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- "My family has practised Sensha-dō for generations, but I have only bad memories of tanks."
- ―Miho Nishizumi
Episode 1 "I'll Take Up Panzer Warfare!" "Sensha-Dõ, Hajimemasu!" (戦車道、始めます ! ) is the first episode of Girls und Panzer. It was originally aired on October 8, 2012 in Japan.
Plot[]
The episode begins using a cold open, with a flash-forward to the events of Episode 4 (i.e. the training match against St. Gloriana Girls College). From a tank's point-of-view (POV), a valley can be seen, with five tanks advancing in the distance. Two girls are heard discussing the distant tanks, then the girls are seen returning to the tank; keeping the same POV, the tank gets on the move. As it climbs up a gorge, four more tanks of various kinds and nationalities (all strangely painted) are seen, all apparently crewed by girls. Following a plan, the other tanks steer away to prepare an ambush, while the first tank keeps on going to be the bait; its crew exchange some words of encouragement about this being their first battle. The tank fires on the opponent to get their attention, and the enemy tanks turn and give chase; the commander warns the crew that they can't afford to get hit. One of the enemy's gunners take a shot and the camera closes in towards the tank commander's face as if it were from the shot's POV. Then the scene fades to white.
Miho's first day at school
Miho, Hana and Saori become friends
The scene then changes to a girl's bedroom, where a girl is sleeping. The alarm goes off, the girl, flustered, hurriedly silences it, rushes to make her bed, and quickly begins to change out of her nightclothes; suddenly she stops and happily reminds herself that she is not at home anymore. She then is seen happily walking to school, the only strange note being that she is all alone, although other girls are seen walking in the same direction. At the lunch break, after her school instruments fall from her desk and she stays behind to pick them up, she is approached by two girls (Saori and Hana), who ask her if she wants to eat lunch together with them. She nervously and shyly accepts; as they're getting their food, their names are revealed (respectively, Miho Nishizumi, Hana Isuzu and Saori Takebe). While they're eating, Miho declares that she's happy that she made some friends, but when asked by the others about why she transferred to Ooarai Girls Academy alone, she appears uncomfortable and they drop the issue.
The Student Council trying to force Miho to join Sensha-dō
In a dimly-lit room, three girls are heard discussing something and they agree that they will start their plans right away. In class, the three newfound friends deepen their friendship, with Saori revealing her fixation with boys (to the point of thinking of normal greetings as signs of interest), and Miho saying that she envies Hana's calm and mature behavior (to which she gives the reason that she has been doing flower arrangement all her life, although she worries she might be too stiff).
Just as Miho thanks them for being friends with her, the three girls from before (revealed to be the Student Council's members) enter the classroom and approach her. Drawing her aside, they assertively tell her that, when she chooses her mandatory elective activity, she should pick Sensha-dō. When Miho's protests, explaining that she believed the school didn't have Sensha-dō on their curriculum, they nonchalantly tell her that it has been reactivated and leave.
Miho is shocked by the encounter, so much that she is sent to the infirmary by the teacher; Hana and Saori, worried, feign being sick as well to reach her.
A scene from the Sensha-dō ad
As soon as they're left alone, Hana and Saori ask Miho about what transpired. Miho eventually admits that she comes from a family with a long tradition of Sensha-dō (a traditional martial art exclusively for girls), but she hasn't got nice memories of it, and therefore came to Ooarai precisely to avoid such an activity. Her friends, now understanding why she reacted that way, tell her that she doesn't have to do it. Just then, the loudspeakers announce that every student should gather in the gym.
In the gym, the Student Council presents the electives activities, highlighting Sensha-dō and showing a promotional video which emphasizes its feminine qualities, then offering attractive benefits (meal tickets, academic credit) for those who choose Sensha-dō as their elective. Hana and Saori begin to look interested, but Miho is still very apprehensive. The other members of the initial five teams, shown in the audience, are also seen exhibiting interest. After school, both Miho's new friends state they would like to take up Sensha-dō, much to her horror.
Hana and Saori trying to defend Miho
After a troublesome night (in which she vividly remembers a tank falling into a river), in the morning Miho asks for their forgiveness as she has chosen incense as an elective and doesn't want to take up Sensha-dō again. Much to her surprise, both Saori and Hana support her decision and, despite having themselves initially chosen Sensha-dō, now change their choice to incense as well, wishing to remain close to her and not wanting her to suffer.
