Before we begin, I saw a few reviews from Kao Vamp, another reviewer, that I found quite interesting.
- He starts out with a brief general review.
- He then does another review for Chapter 6, saying that Miho was unlikely to have survived being hit with the shell, and even if she did, it was unrealistic to suggest that she would have fallen out of the tank. He then denounces how Akio's means of rescuing Miho was unsafe, and should have earned him a punch in the face from Maho.
- He then reviews Chapter 11, and argues that Leopon and the rest of Oarai's forces could not have defeated the T-54 the way they were going, and should have lost to Dalian. He has a good point, although the author's suggestion that Dalian was, by and large, too inexperienced to make the shots they needed to defeat Oarai, is worth considering.
- He then goes back to Chapter 7, and says Akio had no right to judge Maho the way he did, something I strongly agree with. It also goes into how Akio might make himself a pariah for exploding at an elder of higher standing in Japan, an interesting perspective on the issue. Kao also notes how insulting it is for Anglerfish Team's efforts to help Miho being downplayed, and I agree; it's strange that they didn't show up to help Miho during her recovery. Mako in particular, for all of her laziness, would see it as a good form of penance for almost running Miho over.
- He then reviews the OC cast, saying that too many of them (especially the model club) lack significant features, and are quite forgettable, as well as the fact that the author let many of the canon characters go Out of Focus compared to Akio and Miho. I agree, although it does seem a little simplistic to compare Senmonka with Hana based on them being calm, composed, gunners, especially since the same could be said of several other characters, who are different from both of them in many noticeable ways. I do also agree that Rebecca and Saburo are two of the best characters, and it's unfortunate that Hideyoshi was nothing more than a Shiho clone; in my fanfics, I try to portray the students of the Nishizumi School and Black Forest as a not necessarily uniform group.
The chapter begins with Miho, who, knowing that the victory over Dalian was more narrow than it should have been, being faced with the unpleasant task of dealing with Momo. Miho knows that Momo isn't a bad strategist, but is impulsive, and is an "artifact" of the efforts to save the school. It's nice to see a reference to how Momo was originally in charge, before the match with St. Gloriana, at which point Momo ceded the position to Miho but stayed on as deputy. Of course, as you can see in this fic, most of the other tank commanders have since become better deputy material than Momo, so it's good to see that she's getting a replacement, particularly one who will be around next year. Momo doesn't seem to be particularly well-liked in the Girls und Panzer fandom, so it's good to see that she's treated fairly here.
Miho then says that Momo wasn't a bad leader, but fell into a trap, and that Continuance would have "decimated" them (which, as I joked about in one chapter of Necessary to Win, means eliminating one tenth of a force, rather than nearly wiping them out) if they had played the way they did. One girl from Rabbit Team, most likely not Saki, suggests that "Continuance isn't even good," (I do wonder how they would know that much about their rivals to make a statement like that, ill-informed as it may be) but Maho points out that even Black Forest must bring its best game against Continuance on their home team.
Miho then gets to the point- she's relieving Momo of command and giving it to Erwin. Momo is quite upset, which saddens Miho, while Erwin politely accepts the promotion. It's a bit odd that Momo doesn't even try to say anything in her defense.
Miho then goes on to say that the T-54 could have taken out Leopon with a well-placed shot, before finishing off Duck Team. Anglerfish and Hippo might have finished off the rest of Dalian, but it would have been a close match. Part of the blame for this is implied to fall on Rabbit Team, with its gunners involved in the Love Triangle having their performance suffer as a result, and the team of first-years resolves to do better next time.
Maho is pleased to see how Miho leads. Akane then comes out and congratulates Miho on the win, noting that Hideyoshi is less willing to accept the loss, and hoping for a rematch when Miho is feeling better. That might be interesting, although there are many other teams that would be a good match.
Maho, with her match in an hour (one would think that it would take longer than that to get ready, or that two pairs of teams wouldn't have their match on the same day or near the same place) gets called away, and says goodbye to Miho, with the sisters sharing a tender moment before parting ways. Saori goes shopping while Miho and Akio head back.
