Line #20 Main/MilitaryMoe


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12	[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/GirlsUndPanzer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gup.png]]]]
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14	There is a large overlap between fans of [[{{Moe}} cute girls doing cute things]] and fans of heavy military equipment doing explosive things. Starting in the [[TheNoughties aughts]] and continuing into TheNewTens, anime producers started to notice this overlap and started making shows to cater to both tastes simultaneously.
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16	A Military Moe show features cute girls in the military, or in military-like situations (''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', for example, is about tank combat as a high school sport). It will often feature GoodLookingPrivates both on the battlefield and in their personal lives, juxtaposing the two in whatever way best fits the tone of the story, whether [[PlayedForDrama dramatically]], [[TearJerker saddeningly]] or [[PlayedForLaughs comically]]. Expect varying levels of {{Fanservice}}. Usually a WorldOfActionGirls.
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18	It can be divided into two styles: One where the {{Moe}} girls ''operate'' the equipment (''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', ''Anime/TheMagnificentKotobuki''), and one where the girls ''are'' the equipment (''VideoGame/KanColle'', ''Manga/{{Upotte}}'')
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20	See SmallGirlBigGun, which many characters are likely to sport in some fashion. SisterTrope of GirlsWithGuns. SubTrope of CuteGirlsDoingCuteThings.
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22	'''Note: This trope describes a show, not a character. Individual characters may fall under GoodLookingPrivates.'''
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24	----
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26	!!Examples:
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28	[[foldercontrol]]
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30	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
31	* ''Manga/ArpeggioOfBlueSteel'' is about the mysterious Fleet of Fog and their Mental Models, human female avatars of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era warships armed with advanced weapons and technology where they rule the oceans.
32	* ''Anime/GirlsFrontline'' (or ''Doll's Frontline'') is the anime of the ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'' video game, featuring female androids who are anthropomorphized guns.
33	* ''Manga/GirlsLastTour'' is a {{Downplayed\|trope}} example. Chito and Yuuri wear what look like military uniforms and helmets, Yuuri has a rifle, and they ride in a Kettenkrad half-track motorcycle, but they aren't actually part of any military, and the story mostly focuses on how the girls get by in [[AfterTheEnd a post-apocalyptic world]]. There aren't enough people left in the world to form any sort of military unit.
34	* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' is set InAWorld where the sport of ''sensha-do'' (the Way of the Tank) is seen as a [[LadyOfWar feminine martial art]] and stars the daughter of a prestigious ''sensha-do'' school.
35	* Played with in ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. The girls are not involved with the military specifically but are still in government-related roles. They're all cute preteen girls, and the token oldest one can't be older than seventeen, who [[GirlsWithGuns regularly wield guns]]... however, it's played up for drama, with the girls being ChildSoldiers, with {{Dark and Troubled Past}}s [[spoiler:who [[CharactersDroppingLikeFlies all die]]]], in a cynical world where the [[DysfunctionJunction adults are also deeply troubled]]. The manga can't quite make up its mind on whether it's a deconstruction or not: the original anime is definitely deconstructive, but the second season ''Teatrino'' uses a "moe" art style that's even cuter than the manga's and plays this trope up more.
36	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' was originally this using a mainly [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys male cast]]. Early on it was meant to adapt World War II but with [[NationsAsPeople humanized countries]]. While most characters still wear military uniforms, the actual content of the series doesn't relate as much to war or the military as it once did.
37	* ''Anime/HighSchoolFleet'' is about a training ship for the all-women's naval force, the Blue Mermaids.
38	* In ''Manga/KuroganePukapukaTai'', the heroines are part of the ([[TheOneGuy nearly]]) all-female crew of a Japanese cruiser in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, who run into a German U-boat (crewed mostly by women) and later a British destroyer (captained entirely by women). [[YuriGenre Romantic entanglements ensue]].
39	* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' featured this aesthetic, transposing the now-adult {{Magical Girl}}s from the previous series into command positions of an almost-all-female paramilitary SpacePolice unit. This proved to be just a phase for the franchise, however, since ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' ditched most of the "moe" in "military moe" (and was eventually canceled), while subsequent anime and manga ditched the "military" part and went the "martial arts moe" route, focusing on the new generation of magical girls raised by the previous heroines.
40	* ''Anime/TheMagnificentKotobuki'' is about a squadron of 6 mercenary pilot girls who make their living taking to the skies and defending transport zeppelins from SkyPirate attacks.
41	* In ''Anime/MaoChan'', the leaders of Japan's military branches fight adorable alien invaders with their even more adorable granddaughters.
