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- "The best way to learn is with the real thing."
- ―Ami Chōno
Episode 2 "I'll Board the tank!" "Sensha, Norimasu!" (戦車、乗ります ! ), (English dub: "Tanks, We Ride Them!"), is the second episode of Girls und Panzer. It first aired on October 16, 2012.
Plot[]
The episode begins with an establishing shots of the Ooarai school ship, then the warehouse where, in Episode 1, the girls found the lone Panzer IV. There the Student Council informs everyone that it has been a few years since sensha-dō was discontinued in Ooarai, but the other tanks should still be around somewhere. Unable to give them more precise info, they direct everyone to start looking for the missing tanks before next morning, when a sensha-dō instructor will arrive. Saori is dejected by this lackluster start, but when Anzu tells her that the instructor is "really cool", and offers to introduce them (implying the instructor is a man), Saori immediately regains her enthusiasm.
As Saori, Hana, and Miho begin looking for tanks (in a parking lot first, as they are "both vehicles"), Miho notices a girl following them at a distance, apparently too shy to approach. When Miho confronts her and asks if she'd like to search for tanks with them, she seems very happy to join them and introduces herself as Yukari Akiyama. Oddly enough, she seems to already know who Miho is.
The first-year students are seen in a library, wondering where the tanks could be and why sensha-dō was discontinued; the other students' searches are not yet presented.
Back with Miho and the other girls, now in a forest, Hana suddenly senses a faint smell of iron and oil mingled with that of the flowers. The others are amazed, and speculate whether this sensitivity is due to her flower arrangement experience, or if it is her innate ability. Following the scent, they trace it to a Panzer 38(t). Yukari is very excited; so much so that she blurts out all the tank's history and characteristics —only to excuse herself when she sees the other's puzzlement with her behavior.
As they phone the Student Council about their discovery, a montage shows how other tanks are being found: The members of the defunct volleyball club find a Type 89B in a cave on a mountainside, the history buffs discover a StuG III sunk in a lake, while the first-years locate an M3 Lee in a rabbit hutch.
Once the newfound tanks are lined up on the grounds near the warehouse, the Student Council assigns them: Momo assigns the Panzer IV to Miho and her three friends as "Team A" (eventually renamed Anglerfish Team), the Type 89B to the Volleyball club members, "Team B" (Duck Team ), the StuG III to the history buffs "Team C" (Hippo Team), the M3 Lee to the first-years "Team D" (Rabbit Team), keeping the Panzer 38(t) for the Student Council, "Team E" (Turtle Team). They are ordered to make their tanks presentable for the next morning. While the others take a moment to discuss their tanks, Miho immediately sets to work, observing that they will need to clean their tank and scrape off the rust.
As the teams clean their tanks, everyone works in their own way, introducing some of the groups' general characteristics: the history-buffs reminding each other of famous water-related historical events, the first-years behaving as if they were in a water park, and Anzu and Momo leaving their share to Yuzu. As the sun is setting, the cleaning is done, and the Automotive Club is tasked with taking care of the rest of the restoration. Yukari excitedly asks Miho if she's eager to drive their tank, but is taken aback by her unenthusiastic response.
Relaxing after their hard work, Yukari suggests that they go to a tank-related shop; when they get there Yukari shows even more of her tank-related knowledge while Saori reveals how little she knows of sensha-dō —as well as her desire to become popular. On the store's TV, an interview is screened with Maho Nishizumi, overall commander of Kuromorimine Girls' Academy, with Erika (vice commander) in the background. Maho looks a lot like Miho (their relationship is to be revealed only later) and is apparently a famous and successful sensha-dō participant; when asked the secret behind her victories, she answers that it is to never give up and never run away (part of the Nishizumi style), a statement that seems to have a subduing effect on Miho. Recognizing her friend's distress, to lighten the mood Saori quickly proposes for them to go over to Miho's house.
At Miho's house, as they prepare to make dinner, the situation becomes confused. Yukari takes out from her conspicuous backpack a whole mess kit (to Saori's amazement, she states that she brings it with her everywhere, to be ready at any time), while Hana cuts herself trying to peel the potatoes (she has never handled anything but flowers). An exasperated Saori takes things into her hands, bringing everything to order, and soon a tasty dinner is ready; she explains it's all part of her strategy to have guys fall in love with her —although the others are skeptical about her basing her plans on urban legends. After dinner, as the others are leaving for the night, Miho expresses her delight that someone is hanging out with her, and that she is glad she has transferred to Ooarai.
