(L) Girls & Panzer: The Final Chapter Movie

[Jamibu]

PV of upcoming Captain War OVA:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/EA-oCV27WAc

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[Infinite Zenith]

Images

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[Infinite Zenith]

While perhaps not "worth flying over to Japan" good, Das Finale's fourth act was awesome, a thrilling and riveting show of Panzerfahren that simultaneously shows a great deal of character growth. Girls und Panzer is quite predictable, but where this series lands things is showing how we get to a certain outcome. Here in the fourth part, use of terrain and circumstance allows the series to outdo itself in its portrayal of the match between Ooarai and Continuation High, and because of what this part showcases, I have a longer set of thoughts on what this instalment's contributions to Girls und Panzer are.

Images

Megami May 2024

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[Marina2]

@Infinite Zenith great article(s) as always. Waiting to read your thought on Hibike 3 in future.

[arkhangelsk]

The skills of the animation and choreographing teams are getting better and better. Though both are supposed to be "film (as opposed to midnight anime) level", we've gone a long way from stationary tanks somehow missing each other across the street. I don't think the tanks have moved so much in any series before this one, nor have as complex an interchange of moves been used. Even the side show that's KMM vs St. Glorianna was excellent and more complicated than previous efforts. Besides, everything is fast and it is easier to be forgiving when everything is fast. I think I'd have to rewatch it a few times before being able to make any real criticisms, and by then well it doesn't bite as hard if the viewer had to rewatch it several times before finding anything.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by Marina2

@Infinite Zenith great article(s) as always. Waiting to read your thought on Hibike 3 in future.

I appreciate the feedbacks, and yes, I will be writing about Hibike! Euphonium's third season

Regarding Das Finale, I've also finished the OVA, and it's a fun reprieve from things.

On another note, I am duty-bound to remind folks that in Girls und Panzer, we are dealing with high school students and not fully-trained professionals in the armed forces. I've never understood the need to judge Miho and the others' mistakes so harshly, as though they're professional armour operators instead of just students.

[Nachtwandler]

Match against Jatkosota was probably my favourite so far. A lot of craziness and a lot of tactics.

And it was predictable that MC will face

Spoiler for final:

St. Gloriana in finals. They are the only team who defeated them 1-on-1 on-screen and the only team they have not faced so far. Also, my memory is hazy, why Arisu is in high school now, she was an uni student due to skipping grades

.

Need to check the OVA now.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by Nachtwandler

Match against Jatkosota was probably my favourite so far. A lot of craziness and a lot of tactics.

And it was predictable that MC will face

Spoiler for final:

St. Gloriana in finals. They are the only team who defeated them 1-on-1 on-screen and the only team they have not faced so far? Also, my memory is hazy, why the Arisu is in high school now, she was a uni student due to skipping grades

.

Need to check the OVA now.

It makes sense from a thematic standpoint because St. Gloriana is the polar opposite of Ooarai in terms of style. As for Alice, shortly after the movie, she wanted to explore enrollment in a high school because she was interested in hanging out with peers, and considered enrolling at Ooarai. However, upon learning that she wouldn't be able to challenge Miho if she were a student there, she ends up declining. Presumably, because St. Gloriana was the only opponent Ooarai's never faced formally in a live match, writers decided to send here there so Alice could challenge Miho again on the battlefield. I'm sure that more devoted fans than myself will have found supplementary materials that detail this, but if it exists, I've not found it yet.

[arkhangelsk]

I'm not a big man on "theme". My first thought on the Alice thing is that she's a necessary buff to St. Glorianna. I've been open on my sense that even in der Film they had to push things to get St. Glorianna to win, so by now even with the newly revealed Crusader team they need someone to really do that maneuvering part.

(I'm not dissing "theme", but I do think Theme is something you do after you get "basics" like Characterization and Plot going, and unless you completely blow me away with your story writing I tend to view dimly sacrificing the basics to rush to some Theme.)

[Infinite Zenith]

All stories are rooted around a central message the author wishes to tell. The plot, or progression, in a story shows how the characters' experiences end up contributing to that thematic element. Girls und Panzer is no exception, and it is because the themes are solid, that everything else follows.

That reminds me: some of the criticisms you've previously levelled against Miho and the others come from the expectation that they act like trained professionals, where they're clearly high school students (and therefore, mistakes would be more forgivable). I still struggle to understand the merits of expecting all of the teams to act like professional military units in the context of Girls und Panzer, so perhaps you can walk me through that.

[arkhangelsk]

First, did I blast Miho et al, or did I blast the scriptwriter forcing them into such actions or assigning them the hit rates shown onscreen.

Anyway, I don't think I put a lot of emphasis on them, or any other character, acting to the standard of trained professionals. I do remember demanding they act to the standard they had already achieved. If the story has already decided they can shoot and hit to a certain distance, I expect to see that retained, not dumped because the author decided the story he wanted to tell here and now needed them to keep missing. At the very least, the author can add reasons for missing. When the tanks are literally sitting across the street from each other, filling the scopes and not moving, he is making it as hard as possible for me to swallow the scene.

