Ōarai: Ōarai Girls' Academy (Anglerfish Team, Duck Team and Hippo Team, Rabbit Team and Turtle Team)
Rival Schools: Rival Schools (St. Gloriana Girls Academy, Saunders University High School, Anzio High School, Pravda High School, Kuromorimine Girls High School)
Others: Der Film Characters | Das Finale Characters | Other Characters
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These are the characters introduced in Girls Und Panzer Der Film. Spoilers inbound; proceed at your own risk.
Chi-Ha-Tan Academy
A Japanese-themed school first mentioned in the main series, known for their extensive use of IJA tanks such as Type 95 Ha-Gō light tanks
, Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks as well as Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank. It was also the first school to be annihilated by Kuromorimine in the tournament.
Their role is somewhat expanded upon in the movie's beginning in which they participate in a exhibition match allied with Ōarai against St. Gloriana and Pravda. Unfortunately, they lose the match, having lost the bulk of their forces because of their strategy (or lack of thereof).
Tropes Chi-Ha-Tan Academy charges at
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Considering the fact that they're a parody of the IJA, it's understandable.
- Big Damn Heroes: Members of all schools get a spoilerific Big Damn Heroes moment at a certain crucial point, but in the case of Chi-Ha-Tan, it involves their whole team, including reserves.
- Brainy Brunette: Don't let their charging fool you, supplementary information confirms that the school and its students renowned nationwide for their intelligence.
- Chekhov's Gunman: They are the first team defeated (or more like crushed) by Kuromorimine in the anime, albeit off-screen.
- Big Sister Instinct: All the older students towards Fukuda in Das Finale, as they sing to comfort her when she reveals she's afraid of the dark.
- Foil: Of Saunders. Both are known for using the same tank units and numerical superiority as their primary style. However, Saunders' style is to overwhelm their opponents with numbers with the use of tactics (i.e concentrating their forces on isolated enemies), while Chi-Ha-Tan just uses its numbers to make sure that they somehow overwhelm the opponent with their "Banzai charge".
- Honor Before Reason: Their school's traditions dictate that all battles must end with a wild charge against the enemy and, oh boy, do they respect them!
- Hot-Blooded: Fitting of a school that lives and dies by bum rushing opponents without any semblance of strategy or self preservation.
- Leeroy Jenkins: No bloody wonder why they lost, even if it's to Kuromomine. Chi-Ha's philosophy is dead focused on charging blindly into the fray with no semblance of self-preservation. In the beginning of the movie, this flaw possibly costs them and Ōarai the match, as they rush a seemingly cordoned off Darjeeling (along with 3 other units) only to lose the bulk of their forces outright, while later Nishi charges after a comms breakdown and mishears the command. Since they are an heavy Japanese-themed school and they repeatedly stress that they do so to uphold their traditions, this also counts as an ironic Shout-Out (very unusual in a Japanese piece of fiction) to the war ethos of the Japanese Armed Forces during WWII.
- Leitmotif: Yuki no Shingun/The Snow March. Interestingly, Erwin and Yukari were previously heard singing it while doing recon in the Pravda match.
- The 1895 song is most known from a movie about the Hakkoda Mountain incident (almost 200 men freezing to death, during a training exercise in 1902). The original version is nowhere near as bouncy as Erwin and Yukari sing it.
- No Indoor Voice: Members of Chihatan Academy are always shouting, or at least using a very loud voice. In the Audio Dramas, they usually spend a day as if they are in a military camp instead of a school, and have to voice their opinions very loudly.
- Perpetual Poverty: It's not readily evident but their school isn't swimming in funds, in a parallel to Imperial Japan's extreme resource shortage throughout World War II. Supplementary materials shows that there's strict rationing of foods selection at their cafeteria.
- Running Gag: Both the audio dramas and the Motto Love Love Sakusen manga reveal that Chihatan will charge at anything! Even their improved strategies (learned from the movie) still have "charge" in them. Even terminologies such as "retreat" and "halt" have become "reverse charge" and "static charge". In the manga, they are baffled by the game of volleyball because it has no part in which they have to charge at someone or something.
- Qualifies as showing their work as well. The IJA did not have a command for "retreat", instead using "tenshin" - which literally means "turn around and advance". Chihatan uses something similar in Das Finale to mix their tactics up.
- Self-Destructive Charge: Fukuda states that this trope is what Chi-Ha-Tan is really good at, i.e. "charging forward uselessly" and getting blown up.
- Something We Forgot: After they take out Anglerfish team in Das Finale, they're so caught up in the excitement that they all start celebrating and doing banzai cheers, completely forgetting that Oarai's flag tank is still out there somewhere. It isn’t until Nishi sees Turtle team bearing down on her own flag tank at full speed that she realizes her mistake.
- Theme Naming: After IJA (Imperial Japanese Army) tank commanders or generals.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the latter part of the movie, they realize that recklessly engaging opponents would only be detrimental to Ōarai's victory and start to employ ambush tactics together with Duck team against the university teams. They manage to take out a significant portion of the opposition before being taken out by Alice's Centurion. This continues in Das Finale when they give Ooarai a very good fight using their 'alternative' variations of charging.
- During their fight with Ooarai, Chihatan becomes one of the few team to be able to take out the Anglerfish, alongside St. Gloriana and Jatkostoka.
