Girls und Panzer/Characters

Oarai Girls High School


Oarai Girls High School, based in Ibaraki Prefecture on the east coast of Honshu, used to have a tankery program, but hadn't for many years prior to the start of the story. For some reason, though, starting the club back up again has become priority one for the Student Council, and they are awfully insistent that they win the very next high school tournament...


 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Not only are their team members drawn from whatever clubs the Student Council could convince to join, but the tanks themselves come from many countries (being the leftovers from the previous iteration of the club, plus whatever the Student Council could scare up to buy on short notice and low cost).
 * Of the eight tanks that Oarai is able to field by the final match of the tournament, four have one less crewmember than they were built for, and one has two less. And those tanks were built for grown men, not girls in their mid-teens.
 * Technician Versus Performer: Oarai is a school of quirky, plucky performers up against technically superior opponents.
 * Theme Naming: Their tanks are all given animal names, with cartoon mascots painted on the vehicle side. One of the Council members objected, but the President thought the images were cute.
 * A peculiarity is that all of the team names in the Japanese version include the "-san" suffix — Rabbit Team, for instance, is Usagi-san Chiimu — except for Anglerfish, which is simply Ankou Chiimu.
 * In the basic manga, the animal names are never spoken. Instead, at least in the translation, tanks are designated by a description of the crew followed by a letter of the alphabet, for instance, "Head for the first year (D) team and the history girls (C) team..." [These are Rabbit and Hippo.] And there's no sign of the mascots painted on the panzers. But each crew member wears a patch of her team's mascot on the back of her jacket.
 * In the basic manga, the animal names are never spoken. Instead, at least in the translation, tanks are designated by a description of the crew followed by a letter of the alphabet, for instance, "Head for the first year (D) team and the history girls (C) team..." [These are Rabbit and Hippo.] And there's no sign of the mascots painted on the panzers. But each crew member wears a patch of her team's mascot on the back of her jacket.

Anglerfish Team


The main characters of Girls und Panzer, all of them second-year students. They operate a German Panzer IV. Its original 75mm gun was a short-barreled low-velocity weapon not made for anti-tank action, although still capable of doing the job if the gunner is precise enough, which Yukari and then Hana are. In Episode 7 they find a longer barrel with which they're able to upgrade the gun for greater power, similar to changes made during World War II.


 * Meaningful Name: The ankou (depending on translator, anglerfish or more specifically goosefish or monkfish) is a well-known seafood delicacy of the Oarai area in Real Life, and in the anime, at least, it's a mascot for Oarai city — several anglerfish images of varying design are scattered about town (both on land and the portion aboard the school ship). For instance, the public bath the girls visit has an anglerfish fountain. It's very appropriate that the commander of the tankery team  rides a tank named Anglerfish. As Anzu proclaims in OVA 6, "The Ankou will protect Oarai!"
 * Never Live It Down: OVA 6, "Banquet War," includes a moment when the Student Council describes doing the Ankou Dance as Anglerfish's proven skill that they're not permitted to use in the "hidden talents" contest. They don't find this restriction disappointing.
 * True Companions: From the first day of school, they stuck together when the Student Council threatened to expel them all to strong-arm Miho into joining the tankery club. In the opening of their final match, even the originally reluctant Mako joins the Team Handstack.

Miho Nishizumi


The commander of Anglerfish Team and Oarai's tankery force in general, and an heiress of the Nishizumi school of tankery. In Girls und Panzer das Finale she's officially downrated to Vice Commander of Oarai, with Momo Kawashima as (figurehead) Commander in order to buff Momo's resume.


 * A Mother to Her Girls: To the point of leaping into the water to rescue her teammates from a sinking tank. Her mother disapproves, but her teammates (at Oarai, at least) adore her for it and respond accordingly.
 * Combat Clairvoyance/Danger Sense: In the match against Saunders, when the Firefly comes after the Panzer IV, Miho is looking forward, watching Alisa's Sherman. She abruptly twitches and turns to look behind her, then shouts to Mako, "Hard stop!" just in time so Naomi's shot misses.
 * Cute Clumsy Girl: After the In Medias Res opening, Miho is first seen falling out of bed as her alarm clock goes off. On the way to school, a distraction causes her to walk straight into a lamppost. During lunch with Hana and Saori, she pirouettes in delight at having made friends, but loses her balance and nearly falls because pirouetting while holding a full lunch tray isn't a good idea. That's all just in the first episode. She never seems to be clumsy in combat, though.
 * In the first episode of follow-on Girls und Panzer Das Finale, she dodged every punch and kick thrown at her in a brawl. Not clumsy in combat at all.
 * Giver of Lame Names: "Operation Sneaky Sneaks"? "Operation Bumpy"?
 * Hazel Eyes: Miho was a talented commander under the Nishizumi school, but only developed her full potential when she got out of her mother's and big sister's shadows and found her own tankery style at Oarai. It's also a contrast with the grey-eyed Maho and Shiho.
 * You Gotta Have Chestnut Hair: Her hair is a perfectly ordinary color for humans (as is almost everyone's in the series, though quite a few aren't ordinary for Japanese), but a striking contrast to her darker-haired family.
 * Heroic Self-Deprecation: Miho seems to have boundless confidence in everyone in the world (see Magnetic Hero below) except herself. (Luckily, she's got her friends who believe in her just as much.)
 * On her first day at Oarai, she compliments Saori on how friendly and outgoing she is, and Hana on her cool head and intelligence, but when they compliment her back, she insists that she's "totally lame".
 * Hidden Buxom: Look at Miho in her everyday school uniform. Now look at her when doing the Anglerfish dance in Episode 4. Either that costume is padded, or she must usually wear a special bra to hide those.
 * Inadequate Inheritor: Shiho Nishizumi does not appreciate Miho's deviation from her standards, and attends the semi-final against Pravda for the sole purpose of watching Miho lose and disowning her. When Miho wins, she only dismisses it as a matter of luck and prepares to do the same for the final against Kuromorimine.
 * The Leader: Reluctantly. Mostly a combination of Type II (Levelheaded) and Type IV (Charismatic ... although even at the end, she isn't good at Rousing Speeches). Once Miho starts improvising battle plans, Type I (Mastermind) joins the mix.
 * In Little Army 2, an opposing school commander
 * Love You and Everybody: She says she "love[s] each and every one" of her teammates (which Yukari and Saori misunderstand as a romantic confession — Yukari with glee, Saori with some nervousness).
 * Magnetic Hero: Miho wins over just about everyone she crosses paths with. Darjeeling comments on it (after Miho gets pre-final greetings from Kay and Katyusha), and Miho says "That's because everyone is just so wonderful!"  (Which says as much about her as it does about the people she befriends.)
 * Mirthless Laughter: When she doesn't know how to deal with a situation, she'll often give a barely-audible nervous giggle, with a facial expression somewhere between a smile and a wince of pain.
 * New Transfer Student: But it turned out she couldn't transfer away from tankery.
 * No One Gets Left Behind: Not even if it costs the game — which is why Kuromorimine ostracized her. When Miho meets Mako and helps her get to school, Sodoko tells her that in future, she should leave Mako behind to avoid being late herself. Ain't gonna happen.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran: It wasn't actual war, but Miho still has nightmares and flashbacks about tankery at Kuromorimine. When she's first ordered to take up tankery again at Oarai, she suffers a massive BSOD.
 * Technician Versus Performer: Miho is technically talented, but she was driven away from tankery by Kuromorimine's and her mother's focus on victory at any cost. In fact, when she saw the Bling of War paint jobs that the other Oarai girls had given their tanks before the friendly match with St. Gloriana, she laughed and said it was the first time she realized that tankery could be fun.  Out of her mother's shadow, she finally got to shine as a tankery performer, devising unconventional strategies that flummoxed by-the-book opponents.
 * During Der Film, Miho initially tries to lead her army conventionally and is outdone. It's Maho (a complete technician herself) who points out that she isn't playing to her strengths — that she needs to relax and fight the battle in her own style.
 * The Unfavorite: Shiho evidently didn't care when Miho left tankery and went to Oarai. When Miho gets back into tankery, but dares to use her own style, Shiho treats it as an insult worthy of expulsion from the family.
 * White Sheep: If Miho hadn't left home herself, she probably would have been kicked out before too long.
 * Your Size May Vary: Her height is listed as 158 cm (5'2"), the same as Darjeeling and Kay, but she sometimes seems quite a bit shorter. When the manga shows the St. Gloriana, Pravda, and Saunders leaders wishing Miho well just before the Kuromorimine match, Darjeeling's loader Orange Pekoe is also in the picture, and Miho looks almost exactly her height — 144 cm (not quite 4'9").

Yukari Akiyama


Anglerfish Team's loader, and Oarai's number-one tankery fan. In the follow-on Girls und Panzer Das Finale, she's become Student Council Vice President.


 * Character Tics: She has a peculiar way of expressing embarrassed pleasure by squirming while fluffing up her hair; it's most often seen when someone — especially Miho — praises her, or when "Miss Nishizumi confessed her love for me!" as mentioned below. It's sort of a physiological rather than verbal Squee.
 * Crazy Prepared: With Hammerspace! Where'd that thermos full of hot cocoa come from? And the folding spade? The lantern? How did she anticipate one of her comrades would need an insulating wrap for inside her boots? Her pockets are flat and she has no backpack, but out come the handwarmer, scissors, sewing kit, bandages, batarang ... OK, no batarang so far....
 * Friendless Background: For years (before the reinstatement of the tankery club), nobody else at Oarai loved tanks the way she does. Anglerfish Team were her first real friends in a long time.
 * I Know Mortal Kombat: In their first drive-and-shoot practice, Yukari was the gunner. Three shots fired equals three panzers disabled. She'd never before fired a real tank's gun, but apparently honed her skills playing Arcade Games. Considering that score, it's actually a bit astonishing they let Hana take over the position when they didn't yet know how good a shot she'd be ... but then they weren't taking tankery very seriously at that point.
 * Japanese Honorifics: Refers to all the other Anglerfish members with the highly formal "-dono." (She's also used it to speak of some of the other Oarai girls, for instance Caesar.) In the English dub of the anime, this is represented by e.g. addressing Miho as "Miss Nishizumi".
 * Military Salute: Sometimes very out-of-place. For example, she salutes in the group bath when Mako agrees to be their driver.
 * Pose of Supplication: When they realized they'd won the drive-and-shoot, she climbed out and knelt atop the turret to glomp Miho, who was leaning up out of the loader's hatch. After a moment, though, Yukari backed off and put her head to the metal, apologizing for her exuberance.
 * Single-Target Sexuality: When Miho says that she "loves" her teammates, Yukari cheers, "Miss Nishizumi confessed her love for me!"
 * The OVA Beach Episode "Water War!" reveals she's studied Miho closely enough to estimate her three sizes (for the record, 82-56-84) and (Crazy Prepared, again) buy her a bikini when Miho got sidetracked and didn't buy a swimsuit herself. It fits perfectly. Maybe she could do the same for the other girls, but there's no sign of it.
 * Teen Superspy: After her spying at Saunders, an even more successful infiltration of Anzio, and her reconnaissance of Pravda positions, the spin-off Ribbon Warrior indicates Yukari now has a reputation among the various schools as a female James Bond. Given that these are all girls' schools, the line about "gathering intel with sex appeal" is a bit ... *ahem*.
 * According to Gekitou! Maginot-sen Desu!!, that, not the Saunders match, was her first time slipping off to quietly scout the adversary, though in this case she was simply looking at their tanks with binoculars. She reported that Maginot had upgraded the barrel length of two of their SOMUA S35s, giving them better armor penetration — enough to disable anything Oarai had.

