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- "I swear on the honour of the Nishizumi family, I will crush them completely"
- ―Maho Nishizumi
Episode 10 "We're Classmates!" "Kurasumeito desu!" (クラスメイトです ! ); English dub: "Classmates!", is the tenth episode of Girls und Panzer. It originally aired on December 17, 2012.
Plot[]
The final two camera shots of the Ooarai vs. Pravda semi-final match open the episode, showing the IS-2 hitting the Ooarai flag tank, Duck Team, and the snow-covered StuG III hitting the Pravda Girls High School flag tank, a T-34/76. A tense moment passes whilst the smoke clears. Then the smoking, heavily damaged Type 89B limps into view, miraculously still operational —and the T-34 shows the white flag. Ooarai celebrates their victory, and a dismayed, frustrated Katyusha honourably congratulates Miho on her unexpectedly impressive tactics, She even climbs down from Nonna's shoulders to shake hands face to face.
From afar, Shiho Nishizumi expresses displeasure at Miho's apparent lack of Nishizumi-style strength, but Maho Nishizumi stands up to her mother and asserts that Miho does have skill. Shiho is taken aback, and demands and receives from Maho the promise to utterly crush Ooarai in the tournament finals.
Ooarai resumes sensha-dō training and tank maintenance. They realise that they will need to find a way to offset Kuromorimine's overwhelming firepower advantage. Monetary donations from the school's other clubs allow them to upgrade some of their existing tanks. The Panzer 38(t) is upgraded to a Jagdpanzer 38 'Hetzer', and the Panzer IV Ausf.F2 is fitted with Schürzen spaced armour, upgrading it to the Ausf.H variant. The Porsche Tiger prototype found in Episode 7 completes its restoration process and is rushed into service under command of students of the automobile club, designated as Leopon Team. A group of video gamers experienced with an online tank simulation game join the sensha-dō club, having found a Type 3 Chi-Nu tank in a parking lot that was somehow overlooked by the search parties. These newcomers take the callsign of Anteater Team.
Miho, Saori, Yukari and Mako attend a flower arrangement exhibition in which Hana Isuzu has participated, finding her arrangement in a tank-shaped vase. At the exhibition, Hana meets Yuri Isuzu, her mother, who admires both her 'powerful' arrangement and the strength she has gained from her participation in sensha-dō, reconciling with her daughter and accepting that Ikebana and Sensha-dō can coexist.
The night before the finals, Miho addresses the Sensha-dō club for the final time, and puts aside her last attachments to her former school. The Ooarai girls spend the night making final preparations for the match, and Maho Nishizumi is seen surveying Kuromorimine's formidable panzer forces.
On the day of the finals, as they make ready at the tournament grounds, Miho is visited by the commanders each of the schools Ooarai has faced so far (with the exception of Anzio Girls High School). All of them wish her luck for the match.
As the contestants gather before the judges, Miho wilts under the condescending remarks of Erika Itsumi and the silent, icy stare of her sister. However, just after the formalities, she is approached by Koume Akaboshi, the driver of the PzKpw III that plunged into the river in the previous finals. She hasn't forgotten that Miho threw away the match to save her life, and formally gives her thanks. This restores Miho's confidence and rejuvenates her morale.
The match begins, and Ooarai moves forward towards a defensively advantageous hill, according to plan. Yet they have barely left the starting location when they come under concentrated fire from Kuromorimine tanks, who have already closed the distance and ambush the Ooarai formation from a forest using their signature blitzkrieg tactics. Scrambling to regroup under this intense introduction to the Nishizumi Style, Ooarai's flag tank, Anglerfish Team's Panzer IV, becomes exposed. Erika's Tiger II has a clear shot at the rear of the retreating Panzer IV and takes aim. Meanwhile, Anteater Team, having had little time to familiarise themselves with their tank, have trouble controlling the transmission, and accidentally send the Chi-Nu into full reverse. Erika fires on the Panzer IV, but at the last moment the reversing Chi-Nu backs into the line of fire, taking the shot in their stead. Kuromorimine thus inflicts the first casualty of the match, and Ooarai makes a retreat.
Previous episode: | Next episode: |
Episode 9
"This is a Desperate Situation!" |
Episode 10.5
"Allow Me to Introduce You 2!" |
Characters Introduced[]
- Satoko Nakajima
- Hoshino
- Suzuki
- Tsuchiya
- Nekota (Nicknamed 'Nekonya')
- Momoga
- Piyotan
- Taiga Ou
- Koume Akaboshi
Tanks Appearing[]
Main Events[]
- Ooarai Girls Academy wins the match against Pravda.
- The Panzer 38(t) is upgraded to a Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer and the Panzer IV to a PzKpw IV Ausf.H.
- Leopon Team in the Tiger (P) and Anteater Team in the Type 3 Chi-Nu join the sensha-dō club.
- Miho is greeted by the sensha-dō commanders of schools that Ooarai has faced in the previous rounds, all of whom come to wish her good luck.
