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Girls und Panzer Festival Features Fan-Made Tank Replica
posted on by Bamboo Dong
Fans of the anime series Girls und Panzer may already be familiar with the sights of Oarai, Ibaraki. Not only does it serve as the setting for the series, its landmarks and streets also serve as the actual reference for many of the backdrops.
To further cement the connection between the town and the series, there are multiple official Girls und Panzer events held in the city every year—one in the spring, and one in the autumn at the annual Angler Fish Festival.
This year, the Girls und Panzer event at the Angler Fish Festival will include a full-size replica tank, modeled after protagonist Miho Nishizumi's Panzer IV. Fittingly, her team is called the Ankō Team... or the Angler Fish Team.
The event isn't until November 17, but for a little sneak peak, city councilor Kazuaki Imamura Tweeted a picture of himself sitting on top of the in-progress tank. The tank was made by Imamura's relatives, who own a chain link fence company; Imamura is in charge of making the treads.
Girls und Panzer follows Miho, a girl who just transferred into the Oarai Girls' Academy in Ibaraki Prefecture. She finds herself alone at first, but then joins the "senshadō" (tank combat) course — in this school, the girls drive real-life tanks the way girls in other schools take archery or kendō sword fighting. Miho's Ankō (Angler Fish) Team competes with the other teams.
[Via Yaraon]
