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- "This is our chance! If we hit, we win! If we give up, we lose!"
- ―Miho Nishizumi
Episode 6 "Reaching the Climax of Our First Battle!" "Ikkaisen, Hakunetsu Shitemasu!" (一回戦、白熱してます ! ); English dub: "Our First Battle Comes To A Climax!", is the sixth episode of Girls und Panzer. It originally aired November 19, 2012.
Plot[]
The episode picks up from Ooarai's successful ambush of a Saunders tank. After the shock of the ambush, Saunders forces regroup, and Alisa, still wiretapping Ooarai's radio communications, advises Kay to advance to a distant plateau to attack Ooarai tanks who are supposedly there. Kay is shown to be unaware of Alisa's radio tapping.
In reality, Ooarai's tanks proceed away from the plateau, in search of Saunders' isolated M4A1 flag tank. Just as Kay arrives at the plateau, Duck Team stumbles across the Saunders flag tank, commanded by Alisa.
Duck Team flees from the more heavily armed Sherman, which pursues. Using her volleyball skills, tank commander Noriko Isobe serves smoke charges onto the Saunders flag tank, blinding it; thus blinded, the M4A1 is lured into a trap. All five Ooarai tanks attack it from three directions, but fail to score a fatal hit; the flag tank hurriedly retreats and radios for reinforcement. When her commander demands an explanation for this dramatic change of fortunes, Alisa admits to Kay that she has been tapping into Ooarai radio channels, and that Ooarai may have used it against them. Kay, furious, berates her for the wiretapping, believing that a key element of sensha-dō is fair play; she then chooses to pursue Ooarai with a total of only five of her own tanks, forfeiting Saunders' numerical advantage in atonement for Alisa's sneakiness.
Meanwhile, the M4A1 flag tank is on the run, with Ooarai in hot pursuit. However, just as Ooarai are closing in for the kill, the sound of the 17-pounder gun on the Sherman Firefly signals the arrival of Saunders reinforcements. The Sherman tanks join the chase behind Ooarai. Under fire from both front and back, Miho has Rabbit Team and Duck Team cover the rear, whilst the remaining tanks continue to focus on the Saunders flag tank.
Naomi, the gunner of the Sherman Firefly, immobilises both the Type 89B and the M3 Lee in quick succession, and the Ooarai crews begin to panic. However, Miho rallies the commanders: Her determination strengthens their flagging morale.
The Firefly takes aim
As the chase proceeds around the base of a ridge, Anglerfish Team splits off to ascend the ridge, seeking an exposed, but offensively advantageous sniping position on the high ground. Naomi follows in an attempt to stop them, yet misses her first shot. At the crest of the ridge, Hana, likening the focus required in tank gunnery to that of flower arranging, lines up her target.
The Panzer IV and the Firefly fire at the same moment. Hana's shot flies true, and immobilises the M4A1 flag tank just as the Panzer IV is knocked out as well. With the Saunders flag tank showing the white flag, Ooarai Girls High School is accorded the victory.
After the match, Kay greets Miho with unexpected camaraderie and admiration, complimenting her on an exciting match and apologizing for Alisa's radio tapping. Miho, in turn, acknowledges that their victory was because Saunders pursued with even numbers, and that they would otherwise have lost.
Whilst Saunders departs, Mako Reizei receives a phone call informing her that her grandmother, Hisako Reizei, has collapsed and has been transferred to hospital. The school carrier is some distance from the port of Ooarai, and Mako, desperate, resolves to get there even if it means swimming back to the mainland. At that moment Maho Nishizumi intervenes, offering the use of the Kuromorimine helicopter that she used to come and watch the match. Erika is shocked by Maho's generosity to a team they view as inferior, but Maho quiets her, pointing out that this is another aspect of sensha-dō. Miho thanks her sister, but Maho does not acknowledge the gratitude.
Kuromorimine defeats their first round opponents
The final scenes of the episode show the relevant results of other matches of the first round: Ooarai's potential future tournament opponents, Pravda Girls High School and Kuromorimine Girls' Academy, both inflict overwhelming defeats on their respective opponents.
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 5.5
"Allow Me to Introduce You!" |
Episode 7
"Anzio is the Next Up!" |
Characters Introduced[]
- Naomi
- Helmet-Chan (Seen on screen, not named)
- Takashi (Referenced)
- Hisako Reizei (Referenced)
- Nonna (Seen on screen, not named)
Tanks Appearing[]
- Panzer IV Ausf.D
- Panzer 38(t) Ausf.B/C
- Type 89B
- StuG III
- M3 Lee
- M4 Sherman (75 mm T6 variant)
- M4A1(W) Sherman (76 mm M1 T23 variant)
- M4A4 VC Sherman "Firefly"
- PzKpfw VI Ausf.E Tiger I
- Type 95 Ha-Go
- T-34/85
- 7TPdw
- M25 'Dragon Wagon' Tank Transporter
Main Events[]
- Ooarai wins the match against Saunders and advances to the second round of the tournament.
- Miho's sensha-dō skills make a favorable impression on Kay and the Saunders team.
- Kuromorimine slaughters Chi-Ha-Tan and moves into round 2.
- Pravda crushes Bonple and goes into the next round.
Trivia[]
- The only Saunders tank to score any successful hits throughout the course of the match was the Sherman Firefly.
- Ooarai immobilized the fewest number of opposition tanks (two) in the match against Saunders than in any other tournament matches.
- In Girls und Panzer der Film, it is revealed that Rabbit Team somehow learned about the situation between Alisa and Takashi. It is unknown how they found out.
- Alisa mentions that Ooarai Girls Academy is scheduled to be closed down in the near future. Her knowledge of this is later attributed to her habit of eavesdropping on all kinds of things.
- At the end of the match, Anzu Kadotani gives the 'V for Victory' sign, a sign commonly used by the French and Belgian resistance forces during WWII.
- There is a continuity error during this episode: When Duck Team is shot down by the Firefly, the Type 89B crashes into a rock in a place surrounded by vegetation. However, when Rabbit Team is knocked out soon after, the Type 89B can be seen in the background, but all vegetation that it was surrounded by is gone.
- The destroyed tanks of Ooarai are towed by two Sd.Kfz. 7 medium half-tracks, the tank crews riding as passengers.
- The schools that were defeated by Pravda and Kuromorimine were initially just extra schools. But they will have more relevance in future moments:
- Bonple High School, which was defeated by Pravda, will be the antagonist school in the spin-off manga Girls und Panzer: Ribbon Warrior. They will have their revenge against Pravda in a Tankathlon match.
- Chi-Ha-Tan Academy, which was defeated by Kuromorimine, will be one of the main schools in the series in the coming years. They will appear for the first time in Der Film, and will have more relevance in Das Finale, when they will fight against Ooarai.
- The ending sequence features Rabbit Team in the M3 Lee.
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 |