Hello and welcome to my liveblog for ‘’Boys do Tankary?’’ (yes, that’s how the title is spelled) one of the first ‘’Girls und Panzer’’ fics to include boys in the previouslyg girls-only sport of tankery (unlike the fic's title, it's spelled with an E).
Of course, being first doesn't mean it's the best or even any good. There's poor spelling and grammar, stilted dialogue, characters without enough personality to even qualify as one-dimensional, and not much of a plot. The fact that even the title is misspelled should give some indication of how little effort went into this fic.
However, the fic is unique, featuring alcoholism, children being forced to fight wars, and other things that most writers wouldn't think to include in their cookie-cutter "boys in tankery" fics.
The fic begins with Miho watching clouds, when a girl, who’s apparently Anzu, informs her that there will be new students in the tankery class. Miho runs off to greet them, at which point Momo points out that Anzu neglected to inform Miho that the characters are male. Anzu simply says she knows, and takes a bite of a sweet potato, probably the closet she gets to being in character in the entire fic.
The scene then transitions to Miho and her team. Saori’s excited about the idea of cute boys joining their class, but Miho reminds her that this is an all-girls school.
What Miho doesn’t realize is that one of the most popular kinds of GuP fics involves Oarai becoming coed, usually as a prerequisite to staying open. This can be done for a few reasons- the authors might want to write new characters, write heterosexual romances (more on that later), or might think that tankery should be open to boys, too.
Miho witnesses a tank parachute down, one that doesn’t look like any they’ve seen before. The commander pops his head out, and after jokingly asking for directions to Berlin, introduces himself as Major Vincent, leader of Alpha-Omega Platoon. It’s unclear whether this is supposed to be a reference to God’s title in the book of Revelations, or whether the author simply is making a poor attempt to use Greek. As for Vincent's name, he apparently shares a name with several of the author's original characters.
Miho leads the boys to the school, and Vincent introduces his subordinates- Warrant Officer Brent(communicator), Staff Sargent(sic) Nick(tank repairman), Sargent(sic) Josh, Lance Corporal Jon(gunner), and Private First Class Ian(driver). Not only are all these students far higher ranked than any soldiers their age would be, but they all seem to only go by their given names.
Ami Chouno runs out and complains that the boys aren’t supposed to be here, but stops when she sees Vincent. Vincent, apparently recognizing her, pulls rank and snidely reminds her that he’s a Major and she’s a Captain. He also calls her by her first name which is much less formal in Japan than it is in the US, and is generally considered rude unless it’s done between close friends, family or anyone who has permission.
It's worth noting that Japanese Honorifics aren't merely used in fanfiction out of a desire to look cool or seem more Japanese, but they also can reveal a bit about the characters. Miho, being a polite young lady, uses "-san" on virtually every girl her age, and when she starts addressing her crewmates in Anglerfish Team by their first names, it's a sign that she's started becoming friends with them.
Ami demands to know what the boys are doing here, and insists that they not take her class away from her. Vincent, however, points out that he’s here to join the class, not to teach it. Ami reluctantly accepts, but insists that they not seduce the girls, looking at Ian as she says it.
Incidentally, if you watched GuP, you may notice that while Ami is introduced as the tankery instructor in Episode 2, she stops showing up around Oarai around the time the tournament starts. There are a variety of interpretations for that- maybe she stepped aside to let Miho lead the team, or maybe she wasn’t meant to be permanent- but she clearly was never this attached to her position.
As Saori takes the boys’ luggage, Miho asks Ami how she knows them. Ami says that the boys “are the best at tank warfare, and when they get sent somewhere, it isn’t good.” Miho is also curious about the tank, and Yukari, the resident tank otaku, and thus an extremely popular character among the tank fanatics in the GuP fandom, says it’s a “custom” that doesn’t fire standard shells, either.
This is highly unusual for GuP fan fiction. Most fanfic authors go into meticulous detail about their tanks, and seem more interested in writing tank battles than actually writing a story or developing characters. They’d be interested in including their favorite tanks from World War II, not vaguely describing this tank and calling it a day.
Meanwhile, Saori’s helping Vincent with his luggage, and he asks her to show him around. She agrees, and asks him how old he is- they’re about the same age. The two immediately fall in love, even if they don’t come out and say it, and the chapter ends.
A word about shipping in GuP. Since the series has no eligible male characters, you’d expect that the girls would end up being paired with each other, right? Wrong. Not only is Saori’s interest in boys canonical, but while Yukari’s fandom for Miho borders on love, it isn’t all that popular of a ship.
Of course, it’s not as though the fanfic writers don’t have any interest in romance whatsoever, and the OCs end up filling the vacuum. In most fandoms, pairings between original and canon characters would be viewed with suspicion at best, but in GuP’s fandom, they’re accepted as a matter of course. Of course, said pairings aren’t always done well, and we’ll see how this one progresses in future chapters.