- True Companions: To a degree second only, maybe, to Oarai Team. When Oarai was forced into a 8 vs 30 battle, the other schools sent some tanks, crewed by their commanders or by those who were friends with the Oarai girls, in their help; the process involved a "short termn transfer of schools. Chi-Ha-Tan sent twenty-two tanks (and a sensha-do team usually involves a maximum of 20 tanks), meaning that their rescue team made up of those who considered themselves friends enough of the rescued ones to get involved in all that trouble was the entire team.
- Zerg Rush: Though unlike Saunders, Chi-Ha-Tan's strategy is to take out their opponents with "Banzai charges".
Kinuyo Nishi
Kinuyo Nishi
"Alright! We charge at full speed once we see an enemy!"
Position: Tank Commander, Type 97 Chi-Ha
Voiced by: Asami Seto (Japanese), Amelia Fischer (English), Alexis Lee (English, das Finale)
Commander of Chi-Ha Tan Academy, introduced in the movie.
Tropes Nishi must charge at
- Badass Boast: "Yesterday's foes are today's friends! The twenty-two brave steel lions are here!"
- Badass Bookworm: The audio dramas reveal that she's very good in academics, and tutors the rest of Chihatan's sensha-do members in subjects like foreign languages and history.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She is mentioned by name in the 6th OVA as one of the people who sent congratulatory letters to Ōarai for winning the tournament, although her letter wasn't read.
- The Comically Serious: Her straightforward and honest personality makes her this. In a way, she is the nice girl version of Momo.
- Even the Girls Want Her: She is attractive enough that the members of their own team jump at the chance when they learn that they can get a kiss from her. See Poor Communication Kills below for the explanation.
- General Failure: While well-intentioned and popular, she often unable to assert command on her subordinates because of their hotheadedness. In one of Rabu Rabu Sakusen chapters, Fukuda outright mutinies her behind everyone's back because she thinks Nishi, while a charismatic commander, is not a good leader to Chihatan.
- Godzilla Threshold: Getting caught in Ooarai's trap even though she's already implemented various alternative methods of charging is enough to get her to order her troops to retreat.
- The Leader: of Chi-Ha-Tan's sensha-do team. Despite being loud and charge-happy, she's a level headed leader.
- Named After Someone Famous: After Takeichi "Baron" Nishi, IJA tank unit commander at the Battle of Iwo Jima, equestrian show jumper, Olympic Gold Medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and one of the few Japanese tank commanders respected by his American counterparts.
- No Indoor Voice: Tends to shout all the the time as if she were a soldier answering a superior during a footdrill.
- Poor Communication Kills: At least twice:
- During the Practice Match, she misreads the statement "Fall Back" as "Charge" because her radio was broken and she apparently only relied on Duck team's lip movements when they pass the command to her. She ends up charging in recklessly, to everyone's surprise, and gets taken out.
- Played for laughs in the Motto Love Love Sakusen manga, when she forbids (chuu'i) the rest of the team from employing charging tactics during their practice session. However, the message somehow mutates to getting a kiss (chuu~)note from her if they charge. She ends up being chased by the rest of the team.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When her subordinate Fukuda complains about Chihatan's reckless charges, only to have two other girls tell her to shut up and know her place, Nishi actually listens.
Haru Fukuda
Fukuda
"Excuse me! If we charge recklessly and get ourselves eliminated... That's the real shameful thing to do!"
Position: Tank Commander, Type 95 Ha-Gō
Voiced by: Naomi Ozora (Japanese), Terri Doty (English)
A young Tank Commander fielding the Type 95 Ha-Gō. The Sole Survivor in her group during the practice match in the early part of the movie. By Das Finale she's become, for all intents and purposes, Chihatan's strategist.
Tropes for Fukuda
- Bespectacled Cutie: Wears a pair of large, round, frameless glasses that highlight her extra girly cuteness.
- Blush Sticker: Indicating her status as one of the youngest-looking characters among the entire cast.
- Expy: Of Japanese novelist Ryotaro Shiba (real name Teiichi Fukuda)note , who served as tank crewman; photographs of that time show him wearing the same helmet and round glasses.
- Fangirl: It is implied that she has become a fan of the Duck Team by the end of the movie, with the ending credits showing her hugging a duck plushie.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her hair is tied into two braids, and she's one of the tank commanders of Chi-Ha-Tan's sensha do team. They're also cute.
- Hidden Depths: Rabu Rabu Sakusen reveals that she's a pretty good artist, to the point where Nishi asks her to create a manga based on their sensha-do team.
- Meaningful Name: Starting the movie as utterly willing to charge at the drop of a hat yet ending it as the one to openly criticise such tactics, she is named both as someone who started the attitude her team Lampshades (see Named After Someone Famous below) and as someone who criticised said attitude (see Expy above).
- Named After Someone Famous: After Hikosuke Fukuda, IJA general best known for his involvement in the Jinan Incident when, on his own initiative, and contrary to orders, ordered the 6th Division into Jinan - the first of a series of arbitrary action of Japanese commanders in the field that led three years later to the whole Sino-Japanese war, and eventually the whole Pacific front of WWII.