Hana Isuzu


Anglerfish Team's gunner, and heiress of the Isuzu school of flower arrangement. She and Saori sought out Miho together and became her first friends at Oarai. The tallest Anglerfish, though she tops Miho by only five centimeters. In the follow-on Girls und Panzer Das Finale, she's become Student Council President as well.


 * Big Eater: Hinted at in the anime; Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! goes into more (and sillier) detail, with bits such as restaurants warning the waitresses to report her entry to the manager, so he can plead with her not to eat their entire stock.
 * Covert Pervert: While woozy during the first tankery practice, she blushes and mumbles that the cannon firing "feels good". She also smiles and blushes when Miho gets glomped by Kay after the match against Saunders (while Miho, Yukari, and Saori react with shock).
 * Floral Theme Naming: Hana means "flower".
 * Friendly Sniper: She's not the outgoing sort of friendly, but she is warm and kind to everyone. She's also a crack shot with a 75mm cannon. Enough so, by OVA 7 (coinciding with Episode 7), to hit on the first shot from 1500 meters.
 * Inadequate Inheritor: Hana's mother is not at all happy that her daughter is pursuing tankery, when Isuzu style flower arrangement should embody delicacy.
 * Silk Hiding Steel: As a Yamato Nadeshiko, Hana is exquisitely silky, but she's also much steelier than her mother Yuri would prefer (in fact, Yuri was quite distressed to smell "oil and iron" on Hana's hands). Several times, she's been the one to encourage Miho to move forward in spite of her doubts.  She's also not frightened by noises in the creepy, dark interior of the ship (unlike Yukari, Miho, or Mako) and, while the others are uneasily standing outside Hisako Reizei's hospital room listening to her argue with Mako, Hana's the one who takes the lead in "charging" into the room (this while wearing a quite dressy dress and hat, and bearing a flower bouquet).
 * The Nose Knows: She found the Pz 38(t) by smelling oil and iron amidst the scents of the forest they were walking through.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: She hits all the points from our world, plus tankery (tankery is viewed as a quintessentially feminine pursuit in their world, much as the naginata was in "our" Japan).
 * Interestingly, she averts Feminine Women Can Cook, slicing open her finger the moment she takes up a knife to peel potatoes. She says something about only being used to cutting flowers.

Mako Reizei


Anglerfish Team's driver, and the number-one student at Oarai ... if not for her demerits for tardiness. She's a childhood friend of Saori. Shortest of the Anglerfish girls, at only 145 cm.

""Although they argue like cats and dogs, she's one of the few people Mako talks to and values.""
 * Badass Driver: Of any tank she's gotten into.
 * It gets kind of eerie in OVA 7, when during practice for the Anzio battle Mako seems to know, without any orders spoken, what Miho wants her to do. Hippo Team asks a question about how far engagement range should be for the battle. Miho says, "About 1500 meters. Here, I'll show you." Even before the first words are out of her mouth, Mako is turning the Panzer IV and starting to drive away.
 * Because You Were Nice to Me: Miho first met Mako staggering sleepily toward school, and rushed to help her. When Mako agrees to join what becomes Anglerfish team, she states that owing something to Miho is part of her reason.
 * Brilliant but Sleepy: As stated above, she's got the school's best grades and worst demerit list. She learns to operate any tank like a veteran by glancing through the manual for less than a minute. She shows astonishment when told that "Normal people can't do that!"
 * Emotionless Girl: Though she's not suppressing or lacking emotions so much as she's too low-energy to express them noticeably.
 * Even Bad Girls Love Their Grandmas: Mako's hardly an awful person, but she doesn't care deeply about much (at least in the early parts of the series). Her grandmother is the major exception — Mako joins tankery (and its 5 AM wakeup calls) to make her proud, and is prepared to strip out of her uniform and swim to the hospital when she learns that her grandmother has fallen and was injured.
 * Falling Into the Cockpit: Anglerfish Team came upon her, asleep, in the practice field on the first day of the tankery club. She needed to join a club to get her demerits reduced, and they needed another team member.  She turned out to be an ace driver.
 * Meaningful Name: "Reizei" sounds quite a bit like the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "Lazy."
 * Not a Morning Person: Sometimes it takes a 75mm blank round to get her out of bed. She barely rescues herself from a Face Fault when told she needs to wake up at five the next morning (after she'd expressed disbelief at the idea of waking at six).
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: In the manga (Volume 3), Saori tells Yukari this is Mako's relationship with Sodoko.

""Ghosts are worse than waking up early.""
 * Why Did It Have to Be Ghosts?: Episode 7, exploring the darker, spookier corners of the school ship in search of more tanks, reveals that she's particularly afraid of the possibility of ghosts, more so than any of the other girls.


 * She's pretty darned scared of her grandmother's anger, too. And she doesn't like heights; in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! she even expresses a bit of discomfort at riding Miho's shoulders (as part of a swimming pool sport).

Saori Takebe


Anglerfish Team's radio operator and social butterfly. She and Hana sought out Miho together and became her first friends at Oarai. In the follow-on Girls und Panzer Das Finale, she's become Student Council Public Relations Manager.


 * Big Ol' Eyebrows: Saori's are about twice as thick as those of most of the girls. They're usually covered by her hair, but show through.
 * Have I Mentioned I Am Sexually Active Today?: She talks a big game about having lots of boyfriends or romantic experience and wisdom, but has little success to show for it...
 * Meganekko: She wears contact lenses most of the time, but once it comes time to cook at Miho's place, she's seen putting them away and a moment later she has glasses (with rectangular half-frames) on. She looks cute either way.
 * No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Saori echoes this. "Guys run away when you chase them too, for some reason."
 * Team Chef: When they first go to Miho's apartment for dinner, Saori notes that "Everyone's surprisingly useless" at cooking. Then she takes charge, and the results are delicious.
 * Team Mom: She has something of this as well. When Miho is flustered by the new instructor making a big thing of her being Nishizumi, Saori quickly changes the subject. It's Saori who worries aloud about Miho riding exposed in the tank's hatch while St. Gloriana shells and the shards of rock they kick up are flying all around, and she's insistent enough that Miho agrees to get under cover (although in fact she never does). On the way back from visiting Mako's grandmother in the hospital, she lets Mako sleep on her Lap Pillow. And then she goes along with Rabbit Team exploring deep inside the ship to look for more tanks; when they get lost and the younger girls start to panic, Saori is the voice of comfort, sharing chocolate to raise everyone's spirits.
 * The rest of Anglerfish Team come to the rescue, and the girls of Rabbit express their relief — by all hugging Saori.
 * In the "Banquet War!" OVA, she's very thrilled, exactly like a proud mom, to see the Rabbits' skill at team gymnastics. One of her own teammates has to tell her that jumping to her feet to cheer for the girls (who're at the moment competing against Anglerfish) is a bit excessive.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Grade A; one of only three in Oarai's team. None of the other Anglerfish girls are even Grade B.

Turtle Team


The Student Council during the original series and movie, who are all third-year students. They operate a Czech-built tank the Germans called PzKpfw 38(t) with a 37mm gun; later remodeled (as the Germans actually did) into a Hetzer tank destroyer with a powerful 75mm gun. Though the original gun wasn't impressive, historically the drive components from engine to tracks were highly reliable, "perfectly in tune" with each other, and very easy to maintain and repair; this is why the Wehrmacht adopted the 38(t) in large numbers after Nazi Germany took over Czechoslovakia. It's intended to have a crew of four, so Turtle works shorthanded. In the follow-on Girls und Panzer Das Finale, these girls haven't left Oarai yet, but have stepped down as the Student Council, replaced by three members of Anglerfish Team.


 * Non-Indicative Name: "Turtle Team" is an ironic name for a tank that's often seen moving faster than any of the others.
 * Theme Naming: Their given names are also the names of fruits: Anzu means apricot, Yuzu is an Asian citrus, and Momo means peach. And their surnames all begin with "K".
 * Wheel of Feet: Their mascot, the speedster turtle, is drawn this way.

Anzu Kadotani


President of the Student Council. She's Turtle's commander, and — after some evidence that Momo wasn't up to the job — usually gunner. The shortest member of Oarai's team, and one of the shortest whose height is given in the series, at 142 cm (not quite 4'8").


 * Brilliant But Lazy: She seems to be competent at running the Council and its affairs, but likes to push the work off on others as much as possible. She reclines her office chair, closes her eyes, and says cheerfully, "Fortune comes to those who wait, and sleep."
 * Japanese Honorifics: She uses the "-chan" suffix with Miho's surname, expressing a bizarre mix of intimacy and distance.
 * "Just As Planned" is exactly what she says after the first drive-and-shoot, when Miho takes charge of the Panzer IV and it proceeds to disable its four opponents. She says it again in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! when the Morals Committee winds up doing all the work of cleaning the swimming pool.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: She had a reason beyond the search for prestige to force Miho back into tankery. Now, if only she'd explained it. Also, she acknowledged that the loss against St. Gloriana was a collective responsibility, and thus decreed the Council would pay the penalty along with Miho (and her friends).
 * Supreme Chef: In the second OVA, Rabbit Team was trying to speed up the process of cooking, and wound up setting the prospective meal on fire. Anzu then took charge, salvaged the food, and made it delicious, too.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Dried sweet potatoes. Not only does she love them herself, but she'll offer them as a reward, apparently ignoring the possibility that others aren't so addicted. She'll sometimes also cheat in such a way that she gets to claim that reward for herself.
 * "V" Sign: Does this on a number of occasions, for instance when offering the "awesome" reward of "a three-day supply of dried sweet potatoes!" The first chapter of the main manga shows her doing it three times in four pages (the translator tagged it with "Peace!", which doesn't seem appropriate to the circumstances).

