Shiro Hamaguchi -- Girls und Panzer Original Soundtrack（ガールズ&パンツァー）

 

Well, it's been thirteen years since I first saw the anime "Girls und Panzer" at my anime buddy's house, and perhaps only a few days following the beginning of "Kayo Kyoku Plus". When I saw that first scene of high school girls cheerfully get into a tank as if they were getting picked by Mom in a Corolla, I just went "Ohhhhkay...yep, this is an anime, isn't it?". 

However, that first series involving Ōarai Girls High School and their plucky sensha-do club with that "little train that could" attitude started to charm me with its cast that probably involved every major female seiyuu on active duty in 2012, the love and meticulousness paid toward every tank, and the music which seemed to pay homage to every 1960s Hollywood movie about World War II and military marches around the world. Several years later, I even did a short pilgrimage to the very real city of Ōarai to check out any "Girls und Panzer" paraphernalia.

Over the years, a couple of us have paid our own tribute to the music from the anime. Marcos V. was the first one with his article on "Katyusha" which was given its due during that first series thanks to Sumire Uesaka（上坂すみれ）and Hisako Kanemoto（金元寿子）. I think a lot of us were caught off-guard when the ladies sang this proud Russian folk song in the original language, and the way it all went down, I believe some of us may have wanted to show off our Russian selves in the same way that Ensign Chekov from "Star Trek" loved to have his mother nation take ownership of every invention ever conceived.

Well then...since we've got the ball rolling, let's get into more of the soundtrack for that first series. I covered "Senshado Koshinkyoku! Panzer Vor!"（戦車道行進曲!パンツァーフォー!）, the proud march that fans of the anime will remember perhaps more than the original opening and closing themes. Shiro Hamaguchi（浜口史郎）was behind that one and the overall soundtrack, and as I stated above, he does love his military marches which include "The British Grenadiers", the traditional song for British military units which has been around since the 17th century. However, in "Girls und Panzer", I often seem to hear it whenever one of the characters wanted to go into exposition on something, such as one of the tanks.

Speaking of marches, another familiar one is the "U.S. Field Artillery March" which hails all the way back to 1917 when John Philip Sousa (who already has one entry on KKP) wrote it. Strangely enough, I first heard "U.S. Field Artillery March" on another animated classic when Fred and his family sang it on "The Flintstones" back in the 1960s.

From what I've read, all of the American marches belonged naturally enough to anything to do with the rival tank team from Saunders University High School based in Nagasaki. And in a soundtrack filled with military marches and variations on "Senshado Koshinkyoku! Panzer Vor!", this track did stand out. "M4 Sherman Chuusensha A GO! GO!"（M4シャーマン中戦車 A GO！GO！...M4 Sherman Medium Tank A Go Go!）is a good ol' rock n' roll blast straight from "Happy Days" with twangy guitar. It's short at only a little over a minute in length but it's left quite the impression with me.

I've had my own copy of the two-disc soundtrack for years now which I listen to now and then for some relaxation and energizing at the same time. All of the high-octane tracks and military marches are great, but my memories have often been filled with the last three tracks on Disc 1 which are softer but no less proud takes on "Senshado Koshinkyoku! Panzer Vor!". "Kinou no Teki wa Kyou no Tomo desu!"（昨日の敵は今日の友です！...Yesterday's Enemy is Today's Friend!） is the third-last track and though I can't remember when it was played in the anime, it's always struck me as rather heartwarming and elegiac as if the girls were remembering all those they lost in battle (although we know that no one has yet to die or even get seriously injured).

The last track is "Senshado Anthem desu!"（戦車道アンセムです！...This is The Senshado Anthem!）which once again takes off on the overall theme for the Ōarai girls' team and has that satisfying "Well, we pulled it off everyone!" feeling with lots of hearty backslapping, hugs and handshaking. I also couldn't help but notice how similar in tone it is to the final orchestral piece in the "Backdraft" soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. But unlike "Kinou no Teki wa Kyou no Tomo desu!", I know exactly when "Senshado Anthem desu!" was used and it was used for one of the most adorable scenes in the entire franchise.

I heard from my buddy that the franchise has yet to wrap up. At this rate, the fans' grandkids will be rooting for "Girls und Panzer" by the time it finally ends.

Oarai -- The Town of Girls and Panzers

Well, after 3 glorious nights at Hotel Rob, I checked out of Musashi-Kosugi early in the morning of the 13th and headed out to Mito. Mind you, this was Monday morning which meant rush hour from the station into Tokyo so of course that meant a population density aboard the train that would probably be measured in the millions per square centimetre. And here I was carrying a carry-on and a full suitcase. Not the easiest thing to do.

Since it was an express train, it was only a few stations but it was quite the hellish trip. Yet, I was actually grateful for the crowds packed in the train only because there were so many in there that I was actually cushioned from the worst of the jostling due to their bodies. Yes, indeed, it was the most physically cynical commute that I ever experienced. After that, I treated myself to a Mac breakfast at the Shinagawa Golden Arches across from the station.

It was a 2-hour ride on the semi-express from Shinagawa to Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. Mito Station was unexpectedly quite lively and filled with stores and restaurants. However, that city wasn't my final destination. Cue music.

