- "Tanks 11 and 15: The Hetzer is right between you!"
- ―Panther Commander
- "Why is there a second Hetzer? That's all kinds of strange!"
- ―Panther Commander at the Christmas Party
The Panther Commander is an unnamed background character in the anime, but takes a more prominent role in the spin-off manga Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!.
Profile
The Panther Commander is a student from Kuromorimine Girls High School. As her denomination suggests, she commands one of the school's Panzer V Panther Tank.
Kuromorimine vs. Ooarai
In the match against Ooarai during the finals of the 63rd National High School Sensha-dō Tournament, the Panther Commander was part of Maho Nishizumi's main force. When the Ooarai team was forced on top of a hill, she led the right flank against the enemy team. However, during her assault, Turtle Team initiated the "Teasy Tease" operation, wrecking the tracks of the Jagdpanther, and pulling up in the midst of the Panther Commander's formation, specifically between tanks 11 and 15. The Panther Commander saw them approaching from one of her cupola view-ports and drew her team's attention to the intruding Hetzer. She then immediately pointed out that they would be unable to engage the Hetzer due to the risk of friendly fire. Her orders were hailed by Tank 17, a Jagdpanzer, who turned to engage the Hetzer, but forgot all about the original enemy, causing the tank to expose its flanks and get eliminated by the Ooarai team. She then spotted the Hippo Team's Stug III advancing on them and broadcasted the sighting to her team. Unfortunately for them, it was far too late to do anything to prevent the barrage that the Ooarai team laid on her. Her screams and cries of terror and confusion upon being bombarded were heard alongside that of her teammates. Panicking due to being attacked in an asymmetrical manner, they began routing down the hill, allowing Ooarai to breakthrough from that side. To her credit however, she did manage to form a secondary defensive line, but was far too late to prevent the Ooarai tanks from getting through. The smokescreen laid down by the Char B1 also prevented any kind of pursuit. The Panther Commander then reported the situation to Erika and Maho, which led to the former questioning, "What exactly are you guys doing?"
As the Panther commander's tank was not disabled during the rout, it can be implied that she rejoined the main tank group that advanced on Ooarai inside the abandoned town. She either pursued Duck Team in their Type 89B, or supported Maho Nishizumi in chasing Anglerfish Team. Irregardless, she is not seen or heard from again in the anime.
Maho Nishizumi's Christmas Party
The trauma running deep in Panther Commander.
In Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! the Panther Commander attended Maho Nishizumi's Christmas party. She was one of the first to arrive and came to the conclusion that the other commanders were gathered so that they would be "scolded about the blunders they committed during the Ooarai battle." Her hypothesis was accepted by the majority assembled, with the notable exception of Koume Akaboshi. Fearing the worst, the Panther Commander covered her face and started voicing her fear to the rest of the room. She then panicked even harder when she saw Erika Itsumi enter the room with a reindeer costume, fully believing that it was obviously a review meeting, and that their blunders had now just increased by one. However, upon realizing that Maho Nishizumi was genuinely hosting a Christmas Party, she was visibly relieved. She then participated in the ensuring activities.
During the gift exchange at the party, she received a Hetzer, to which she voiced that it was, "All kinds of strange that there would be two!", as the Jagdpanther Commander already received one.
Valentines Day at Kuromorimine
During Valentines Day, she was seen exchanging friendship chocolates with the rest of her teammates. A package arrived for the four of them and upon opening it, they realized that the box had been sent by the crew of Ooarai's Hetzer. The Panther Commander received a chocolate Hetzer and exasperatedly exclaimed that, "There were two of them, again!" as the Jagdpanther Commander also received a chocolate Hetzer.
Port Leave
The Panther Commander later attended a port leave alongside the rest of her comrades. During the search for Erika Itsumi who ended up lost with Miho, the Maus Commander ran into the members of the Duck Team, causing a confrontation between the two schools. In the ensuring chaos, she along with the Jagdpanther Commander demanded that the crew of the Hetzer team to reveal themselves, intent on their revenge. Unbeknownst to the two of them, the Student Council began sneaking away from behind their backs. The situation was defused when Erika and Miho returned.
Appearance
The Panther Commander is a medium sized girl with medium-length light brown hair and grey eyes. When not wearing the Kuromorimine school uniform, she is seen wearing the Kuromorimine Sensha-dō jacket and hat with a burgundy-colored bandanna tied around her neck.
In the anime, she is shown to have an ahoge, but it is noticeably missing in the spinoff manga.
Personality
Kuromorimine's Panther Commander
The Panther Commander reacting to Turtle Team's intrusion.
The Panther Commander is, like most of her fellow commanders, cool, collected and efficient when following a plan. Unfortunately, she is terrible at dealing with unexpected events, issuing conflicting orders and disregarding her original mission goals. She is prone to panicking under stress, exclaiming and actually stomping on her gunner's shoulders when she realized they had an enemy tank in her team's midst. She may also be a bit of a pessimist, as she believed that Maho had summoned them for a review meeting. However, she expressed unbridled joy when the review meeting ended up being a genuine Christmas Party.
The Panther Commander expresses anger and fury whenever she is reminded of a Hetzer. Like several of her counterparts, she has been traumatized by her experience and seeks revenge against its crew.
Seems to be pretty good friends with the Jagdpanther, Maus and Panzer III commanders as they can be seen exchanging friendship chocolates and go looking for Erika together.
Looks up to Maho Nishizumi, stating that she was Japan's best when it came to Sensha-dō.
Trivia
- Her favorite song is the Schwarzwaldspite Girl's School Anthem. It is unknown if this is due to school patriotism, peer pressure (all her other teammates listed it as their favorites) or if she simply does not know any other songs.
- Contrary to popular opinion, her situational awareness may actually be quite good. She was able to spot the Hetzer approaching from the corner of her eyes, through a tank cupola view-port, despite the fact that they were under heavy enemy fire from the front. Given the low profile of the Hetzer, this is no small feat.
- She has a nasally and slightly high pitched voice that makes it easy to identify her on the radio.
- Her fan name is Geshiko, (GeshiGeshi meaning the kicking SFX, and ko meaning girl, hence the kicking girl) based on the way she stomped on her gunner.
- She was previously known as Panther-chan.
- She is voiced by Yoshioka Maya, who also voices Anchovy.
- Sometimes mistaken for Erika Itsumi in the MLLSD. The two share similar hairstyles and the panels featuring her are always black and white.
- Anime screentime: Episode 11: 09:38-09:45
- Last heard: 11:18, same episode.
Gallery