- Miho is reunited with Koume Akaboshi, who thanks her for her heroics almost a year earlier.
- The grand final of the 63ʳᵈ National High School Sensha-dō Tournament begins.
- In the midst of a Kuromorimine's assault, Anteater Team suffers from transmission problems and is taken out.
Trivia[]
- During the final moments of Ooarai's match against Pravda, it is revealed that the Type 89 has merely been damaged by the IS-2 rather than flipped over or destroyed.
- This was not particularly true to real life, as that Japanese tank has armor so thin it would have been easily knocked out by the powerful 122 mm gun of the Soviet heavy tank.
- The automobile club express desire to drift their tank, a maneuver they will eventually accomplish in Girls und Panzer der Film.
- In the anime, only two tanks actually performed a tank drift. One is Anglerfish Team's Panzer IV Ausf. D, that performs it three times: first during the events of Episode 4, again during the final tank duel in Episode 12, and a third time during the final duel of Der Film; and Turtle Team's Panzer 38(t), on snow during the events of Episode 9.
- The scene where the Tiger(P) sinks in the mud is a reference to Hayao Miyazaki's manga Otto Carius: Tigers Covered With Mud where the same scene occurs.
- In the Anzio OVA, Nekonya is shown attempting to speak to Miho Nishizumi before the match against Anzio, but cannot find the courage; thus Anteater Team did not join until just prior to the final round.
- In the same OVA episode, it is revealed the reason for the Tiger (P) only being ready just in time for the finals was the difficulty in getting it out of the deep lower decks of the ship: The first attempt by the automobile club failed, dropping the chassis, detaching the turret and causing extensive damage to multiple lower decks of the school carrier in the process.
- When Miho is discussing strategy with the Student Council early in the episode, describing the formation she believes Kuromorimine will use, the force arrayed against Kuromorimine, presumeably Ooarai's team, is shown to have seven tanks. This is despite the Tiger (P) not yet being functional and the Chi-Nu not yet having been found.
- Whilst searching for more sensha-dō vehicles, Rabbit Team can be seen walking right past the Chi-Nu that is eventually used by Anteater Team. It is possible that they missed it due to distraction caused by an inappropriate-sounding comment made by Aya Oono in that moment.
- Upon hearing the proposal to upgrade the Panzer 38(t) to a Hetzer, Yuzu Koyama comments that such an endeavor is "pushing it". This is a reference to how the Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer actually has a wider hull and enhanced suspension compared to the Panzer 38(t), thus a direct upgrade would require extensive mechanical modifications on the chassis.
- The act of finding the Type 3 Chi-Nu in a parking lot is a reference to Episode 2, when Saori Takebe went searching in a parking lot, expecting to find a tank there.
- The Type 3 Chi-Nu location in the parking lot is an acknowledgement of the actual location of the sole surviving Chi-Nu, preserved at the JGSDF Ordnance School in Tsuchiura.
- The formation of Anteater Team is also the first moment at which those three video gamers have ever met in real life.
- The online computer game played by the members of Anteater Team is heavily implied to be the Wargaming MMO 'World of Tanks', a tank combat shooter that engaged in collaborative advertising of the Girls und Panzer franchise.
- Upon seeing Hana's flower arrangement, Yuri Isuzu observes that it is no longer the Isuzu family style, but commends it nevertheless. This foreshadows Shiho Nishizumi's eventual acceptance of Miho Nishizumi's style of sensha-dō as a legitimate approach, despite its differences to the traditional Nishizumi Style.
- This is the second of the two times that Hana changes her hairstyle in the anime, in this episode wearing it a traditional bun to match her kimono. The first was in Episode 7, where she had a long braid.
- The night before the match, Saori Takebe displays her second-class radio operator's amateur license, much to the surprise of her friends. According to her, she passed her exam after being taught by Mako Reizei, perhaps implying Mako may be better at radio communications than she is.
- The night before the finals, each Ooarai tank crew is depicted sharing a different style of dinner meal. However, all their dishes involve katsu.
- All Ooarai teams may be eating katsu because they wish for a victory in the final match: "Katsu" can also mean "Victory".
- Rabbit Team is seen watching the movie Kelly's Heroes the night before the finals, specifically the scene in which a M4A3E4 (meant to represent M4A1(76)W Sherman) attacks a Tiger I from behind in an alleyway too tight for the Tiger I to turn its turret around: a tactic they will use against the Elefant in Episode 11. The boxes for other war movies like Battle of the Bulge, Patton, The Bridge at Remagen and Monster Tank IS-2 are seen as well.
- The Ooarai tanks are transported to the battlefield by train, in contrast to previous rounds where it is implied that the tanks had to drive.
- At the vendor stalls on the day of the finals, several toy tanks are shown, including a M4A4 VC Sherman Firefly, an Object 703/IS-3, a Type 10 MBT and a Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Ferdinand.
- At the final match tournament grounds, there is a photography location containing a Type 97 Chi-Ha Tank.