Nope, it was to get onto the Kashima-Oarai Line for about the 10 minutes it would take to reach the small town of Oarai...otherwise the setting for the beloved anime "Girls und Panzer". Never did such a deep anime pilgrimage before. But my adventure started in style...the train exterior was all decked out with the characters from the show...and there are a lot of characters in "Girls und Panzer".

"Girls und Panzer" has become a cottage industry of sorts in Oarai since the show's premiere back in the early 2010s. Festivals have been held in the town, there is a tonkatsu restaurant that serves tank-shaped pork cutlet, and Oarai Station has its own little museum devoted to the anime.

I walked the 1km down to the harbour where the Marine Tower was located since there was a small cafe near the top of the tower devoted to "Girls und Panzer". Part of the setup had high school tables with menus in student binders.

Ended up ordering the stewed mackerel course based on one of the characters' preferences. It was OK but nothing to write home about but then again, with these places the quality of the food isn't the main thing.

Heading back on the deserted street back to Oarai Station, I realized that I had seen this very avenue on the anime. All in all, it was a short and sweet experience. Got a few souvenirs for my anime buddy.

For all of you "Girls und Panzer" fans, cherish the above. It is Mako Reizei smiling! Panzer Vor!

Kikuko Inoue, Yumi Touma and Aya Hisakawa -- Coro di dea

Had the usual food-and-anime session with my buddy yesterday. I got to see a number of new anime for Fall 2017 which have been OK so far..."Just Because" was actually funnier than I had thought it would be while "Two-Car" was more dramatic than expected. Of course, "Mahoujin Guru Guru" has continued to be hilarious as usual. The theme songs accompanying the new shows haven't exactly been instant earworms, though.

Of course, there was the anison hour, and I wanted to touch upon one short classical piece that I heard and enjoyed. It was actually from the 2000 motion picture treatment of the beloved anime "Ah! Megami-sama"（ああっ女神さまっ...Ah! My Goddess）. Titled "Coro di dea", I guess it must have had its time during the climactic moment during the movie (I never saw it) but it was performed by the three main seiyuu from the original show, Kikuko Inoue（井上喜久子）, Yumi Touma（冬馬由美）and Aya Hisakawa（久川綾）as Belldandy, Urd and Skuld respectively.

Accompanied by the Warsaw Chorus, it's quite the grand 2 minutes and very anthemic. Anime fans have commented that a certain anison should be their choice for a song to be played at their weddings or funerals. I would be more than happy to have "Coro di dea" played at my funeral although I'm not particularly religious.

I was surprised to find out that the song was composed by Shiro Hamaguchi（浜口史郎）who would come up with another grand but different song for an anime about a dozen years later. Animation director Hiroaki Gouda（合田浩章）wrote the lyrics to "Coro di dea" with Taro Yamashita（山下太郎）translating them into Latin.

Incidentally, happy belated birthday to Inoue (September 25th) who turns 17...again!

Shiro Hamaguchi -- Senshado Koshinkyoku! Panzer Vor! （戦車道行進曲!パンツァーフォー!）

This was taken a couple of days before the
premiere of "The Force Awakens". My friend who runs the
movie theater told me that within a few hours of opening day,
BB-8 was summarily decapitated by Dark Side vandals.

Several hours ago in movie theatre not too far away, I finally got to see "The Force Awakens" in IMAX 3D. Well, my verdict is that it's a fine movie far better than the prequels but I don't think it is quite up there with "A New Hope" or "The Empire Strikes Back" (to be honest, it seems like an alt-universe version of the former movie), and it is certainly not The Movie of the Year as one Toronto Star critic gushingly described. Without going into a full review, I can say that I enjoyed myself and despite all of the many characters in it, it is definitely Rey's movie!

A few years back, just some months after returning from Japan for good, my anime buddy and I started our now-long-running routine of meeting up on alternating Sundays for food and anime. One of the first programs on the slate was "Girls und Panzer" which was pretty much as it stated in the title: girls and panzers. I think my friend did forgive me when my face showed some skepticism about the concept.

So the screen went on and the first scene from "Girls und Panzer"（ガールズ&パンツァー）was the view seen through the scope of a tank with girls just nattering on for several seconds before the first sightings of said girls in high school uniforms improbably took their stations in the tank and rolled on. Then this march promptly started which immediately had me thinking of music from "The Dirty Dozen" and "Bridge on the River Kwai".

Although "Girls und Panzer" from 2012 had its proper opening and closing themes, "Senshado Koshinkyoku! Panzer Vor!" (The Way of the Tank March!), I think, will always be THE song when I think of the anime. As crazy-amazing as the whole premise of uniformed Japanese schoolgirls driving tanks while studying and living on massive community-carriers is, "Girls und Panzer" has an adorable beating heart which is essentially what I look for when I want to enjoy any movie, TV show or anime for that matter. And "Panzer Vor!" rather reflects that heart through the cheerful pluckiness of its melody composed by anime composer Shiro Hamaguchi（浜口史郎）. It is the true theme for the tank club at Ōarai Girls' High School.

Shortly after viewing the entire series, my anime buddy even made the trip to the real Oarai in Ibaraki Prefecture. The town is sleepy but apparently the charms of the series were not lost on the folks there. One tonkatsu restaurant had their own tank-shaped deep-fried pork cutlet on the menu, and there was plenty of "Girls und Panzer" paraphernalia at the local train station. I'm sure while my friend was walking through the area, the march was happily playing in his head.