The chapter begins with an extremely long author's note. I'm hardly one to criticize, but I tend to put them at the end of the chapter, unless there's something very important, that readers must know before reading.
The author says that he will occasionally use the Japanese names for the tank teams, which follow the same animal-based Theme Naming as the others.
The author says that some of the "tank-fu" in the series, such as drifting, is, in fact, possible, and cites some footage to support that assertion.
The author explains, in response to a review by severstal (A recurring reviewer for the Girls Und Panzer fandom who offers very insightful commentary, and, like I do, doesn't shy away from criticizing others) that the existence of simunition is hinted at in the manga (as far as I know, it never said any such thing), along with all guns having the same impact on hitting something.
He also says that he had formerly called Sentoki-do "Gekitsui-do" after "Gekitsui-O", which he says is Japanese for "Ace." In my opinion, it's best to only use Gratuitous Japanese when you are yourself well-versed in it.
The author raises the question of whether Sentoki-do is dangerous, and says "HELL YES" (emphasis his). He then reveals that something like Sentoki-do apparently exists in real life.
The author says that the team dynammics will be a major issue. While there are advantages, such as not having Rabbit Team's gunner have to load the shells by herself, the new loader is the only boy in a team with six other girls, including Saki, who never talks. The other teams have teammates more suited to them, with the Student Council getting a treasurer, which the author points out is an important job that they don't have filled (although given the size of the student council, it's possible that Yuzu is left with the task, since Momo is both PR rep and secretary).
The author then goes into detail as to how the KV isn't as good as it seems. Again, I'm not as familiar with the technical details of the tanks, but it seems to slightly fly in the face of Yukari talking it up in the previous chapter.
The author adds that if the veterans get new tanks, they'll have to be retrained. Perhaps this is true, but is it fair to give the better weaponry to the newcomers that may not make the best use of them? And is it possible that relearning the tank will be a less difficult process than learning it the first time?
He then describes each crew as the tank's "sponsor," which seems to be a bit of an odd choice of words.
The author, in response to fuji92, another reviewer, says that he hadn't thought of using a Chinese-themed school, since their only choices for tanks are either soviet-themed or terrible. He does, however, eventually have the protagonists face Dalian, which is Chinese-themed
The author then mentions that there will be new schools in this fic. Girls Und Panzer only showed five of its 16 schools that entered the tournament in any detail, six if you count Anzio, and supplemental materials hint at even more schools. It's interesting to see newcomers, and a potential opportunity to expand on the ones that weren't shown in canon.
At night, Akio spends some time doing research about rules. He knows a fair amount about the military, but little about tanks, so he decides to brush up on that. What he finds is some relatively basic yet effective rules- know your enemy and your capabilities, stop to shoot, be aware of your surroundings, use the terrain to your advantage and stay mobile. In spite of their simplicity, he finds that many teams don't bother to follow those rules, even teams like Black Forest, but the underdogs- namely Oarai, for the most part- are the few who actually follow them. While at first glance, Akio had seemed like an unusually quick learner of tankery, it's interesting to see him acknowledge his limitations and catch up to the others by studying and hard work.
However, Akio's conclusion that the match with Saunders would have been over if the Type 89 had shot Arisa's flag tank upon discovering it is faulty; According to the on-screen text in Introductions 10.5, "The Type 89's main gun would have had trouble piercing the armor of an M4." Oddly enough, the author observes in the author's note at the end of the chapter that Alisa could have disabled the Type 89 with her machine gun, which would indicate that a fight between the two tanks would be utterly unfair. He shrugs it off because it's only their second match (their third if you count the Maginot manga), but if you think about it, there are other reasons.
While working on the new tanks, Tsubasa learns that he's on Leopon team with "Sadoko" Nakajima, and that he's radio operator and machine gunner, the latter of which is not very useful in a tank battle. Of course, the author points out that it's not entirely useless.
After a nightmare about a flying accident that results in a plane landing poorly and exploding in a massive fireball, Akio awakens with a jerk, falling out of bed in the process, before going about his morning routine.
