Girls und Panzer der Film

Girls und Panzer der Film (ガールズ＆パンツァー 劇場版) is a 2015 Japanese animated film and a sequel to the 2012 anime series Girls und Panzer. Produced by Actas and distributed by Showgate, the film is directed by Tsutomu Mizushima from a script written by Reiko Yoshida and features an ensemble cast that includes Mai Fuchigami, Ai Kayano, Mami Ozaki, Ikumi Nakagami, and Yuka Iguchi. The film follows the students of Ōarai Girls' Academy learning about the closure of their school after their recent victory against Kuromorimine Girls' High School was denounced.

A Japanese newspaper first reported that a sequel to the anime television series was "being tentatively planned" in December 2012, but it was later denied by staff. A sequel was announced as a film in 2013, with Mizushima returning to direct it in April. The film was set to premiere in 2014 but got delayed the following year instead. New cast members to join the returning cast of Girls und Panzer were announced in June and October 2015.

Girls und Panzer der Film premiered in Tokyo on November 20, 2015, and was released in Japan on November 21. The film grossed over US$22million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics for its action and character interaction. The film received awards and nominations, including the awards at Japanese Movie Critics Awards and Seiun Awards. Its sequel, Girls und Panzer das Finale, began to release one of its six films in the series in Japan on December 9, 2017.

Plot
In a friendly exhibition match, Ōarai Girls' Academy join forces with a reckless Chihatan Gakuen against the combined forces of St. Gloriana Girls' College and Pravda Girls' High School. The match ends in favor of St. Gloriana and Pravda, and the participating students spend time in a bath afterward. Upon their return to the school, Ōarai students are informed by student council president Anzu Kadotani about the school's closure after the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology denounced their verbal agreement of keeping it open despite their win against Kuromorimine Girls' High School. A plane from Saunders University High School arrives to retrieve Ōarai's tanks for safekeeping as the students prepare to vacate the aircraft carrier that houses the school.

Anzu visits the Japan Senshadō Federation along with Ōarai's instructor Ami Chōno to protest the closure. With the help of Miho and Maho's mother Shiho Nishizumi, who wants a rematch for Kuromorimine, they convince the Ministry to sign an agreement to reopen Ōarai's school once they win the annihilation match against Hand-picked University Team commanded by Alice Shimada. On the day of the match, Kuromorimine, Saunders, Pravda, St. Gloriana, Anzio Girls' High School, Keizoku High School, and Chihatan join Ōarai to increase their numbers against the opponent's thirty tanks.

Kuromorimine and Pravda capture a hill to provide support to their allies atop but are bombarded by Karl-Gerät's shells. Ōarai's Turtle and Duck teams, Anzio, and Keizoku join forces to destroy Karl. The remaining tanks of Ōarai and its allies arrive at an abandoned amusement park and use its attractions to eliminate the majority of Hand-picked University tanks, turning the tide in their favor. However, Alice eventually joins the fight and disables most of her opponent's tanks. With a total of three tanks remaining in the match, the Nishizumi sisters work together to confront Alice in a heated battle that ends with Ōarai's victory. Following the match, all the girls are traveling back to their respective schools, with Ōarai students sailing back to their aircraft carrier.

Development
Jōyō Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper based in Ibaraki Prefecture, reported a sequel to Girls und Panzer (2012) was "being tentatively planned" in December 2012, citing the franchise's popularity. Following the report, publicity representative Yūji Hirooka at Bandai Visual revealed that there were no plans for a sequel but stated that the "possibility is not zero". At the Heartful Tank Carnival event in April 2013, Tsutomu Mizushima was announced to be returning to direct a film for the franchise after the project was greenlit. In the same month, producer Kiyoshi Sugiyama confirmed that the film would serve as a sequel to the anime television series. Mizushima announced the film's runtime was 120 minutes instead of the planned 90 minutes in March 2015.

Pre-production
In June 2015, Asami Seto joined the cast of the film as Chihatan Gakuen commander Kinuyo Nishi. Additional cast were announced in October 2015, including Ayana Taketatsu as Alice Shimada, Ayumi Fujimura as Megumi, Yuko Iida as Azumi, Mai Nakahara as Rumi, Madoka Yonezawa as Tamaki Tamada, Naomi Ōzora as Haru Fukuda, Natsumi Takamori as Rosehip, Jenya as Klara, Mamiko Noto as Mika, Shino Shimoji as Aki, and Miho Ishigami as Mikko. Ami Nanase joined the cast of the film as Shizuko Hosomi by November 2015.