Spoiler for Theme vs Characterization:

As for Theme vs Characterization, I think there is a cultural divide. My sense is that Westerners tend to emphasize Theme, and Easterners emphasize Characterization. When I see Eastern reviews, I don't see much emphasis on Theme, and more on how characters are "moulded" correctly or incorrectly. You can really see this in the spat a year or two ago in Pokemon anime. Westerners tend to be more accepting that character called Goh because he's "new" and has some interesting themes. Easterners were more concerned about how the clumsy attempts to play out the "themes" meant that old-standing rules and standards (worldbuilding and characterization) had holes punched in them and had unrealistic visions of Goh being taken out by a car. By the end of it, so much damage was done that we now have a new Pokemon anime, with new characters and basically a new worldview.

From where I'm sitting, I find myself sympathizing a lot more with the Easterners. Before we even discuss which is more important in the end, most of the time there's no essential conflict. It's just sloppy writing or planning, or the writer wanting to have his cake and eat it too. If your "theme" needs the weaker-shooting team to win, just have them improve their shooting. We hadn't seen most of them in months, which is a long time to bring a weak area to at least adequacy especially since yes they are HS students without a huge base number of hours.
Sometimes, it's just a matter of not adding legs when drawing a snake. For example, was there really a need to add that last rush bit to that Shirobako movie? Or did it just have the effect of weakening the messages it's trying to deliver by violating its own stated rules.
To my mind, Theme Priority often ends up being an excuse for sloppy storywriting, both for the storywriter and the apologists in the audience.
If all authors want to write their themes, then we educate them that characterization is the priority - that way they will handle the basics as well as the theme, and the story will come out smelling like roses. Also, even if they don't quite hit the theme if they have made pleasant & likable characters, at least the product will probably be worth a casual watch or read.

[Infinite Zenith]

Reading through the old posts here, you had done so in both a vociferous and frequent manner. There is absolutely nothing unrealistic about significant decrease in accuracy in close quarters: the fight-or-flight response and the ensuing surge of adrenaline and cortisol causes people to shake and act reflexively. It happens with small arms (most bullets fired actually miss their target), and from a statistical study done regarding the armed forces, the number of rounds fired to achieve a casualty is somewhere between 20000 and 100000. Based purely on real-world observations, it is completely and totally gratuitous to claim that the writers are forcibly trying to accommodate for the story. The reality is that, especially at close ranges, excitement and nerves cause people to act reflexively, resulting in missed shots. This is even seen in video games: at close range, panic causes players to empty entire magazines at one foe, but when the engagement distance increases, players play more calmly and take time to place their shots.

Regarding themes and characterisation, works that have good characters have failed completely for me because they fail to say something significant, and I've gone through fiction with despicable characters that I ended up viewing favourably because the author framed their experiences in a way as to say something significant. There is a reason why the so-called "Western" approach results in stories that have international acclaim: people value the idea of a struggle and what it says about people because at the end of the day, people, East or West, are wired to solve problems. You are free to believe what you choose regarding other works, but in the case of Girls und Panzer, matters of marksmanship are ultimately irrelevant because they do not speak poorly about the characters. In fact, demanding that everyone hits their shots in urban combat is to be unreasonable because it would demand the writers ignore real-world things like adrenaline. If Girls und Panzer featured young girls who were similar to the Lycoris or equivalent, trained to suppress their emotions and act calmly in stressful scenarios, then your expectations would be valid, but here, it comes across as though you're looking for things to complain about where there are none. I do appreciate you taking the time to justify your perspective, but we will have to agree to disagree.

[arkhangelsk]

Ultimately I'm not here to pick a fight - you will notice I had nothing but praise for this part of das Finale (in fact I don't think I have any major complaints for the entire run). I really don't think making a brief mention of issues I had with previous products as a reference on where they improved or as a reason why a certain storytelling maneuver is correct is picking a fight, even if you disagree it's a problem.

[Infinite Zenith]

You were clear enough about enjoying Das Finale, which was good. I'm just presenting a counterargument to balance things out, and given our exchanges thus far, I'd say this disagreement isn't a fight. In fact, you cleared up one of my misunderstandings, too. Our different perspectives can coexist well enough, although I will note we're quite fortunate that the likes of Sumeragi and willx no longer walk our ranks, otherwise, I'm sure that our conversation would be twisted out of context and turned into a flamefest. That's actually one of the reasons why returning to Girls und Panzer nowadays has been a pleasant experience.

[Julio C]

Well I finally saw it and that was amazing. It's no surprised who they will face at the finals and it's a surprise that they now have to face Alice in the finals as well. It's sad that there are two more left and that will be end of it.

[Infinite Zenith]

I'm glad the series is coming to a close. Miho's story had been wrapped up in a near-satisfactory manner even back with Girls und Panzer's original season back in 2013 and had been missing something small. They dragged this out for quite a while, and over the past 11 years, it's clear that the series' appeal isn't because of Ooarai or Miho alone, but because of the incredible world-building. Don't get me wrong: I love Miho, but between the world-building and the fact that Miho's been treated quite unfairly by the community for her perceived slight, it's time Actas capitalised on this opportunity to show other schools and characters.

[Julio C]

Yeah, it's too bad we will never see what's the world cup going to be like since it's been mentioned a few times and what the future lies ahead for these characters in the years to come.