42	* ''Manga/PanzerfrauleinAlteseisen'' is about an all-female tank unit faced with the horrors of a ForeverWar between the Kingdom and TheFederation. While it shares the same character designer and aesthetic from ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', [[WarIsHell it is not a happy story]].
43	* ''Anime/{{Shirobako}}'' has an InUniverse example in ''Third Aerial Girls' Squad'', [[ShowWithinAShow a manga that the characters work on adapting into an anime]] during the show's second half. From what we know of it, it centers on a group of girls who pilot fighter planes from the seventies and prior in order to fight an alien invasion.
44	* ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'' follows a [[ChildSoldiers bugler]] in the all-women 1121st platoon of the Helvetian Army.
45	* ''Manga/StrikeWitches'' is set in an alternate 1939, where aliens called the Neuroi have attacked the Earth, forcing the Earth's militaries to raise units of all-female magic users on broomsticks. The Striker Units they use [[PantyShot prevent them from wearing any pants]] in combat.
46	* Creator/MohiroKitoh has written some works in this genre, believe it or not.
47	** The first such work by him was ''Manga/OwariToHajimariNoMiles'', which takes place in a world where machines go after they die. It's centered on a teenage girl in a relationship with the spirit of the battleship ''Nagato''.
48	** Kitoh's second attempt at this genre was ''Hayabusa-chan mo Tondemasu'', which is about a girl who can ''turn into'' a Kawasaki Ki-43 fighter plane.
49	* ''Manga/{{Upotte}}'': A SliceOfLife manga and anime about anthropomorphized military firearms attending school.
50	* ''Anime/WarlordsOfSigrdrifa'': A multimedia project about a squadron of supernaturally enchanted girls and their planes fighting against a horrific monstrous invading force known as the Pillars, which cannot be harmed by [[MilitariesAreUseless any normal weapons, up to and including nukes.]]
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53	[[folder:Literature]]
54	* ''Literature/GirlyAirForce'' is a solid example featuring {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of fighter jets from various nations battling an AlienInvasion. The jets use avatars of young cute girls to wander off-base and interact with people.
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57	[[folder:Video Games]]
58	* ''VideoGame/ArmorBlitz'' has you commanding a group of cute tank girls against an enemy very similar to the Abyssals from ''VideoGame/KanColle''.
59	* ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' takes place in an alternate version of World War II where various warships from alternate versions of the Allied and Axis nations have taken the form of beautiful young women thanks to the alien technology of the Sirens. Interestingly, the first artbook implies that these shipgirls do indeed have memories of their original "lives" from "our" timeline.
60	* ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'' is about you working for a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors PMC]] and leading an army of [[MoeAnthropomorphism cute android girls who are named after types of guns]] to fight in a RobotWar.
61	* ''VideoGame/KanColle'' is a CardBattleGame featuring [[MoeAnthropomorphism WWII-era warships in the shape of cute girls]] (primarily those of the Imperial Japanese Navy, though eventually a number of foreign ships were added as well, even those from relatively minor naval powers like Sweden and Australia).
62	* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has a wide variety of {{Moe}} girls you can recruit into your squad. Its not exclusively ''moe'' girls, however, there are also men you can recruit, too.
63	* ''VideoGame/VictoryBelles'' replicates the [[MoeAnthropomorphism WWII-era warships in the shape of cute girls]] formula, but this time actually taking place during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII! Not only are the individual personalities of the shipgirls (called Belles in-game) explored much more in-depth compared to most competitors, they're also voiced in their native languages.
64	* ''VideoGame/WarshipGirls'' is a CardBattleGame featuring [[MoeAnthropomorphism WWII-era warships in the shape of cute girls]]. If this sounds rather [[VideoGame/KanColle familiar]], that's because ''Warship Girls'' was made as a direct response to ''VideoGame/KanColle''[='s=] original lack of non-Japanese warships.
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67	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
68	* ''VisualNovel/GrisaiaSeries'' visual novels (including the [=RPG=] gacha mobile game version of ''"Grisaia: Chronos Rebellion"'') features an abandoned school which becomes a base for female soldiers (who appear to be teenagers, preteens and young adults) of the defense unit [=SORD=] (Social Ops Research and Development) from Japan-America anti-terrorism organization [=CIRS=] (Central Intelligence Research Second). There's always [[TheOneGuy a man who works as a handler and a soldier]] in every game.
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71	[[folder:Web Original]]
72	* Taiwanese digital artist [[https://twitter.com/vanishlily Iron Lily ]]'s works mostly featuring all-female Medieval era soldiers, drawn in {{Moe}} PuniPlush style. They are mostly well-known for the intricate details and historical accuracy of the armors and weapons the characters wore.
73	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MilitaryMoe