Akio greets Miho in the morning. Miho admits to Akio that she's a bit nervous about having boys in the school, but soon changes the subject and asks how he's getting used to the tank he's been given. Akio admits that he's only learned some rules of thumb so far, but Miho's confident that he'll learn it. After an awkward silence, Miho asks what Akio will name the tank, mentioning the Theme Naming, and he chooses the Shark. Miho approves and says that she chose his crew for him. Miho adds that the model club will crew the KV-1S, but they don't have a manual for it.
They get to school on time, and enter Class 2A (for the record, Miho and her friends are in 2B). The teacher warns them against getting into relationships with each other, one that will likely go unheeded, as the fic is "Adventure/Romance" (on a side note, "Adventure" is a bit of a catch-all genre to describe action-oriented fics. Akio notes that the faculty is mostly composed of women, since it's an all-girls' school, but I haven't heard of any such precedent.
Akio's friends are shown in the next scene. An entire paragraph is shown describing Senmonka, who apparently did paintball and Hohei-do (basically tankery with infantry) before, and whose grandfather has known Akio's in the past, as the two fought in WWII together, although they only met at Soto Monastery after the war. It might have been better to show this in characters' conversations or actions, rather than in narrative exposition.
Interestingly enough, Hayate and Kenji have prior experience in their respective positions as driver and radio operator, respectively. Perhaps this is to make sure that they're up to speed with the existing teams, and don't get left in the dust, but Anteater Team, and to a lesser extent, Mallard Team, had to make do with the skills (or lack thereof) they had.
Miho invites Akio to lunch and accepts his request to bring his crew along, albeit somewhat nervous about having the extra boys around.
Saori, noticing that Miho's nervous, teases her about whether it's due to the presence of boys at the school, or Akio's presence in particular. She's clearly hinting that they might become an item, but Miho suggests that she'll just have to adapt and turns Saori's question back on her.
As Hana is about to press Saori about something she thought, Akio rejoins his crew, informing them that they now have a tank, and he's in charge. Hayate asks if he knows anything about them, and Akio points out that he did some research. Kenji snidely suggests that means talking to Miho, and Hayate says that he doesn't understand how someone as quiet as he could have won the tournament, but concludes that she's cute. Thankfully, Masaru shuts up Kenji and Hayate by saying that Akio is actually doing something to prepare himself to command a tank. Kenji insists that he can do the radio, Hayate offers to drve, and Masaru volunteers to be gunner. That leaves the loader position, and the only one who can fill that is Heishi, whom Akio says is tolerable as long as he stays away from the girls. Masaru then laments that it won't be long before he gets in trouble.
No sooner do they bring Heishi up than he gets caught trespassing in the girls' bathroom, weakly claiming that he he didn't know which was which, which falls apart as soon as they discover the periscope on his person. It's interesting showing the problems some will have in a formerly all-girls school, but it would have been better had they been portrayed as somewhat less exaggeratedly.
Unfortunately, this scene also makes me like the new boys less and less. Apart from having very little in the way of personality, Hayate and Kenji are overly dismissive of Miho, and Heishi's a pervert.
The scene shifts back to Miho, who's glad she memorized the names of all the boys, but notes that the Model Club is a handful to deal with, as they're obsessed with historical details and argue about the smallest things, such as how their tank should be painted (but as it turns out in the battle scenes, have very little in the way of actually useful skills).
Miho rejoins her friends for lunch, and Saori asks if Miho is fine, since she's been quiet. Miho suggests having a practice match, because with ten tanks, they can form two teams of five. Hana agrees, as practice will help them maintain their title.
The girls of Anglerfish Team are joined by the boys of Shark Team, sans Heishi, whom they assume to be in trouble at the moment. Masaru introduces himself to the girls, calling them (last name)-san, except for Yukari, whom he calls "Yukari-chan". The author seems somewhat inconsistent about characters and their modes of address, when in canon, they have various unspoken rules (for example, Miho and Hana call strangers by their last name and -san, and friends by their first name and -san). This may sound like a minor detail, but inability to consistently keep to a single form of address from one character to another not only shows a less than perfect attention to detail, but also limits the impact when one character calls another differently than they usually do.
