Among bizarre sports anime, Girls und Panzer stands out. A cute girls doing cute things anime about the made-up sport of tankery, Girls und Panzer combines high school slice-of-life with WWII-themed battles to create something truly unique.
Now a decade old and sporting numerous adaptations and spin-offs in manga, light novels, and games, getting on board can be somewhat daunting. Here’s what you need to know to get started watching the series.
A whole lot of tankery
The Girls und Panzer franchise launched in 2012 with the original 12-episode TV season, simply titled Girls und Panzer. Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima (Shirobako) and written by Reiko Yoshida (Violet Evergarden), the season was produced by Bandai Namco’s animation studio Actas and quickly caught on.
The series’ first film, appropriately titled Girls und Panzer der Film, was released in Japan in 2015. The film is a proper sequel to the TV season, and saw the return of Mizushima and Yoshida, among other cast and crew. Then in 2017, the first of a six-part finale released in theaters. Titled Girls und Panzer das Finale, two more of the promised six films featuring a returning cast and crew have been released since with Part 4 currently in production.
Seems mostly simple, right? But, there’s also 10 OVA episodes scattered throughout those major releases. Actas began producing supplementary OVA episodes almost immediately to expand upon the initial season, with six original episodes out by the end of 2013. The series’ seventh OVA, however, was a bigger event.
At 38 minutes long, Girls und Panzer: This Is the Real Anzio Battle! saw its own theatrical release in 2014. Like previous OVAs it was set within the TV season, taking place during episode seven. The short film depicts the episode seven battle between Ōarai Girls’ Academy and Anzio High School.
The next OVA released alongside der Film on Blu-ray and DVD. “Alice War!,” also referred to as the “Film OVA,” is set after the film chronologically. But just to keep things complicated, the ninth OVA released in 2020 after the first two Finale films. So naturally, it’s a prequel to the finale’s first part.
A tenth OVA released with the third part of Girls und Panzer das Finale on Blu-Ray and DVD in 2021 as a side story set after the first chapter of the final arc.
Release and chronological order
Whether you’re watching Girls und Panzer in release or chronological order, there’s a maze to untangle.
If you’re following the series’ release order, then you’ll want to keep close attention to the OVA episodes.
- Girls und Panzer
- OVA episodes one to seven
- Girls und Panzer der Film
- OVA episode eight, “Alice War!”
- Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 1
- Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 2
- OVA episode nine, “Taiyaki War!”
- Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 3
- OVA episode 10, “Daikon War!”
And if you’re wanting to watch everything chronologically, you’ll have to break things down episode-by- episode.
- GuP episodes one to four
- OVA episodes one and two
- GuP episodes five and six
- OVA episodes 3 and 4
- GuP episode seven, “Anzio is the Next Up!”
- OVA episode seven, “This is the Real Anzio Battle!”
- GuP episode eight, “We’re Fighting Pravda!”
- OVA episode 5, “Snow War!”
- GuP episodes nine to 12
- OVA episode six, “Banquet War!”
- Girls und Panzer der Film
- OVA episode eight, “Alice War!”
- OVA episode nine, Taiyaki War!”
- Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 1
- OVA episode 10, “Daikon War!”
- Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 2
- Girls und Panzer das Finale Part 3
Regardless of the order, you can watch Girls und Panzer on HIDIVE.