Sorry for not updating in some time. I've been slightly busy lately, not just with life, but some other projects in my free time.
Why is this at the end, rather than between 7 and 8? Firstly, it was released after the main series. Secondly, it also assumes that the viewers have seen the ending, with a few references to those who joined tankery later, and to the outcome of the tournament itself.
The OVA begins at Anzio, which has a distinctly Italian look, with Anchovy attempting to give a Rousing Speech to her subordinates, saying that their enemies believe that they have nothing but spirit going for them, and will easily fall without it. This enrages the crowd, but when Carpaccio and Pepperoni, Anchovy's lieutenants, say that it's just her analysis, their rage gives way to disappointment and annoyance.
Anchovy then tells them not to get worked up about the rumors, and focus on the facts- they won against Maginot. Carpaccio mentions in passing that even that was a close match, which gives us some idea of the fact that they're not as confident as Saunders, Pravda or Black Forest.
Of course, given the ongoing Maginot battle manga, it could establish Anchovy as a step above Maginot regardless of whether they win or lose (although it seems unlikely that Oarai will be defeated a second time before the tournament, by a school weaker than St. Gloriana, as that would likely crush morale).
Anchovy then adds that confidence is a positive attribute, and will be an asset for them in the next round. She mentions how the commander is from the Nishizumi style, which, unlike with Katyusha, exacts an Oh, Crap reaction from some of them, but Anchovy says she has something up her sleeve. She cut the snack budget from three snacks to two, and by doing so, was able to procure something that will guarantee victory.
Anchovy is about to unveil the secret weapon, only for the lunch bell to ring and everyone to begin a mad dash for lunch before she can do so. Anchovy says, with some chagrin, that this impulsiveness is part of Anzio's identity. While that says something about their attention span and discipline, it probably says more about Anzio's food.
At Oarai, Momo (who does seem more knowledgeable about tankery and other schools than I give her credit for, even if she's a subpar tactician even when she's calm) gives a briefing about Anzio, with the battle on a half mountain, half wasteland field. Saori asks what kind of school Anzio is, and Momo says that the founder was Italian, who hoped to bring Italian culture to Japan by founding an Italian style school, which means that their tanks are also Italian. This is an interesting insight about the reason behind the nations' themes, although it's possible that this may not apply in all cases.
Momo mentions that they used the CV 33 and M31 in the first round, and Hana mentions that the CV 33 is her favorite tank, because it's small and cute and looks like a flower vase, although Saori points out that it's far too large.
Momo says that they have a new tank in service, but neither she nor Miho know what it is. Yuzu can only say with confidence that they didn't use it in the first round, with the group noting that's what it means to be a secret weapon. Anzu's confident that they'll know soon enough, though, and as Saori asks why she knows, Yukari pops in again, once again in disguise (although she isn't wearing a shirt and tie underneath it, which could indicate that she had time to change out of it). They immediately realize that she repeated her tactic of infiltrating Anzio, and she, once again, produces a video card with the data.
Incidentally, in one of my fics, written before the OVA came out, I had Yukari infiltrate Anzio. The Infiltration went somewhat similar to the Saunders infiltration although Manga!Anchovy didn't find it at all funny, although she was intrigued by the idea that Miho would think of a plan (and slightly disappointed when it turned out Yukari acted alone).
The video starts, and Yukari apologizes for recycling the plan. She sees a lot of food stalls, and, posing as a New Transfer Student, asks two students if there's a festival, only to be nonchalantly told that it's business as usual. The two students say that many clubs and organizations are participating in the event, which is to raise money, as their school's somewhat poor. Yukari thanks them before walking off, having apparently learned her lesson from the Saunders infiltration that asking too many questions makes her stand out. As she leaves, she turns the camera to herself and notes that it's a fun place.
Yukari then is drawn to a stall with a tank on top of it, with Pepperoni making the famous Anzio Roasted Napolitan, giving a demonstration for viewers. The total comes to 3 million lira, which is only 300 yen ($3, which is somewhat cheap for lunch). Yukari digs in and lets Pepperoni know how much she likes it, before asking about the new tank, apparently using flattery to her advantage. Pepperoni asks who told Yukari, but then assumes she's "in the know," and declares it's a heavy tank. Yukari narrows it down to the P40, and Peppeoni confirms her guess, adding that it took "what felt like an eternity" to save up for it. Pepperoni adds that Anchovy is so excited, she's driving it around the coliseum in spite of Anzio's limited fuel supplies.