- Only Sane Man: While Nishi seems to have suppressed doubts about Chi-Ha Tan's traditional tactics (or lack thereof), she is the one to openly point out how idiotic and counterproductive is wildly charging against a better armed and protected enemy.
- Sole Survivor: Was the only Chi-Ha Tan student to survive without charging in during the practice match early on. This is because her teammates from Oarai managed to stop her from doing so.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out her seniors for their reckless, wasteful charges during the match against the University All-Stars Team. Thankfully, her seniors learned from their earlier mistakes and listen to Fukuda's plan, effectively executing ambush tactics against the University team with the help of the Duck Team.
Tamaki Tamada
Tamaki Tamada
"We need to show the world the spirit of Chi-Ha-Tan!"
Position: Tank Commander, Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha
Voiced by: Madoka Yonezawa (Japanese), Chaney Moore (English)
One of Chi-Ha-Tan's tank Commanders. She is the most eager to uphold their school's tradition of charging blindly towards opponents with no semblance of self-preservation
Tropes Tamada can't go on without charging at
- Braids of Action: It's hard to notice due to its length, but her hair is tied up in a braid when in her tank.
- Hot-Blooded: One of the most eager followers of the Chi-Ha-Tan tradition and also one of their more spirited sensha-do practitioners.
- Leeroy Jenkins: The best example of this in the movie. She's always the first to charge towards opponents and seems to not go a sensha-do match without charging blindly towards the opponent. At one point she gets angry at Fukuda for suggesting that charging head first towards their opponents is less honorable. She wises up later on.
- Named After Someone Famous: After Tamada Yoshio, commander of 4th Tank Regiment at Nomonhan, famous for having ordered many successful daring tank charges.
Shizuko Hosomi
Hosomi
"I'm Hosomi, nice to meet you!"
Position: Tank Commander, Type 97 Chi-Ha
The Commander of a Type 97 Chi-Ha. She is something of an Extrovert who has an affinity for pranking her fellow Teammates, Particularly Fukuda.
- Nice Girl: Despite her Pranking Habits, she's a nice and friendly person.
- The Prankster: She has pranks her fellow students many times, examples include stealing food from her teammates, scaring them by hiding fake eye's in her hair or making them think her hair ate her hand, and stealing ladders when they're on rooftopsnote .
Tomiko Teramoto
Teramoto
Position: Radio Operator, Type 97 Chi-Ha (Hosomi's)
Voiced by: Ikumi Hayama (Japanese), Kalin Coates (English), Mai Le (English, das Finale)
The radio operator for Hosomi's tank. She is a noted photography lover who takes photos even during matches.
- Camera Fiend: As mentioned above, she even brings her antiquated camera to take photos during matches.
- Embarrassing Nickname / Affectionate Nickname: She is referred to as "The Imperial Headquarters" by her teammates.
Setsuko Nagura
Nagura
Position: Tank Commander, Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha
Voiced by Miho Ishigami (Japanese), Carli Mosier (English)
The Commander of a Shinhoto Chi-Ha. She is an expert at Covert Reconnaissance, as well as the owner of 2 Kishu dogs (Rinrin and Ranran).
- Army Scout: She's the Sensha-Dō version of this, as she is an Chi-Ha-Tan's recon expert.
- Men Like Dogs, Women Like Cats: Inverted, as she owns a pair of Kishu Dogs
Noriyo Hamada
Hamada
Position: Tank Commander, Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha
Voiced by: Yuka Inoue (Japanese)
The Commander of the team's third Shinhoto Chi-Ha.
- Deadpan Snarker: She is indicated to be one.
- Hidden Depths:
- She is a student of the Urasenke School of Tea Ceremony, and a pursuer of Bunbu-Ryodo (the mixing of martial arts, Sensha-Dō, and of Cultural arts, the aforementioned Tea Ceremony).
- She is a fan of Edogawa Ranpo
- Nice Girl: It is implied that she is one.
- Prim and Proper Bun: Downplayed and Zigzagged due to her not stated to be a Yamato Nadeshiko, but given that she wears one and is a student of the Urasenke school of Tea Ceremony, this probably applies.
- The Pessimist: Outside material states that she makes a lot of pessimistic remarks (though given their strategy of blindly charging, combined with both the lack of other information/context in-universe and how the Imperial Government and Military treated those who acknowledged the war was lost, it's possible she's actually The Realist.
Emi Ikeda
Ikeda
Position: Tank Commander, Type 97 Chi-Ha
A Chi-Ha Tank Commander.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She makes it her hobby to collect stuffed animals (though she isn't interested in Boko).
Rin Kubota
Kubota
Position Tank Commander, Type 97 Chi-Ha
Voiced by: Yo Taichi (Japanese)
A Chi-Ha Tank Commander.
Jatkosota High School
A Finnish themed school that makes their debut in the movie. Mentioned once in The Real Anzio Battle OVA, they make their debut in The Movie fielding only the Finnish BT-42 Assault Gun.
