to boast, and always goes on about her expertise in different subjects, even though most of it is all talk. She's a great friend to Miho and they get along well. She considers herself an expert on men and talks about all of her boyfriends, mentioning once that she has a boyfriend at every port. During the Sensha-Dou assembly they said that girls would become the best they could be if they joined up. Saori constantly went about how it would make her and her friends even more popular with the boys. A funny moment was when they found their first abandoned tank during training in an old garage. She started realizing this wasn't as glamorous as it seemed and she'd have to put in some hard work. To her credit, Saori does stick with it and learns to enjoy the sport for what it was.
A recurring theme that is prevalent early on is the fact that Saori is lying about many of her exploits. Any time she mentions something about boys, the girls will call her out on it. Saori enjoys cute things and wants to paint their tank a color after they all fix them up. She isn't afraid to put pillows in the tank and decorate the inside of their Panzer IV, even though Miho wasn't all for it. Their tank is one of the only tanks not to be painted a different color, much to her dismay.
Hana Isuzu
Isuzu is also one of Miho's first friends in Ooarai. Hana Isuzu has long black hair and is a tall slender girl. She is is the gunner of Panzer IV. On their first practice run, Hana was the driver for the team. After a few shots were fired she decided she wanted to be the gunner instead. The sound of the guns firing was exhilarating to her and stirred something new in her she had never felt. Hana has a complicated background that led her to take Sensha-Dou as an elective. Like Miho, her family has a legacy in a discipline, and and in the Isuzu clan's case, it is flower arrangement. The reason she gets such a kick out of Sensha-Dou is its contrast to arranging flowers, which has a more peaceful activity, as opposed to the adrenaline pumping excitement operating a tank gives her. Hana can get emotional at times and joined the Tankery class to get a different feeling and perspective on life.
Hana is exceptionally skilled in different disciplines. She knows the ins and outs of flower arrangement, and has a keen sense for it. She can smell the difference between flowers from far away even if it's mixed with the scent of rust and oil. This skill surprised a lot of her friends as they didn't know she was that gifted. Hana easily becomes of the best gunners in the school. She is able to hit fast moving targets and learn from her mistakes. Practicing Sensha-Dou gives her the extra drive that she needed to improve in other aspects of her life. However, it's not all just roses and stopping to smell the flowers for Hana; she has some difficulties with her family, specifically her mother, who opposes her learning Tankery. Hopefully she will get the intended response she wanted from her mother by displaying her passions.
Yukari Akiyama
Yukari is first seen following the aforementioned trio and hiding behind a tree. Miho notices that she is following them and invites her to come look for tanks. Thus begins the core four team of the Panzer IV. Yukari is first seen as withdrawn and unsocial. That is until the advent of Sensha-Dou. She is ecstatic to join up in the class and it's stated that she is like two entirely different people. Some of the background of Yukari is that she has had a love for tanks her entire life. She has studied everything there is to know about them. Yukari is also incredibly happy that she gets to serve under Miho and be her friend. She looks up to Miho because of her background and family lineage. Prior to meeting Miho she knew about her and was interested in everything she did that involved Sensha-Dou, her admiration for Miho runs deep. Her role in the team is the loader and she plays a vital role supporting the team and getting the rounds in for Hana to shoot off.
Yukari's knowledge is an important contribution to the group because it gets them out of a lot of binds. Her knowledge base stems from her intense study of tanks as a child and almost obsessive hobby. It can also be taken note that she is a purist about tanks because of how much she knows. She knows all the differences and minute details about a variety of tanks. She gets mad when the Ooarai High School girls all paint their tanks different colors because she feels this ruins the integrity of the tank.
Mako Rezei
Rezei is the strangest and most eccentric of the group. Rezei is first seen stumbling and falling on her way to school. Miho is visibly worried and helps Rezei get to school that morning. She is thankful for that and it's revealed that she's been late for school for the past 240 days. Even though she is always late and has these strange qualities, Rezei is gifted and one of the smartest students there. This doesn't show in her grades or studies, but in her ability to easily learn about topics and apply them to anything.