Pepperoni says goodbye to Yukari, who goes on her way, amazeed with the town, and sees a Carro Veloce going by, which reminds her of Hippo Team. Yukari makes her way into the coliseum, where other Anchovy students are taking pictures of the tank and cheering for Anchovy. Yukari's so excited to see the P40 for the first time that she can't help but smile, and concludes the video with fading to black and white and showing credits.
Back at Oarai, Hana says that the P40 looks powerful, and Momo adds that it is powerful. Miho has never seen one before, either, and the group decides that they'll have to carefully think this through.
The title card is then shown, declaring that it's the real Anzio battle.
Miho then makes her way through the neighborhoods of Oarai, following a map, and stopping when she hears a loud racket. Miho finds a house with History Team's "soul names" on the name plates- Caesar and Erwin's horizontal and Saemonza and Oryou's vertical- and sees Caesar practicing loading shells in the front yard. Erwin soon collapses from exhaustion, but checks her laptop to see "Hina@Italia" announcing that she's home. Caesar, as "Takako@Oarai," greets her, and as Miho comes to the door, they look forward to the possibility of meeting.
Hippo Team, in casual but historical outfits, serves tea, with Miho having visited them to inquire about the P40. Unfortunately, they don't know all that much about it, with their only materials in Italian. Fortuitously, Caesar knows Italian, which surprises Miho and even the rest of Hippo Team, although she tries to play it off as "common knowledge".
Caesar then gets to translating it, and prepares to make copies. Miho's pleased with what she has so far, and Caesar mentions having a friend at Anzio (again, something the rest of Hippo Team doesn't know about) whom she's known since grade school and has been doing tankery all along. Caesar considers asking her, but decides to keep things fair. Oryou agrees, saying that one's private and public matters should be kept separate. Miho says that she's a bit jealous that Caesar has a "rivalry", which is an odd sentiment coming from someone who is going up against her sister and her old school, and may know some of the other commanders. True to form, Hippo Team lists off some historical rivalries, and even Miho gets on the act.
W Ith the information she's obtained, Miho meets with the others and announces that Hippo Team can penetrate the P40 from outside its effective range. They then set up a training session to simulate this, with Anglerfish Team serving as the "Piyopiyo", the Type 89 as the Carro Veloce and Hippo Team as themselves. One thing I've noticed is that even though Miho's become the commander by this point, Anzu and Momo seem to issue a disproportionate number of orders.
With Anglerfish and Duck against the other three, Miho has Duck act as a decoy, tells Hana to shoot anyone who gets close, and tells Mako to retreat. As Duck Team opens fire on the others with their machine gun (which has even less hope of penetrating than their very weak main gun), Momo returns fire and misses, and goes after them even though they're an obvious decoy. It's unfortunate that since this episode takes before the match with Pravda, Turtle Team is at their pre-Pravda level of usefulness.
Rabbit Team and Hippo Team continue pursuit, but the former has trouble keeping up, and the latter has trouble keeping sight of Anglerfish. Eventually, Hippo Team gets over the hill, only for Anglerfish Team to get a glancing blow on them. Turtle Team continues to pursue Duck Team.
Miho stops for a moment to tell Hippo Team to shoot an enemy from outside their range, which she estimates to be 1,500 meters, and drives away to let them have a try. As they try to gauge the distance, Miho calls out to them from a kilometer and a half away, and they're amazed at how far away she is. They take a shot that sails over Miho's head, and on Miho's advice, then correct their aim and get a closer miss. Miho immediately retaliates, much to their surprise, and tells them to move after firing.
Meanwhile, Duck Team is going too fast for Akebi to aim, and Noriko says that it's a question of guts. As Turtle Team pursues, Yuzu asks Anzu for help, and she says she'll help "Next time" (a possible reference to her taking the gun against Pravda). Meanwhile, Rabbit Team emerges from getting lost and are confused at Duck and Turtle circling them, wondering if they'll turn into butter like the tiger in Little Black Sambo.