Tropes shared by members of Jatkosota High
- Adaptational Badass: In real life the Finnish BT-42 was a terrible tank that was already horribly out of date when it was introduced. Adding a new gun and turret onto the BT-7 chassis put a huge strain on the suspension as well as giving the tank a much higher profile. To make matters worse, the gun they added was highly unsuited for anti tank warfare, due to its low muzzle velocity and improperly fused shells. In one notable incident a BT-42 hit a Soviet T-34 no less than 18 times to no effect; the Soviet tank crew presumably didn't fire back during all this because they were too busy laughing. It's no wonder that Finnish crews hated the tank and gladly exchanged them for German supplied armor as soon as they got the chance.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Miho mentions in the Seventh OVA that she had the chance of competing against them during her time in Kuromorimine, and that they were very capable despite the shortage of tanks.
- This battle becomes a major episode in Girls and Panzer: Phase Erika.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: the movie's drama CD reveals all three known characters to be more unhinged than eccentrics.
- 'Phase Erika'' shows that Mika's predecessor was equally as eccentric, wearing a pair of antennae on her head and often skipping out on practice with the rest of her team.
- Confusion Fu: Like Ooarai, Jatkosota doesn't follow a set strategy in combat, and pretty much makes up things as the battle progresses. In Phase Erika, Maho states that despite Jatkosota's lack of unit uniformity and numbers, they shouldn't be underestimated because their commanders have been known to be unorthodox strategists. Das Finale makes it very obvious that Jatkosota might be the closest school to be Oarai's equal rival.
- Dance Battler: Tank Version. They manage to weave through the enemy Pershings with ease, despite being heavily outgunned. In Das Finale, this gets exaggerated with their slalom skiing melee.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: At least on-screen in Das Finale, since Oarai narrowly defeated Jatkosota without Miho's assistance.
- Expy: In two ways:
- First, all three girls are in the motif of characters from Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson's Moomins series.
- And second, they are the Finnish versions of the main trio of St. Gloriana, as they share the same dynamic; a poetic, eccentric, and multitasking commander, a small and cute subordinate who has to put up with said commander's eccentricities, and a third character who rarely gets a word. All three characters also ride one tank.
- Fell Off the Back of a Truck: How they get half of their equipment, according to the movienote.
- Fragile Speedster: Their BT-42 is very thinly-armored for a Tank, but is also capable of zipping though the battlefield with ease. And as The Movie proved, even without tracks.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Much like the case of Kuromorimine, the school name has been subject to various translations; fans tend to get confused as to which among "Continuation", "Keizoku", or "Jatkosota" is the official name.
- Just a Flesh Wound: Pershing took out the tracks, and sent them to a small ravine? No Problem, as they just zip around with a swap of the steering mechanism
- Leitmotif: Säkkijärven Polkka. Das Finale adds Maantie on kova kävellä to the mix, played by Mika's kantele and Jyri's accordion.
- Plunder: How they get the other half of their equipment, according to the movie supplementary materialnote .
- Product Placement: Of the whole country of Finland, no less. While there are many countries referenced in Girls und Panzer, only one of said countries took an active interest in the movie. There's a reason the Finnish Embassy in Japan is listed in the movie's credits, after all.
- Theme Naming: All have Finnish names that would be male in Finnish, but sound female in Japanese.
- Walking Spoiler: Because a lot of their feats only appeared in the latter part of the Movie.
- Weak, but Skilled: Jatkosota is infamous for being a school that, while lacking in hardware department, is extremely competitive in the National simply by the merits of their drivers and gunners. Kuromorimine, which is well-known as an extremely strong school, is always seen being wary of the matches against Jatkosota despite their advantages.
- While it's not shown, in Little Army 2, they actually beat Ooarai in the Commemorative Cup.
- In Phase Erika, they come within a hair of beating Kuromorine during their practice match. Jatkosota uses a combination of unorthodox hit and run tactics as well as the environment to separate and isolate the Kuromorine's tanks. Miho, who was participating in the match (it was only her intervention that saved Maho's flag tank), was probably taking notes.
- In Das Finale, Jatkosota gave Oarai what might be their hardest battle yet, second only to the University team, from the sheer chaos of the slalom melee down the mountain slope they lured Oarai into.
Mika
Mika
"The most important lessons in life are all condensed into Sensha-do."
Position: Tank Commander/Radio Operator, BT-42 Assault Gun
Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Lauren Herink (English), Allison Sumrall (English, das Finale)
Commander of Continuation High's Sensha-do team. Often seen playing a Kantele, a Finnish stringed instrument, even while riding in a tank.
"For tropes and people are related"
- The Ace: Pretty much the only shortcoming she has is that she steals often, and even then her thievery benefits her school. Miho thinks highly of her for being a strong commander and a beautiful person, Nishi looks up to her for being wise, and Darjeeling gets an impression that she has an aura of a royalty (though she backspace herself when she sees Mika's blatant disregard of personal belongings up close).
- She flat out gets called Jatkosota's ace in Phase Erika.
- Das Finale part 4 shows her in an actual team instead of solo play, and the match only proves that she essentially has no major weakness. She's an intelligent strategist that quickly reads the opponent's plans and coordinates her teammates to counter them, surrounded by loyal and competent but fairly independent subordinates. She's so strong, that even when ganged up 1 vs. 3, she almost win twice in a chaotic melee.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She is mentioned by name in the 6th OVA as one of the people who sent congratulatory letters to Ōarai for winning the tournament, although her letter wasn't read.
- Curtains Match the Window: Has a pair of dark brown eyes to match her hair.