Yuzu Koyama


Vice President of the Student Council. Turtle Team's driver. Very gentle and polite.


 * Badass Driver: Want proof? Look at Episode 9 as she takes the Pz 38(t) up close and personal with four T-34s, because Turtle's 37mm hasn't a chance of hurting the Pravda tanks at long range. She weaves in and out among them to give Anzu good close-range shots, which succeed in disabling two tanks (the surviving two aren't in the best of shape, either). They never land a hit on her; it takes a long-range shot from Nonna, who almost never misses, to pick Turtle off.
 * Beleaguered Assistant: Guess who does most of the Council's work. At least Momo helps a bit with that.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! reveals that approximately once a year, Yuzu gets genuinely fed up, most often with Momo's snappish bossiness, and decides to take a break from the Council's duties. Since, as mentioned above, she's the one who does the lion's share of the work, this leads to Momo desperately trying to placate her.
 * Ms. Fanservice: When washing the recently found Pz 38(t), she's either tricked or coerced into doing it in a skimpy bikini (on a lush figure), while everyone else working wears gym uniforms. All by herself, too; Momo stands "supervising" and Anzu is, at least supposedly, running administrative errands.

Momo Kawashima


Public Relations Manager of the Student Council. Loud and bossy, but with a softer side she tries to conceal. She also has a (slightly) exaggerated reputation for never smiling — and actually tries to reinforce it, at one point angrily denying that she smiled just a moment before. She started out as Turtle's gunner and radio operator, but in the Pravda match Anzu took over most of the shooting with Momo as loader. In Das Finale, Momo is promoted to Commander of the Oarai Tankery Team in the hope that this will enhance her chances of getting into a good university.


 * A-Team Firing: In Der Film, she finally manages to hit and even disable a tank. It isn't the one she aimed at, though. Still, at least it isn't one of her own side.
 * Gekitou! Maginot-sen Desu!! shows her killing an opposing tank even before the battle with Saunders. She's delighted, but also shocked. Anzu points out, though, that Yuzu helped a lot by bringing the Pz 38(t) so close to the Maginot tank that they were practically in physical contact.
 * High-Class Glass: Not a true monocle, but she wears what seems to be half a pair of eyeglasses, cut off at the nose-rest.
 * Insistent Terminology: She doesn't like being called "Momo-chan." She really doesn't like being called "Momo-chan." It's usually Yuzu saying it, and Momo-chan never manages to make her stop.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Not during the series, but in the first and second OVAs, Momo-chan wears a sling bikini that shows off a figure almost as impressive as Yuzu's. It also appears in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!'s Pool Episode.
 * Talking Your Way Out: Anzio School captured (more like kidnapped) her in one chapter of Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!. Her complaints about their casual, undisciplined manner developed into Momo taking over Anzio, intimidating its girls into following her orders instead of simply leaving her shut in the storage room they used as a cell. She figuratively "made the trains run on time." They even renamed her "Momochovy," since she replaced Anchovy as Duce.
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Before Talking Her Way Out of her cell at Anzio, Momo freaked out when she saw the high quality of the meal the girls there gave her. To feed a prisoner so well ... they must be planning to execute her! Maybe by torture! (Imagine Spots of being crucified, closed in an iron maiden, etc.) Ahhhh, Momo-chan, remember that you're not really fighting a war against these girls. Good food for everyone is just Serious Business to Anzio students....

Duck Team


The four members of the (cancelled) Volleyball Club. This group operates a Japanese Type 89B, which is completely unsuitable for fighting tanks. Its armor is pathetically thin, and its low-velocity 57mm main weapon can't penetrate even the rear armor of, for instance, a British Matilda. (It is not, though, a light tank, Running Gag.) As pointed out in a Recap Episode, the Type 89B has one of its two machine guns aimed out the back of the turret, unable to ever fire in the same direction as the main gun.


 * Colossus Climb: Right up onto the.
 * Custom Uniform: They seem to always wear volleyball uniform (except Noriko), not Oarai's standard school outfit. In tournament matches, they're wearing the school "tankery" jacket ... over the volleyball uniform.
 * David Versus Goliath: At least in the minds of their adversaries. It's not the Hetzer that immobilized her tracks, or the Panzer IV that fired the "killing" shot, which regards as her Arch Enemy forevermore; it's the "light tank" that got up on top of her huge tank and "Don't wanna" get down.
 * Dumb Jock: Mostly in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, when, for instance, they say they'll prove they aren't just "muscle-brained" — right before doing something not particularly smart, such as diving into a swimming pool without looking to see it'd been drained of water. (Ouch!)
 * In one chapter, Chi-Ha-Tan made a Banzai charge as part of a volleyball game. They trampled Noriko ... who picked herself up and remarked, "This is my first time seeing bigger idiots than us."
 * I Shall Taunt You: With a 57mm gun at point-blank range. The fact that even then it couldn't penetrate the target's armor may have made it all the more infuriating to the enemy tank commander.
 * Save Our Team: They seem to feel that, somehow, success in tankery will win them the revival of their club and team. Their reasoning is never made clear.
 * Training from Hell: Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! shows them doing ridiculously hardcore exercises. Akebi, at least, is seen taking time to do some simple aerobics as well. Simple aerobics ... for four hours or more nonstop.

Noriko Isobe


Team commander and loader. The only second-year student in Duck Team, and ironically its shortest member — at 143 cm, she's the second-shortest girl in Oarai's tankery team.


 * Custom Uniform: The rest of Duck Team wear their volleyball uniforms by preference. Noriko customizes from that by wearing a gym uniform t-shirt and black spandex shorts.
 * Determinator: All right, the whole team is this way, but Noriko is fiercest.

Shinobu Kawanishi


Duck Team's driver. A first-year student. Also the tallest girl in the Oarai team as a whole, and second-tallest in the series, at 170 cm (5'7"), just two centimeters shorter than Pravda's Nonna. Her volleyball uniform is marked with the number "5".


 * A-Cup Angst: It's gotta be rough for her, standing next to Akebi and Taeko. She's also unhappy when an ally in Der Film nicknames her "Slender Duck."
 * Badass Driver: After a rough start when she tended to run into things. The Pravda battle shows her keeping that weakly armored tank going while sharpshooting Nonna fired at it. Duck.
 * Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: The tsukkomi (relatively-more-sensible person) who points out, for instance, that Noriko and Akebi pushing against the inside of their own tank will do nothing at all to help bend the barrel of a Pershing in Der Film. (This isn't the first time Noriko and Akebi have done that sort of thing.)
 * During the pool party in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, she complains when the other Ducks boast, "You'll no longer say that our heads are only packed with fat!" She dove right into the (drained) swimming pool with them, though.
 * Taking the Bullet: In the match with Kuromorimine, she's weaving all over the street as she brings up the rear of Oarai's Tactical Withdrawal. That's not a result of bad driving, which is lampshaded by one of the pursuers snarling, "Get out of the way!"

Akebi Sasaki


The 57mm gunner. A first-year student. 165 cm tall (5'5"), naturally blonde, and very bosomy. The number on her volleyball uniform is "6".


 * Boobs of Steel: Taking into account the combination of her bust size with four-plus hours of nonstop aerobics.
 * Fashionable Asymmetry: Two of her comrades wear knee pads on each leg, another goes without; Akebi wears a pad only on the left leg.
 * Hypocritical Humor: In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, Duck Team tells how, camping in the mountains, they encountered a "suspicious person" and Akebi in particular expressed terror: "It's just us, so what can we do...!" Listening to the Ducks describe their fear, Saori interrupts to point out how absurdly strong they all are.
 * Phenotype Stereotype: In a chapter of Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, Kay seemed to think Akebi should be considered "American" more than Japanese (and thus, it's implied, attend Saunders rather than Oarai) ... because she's blonde and bosomy. Likewise, Chi-Ha-Tan Academy's Fukuda from Der Film gave her the nickname "American Duck."

Taeko Kondou


Duck Team's radio operator. A first-year student. Two centimeters taller than Akebi, and approximately as well-endowed in the chest. Her volleyball uniform is marked with the number "3".


 * Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: When Duck is atop the Maus, it's Taeko who points out to Noriko and Akebi (with the quote at right) that pushing against their tank's inside won't help keep the Maus' turret from shoving the Type 89 off. Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, though, makes her look as just as boke (not-at-all-sensible person, "airhead") as they are.
 * Boobs of Steel: Given her bust size, together with Duck Team's exercise program.
 * Hair Decorations: Wears a broad red ribbon tying back her hair.
 * Hartman Hips

Hippo Team


Four second-year students with a particular fascination for history (the Japanese term "Reki-jo" describes girls with this specific interest). They operate a German Sturmgeschütz ("StuG") III assault gun — technically not a tank, because the 75mm gun faces forward with almost no capability to traverse. This lack means it's best suited to ambush tactics rather than a moving battle. Until Anglerfish Team upgraded the Panzer IV's gun, Hippo had the most powerful weapon in Oarai's force. Hippo's mascot is a blue hippopotamus grinning over its shoulder as it presents its backside, thus Mooning anyone who looks at it.


 * Catch Phrase: "That's it!" (alternate translation "That's right!") when one of them says something the others all agree sums up what they feel on whatever topic. They also chorused it toward Yukari once, startling her.
 * Custom Uniform: Over their school uniforms, each wears some garment(s) reflecting the particular period and character this girl has chosen as her focus.
 * Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon: As World of Tanks players would say, they are living the "StuG Life", rocking a big gun with no turret.
 * Ninja: Among the choices for elective courses at Oarai listed in Episode 1 is Ninjutsu (another is Magic). The Reki-jo are shown using ninja equipment — Saemonza a bamboo snorkel and the other three an array of floats worn on the feet, known as a "water spider" — when they find the StuG III at the bottom of a lake. The implication is that they took Ninjutsu during their first year.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: The full name of each is given only in supplemental materials. The nicknames they've picked, and which they call "soul names," each refer to a famous person of the period the girl has as her special interest.
 * Yukari being something of a kindred spirit, they give her a soul name, too: Guderian, for one of the fathers of blitzkrieg tactics.
 * The AMV linked above in Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon includes pictures of the persons from whom the soul names were derived, matching each to the appropriate girl ... including Guderian/Yukari.
 * In OAV 7, Miho visits Hippo team at the house they share, and notices that they use their soul names even on the gatepost there.

Caesar (Takako Suzuki)


Co-commander of the team for non-battle situations such as meetings, and loader of the gun. Her special interest is the Roman Empire. At 165 cm, she's Hippo's tallest member.


