The episode begins with the Maus standing over the defeated Hippo Team, with Hippo Team saying The curtain... has now... fallen... on our history.
Meanwhile, Mallard Team complains about taken out so easily, and how the colossus doesn't seem at all like a "mouse". Sodoko then calls Mako and says that she'll keep her promise, arousing Mako's interest.
Erika reports to Maho that they've taken out two tanks, causing Maho to remind her that five remain. Erika says that Black Forest still has 16 tanks (apparently, one was disabled without us knowing about it), but Maho says that unless they take out the flag tank, nothing else matters. It's a nice point of contrast between the two.
Orange Pekoe says that the Maus is impressive, and it's now "do-or-die" for Oarai. Darjeeling says that they won't get through with valor, but through calculated risks.
As the Maus advances, Oarai's tanks let off a barrage of attacks, which fail to do any damage. Duck, Turtle and Rabbit Teams hide behind a small building, which might be a storage shed of some sort. The building gets obliterated by the Maus' shell, but none of the tanks are harmed, and they beat a hasty retreat. As yet another bombardment fails, Miho tells her troops to aim for the barrel. The Panzer III, behind the Maus, says Oarai can't hope to defeat them, before swerving to the side for a moment and getting taken out by a well-placed shell. After another barrage of shells, and a near-miss by the Maus, the five remaining teams retreat.
Miho decides that if they want to finish this in the city, they must defeat the Maus, before the main force catches up. Yukari says that the Maus is impressive, and that its front and back are impenetrable. Saori, reading a tank data book with a Bokoare-guma on the back cover, says that it's so big, it's like having a tank on top of another tank. Miho gets an idea from this, thanks Saori, and tells Duck and Turtle Teams that she has a plan, albeit a reckless one. Noriko and Anzu eagerly comply, while Momo impatiently tells Miho to get to the point without wasting time with various disclaimers. The plan is discussed offscreen.
The Maus rolls down the street, when the five Oarai tanks approach it from the side. It turns to face them, and they charge forward in a wedge, with Turtle Team in front. After dodging a shell, Turtle Team surges aheads.
Momo, evidently regretting not wanting to know the specifics of the plan, says they never thought they were planning this, but Yuzu says they have no other choice, and Anzu says it's exciting. The Hetzer then points its gun down and runs straight into the Maus, much to the surprise of Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, Katyusha, and, to a lesser extent, Nonna and Shiho, and lifts the front of the tank into the air.
Rabbit Team, pulling up alongside the Maus, opens fire with its machine gun, taunting the Maus to shoot them if it can, and Leopon Team fires its main gun. They then retreat as the Maus opens fire on them. Duck Team then drives up, on top of Hippo Team and the Maus, turning in the narrow space on top of the tank and stopping its turret. As they report success, Miho tells them to keep the advantage. The Maus' commander complains, demanding that the light tank move, but Noriko and Akebi refuse, insisting that it's a medium tank. The Maus commander then plans on shaking them off, and struggles to move the turret, as the Type 89 fights back. Meanwhile, the Hetzer's considerable armor and carbon lining seems to be at risk of caving in.
Anglerfish Team gets up on top of a nearby slope, and aims at the slits. As Hippo and Duck Teams struggle to restrain the Maus, Miho orders Hana to fire, striking the weak spot and disabling the Maus. Shinzaburou is quite impressed, along with Yuri, and the Akiyamas take photos. Orange Pekoe finds this to be a good strategy, and Darjeeling plans on doing it with the Mark VI. It's interesting to see how Oarai's success revitalizes the spirits of its rivals.
Erika is, as one might expect, angry about what happened, and orders them to hurry to the city. Rabbit Team notices that Black Forest will arrive in three minutes, so Miho orders the rest to get moving. But as they get going, the Hetzer lags behind the others, and emitting smoke, throws up a white flag. The student council emerges, and says that they're impressed to have made it this far, and that their job is done. Momo calls out to "Commander Nishizumi" (a nice show of respect, given that Momo usually calls Miho by her last name without honorifics), and Miho apologizes, but Yuzu says there's no need. Anzu says it was a good plan, and she trusts Miho to take care of the rest.
Miho says that they're now four against fourteen, but only the flag tank matters. Since their flag tank will be the enemy's focus, she wants them to split up the enemy, a task that Duck Team agrees on. Anglerfish Team asks for Leopon's help in isolating the enemy flag tank for a duel, so Leopon agrees. Miho warns the others about the devastating shots from the tanks in the back, resulting in Azusa asking for the job of dealing with them, and Miho agreeing.
