Forum - View topicREVIEW: Girls und Panzer Blu-Ray
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nechronius
 Posts: 275 Location: So Cal, USA |
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Quite the ordinary underdog high school girl story that would have otherwise floundered if it did not stay true to historical accuracy. Even taught me a few things in a more fluid manner that Upotte did not attempt.
One addition to the series I really appreciated a lot was the nod to notable movies that involved tank battles. And seeing an animated clip from Kelly's Heroes? Yea, that did it for me. Not sure if it's worth a buy or not, but I might consider it on a whim. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4427 |
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This was a very useful review. I've been curious about this series, and I knew practically nothing about it, so this was helpful.
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4082 |
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Love the series, seen the sub version several times, bought the Blu-ray and seen the dubbed version twice already.
What I love about the series is its comedy ranging from WWII style propaganda relegated to club recruitment to role playing {I think "cosplaying" isn't strong enough} to referential humor that works because you don't see it coming {Hana's mother wants to disown her because she takes up tankery over flower arranging, like the Jazz Singer. Not so much because it's beneath her but because it stinks. Her over-reaction still is worthy or early talkies though. Relax, it's just a school elective, not a career} not just in relation to tanks but in anime itself. Not to forget the sheer number of running gags which includes, naturally, gags about keeping certain tanks running or the rabbit team being ... rabbits. And best of all, Miho being one of the best commanders but worst leaders possible. Is it realistic? No, but that shouldn't be the point; The real point of the series is in the "Katuysha" song that was mercilessly cut from the series. In it, the Pravda team consisting of Japanese school girls posing as Russians sing a Russian folksong in unison over the sound of the tanks running and while encased in steel shells. Improbable, impossible, nonsensical and undeniably awesome. And they're not even the stars! Also, I'm glad character development wasn't the point; We'd probably end up with something with a lot less impact and higher inaccuracy. All we need to know is "Momo-chan, you missed!" |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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This is undoubtably a fun show, I can only assume they're packaging the OVAs separately to gauge sales on them comparatively since (IIRC) they're not currently streamed on CrunchyRoll like the tv series episodes are. Which will of course lead to early internet era hand-wringing about sales for online shows vs. sales of shows people need to "buy the discs to watch".
My only quibble with the show (and I admit, it keeps with the "sports anime" theme mentioned in the article) is how the main character team keeps getting PROGRESSIVELY more outnumbered. It just seems like the actual competitions would maintain a consistent count of vehicles rather than the presented "they have more tanks, so they can field more" that we're given. It makes for interesting tactics conceptually, but it makes the whole idea THAT much more ridiculous IMO. |
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FLAZE35
Posts: 85 |
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Well you could put it that way but on the other hand, because there are fewer battles as rounds progress, they need longer battles to make up for it. If the battle had been between KMM and Pravda, rather than Ooarai, it would likely have been a drawn out 20v20 slugging match. eg: In the MLB playoffs, the first rounds play best-of-5, while the world series is best-of-7. The concept of the number increasing in itself is not ridiculous. The fact that they managed to win against so many odds is. But I think they executed the underdog story well enough to overlook that issue. Last edited by FLAZE35 on Mon Dec 09, 2013 4:12 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5527 |
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Really upsetting they cut the song. reminds me of the "happy birthday" song and how restaurants cant legally sing it because of some toolbag that owns the rights. honestly was one of the best moments of the anime and not sure if i want to buy it because Sentai didn't want to pay for the song (neither did CR of course)
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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That totally makes SENSE, but they don't really explain that (as far as I recall) and it just makes it glaring that they made the main team one that cannot meet that demand. It is especially notable when they add 3 more tanks and are STILL outnumbered more than 2-to-1. Would've made more sense to have them able to add more members/tanks somehow. (like going: 3 (to start) -> 5 -> 7 -> 9 or something, rather than long period of 5, jumping to 8 that are still outnumbersed 8 - 20) |
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SouthPacific
Posts: 689 |
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It's a Sentai release so I will not buy it. I will not support such a horrific business practise as the one Sentai Filmworks promotes/uses. Bare-minimum releases, quality check is nowhere to be found & they price 10-12 episode releases @59.99$ (Amazon price). It's beyond me why anyone would support this company, who shows no passion for the medium itself, nor for their customers.
The anime itself (GaruPan) is cool, but I will never again buy a Sentai Filmworks release. Never  .
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Panzer Vor
 Posts: 648 |
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The actual history of armored warfare is full of underdog stories. If you want one specifically from World War II, the Battle of Arracourt is a good one to tell. |
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Ingraman
Posts: 1077 |
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I won't pre-order an ADV release because of their usual quality control issues, but I will double-dip with their version of GuP once people have confirmed that it's a good release and ADV releases a TV/OVA bundle. They should have been together as they were in Japan. It's hard enough knowing that the Yukari's Tank Corner segments aren't getting released over here, since they'd add a lot of worthy background information about the tanks that appear in the series... ;_; |
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kevinx59
 Posts: 959 Location: In sunny California |
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Good review. The anime may be ridiculous and the story telling simple, but its strange premise and good execution makes it enormously entertaining. And I agree it was an awesome moment when the Maus appeared. The sound effects, the camera angles, and the epic music playing when it started to attack Ooarai was awesome. It was like watching the T Rex from Jurassic Park or the Dreadnaught from Death Race: big, badass, and appearing impossible to escape from, much less defeat. Only thing I'm wondering is how much of an upgrade is the blu ray. I'm debating buying it on dvd or br and im leaning towards dvd. It reminds me of squid girl: its a good looking show, but I'm not sure it is impressive enough to be an amazing blu ray.
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I have to wonder if Theron knows about the history of the naginata and how it became a weapon that was pretty much used exactly how tanks were used in GuP, the study and practice of the naginata was thought to instill several virtues that would prepare a young woman for her adult life.
It seemed obvious to me that the creators said, "what if instead of the naginata, the weapon of choice was a tank?" and thus Girls und Panzer was born. But without that insight it does seem quite silly. |
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Fencedude5609
 Posts: 5088 |
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At some point (in one of the OVAs? Maybe the recaps? I forget) its stated that the max allowed number of tanks increases each round. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Of all the hugely stupid things in this series, the worst one for me were not the aircraft carriers or the fact that they got the tanks moving again in one night after such disrepair or that apparently tankery is for girls only despite there being absolutely no logical reason why guys wouldn't want to do it too*. No, it was the fact that they fought a tank battle in a built-up area. The shells might not be designed to be lethal to tanks which apparently also have super-modern armour to protect the crew, but what about a house? Do they have special armour too? What if a little kid had run onto the road as a tank was reversing; does he have special armour?
* And if anyone brings up the naginata as a paper-thin defence - oh wait, they already have - then would they please be aware that men never stopped using that weapon and always remained the senior masters/teachers of it, so the comparison to Girls und Panzer's tankery is not justifiable. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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My take on why only girls used the tanks could be that I could see in a war the army wanted to be able to increase it's numbers, and probably realized that they had many tanks, and women who were not part. All they had to do was create various propaganda that tanks were feminine and way to help the nation, and not only would have girls lining up to join, but it became a part of their culture. Doesn't seem that farfetched to me. I thought this was evident by the propaganda styled movie that appeared at the beginning.
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