The next morning, Miho gets a late start and is in a rush. As she hurries toward school she meets a girl who, apparently exhausted, is struggling to keep walking, muttering how mornings are painful and how she wishes that this was a dream. Miho helps her to reach the school and, at the entrance, a girl taking attendance remarks how the exhausted girl is chronically late, and that if she keeps this up her good grades won't save her from having to repeat the year; she also advises Miho to leave her to herself if she meets her again. As they leave the attendance monitor behind, the exhausted girl apologizes for making Miho late too, and promises that she will make it up to Miho.
Miho joins the others in waiting for the sensha-dō instructor, who soon arrives dramatically: a transport plane delivers a modern tank (a Type 10 MBT) using LAPES, which then accidentally crushes the Principal's Ferrari F40 (to Yuzu's horror) before joining the students. The woman who emerges —with considerable flair— is introduced as Captain Ami Chōno of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, their instructor. (Saori is considerably irritated at Anzu's "deception," leading her to believe the instructor would be a man). As Commander Chōno is introduced, she notices Miho and makes a point of greeting her, remarking how much Miho's mother helped her and inquiring about Miho's sister. At the puzzlement of the other students, Chōno matter-of-factly informs them about the great importance of the Nishizumi family and their "Nishizumi Style" school of sensha-dō. After this, she starts "teaching" them by declaring they will begin with a mock battle —to everyone's shock, as they have no experience even with driving their tanks, let alone combat.
As everyone prepares, more is revealed about the character of the different teams, the volleyball club members declaring their wish to revive their club, the history buffs discussing tactics, and the first-years searching the web for info on how to drive a tank. Ami instructs the teams to select members for each necessary role: commander, gunner, and driver, with on four- and five-crew teams the loader and the radio operator. Miho points out that their loader will have to double as the radio operator, but when Yukari suggests that Miho should be the commander, Miho vehemently refuses. To resove the uncertainty of who will be commander, Saori then has them draw lots.
It is eventually decided that Hana serves as driver, Saori as commander, Yukari as gunner, and Miho as loader and radio operator. In the initial excitement of learning how to start and drive the tank, Yukari's exuberance gets the best of her, and Miho needs to calm her down (much to Yukari's chagrin).
After a few rookie mistakes, all the teams get moving towards their starting position in a hilly, forested landscape. "Team A" begins learning how to work as a crew, with Miho teaching from her experience; for example, how the commander is to communicate with the driver over the tank's noise: kicking the driver on the shoulder, in the direction she wants to turn (after some initial reluctance, Saori is able to kick Hana on the shoulder, although a little too roughly).
Once all the tanks have reached their starting position, and after the traditional opening bow and declaration of good sportsmanship, Ami starts the practice match: a free-for-all "Annihilation Match," with the last tank standing as the winner.
Miho and the others take a moment to decide how to proceed, in the end accepting Saori's desire to get revenge on the Student Council for deceiving her about the instructor. Before they can move, however, Team B starts attacking them, with Team C also approaching, having formed an alliance. Saori immediately panics and screams for Hana to get them out of there, as their opponents' near-misses start falling around them.
The Panzer IV is seen running away, shells raining around it, when Miho, sitting in her open hatch, spots a girl with a book on her face, apparently asleep, laying directly in their path. Miho screams to get the girl's attention, and the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
Previous episode: | Next episode: |
Episode 1
"I'll Take Up Panzer Warfare!" |
Episode 3
"I'll Join the Fight!" |
Characters Introduced[]
- Yukari Akiyama
- Maho Nishizumi (seen on a TV screen)
- Erika Itsumi (seen on a TV screen, not named)
- Mako Reizei (only her surname revealed)
- Midoriko Sono (seen on screen, not named)
- Ami Chōno
Tanks Appearing[]
- Panzer 38(t)
- Type 89B
- StuG III
- M3 Lee
- Type 10 (Ami's personal vehicle)
Main Events[]
- The tanks used by the old Ooarai Sensha-dō Team before its deactivation are found in various (often strange) places and their restoration begins.
- Yukari Akiyama becomes the fourth crewmember of Miho's team.