A word about Anglerfish Team. For a moment, I assumed that the "we" Saori was asking about referred to Miho and the others, since Anglerfish Team generally does things like that together. Granted, Miho may be injured, making it difficult to get around easily, but I can see Saori and the others trying to include her in spite of that.
Elsewhere, near Niiza, Mizumi Etsuuko, head of the Continuance team, practices in her home territory. She uses a T-26E, which, if used effectively, can penetrate the armor of any lighter tank, but won't do well against the heavier tanks used by the big-name schools. This is an interesting look at how Continuance fights, which had previously only been discussed on the forums, even if, at this point, hardly anything is revealed about Mizuumi's personality.
On a side note, there is a canonical commander for Continuance- Mika. Hardly anything is known about her, but had the author known about her, he could have used her and filled in the blanks himsel.
In Maizuru, Leopon Team goes to an ice cream parlor and watches sports cars. It's an interesting reminder of how their main specialty is cars, even if it didn't reveal that much else about them.
Miho and Akio get back to Miho's apartment, and get a Skype call from Rebecca. Rebecca asks about how the match went, and Akio said "Not so good." While it wasn't one of Oarai's finer moments, Akio clearly isn't familiar with how Oarai won most of their matches by the skin of their teeth. Miho points out that Akio "did not do of Satan to badly" before giving a more accurate assessment- they won, but not as decisively as she hoped, which is why she decided to replace Momo with Erwin. Akio's momentarily confused upon hearing Erwin's real last name (incidentally, Momo's is misspelled).
Rebecca agrees with Miho's analysis, pointing out that Dalian is apparently similar to Pravda, and Miho notes that since Maho was at the game, she suspects Katyusha and some others from Pravda also attended. Rebecca also asks if Miho talked with Maho, and Miho says yes, as well as that it was good to see her. At this point, it appears that the only Sakai with a negative view of Maho is Akio, which makes me wonder why he is so stubborn in his dislike of her (although he gives no response to Miho and Rebecca's exchange about Akio), even if the author suggests that Akio not only doesn't understand Maho's situation, but isn't aware that this is the case.
The subject turns to Continuance, with Miho reiterating that they will be difficult to defeat on their home territory. Their tanks, while not very good, are effective in close range. Miho reveals that she's played against them before while at Kuromorimine, and they could drop down shells on them, giving them a chance against some of their tanks. Miho and Rebecca discuss where the vulnerabilities lie on Oarai's tanks, and where they should aim at Continuance's tanks. It's briefly pointed out that some AP shells could shoot through Japanese tanks in World War II, prompting Akio and Miho to comment on how it's a good thing they use simunitions. I've said my piece about simunitions before, so I'll spare you yet another argument about how they seem less than plausible.
This is yet another conversation in which potential opportunities for plot and Character Development are largely sidelined in favor of talking about the next rival team Oarai will face, along with Oarai's own tanks. Scenes like this are part of the reason why many GuP fanfics come off as shallow and poorly developed, even by fan fiction standards.
Erwin goes shopping for history books with her teammates, not caring that they stand out from the others. She wants to win the next match, even more so now that she's in charge of the team for it. As her friends look for books on the periods of history they're interested in, Erwin picks up a book about Finland that notes that it was the only Axis power to come out of WWII intact, and that it only lost against superior numbers. Finland's planes also were able to achieve the highest win-loss ratio in the war in spite of their poor quality; one has to wonder if the author is going to take this into account when and if he incorporates the planes, but it might be an interesting touch if he does. Erwin concludes that it will be a difficult fight.
Anteater Team has a gaming marathon after the match on the PS4. The Anteater Team girls have difficulty getting used to their new game (I think it's War Thunder, as opposed to World of Tanks), having difficulty with the controller, although it doesn't help that Nekota doesn't stop before firing, resulting in Yuuta saying he'll take her position if she keeps it up. They also reference Nekota using the "Jingles" mod. This scene makes a lot of references to tank-based gaming, but doesn't go anywhere.