Miho then turns to her own team, telling Mako to watch out for dead ends, Saori to keep track of everyone's positions, and Hana and Yukari to hold their fire as muchas they can until they reach Point HS 0017. With that, "Operation Dizzy Dizzy" begins.
Oarai encounters the enemy force once again, retreating down corners and side streets as the enemy force has trouble following them, much to Erika's irritation. Saori gives out orders on where to turn, and the team radio operators relay them to the crews.
Azusa spots the enemy's back and asks Aya if she's ready. They encounter an Elefant, and get a few good hits in. Said hits don't do any damage, but the fact that they're hitting is more than can be said for the Elefant. Yuuki tells Karina to do four consecutive right turns, and Karina responds with four consecutive "Aye"s. All this is part of a plan that Azusa says they spent the night studying. They take the Elefant from behind, but their shots are just as ineffective, even at point blank range. They begin to despair, until someone taps Aya on the shoulder and says, "Where they dump the shells...". Said member is Saki, who, until now, had not said anything. They then fire on the count of three, taking out the Elefant. Erika is enraged by this development, but Maho insists that they stay focused and aim only at the flag tank.
Meanwhile, Duck Team is being pursued by a few tanks, and doing a good job of avoiding their fire, even if the hits they land can't penetrate the German tanks' armor.
Rabbit Team takes on a Jagdiger, attacking from behind to no avail. Its crew, evidently having learned from the Elefant's mistake, takes them by surprise and nearly shoots them. As Aya worries about the 128 mm cannon, Karina flees from the tank by going backwards and staying close enough to the tank that its barrel can't hit them. While they're concerned about where they're being pushed, they refuse to let the Jagdtiger get to Miho. Just before they reach a canal of some sort, they get out of the way at the last second. The Jagdtiger gets them with a shot at the last second, but plummets into the canal and snaps its turret, getting taken out of the match. The Rabbit Team reports that they're fine, with Ayumi reporting on Saki's behalf.
All in all, it's a nice showing of Rabbit Team's improved competence from their lackluster early days, and effectively taking out two tanks by thinking outside the box.
Miho, with her sister in hot pursuit, approaches "HS" (which is no longer being referred to by the number), and tells Leopon team, which is already there, to move to the 0017 point. As Miho and Maho's tanks pass through the narrow passage to the courtyard, Leopon Team emerges and blocks the way through.
One has to wonder why Maho fell for the trap despite seeing through most of Miho's moves. One can imagine that Maho knew what Miho was planning and deliberately played along to give her sister a chance to prove herself, to allow her to save her school (which is most likely public knowledge at this point).
In the center of a large courtyard, Maho and Miho's tanks come to a faceoff. The sisters have little to say to each other, with Maho declaring that "There's no running away in the Nishizumi style," and they will finish things here. Miho simply accepts Maho's challenge.
Leopon Team fends off its intruders, and Erika, wondering what the others are doing, while insisting that Maho hold off until they head in.
Maho and Miho's duel begins, with both of them circling around a small pillar in the center, before Miho heads into a side passage and makes a few sharp turns. Hearing that Maho is using HE rounds, Miho, upon reaching a dead end, has the tank back up slowly at first, then at full speed into Maho's tank, just as it's about to fire, throwing off its aim. Miho then gets going quickly.
Meanwhile, Duck Team is continuing to be pursued, with Akebi wishing that they had more firepower, and Leopon Team is under heavy fire.
A shot by Maho grazes Miho's tank, and takes off some of its armor, followed by another near the turret.
Duck Team gets taken out with a well-placed hit, and after a barrage of fire, Leopon Team goes down as well. Some of the teams that have been eliminated thus far- Mallard, Rabbit and Turtle (oddly enough, there's no sign of Anteater)- watch in horror, as Orange Pekoe points out that there's only one left.
Erika orders her tanks to get through, but there's one problem- the Porsche Tiger is in the way and the retrieval truck isn't there yet. Erika wishes that they'd hurry up, while Leopon is content to wait.
Miho and Maho's tanks roll through and exchange fire, narrowly missing a few times in the process. Both teams then reach the center courtyard.
Anglerfish Team learns that Black Forest is forcing its way over them. Miho decides to exchange shots and close in during that time. Miho asks Yukari to speed up her loading, and Yukari says yes. Hana says she can fire with half a second stop. Mako is asked to drift behind the enemy, and while she points out that her track will snap, Miho reassures her that they're ending this here.
Erika, with her head dangerously close to the ceiling of the passage, starts frantically yelling that they're coming to help the commander. All in all, it's nice to see how much she's losing her composure here, as it's always fun to see a Smug Snake like her go into a Villainous Breakdown.