Rezei unknowingly joins the Panzer IV team as the last and final member. During one of their first practice matches against the other teams in their school, she is sleeping with a book over her face. The group almost runs her over as they are driving by. She jumps up on top of the tank and gets in. During this time Hana was still the driver and when they got shot from another tank, she passed out. Rezei take the reins and starts driving the tank. Miho exclaims that she didn't know that Rezei could drive tanks. Nonchalantly, Rezei says she didn't know how to drive a tank and just learned it on the spot by reading the manual. After this display of ease and expertise she maneuvers the tank and allows for her team to take out the remaining tanks. After this they go back to base and the instructor congratulates everyone on a job well done. In typical Rezei fashion she leaves saying she's not studying Sensha-Dou. They convince her to do it because it will raise her marks as she is seriously behind and how it will make her grandmother proud. Begrudgingly she complies and decides to stay with the team even after it is revealed that they will have a 6AM match against a rival school, even though she hates waking up early and finds it an annoyance and impossibility to wake up and function that early.
High Schools & Teams
Girls Und Panzer's core characters make up just one team of the Ooarai Girls High School team. There are even more varied groups in that school alone and the other schools that they compete against. Here is the list of some other teams that makeup Ooarai's squad as well as other schools and some of their leaders and stand out characters.
Ooarai Girls High School
This high school serves as the main character's school and place of residence. At the start of the series, Ooarai Girls High School just recently brought back their Sensha-Dou elective. Miho's leadership is an integral part of the new teams. One of the first important teams is the Turtle team. This group consists of the student council president and the other leaders. They operate a Panzer 38(t) that they originally painted bright yellow gold, before changing it to a more practical green. Anzu, is the main leader and also president of the student council. She is one of the reasons that Miho ended up joining up in with them. Her leadership isn't all there as she sometimes gets lazy. Though in times of need she proves herself useful as a leader.
The next team of note is the Hippo Team. They are led by Erwin. Just as the other teams negated the fact that bright colors would be a hindrance to strategic advantage, this team did the same as the put up flashy banners on their tank. This got them annihilated in one of their first tank battles. After a few battles most of the teams changed their colors to neutrals with their individual team logo on it, making them more effective and professional. Their leader walks around with a military hat on, and knows all the history about European warfare and tanks. She can be over-confident because of her knowledge and is often seen boasting.
The other two teams to take note of are the Duck and Rabbit teams. Again they painted their tanks bright colors before abandoning that for something more intelligent. One group consists of entirely volleyball players, the duck team. The rabbits are a good addition to the school as their leader follows all orders within a moments notice. By the finals a few other teams join up with them, like the automotive team who were just there for restoration for a while. The viewers will be rooting for Ooarai's teams to win, because there is something that could change this entire school's existence if they are not victorious. The stakes are high.
St. Gloriana Girls High School.
This school is one of the first that the Ooarai girls face in a practice battle. They are known for being refined, and possessing class and sophistication. During their first battle they are seen drinking tea in the tanks. Their school is rich and funded by the alumni associations. This team is prestigious and has won a good amount of tournaments giving them a distinguished reputation. During their first battle they do not underestimate the team and try their best to have a good match and destroy them without playing dirty.
Their leader's name is Darjeeling. She has blonde hair and is the perfect representative for her school as she has all the qualities of a high class lady. In their battle she is honorable and says some common phrases like "All is fair in love and war" when fighting.
Kuromorimine Girls High School
Kuromorimine is the top school for Sensha-Dou. They were the reigning champions for years until something that Miho did while she attended Kuromorimine stopped them from winning. Miho's older sister, Maho, still goes to school there－one of the reasons she originally sought out a place that wasn't offering Sensha-Dou. This school has a strict training regime and does not want to be anything but the best they can be. They pride themselves on their eliteness and set a standard to what is considered the top way to practice Sensha-Dou.
Maho is the head leader of their team and the most important character of note residing at this school. The backstory is that Miho used to be at this school with her, but during a battle she left her tank to rescue a drowning group. This ended up costing them the match and Miho wanted nothing to do with Sensha-Dou anymore. Like Hana, Miho and Maho's mother is incredibly invested in the Sensha-Dou lifestyle and almost thinks of disowning her daughter Miho. She feels that Miho is operating out of pure luck and doesn't have the talent that their family possesses when playing this sport. Maho is a complicated person as she can seem cold and calculated on the outside, while she has a softer interior because she wants to protect her younger sister. Sensha-Dou is an integral part to all of their lives and they learn more about themselves and each other through the process of playing the games.
Overall, the amount of characters is vast and encompasses many different types of personalities. There are some similarities as a lot of these girls want the glory and popularity that comes with playing such a prestigious and intense game. Also other girls are trying to live up to their mothers' legacies and at the same time trying to pursue their own dreams. Sensha-Dou brings them all together and lets them learn more about sportsmanship, cooperation, and competition. Proving that this game is more than just that is a force that keeps them together and helps them find who they truly are.