- Death Glare: Turns out, her constant placid smile is hiding that her eyes can be quite murderous. This most notably seen when she's peering the Anteater Team from over her cupola after she sent down an avalanche to kill Rabbit and Shark Team.
- Even the Girls Want Her: In Girls and Panzer: Phase Erika, Miho muses how beautiful she is when she sees her for the first time.
- Excuse Me While I Multitask: She's taking note of enemy Pershings around her tank and directs her subordinates as needed, all while playing the Kantele. A twitter from the staff says that she plays her kantele to determine the tempo of Aki's reloading and echo-locate enemy tanks because Aki is too small to see through the gunsight.
- Expy: of Snufkin from Moomins; a philosophical, solitary vagabond and musician who lives a nomadic lifestyle and wears a hat like hers.
- Also of St. Gloriana's Darjeeling. She is a calm and refined lady who has a habit of giving cryptic proverbs and doing something else while in a tank (in her case, playing the Kantele). She's also a capable commander.
- Hopeless with Tech: A downplayed example, but she has no idea what to do with a smartphone.
- Ice-Cream Koan: Speaks constantly like this. Unlike Darjeeling, she does not explain what she means.
- Insistent Terminology: Once claimed that she was "borrowing" a Type-95 from Chihatan, forever.note
- Left the Background Music On: During Operation: Kill Serve, the Säkkijärven Polkka we hear is being played by Mika on her Kantele.
- Loveable Rogue: She's a kleptomaniac even for Jatkosota's standards, yet she's ever a serene, kind, and wise person.
- Moment of Weakness: In Das Finale, she's ultimately defeated because of a lapse in judgement after a long, hard fight. In a bout of arrogance, Mika gets distracted by an obvious bait when victory is already in sight, and she gets shot point blank for her blunder. The kicker is, she advised her team at the beginning of the match to not underestimate their opponent, even when they have overwhelming advantage, because of this very reason. It appears exhaustion is getting at even her.
- Mysterious Watcher: She does whatever she likes, which often translates to withholding her team until what she feels the right time. It's implied from Aki's argument that before Ooarai teams up with Chihatan in the exhibition match against St. Gloriana and Pravda, Ooarai asked Jatkosota first. Whatever the circumstance, Mika rejected it so her crew ends up spectating the match as an independent juror. She's always seen spectating big matches from a high place, giving a vibe of an All-Powerful Bystander.
- Perpetual Smiler: She's almost always seen with a soft serene smile.
- Signature Headgear: Almost never seen without her trademark blue and white sauna hat. Motto Love Love Sakusen shows that she gets uneasy whenever there's nothing covering her head. As such when her signature hat was in laundry, she tries to cope by wearing other things like Santa hat and traffic cone, much to the amusement of Aki who secretly keeps a spare.
Aki
Aki
"Is this one of those essential battles in life that we must fight?"
Position: Gunner/Loader, BT-42 Assault Gun
Voiced by: Shino Shimoji (Japanese), Melissa Molano (English)
Tropes for Aki
- Catchphrase: Every time she introduce her team (especially apparent in Dream Tank Match's Domination Battle), she will always start the introduction with, "Everyone from [opponent school's name], good day."
- Expy: Of Moomintroll from Moomins. Not only she shares a similar relationship with Mikka that their respective expies share, their very introductory scene is a direct reference to one of their iconic posesnote .
- Also of St. Gloriana's Orange Pekoe. She's a small girl who also has to deal with an eccentric commander. She's often frustrated by Mika's habit of giving cryptic statements without explaining them.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: her hair decorations are a Shout-Out of the hattifatteners, also from Moomins.
- Only Sane Man: Seems to be the only level headed girl in her crew, and mostly serves as a foil to Mika's eccentric and laid back attitude.
Mikko
Mikko
"Don't underestimate a BT-42 with Christie suspension!"
Position: Driver, BT-42 Assault Gun
Voiced by: Miho Ishigami (Japanese), Jenni Strader (English)
Tropes for Mikko
- Badass Driver: Even losing her tracks and then half the road-wheels won't stop her!
- Butt-Monkey: Whenever the BT-42 crew is cracking open their ration, Mika is more likely to steal Mikko's share than Aki's.
- Expy: Of Little My from Moomins, whose hair colour, visage and general attitude shares.
- Fiery Redhead: As befits a very hot-blooded tank driver.
- Girlish Pigtails: Ties her hair up with a pair of blue hair bands.
- The Nose Knows: Apparently has an acute sense of smell.
The UST (University Strengthened Team)
Composed of the best teams from Japan's Universities. While most school teams are an Expy of some nation that took part in WW2, the UST (no, not that one) is an Expy of the Korean War-era United Nations' note Peacekeeping Forces; it's a single team whose members hail from schoolships with different themed countries, has a round blue logo, and is first seen fielding white tanks until they switch to darker ones. Appears in the movie as Ōarai's opponent in a 30-on-30 Annihilation match, fielding M4 Medium Tanks (before the battle), and M24 Chaffee Light tanks, M26 Pershing Heavies, a Centurion MBT, a T28 Super Heavy/T95 Gun Motor Carriage, and a Karl-Morser Siege Mortar during the battle itself.
Tropes of the UST as a whole
- Anti-Villain: Type IV. They hold no grudge or malice against Ōarai and are simply the team assigned to be their opponents.