At lunch, as everyone around the school is displaying interest in Sensha-dō, Miho is called to see the Student Council; seeing her alarm, her friends volunteer to go with her. As the Student Council pressures her to reconsider her choice, Hana and Saori stand up for her, accusing them of being tyrannical, especially after the President gives a cryptic warning about the new friends "not being there the next year if they keep this up."
(This warning is foreshadowing for Episode 9, when it is revealed as less an intimidation tactic than a literal forewarning: the school will be closed if they don't win the National Sensha-dō Tournament, and Miho, the only student in the school who has experience with Sensha-dō, is crucial for achieving a victory.)
Realizing that her two friends are putting her well-being above their own inclinations and aspirations, Miho summons her courage and blurts out that she will take up Sensha-dō, much to the Student Council's satisfaction and Miho's friends shock.
Later, in an ice cream shop, Hana and Saori ask Miho if she is alright with her decision, but she assures them she'll be fine, expressing how much she appreciated how someone showed concern for what she feels. She then recounts how her mother and sister expected her to dedicate her life to Sensha-dō, regardless of what she wanted. However, she is clearly still troubled, so her friends decide to cheer her up with the help of their ice cream.
The initial Ooarai Sensha-dō Club
The next morning, the girls that chose Sensha-dō gather before a huge warehouse. Twenty-one students have chosen that elective, including the Student Council, and the Student Council remark that this small group will have to do. Amidst much excitement, the warehouse doors are opened —only to reveal a single, rusted-up tank (a Panzer IV Ausf. D). While everyone balks at that, Miho approaches it and, after a cursory inspection, declares that it's still in good overall condition and they might be able to pull it off.
The camera zooms out, revealing at last that the warehouse, the school, and the entire town are located on a giant ship resembling an aircraft carrier.
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| N/A | Episode 2
"I'll Board the Tank!" |
Characters Introduced[]
- Miho Nishizumi
- Hana Isuzu
- Saori Takebe
- Anzu Kadotani
- Momo Kawashima
- Yuzu Koyama
- To a lesser extent, the whole initial Ooarai Sensha-dō Club appears (including Anglerfish Team, Turtle Team, Rabbit Team, Hippo Team and Duck Team), though none of them were introduced other than the ones specifically listed above.
Tanks Appearing[]
- PzKpfw. IV Ausf.D (in flash-forward and in the main story)
- SturmGeschütz III Ausf.F (in flash-forward only)
- Type 89B I-Go Otsu (in flash-forward only)
- M3 Lee (in flash-forward only)
- PzKpfw. 38(t) Ausf.B (in flash-forward only)
- Infantry Tank Mk.IV Churchill Mk.VII (in flash-forward only)
- Infantry Tank Mk.II Matilda II Mk.III (in flash-forward only)
- PzKpfw. III Ausf.J (Shown during the video presentation)
- Mark II female tank (Shown during the video presentation)
- Sturmpanzerwagen A7V (Shown during the video presentation)
- Medium Mark A Whippet (Shown during the video presentation)
Main Events[]
- Miho Nishizumi enters Ooarai Girls High School and is coerced by the student council into joining Oarai's Sensha-dō team.
- Miho makes friends with Hana Isuzu and Saori Takebe.
- Ooarai Girls High School's Sensha-dō team, after being inactive for years, is reactivated.
Trivia[]
- During the presentation in the gym, it is stated that the Sensha-dō World Cup tournament will be held in Japan in the next few years; this might be a starting point for any sequel(s).
- In the window of the convenience store Miho walks past, there is a poster featuring Boko.
- Miho, Hana & Saori are in Class 2-A.
- The presentation features Kuromorimine Girl's' Academy Sensha-dō tanks and personnel, which may add to Miho's apparent distress.
- Prior to being coerced into Sensha-dō, Miho originally signed up for the incense ceremony.
- In the cafeteria scene, there's a group of girls, sitting behind Miho, talking excitedly about joining Sensha-dō (in addition to the future Rabbit Team, who are sitting behind Saori and Hana). However, at the formation of the five original teams, they're nowhere to be seen.
- The huge ship on which the school and town are built is based on the Zuikaku, a Japanese WWII aircraft carrier.
- This is the only episode in the series that begins with a cold open rather than opening with credits: a flash-forward to Episode 4 is used. What will become the opening song of the series, DreamRiser, is instead used as the closing credits.
- The Panzer IV Ausf.D seen in the garage near the end credits, rusty and broken, will become Miho's command tank.
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 |