 * Custom Uniform: She wears a red scarf, evidently meant to simulate the Roman sagum soldier's cloak. At one point, she's seen trying on a crown of laurel leaves.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: The OVA "This Is the Real Anzio Battle!" shows a childhood friend addressing her as "Taka-chan," and she's embarrassed when the other members of Hippo tease her with that name.
 * Hypercompetent Sidekick: Erwin's the one who leads in battle, but Caesar attends the strategy meetings.
 * Seer: She's shown a few times practicing divination, once with a Ba Gua arrangement. When Saori and Rabbit Team get lost in the depths of the school ship, Caesar provides apparently accurate guidance to find them, phoning Yukari with a message to look westward. She has no (mundane) way of knowing that Yukari isn't already as far west as she can go ... but she isn't, and going west soon leads to finding the missing girls. (Cue Twilight Zone theme.)

Erwin (Riko Matsumoto)


Co-commander of the team, Erwin commands the StuG III in battle, and is also the radio operator. Her specialty is European history, and particularly World War II; her nickname references German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.


 * Commissar Cap: No fan of the Desert Fox should be without one.
 * Custom Uniform: She wears an Afrika Korps cap (with rimless goggles always above the brim) and, except in tournament games, an Afrika Korps jacket as well. The jacket was made to be about hip-length on a European male, so on 158-cm Erwin it falls a bit lower. She leaves it hanging open rather than buttoned up, which combined with its relative length makes it look almost like a Badass Longcoat.
 * Visual Pun: Field Marshal Rommel was nicknamed "the Desert Fox"; Erwin's blonde hair sticks out to the sides in a way resembling the ears of the animal desert fox, or fennec (which is about the same color as her hair).

Saemonza (Kiyomi Sugiyama)


The gunner. Her time of particular interest is the Sengoku (Warring States) period in Japan, and her soul name comes from a nickname of Sengoku general Yukimura Sanada. (Before the Pravda match begins, Hippo Team makes a snow sculpture copying a famous statue of her namesake.) She's almost always seen with her left eye closed.


 * The Archer: Presumably, given that she usually carries a bow with her — unless she's treating it as an accessory.
 * Berserk Button: What does it take to get her so angry she opens her left eye? Sitting on camp stools the wrong way.
 * Custom Uniform: Her hachimaki headband has markings based on Sanada's emblem. Saemonza also wears a piece of torso armor, the muneate, used by women practicing Japanese archery.
 * Eye Always Shut: Her left eye is almost always shut.
 * The Storyteller: A spooky story chapter in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! begins with one by Saemonza. Erwin describes her technique as "masterful," and the reactions of the other listeners show that's not sarcasm.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Grade A; one of only three in Oarai's team. None of the other Hippos are even Grade B.

Oryou (Takeko Nogami)


Hippo's driver, whose historical focus is the end of the Shogunate leading into the Meiji Restoration. Her nickname is the only one based on a female historical figure: Ryou Narasaki, a politically influential woman of that period. The shortest member of her team, at only 149 cm. Her rather unruly black hair is pulled back into a very short ponytail.


 * Custom Uniform: Oryou wears a haori jacket draped over her shoulders, without putting her arms through the sleeves.
 * Hidden Buxom: Her loose-draped haori and the way she's usually bent forward, either slouching or over the controls, tend to hide it, but OVAs 1 and 2 show she has quite a substantial bust.
 * Meganekko: With rectangular half-frames. Unlike Saori, who wears the same design, Oryou wears them at all times.
 * Wall of Text: A 4koma in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! devotes three panels to Oryou rattling off a detailed "overview" about the Meiji period. In the fourth panel, she finishes with a one-sentence answer to the question the teacher had asked: "It was the Anglo-Satsuma War." The teacher resolves not to ask Oryou anything ever again.
 * Warrior Poet: She composes the haiku at right in mid-battle, referring to her belief that Hippo will soon be disabled by the pursuing adversaries they can't shoot back at . Caesar shouts, "This isn't time to say a parting haiku!"

Rabbit Team


The largest team in numbers (six of them), and the only one composed solely of first-year students. This group operates a US M3 Lee. The Lee has a 37mm gun mounted in its turret, and a 75mm gun in a sponson with only 30° of traverse on the right side of the hull. It's intended for a crew of seven, so they're shorthanded; oddly, Rabbit assigns a separate loader for the smaller gun instead of for the heavier rounds of the 75mm. They originally painted their tank hot pink. Its mascot is a wickedly grinning pink rabbit brandishing a pair of large knives.


 * The Atoner: After panicking and being useless in their first two times under fire (accidentally disabling their own vehicle the first time, and abandoning it before it's even hit the second), these girls feel they have a lot to make up for.
 * Holding Hands: They join hands while watching the final confrontation between.
 * My Greatest Second Chance: Given to them by Miho, and they are not going to let her down.
 * Tears of Fear: Their reaction to their first battle, as they flee from their tank when St. Gloriana starts firing at them. Some of the girls are also crying when they bail out of their tank to get away from a cockroach.
 * They tear up, too, while lost in the depths of the ship, and when they learn during the Pravda match.
 * Tender Tears: While apologizing to Miho for panicking, and while watching Kelly's Heroes ... wait, what?
 * Theme Naming: Sort of. Their names are all derived from the names of members of Japan's 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup champion soccer squad — given name from one woman, family name from another.
 * Took A Level In Badass:.
 * Took A Level In Badass:.

Azusa Sawa


Team commander. Most level-headed of her crew, so it's a good thing she's in command. In the Anzio OVA, her teammates imply that she's very much like Miho. A scene in the Little Army 2 spin-off manga hints she's become vice-commander of the Oarai team, as she goes with Miho to greet the opposing team (Bellwall), while the rest of Oarai stand in the background.


 * Calling Your Attacks: Against the Elefant, she declares that it's time for the tactic they'd researched while watching war movies. "We call it: Operation Kelly's Heroes!"
 * The Leader: Determined and a student of tactics, shown at one point in Der Film taking tactical notes while watching a movie involving an M3.
 * Gekitou! Maginot-sen Desu!! portrays her developing a bit of this even before the tournament began; she improvised a battle plan by which Rabbit while Anglerfish was fighting another S35.
 * In OVA 7, she figures out how her gunners can adjust the aim of the 75mm based on a ranging shot from the 37mm. This works quite well.
 * Leave It to Us: She turns down the offer from the other teams for help dealing with the cockroach, because she feels This Is Something They've Got to Do Themselves, in order to overcome their fear (and also because she'd feel bad about letting their hangup with the roach delay the other tanks).
 * Number Two: She eventually becomes this to Miho.

Karina Sakaguchi


The driver. Tied with Yuuki for being the shortest girl in Rabbit Team, 145 cm.


 * Badass Driver: Tank jujutsu. 'Nuff said.
 * Genius Ditz: A bit of a Cloudcuckoolander about some things, but drives well by instinct more than training. A 4koma in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! shows her telling Miho that she performed a certain task (superbly, in Miho's opinion) by not thinking of anything.

Ayumi Yamagou


Gunner and loader for the 75mm gun. Tallest Rabbit, at 160 cm (5'3"). Despite wearing her hair longer and having a somewhat curvier figure than the other Rabbit girls, background material describes her personality as boyish.


 * Curtains Match the Windows: Dark blue hair and eyes.

Aya Oono


37mm gunner.


 * Amusing Injuries: It's a Running Gag that a lens of her eyeglasses will be broken when the tank is disabled. One 4koma in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! shows her putting on glasses with a broken lens after the ones she had on aren't broken.
 * Girlish Pigtails: Light brown or dark blonde.
 * Meganekko: Round lenses, but not opaque like Nerd Glasses. In OVA 2, "Survival War!", she wears them even while swimming under water.
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon: In Episode 7, she says to Miho that when she talks about tankery, "all my guy friends don't want to talk to me."
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Grade A; one of only three in Oarai's team. None of the other Rabbits are even Grade B.

Saki Maruyama


37mm loader.


 * Cloudcuckoolander: Is usually seen staring vacantly off in a direction that has little to do with what the others are focused on. She may be an Idiot Savant, though, because the one time she speaks in the main series, she solves the team's problem with a single brief sentence.
 * Emotionless Girl: It's rare to see her show emotion, because her mind seems to be somewhere else most of the time.
 * Improbable Weapon User: While the other girls load up with bug-killing chemicals (to hunt the roach), she brings a pair of rolled-up newspapers, and in the end, she strikes the killing blow with Momo's clipboard.
 * The Voiceless: For most of the series, she never spoke; she didn't even have a voice actress listed until the final episode.

Yuuki Utsugi


Radio operator and navigator. Tied with Karina for being the shortest girl in Rabbit Team, 145 cm.


 * The Ditz: The 75mm gun's barrel is damaged. She suggests putting a bandage on it.
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon: Perhaps. When she joined tankery, she expressed hope that her boyfriend would be impressed (she's the only girl in Oarai outright stated to have a boyfriend, although Aya mentions "guy friends"). But in Episode 7, she reveals he's dumped her.

Mallard Team


Three girls from the Public Morals Committee, or Hall Monitors depending on translation. Starting in the Pravda battle, this group operates a French Char B1 bis, a heavy tank with a 75mm howitzer in the hull and a 47mm gun in the turret. The howitzer isn't well suited to anti-tank battle; that's why the high-velocity 47mm was added as a tank-killing afterthought. The armor is thick and tough, but the tank is slow and not very maneuverable. It's meant for a crew of four, so Mallard Team is shorthanded. Because the turret is too small for more than one crewmember, the tank's commander is also loader and gunner for the 47mm gun. This team was given the name "Mallard" after Miho commented that the tank's shape made her think of a duck. Duck Team represents a white domesticated duck (ahiru); Mallard is a wild duck (kamo).


 * Curtains Match the Windows: Black hair, black eyes — all three.
 * Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon: The 75mm howitzer.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: The biggest difference in the three girls' appearance is slight changes in their hairstyles. In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! over a hundred more members of the Morals Committee show up — all just as nearly-identical.
 * In the "hidden talent" portion of the "Banquet War" OVA, they sing about their resemblance, calling it a "cloning spell" and using it to simulate Teleportation.
 * Meaningful Name: In a backwards way: they're the Morals Committee, but their nicknames, supposedly by coincidence, invoke Sodom and Gomorrah. A Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! chapter briefly shows two other members of the Committee whose names are based on "sadism" and "masochism."
 * Moral Guardians: If Sodoko has her way about it.
 * They aren't really interested in the "Banquet War!" prizes, but they suspect any other team which wins first prize (whatever it is) will use it in a manner the Morals Committee wouldn't approve of, so they try to win to "protect morality."
 * Talking to Herself: Further playing up how almost-identical they are, the three have the same Japanese voice actress.

