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- "Nishizumi-chan, thanks for getting us this far"
- ―Anzu Kadotani
Episode 9 "This is a Desperate Situation!" "Zettai Zetsumei Desu!" (絶体絶命です ! ) is the ninth episode of Girls und Panzer. It originally aired on December 10th, 2012.
Plot
The episode opens with a flashback to when the student council discovers that their school will be closed down the following year unless it can distinguish itself meaningfully. Learning that Ooarai Girls High School once had an active sensha-dō club, Anzu deduces that the championship school will not be closed down, explaining the sudden resurrection of the defunct sensha-dō club and the earlier coercion of Miho Nishizumi into the team.
Although the Ooarai girls are in despair at learning of their beloved school's imminent closure, Miho declares her wish to continue sensha-dō with all her friends the following year. With the critically high stakes unveiled, the girls concur to fight to the bitter end. Repairs on the tanks get underway, and Yukari, Erwin, Mako and Midoriko perform reconnaissance of the Pravda siege positions.
As the blizzard intensifies, Ooarai morale drops, and they lose their willpower to fight. To inspire the dispirited crews, Miho dances the Anglerfish Dance, and reinvigorates the Ooarai girls enough for them to join in. The ceasefire ends and Ooarai rejects Katyusha's final surrender demand.
Having deliberately left a weak point in her siege in order to lure Ooarai into a kill zone, Katyusha is caught off guard when Ooarai punches right through the centre of the Pravda formation using 'Operation Jelly Jiggle'. As Pravda struggles to rally, Turtle Team runs riot through the heavy tank lines whilst the rest of the Ooarai vehicles peel off and escape the encirclement.
Pravda closes in for the kill
Nonna takes out the Pz. 38(t) and leads the charge in pursuit of the fleeing Ooarai forces. Mako's evasive manoeuvres are countered when Pravda uses tracer shells to light up the night sky. However, Anglerfish Team and Hippo Team use a ridge line to evade detection by the Pravda tanks, and they double back in the town to attack Pravda's flag tank.
The Pravda IS-2 catches up with the main force, and Nonna transfers into the gunner's seat, taking out Rabbit Team as they try to shield the flag tank; Duck Team's Type 89B. Back at the village, Yukari scales the church tower and locates Pravda's flag tank, a T-34/76. The Ooarai vehicles give chase, immobilising its KV-2 escort in the process.
Nonna eliminates the Renault B1 bis and lines up for the shot at the Type 89B, whilst Miho realises that the Pravda flag tank is merely running in circles and sets up Hippo Team for an ambush. Hana uses the machine gun to coax the T-34/76 into the ambush lane wherein the buried, camouflaged StuG III lies in wait. The IS-2 and the StuG III fire at the same moment, and both flag tanks go up in smoke. The episode ends on a cliffhanger.
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 8
"We're Fighting Pravda!" |
Episode 10
"We're Classmates!" |
Characters Introduced
- Ministry of Education official - Renta Tsuji (Seen on screen, not named)
Tanks Appearing
- RF-8/GAZ-98 Snowmobile (Non-combat vehicle)
- BA-64/GAZ-64 Armoured Car (Non-combat vehicle)
Main Events
- The Ooarai girls learn that the school carrier will be closed down if they cannot win the Sensha-dō tournament, and hence resolve to persist the fight in order to save their school.
- Miho revives Ooarai's fighting spirit by dancing the Anglerfish Dance (on live television broadcast).
- Ooarai breaks out of Pravda's encirclement.
- Both Teams chase each other's Flag Tanks.
- Both Pravda and Ooarai launch successful attacks on each other's flag tanks, each landing at least one hit.
- The results of the match are left unconfirmed.
Trivia
- It is stated that the tanks currently in use in Ooarai's forces are the unwanted leftovers, as all other sensha-dō vehicles were sold when the school went bankrupt. However, the Panzer IV may exist as a possible exception, as Kuromorimine are known to employ Pz. II and Pz. III tanks, which are technically inferior to the vehicle operated by Anglerfish Team.
- This could be because the deployment of Panzer II and III tanks are situational. The sole Panzer III used in the match against Ooarai was a reconnaissance unit, and a Kuromorimine Panzer II has not been utilized in an actual sensha-dō match.
- It is also possible that the Panzer IV made a poor offer for sale given the state it was found in at the end of Episode 1.
- It is revealed that Nonna can speak fluent Russian.
- This aspect is curious, as in the Drama CD Katyusha evidently understands only Japanese. Whilst it is clear that Nonna addresses Katyusha with her singing of the 'Cossack's lullaby', it is not confirmed whether Katyusha understands her.
- Hana's mother, Yuri Isuzu, is shown to be attending the match along with Shinzaburo, indicating that she has begun to accept Hana as a practitioner of sensha-dō.
- Midoriko Sono believes the huge disparity in the armament of Pravda (using the 122mm D-25T gun on the IS-2) compared to Ooarai (carrying no weapon over a calibre of 75mm) to be a breach of school rules.
- Both Mako Reizei and Midoriko Sono allegedly have 20/10 vision.
- This is the longest match in the series, primarily due to the ceasefire. In consideration for the lack of action and worsening weather conditions, at one point the officials were considering ending and rescheduling the match.
- The ending sequence features Anteater Team in the Type 3 Chi-Nu, even though the crew and tank are yet to be introduced.
- During the siege, Oryou compares their situation to the Hakkōda Mountains incident during which on January 23rd 1902 a group of 210 Imperial Japanese Army soldiers that were en route to Tashiro Hot Spring in the mountains were stuck in a blizzard, only 11 survived as 193 men were frozen to death and 6 died two months after the rescue.
Gallery
| Girls und Panzer Anime | |
|---|---|
| First Anime Season Episodes | Episode 1 ♦ Episode 2 ♦ Episode 3 ♦ Episode 4 ♦ Episode 5 ♦ Episode 6 ♦ Episode 7 ♦ Episode 8 ♦ Episode 9 ♦ Episode 10 ♦ Episode 11 ♦ Episode 12 |
| Recap Episodes | Episode 5.5 ♦ Episode 10.5 |
| OVA Episodes | OVA 1 ♦ OVA 2 ♦ OVA 3 ♦ OVA 4 ♦ OVA 5 ♦ OVA 6 ♦ OVA 7 ♦ OVA 8 ♦ OVA 9 ♦ OVA 10 |
| Animated Movie | Girls und Panzer der Film |
| Final Chapter | Part 1 ♦ Part 2 ♦ Part 3 ♦ Part 4 ♦ Part 5 ♦ Part 6 |