While it’s almost a year since the Girls und Panzer der Film came out theatrically in Japan, we got word earlier this month that Sentai Filmworks picked up the rights for it. They’re still waiting to reveal what their full plans are for it but they’ve now cut loose with their first trailer for it – dubbed, no less – that hits the sweet spot that many fans will like. While we expect that the main cast will return for the project, there are no confirmations yet on that front.
“After seeing Girls und Panzer der Film last year, I knew we had to add this title to our already acclaimed library of movies. It’s one of the most exciting titles we’ve acquired this year,” said John Ledford, President of Sentai Filmworks. “Sometimes we choose films because they are critically acclaimed. Sometimes we pick films because they’re runaway hits. Girls und Panzer der Film is the perfect combination of both.”
Sentai Filmworks has picked up the rights for this feature for North America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and other territories.
The Japanese cast includes Ai Kayano as Saori Takebe, Ikumi Nakagami as Yukari Akiyama, Mai Fuchigami as Miho Nishizumi, Mami Ozaki as Hana Isuzu and Yuka Iguchi as Mako Reizei. It was directed by Tsutomu Mizushima with Isao Sugimoto serving as the chief animation director and the character designer. Actas handled the animation production with a wide range of supporting studios.
The English cast for the TV series includes Caitlynn French as Hana Isuzu, Jessica Calvello as Saori Takabe, Meg McDonald as Miho Nishizumi, Molly Searcy as Mako Reizi and Rebekah Stevens as Yukari Akiyama.
Series concept: You may have heard of kung fu, but the girls at Oarai High School practice gun-fu—really, really BIG 75mm gun-fu, in fact. It’s called Sensha-do, and it’s the martial art of operating armored tanks! They take it seriously too, and since winning the national Sensha-do championship is such a huge deal at Oarai, they sometimes go to extreme ends in order to get the best students from Panzer class to sign up. Which is how Miho Nishizumi, who HATES operating tanks, gets drafted to join doomsday-driven driver Mako, even-triggered gunner Hana, highly receptive radio operator Saori and combustible tank-fangirl and loader Yukari as the incomparable Anko Team. They may not be on the half-track to fame and fortune, and maybe a few of them would rather shop for tank tops than become tops in tanks, but once their focus is locked and loaded, they’re absolutely driven.
