"Girls und Panzer" is one of my favourite franchises, and I kinda hate that. It is, legitimately, an excellent sports anime. The story abounds with the importance of teamwork and friendship, of finding your own place in the world, of always getting back up when you're down. But it also is, to be clear, a series of animations, comics, and figurines and the like that focus heavily on the image of over-proportioned, under-aged girls in short skirts. And there are the bath scenes, of course. Which is all pretty irredeemable.
But, it is a good show, I swear! Truly. I can't help but get the sense that the writer, Reiko Yoshida, and others are doing their damnedest to do right by characters and a concept which sometime feels like they came out of a JSDF marketing meeting. Reiko most recently wrote the screenplay of the movie "The Colours Within", which deals with similar themes (though with 100% less cannonfire, 100% more theremin, and rather a bit more tastefully), and she brings the same level of care to the girls with their panzers.
And I love the concept. "Girls und Panzer", for the uninitiated among you, takes place in a world where tank combat is a sport... for high school and college students... also it's considered feminine. Also the schools are all on giant aircraft carriers with whole towns on their decks, and the carriers are staffed by the students, who are all girls. I do not know why, and I am fine with that. But I love the subversion (if you'll pardon a buzzword).
I do think this idea was cooked up as a way of trying to boost recruitment for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, and probably also to sell figurines and maybe to help the sale of tank model kits. And the government of China (the big one) released a statement to that effect, accusing the show of painting over militant propoganda with cute imagery. But, the story defies that. Sure, there are tanks, and they are crewed by anime girls. But guess what, Mr. Patriarchy? Tank combat is girly now. Hell yeah, we're taking it back. Or just taking it, I guess? And we make friends with our competitors, we never hurt each other, and we would rather pursue comraderie than victory.
So, each school has a national theme, for branding purposes, and our main protagonist, Miho Nishizumi, comes from the German-themed school, Kuromuromine ("Black Forest" in Japanese). She leaves after her team loses the big tournament to the Soviet school because she had abandoned her tank to save some teammates from drowning. Now, nobody says "Nazi", and we only see iron crosses on their tanks, but this is a story about escaping fascism, make no mistake.
Miho gets roped into captaining the team of her new school, Oorai Academy, but rather than the story being a boilerplate Rocky-type story of working back up to the podium, Miho's journey is more focussed on learning to trust herself and her new friends. And though they do see success, it is never taken as granted, and far more important is the co-operation and support that enables it. There is a scene in the last big battle of the series, where Miho relives the moment that had lost the battle for Kuromuromine. Click only if you don't mind spoilers....
Before, the Kuromuromine tanks had been advancing along a narrow cliff road over what looks like the sea or ocean. But, in the climactic battle, which is now against not just her former school, but her own sister (The Nishizumis are like tank combat royalty), the Ooarai team is crossing a wide river. They've arranged themselves so the heavier tanks are upstream, allowing them all to cross together, safely. Where before a Panzer III had fallen from the cliff, the Ooarai team's M3 Lee stalls, . Hand to god, this made me cry on my last rewatch: instead of diving into the water alone, Miho takes a rope and jumps from tank to tank so the team can be tethered together and get to the opposite shore. She is literally supported by all of her friends in her rescue. Incredible stuff.
This is the spirit of most of the stories. Making friends, defying expectations, and having fun while doing it. I imagine a few people have signed up for service because of "Girls und Panzer", but this show's themes are anything but militaristic. The battles are all just like sports matches, and what little animosity exists between opposing teams is always worked out, and new friends are made. The only real villain is a corrupt government bureaucrat who wants to shut down Ooarai Academy. And the show passes the Bechdel Test pretty handily. It helps that there are almost no named male characters, but there's very little concern with impressing them, anyway, beyond the half-joke of how fighting in a tank will make you a good wife (with Saori being a notable exception, but again also more as a joke). These girls are perfectly happy on their own, having fun with their friends, while, yes, firing live high-calibre rounds at their friends.
So, I do think it's a shame about the visuals. It's off-putting to say the least. But the show even laughs at this in the first "Das Finale" movie, in which we learn that truants who live the ship's underbelly wear long skirts in defiance of school rules. Unfortunately, merchandising is where the real money from the movies is made, and, doubly unfortunately, short-skirted teenagers make for an effective draw. Personally, I'd rather a model kit of the Ooarai StuG III, in its early full-colour livery, with battle flags. But, I'm broke anyway, so studio executives aren't taking my advice.
If you wouldn't mind doing so, though, I would advise you watch some "Girls und Panzer". None of the filler stuff, except maybe "Yukari's Tank Corner", but the main series, the Anzio OVA, and the movies are all truly a delight. Heartfelt, funny, inspiring, and, yes, even subversive.