Hmm...moe...tanks? Wait, what? Such a thing actually exists? Yes. Yes, it actually does! Although, actually referring to the girls being moe and the tanks just being used, it still makes up for quite the combination!
Story (8/10)
To most this will be brushed off as your generic "high-school sports" anime with something bad happening to the school/club if things end up the wrong (read: bad) way. And even though it could be considered generic, it's still likable and I personally liked it.
The sport however, is a unique one. Rather than the regular sports we know of nowadays, this one involves the use of tanks. And no
...
worries, safety is assured! Well...90% of course. It's still a sport!
The teams fight against each others with tank teams and the rules are simple: Take down the Flagtank and it's over. It's as simple as it can get. However, strategy, as with almost eveything, is the key to success. And the way it's done is very close, if not actually accurate, to actual military warfare.
Two recap episodes are thrown in between, giving the viewer accurate and detailed information about what is actually involved and what is actually happening in our little world and who or what everyone likes/does. Will elaborate more on this part in the character part.
Art (10/10)
The animation is enjoyable and doesn't have (as far as I could detect) flaws. What made me give the show a high score on art is it's splendid CG (Computer Graphics for those who are unfamiliar with the term), especially with the tanks. Whilst to some it may not seem that spectacular, it's still pretty amazing.
What also intrigues me is the fact that, the actual animation (the characters) aren't mixed up into the CG as well. They might not pop up as much in the battles (as you'll mostly see only 1 person standing out of the tank), rather than doing the characters in 3D, they are blended/mixed superbly with the 3D. This makes their animation not "too awkward" for some people and still enjoyable to those who can be a little bit nit-picky on the details.
Sound (10/10)
As tastes differ, I personally liked the OP and ED mainly because it's catchy and fits the "moe" theme of the anime. The anime as whole however, has well-fitting BGM (to those unfamiliar with the term: BackGroundMusic). Since the anime is conneted with tank warfare, it contains tons of "army-ish" background music. This gives you (at least, it did to me) a feeling of true military involvement.
And that's not actually it. Even the respective nations receive their respective themes! The English have an elegant and noble sound, while the Americans have an active and cheerful (military) "parade-ish" play. The Germans have a respectable, "strict" soundtrack that slightly resembles them. And the Russians, they have their usual, quick-paced music. Do note that the German one is primarily focused on it's strictness and cleanness and not because the people are from Germany! The execution of giving the show a "military taste" sound is what makes them score high on my list.
However, as a side-note in the sound department: Becareful with headphones/ear plugs. They have done an overwhelming (maybe a little bit too good) job with gun fires. This may result in possible, very loud explosions/cannon fires which could possibly harm your ears (and possible enjoyment) if your volume is on the high side. This did not make me lower a point in sound as it has only such an effect if your volume is high enough to make the sound overwhelm everything.
Characters (9/10)
The characters each and all have their own uniqueness (or quirks). The MC is quite the shy-type but can be very confident at times. She is accompanied by a delicate (who wanted to add some punch to her life) lady, a love/boys obsessed girl, a tank-obsessed loner and the "I hate early mornings" yet very smart fellow teammate!
They each have their own problems. And while this is a generic something to happen when a group of people have to overcome something in an anime, it gives the viewer good enough information to understand why everyone is the way they are.
Of course, there are also the other groups since it's not just one tank per school: The Students Council, The history lovers, the 1st year class and many more. Though they don't gain as much development as the main part of the whole team, the recap episodes include information of each of them. This makes sure that we, as a viewer, won't be left with too many things to think about.
While I won't go in too much details regarding the enemies, they each resemble quite the "stereotype" of each of their respective countries. Again, do note that the German "stereotype" isn't because they are from Germany but rather the strictness and cleanness theme/characteristics from the Germans.
Personally, I'm very fond of the interactions between the characters as well as the chemistry with all of them.
Enjoyment (10/10)
As a person without expectation, I personally enjoyed this anime a lot. Considering the fact that it uses tank warfare as a sport made it, at least to me, unique compared to other sports oriented anime. The involvement of the tanks (especially the information about each tank in the recap episodes) made me enjoy military part more than I actually would have if I didn't recieve the knowledge about them and if the anime didn't casted actual importance on them. It actually gives the viewer a better understanding on why this anime is based on tanks as well as general information about tanks as a whole.
If you like moe stuff with quite some action, this anime could possibly fill you with enjoyment and I'll encourage you to pick this up and hope you'll enjoy it too!
Mar 5, 2015
Girls & Panzer
(Anime)
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Hmm...moe...tanks? Wait, what? Such a thing actually exists? Yes. Yes, it actually does! Although, actually referring to the girls being moe and the tanks just being used, it still makes up for quite the combination!
Story (8/10) To most this will be brushed off as your generic "high-school sports" anime with something bad happening to the school/club if things end up the wrong (read: bad) way. And even though it could be considered generic, it's still likable and I personally liked it. The sport however, is a unique one. Rather than the regular sports we know of nowadays, this one involves the use of tanks. And no ... |