Animation
Belarusian video game company Wargaming was deeply involved in the production of the film. The company provided illustrations of nine tanks that were featured in the film: BT-42, Centurion Mk 1, Churchill I–VII, Crusader, Karl-Gerät, T28, M26 Pershing, VK 4501 (P), and T95. Producer Sugiyama received black-and-white illustrations rather than photographs since they would be more useful in providing details for tanks during animation.

Post-production
Sentai Filmworks announced the English dub cast for the film in November 2016. In an interview with the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo in July 2017, Mizushima explained the names Mika, Aki, and Mikko were associated with Finnish male names that can be sounded Japanese, revealing his familiarity with them from watching Estonian Autosport Union president Ari Vatanen's career in motorsports. He also revealed the Keizoku High School in the film was based on Finland's Continuation War during World War II.

Music
ChouCho was announced to be performing the ending theme music of Girls Und Panzer der Film titled "Piece of Youth" in March 2015, after previously doing so for Girls und Panzer (2012). Bandai Namco Arts released the film's original soundtrack composed by Shirō Hamaguchi under their Lantis label in Japan on November 18, 2015. Japanese kantele player Hiroko Ara played the Finnish folk tune included in the soundtrack titled "Säkkijärven polkka".

Track listing
All music is composed by Hamaguchi, except where indicated. Track 17 ("It's the Academy's Ten Colors!") is a medley of different songs by different composers: "Panzerlied" by Kurt Wiehle, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" by William Steffe, "Katyusha" by Matvey Blanter, "The British Grenadiers", "Funiculì, Funiculà" by Luigi Denza, "Säkkijärven polkka", "Marching in the Snow" by Nagai Kenshi, and "Panzerfahren March! Panzer Vor!" by Hamaguchi.

Marketing
A teaser trailer for Girls und Panzer der Film was released in July 2014, followed by its first visual in November. In March 2015, a promotional video from Bandai Visual summarizing the franchise's story and the second visual for the film were released. The second teaser trailer for the film was released in June 2015. In October 2015, the third visual and a full trailer and new commercial video for the film were released. A novel written by screenwriter Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Fumikane Shimada and Isao Sugimoto was released on October 10, 2015, which would fill in the gap between the anime television series and the film.

Promotional partners for the film included Kirin Company, through their "Fire" canned coffee brand; Circle K Sunkus, through the use of a Rakuten point card; Ōarai Marine Tower; karaoke chains Manekineko and Dam; World of Tanks; Bakudan-yaki Honpo restaurant; Namco, which set up character pop stores in Japan; and Book-Ace bookstore.

Theatrical
Girls und Panzer der Film held its world premiere at the Shinjuku Wald 9 theater in Tokyo on November 20, 2015, and was released in Japan on November 21. The film was released in 27 4DX theaters on February 20, 2016. Cinema Sunshine Heiwajima held an "extreme" 4DX screening of the film, which involved more aggressive chair movements, on March 5, 2016, after gaining positive feedback with their screening of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Additional three 4DX screenings of the film were held on March 20, 2016. Girls und Panzer der Film was previously scheduled to be released in 2014, before it was shifted between June and August 2015, and then to the November premiere. As part of the 10th anniversary of the release of Girls und Panzer, the film was screened in 127 theaters on October 9, 2022.

The film was released at the Scotland Loves Anime film festival in the United Kingdom on October 23, 2016, in the United States on November 18, with its American premiere taking place at New People Cinema in San Francisco, and in Canada on January 26, 2017.

Home media
Girls und Panzer der Film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on May 27, 2016. They include a new original video animation and an episode of Yukari Akiyama's Tank Course. Four days later, Oricon reported the film's limited special edition Blu-ray had sold 162,361 copies in its first week since its release, ranking first in their May 23–29 Blu-ray disc chart. It became the fourth overall highest-selling Japanese animation Blu-ray disc during a first-week sale, placing behind the 2015 anime film Love Live! The School Idol Movie (194,000 copies). As part of the 10th-anniversary celebration, the film was aired on Animax on October 16, 2022, and on January 1, 2023.

Girls und Panzer der Film was released on Blu-ray and DVD combo set in the United States and Canada by Sentai Filmworks on May 16, 2017, and began streaming on Hidive on August 24. MVM Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray and DVD in the United Kingdom and Ireland on November 20, 2017. Netflix streamed the film from October 15, 2019, to November 22, 2021. Sentai Filmworks released the film on Blu-ray on October 11, 2022.

Box office
Girls und Panzer der Film grossed US$0 in Japan and US$306745 in other territories, for a worldwide total of US$22.6million. The film is the thirteenth highest-grossing domestic film of 2015 in Japan.

