| Spoiler warning! This Wiki contains detailed information regarding the Girls und Panzer universe. Proceed with Caution! |
- "We're fighting last year's champion, Pravda Girls High School. We have to win no matter what. If we lose, it's all over!"
- ―Momo Kawashima
- "Snow, Russia, and war make me think of..."
- ―Erwin
Episode 8 "We're Fighting Pravda!" "Prauda Sen Desu!" (プラウダ戦です ! ) is the eighth episode of Girls und Panzer. It originally aired on December 3, 2012.
Plot[]
On the Pravda Girls High School carrier, Katyusha hosts Darjeeling for tea, and it is revealed that St. Gloriana Girls College was defeated by Kuromorimine Girls' Academy in the semi-finals. Though Darjeeling's mention that Ooarai's team is led by a member of the Nishizumi family momentarily startles Katyusha, the Pravda commander ultimately expresses disdain for Ooarai.
Katyusha unimpressed by Ooarai
Meanwhile, in Ooarai, the Automotive Club is finished converting the Panzer IV from Ausf.D to Ausf.F2 using the longer gun found last epsiode. The restored Renault B1 bis is to be crewed by members of the Public Morals Committee; Midoriko Sono, Moyoko Gotou and Nozomi Konparu, who join the Sensha-dō club as the newly formed Mallard Team. The student council invites Miho Nishizumi to have dinner with them, as they have something important to share; however, in the end they avoid revealing that the school is in danger, and Miho, perplexed, leaves without learning anything.
At the Nishizumi house, Shiho Nishizumi has discovered that Miho is again participating Sensha-dō and is due to compete in the upcoming match against Pravda. Her conversation with Maho reveals that Maho had been keeping her own observation of Miho's matches secret from her mother. Maho's expression is inscrutable when Shiho announces her intentions to watch the match in person and afterward disown Miho.
As the match is about to get under way, Katyusha and Nonna come to have a look at the Ooarai team, with Katyusha expressing scorn for the smaller, mis-matched tanks. As the Pravda students turn to depart, Katyusha offers sarcastic thanks to Miho for facilitating their win at the 62nd National Championship Tournament.
Before the match starts, Miho proposes a cautious strategy, but the other excited Ooarai crews overrule her, opting for an aggressive assault. Following a series of suspiciously easy kills against the opposing team, Miho is struggling to keep her team under control. The Ooarai tanks rush forwards to attack Pravda's exposed flag tank, and in doing so, fall into a trap carefully prepared by Katyusha.
Miho trying to stop her team
Pravda's ambush quickly leaves the Ooarai forces surrounded and under fire from all sides, and the Ooarai tanks are forced to seek refuge in a large church. During the retreat, the main gun of the M3 Lee is destroyed, the Panzer IV's turret is jammed, and the StuG III gets its tracks blown off, but makes good their retreat and Anglerfish Team manages to push to crippled Hippo Team to safety. As the church threatens to collapse under enemy fire, the barrage suddenly stops.
Members of the Pravda Sensha-dō club approach under a ceasefire. Katyusha gives Miho three hours to surrender peacefully. Aware of the dangers of fighting to the bitter end, concerned for the safety of her teammates, Miho is inclined to accept the offer. Most of the Ooarai girls agree that making it as far as the semi-finals is an adequate achievement in itself. However, the student council, particularly Kawashima, contests the decision, and reveals that unless Ooarai Girls Academy wins the championship, the school will be closed down.
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 7
"Anzio is the Next Up!" |
Episode 9
"This is a Desperate Situation!" |
Characters Introduced[]
Tanks Appearing[]
- PzKpfw IV Ausf.F2
- Panzer 38(t)
- Type 89B
- StuG III
- M3 Lee
- Char B1 bis
- T-34/76
- T-34/85
- IS-2
- KV-2
- ZIS-6/BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher
Main Events[]
- Mallard Team joins the Ooarai Sensha-dō club.
- Shiho Nishizumi learns of Miho's participation in the Tournament and makes plans to expel her daughter from the family.
- The semi-final match against Pravda begins with success, but the high spirits of the Ooarai girls lead them to fall into a trap.
- A three-hour ceasefire is imposed, during which Katyusha demands that Ooarai surrenders the match.
- It is revealed that Ooarai Girls Academy will be closed down unless they win the Sensha-dō tournament.
Trivia[]
- Katyusha mentions that St. Gloriana Girls College has been defeated by Kuromorimine Girls' Academy during semi-finals.
- Momo Kawashima mentions the 50th Parallel North. From 1905 to 1945 this parallel marked the separation between the Russian part of Sakhalin island and Japanese part (known as the Karafuto Prefecture).
- This is the first time that Momo Kawashima smiles in person, when remembering last year's Summer Festival. The second time is in OVA 2.
- Miho Nishizumi has an image of Boko on her desktop.
- When Katyusha and Nonna arrive to meet Oarai, riding BM-13 Katyusha rocket-launcher, the segment La Fée Dragée from Tchaikovsky's 1892 opera The Nutcracker can be heard.
- The Pravda march, Katyusha, was sung at the beginning of the match in Russian. The scene went viral on the Russian internet, and contributed a lot to the anime's popularity in Russia.
- Due to North American copyright issues, that scene was removed from the English dub. It was replaced by the instrumental Korobeiniki.
- Momo Kawashima's answer to Katyusha's ultimatum "NUTS !!!", is a reference to General Anthony McAuliffe's answer to General Von Lüttwitz's proposal of surrender during the Siege of Bastogne on December 22, 1944.
- Furthermore, the chapel Ooarai was using as a shelter and temporary HQ resembles a similar chapel in the town that the 101st Airborne used during the siege.
- Just before the match, Midoriko Sono, in a vain attempt to scold other student for "not following school regulations" is confronted by Erwin with a Bon Jovi line : "It's my life. It's now or never..."
- In the English dub, this is replaced by Erwin's assertion, "You are the star of your own story, you know."
- The StuG is the only Ooarai tank to have a winter camouflage during the match.
- The over extension of Ooarai's forces, followed by the Pravda encirclement and siege, is possibly a reference to the decisive Battle of Stalingrad of 1942-43.
- Ooarai's tanks being surrounded by Pravda could be a reference to Operation Uranus, which was an operation launched by the Russians to encircle the German 6th Army.
- The ending sequence features Mallard Team in the Char B1 bis.
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 |