Masaru goes shopping at a store that sells Hohei-do equipment, hearing that their authorities and those of tankery (I think the SF again) made an agreement to standardize the equipment, which should work in a tankery match(an interesting and subtle Call-Back to the Anzio match in this fic). The replicas have their share of problems, including being modified so as to be unable to fire live ammunition, but Masaru makes some purchases, such as simunition that the computer recognizes as armor penetrating (it would have to actually be armor penetrating to work) apparently putting down upwards of 10,000 yen(roughly $100) on it, with it being suggested that his family is wealthy. It might be interesting seeing how he and the others make use of their purchases.
Elsewhere, Maho has her match with St. Gloriana, an apparent rematch from the semifinals. The enemy succeeds in immobilizing the Maus. The enemy tanks might not have the firepower to take on the Maus, but they can defeat the other tanks.
Maho recalls that Darjeeling's school isn't quite in the same league as hers, but she can switch out tanks as the situation demands. This is an interesting analysis of the team's strengths, even if it's largely guesswork, given that we don't have the full details on Black Forest's team (the author points out that there are multiple teams), and didn't see their match with St. Gloriana.
Maho ultimately prevails, and the team's faith in her leadership is restored (an interesting idea, but one that could have been explored more in the story, even considering Kuromorimine's limited role), but is less than satisfied with the crew's skill level. She then makes a call to Miho.
Meanwhile, Miho, despite still being off the active roster, types up her plans, seeing it as her duty to the team, as she's essentially both captain and coach (which may explain why there are so few adult coaches in this series). Miho stresses accurate shooting and ranging more than most, and never liked that part about Kuromorimine's training.
Miho's approach has strengths and weaknesses. It's more flexible, but also less organized, as evidenced by the team's reckless charge against Pravda. Miho chalks this up to her lack of assertiveness, but believes that the team trusts her, and that's how she can lead, which seems to be an accurate assessment.
Miho then looks over the data to get a sense for the team's performance problems. This isn't shown much in the anime, and since it's, in Miho's words, one of the more "mundane and irritating" parts of being team leader, it's easy to see why. Alligator and Anteater Team have the most difficulty, as a result of their inexperience, and Rabbit Team is performing "worst then normal" because of the Love Triangle.
Miho believes that Shark Team is doing well, and that Akio, while inexperienced, isn't too dumb about things, except for matters relating to Maho. It was quite refreshing to hear that Miho isn't too happy about Akio's attitude toward her sister, and I hope that she gives a more vigorous argument in Maho's defense than the one she gave in Chapter 8.
Leopon did well in Miho's eyes, although she realizes that her success in the round depended on their opponents being bad shots, enabling Leopon to stay in the game. Miho then is faced with the task of thinking of alternatives. The scene transitions as Miho gets a call from Maho, and it might have been nice to hear what they talked about.
As Oarai's ship leaves port, Tsubasa is alone with Hoshino. Tsubasa reflects on his luck in finding a pretty girl who's also interested in cars, and realizes that his feelings for her are deeper than friendship. After a moment of awkwardness, he asks her to be his girlfriend, and she accepts.
Ayumi, on the other hand, is not so fortunate. Not only does she believe Yoshi does not feel the same way about her that she does about him, but she also believes she let the team down as a result. She takes a shower, and hopes it will wash those feelings away. The chapter then ends.
What I liked
- Momo got relieved of command without the narrative or characters being too harsh on her.
- Erwin became commander.
- A good battle between Black Forest and St. Gloriana.
- Good analysis of the schools' differing tactics.
- Good analysis of Oarai's tactics.
- Akio getting called out by the narration, if not openly, for his attitude towards Maho.
What I didn't like
- Leopon team seems to be one of the less interesting teams to focus on.
- Some slightly redundant exposition.
- Miho's friends still don't spend much time with her.
- Focus on unnecessary scenes and exposition about tankery rather than developing the plot and characters.
My Impression of Akio so far: He didn't do much in this chapter, but it's nice to see that Miho doesn't just accept his attitude toward Maho.
