| Rena Andou |
- "You Escalators always look down on others!"
- ―Andou to Oshida
Rena Andou (安藤レナ) is a supporting character in Girls und Panzer das Finale.
Profile[]
Andou is a student of BC Freedom Academy. She is the vice-commander from Examination faction, and she commands an SOMUA S35 with the emblem "Green Spade."
Appearance[]
Andou is an average-sized, tanned-skin girl with shoulder length spiked-messy black hairs and brown eyes. She is seen wearing BC Freedom's sensha-do uniform inside matches and the schoolgirl one outside. Being part of the “lower class” of BC Freedom, she seems quite negleclent on her appearance with her always having messy hair. Andou also wears a uniform in a causal manner with her vest being instead used as a cardigan.
Personality[]
While hot-blooded she seems to have an inferiority complex and hold a grudge against Escalator faction students. She is often criticising her commander often attracting Oshida's wrath, however she is capable of putting her animosity aside to achieve victory. While capable of working as a team with the Escalator faction, their truce is still patchy. Although their teamwork did improve as a result of the match against Ooarai, it also appears that it doesn't take much for them to continue fighting, throwing aside their truce.
Background[]
| Warning: The following information may not be inside Girls und Panzer's main core. It has some level of canonicity within the continuity, but reader discretion is advised. |
Andou is seen holding the "Team Oni" panel with Rukuriri during the revelation of the Cauldron tournament second round bracket. She is then seen assisting to the second Round with Marie and Oshida.
| Non-GuP core informations ends here. |
She is seen participating in several trainings undergo by Marie alongside Oshida, such as fighting each other on who's is the best qualified to protect Marie's tank which ended as a tie or she is forced to cooperate with her frenemy against Marie where they ended both destroyed by their commander.
When the time came to pick their school’s number in the Winter Continuous Track Cup, Andou and Oshida begrudgingly went to the stage to pick a number from the ballot together. The number they got was a three. This meant that they were to have a match against Ooarai Girls Academy during the first match. Enraged, the two blamed each other for this and had a fierce argument, mocking each other’s status and personality. This argument caught the attention of Ooarai’s students.
Soon afterwards while working at a food stall serving taiyaki, Andou and her piers were confronted by Oshida and her piers. Once again, the two factions engaged in a fierce argument about their status and conditions. Andou and her piers wanted to get rid of the fancy meals given to the Escalator students while Oshida and her piers refused to do so. The argument eventually boiled over to a point where they were on the verge of a riot. Right before the chaos could start, Marie intervened and stopped the two factions. While initially seeming to be uncaring and even willing to have a meal during the chaos, Marie caught the attention of the students due to the food she was enjoying. The food being the same type of taiyaki served by Andou at her stall with the unorthodox addition of rich chocolate from the Escalator students’ cafeteria. Marie revealed to her subordinates that she had ordered enough for everyone to enjoy. Upon eating the dessert, Andou and Oshida realized that Marie was telling them. That being that even an unlikely combination can create a worthy and amazing product. By applying it to themselves, the two factions realized that they could work together and form an alliance that could be as strong as the dessert was delicious. Due to this, Andou, Oshida and the rest of the school formed an alliance.
During their discussion, Marie realized the potential opportunity the argument at the tournament ballot had brought them. She had Andou and Oshida pretend to be fighting once more to trick Ooarai. When Yukari arrived at the school, the BC students were pretending to be fighting each other (especially with Andou). While the students did went all out towards the hoax, this was a ploy to pretend that the BC Freedom factions are unable to cooperate. During the ploy, Andou pretended to fight and argue with Oshida until Yukari had left.
During the first round match against Ooarai Girls Academy, she commanded an SOMUA with its distinctive "Green Spade" also leading a platoon of another three SOMUAs. To further their ploy, the BC tanks were told to fire and intentionally miss each other during the beginning of the match before seperating into two groups. This was also to make Ooarai believe Marie and her FT ( BC’s flag tank) were apparently defenseless. When the Ooarai tanks fell for the ploy and were carelessly crossing the wooden bridge to reach the FT, BC sprang their trap. They revealed their position and opened fire at Ooarai. While the battle seemed initially to indicate a quick and decisive BC victory, Ooarai was eventually able to escape due to Duck Team storming the back of Andou’s platoon. Oshida then along with the other BC tanks retreated from the ravine, aiming to set up a defensive position towards the bocage. During the trek, Andou sang Chant de l'Oignon with her teammates in formation.