Sodoko (Midoriko Sono)


Head of the Morals Committee and tank commander; loader and gunner for the turret gun; radio operator. A third-year student.

"The Mallard Team members' names are Sodoko, Gomoyo, Pazomi, and you've got some nerve."
 * Embarrassing Nickname: She objects to anyone (except Gomoyo or Pazomi) calling her Sodoko. Mako takes every possible opportunity to do so. During the "hidden talents" contest, however, Sodoko sings (with the other two) about her nickname:


 * Hidden Depths/Not So Above It All: With the help of one of her Morals Committee comrades, she plays a prank on Mako during the Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! pool party, making Mako think Sodoko's hair is a wig that's come off while she's swimming. It's odd that despite their many clashes, Mako's reaction is an immediate offer to cover for Sodoko while she retrieves the wig. Or perhaps it isn't so odd; see Vitriolic Best Buds below.
 * Stop Having Fun Guy: Her attempt to crack down on the wear of Custom Uniforms leads to the remark used as Erwin's picture caption.
 * Tyrant Takes the Helm: In a chapter of Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! she's given expanded authority to enforce school regulations (the would-be Moral Guardian bribed the Student Council President to get that authority). Among other things, she demands that everyone whose hair is naturally a color other than black or dark brown dye it.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Early in Volume 3 of the basic manga, Saori says Mako "values" Sodoko, who scolds so much as a way of trying to help her. There's little sign of this in the anime — though it's true Mako teases but never acts really hostile to Sodoko.

Gomoyo (Moyoko Gotou)


Tank driver, a second-year student. She's shown smiling more than either of the other two Mallards, particularly with tearful gratitude when Mako helps her with some driving she's not up to yet. Her hair is a bit longer than Sodoko's, mostly in front where it sweeps into points; at the back and most of the way around the sides it seems about the same length.


 * Puppy Dog Eyes: Has a tendency to tears welling up in her eyes, though they're never seen running down her face. In Episode 8, she quickly goes from anxious tears because she can't get the Char B1 up a snow-covered hill (and Sodoko is yelling at her) to grateful tears when Mako takes over.
 * Those Two Girls: With Pazomi; they let Sodoko do almost all of the team's talking.

Pazomi (Nozomi Konparu)


Loader and gunner for the 75mm gun, a second-year student. She has the shortest hair of the three.


 * Those Two Girls: With Gomoyo; they let Sodoko do almost all of the team's talking.

Leopon Team


The Automotive Club, which joins the tankery team for the Kuromorimine match — after supporting the team's maintenance from the beginning. This group operates a German Tiger (P) [for Porsche, the designer], with superb armor and an 88mm gun but a complex and unreliable power system. As shown in the anime, it's not only prone to breakdowns but underpowered to the point that at least once Oarai's other tanks had to tow it up a hill. Because of these flaws, the Germans rejected the Porsche design after building only five prototypes. It's intended for a crew of five, so Leopon is shorthanded. The Automotive Club are the perfect girls to run a tank with such a troublesome engine.

By the way, a leopon is a hybrid resulting from a male leopard mating with a lioness (unlikely to occur in the wild, but has been achieved in zoos).


 * Custom Uniform: None of the Leopons are ever shown wearing the school uniform ... except during the Kuromorimine match. As mechanics, their orange coveralls are more practical most of the time.
 * Theme Naming: Their names all come from the names of Japanese race-car drivers.
 * Wrench Wench: They're the Automotive Club, after all.
 * You Shall Not Pass: Their Crowning Moment of Awesome ... in their first battle.

Satoko Nakajima


Commander and radio operator. A third-year student, but the shortest girl on her team at 145 cm.


 * Wrench Wench: Takes it Up to Eleven, surprising even her teammates by fixing an engine problem while the tank is on the move. (She describes it as "pacifying" the tank.)

Hoshino


Gunner. A third-year student.


 * Ambiguously Brown: Hoshino has slightly darker skin than most other characters. Her eyes are green.
 * Custom Uniform of Sexy: Alone among the Leopons, she typically wears her coverall with the upper portion peeled down and the sleeves tied around her waist, exposing a sleeveless undershirt. The spin-off manga Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! tends to portray this undershirt with more of a scooped neck than in the anime, turning her into something of a Ms. Fanservice, especially since even the anime shows her with a noticeably larger bust than the others of her team. (Although this may just be that the coveralls are heavy enough to suppress their figures.)
 * Only One Name

Suzuki


Leopon's loader. A third-year student, and tallest of her crew (168 cm).


 * Ambiguously Brown: She has the darkest skin of any girl shown in the series. Her eyes are blue.
 * Only One Name

Tsuchiya


The driver, and her team's only second-year student. The racer her name comes from is nicknamed "The Drift King." Fitting that, she expresses great interest in the possibility of drifting their 59-tonne tank.


 * Badass Driver: To slow up Kuromorimine's pursuit, she wheelies the Tiger (P), the shock of its landing making the bridge they're crossing crumble behind them. She also does manage to drift the tank.
 * Only One Name

Anteater Team


Three girls who join the tankery team for the last match. This group operates a Japanese Type 3 Chi-Nu medium tank with a 75mm gun. They found it in a parking lot, where other searchers had overlooked it — because it was right there in plain sight, so people assumed it must be too broken to be fixable. The Chi-Nu was quickly (perhaps too quickly) designed with intent to counter American Shermans, but never actually saw combat. It's meant for a crew of five, so with only three it's the most shorthanded of all Oarai's tanks.


 * Gamer Girl: They're online gaming fanatics, and in fact never met in person before joining tankery.
 * I Know Mortal Kombat: Subverted. They discover the hard way that operating a tank in real life is more difficult, especially in terms of physical strength, than in an online game (implied to be World of Tanks).
 * Nerds Are Sexy: Not in the main series, but when they come to the pool party in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! they're wearing sexy swimsuits — and their figures are all quite good.
 * Taking the Bullet: Unintentionally, but if they hadn't reversed by accident at a critical moment, almost before it started.
 * Took a Level in Badass: By Der Film, they've done significant weight training and no longer have problems operating their tank. One scene shows Nekota tossing a 6.6 kg (14.5 pound) shell to Piyotan, who catches it one-handed and slams it into the gun's breach. And Momoga, who earlier had difficulty shifting stiff gears, now has trouble of a different sort, as she.

Nekota


Tank commander and radio operator. A second-year student, 168 cm tall, with hip-length blonde hair. She tends to slouch forward, possibly self-conscious about her height. Nekota uses the nickname "Nekonyaa" — "Cat Meow" — online. In Der Film, she reports her tank's readiness with a word ending in a drawn-out "nyaaan," and the English subtitle represents this as "Purrfect."


 * Beautiful All Along: Without her glasses, she looks almost exactly like a fairly typical Leiji Matsumoto heroine — Maetel, for instance. This is likely to be a deliberate Shout Out, because her Matsumoto-style eyes don't look quite like those of anyone else in Girls und Panzer.
 * Cat Eared Headband: To go with her name and nickname.
 * Expressive Ears: At least once, one of the ears droops only while she laments her shyness. When she vows to be more outspoken next time, the ear straightens up again.
 * Only One Name
 * Opaque Nerd Glasses: Of the swirly lines variety.
 * Shrinking Violet: Nekota is very shy. In OVA 7, chronologically before the end of Episode 7, she approaches Miho in a hallway, raises a hand, and then freezes, unable to get any words out. Miho walks past, not realizing the other girl wanted to talk to her. This leads to the Expressive Ear-drooping scene mentioned above.
 * Shy Finger-Twiddling: When she approaches Miho in Episode 10 to apologetically ask about joining the tankery group with the tank she'd found.

Momoga


Anteater's driver. A first-year student, 155 cm in height.


 * Bare Your Midriff: Wearing a far shorter blouse than any other girl in Oarai's team, which reveals her belly.
 * Eyepatch of Power: She wears a peach-shaped eyepatch, presumably in reference to her name (or is it a nickname?).  There's no evidence that this is anything other than a fashion accessory.  In the final scenes of the anime, she's pulled it down to hang around her neck; the eye it usually covers looks completely normal.
 * Had the Silly Thing In Reverse: She knew which gear she wanted to shift into, but put the tank into reverse through clumsiness (because the shift lever was so hard to move) rather than by mistake.
 * Only One Name or possibly Only Known by Their Nickname

Piyotan


Loader and gunner. A third-year student, 168 cm tall and very bosomy, comparable to Turtle Team's Yuzu. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail.


 * Boobs of Steel: When you consider her, um, endowment, and then the example given above for her team Taking a Level in Badass....
 * Curtains Match the Windows: Gray hair (?!) and eyes.
 * Only One Name

Shark Team


Five girls who join the tankery team in the continuation, Girls und Panzer das Finale. They're unusual in two ways. First, unlike the other girls we know, they're part of the Naval Studies department ... the Oarai school ship's crew. Second, they operate a World War I-vintage tank: a British Mark IV "Male" with a 6-pounder (57mm) gun mounted on each side. This may take over Duck Team's unenviable position as least effective tank in Oarai, because the Mark IV is slow, not to mention having no suspension, so riding in it will be very rough on the crew. Also, its old 6-pounders have only about the hitting power of the M3 Lee's 37mm gun. Still, there are two of them....


 * Because You Were Nice to Me: Momo Kawashima somehow kept these girls from getting expelled from Oarai a couple of years back. When they hear it's she who needs help now, that convinces them to join tankery.
 * Improvised Weapon: A Bar Brawl is starting between the Naval Studies girls and Anglerfish Team, and the sailors produce a few of these. Rum unsurprisingly has a bottle of rum (yo ho ho!). The Bartender, Cutlass, has a long spoon the other end of which is a "decorative" trident. Karaoke singer Flint clenches her fists with three spike-shaped microphone jacks protruding from between the fingers of each hand.
 * Japanese Delinquents
 * Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: After the delinquent sailor girls produced their Improvised Weapons, it was shown that Yukari was ready to use a German "potato masher" hand grenade against them.
 * Nice Hat: All the girls except Cutlass wear the white "dixie-cup" sailor's hat. Ogin's has a small red feather attached.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: Cutlass, Flint, and Rum are obviously not Japanese names, and Ogin might be a nickname, too. Oddly, they apparently each have another nickname which is seldom mentioned: Ogin is "Tornado," Rum is "Explosive Cyclone," Murakami is "Sargasso" (and as noted below, there are also a few references calling her "Valor"), Flint is "Great Waves," and Cutlass is "Fresh Whitebait Rice Bowl." Ummmm, The Last of These Is Not Like the Others...
 * Pirate: The tank flies a modified Jolly Roger, with crossed spoon and box cutter, from its radio antenna. The mascot shark painted on its side has a hook replacing one pectoral fin, and a cutlass "gripped" by the opposite fin.
 * Theme Naming: Most (or possibly all) of them have nicknames that in some way relate to piracy. Two seem to be specifically based on the names of pirates seen or mentioned in Treasure Island.