- Assam does not accompany the other St. Gloriana sensha-dō commanders in visiting Miho.
- When visiting Miho, Katyusha refers to herself in third person, and introduces herself as Katyusha-sama, which is probably due to her Napoleon Complex. She also, as usual, calls Miho "Pirozhki", which is a Russian pastry dish.
- Katyusha also tells Miho to "Crush those Kuromorimine braggarts like this was Operation Bragation!", referencing the WWII soviet offensive from 22 June 1944 that destroyed Army Group Centre and drove German forces from Belarus.
- On that same date, three years earlier in World War II, was when the Germans began their invasion of the Soviet Union.
- Before the start of the final match, when the giant audience viewing screens are showing the opposing forces, it is possible to count 20 tanks in Kuromorimine's array of tanks. This adds further confusion to Darjeeling and Katyusha's astonishment at the later arrival of the Maus, since if they were in the audience, they would have seen the Maus on the viewing screen.
- Kuromorimine's surprise assault through the forest may be a reference to Guderian's strategy of passing through the Ardennes (which was reputed "impassable" by the Allies at that time) during the 1940 Battle of France, thus flanking the Maginot Line, breaking the French lines at Sedan, and eventually trapping the Allied forces at Dunkirk.
- It was one of the most daring and risky operations during the war.
- In reality, the plan was Erich von Manstein's idea, not Guderian's, despite the latter's formidable reputation in the Panzer development. See: Manstein Plan.
- At the very beginning of the match, on the moving map visible on the large audience screens, Kuromorimine's force can be seen diverting toward the woods to make their assault through the forest.
- In the Anzio OVA, it is revealed that Anchovy, along with a considerable company of students from Anzio Girls High School, intended to visit Miho and support Ooarai during the match. However, the Anzio girls played it safe and arrived early —so early that they threw an impromptu all-night party, tired themselves out, and then slept through the entire finals match.
- The Type 3 Chi-Nu suffering transmission problems is a reference to the real life prototype experiencing problems with its engine and transmission that inhibited its advancement into mass production.
- The almost immediate elimination of the Type 3 Chi-Nu may be a reference to the fact that the Chi-Nu class would never see actual combat in WWII.
- When the commander and vice-commander of each school is asked to represent their school, Momo Kawashima steps forward as the vice-commander representative for Ooarai, not Anzu Kadotani.
- Even though Erika Itsumi is the commander of her tank, it is her gunner who spots the Ooarai flag tank first.
- Anteater Team's clumsiness saves Ooarai from a near-instant defeat.
- The ending sequence features Leopon Team in the Tiger (P).
- This episode shows the final line up of Ooarai's tanks: Panzer IV Ausf. H, Hetzer (converted from the standard Panzer 38(t), Type 89 Kou, M3 Lee, Char B1 bis, Type 3 Chi-Nu, the Porsche Tiger, and StuG III Ausf.F.
- Only two tanks have been upgraded: the Panzer IV Ausf. H, and the Hetzer.
- Despite its failure during its trials, both in history and in anime, the Tiger (P) still became part of the team.
- It was driven by the mechanics who fixed and tested it on muddy ground.
- Kuromorimine's Elefant is the only derivative of the Tiger (P) to appear in the anime.
- Several engagements during this match may reference how German tanks late in World War II had a reputation of being able to engage at long range.
- All of Ooarai's previous rivals are shown to respect Miho after being defeated by her. As Darjeeling said to Miho: "You are an enigma. You make friends out of your enemies".
- The final screen showing Pravda's casualties at first appear to show inconsistencies:
- Red marks declare that eight T-34s (and one KV-2) were destroyed, while only seven are clearly shown being destroyed over the course of the episode.
- However, a group of six T-34s was engaged early in the episode, with at least one destroyed and the others (except for the Flag Tank) never shown clearly enough to be certain they did not suffer further losses. Later, along with two tanks destroyed, one other T-34 was heavily damaged by Turtle Team during their breakout charge against Pravda, which could have been declared "destroyed" by the judges, as per their rules (4–04.3).
Gallery[]
Girls und Panzer Anime | |
---|---|
First Anime Season Episodes | Episode 1 ♦ Episode 2 ♦ Episode 3 ♦ Episode 4 ♦ Episode 5 ♦ Episode 6 ♦ Episode 7 ♦ Episode 8 ♦ Episode 9 ♦ Episode 10 ♦ Episode 11 ♦ Episode 12 |
Recap Episodes | Episode 5.5 ♦ Episode 10.5 |
OVA Episodes | OVA 1 ♦ OVA 2 ♦ OVA 3 ♦ OVA 4 ♦ OVA 5 ♦ OVA 6 ♦ OVA 7 ♦ OVA 8 ♦ OVA 9 ♦ OVA 10 |
Animated Movie | Girls und Panzer der Film |
Final Chapter | Part 1 ♦ Part 2 ♦ Part 3 ♦ Part 4 ♦ Part 5 ♦ Part 6 |