The defeated Oarai teams watch with bated breath. Hana says that the shot contains all their feelings. Miho puts her plan into action, saying that it was a failure against St. Gloriana, but she hopes they'll succeed this time.
Miho circles around Maho's tank, and they exchange shots, both of which miss. As the Panzer IV circles around, spiraling closer to Maho's tank, the track snaps, as Mako predicted, but its momentum carries it close enough for a final exchange of gunfire. A cloud of smoke fires, obscuring the result, as Erika looks on in shock, Miho has an unreadable expression, and Maho's expression is placid. As the smoke clears, the result can be seen. Miho's tank is unharmed, but Maho has been defeated.
Cheers go up from the crowd, and many of Oarai's rivals. Momo can hardly believe that they won. Maho walks off without saying a word.
Saori throws her arms around Miho, exclaiming that they won, while Yukari and Hana follow suit. Miho finds it hard to believe that they won.
So ends the tournament, and Oarai is triumphant. Some say that this is proof that Black Forest is less of a threat than they were made out to be, but it seems to suggest otherwise. Maho nicely anticipated most of Miho's moves (even if Miho was ultimately superior), and most of the downfall was the result of individual teams failing to adapt to Oarai's strategies. All in all, this was an entertaining final battle.
As the sun sets, the other Oarai crews welcome Miho back, giving her congratulations in their own way. Miho thanks them, but is a bit tired, with Mako good-naturedly telling her to pull herself together. As Miho gets down from her tank, stumbling slightly, Yukari is pleased to have taken out a Tiger with the tank.
Momo calls out to Miho, and tries to thank her before breaking down to Inelegant Blubbering. As Yuzu comforts Momo, Anzu tells Miho that she saved the school, before glomping her. Miho says that she's grateful.
Elsewhere, Mako meets with Sodoko, who not only deletes all her tardies (which only seem to have gone up to 251 by the time the series ends, leading me to believe that Mako started coming to school on time more regularly, since it's less likely that only sixteen days passed since Mako's introduction). Mako then glomps Sodoko, who gets embarrassed while Gomoyo looks on, pleased.
Duck Team announces their intention to do tankery next year, as well, which is heartwarming, since it shows that they've come to love tankery just like volleyball. Anteater and Rabbit Team promise to work hard next year, with the latter wanting to become "heavy tank killers." Leopon Team plans to pull an all-nighter to get the tanks in order again. Hippo Team lets out a victory cry.
Miho excuses herself from Anzu, as Momo is still crying in the background, and walks over to her sister. Maho congratulates her, saying that Black Forest didn't stand a chance, and the two shake hands. Maho says that Miho's style of tankery was very much like her, and different from the Nishizumi style.
Miho looks back at her friends, who are watching intently. Perhaps their perception of Maho is changing once again, and it would have been nice to see their thoughts. Miho prepares to go back, but says she's finally found her style of tankery. Maho is pleased. Erika points out, without bitterness or malice in her voice, that she won't lose next time, and Miho eagerly accepts.
One could imagine that Maho just recently warmed up to her younger sister, possibly as a result of this defeat, if one had only watched the anime (considering how Erika and Shiho react, despite being more uniformly hostile toward and dismissive of Miho). It's not an unreasonable guess, even if it is an incorrect one, but this is another case in which Little Army grants more context to it. As such, it would have been nice for the anime to more overtly recognize Little Army.
Oarai gets the championship flag, to the congratulations of their former rivals and the spectators. Even Shiho gets in on this, sighing and, with a smile, doing a Slow Clap. Perhaps she's acknowledging Miho's way of tankery, or admitting that Miho has succeeded on her terms, but in any case, Shiho shows that she isn't entirely cold and heartless.
The scene shifts back to the town of Oarai, with Miho asked to give a victory speech, and she can only say "Panzer Vor!", resulting in a "YEAH!" Shot. I've noticed that Miho isn't much for public speaking, save for saying whatever comes to mind.
As the ending theme plays, the tanks go for a parade through Oarai. Highlights include how Momo's still crying, Hana waves to her mother, and Mako greets her grandmother, who does a little dance, much to her amusement. The eight tanks roll through the town toward the ship, wanting to do various things, but then do tankery again.
So ends the anime. It's a nice ending, but there's still a number of plotlines and story arcs that could be continued in the future. Where does Miho stand with her family now? How will Oarai fare even with the threat of closure ended? What will Oarai's rivals, particularly those whom we haven't seen, try as they plan on taking the championship? Will Oarai's team continue to exist in the future? All this makes me hope that there's a second season, as did the fact that I enjoyed this one.
So now let's finish up the manga.
Next Installment: In the seventeenth chapter of the manga, Oarai's match with Black Forest begins
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