While the BC tanks were fired upon by Ooarai who had caught on to them, they didn’t suffer a single loss. Andou remarked that Ooarai must be jealous of their cooperation. When reaching the bocage, Andou and her tanks guarded the front of the Bocage due to the Somua‘s short range cannon. When Ooarai caught up, Andou and her platoon were able to hold the line, keeping Ooarai’s spearhead at bay. This changed however when Oorai’s B1 bis operated by the Mallard Team flanked Oshida‘s position and fired on one of the ARL 44 which was operated by the Escalator students. Due to the identical top turret the B1 had with the Somua and the vegetation covering the chassis, Oshida was convinced that Andou and her piers had betrayed the alliance. Angered, Oshida fired on a Somua, knocking it out of the battle. In retaliation, another one of the Somua ran up to and destroyed an ARL. While retreating, the other Somua informed Andou that the Escalator students had betrayed them. This caused the entirety of the BC team (except for Marie and her FT who were initially unaware of the friendly fire) to break off the alliance and fire each other. During the mayhem, another ARL and Somua were knocked out. When Marie realized what was going on, she was able to intervene right before her team could entirely destroy itself and revealed to everyone the trickery Ooarai had played on them.
After taking out the B1, both Andou and Oshida apologized for jumping to conclusions and renewed the alliance. Realizing the disadvantage they now had, the BC team then decided to retreat from the bocage. However during the retreat, they were stopped by Ooarai and had to engage in close quarter combat. During this, both teams were wilted down to just a few tanks. BC then realized that the only chance they had at winning was to knock out Ooarai’s Hetzer (the flag tank). As such, BC began to chase after the tank, losing more tanks in the attempt. After a while, only Andou’s Somua and Marie’s FT were left. The two were able to nearly close the gap between them and the Hetzer using their mobility. Eventually, the two tanks ran into Ooarai’s Tiger (P) which had its cannon aimed directly at Marie‘s FT. Knowing that the FT-17 wouldn’t have enough time to avoid the shot, Andou had her tank ram the rear of the FT in order to swerve the flag tank away from the Tiger. The maneuver was able to successfully save the FT but it also knocked Andou and her Somua out of the match. While Marie was able to slip past Ooarai’s other tanks and was just about to knock out Hetzer, she eventually realized that she had instead fallen into a trap. Trapped by Ooarai’s three other remaining tanks, she realized that she had lost and gave up the attempt. Right afterwards, her FT was taken out, winning Ooarai the match. While disappointed, Andou seemed to show some relief that they made it so far in the match.
While the BC tanks were being hauled, Andou and Oshida apologized to Azumi who had spectated the match. They expected her to be disappointed in her former piers for failing to win the match. Instead Azumi praised them for their cooperation and how well they did in the match. She wanted the two to better work together as a team, seeing great potential in her former school. Andou and Oshida agreed and looked at her as something of a mentor. Days later, during Ooarai Girls Academy match against Chi-Ha-Tan Academy, the pair along with Azumi and Marie spectated the match, seeing the match as a learning opportunity. While the group was mainly focused on the match, they did still brought amenities like desserts along for the match. They are last seen eating a cake and commenting on the tactics used during the match by the belligerents.
Trivia[]
- Her character and appearance is based on the character André Grandier from the popular shōjo manga Rose of Versailles.
- The fact that Andou is part of the Examination faction, BC Freedom's lower class echoes his situation in the manga as André is a commoner part of the "Third Estate" which was the lowest social classes.
- Andou's critical behavior toward Marie and arguments with Oshida, could a reference when André reporting Marie-Antoinette's behavior to Oscar. Complaining that she took refuge to the Petit Trianon neglecting her subjects, he is then harshly reprimanded by Oscar.
- While never fully named, her first name appears on some merchandising products.
- She shares with Oshida a friend/enemy (or frenemy) relationship. There is as much animosity as friendship between them.
- Because of Andou's appearance, which is different from the other students, and the fact that she is a transfer student, some fans speculated that she was based on the inhabitants of former French colonies in Africa, mainly French Algeria. However, nothing has really been proven.