- BFG: the Karl-Morser Siege Mortar, with its 600mm shell*
- Composite Character: Or rather, a composite team. The UST would be the result if the likes of Pravda and Kuromorimine ever teamed up for Sensha-do. The resemblance is made more prominent by the fact that its strategy mostly focuses on overpowering enemies with superior units and tactical efficiency. There's also the fact that the UST possesses two units that can be considered wildly overpowered and nigh invulnerable.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Their uniform and units are dark colored, but they are not bad guys.
- Dream Team: The team is consisted of the best of the best of the schoolships graduates and university level practitioners, hand-picked by the Federation to be the Japanese professional athletes. They came from different high school backgrounds, united into a theoretically best team Japan has even against an adult team.
- Evil Counterpart: To the high school teams under Ōarai. They are the collective group of all the best teams in the university level of Sensha-do who are led by a practitioner of an established Sensha-do discipline. Well, they are technically not evil but just the opposing side.
- Fragile Speedster: Their swarm of M24 Chaffee scout tanks, the only things they have (apart from Alice's Centurion) that can keep up with the protagonists' medium and light tanks.
- Irony: The UST gloats about getting an easy win over Ōarai (even after receiving unexpected reinforcements from other schools). Come the final showdown, where they're down to just three tanks despite taking out twenty-eight Ōarai Compound tanks earlier. At one point in the battle, they are outnumbered 22 to 9.
- Leitmotif: Outside of Alice loudly singing the Boko theme song, they more usually have When Johnny Comes Marching Home.
- Mighty Glacier: As is often the case with GuP rival teams, they field a number of these:
- Their basic tank-of-the-line is the M26 Pershing, an early attempt at the main battle tank concept that had impressive armour and firepower, but was let down by a badly underpowered engine. They're not that clumsy in the movie, but our heroes usually manage to outmanoeuvre them quite easily.
- The T28 super-heavy tank is basically a heavily-armoured, vaguely mobile bunker with a very large cannon stuck to the front, and serves as an Advancing Wall of Doom during most of its screentime. Even though it fails to knock out even a single tank, its overwhelming presence forces Ōarai into what might have been a brutal killzone.
- The Karl-Gerät is really just a massively powerful artillery piece, not a tank - it's effectively immobile, and does everything from reloading to traversing its gun very slowly.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In a level that even tops Kuromorimine. Not only are they supposed to face only 8 inferior tanks with 30 late-war tanks like Pershings and Chaffees, they have a T28 Super Heavy/T95 Gun Motor Carriage, and a Karl-Morser Siege Mortar. Even if the numbers were evened out, the spoilered units ensured that the UST had the superior firepower advantage.
Alice Shimada
Alice Shimada
"I don't mind. We'll take them on. Please start the match."
Position: Tank Commander, Centurion Mark I
Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu (Japanese) and Shanae'a Moore (English)
A young girl who is a university student and heiress of the Shimada school of Sensha-do. She's billed as Japan's answer to the incoming world Sensha-do tournament and is tasked by MEXT to lead the collective team of Japan's best university-level Sensha-do teams against Ōarai's Sensha-do team. She's also a lover of Boko, the constantly injured bear that never stops trying and her reason for participating is to save the Boko Museum from closing. She commands the British Centurion Mark I, figured by many to be the world's first Main Battle Tank.
Tropes for Alice
- The Ace: She is this for the University teams as a whole. Her sensha-do prowess is introduced to the audience when she is shown to have won a match against an opponent using superior tank units using only Shermans prompting her lieutenants to gush about the superiority of the Shimada-style.
- Ace Custom: Alice's tank is a Centurion Mk. I; the first true main battle tank.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: She is a young prodigy and leads the University Teams during the match.
- Anti-Villain: Like Maho, she is Type IV: a "villain in name only". She doesn't hold any malice or grudge against Ooarai, and is only doing what she was tasked to do. Her only request for participating is that her mother be the sponsor for the Boko Museum if she wins.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: She's chosen as the CO of the UST because she's the best sensha-do practitioner in the University level.
- Badass Adorable: She's Cute, kind of shy, loves stuffed bears. She can also play with the big girls when it comes to Sensha-do.
- Badass Creed: Her favorite character Boko Bear's main trait of how he'll fight again and again no matter how many times he gets beaten, is her personal creed. Boko's character song is her own personal battle song.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The Shimada school of Sensha-do is mentioned in passing in the Anzio OVA. It turns out that the Shimada school has a sort of rivalry with the Nishizumi school.
- Child Prodigy: She's a university student who skipped several grades. She's also implied to be the best sensha-do practitioner in the university level.
- Combat Pragmatist: While her decision to allow Ōarai to have additional forces is admirable, she has no problems utilizing the Karl Moser Siege Gun against them. She's also shown to have no problems blindsiding opponents, (like what she did to the Rabbit team and Turtle team) and as the final battle demonstrates, she will use any advantage she has or can have, including the field.
- Composite Character: Of the Nishizumi sisters. She's adorable, shy, somewhat socially awkward, and loves Boko dolls like Miho. She's also a calm and calculating tactician, the best sensha-do practitioner in the University Teams, and is the heiress of the Shimada-school which is her resemblance to Maho. This is reinforced by her choice of ride - the Centurion combines the armour and firepower of Maho's Tiger with the speed and agility of Miho's Panzer IV.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Her tank easily eliminates 4 Chi-Ha-Tan units and Duck team at the same time. She even manages to make her Centurion avoid being hit from point blank range.
