| Spoiler warning! This Wiki contains detailed information regarding the Girls und Panzer universe. Proceed with Caution! |
| Continuation High School |
- "Continuation High School was a tough nut to crack, even for Kuromorimine."
- ―Miho Nishizumi
Continuation High School (Japanese: 継続高校, keizoku kōkō; Finnish: Jatkosota lukio), also known as Jatkosota High School or Keizoku High School, (i.e. Continuation War High Scool) is one of the main schools in Girls und Panzer. First appearing in Der Film, they also makes a few appearances in Ribbon Warrior and Phase Erika. The school has its most famous participation in Girls und Panzer das Finale as one of the opponents of Ooarai Girls' Academy in the semi-finals of the winter tournament. They also have their own spin-off manga, called The Way of the Meal.
Overview[]
Behavior & Policy[]
Continuation is a relatively isolated school that seems to interact sparingly with other schools compared to their peers. Drawing inspiration from Finnish tank models for their Sensha-dō lineup has left Continuation with very limited options. The smaller size of their school places strict financial limits on their arsenal, and thus students prefer to invest in upgrades to their existing tanks as opposed to buying new ones. In order to acquire new vehicles, Continuation crews have a habit of stealing tanks from their rivals and using them for themselves, this has lead to (ongoing) disputes with other schools, and has further contributed to Continuation's outcast status.
Continuation's students could be described as shy and reserved. They are patient and prefer solitude, but they are also honest and moral, and once they become friends, they tend to be extremely friendly. They are also good listeners, and rarely initiate conversations; so it is not uncommon for time to pass without any conversation even when several people gather together. They do, however, put a lot of effort into education in the fields of culture and the arts, and can be very talkative in these areas. They are very skilled in maintenance and even scrap vehicles can be made to work properly, they are also considered to be highly skilled gunners and drivers. They are also known to made Christmas market to promote Finnish food and pastries.
Materiel[]
Continuation is sporting a wide variety of tanks from different countries modified with more powerful engines, such as French Renault FTs, English Vickers 6-tons, Soviets T-26, BT-5, BT-7, T-34/76, T-34/85, T-28 and KV-1 (given by Pravda in a training match), German Panzer IVJ and Sturmi (Finnish name for the StuG III) and a single BT-42 (a Soviet BT-7 with a modified 114 mm howitzer). They also have one Type 95 Ha-Go stolen from Chi-Ha-Tan during the Cauldron Tournament. There is also rumors that they managed to steal a KV-2 from Pravda but this in unconfirmed.
Tactics[]
To compensate the lack of firepower of the majority of their tanks, they mostly rely on mobility to attack enemy tanks from the side and rear, and engage at very close ranges while their more powerful tanks provide them covering fire.
Continuation's tactics are very dependent of the environments. While their forté is fighting in cold snowy environment, they are less efficient in hot and dry environment.
Continuation's Schoolship
Schoolship[]
Their actual schoolship is based on late 19th century icebreakers. The schoolship is covered with high mountains and forests, they also transformed the ship's mast into a huge tree.
Uniform[]
Continuation's schoolgirl uniform consists of a hooded sky blue sweater with vertical white stripes with a white collared shirt worn under, a grey pleated skirt and a pair of loafers. Socks or legwear aren't regulated and depends on personal tastes.
Continuation's senshado uniform consists of light blue tracksuit with grey sleeves and collar with a white imprint of the school's kanji (継) on the left side of the chest, a grey pleated skirt and a pair of brown short boots.
Background[]
In 1782, Daikokuya Kodayu was washed ashore by a storm in the Russian Aleutian Islands, and the Finnish-born naturalist Kirill Laxman took him under his protection. After receiving great assistance from Laxman to return to Japan, Kodayu visited Saint Petersburg to ask the Empress Catherine II for permission to return. He returned to Japan with Kirill's son, Adam. Adam was the first Russian envoy to Japan and arrived in Nemuro in February 1792. This was the first exchange between Finland and Japan. However, at that time Finland was a Swedish territory. On this occasion, the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia failed, but sporadic exchanges with Finland continued after that. Particularly, when Finland gained independence in 1917, Japan actively supported the Finnish independence movement, and in 1919, Japan sent the first resident envoy from Asia to Finland.
This support had been provided via the Trans-Siberian Railway, but gradually it became more and more focused on ships and the search for the shortest possible Arctic Sea route. In fact, in 1879, the Finnish scholar and adventurer Nordenskiold reached Japan via the Arctic Ocean Passage. However, the construction of icebreakers was slow on the Japanese side. In the end, an icebreaker purchased from Germany and named "Hakusan Maru" was moored at Kanazawa Port and used several times to transport goods to Finland. However, the length of time the Arctic Sea route could be used was too brief for stable trade, as even icebreakers could not pass through when the route froze over in the winter. In the end, the Hakusan Maru remained tied up in Kanazawa harbor and later became the first school ship of Continuation High School. The reasons for this was that the climate of Ishikawa Prefecture was similar to that of Finland, and many Finns had originally settled in the prefecture, with the port of Kanazawa being used as a base for Finnish trade even after the Arctic Sea route was discontinued.