Ogin


Tank commander. Black hair, drawn back into a pony-tail at the nape of her neck, and almost waist-length. Her eyes are blue. Her skin is somewhat darker than the other Shark girls'. If Ogin is a nickname rather than her family name, it seems to derive from the Japanese word for Silver with the respectful "O" prefix ... given the pirate theme, this is probably a reference to Treasure Island's Long John Silver.


 * Badass Longcoat: Black or dark blue in contrast to her white uniform underneath.
 * Bare Your Midriff: The blouse of her (literally) sailor uniform is shorter than any of the others, and sometimes flashes skin at the waist.
 * Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Even though she's a pretty girl rather than a gentleman, distinguished or otherwise, and is never seen lighting up.
 * Hard-Drinking Party Girl: While being recruited, got into a drinking contest against Anglerfish's Hana. What they were drinking wasn't actually alcoholic, but it was spiced with habanero peppers.
 * Only One Name if it isn't Only Known by Their Nickname
 * Peek-a-Bangs: Covering her right eye.

Rum


Shark's driver. Has curly red hair, and red eyes as well.


 * Blush Stickers
 * Curtains Match the Windows
 * Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Possibly. Her name is certainly suggestive, and a clip from the show portrays her wobbling quite a bit as she walks, with a bottle of "Captain Anne Bonny" rum in one hand. This may be an act, since the rum is explicitly stated to be non-alcoholic.

Murakami


Starboard (right side) loader and gunner. Black or dark brown hair, eyes likewise.


 * Boobs of Steel
 * Curtains Match the Windows
 * Huge Schoolgirl: The most obviously muscular. Very muscular, but also buxom.
 * Only One Name: Some references, though, associate her with the name "Valor."

Cutlass


Port (left side) loader and gunner. Short blonde hair; yellow eyes.


 * Curtains Match the Windows
 * Emotionless Girl
 * Meido: Tends to wear a maid's ruffled white headdress for some reason. A clip from Das Finale shows her acting as The Bartender, complete with a lot of Bar Sliding, in a dangerous Bad Guy Bar, Bar Donzoko. Donzoko is the Japanese word for "depths," and this bar is at the lowest level within the school ship.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Seems to be, given that she's the most petite of Shark Team, but loading as well as firing a 6-pounder gun — six pounds is just the projectile. The total weight the loader must handle, including propellant and casing, is more than half again that.

Flint


The team's radio operator and assistant driver. Hip-length gray hair; her eyes seem to be either gray or blue. A touch more pale of skin than any of her teammates. When not in tankery uniform, she wears a longer skirt than any of the others. Often (almost always) seen with a karaoke microphone. "Flint" was the name of the pirate captain who buried the treasure in Treasure Island.


 * Curtains Match the Windows: Possibly.
 * Glamorous Wartime Singer/The Chanteuse: Seems to be the image she's trying to present when she sings in Bar Donzoko.

St. Gloriana Girls Academy


A British-style school, and the first opponents that Oarai faces (in a friendly match, rather than a tournament). Its home prefecture is Kanagawa, part of the Greater Tokyo Area.


 * National Stereotypes: They have the British ones, including:
 * Brits With Battleships: Well, there's no battleships to be found, but their school ship is named the Ark Royal, and they use British tanks, such as the Churchill (75mm gun), the Crusader (40mm gun), and several Matilda IIs (40mm gun). The Churchill and Matildas are "infantry tanks," relatively slow-moving; the Crusader sacrifices armor to get a maximum road speed nearly twice that of a Matilda.
 * Spot of Tea: St. Gloriana's students (that we meet) are all named after teas, and enjoy drinking them, even in battle. They also present various teas as gifts to Worthy Opponents. In fact, Darjeeling arranged a meeting to talk with Katyusha prior to the semi-finals because she likes their tea.  (She also told them some information on Oarai and Miho, but it wasn't anything they didn't already know — the only reason that it was any news to Katyusha is that she hadn't been paying attention when Nonna told her about it earlier.)
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: It is ... unlikely that a Japanese girl's parents named her "Darjeeling." Even a genuine English girl wouldn't be christened "Orange Pekoe."

Darjeeling


St. Gloriana's commander. She commands a Churchill VII tank.

"In a sandwich, the cucumber between the bread is why people eat them. Being "sandwiched" is what brings out the flavor, you see?"
 * Cordon Bleugh Chef/Lethal Chef: According to Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, at any rate.
 * English Rose/Phenotype Stereotype: Despite being Japanese. Blonde, blue-eyed, and quietly elegant.
 * Ice Cream Koan: OK, now just what do some of her "sayings" mean? Here's what she says when Oarai is chasing Saunders' flag tank while being chased by four more Saunders tanks, including the Firefly with its longer-range gun:


 * Stiff Upper Lip: She displays a calm confidence under all circumstances, even when things seem dire — except for brief shock when Oarai successfully counter-attacks during their friendly match. Even then, she recovers quite quickly, and smiles as she states that Oarai is better than she'd expected.
 * Worthy Opponent: She feels this way about Miho and Oarai, and sends a gift of assorted teas to Miho after their battle (Oarai lost, but did well for newbies). She also attends every one of Oarai's matches in the tournament to support them.

Orange Pekoe


Darjeeling's loader (and frequent companion). Der Film indicates that she knows Morse code, as she's shown tapping out the message Darjeeling dictates to rally the various schools in support of Oarai.


 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The Churchill VII's 75mm cannon fires 15-pound shells. Hefting them all day long for months has made her quite strong, deceptively so for her 144 cm (4'9") height.  It doesn't come into play during tankery matches, but when Darjeeling and Assam have a Lover Tug of War with her as the "rope" in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, she wins.
 * The Straight Man: During the tournament, she's basically there to give Darjeeling someone to comment to.

Assam


Darjeeling's gunner.


 * The Spymaster/Teen Superspy: Der Film and some magazine articles reveal that Assam is in charge of "data-gathering" for St. Gloriana (although it's hinted that she has no subordinates to be in charge of). A picture that appeared in one of those articles shows her creeping close to Kuromorimine tanks, unseen despite some rather inadequate-looking camouflage.
 * The Voiceless: Only in the anime; appearing only in Episode 4, she never speaks. She gets a voice in Der Film, though, as well as in a drama CD.

Saunders University High School


An American-style school, based in Nagasaki Prefecture on Kyushu's west coast, and Oarai's first-round opponent in the tournament.


 * Eagleland They play up having American traits, but in a very good way. Rich, use Gratuitous English, and have a high reliance on superior numbers when it comes to their Tankery-style. They're the only school shown to have cheerleaders, pom-poms and all, at their match.
 * National Stereotypes: They have the American ones, including:
 * Yanks With Tanks: They sure love them some Shermans, and lots of them.
 * Leitmotif "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"
 * Only One Name: Depending on spelling, their names might actually be Japanese names. No surnames are ever given, though.
 * Zerg Rush Their specialty is to deploy a lot of Shermans and simply overwhelm the opponent with superior numbers. They have enough tanks to have three full Sensha-do teams.

Kay


The commander of Saunders's tankery team.


 * In the film, she, that alone speaks volumes for how brilliant a tank commander she is.
 * Friendly Rival: She treats tankery as a sport, rather than Serious Business. She plays to win, but rebukes Alisa's unsportsmanlike behavior, even when it was to her team's advantage.
 * Graceful Loser: After losing the match, she happily Glomps Miho, crying "Exciting!" and shakes her hand for a game well-played.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Not so much in the anime, but in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! she finds several excuses to wear a bikini. Saunders prints a "Tankery Team" calendar with Kay in lots of sexy poses, at least one of them topless (though turned away from the camera), and she sends Miho a copy. And good lord, her Sexy Santa Bikini in the Christmas party DVD she also sent....
 * Phenotype Stereotype: She's tall, busty, blue-eyed, and blonde-haired.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Kay/Kei
 * Worthy Opponent: She feels this way about Miho and Oarai, and holds no hard feelings over Yukari's pre-match spying (since it's all part of the game to her ). Also, she thought the "Sergeant Oddball" line was hilarious.
 * During Oarai's match against Kuromorimine, she explains to Alisa with obvious approval how Miho's quick-thinking improvisations so readily upset Kuromorimine's rigid tactics.
 * Your Size May Vary: Her height is officially given as 158 cm (5'2"), the same as Miho's (and the average height of a Japanese woman). Sometimes she looks it, such as when she glomps Miho, but other times looks much taller, such as when she greets Miho before the final match against Kuromorimine.
 * This may actually be a case of Miho's size varying (see Miho's entry).

Alisa


A vice-commander of Saunders's tankery team. She is willing to use any tactic not specifically forbidden in the rules of tankery, if it will give her team an edge.


 * Bad Boss: At best, she gloats about victory as if her crew wasn't there, and when the tide of the match turns against her, she starts shouting at them to hurry, and doesn't take it well when they ask her to keep a lid on her Villainous Breakdown.
 * Butt Monkey: Not only did her cheating not win the match, it didn't . And it got her a chewing-out from Kay. Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! shows other schemes going bad on her, for instance when she tries infiltrating Oarai in a ludicrous Paper-Thin Disguise. As a spy, Alisa doesn't remotely compare to Yukari.
 * Evil Gloating/Evil Laugh: She indulges a little during the match against Oarai.
 * Sore Loser: Averted, surprisingly enough. She's genuinely ashamed for disappointing Kay with her tactics, and supportive of Oarai during Der Film.
 * Also, when Kay arrives to cheer for Oarai at the match with Kuromorimine, Alisa is riding in the jeep and shows a friendly smile.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Alisa/Arisa
 * Villainous Breakdown: She falls pretty hard after  She cries, whimpers about the reliability of the Sherman, and rants about . She even pokes her head out of her hatch and shouts at her pursuers, not that they can hear her. She throws in a few remarks, too, about how the boy she likes doesn't seem to notice her feelings.

Naomi


A vice-commander of Saunders's tankery team. She is the team's best gunner, and commands a Sherman Firefly. The Firefly's 17-pounder (76mm) gun is more powerful than the 75mm used by most Shermans (not because of the 1mm difference in the bore, but because its greater length — 55 calibres as opposed to less than 40 — brings the projectile to higher velocity).