- Cute Bruiser: Small? Check. Adorably shy? Check. Good enough to take out half of the enemy team by herself? Check, check and check.
- Dance Battler: You wouldn't believe that this trope could show up in a tank combat anime, but her Centurion shows off its impressive agility and its crew's extraordinary skill by literally pirouetting through enemy tank platoons while dispatching them with precise, carefully-aimed shots.
- Duel Boss: The final tank battle has her pitted against the Nishizumi sisters. Subverted in that this is symbolic in two ways; a duel between rival school styles (Shimada-ryu vs. Nishizumi-ryu ) and a duel between technological standpoints (the Centurion, the tank that would later be the basis of all modern tanks, vs. the Pz, IV and Tiger I, both relics of a bygone age of tank design)
- Famed In-Story: There's a magazine article about her being able to defeat adult sensha-do practitioners in the movie.
- Fan of the Underdog: She's a big fan of the perpetually-beaten-up Boko, simply because she thinks Boko's constant attempts at fighting others despite being a weakling is admirable.
- Foil: To Miho. Both are daughters of prestigious Sensha-do families, both are fearless leaders who are not above fighting dirty, both are Boko fans, and both of them transferred schools at some point. However Miho is a Fallen Princess and a Genius Ditz, while Alice is a Sheltered Aristocrat and The Stoic. Das Finale takes it even further with the schools of their choosing after leaving their old ones: Miho has already transferred to Oarai at the start of the anime and has no intention of going back to Sensha-do until Anzu blackmailed her into reviving their Sensha-do club out of desperation to save their school. Alice on the other hand, has recently transferred to the only school Oarai couldn't beat on-screen, St. Gloriana, and doesn't mind joining their Sensha-do team on her own free will.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She LOVES Boko, a trait she shares with Miho.(From the movie drama CD, her team-mates ask Alice about her first love)Boko("Who else?")Miho("Isn't that a girl? What do you like about Miho")Miho also likes Boko
- Graceful Loser: She personally congratulates Miho for winning against her and even awards her the rare Boko stuff toy from the Boko Museum that Miho let her have as a medal.
- Grade Skipper: She's a 13-years old who became a university student after skipping many grades. Her initial reason wants to go to Ōarai was that she wants to experience a life as ordinary high school student she didn't get due to this.
- Heir to the Dojo: She's the sole inheritor of the Shimada-school of Sensha-do.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: She unknowingly caused the events that led to her own defeat. She used a rocket ride to attack the Panzer IV that hits a wave swinger, then she destroys that and one of the chairs hits a bear ride and activates it. Alice had a chance to score a kill against the Panzer IV but then she noticed the bear ride and hesitates for that one moment. That mistake proves to be fatal when the Nishizumi sisters regroup and create the Fastball Special that ends the match in Ōarai's victory.
- Homoerotic Subtext: Played for Laughs, but straight when the Bermuda Trio (the team's three company commanders) actually mistake her interest towards Miho with romantic attractionnote ; when they learn moments later that she specifically wants to be her friend, their sigh of relief is actually louder than their usual voices.
- Knight of Cerebus: As soon she enters into battle, the whole cheerful sound suddenly change and turns more dramatic action as she begins to make a few scores.
- The Leader: Of the university teams. Like the Nishizumi sisters, she overlaps all types; being the lead strategist, a levelheaded individual, and charismatic enough that her much older subordinates respect her and follow her orders without question.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Does not protest a last-minute addition to Oarai's roster despite it being her right to do so.
- Lightning Bruiser: As the first true main battle tank, her Centurion is the Lightning Bruiser, a design that finally, truly married the speed and agility of a medium tank with the durability and firepower of a heavy. The symbolism of Miho and Maho having to team up against the tank that finally made both of their machines obsolete is obvious.
- Odd Friendship: She becomes friends with Shizuka Tsuruki, the Axe-Crazy Blood Knight protagonist of the Ribbon Warrior spinoff manga, with both bonding over their shared love of Boko. Alice even gives her a rare Boko, just like she did with Miho.
- Oh, Crap!: Her reaction to Miho's Fastball Special point-blank shot.
- One-Man Army: Alice in her Centurion manages to take out half of the remaining members of Ōarai's Sensha-do team by herself during the latter stages of the movie.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the audio drama "I'm Gonna be Boko", she's quite disturbed about Boko not acting like his usual self during a Boko show in Ōarai explanation. Miho has to assure her that since Boko got beat up in the end anyway, then everything is fine.
- The Pawns Go First: She chooses to remain far from the actual fighting during most of the Ōarai Compound VS UST match, just simply monitoring how the skirmishes unfold and directing her subordinates if needed. When she decides to actually participate, she demonstrates why she's the UST's leader and ace.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Downplayed. She may be young, but she's one amazing tank tactician that routinely defeats adults. The downplaying is because she doesn't do so in single combat (the usual trope) but through her commanding skills.