Continuation High School its port in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is a relatively small school compared to the other main schools but it has a very active senshado program.
Training Match against Kuromorimine[]
Just before the 62nd Sensha-Dō Tournament, Continuation faced Kuromorimine Girls Academy for a training match. Their force was composed of a T-34/76 (flag tank), a T-34/85, a Sturmi, a Panzer IV Ausf.J, a T-26, two BT-5s, a BT-7, their BT-42 and a T-28. Their first move was to take Kuromorimine tanks in a pincer movement forcing them to go in defensive formation then using Mika and her BT-squad to harass them and disrupt their formation, their BT-7 immobilizing their Jagdpanzer IV in the process. However seeing her tactic fruitless Touko ordered a retreat, the BT-squad being followed by Miho, Erika and Koume while the rest persued being persued by the main force. Touko unleashed a torment of water by destroying a natural dam, Bauer and her Panther managed to pass but was overkilled by the two T-34s, the BT-5 and the Panzer IV while the rest was isolated. The BT-squad lured the Tiger, Tiger II and the Panther to their vice-commander Lili and her T-28 leaving their BT-5 while the BT-42 and the BT-7 regrouped with the main force, after a fierce fight the BT-5 and the T-28 were destroyed not without taking out Erika and Koume while Miho regrouped with her besieged forces. On her side Touko and her forces managed to take out the Panzer III while their BT-5 was taked out by Maho, the reunited BT-squad charged Kuromorimine's forces when the BT-7 was destroyed by a Panther and the BT-42 used a slope to jump and deliver a trap shot on the Tiger II. The tide turned when BT-42 ultimately attempted to reiterate the operation but was intercepted in the air by Miho and when the water level lowered allowing Kuromorimine's forces to cross the river destroying all remaning Continuation tanks.
63rd National High School Sensha-Dō Tournament[]
Against Blue Division[]
- Main article: Jatkosota High School vs. Blue Division High School
Continuation participated in the 63rd National High School Sensha-Dō Tournament and faced Blue Division High School as their first opponent. Their force was composed of the BT-42, one Sturmi, one Panzer IV Ausf.J, two T-34s (one 76 and 85), one T-26, two BT-5s and two BT-7s. Continuation was able to completely outmanoeuvre their opponents on the snowy and muddy battlefield, by trapping their enemy in a corridor sandwiching them between two forces, blocking their progression with the T-34s, the Panzer IV and the Sturmi while the BT-squad performed a pincer movement to bust their back, ultimately annihilating them.
Against Kuromorimine[]
- Main article: Kuromorimine Girls Academy vs. Jatkosota High School
Advancing to the quarter-finals brought Continuation to face Kuromorimine Girls Academy, the runner-ups in the previous year's tournament. Fielding the same tanks as in the first round, the match was fought on a featureless desert, which greatly favoured the opposition's preferred doctrine of battle. However Continuation's tankcrews were able to accustomed themselves to drift on sand, their bigger tanks provided the BT-squad covering from behind a dune allowing Mika and the BT-squad to destroy two Panthers and one Panzer III and ultimately their driving skills were no match for the Kuromorimine tanks' superior quality and all their tanks were destroyed leaving only Mika standing. She fought to the bitter end until she ultimately taken down, eliminating them from the tournament but forging them quite a reputation.
Saving Ooarai[]
After the news of Ooarai's decommission and the reincarnation match against the All-Stars University Team's team had been released to the public, Mika responded to Darjeeling's SOS about joining forces to support Ooarai. They planned to bring more tanks but according to Mika as she was unable to locate her schoolship she could only bring their BT-42. They were assigned to Team Dandelion.
Battling the University[]
- Main article: Battle for Ooarai
During the battle Continuation initially partook in the action alongside Team Dandelion but was unable to make an impact due to the long engagement range, however they saw their most meaningful contribution as part of Acorn Platoon, alongside Anzio's CV.33 and Turtle Team's Hetzer, a strike force sent behind enemy lines to eliminate the university's Karl-Gerät 040. The BT-42 ambushed and lured away the Karl's escort of three M26 Pershings, allowing the rest of the platoon to attack and destroy the self-propelled artillery weapon and took care of the three Pershings not without be put out of commission too.
Cauldron Tournament[]
Continuation girls were used as Yojimbos by Chihatan Academy during the Cauldron Tournament's fifth match against Maple High School in exchange of onigiris and rice. Chihatan lent them a Type 95 Ha-Go, during the match they climbed on the top of a tall building providing intels to Fukuda that allowed them to defeat Maple. After the match, Mika, Aki and Mikko left not without taking the lent Ha-Go with them.
