Girls und Panzer/Heartwarming

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The original series

  • Any time that Team Anglerfish sticks up for each other.
    • Hana and Saori standing by Miho against the Student Council's bullying, declaring that they'll be expelled with her if she wishes not to join tankery (despite their own desires to participate).
    • During the match against Saunders, Miho is feeling the pressure -- they've got Saunders's flag tank on the run, but Saunders reinforcements have arrived and have taken out Oarai's rearguard tanks. She tells the other tanks to press the attack, saying "We lose if we give up!" but clearly doesn't quite feel it herself. Hana and Yukari lean over and clasp her hands in theirs to encourage her, saying she's exactly right. (Mako and Saori are up front and can't reach her physically, but they also agree.)
    • During the match against Kuromorimine, Rabbit's tank stalls when the team is crossing the river, and Miho is left with the choice of rescuing them (and potentially letting Kuromorimine catch them while they're vulnerable) or abandoning them (which is what her mother would suggest -- not the role Miho wants to take). Hana encourages the team (and Miho herself) to trust Miho's heart:

Hana: I want to help prove that Miho's tankery isn't wrong, that she has the right idea. I want to win for that!

    • Before the match against Kuromorimine, the final match in the tournament and the match that will decide Oarai's fate, Miho places her hand on her tank's armor, lost in thought. Then, her teammates crowd around her and lay their hands over hers, forming a Team Handstack.
  • In-universe, Orange Pekoe coos "Awww!" after seeing Miho accept Commander Kay's handshake. (Judging by Miho's shocked reaction to Kay's hug and the tentative way she reached out to Kay's hand, not to mention her mother's character, this might have been the first friendly or affectionate gesture she's experienced in a long time -- certainly the first time she gets one from an opponent.)
  • It's kind of funny as well as touching, but in the Saunders match, even after Miho's words of resolve Momo isn't feeling the encouragement; she wails, "We can't do this, Yuzu-chan!" Yuzu murmurs, "It'll be fine. It'll be fine..." while Anzu reaches over and strokes Momo's hair.
  • How far will Miho go for her friends, her team? In the Pravda match, she puts aside her shyness to dance the Anglerfish dance in hopes of cheering them up. It works well enough that they all join in. This is probably the point at which most of them stop merely respecting her and switch over to adoration.

Der Film

  • The arrival of all those reinforcements, almost all of them from schools Oarai has defeated. They won't stand by and let such a Worthy Opponent and Friendly Rival be unfairly crushed.
  • The flashbacks to Miho and Maho's younger years, when they played and laughed together.
  • Mako retrieving the Discipline Committee from their funk, when Anzu comes back to announce their last-chance match.
  • During the credits, when Maho smiles and takes Miho's hands in hers. It's a tiny gesture, but it's probably the first time she's been able to show affection for her sister in years.

Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!

  • While the Kuromorimine Christmas party got off to a rocky start (Maho's "invitation" was a text message that read like an order to report for a meeting), the other tankers eventually realized that Maho wasn't intending to chew them out over the final match -- she just really wanted to spend Christmas with other people. Even though they got gifts that they didn't like, they put on brave faces for her sake. They even made a snow-Panzer together!
    • Also, even though Miho couldn't be home for Christmas, she sent Maho presents and a cake. (Too bad she let Anzu help pick the presents -- she took the opportunity to put one over on Kuromorimine.)
    • Maho apologizes to her subordinates, saying the loss was her responsibility, not theirs, because they followed her orders. They beg her not to bow her head in shame to them.
  • During routine maintenance, Rabbit Team scream and leap out of their tank after they find a cockroach inside. Saori happened to be nearby, and she dashes to catch them — all of them, one by one — because they're so panicked that they're just diving out, and could be injured if they hit the pavement. Mama Saori won't let her Rabbit girls get hurt if she can prevent it. In the third panel, one of them actually does call her "Mama!"

Other

  • Maho's Image Song, Mein Weg und Dein Weg ("My Way and Your Way). Even though she and Miho have taken two very different paths in life, their paths will cross again and their bond of sisterhood won't be lost.