 * Cold Sniper/Friendly Sniper: During the match, she takes out three tanks in three shots, and shows two facial expressions: "serious" and "smirk". However, according to Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! she is quite friendly in normal life. (Especially *coughcough* to pretty girls.)
 * Darjeeling actually addresses her as "Ms. 17-pounder" (the gun used on the Firefly) during a joint operation.
 * Oral Fixation Fixation: Bubble gum.

Anzio Girls High School


An Italian-themed school; their emblem is a pizza with asparagus and brown olive toppings. Their home base is landlocked Tochigi Prefecture bordering Ibaraki, and thus physically closer to Oarai than any of the other schools. They are Oarai's second opponent in the tournament. In OVA 7, This is the Real Anzio Battle!, Anzio is equipped with three Semovente assault guns (75mm), six tankettes with twin 8mm machine guns, and as a recently acquired secret weapon, a "heavy" tank with another 75mm gun. The manga has them using fewer tankettes, the others replaced by Fiat Carro Armato M13/40 tanks with a 47mm main gun ... and the heavy tank isn't said to be a new asset.


 * Curb Stomp Battle: Played with. The original anime certainly gives the impression that Anzio never had a chance, and the OVA confirms that all of Anzio's vehicles were disabled in the battle, with only one of Oarai's lost — but they did put up a serious fight. Anchovy's strategy was good, making the most of limited resources, and undone mostly (in the OVA) by a subordinate's error. And the panzer killed was the StuG III — at the time, Oarai's strongest vehicle.
 * Motivational Lie: In the OVA, Anchovy gets the girls fired up for the match by claiming Oarai has been talking trash about them. Although she then admits that's only what she speculates Oarai girls have probably been saying.
 * National Stereotypes: They show several of the Italian ones, including Hot-Bloodedness, loving to cook and eat (especially pasta), and not being enormously effective in combat.
 * Gratuitous Italian: Well, of course. They reckon the prices for the food they sell in lira, and the Duce shouts "Avanti!" ("Forward!") to start them into battle.
 * Perpetual Poverty: In OVA 6, Anzio sends a congratulatory gift to Oarai: canned anchovies — bought on sale. OVA 7 shows that all the school clubs have food-selling booths set up, with the implication that this helps offset expenses, and Anchovy had to cut down on everyone's snack budget to buy a powerful new addition to their arsenal. It's All There in the Manual that Anzio was privately founded to promote Italian culture in Japan, so perhaps they get less government support than other schools.
 * The reason Anchovy, in Der Film, brought a tankette which can't kill any tanks to support Miho, instead of the P40, is that the heavy tank was damaged and Anzio can't yet afford to get it repaired.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Pasta FTW!

Anchovy (Chiyomi Anzai)


Anzio's commander, called the Duce — Benito Mussolini's title, the Italian word for "leader." 156 cm tall. Gray or greenish-gray hair, usually worn in long, curling Twin Tails; her eyes are reddish brown. She is the only character from a foreign-themed school which uses nicknames for whom her actual full Japanese name is known. Anchovy commands the Carro Armato P40 heavy tank (with a 75mm gun) in the anime, OVA, and manga; though designated a heavy, this is actually more of a medium tank, its weight, weapon, and armor comparable to early-model M4 Shermans. It uses sloped armor, though, copied from the T-34, which makes it more likely to survive a hit. She brings a Carro Veloce CV.33 tankette in Der Film. The Ribbon Warrior manga mentions that Anzio had given up tankery until Anchovy enrolled there and revived the program.


 * All There in the Manual: Her full real name isn't given in the anime, manga, OVA (though Momo addresses her once as "Anzai"), or movie, but in supplemental material.
 * Alternate Continuities: Manga Anchovy has a very different personality from OVA (and movie) Anchovy.
 * Captain Morgan Pose: She arrives to greet the Oarai team in a jeep-like Fiat-SPA AS42 Sahariana reconnaissance car — standing, arms folded, with one foot atop the windshield and the other apparently on the seat-back. This is a ridiculously unsafe position to take in a moving vehicle.
 * Clark Kenting: Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! shows Anchovy disguises herself on occasion by doing her hair into a thick braid and putting on Opaque Nerd Glasses (she wears contact lenses most of the time). Then she's able to walk right past her two closest subordinates without being recognized. (She does this to hide the fact that she was late; when they see her undisguised, they think she's been at work all along.)
 * Drill Hair
 * Graceful Loser: In the OVA. She comes walking up with a friendly smile and arms outstretched, and shakes hands with her other hand resting on Miho's shoulder, then pulls her into a very Italian-style "abbracio" hug, pressing her left cheek to Miho's, then right to right, and then left to left again, still shaking hands the whole time. And then it's time for a big pasta party! She does express a touch of regret that Anzio girls are so much better at partying than they are at tankery, but philosophically notes that that's just the way they are (though she still plans to work on improving their battle skills). See also, in contrast, Sore Loser below.
 * Say My Name: In the manga, the last thing Anchovy shouted before her P40 was disabled was, "NI... NISHIZUMI MIHOOOOO!" Presumably to help convey how very angry she was, the text for that shout was white on jagged black speech bubbles.
 * Scream Discretion Shot: In the movie, Carpaccio and Pepperoni suggest Anchovy's hair is a wig (they're all crowded in the Carro Veloce tankette, and all that hair is getting in the way). Then, while the view is of the tankette's exterior, Anchovy screams in pain, implying one or both of her subordinates tried to pull the "wig" off.
 * Sore Loser: In the manga. To her credit, she wants victory for her team, not just for her own glory, but she still comes across as pretty nasty. See also Graceful Loser above.
 * Team Dad: In the final moments of the match, she realizes she's rushed into a kill zone and Anglerfish has her dead to rights. Just then one of the Semoventes comes racing up, intending to reinforce her ... and drives over a cliff, tumbling down. Despite her own desperate situation, Anchovy's immediate reaction is to scold the other crew for recklessness. "What if you got hurt?!"
 * Whip It Good: She carries a riding crop as part of her uniform, using it mostly as a pointer ... but the meaner manga version also smacks pictures of opposing commanders with the crop.

Carpaccio (Hina-chan)


One of Anzio's two vice-commanders under Anchovy. 162 cm in height, blonde hair and green eyes; sweet, polite, and quiet in both the manga and the OVA (and movie). Commander and loader for one of Anzio's Semovente da 75/18, which mounts a 75mm gun in a Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon setup like the German StuG III which inspired it. She's a childhood friend of Hippo Team's Caesar (background material says Carpaccio grew up in Ibaraki Prefecture).


 * Alternate Continuities: The manga version's hair is darker than in anime appearances. A cover picture for one of the later chapters shows Anchovy, assisted by Katyusha, bleaching Carpaccio's hair.
 * Combat Haircomb: Inverted. Anzio girls wear a long knife as part of their uniform. Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! reveals that Carpaccio's is actually a hairbrush.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: She and Caesar address each other as "Taka-chan" and "Hina-chan"; Caesar, at least, is embarrassed to discover that the rest of Hippo Team overheard this.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: Partly averted, since we learn that her given name is or includes "Hina."
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: When she recognizes that the StuG III is Caesar's vehicle (because the mascot on its side is also Caesar's text message avatar), she chooses to duel it, leading to a Double Knockout. This is the only Oarai vehicle disabled in the OVA.

Pepperoni


One of Anzio's two vice-commanders under Anchovy, shown only in OVA 7 and Der Film. In the OVA, she commands the group of six Carro Veloce CV.33 tankettes, each armed with a pair of 8mm machine guns. Naturally, these can't disable any of Oarai's tanks, and can be disabled even by the Type 89B's gun, but they're well suited for reconnaissance and distracting the adversary. In the movie, she drives the CV.33 that joins Oarai. 160 cm, short black hair and dark brown eyes. She's cheerful and easygoing except in battle, but careless.


 * Badass Driver: In Der Film, driving a tankette on a roller coaster track. Fast. And then skipping it across a swimming pool.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: She's often overly bold and aggressive when caution is called for.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname
 * The Millstone: A blunder by Pepperoni helped Yukari, spying again, discover and warn Miho that Anzio had acqured the P40 as a "secret weapon." Then, during the match, Pepperoni accidentally exposed the trap into which Anzio was trying to draw Oarai. Anchovy's comments suggest it isn't the first time something of the sort has happened.

Pravda High School


A Russian-themed school. Their home base is Aomori Prefecture, in the far north of Honshu. Oarai's semifinal opponent in the tournament.


 * National Stereotypes: They have the Russian (and former Soviet Union) ones, including:
 * That Russian Squat Dance: Some of the Pravda girls are seen doing it around a campfire.
 * Reds with Rockets: Lots of T-34s (either a 76mm or 85mm gun) to be found in their ranks, and their commander shares her name with the iconic Soviet rocket artillery. (They also have a Katyusha vehicle, but it's not used in battle.)
 * Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! also shows them at times addressing one another as "Comrade [Name]."

Katyusha


Pravda's commander. Yet another blue-eyed blonde. Nicknamed "Snowdrift," although this is only mentioned once. It's likely a reference to her favored strategy and the axiom that winter is THE worst time to invade Russia.

"Katyusha: As long as you understand, all's forgiven, Comrade Nina! Katyusha is a big person, so I don't fuss over small things. Nonna! Comrade Nina is a nice fellow!"
 * Bilingual Backfire She uses a few Russian terms, but she can't actually speak Russian. (Much to her frustration when Nonna does.)
 * Cry Cute: When . Also Sand in My Eyes.
 * Cute Little Fangs: She has two, but usually only one shows at a time (and if both are showing, one will be more prominent than the other).
 * Defensive Feint Trap: And all of Oarai is sucked into it (Miho reluctantly). In Der Film, too, she advocates luring the University Team into Oarai's defensive zone ... and then waiting for winter.
 * Napoleon Complex: Katyusha likes to ride the shoulders of her very tall subordinate Nonna, so she can literally look down on people.
 * In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, she learns that Nina (appearing in OVA 5 and Der Film but not in the main anime) was tricked into giving Yukari useful information about Pravda's positions and plans. Katyusha intends to punish her (she uses the Stalinesque term "purge" although she's musing about a monetary fine). Then Nina, who's quite petite, acts on Nonna's silent hints and makes herself seem even shorter — shorter than Katyusha. Cue the Double Take, and abruptly:
 * Nice Hat: Her Soviet tanker's helmet.
 * Older Than She Looks: She looks as if she's maybe 12 years old at most (acting that way a lot, too). There's no reference anywhere, though, to being unusually young for a high-school student, so she's at least 16 (she may even be 18) ... but very, very petite (127 cm). And as said above, she has a complex about it.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: She is, after all, Japanese, not Russian, so it's not particularly likely Katyusha got that name from her parents.
 * Third Person Person: Especially when she's being snotty; she even added "-sama" to her name at least once. Although she also used third person one time during her acceptance of defeat, telling Miho she'd come to watch Oarai's final match of the tournament: "Don't disappoint Katyusha."