Commemorative Cup[]
Continuation participated to the Commemorative Cup, where they beaten an unknown opponent during the first round and also managed to beat Ooarai during the quarter-finals. It's however unknown how they progressed for the rest of the tournament.
41st Winter Continuous Track Cup[]
Against Yogurt[]
Continuation participated in the 41st Winter Continuous Track Cup and faced Yogurt Academy as their first opponent. Their force was composed of their BT-42 and nine unknown tanks (divided into six models of tanks). Near the end of the match the BT-42 was seen charging at four LT vz.38, after it rammed the front tank making it flip on the side, it give the BT-42 a clear shot on the enemy flag tank's rear armor.
Against Saunders[]
Advancing to the quarter-finals brought Continuation to face Saunders University High School. Their force was composed of their BT-42 as flag tank, eight T-26s and one unknown tank. During it match, their T-26s were seen exchanging fire with Saunders tanks alongside her T-26s, after losing three T-26s, the BT-42 retreat with another T-26 and two escaped through a hangar where one was gunned down by the Firefly. After Mika get rid of its tracks and proceed to aim at the flag tank, she destroyed one Sherman that shielded Alisa in the process. It acted as a bait for Alisa and two other Shermans that were destroyed one by two T-26s lying in ambush and another one by the BT-42, however the three ambushing T-26s were destroyed by Alisa, Naomi and Kay coming to rescue. But unknown to Saunders Mika's goal was to lure them into a killzone where Jouko sniped down their flag tank.
Against Ooarai[]
- Main article: Ooarai Girls Academy vs. Jatkosota High School
Advancing to the semi-finals brought Continuation to face Oarai Girls' Academy. Their force was composed of their BT-42 as flag tank, nine T-26s, three T34-76s, one KV-1, and one Sturmi. They started the match by harassing Oarai tanks making them retreat to a nearby village and setup a defense perimeter. After they lured Oarai tanks outside the village, leaving only Miho and Anteater Team inside, one T-26 escorting the flag-tank was destroyed, but five T-26s lying in ambush in the village hidden in snowmen launched an attack attempting to destroy the enemy flag tank, but two were shot down by the Panzer IV and couldn't prevent the two tanks escaping. Anglerfish Team destroyed the three remaining pursuing T-26s, neutralizing two with a single shot, but unknown to them they were watched by Jouko who sniped down the Panzer IV from a kilometer away leaving the flag tank defenseless. <TBC Das Finale 4>
Notable Members[]
Continuation has five known students of note:
Mika[]
- Main article: Mika
She is the overall commander of the school. She speaks very calmly and always carries her kantele (Finnish instrument) around with her, often seen playing it even during matches. She is a capable tactician as well as a cunning opportunist, and often steals (or borrows, as she likes to call it) tanks and other provisions from other schools including Pravda and Chi-Ha-Tan. She is the commander & radio operator of the BT-42.
Aki[]
- Main article: Aki
The gunner & loader of the BT-42. She is a practical and hardworking girl. She has great faith in her commander, but is often the unfortunate victim of the latter's cryptic statements, many of which are more complex than the meanings they contain.
Mikko[]
- Main article: Mikko
She is the driver of the BT-42. She is impulsive, hot-blooded and eccentric. She's a very capable driver as during the Battle for Ooarai, she manages to drive the tank even after losing the tracks, quickly replacing the steering levers with a steering wheel and outmaneuvering several enemy tanks allowing Aki to knock out three of them before the BT-42 itself is knocked out. She also drives an Uisko-class landing craft.
Jouko[]
- Main article: Jouko
She is a gunner of a Sturmi (Finnish-modified StuG III). She possesses superb aiming skills: she sniped the enemy flag tank in the match against Saunders, and later, during the match against Ooarai, a Panzer IV from around a kilometer away and a Hetzer. However, she is also prone to being easily baited as during that same match, she fell for Asuza's baiting tactics and was knocked out by Hippo Team. She is also referred to by her nickname: The White Witch.
Yuri[]
Main article: Yuri
KV-1 Commander. She plays an accordion, performing a duet with Mika's kantele during the match against Ooarai.
Tami[]
Main article: Tami
T-26 Commander.
Tomi[]
Main article: Tomi
T-26 Driver.
Reino[]
Main article: Reino
T-34 Commander.
Ari[]
Main article: Ari
T-34 Driver.
Rumi[]
- Main article: Rumi
She was a member of the school before being recruited into the All-Stars University Team.
Secondary Members[]
Touko[]
She is the former overall commander of the school. She is very eccentric, out of control and wears something resembling of martian antennas on her head. She is also the commander of a T-34/76.
