Girls und Panzer

Girls und Panzer (Japanese: ガールズ&パンツァー, Hepburn: Gāruzu ando Pantsā; with the part in German translated: "Girls and Tanks"), abbreviated as GuP or Garupan (ガルパン), is a Japanese franchise created by Actas. It depicts a competition between girls' high schools practicing tank warfare as a sport.

The series was directed by Tsutomu Mizushima, written by Reiko Yoshida and produced by Kiyoshi Sugiyama. Takaaki Suzuki, who had earlier acted as a military history advisor for Strike Witches and Upotte!!, was involved in the production of the anime series. It aired in Japan between October and December 2012, with two additional episodes that aired in March 2013 and an original video animation released in July 2014. Nine manga series and a light novel adaptation have been published by Media Factory. An animated film was released in Japanese theaters in November 2015. A six-part theatrical anime series premiered in 2017. A four-part anime film adaptation of the spin-off manga Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! was released from December 2025 to April 2026.

The story takes place in a world where historical World War II tanks are maintained for sport-style warfare competitions and large carrier ships, known as Academy Ships, support mobile sea communities. Of the many activities high school students can participate in, one of the most popular is "sensha-dō" (戦車道; lit. "the way of the tank"), the art of operating tanks, which is considered a traditional martial art for females.

Miho Nishizumi, a girl from a prestigious family of sensha-dō practitioners, transfers to Ōarai Girls High School to get away from sensha-dō due to trauma by a past event, as she presumed the school was no longer practicing the sport. However, shortly after Miho begins her new school life and makes some new friends, the student council announces the revival of sensha-dō at Ōarai and coerces Miho, the only student with prior experience, to join. While reluctant to join at first, having practically been forced, Miho soon warms up to sensha-dō and they enter a national championship, facing off against various other schools, in a competition that becomes a serious matter after Miho and the others learn that their school will be closed should they not win.

The spin-off manga Girls und Panzer: Little Army follows Miho in her elementary school days as she participates in sensha-dō, alongside her friends Emi, Hitomi, and Chihiro.

Girls und Panzer aired its first episode in Japan on Tokyo MX on October 9, 2012, TV Osaka and TV Aichi on October 11, BS11 on October 14, and AT-X on October 17, and concluded on March 25, 2013, with 12 episodes. The anime series was produced by Actas and directed by Tsutomu Mizushima from a series composition written by Reiko Yoshida. Shirō Hamaguchi served as the series composer. Choucho performed the opening theme music for the series titled "Dream Riser", while Mai Fuchigami, Ai Kayano, Mami Ozaki, Ikumi Nakagami, and Yuka Iguchi, voicing the five main characters of the series, sang the ending theme music titled "Enter Enter Mission!" An original song to serve as a leitmotif for Ōarai was also composed for the series, titled "Panzer Vor". It was collected into six Blu-ray and DVD volumes that were released in Japan from December 21, 2012, to June 21, 2013. Each volume contains the anime series' original video animation (OVA) and an OVA featuring Yukari Akiyama's lecture about tanks that appear in the series titled Yukari Akiyama's Tank Course (不肖 秋山優花里の戦車道講座, Fushō Akiyama Yukari no Sensha Kōza).

An OVA depicting the unseen match between Ōarai Girls' Academy and Anzio Girls' High School in the seventh episode, titled Girls und Panzer: This Is the Real Anzio Battle! (ガールズ&パンツァー これが本当のアンツィオ戦です！, Gāruzu ando Pantsā: Kore ga Hontō no Antsio-sen Desu!), was released simultaneously in 14 theaters and several online distribution services in Japan on July 5, 2014. Its Blu-ray and DVD were released in Japan on July 25, 2014, which include a new episode of Yukari Akiyama's Tank Course featuring Italian tanks that appear in the OVA. The OVA was aired in Japan on AT-X on June 21, 2015, on BS11 on December 30, and on Tokyo MX on January 3, 2016.

An animated film by Mizushima serving as a sequel to the anime series, titled Girls und Panzer der Film (ガールズ＆パンツァー 劇場版, Gāruzu ando Pantsā Gekijōban), premiered in Tokyo on November 20, 2015, and was theatrically released in Japan on November 21. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on May 27, 2016, which include a new OVA, titled Alice War! (アリス・ウォー！, Arisu Wō!), that is set after the events of the film and a new episode of Yukari Akiyama's Tank Course. The film is followed by a six-part animated film series by Mizushima titled Girls und Panzer das Finale (ガールズ&パンツァー 最終章, Gāruzu ando Pantsā Sai Shūshō), with the first film in the series being released in Japan on December 9, 2017. As of September 24, 2024^[update], a total of four films have been released. A compilation film combining the twelve episodes of the series and This Is the Real Anzio Battle! OVA into a two-hour runtime, titled Girls und Panzer: 63rd National High School Senshadō Tournament Compilation (ガールズ＆パンツァー 第63回戦車道全国高校生大会 総集編, Gāruzu ando Pantsā Dai 63 Kai Senshadō Zenkoku Kōkōsei Taikai Sōshūhen), was released in 110 theaters and several 4DX and MX4D screenings in Japan on September 29, 2018. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on February 23, 2019.