Before we begin with the Little Army sequel, let's give a brief recap of Little Army. Over the course of the manga, a prequel to Girls und Panzer, Miho comes to enjoy tankery while doing it with her friends- Chihiro, Hitomi and Emi, the latter of whom is a transfer student from Germany. At the same time, however, she comes to realize that the Nishizumi style is a path she cannot follow, and one that her sister follows so she will not have to. Miho, with Emi's help, resolves to find her way of tankery, and Emi, returning to Germany, hopes to do the same by the time they meet again.
Emi arrives in Japan, carrying a picture of herself and her friends, and resolves to "adapt Japanese sensha-do to (herself)." Unfortunately, for her school, Bellwall Academy, tankery "might be a tale of the past."
Emi arrives at the school, which she compares to a ruin. She bumps into a student, and after a tense first impression, asks where the tank garage is. The girls' anger gives way to an Oh Crap! expression as it is said to be "a lawless area." Emi then begins to despair, noting that although she came all the way to Japan due to an offer for experienced students with tankery, she won't be able to do tankery at all the way things are.
As Emi tries to get some degree of order in the tank garage, she sees a familiar face- Yuzumoto Hitomi. Hitomi asks why Emi's wearing her uniform, at which point Emi confirms that she's a student here, and after Hitomi mentions that a student with experience is coming, Emi realizes that she's the student in question. It's a bit hard to tell whether Hitomi's still as much of The Ditz as before, or perhaps it may be Obfuscating Stupidity.
Hitomi introduces her friends, Yuu and Kita, who seem intimidating at first glance (particularly how they casually remark how there won't be any "big fights" for the moment), but whom she says aren't bad people. When Hitomi cheerfully admits that she's the only one who rides in tanks, Emi immediately considers re-transferring. Things only get worse when Hitomi has Emi change into a maid uniform to raise money for the club, and reveals that all the tanks were sold.
Emi, after saying that the so-called tank club's about to be disbanded, has delinquents for members and no tanks angrily declares that she's transferring out. Hitomi, however, begs Emi to stay, saying she couldn't get into any other tankery school, and says that if the team disbands, she won't be able to do tankery any longer. She says that things weren't always this bad. Emi, touched, reconsiders.
At that point, two girls arrive, saying that the two girls are on the Motor Vehicle club property and insulting Hitomi as "the tank geek" who tried to work around the disbandment case. Emi seemingly gets riled up, but Hitomi begs her not to pick a fight, introducing them as the Kashiwaba sisters, who do as they please because of their parents' money, and have been harassing the club. The sisters insult the tank as a lump of iron that can't make any money, and says that it's nothing compared to their car. Emi loses her temper and challenges them to a competition. If Emi loses, the tank team will disband and she and Hitomi will drop out of school, but if Emi wins, the sisters will help out. Emi accepts, much to Hitomi's horror, and the sisters believe that a tank cannot win against a car.
Emi apologizes for putting Hitomi at risk of dropping out of school, but Hitomi says that because she doesn't want to go through that, she'll pull an all-nighter working on the tank. Emi's impressed by Hitomi's resolve, particularly the fact that she did it alone. As she's lost in thought, Hitomi thanks her for today, saying that disbanding would otherwise have been inevitable, but now, they can go out with a bang.
Emi rejects Hitomi's thanks mournfully, rather than in the Tsundere way one might expect, saying that she ran away from her team, since her efforts to enact change caused her to be isolated from the others even as the ace. Emi ended up feeling lonely until one of her teachers told me about her offer. Emi realizes that she's come to Japan because she's spoiled, and said she hoped they would meet. Hitomi's response? "Then we're the same. Welcome back, Emi-chan."
The day of the match comes, and it's a race from the town center around the mountain and back. The Tiger I gains the initial advantage, but the car gains the lead on a turn. Emi counters by forcing the tank on a tight corner, and while the sisters despair for a moment, until they pull ahead with the car, boasting about their superior engine. Hitomi then begins to tear up, lamenting how she will be forced to leave, and Emi springs into action, going cross-country as the sisters begin doing some almost Katyusha-like Evil Gloating about sparing the two as long as they tearfully beg for mercy. Hitomi then throws a smokescreen, and they win, much to Hitomi's friends' surprise.
The sisters demand that the result be invalidated, but Emi taunts them by asking them if they're sore after losing, and tells them not to underestimate tanks, clearly showing that she's still a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. They then run off, angrily.
After blushing as Hitomi reminds her of how she fits a villain's role well, resulting in Emi getting angry and Hitomi placating her by treating her to juice, Emi ponders how she's starting to enjoy tankery again, and how this time, she's confident that she'll find her own way of tankery. At that point, her photo of her and her friends blows away, leading her attention to a large screen announcing Miho's victory. Hitomi's pleased to see Miho so fulfilled, even as Miho is a bit camera-shy, and Emi asks Miho to wait for her.
Meanwhile, some of the delinquents are apparently not pleased with Emi "using (their) team as a pretext without (their) permission" and plan retribution.
The sequel's off to a good start thus far, hinting at the experiences that shaped Hitomi and Emi. Hitomi has gone from a quitter to someone who was the only person seriously trying to keep the tem afloat until Emi arrived. Emi Took a Level in Kindness, possibly from realizing how forcing her ideas worked out at her last school, and has lost some of her more abrasive behavior from the first Little Army. It's also an interesting contrast with Miho; while Miho hoped to avoid tankery but found a school that needed her for its resurrected tank program, Emi sought to return to tankery, but found a school with a practically dead tankery team. There's also the contrast between Miho, the meek Nice Girl who takes command of the team, and Hitomi, the Jerk with a Heart of Gold whose throwing around her weight in the past apparently cost her dearly.
- Next Installment: Shizuka and Rin prepare to face Bonple, and hope to push their tank beyond its current capabilities.
