The halfway point is here and the fun and weirdness continue.
What They Say:
Amateurs study strategy, but professionals study logistics, because it doesn’t matter how many tanks you can get into position if you don’t have enough ammo to keep firing! Firepower and constantly evolving strategies are the name of the game as not two, not four, but six more schools square off on three additional battlegrounds!
As Oarai’s tank team continues their brutal face off against Chi-Ha-Tan, the firefights also rage between Anzio and St. Gloriana, Kuromorimine and Pravda, and Jatkosota and Saunders! Six teams enter and only the survivors will advance!
Also, in the weirdest side trip yet, the ladies of Team Anglerfish suddenly find themselves as cow… er, radishgirls in the wild, wild west!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release is quite good as we get the original Japanese language track and the new English language dub in stereo, both of which are encoded using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The property is one that has a lot going on with a wide range of characters, many on-screen at the same time, talking to and at each other, and in a number of different situations that adds to the overall presentation. The dialogue is well placed throughout and some depth definitely works really well with it. When it comes to the tanks and the action, it definitely hits some very good moments throughout as it has some good impact and a heightened audio level that brings a lot of it home in a great way. Some of the scenes where the tanks fire are just strong and definitely stand out, sometimes in comparison to other tank sequences, where it can startle and remind you of what you’re dealing with. The dialogue itself is clean and clear throughout and we didn’t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.
Video:
Originally released in 2021, the transfer for this single film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The OVA runs for just under an hour total, credits included, and there’s obviously plenty of room to work with. Animated by Actas, the series has a bright, vibrant, and appealing look to it both in the regular animation and the 3DCG modeling of the tanks that are used here There’s a lot of detail to both sides of it and a good bit of variety across the screen with the characters involved and the combination of the two comes across very well here. The colors are bright and full with good saturation while being free of blocking or other significant noise issues. The action sequences are well-paced, especially in the last couple of episodes as the battles get more complicated, and it all has a smooth and solid look to it that definitely serves the material well. There’s a lot to like with the transfer here as it gives us a great-looking show with a lot of pop.
Packaging:
The packaging for this release is kept simple and similar to the TV series as we get a standard-sized Blu-ray case. The front cover for this uses the main key visual for the piece with a good look at two of the characters showcasing their uniforms and all and teasing us with just a bit of tank material behind them. While the first volume was done up as mint green, this one goes a bit simpler with a military-style shale blue background. The character designs look good and it’s just weird enough to catch your attention. The back cover uses mostly greens in various shades and camouflage style to break things up well. There’s a good set of three shots added to the right side in favor of character artwork while below the premise we get a full strip of shots. The premise is fairly easy to read with black on green and white camo and it covers things well. The extras are clearly listed and we get a clear breakdown of what’s included. Production credits are clearly broken out and easy to read while the technical grid covers the setup of the discs in a solid way that’s accurate. No show-related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover.
Menu:
The menu design for this release at least avoids just replicating the cover art, though it works with some of the themes in a natural and good way. The left third is given over to the actual navigation strip, which doubles as the pop-up menu as well, where we get the episode and language access where it uses the green, pink, and white from the logo in an effective way. The rest of the screen is given over to the character artwork from the back cover with five of the girls against the tank in the background. With a red, white, and green background that has some of the map material across it, it’s very clean and a bit bright but captures the look well and allows the characters to stand out. Submenus load quickly and easily and the layout is definitely serviceable and sets the mood decently.
Extras:
The extras for this are kept minimal but still welcome as we get some of the promos used to promote the series in Japan – including the announcement piece for the fourth installment – along with the clean version of the opening and closing sequences.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Girls und Panzer has never been a fast-release kind of property for a number of reasons and fans are used to a bit of a wait between projects. Film projects, even ones that are more in line with OVAs than a regular 90-120 minute film, can have these kinds of waits in general, though they try to minimize that. This part arrived about 18 months after the first one in the summer of 2019 and it was definitely, one can imagine, a very fun theatrical experience to have on a warm summer day. I liked the first installment when I saw it just over a year ago and it was followed up quickly with the second volume. Yet I continue to lightly struggle in fully connecting with the property because of the gaps over the years and the way there isn’t much in the way of recap to reconnect you.
The first half of this episode is certainly fun as it continues the tank battle from the previous episode, ensuring that you’re picking up all installments, as we get the Oarai team dealing with the Chi-Ha-Tan team. It’s mostly at night and in the jungle but with a lot of waterways and some of the other team having vehicles that can access the water easily. That makes for more of a challenge for the Oarai team but it’s definitely fun to watch as they flit about the jungle in crazy moves and engage with each other with some pretty daring moments. The real world has changed radically in regards to watching tank battles since I saw the second episode at the end of 2021 so there’s a different kind of appreciation going on here. I certainly remember clearly that this is just a fantasy piece and that often we really do just have toy tanks here when you get how they move and operate, but there’s a lot of fun in seeing the crazy things that they do while also getting more serious shelling moments.
The character material mixed in is decent but it’s in that place where it really is a struggle for me as I’m not completely bonded to the work. There are so many teams and characters that I really don’t remember most at this point and if they really have any stories or not, though that was more a focus of the TV series than any of the film projects. And that’s fine because you can kind of enjoy it from a distance approach here even with this part of it since you get to see the camaraderie of the teams themselves and how all the girls interact with each other. Throwing that up with the way they’re so on brand in the tanks with their focus and it’s a nice contrast that works well to make for a fun experience even from a distance.
The back half of this episode, mixing in some character material, provides for the start of the next battle sequence and that’s definitely fun since it’s in a mock-up city and that leads to some absolutely bonkers moves with the tanks, especially as they pile on top of each other or are pushed into the canals themselves. It’s a lot of fun and adds just a bit more chaos to the episode while also opening up some space for various pieces of downtime. I like that we get some winter season material with the holidays, moments of the team watching shows and movies together, or just some volleyball stuff. It’s the kind of slice-of-life moments that you want to see before getting into the next event with the Oarai team facing off against the Jakosota team in a winter setting with lots of snow. That’ll introduce a lot of different issues.
In Summary:
I know 100% that I’m getting less out of this than the die-hard fans and those really committed to the series but I also want to be 100% clear in that you can be like me and have an absolutely fun time with this. It’s incredibly well put-together when it comes to the action and animation to showcase these tanks and their battles and that’s not something that we really get to see often. The end result is something thoroughly engaging and really fun even from that kind of distant and disconnected place I am. But even when it deals with the characters from this perspective you enjoy it because it’s not trying to be deep but rather to just keep going with what this kind of experience is like. A decade or so on from when it began, this is still a delight.
Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Japanese Promos, Finale 4 Announcement, TV Series Trailer, Clean Opening Animation, and Clean Closing Animation
Content Grade: B
Audio Grade: A-
Video Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B+
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: September 20th, 2022
MSRP: $29.98
Running Time: 66 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