Girls und Panzer der Film earned US$1.05million in its opening weekend, ranking second at the Japanese box office behind World of Delight (2015). The film remained second at the box office after earning US$527133 in its second weekend, but it dropped to seventh in its third weekend. The film grossed ¥500million in 22 days since its release, topping the previous weekend's earnings by 27% with its fourth-weekend earnings, and ¥1billion in 71 days. The film grossed over ¥2billion in May 2016 and earned additional ¥4million at the end of its one-year theatrical run. Certain theaters in Japan, such as Cinema City and Cinema Chupki Tabata, continued to screen the film, bringing its total box office to ¥2.5billion.

Critical response
Nick Creamer of Anime News Network graded Girls und Panzer der Film "A−", feeling that the film "wraps up all of its actual plot into a concise twenty minute interlude, mixing that with some goofy comedy courtesy of Miho's friends and a little more character work for the original series' underserved squads". He praised Mizushima's direction, the film's second half that had "one of the most impressive and entertaining battle scenes you could imagine", how a huge ensemble of characters earned their moments, and the CG animation. Writing for Otaku USA, Paul Thomas Chapman felt that the film had "full of masterfully executed action set pieces and comedic beats". Ian Wolf of Anime UK News gave the film 8 out of 10, praising some of its comedic moments and the camerawork. Despite that, he found the film a "'plucky underdog' dog film [that] you can guess how most of the plot is going to turn out" and some of the 3D animation unfitting.

Accolades
! scope="row" rowspan="4" | 2016 ! scope="row" | 2018
 * Japanese Movie Critics Awards
 * Sanctuary Award
 * rowspan="5" | Girls und Panzer der Film
 * Won
 * Seiun Awards
 * Best Dramatic Presentation
 * Won
 * rowspan="2" | Newtype Anime Awards
 * Best Picture (Film)
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2" |
 * Best Soundtrack
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2" |
 * Best Soundtrack
 * Nominated
 * Nominated
 * Crunchyroll Anime Awards
 * Best Film
 * Nominated

Impact
Two days after the premiere of Girls und Panzer der Film, the official Twitter account of the Girls und Panzer franchise reported the people had rowdily trespassed Ōarai Golf Club in Ibaraki Prefecture after its golf course was featured in the film. In April 2016, cosplaying tourists who visited Kamioka Elementary School in the same prefecture, where the members of Ōarai Girls' Academy's Senshadō club reside following their school's closure in the film, were banned from doing cosplay photo sessions after the local residents complained about their mismanagement in the facility. The film influenced young Japanese men to attend kantele lessons and Japanese tourists to visit Parola Tank Museum near Hämeenlinna in Finland to see the real-life BT-42. The Japanese donated approximately ¥3million through the museum's cloud funding to help in building a roof for exposed tanks.

Girls und Panzer der Film: Heartful Tank Anthology
Two volumes of a manga anthology based on Girls und Panzer der Film, titled Girls und Panzer der Film: Heartful Tank Anthology (ガールズ＆パンツァー 劇場版 ハートフル・タンク・アンソロジー), were published in Japan by Kadokawa under their MF Comics Alive Series label from May 23, 2016, to March 23, 2017. Seiman Dōman, Maruko Nii, Ren Hibasaka, Ryohichi Saitaniya, Yu Tsunamino, Hekiru Hikawa, Hagi Midori, Chomoran, Tsuchii, Yu Yagami, Takashi Ino, Makoto Katayama, and Ikumi Nakagami (who voices Yukari Akiyama) each authored a manga compiled in the first volume of the anthology.

Girls und Panzer der Film: Variante
A manga adaptation of Girls und Panzer der Film, titled Girls und Panzer der Film: Variante (ガールズ＆パンツァー 劇場版 Variante), was illustrated by Takashi Ino and was serialized in Media Factory's Monthly Comic Flapper magazine from August 5, 2016, to August 5, 2022. The first tankōbon volume was released in Japan on January 23, 2017, and the eighth and final volume was released on October 21, 2022.

Light novel
Girls und Panzer der Film was adapted into a light novel written by Takaaki Suzuki and illustrated by Saitaniya. Two volumes were released in Japan by Kadokawa under their MF Bunko J imprint on August 25, 2018.

Alice War!
Alice War! (アリス・ウォー！) is the original video animation included in the release of the film's Blu-ray and DVD on May 27, 2016, which is set after the events of the film.

Plot
Alice considers transferring to Ōarai Girls' Academy to enjoy normal high school life. The school's tank teams attempt to think up ideas to make her feel welcome. Alice eventually realizes that if she joins Ōarai then she will not be able to compete against Miho again, so she decides to cancel her transfer.

Girls und Panzer das Finale
A sequel project to Girls und Panzer der Film was announced in August 2016. The project was revealed to be a six-part anime film series in November 2016. The first film in the series, Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 1, was produced by Actas and directed by Mizushima from a script written by Yoshida. The film was released in Japan on December 9, 2017.