Practice ends at sundown, and Mako is hungry. Hana believes that Italian food would be most appropriate given their opponent, and they have it at Saori's place.
They get to Saori's place, and Mako crashes, saying she's woken up early, and Saori tries in vain to lecture her about sleep habits. As Mako lies under a small table, she finds a textbook about radios. The crew then works on cooking Carpaccio for dinner together in a series of still images.
The next day at school, Miho mentions a Keisoku High School (which doesn't sound like any that I heard about) that supposedly did well in a friendly match against Black Forest and have an excellent leader, although Miho doesn't rule out their possibily winning. As they walk by and talk, they miss Nekota, who is feebly trying to get their attention, and laments her failure to do so once again.
Elsewhere, Anzu assigns the Char B1 Bis to the morals committee, with Pazomi wondering why they're doing tankery and Gomoyo worrying that it will distract them from their duties. Sodoko, however, says that it's a path to being a good woman
Beneath the ship, the Auto Club works on extracting the Porsche Tiger from the bowels of the ship, apparently causing some damage, much to Momo's irritation. They agree to pilot it, given that it's a rare tank.
The day of the Anzio vs. Oarai match comes, and it's apparently the last match in the second round. The Akiyamas are briefly shown at the match.
As Miho discusses tactics, Anchovy makes a dramatic entrance atop a jeep, with Anzu greeting her as "Chovy-ko". A brief argument ensues over her name, with Anchovy insisting upon being referred to as "Anchovy", and Momo calling her "Anzai".
Anchovy, however, insists that she's here as a show of courtesy, and asks to see Miho. Momo calls her over, and Anchovy, confirming that Miho is from the Nishizumi school, politely yet confidently declares that she will win no matter who her opponent is. Miho pleasantly responds in kind and shakes hands with Anchovy. All this is an interesting departure from the manga, although that Anchovy, who wanted to win for her own reasons, was an interesting departure from the other commanders (and, incidentally, fit in nicely alongside Katyusha and a more prominent Erika, with Kay Demoted to Extra).
Meanwhile, Carpaccio is looking around, and finally catches Caesar's eye. They call each other "Hina-chan" and "Taka-chan," most likely abbreviated versions of each other's first names. Carpaccio's surprised Caesar is doing tankery, even if she can't tell what tank she's doing; Carpaccio's mildly disappointed but understands. You can also see Carpaccio as somewhat more cheerful here, compared to her reserved and businesslike manga incarnation, even if the difference is less noticeable than with Anchovy.
The rest of Hippo Team is surprised to see Caesar like this. Caesar and Carpaccio part ways vowing to stay friends and keep things fair. Caesar turns back to her team, gets some good-natured teasing and breaks out in a Luminescent Blush.
The match begins, and Saunders and St. Gloriana watch the match. Oddly enough, Black Forest's leadership is absent this time. Both sides set out, and Pepperoni begins "OP Macaroni", a plan that uses all the Carro Veloces. Oarai advances to the crossroads and spots two Semoventes and three Carro Veloces (5 tanks total). Momo demands that they go on the offensive, and Miho says yes, splitting up since they don't know where the P40 is. Duck Team is on standby, noticing that the tanks they're observing aren't moving and do not have their engines running. Rabbit Team charges ahead, running straight into the enemy, but notices that they're not firing on them.
Yukari notices that Anzio has a good strategy in quickly securing the best spot, and wonders if it's to provoke a war of attrition, and they notice that suppressing their spirit for a calmer battle plan is unlike them.
Rabbit Team spots four Carro Veloces and two Semoventes (6 tanks, with 11 tanks total). Anglerfish Team notices something's wrong- they're already above the limit and the P40 isn't there- and orders the two teams observing the enemy to fire on them cautiously. They do so, and realize that the tanks are fakes, intended to draw them into the trap while the others outmaneuver them.
Pepperoni is confident in her plan succeeding until the Type 89 pulls up behind her, but even then, she's confident that the other tanks will be unable to keep pace with hers. Meanwhile, Rabbit Team encounters some Semoventes, but when Aya opens fire on them to test it against Azusa's objections, it turns out that they're real and they return fire. Rabbit Team is yet another team whose competence takes a dive as a result of the OVA being set midway through the series.