Masaru also introduces Hayate and Kenji, whom he calls "the two irritable looking ones," prompting Hayate to insist that they're "mischievous," a strange case of debating over terminology. Kenji concedes that they're sometimes irritable, and asks about the tank, which Yukari describes as like the Panzer IV, but "faster and less armored." Masaru asks about the gun velocity, and Hana recites the information in unusual detail for her, considering that she's not obsessed with tanks like Yukari is, and Masaru asks her to teach him how she guns. The names are brought up, and Yukari notes that Shark and Alligator are easy team names to remember.
Hana asks about the coming match and Miho says that she drew the names out of the hat, with Anglerfish and Turtle as the leaders, as Momo is the deputy captain(even if she doesn't act like one). Team 1 consists of "Messrs" Anglerfish, Shark, Hippo, Duck and Alligator, while 2 consists of Turtle, Rabbit, Mallard, Anteater and Leopon. Akio's nervous about having to fight three tanks with turrets, and the strongest tank, but Miho thinks it will be a fun challenge.
A conversation follows between Satoko and Tsubasa, in which the latter mentions that he did sentoki-do with Daichi Ego, who, true to his surname, has quite an "ego." Tsubasa's fairly confident that he can defeat the KV-1S, which is "made of paper" compared to the Posrsche Tiger. Hoshino asks about Akio, whose surname sounds familiar to her, and Tsubasa reveals that Akio's father was Takeshi Sakai and he died in a crash when Akio was five years old.
Does this sound familiar? There are two other stories that use it, one before ("Shipwrecked
" uses it with Chester, male lead Monty's friend), and one after ("Girls und panzer, to the sky" uses it with male lead Chris Walsh's mother.) It's a common plot device to inspire sympathy for [[Original Character OCs]], but done badly, as it often is, it makes them seem even more like Mary Sues.
The scene shifts to the student council, who reveals that schools have started to request exhibition matches with Oarai since they won the tournament. Anzu's pleased with the opportunity to further hone their skills so that they can repeat their feats in the last tournament, but doesn't say that nearly so elegantly. One significant flaw with the author's dialogue is that it often comes off as terse and perfunctory, with the characters stating the obvious with very little eloquence or personality.
Saunders is first on the list (bringing us back to the prologue), but this time, they are bringing 20 tanks, and starting an annihilation match, meaning that Oarai is outnumbered two to one and must defeat all their opponents. Chishiki says that would definitely give Saunders an advantage, and the school hasn't won an annihilation match. (They did win against Maginot but I only found this out at the time I revised it). Momo's uncharacteristically worried about the match for one in which the school's fate is on the line. They suggest that Oarai losing might cause the league to change the rules without saying why; it's hard to believe that they have it in for Oarai that much, to the extent that if Oarai can't win annihilation style, they'd make that the tournament rules to make things hard for them.
Anzu, however, scoffs, saying that "Saunders wasn't that tough", (ignoring how Oarai won in large part because they turned Arisa's cheating against her, and said cheating caused Kay to only attack with equal numbers). Granted, Oarai has improved, but Saunders' numerical superiority is not an advantage that can be overcome easily without disabling the flag tank being an Instant-Win Condition.
After the afternoon classes, Miho brings the team together for a practice match. She tells them that now that they have 10 tanks, they'll have a practice match to get the newcomers used to tankery, and repeats the crew lineups in a somewhat redundant bit of exposition. She also tells everyone to not worry if they get taken out.
The crews get into their tanks, and Hayate struggles with the lack of a steering wheel. Mako shows him some pointers, and after a moment, he rockets forward and drifts the tank.
Meanwhile, Alligator Team is trying to figure out how to work their tank, considering that the labels are in Russian, and many of the other features are different from the other tanks.
Miho watches the teams reach their positions at various speeds, based on their experience and skill. Anteater Team has finally figured out their tank, while Hayate drives Shark Team's tank like a race car, almost throwing a track at times. Once Miho and Momo's teams are in position, the match starts.