- Andou's birthday is the April 23rd, the same date in 1961 that began the third day of the Algiers Putsch, a failed coup d'état attempt in the French colony of Algeria, aimed at removing the French President Charles de Gaulle from office, who wanted to leave Algeria.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Rena Andou/Gallery
| Characters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ooarai Girls High School | Anglerfish Team | Miho Nishizumi ♦ Saori Takebe ♦ Hana Isuzu ♦ Yukari Akiyama ♦ Mako Reizei |
| Duck Team | Noriko Isobe ♦ Taeko Kondou ♦ Shinobu Kawanishi ♦ Akebi Sasaki | |
| Hippo Team | Erwin ♦ Caesar ♦ Saemonza ♦ Oryou | |
| Rabbit Team | Azusa Sawa ♦ Aya Oono ♦ Ayumi Yamagou ♦ Yuuki Utsugi ♦ Karina Sakaguchi ♦ Saki Maruyama | |
| Turtle Team | Anzu Kadotani ♦ Momo Kawashima ♦ Yuzu Koyama | |
| Mallard Team | Midoriko Sono ♦ Moyoko Gotou ♦ Nozomi Konparu | |
| Leopon Team | Reira Nakajima ♦ Keiko Hoshino ♦ Maria Suzuki ♦ Tsuchiya | |
| Anteater Team | Nekota ♦ Momoga ♦ Piyotan | |
| Shark Team | Ogin ♦ Murakami ♦ Cutlass ♦ Flint ♦ Rum | |
| Miscellanous | Taiga Ou ♦ Sadoka ♦ Mazoe | |
| St. Gloriana Girls High School | Darjeeling ♦ Orange Pekoe ♦ Assam ♦ Rosehip ♦ Rukuriri ♦ Nilgiri ♦ Vanilla ♦ Cranberry ♦ Earl Grey | |
| Saunders Girls High School | Kay ♦ Alisa ♦ Naomi ♦ Helmet-Chan | |
| Anzio Girls High School | Anchovy ♦ Carpaccio ♦ Pepperoni ♦ Amaretto ♦ Gelato ♦ Panettone | |
| Pravda Girls High School | Katyusha ♦ Nonna ♦ Klara ♦ Nina ♦ Alina ♦ Ekaterina ♦ Olga ♦ Polina ♦ Natalia ♦ Lisa ♦ Mo ♦ Zemlya ♦ Neba | |
| Kuromorimine Girls High School | Maho Nishizumi ♦ Erika Itsumi ♦ Koume Akaboshi ♦ Leila Rou ♦ Emi Kojima ♦ Geshiko ♦ Sangou ♦ Mauko ♦ Sheska ♦ Manami Himuro ♦ Runa Onizuka ♦ Kirishima | |
| Chi-Ha-Tan Academy | Kinuyo Nishi ♦ Haru Fukuda ♦ Tamaki Tamada ♦ Shizuko Hosomi ♦ Setsuko Nagura ♦ Noriyo Hamada ♦ Tomiko Teramoto ♦ Emi Ikeda ♦ Rin Kubota ♦ Yasuko Nishihara ♦ Chiyoko Uenishi ♦ Tatsu Hasegawa ♦ Hanako Hirai | |
| Jatkosota High School | Mika ♦ Aki ♦ Mikko ♦ Touko ♦ Lili | |
| BC Freedom High School | Ribbon Warrior | Asparagus ♦ Moule ♦ Bordeaux |
| Das Finale | Marie ♦ Andou ♦ Oshida ♦ Sofue ♦ Isabe | |
| Blue Division High School | El ♦ Tristana ♦ Viridiana ♦ Andalusia | |
| Koala Forest High School | Wallaby ♦ Platypus | |
| Bonple High School | Ribbon Warrior | Jajka ♦ Uszka ♦ Pierogi |
| Das Finale | Maiko | |
| Maginot Girls College | Éclair ♦ Fondue ♦ Galette ♦ Madeleine ♦ Colombier | |
| Count High School | Noemi Kohiyama ♦ Anna Masukura ♦ Nachigami Sisters ♦ Marina Constantinescu ♦ Mizuki Ikarashi | |
| Tatenashi Girls High School | Shizuka Tsuruki ♦ Rin Matsukaze ♦ Haruka Endou | |
| Tategoto High School | Aung | |
| Maple High School | Trout ♦ Amber ♦ Oleo | |
| Kebab High School | Bosphorus | |
| Bellwall Academy | Tiger I Crew | Emi Nakasuga ♦ Hitomi Yuzumoto ♦ Kita ♦ Takami ♦ Nagisa Shiratori |
| Jagdpanther Crew | Neko Yamamori ♦ Yano ♦ Koharu Sakai ♦ Kanbara ♦ Hirono | |
| Elefant Crew | Chifuyu Doi ♦ Terauchi ♦ Wakasugi ♦ Kunihiro ♦ Nogata ♦ Enami | |
| T-44 Crew | Youko Minami ♦ Saionji ♦ Azuma ♦ Hokuto | |
| Panzer II Crew | Kashiwaba Sisters | |
| West Kureouji Grona Academy | Kiri Shiratori | |
| All-Stars University Team | Alice Shimada ♦ Azumi ♦ Megumi ♦ Rumi | |
| Japan Sensha-dō Federation | Ami Chōno ♦ Shiho Nishizumi ♦ Renta Tsuji ♦ Chiyo Shimada ♦ Shichiro Kodama ♦ Kikuyo Idegami ♦ Kanon Sasagawa ♦ Hibiki Inatomi ♦ Remi Takashima | |
| Non-Affiliated | Yoshiko Akiyama ♦ Jungorou Akiyama ♦ Hisako Reizei ♦ Shinzaburo ♦ Yuri Isuzu ♦ Chihiro Yusa ♦ Boko | |