Miho takes Aya's unauthorized shooting in stride, telling the others to maintain a medium distance from the Semovente and keep them busy, with the goal being to take out Anzio's flag tank before they themselves are encircled.
The Type 89 faces the tankettes, opening fire with its rear machine gun while they respond in kind. Soon, Duck Team uses their main gun and gets a few hits.
Rabbit Team gets pursued by the Semoventes, all the while debating whether it counts as running away and whether the M3 Lee's two guns mean that it's evenly matched against its two single-gunned opponents.
The scene shifts to Anchovy's group, and Anchovy demands to know what's going on with Operation Macaroni. Pepperoni apologizes, saying she's fighting the Type 89, and Anchovy asks whether Pepperoni put up the decoys as she instructed. Pepperoni says yes, she put up all of them, and Anchovy says that it's too many; one has to wonder why they brought so many decoys in the first place. When Anchovy points that out, Pepperoni says that it's brilliant of Anchovy, but Anchovy says that Pepperoni is just dumb. Anchovy then orders Carpaccio and the others to head out, grousing about Carpaccio's failure to tell her.
Anchovy's group soon encounters Anglerfish, Hippo and Turtle teams, the latter of which is the flag tank, and with the flag tank found, they decide to attack. Carpaccio recognizes Hippo Team's logo as Caesar's avatar in their chats, and decides to take her on. Carpaccio, knowing that Hippo Team won't leave their sides vulnerable, decides to hit them in the slits, while Caesar, knowing that anywhere on the Semovente is potentially vulnerable, tries to go for a shot. The two tanks begin struggling, literally pushing each others' gun barrels out of the way.
The scene shifts back to Duck Team's fight with the tankettes, with Akebi complaining about the noise (one would have to wonder whether that would be a practical concern) and Noriko telling her to buck up. It shifts back to Anchovy in the P40 firing on Turtle Team, which Anglerfish Team is shielding. Meanwhile, the gunner of the front-mounted gun on Rabbit Team wants to be able to hit her opponents, but can't. Caesar and Carpaccio's duel continues with the two circling around each other.
The battle with the Carro Veloces continue, with them coming even though they're knocked down. Duck Team gets discouraged, but Miho reassures them that they're not invincible. As long as their white flags don't raise, they can be turned over and gotten back in the game (although the way the Anzio tankers turn them over seems far too easy for a tankette that weighs several tons). Their spirits revitalized, Duck Team starts aiming at the engine compartments with immediate success, taking out four Carro Veloces in four shots. It's an impressive show of Duck Team's ability in spite of their tank's limitations, but also goes to show just how weak the Carro Veloces are. As a fifth falls, Anchovy desperately decides to abort her encirclement. She summons all the tanks back to the flag tank for a "protractment strategy" that Pepperoni doesn't know about.
Seeing the enemy in disarray and the P40 alone, Miho decides to finish the battle before they can regroup, and Rabbit Team has the same thought as Pepperoni goes after Anchovy. Aya and Ayumi aim at the Semoventes, and miss with wildly aimed shots, but with more careful aim, they take one of them out. The other crests the hill, but Azusa tells the others to calm down, impressing them.
Elsewhere, Caesar and Carpaccio plan to finish their duel, with the latter trying to get behind Hippo Team. Anchovy goes after Turtle team in spite of her suspicions that it's a trap, determined to show that Anzio is strong and that they can win the championship. Of course, not only is Anzio's defeat a Foregone Conclusion, it's looking increasingly inevitable at this point, given the rate at which they're losing tanks. Of course, as usual, Turtle Team is unable to hit a single target, especially not on the move. Miho, however, is almost in position, luring Anchovy into the kill zone.
The duel between Hippo Team and Carpaccio ends with an exchange of gunfire that knocks out both combatants at once, making Hippo Team Oarai's only casualty in the match.