- The new instructor arrives, and begins the Ooarai Team's training by having a mock battle.
Trivia[]
- Immediately after the opening credits, you can see the whole school ship.
- Two tanks are shown on the TV screen inside the "Tank Club": The same A7V from the motivational movie of Episode 1 and Maho's Tiger I.
- It is the first episode to have opening credits. DreamRiser, the previous episode's closing credits song, is now the opening credits song.
- Hana Isuzu expresses doubts they'll find tanks in parking lots; eventually, in Episode 10, the Type 3 Chi-Nu will be found in a parking lot.
- Yukari is in Class 2-B.
- Mako Reizei appears in this episode, though is only identified by her family name, having a prominent appearance when Miho aids her to school.
- Mako's nemesis, Midoriko Sono, makes her first appearance too. Like Mako, her full name is not yet revealed, though Mako addresses her by her (disliked) nickname, Sodoko.
- The aircraft that delivers the Type 10 is a Kawasaki C-2 military transport plane.
- Although the presence of a Principal's car implies the existence of a school principal, no such person ever makes an appearance in the anime, or any other supplementary works. In Episode 9, it is seen that the student council takes care of official school administration.
- Ami Chōno makes few appearances in the Ooarai training sessions in person, and is not heard giving much active instruction. She most frequently watches from an observation tower next to the warehouses. From the improvement in Ooarai's skills throughout the series, however, it is assumed that she performs her role admirably off-screen.
- This episode features the first of the various tank-plus-crew chibi sequences henceforth used in all the ending credits, together with the closing song "Enter Enter MISSION". This first sequence is something of a "spoiler," as it shows the Panzer IV with its definitive crew —Miho, Yukari, Hana, Saori, and Mako— despite the fact that Mako only joins the team in the next episode.
- There is considerable speculation about the locations of some of the tanks that were found, especially with the Type 89B having been found in a cave on the side of a cliff, accessible only by abseiling.
- Supplementary material indicates that the Automobile Club worked ridiculous overtime and spent prodigious funds to restore the tanks to working condition, and consequently were distraught when all five of the tanks were again damaged in the (impending) battle against St. Gloriana Girls College.
- When Oryou, Caesar and Saemonza were joking about the StuG III, Erwin chastizes them "The StuG III is an amazing tank that fought back the Russian onslaught during Winter War! Apologize to the Finnish!". Erwin made an historical mistake: While the StuG III did see service with the Finnish army (under the name "Sturmi"), it actually served during the Continuation War and not during the Winter War.
- Although Anzu Kadotani suggests each team use tank they found, Momo Kawashima decides to swap their tank (technically, Panzer IV was found by the Student Council), with the Panzer 38(t) found by Anglerfish Team. This could be because of the numerical difference in crew members (the Student Council is better suited to a tank needing fewer crew than the five-person Panzer IV), or because they anticipate the advantage of giving Miho Nishizumi the best tank, to better accomplish their "plan."
- While cleaning the tanks, each member of Hippo Team makes an historical reference to water:
- Saemonza mentions the "Flooding of the Takamatsu Castle". In 1582 Toyotomi Hideyoshi besieged the Takamastu Castle by diverting a nearby river to flood the castle.
- Caesar mentions "Crossing the Rubicon". In 49 BC, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, which was the separation between the Cisalpine Gaul and Roman Italy, thus starting a civil war.
- Oryou mentions "Commodore Perry's Black Ships". This is a reference to Matthew Perry's 1852-1854 expedition and his "Gunboat Diplomacy," when Perry sailed to Japan with a fleet of black warships and forced the opening of diplomatic channels, and eventually the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa, through a demonstration of U.S. naval power.
- Erwin mentions the "DD tanks from the Normandy landings." Duplex Drive tanks were amphibious tanks used during the Normandy landings. The tanks are regarded as only a mixed success due to their catastrophic performance on Omaha Beach.
- When Rabbit Team is seen searching for information about tanks in the library, Saki is seen reading the first tome of the novel Moeyo! Sensha Gakkou (萌えよ!戦車学校) created by Takeshi Nogami.
- In the "Tank Club" store, the video game Yukari plays is strongly reminiscent of the 1980s Atari arcade game "Battlezone," but with a German panzer-style gun reticle.
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 |