Nonna


Pravda's second-in-command. She usually commands a T-34/85, the most common of Pravda's tanks, but she also serves as a gunner for the IS-2 heavy tank (122mm gun). Nicknamed "Blizzard," although this is only mentioned once.


 * Bilingual Bonus/Bilingual Dialogue Her Japanese voice actress speaks Russian pretty well. Apparently, Sumire Uesaka is not only a foreign language major specializing in Russian, but is also a huge Russia otaku, so she understands her Gratuitous Russian. An official tweet even said that the "Cossack Lullaby" in Episode 9 was ad-libbed by Uesaka herself (the original script simply called for her to sing any lullaby).
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Nonna is the first (and as of 2016, only) non-Anglerfish girl to get a World of Tanks voice pack.
 * Friendly Sniper: For a quiet, reserved value of friendliness.
 * Huge Schoolgirl: It's not noticeable when she's in a tank, but she stands a good five inches taller than the average Japanese woman (e.g. Miho, at 158 cm / 5'2").
 * Hypercompetent Sidekick She is pretty much the reason why Katyusha is so successful at anything since otherwise, her ego and utter laziness would get in the way.
 * I'm Taking Her Home with Me: Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! suggests Cuteness Proximity is why she puts up with Katyusha's less-appealing moments — because she's so adorable at her better times. Nonna is shown to be pleased when mistaken for Katyusha's mother, despite being more-or-less the same age.
 * Only One Name Nonna is all we ever hear her go by.
 * Servile Snarker: Lets Katyusha ride her shoulders, serves tea and cakes, sings her commander to sleep, and ZINGS Katyusha verbally from time to time.
 * Surprisingly Good Foreign Language Her Russian is owed to her voice actress being a Russia otaku.
 * The Stoic: If her face isn't expressionless, the expression is a small, quiet smile. Never anger or worry.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: The tallest girl seen in the series, at 172 cm (5'7" closing on 5'8"). Very dark brown hair with blue eyes, beautiful and shapely, elegant and never seen losing her calm.

Kuromorimine Girls High School


A German-themed school, based in Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu, just east of Nagasaki. It is strongly influenced by the Nishizumi style of tankery. Miho used to be the Vice-Commander of Kuromorimine's team, under her big sister Maho, but during the final match of the 63rd Tournament (against Pravda), in which Miho was commanding the flag tank, another Kuromorimine tank (possibly commanded by Erika Itsumi) slipped into a river. The crew would likely have drowned, but Miho jumped out of her tank and into the river and rescued them. However, Pravda took advantage of her absence, took out the flag tank, and won the match. Her mother and school turned against her, and she left Kuromorimine for Oarai and left tankery entirely.


 * National Stereotypes: They have the German ones, including:
 * Germanic Depressives: Some of them would have preferred Miho let her teammates — their classmates — drown rather than lose a match.
 * In spinoff manga Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, Maho declares a Christmas party for several of the tank commanders. Mistaking this for a meeting to chew them out, they arrive with dread; one girl even breaks down crying for her mother. Part of the problem is that Maho isn't all that great at communicating her intentions (see below).
 * Germanic Efficiency: Some students and staff (such as Erika and Shiho) feel that friendships and the like are wasteful in tankery. (Maho disagrees.)
 * They don't use themed nicknames as most other schools do, either.
 * Nazis With Gnarly Weapons: They use many tanks of the Panzer series (Panzers, Panthers, Tigers, Elefants, Jagdpanthers and Jagdtigers), believed to be second only to Saunders in the depth of their arsenal, and also a super-heavy Maus tank.
 * No Swastikas: Their school's icon is the less politically-charged Iron Cross.
 * Opposing Sports Team: Of course, Oarai has to go against four teams to win the tournament, but Kuromorimine is the big one — not only are they the final opponent, and not only have they had a nearly-unbroken string of victories, but they are also commanded by Miho's big sister Maho.

Maho Nishizumi


Kuromorimine's commander, Miho's big sister, and an heiress to the Nishizumi style of tankery. The only heiress, as far as Shiho is concerned. She commands a Tiger I (88mm gun).


 * Aloof Big Sister: As demanded by the ruthless Nishizumi style.
 * The Dutiful Daughter: Maho upholds the Nishizumi style to the letter (in spite of her misgivings about e.g. her mother's decision to cast Miho out of the family), in part to liberate Miho from having to force herself into a tankery style that didn't fit her.
 * Emotionless Girl: As expected by her mother, Maho keeps a severe, emotionless demeanor under all circumstances. She loves her sister and cares for her teammates, but it seems she's been bottling up her feelings for so long that she's all but forgotten how to express them.
 * Grey Eyes / Curtains Match the Window: A lighter shade than her mother's, but her hair and eyes are the color of steel.
 * Hidden Heart of Gold: Although she projects the image of being a cold, ruthless commander, she actually cares very deeply for Miho and her friends — she immediately offers the use of her school's helicopter to take Mako to the hospital when her grandmother is injured.
 * It's All My Fault: Contrary to her tank commanders' expectations, she blames herself for losing the final match.
 * No Social Skills: The stern aloofness of the Nishizumi style seems to have stunted her social ability. She speaks in a monotone (consider the TV interview that's the first time she's shown) and never smiles . The Christmas party mentioned in the Kuromorimine School entry above shows this, too. Maho sent out an invitation so curtly worded that it was easily misinterpreted as an order to report for a harsh after-action review. (It was a text message [!] which read, "Those without anything for Christmas, come.")
 * Also, the presents given several of them are hilariously not what they would've liked, yet it's implied that Maho truly believed they'd be pleased or at least amused by gifts which they took as galling reminders of their greatest failures.
 * Stealth Insult: She swore "on the name of the Nishizumi school" that she'd defeat Miho, directly after telling her mother that she respects Miho's methods.
 * Technician Versus Performer: Maho is a supreme technician, as a commander of tanks and as a commander of people. She delivers results, but she's aware of her style's limitations — on the field, she compliments Miho on her ability to improvise and adapt, and off the field, she often asks herself how Miho would handle social interactions with her sub-commanders.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid: She and Miho used to be much closer when they were younger, before Shiho's tankery style took its toll on them.

Erika Itsumi


Kuromorimine's vice-commander. She was a "regular" tank commander under Miho, but was promoted to vice-commander of the team after Miho left. She commands a Tiger II (88mm gun).


 * Hidden Depths: One of only two characters aside from Maho who arrived at the Christmas party expecting it to be a party. The silly-looking reindeer costume she wore indicates a bit of playful humor not otherwise seen in her.
 * Hypocritical Humor: While hunting Oarai through the city, Erika warns her subordinates not to get distracted; they only need to kill the flag tank. Then Duck Team slips into their formation and slams a point-blank shot into the turret of Erika's Tiger II. It does no noticeable damage, of course, but Erika screams, "How dare you?! You Type 89!" and her group devotes itself to chasing Duck. Ummmm, what was that you were just saying, Erika...?
 * Inadequate Inheritor: Erika feels this way about herself, having been thrust into the vice-commander position after Miho's departure (after an incident that was partly precipitated by an error on Erika's part).
 * Jerkass: It takes a special brand of Jerkassitude to object to giving someone a flight to a hospital to visit an ailing grandmother.
 * Moral Myopia: She feels "betrayed" by Miho's transfer to Oarai, but evidently doesn't think about how Miho was treated for losing the match in exchange for saving her classmates.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: The light novels reveal that Erika was one of the girls that Miho rescued from drowning — in fact, she was the commander of the tank that foundered in the water. When she gripes in the final battle about how Miho is "as soft as ever", that's the person who may have saved her life she's talking about.
 * Unknown Rival: The spin-off manga Phase. Erika indicates she's been trying to surpass Miho since middle school. There's no hint in any of the other accounts that Miho ever realized this.

Shiho Nishizumi


Matriarch of the Nishizumi style of tankery, and mother of Miho and Maho.


 * Combat Pragmatist: To a Sink the Life Boats level. In the prequel manga Little Army, she tells Miho that shooting an opposing player who's rescuing some of your comrades from a non-battle danger is excellent tactics, worthy of the Nishizumi School. She even says Miho has shamed the family by being so "foolish" that she needs to ask about that.
 * Embarrassing Nickname:
 * Evil Matriarch: She apparently didn't care that Miho left home to leave tankery behind, and when Miho got back into tankery at Oarai, she simply watched Miho's matches to disown her when she lost — and when Oarai qualified for the final (against Kuromorimine), she implied that Maho might be the one leaving the family if she failed to defeat Miho.
 * Grey Eyes / Curtains Match the Window: Her hair and eyes are officially given as "dark brown", but appear to be a dark, steely gray, fitting her cold, unyielding nature.
 * Heel Realization: A short chapter of Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! portrays this, resulting in her trying to be a better mother. It's played for laughs, with over-the-top "affectionate" behavior so uncharacteristic that Miho is intensely creeped out. (Maho just bears it stoically.)
 * I Have No Daughter: Shiho has no room in her household for Miho's "heretical" tankery style, and if Maho can't crush it, then there's no room in the household for her, either.
 * The Stoic: To her, emotions have no place on the battlefield, and she doesn't see much use for them off the battlefield, either.
 * When You Coming Home, Mom?: Shiho spends most of her time out of the house working on tankery administration, even on Christmas. She left Miho's upbringing largely in the hands of her servant Kikuyo (which was probably for the better, to be honest).

Yuri Isuzu


Hana Isuzu's mother, and matriarch of the Isuzu school of flower arrangement.


 * Fainting: She faints after hearing that Hana has been participating in tankery.
 * Floral Theme Naming: Yuri means "lily".
 * Too Important to Walk: She gets carted around town in a rickshaw.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: She hits all the points from our world, though some in the Girls und Panzer universe might ding her for shunning tanks (tankery is viewed as a quintessentially feminine pursuit in their world, much as the naginata was in "our" Japan).

Hisako Reizei


Mako Reizei's grandmother, and her guardian since Mako's parents died.


 * Hidden Heart of Gold: She and Mako often bicker, but they care very deeply for each other.
 * Never Mess with Granny: As soon as she was released from the hospital, she traveled to watch the final match against Kuromorimine, and stayed after to watch the victory parade. When Mako saw her and reacted with shock (breaking her usual Dull Surprise face), she responded by dancing a jig on the spot.
 * A 4koma in Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! showed Saori wearing a mask of Hisako-obaa-san to scare Mako into waking up. Then Saori turned around and found the lady herself smirking at her.
 * Parental Substitute: After Mako lost her parents.