Shortly thereafter, the pursuit of the flag tank comes to a close, as the P40 fires and misses, a Carro Veloce falls off a cliff, Rabbit Team defeats the other Semovente, Duck Team defeats Pepperoni, and Miho finishes off Anchovy. The match ends with four of Anzio's tanks in a heap, defeated. It's an interesting finish, although it does come off as a slightly forced re-creation of the shot at the end of Episode 7. I'm curious as to whether they planned it all along.
As Oarai celebrates, Anchovy comes before Oarai, devoid of her manga incarnation's hostility. She congratulates Miho on a hard-fought match, and encourages her to go to the final, with the rest of her team enthusiastically concurring. Miho on Anchovy's encouragement, thanks her opponents.
Anzio's crew unpacks the supplies causing Miho to wonder what is going on. Anchovy says tankery isn't all about battles, but that those who take part in them should reward themselves, showing that they're setting up a meal. Miho is impressed by Anzio's ability to put on something like this, and Anchovy says that Anzio spares no expenses for food, albeit while disappointedly adding that they should put more effort into tankery. She, however, is convinced it will get better, and begins the meal. All in all, it's a nice ending that perhaps better fits the stand-alone nature of the OVA than Manga!Anchovy, who mainly serves as an opponent who brings up Miho's decision and hammers home a lesson about the finals.
After a few still shots of Oarai and Anzio, the scene shifts to Caesar and Carpaccio, who discuss their being loaders in their respective tanks, and how the battle between them came down to loading speed. Carpaccio glances to the side and notices that Caesar's friends are "worried" about her. As the other three Hippo Team members fall out, Erwin says that the student council wants to talk to the team leaders, but she'll go alone if Caesar is busy. It's an interesting reference to Caesar and Erwin being co-commanders, but in general, Erwin has typically acted as the sole representative of Hippo Team for tankery-related matters.
Caesar decidse to get going, and says goodbye to Carpaccio, saying that she now goes by "Caesar" rather than "Taka-chan." Carpaccio responds and says likewise. After a still frame of the finished meal, the story of the OVA ends, and the credits play with Anchovy's tanks.
Much later, Anzio goes to Oarai's finals match, and, arriving before anyone else, camps out there, throwing a party. They party too hard, and somehow sleep through the entire battle, with the announcer being shown calling out various highlights of the finals. Anzio ultimately wakes up at dusk, after Oarai's victory.
This was quite amusing, albeit as something of a re-interpretation of Anzio's absence from the finals, when all of Oarai's other opponents attended. By comparison, the manga goes for the simpler and more obvious implication that Anchovy is still upset about the loss.
All in all, this was fairly good, albeit something of an afterthought, and a way of putting in an obvious missing part of the series (I once made an "Allan please add the match with Anzio" picture based off of the "Allan please add detail" meme). The battle was entertaining, but Anzio didn't put up much of a fight, even considering the Foregone Conclusion.
Incidentally, Little Army Volume 2 came out in English. I noticed the following.
- Maho, rather than citing the "one battle in 10,000" part, says "You know that in the unlikely event that we lose, we could face expulsion." It's still unclear whether this is a lie intended to get her crew's acts together; the "could" might suggest that Maho's merely making a warning, or stating a possibility so that her bluff won't be called if the worst happens.
- The tank from Maho's team in the finals is said to have almost fallen off the cliff, rather than actually falling off.
- Kikuyo goes to her mode of speech in Girls und Panzer Volume 3, calling Miho and Maho by their first names, with the occasional, "dear" thrown in. As for Shiho, she addresses her as "Madam," and refers to her as Miho's mother when speaking with her.
- Shiho's title is not mentioned as the Assistant Instructor in here; I had wondered if her mother was still alive and in charge of the school at the time.
- There's a brief aside in which the teacher asks Frau Nakasuga to deal with some paperwork.
There's not much in the way of omakes this time. A two-page section has an illustration of Miho running to join the other members of Anglerfish team, and a note by the artist thanking everyone who supported him and saying it has been a pleasure, before showing a preview of the first volume of the main series manga (which has been out for a while now, but is likely the next step for readers of the Little Army manga). Oddly enough, Yukari is not shown with the other members of Anglerfish Team on the front cover.
Next Installment: The Maginot Battle manga begins.
Comments
, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6
Also, Girls und Panzer: Little Army will be getting a sequel manga soon.