- Rousing Speech: Of sorts. When her subordinates start to waver due to the high school team's tactics and their ability to outmaneuver them, Alice starts to sing Boko's character song. They immediately regain their spirits because their leader is now joining the battle and start their counterattack. This is similar to how Miho sang and danced The Anglerfish Song to raise her team's spirit in the anime.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Refuses to lodge an objection when Ōarai suddenly has 22 tanks show up on the day of the match, despite it being her right to do so as commander of the opposing team. After all it would not reflect well on her and her team if she did; it would imply that they had no stomach for a real fight.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: The audio dramas reveal that she mostly stays at home and rarely goes out except for sensha-do related things or for Boko related things. She even states that she didn't have any friends and that Miho has made her want to have a friend, particularly because both of them like Boko the Bear.
- Sixth Ranger: Joins St. Gloriana as their New Transfer Student in Das Finale.
- The Stoic: She never loses her cool during the match even as her strategies fail and shows a cold, stone faced expression while taking down opposing tanks left and right.
- Theme Music Power-Up: If you hear her singing the Boko Bear song at top of her lungs, you know things are getting serious.
- Worthy Opponent: By the later stages of the match, she states that the high school teams are similar to Boko in that they keep getting back up despite facing a superior opponent. This prompts her to personally join the battle. The Alice War OVA shows that she changed her mind about going to Ōarai High school because she wouldn't be able to fight Miho anymore if they became team mates.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Alice's general MO is to make a general plan of attack, then alter it according to how the opposition reacts. She repeatedly corners the high school teams because of clever adjustments of her plans during important skirmishes.
The Bermuda Trio
Bermuda Trio
A trio of Sensha-do practitioners for the University Team that serve under Alice as her lieutenants. Each one of them in charge of one of the University team's tank platoons.Tropes shared by the trio
- Attack Pattern Alpha: The "Bermuda Attack" they execute together.
- Big Sister Instinct: They plot to "get rid" of Miho when they learn that Alice likes her, stating that a girl with a troubled life would not be good for one as innocent as Alice. However, this is only due to misunderstanding Alice's desire to be friends with Miho, which they misinterpret as romantic attraction because of being a bit drunk.
- Co-Dragons: Each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses, and all of them serve under Alice.
- Cuteness Proximity: They absolutely go gaga over Alice because of how cute she is.
- Expy: The trio as a whole are a female sensha-do version of The Black Tri-Stars, complete with dark colored units, a signature attack formation, and serving under a young and talented commander.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: The audio drama shows them drinking heavily when outside their tanks.
- Lethal Chef: The audio drama state none of them know a thing about cooking.
- Logical Weakness: Their "Bermuda Attack" is devastating, especially against Rag Tag Band Of Misfits that is the Ōarai's Compound Team. But their tactic needs setup and all three of them have to get in the position for the strategy to work. That's why Leopon, Katyusha, and Erika do whatever they can to cripple at least one of them before they can regroup with Alice. When Rumi is disabled, Azumi and Megumi are easier to get picked on one by one.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "Just like always... Bermuda Attack!"
- Squee: They idolize their 13-year-old commander and how cuuuuuute she is.
Rumi
"Leave the rest to us!"
Position: Company Commander/Tank Commander, M26 Pershing
Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (Japanese), Autumn Woods (English)
One of the University tank commanders. Hails from Jatkosota High School.
- Boyish Short Hair: She has the shortest hair in the trio, and her hot-blood contrasts Megumi.
- Hot-Blooded: Out of the three, Rumi might be the most openly emotional, whether it's arrogance or anger.
- Tempting Fate: Says "You'll never catch us, you slowpokes" at the pursuing high school forces before the Leopon team decides to overclock the Tiger(P)'s electric motor to gain speed, allowing them to catch up with the trio's tank. She gets eliminated by Erika's Tiger II.
Azumi
"Encirclement complete."
Position: Company Commander/Tank Commander, M26 Pershing
Voiced by: Yūko Iida (Japanese), Melissa Pritchett (English)
One of the University tank commanders. Hails from BC-Freedom High School.
- Custom Uniform of Sexy: Wears her jacket with no shirt underneath.
- The Leader: Implied to be the leader of the Bermuda Trio in the audio drama. The Bermuda Trio mark their Pershings with color-coded geometric shapes, which is an altered practice of Azumi's alma mater's color-coded card suits that Azumi still uses, as a diamond (unlike Megumi's square and Rumi's triangle) is both a geometric shape and a card suit.
- Lured into a Trap: She gets eliminated by the joint effort of the Nishizumi sisters; with Maho luring her inside a tunnel and stopping at the other side so Miho could shoot her tank from above the tunnel's entrance.
- Ms. Fanservice: Is more than likely to be shown wearing skimpy clothing in Motto Love Love Sakusen.
- Oh, Crap!: When she realized she had fallen into a trap set by the Nishizumi sisters and is about to get shot.
Megumi
"This match is so one sided, it breaks my heart."
Position: Company Commander/Tank Commander, M26 Pershing
Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (Japanese), Carolyn Medrano (English)
One of the University tank commanders. Hails from Saunders High School and University.
- The Big Girl: Not her specifically, but the T28 Super Heavy/T95 Gun Motor Carriage belonged to her unit.
- Lady of War: She's calm and composed, even during sensha-do matches.
- Lured into a Trap: She gets eliminated by Maho who used a pirate ship ride to take her out before delivering the killing blow.
