News
Girls & Panzer: Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! Spinoff Manga Gets 4-Part Theatrical Anime
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Bandai Namco Filmworks announced on Sunday that Maruko Nii's Girls und Panzer: Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! spinoff manga in the Girls und Panzer franchise is inspiring a four-part anime project that will screen in theaters in Japan starting "next winter."
The Girls und Panzer franchise had the yearly "Ooarai Haru Matsuri Kairaku Festa" event planned for Sunday, but staff canceled the event on Saturday due to predicted bad weather on Sunday. The franchise will have several stage events at the AnimeJapan 2025 event next weekend.
Masami Shimoda (unit director and storyboarder for Girls und Panzer and Girls und Panzer das Finale) is directing the anime at P.A. Works and Actas. Takahiko Usui (Girls und Panzer der Film production advancement) is the series director. Noboru Kimura (AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline, Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture) is writing and overseeing the series scripts. Humikane Shimada and Isao Sugimoto are again credited for the original character designs with cooperation from Takeshi Nogami. Sugimoto is also designing the characters for animation. Chief animation directors include Kōsuke Kawazura, Yuki Akiyama, and Sayo Mizuno. Shirō Hamaguchi is returning to compose the music. Takayuki Yamaguchi, who previously worked as a recording adjuster on the fanchise, will be the sound director. Yasumasa Koyama is returning to handle the sound effects. Showgate is distributing the anime.
Confirmed returning cast members include:
- Mai Fuchigami as Miho Nishizumi
- Ai Kayano as Saori Takebe
- Mami Ozaki as Hana Isuzu
- Ikumi Nakagami as Yukari Akiyam
- Yuka Iguchi as Mako Reizei
The Girls und Panzer television anime premiered in October 2012 and had 12 episodes. The Girls und Panzer der Film anime film followup opened in Japan in November 2015.
The franchise has an ongoing six-part Girls und Panzer das Finale film series. The first film opened in Japan in 59 theaters in December 2017. The film features new characters from BC Freedom High School as they engage in a winter battle.
The second film opened in Japan in June 2019. The film depicts the finale of the battle between Ooarai Girls Academy and BC Freedom High School, and also shows the battles for Kuromorimine Girls Academy, Pravda Girls High School, and other schools.
The third film opened in Japanese theaters in March 2021. The film features six more schools competing on three additional battlegrounds.
The fourth film opened in Japan in October 2023. The fourth film continues with Ooarai's battle with Continuation (Jaktkosota) High School, after the loss of important teammates at the onset of the match in the third film. The film also shows the match between two strong schools, Kuromorimine and St. Gloriana, with Kuromorimine headed up by Maho's successor Erika, and St. Gloriana's commander Darjeeling in her last match.
The franchise has not yet revealed details about the upcoming fifth and sixth films.
Source: Press release
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. (Sunrise) is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