Miho decides to send out Duck Team as a scout, and use Hippo and Shark Teams as tank hunters, while Anglerfish and Alligator flush out the enemy, with the main plan to draw the enemy to a small rise. By contrast, Momo's plan to defeat the other team is simply to "find them and smash them," with Anteater team chanting the "Hetzers gonna hetz" meme, much to Tsubasa's annoyance.
Meanwhile, Noriko has not yet found the enemy, comparing the trees to a net. Oddly enough, she calls Miho "Nishizumi-domo," a misspelling of "domo" not unlike how Kabuto once addressed Orochimaru in Team8.
Back in Momo's team, Anzu comments on the Hetzer meme, and Akira realizes that it's like "Haters gonna hate". Chishiki complains about Momo's plan amounting to randomly driving around and attacking the enemy, resulting in Anzu taking over, saying that they need a plan to defeat Miho. Unfortunately, the most Anzu can do is order her tank to head for a hill before Duck Team spots her and shoots Turtle Team in its vulnerable back, disabling them. Anglerfish Team is quite amazed to hear that Duck Team managed to defeat someone else with their tank.
Meanwhile, Erwin, who's introduced for the first time, spots the enemy, and launches a failed attack on Mallard Team, thus gaining their enemies' attention. Aya notices "Erwin-chan," whom they should be addressing as "senpai", and launch attacks on the StuG along with a number of other childish insults.
While Hippo holds off its enemies, as Erwin's confident that she'll be fine unless Leopon hits her, Miho sends Shark and Duck to help while going to find Anteater with Alligator. Masaru fires on Mallard Team, and Shark Team is in awe of the shot going off... until Masaru admits that he missed. After a 47mm shell strikes the tank, Akio panicked, orders Heishi to reload.
As Hoshino struggles up the hill, she sees Mallard Team taken out (which is somewhat disappointing, since they hardly ever shine in canon or this fic). They then fire and take out Shark Team, with Akio amazed by the recoil the gun has compared to that of the Bf-110. Meanwhile, Akio suggests that with that performance, they're "not worthless."
Soon afterward, Hippo defeats Rabbit. As Hoshino curses her misfortune, as her team's now down three members out of five, Duck makes a futile attempt to attack, and is taken out with the aforementioned machinegun, much to the shock of Duck Team. Almost immediately afterward, Leopon is defeated by Hippo Team.
Alligator Team, annoyed that they haven't gotten to fight so far, hears about defeating three more o the enemy's tanks and losing two of their own. Kenshin wonders if the Anteater Team "is going to be heroes, just like on their games," a video game reference that sounds as though it's from someone who doesn't play video games. As he [[Tempting Fate suggests that they don't stand a chance against Anglerfish Team, he's cut off by Anteater Team taking them out, before being taken out by Anglerfish. Nekota says that she had tried to ram the enemy, but Miho says it doesn't work (which doesn't account for the Jagdtiger falling and being disabled).
Daichi hopes that the next match will go better, and Miho points out that it'll be sooner than he thinks, mentioning the upcoming match with Saunders. Daichi's hopes about them not being that tough are dashed, but Miho reassures him that she has a plan before ordering everyone to head back.
Tsubasa and Hoshino discuss the match, including how machine guns aren't completely useless, as the tankettes have to be useful for something. The author's note then adds that Alisa could possibly have defeated Duck Team with her machine gun, meaning that her use of it may not have been suhc a crazy idea.
The battle was decent. There wasn't any grand strategy or any especially clever or surprising Miho-style tactics, but it worked well enough.
What I liked
- The battle scene was decently done.
- Taking a look at some of the subtler details of tank battles.
- The story getting to the actual action.
- Akio working on addressing the gaps in his knowledge, and progressing at a reasonable pace.
What I didn't like
- Some inconsistencies and proofreading errors.
- Some details are overlooked or forgotten about.
- Akio's father's death is somewhat cliched.
Evaluation of Akio Thus Far: It's nice to see him in some more depth, even if his backstory is slightly derivative. It's also good that he's learning what he can, and doesn't start off too competent.