Asuko[]
She is the gunner of Touko's T-34.
Lili[]
She is the former vice-commander of the school. She is the complete opposite of Touko and seems to be very irritated with her commander's behavior. She is also the commander of a T-28.
Vehicles Operated[]
Tanks[]
- BT-42
- Pz.Kpfw IV Ausf.J
- Sturmi (Finnish version of StuG III Ausf.G)
- T-34/76 m1943
- T-34/85 m1944
- T-26
- T-28
- BT-5
- BT-7
- Vickers 6-Ton
- FT-17
- KV-1 (Given by Pravda)
- KV-2 (
Stolen fromBorrowed from Pravda) (Mentioned in Dream Tank Match - canonicity disputed) - Type 95 Ha-Go (
Stolen fromGifted by Chi-Ha-Tan)
Non-fighting vehicles[]
Symbols[]
Emblem[]
Continuation High School flag, seen in Ds Finale 3
The Continuation emblem is a three-pointed shield with blue and sky colors (the latter appearing predominantly on the shield). Inside the shield is the kanji letter 継 (Continuation) in black and a white border.
Flag[]
The Continuation flag is composed of a gray background with the school emblem in the center. It is seen in Das Finale 3, on the screen of the match between Oarai and Continuation.
Theme Music[]
Trivia[]
- Continuation High School is mentioned in OVA 6 when Mika sends a congratulatory letter to Ooarai Girls Academy.
- Continuation's school ship is based off of the Hakusan Maru, a WWI freighter previously known as USS Federal (and later Federlock) before it was captured by the Japanese in 1941.
- An instrumental version of Säkkijärven Polkka is also played by Mika on her Kantele in the movie.
- The girls who crew the BT-42 (Mikko, Aki and Mika) have male names despite being female, although they sound female in Japanese.
- Although considered to be a generally weaker school than the other schools seen in the anime, there are multiple references to the Continuation Sensha-dō team's strength:
- In the Anzio OVA, Miho comments that Continuation proved a difficult opponent for her and Maho during a practice match with Kuromorimine Girls Academy
- In the spin-off manga Girls und Panzer: Little Army Two, Ooarai is said to be defeated by the Continuation High School team.
- In Girls und Panzer der Film, All-Stars University Team's lieutenant Rumi is a product of the Continuation Sensha-dō team.
- In Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 4, Klara mentioned that Pravda had been defeated by Continuation in a friendly match and had sustained "a total defeat." A KV-1 was given to Continuation due to a bet that Katyusha made. Katyusha had little memory of that event.
- In the Gekkan Senshado Magazine's despiction of the match with Kuromorimine, there is a mention from Kuromorimine's former vice-commander saying that "Continuation was a tough nut to crack even for Kuromorimine". This can be reference to the match covered in Vol.2 and 3 of phase.ERIKA manga.
- The school is mentioned to only be effective in snowy, winter conditions. Yet the BT-42 in Der Film nonetheless performs very well in a muddy, temperate environment and they also quickly learn how to operate on sand during the match against Kuromorimine Girls High School.
- The school's reputation for having accurate gunners is a reference to Simo Häyhä, a talented Finnish sniper who fought during the Winter War .
- As schools are often reflections of the WWII country they represent, tanks fielded by Finland were composed of tanks stolen from Russians and lent by Germany, so we can assume that all tanks fielded by Continuation's German tanks were lent by Kuromorimine and their Russian ones were stolen (Mika prefers the term 'borrowed') from Pravda.
- Many of the Tanks Continuation operates are among the fastest tanks of WWII but they were of foreign designs.
- There also seems to be a strange correlation between the three main girls along with the characters of the Finnish comic series as well as anime adaption of Moomin.
- During battles their tanks have the callsign Kalevala, which a 19th-century compilation of Finnish epic poetry from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Jatkosota High School/Gallery
| Schools in Girls und Panzer ☰ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Schools in The Anime Series | Anzio High School ♦ Kuromorimine Girls Academy ♦ Ooarai Girls Academy ♦ Pravda Girls High School ♦ Saunders University High School ♦ St. Gloriana Girls College | |
| Schools in Der Film | Chi-Ha-Tan Academy ♦ Jatkosota High School ♦ All-Stars University Team | |
| Schools in Das Finale | BC Freedom Academy | |
| Schools in The Mangas | Bellwall Academy ♦ Bonple High School ♦ Gilbert High School ♦ Maginot Girls' College ♦ Tategoto High School ♦ Tatenashi High School ♦ West Kureoji Grona High School | |
| Schools in Supplemental Material | Blue Division High School ♦ Count High School ♦ Gregor High School ♦ Koala Forest Academy ♦ Maple High School ♦ Viggen High School ♦ Viking Fisheries High School ♦ Waffle Academy ♦ Yogurt Academy | |