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I'm not sure how to classify this... A lot of stuff happens. A bit too much, in fact; the plot seems rather patchwork in spots and even has a few major holes in the last third or so of the show. In one part, things aren't as they seem; then in the next they are when all the signs seemed to say otherwise.

I'll say this much: don't expect happiness until the very end, and even then it's bittersweet. There's a lot of depressing stuff in the interim.


The one thing that makes this stand out for me is the biggest turnaround in how I feel about ... an individual character. I'm normally an extremely forgiving person, but at the start I really hated the main character. Something about the specific combination of arrogance and taking credit for the work of others really set me off, to the point where I uncharacteristically wished to see him suffer a bit.

I ended up feeling rather guilty for that later.

If you're into moe girls and military hardware, this anime is a must-watch!

It holds up on its own, although you may not find it exceptional. The plot provides just enough character development to get you invested in the heroines, then switches to dynamic action sequences to produce tension.

What makes this a true gem, however, is how realistically the tanks are portrayed (outside the odds of surviving a crippling hit if you're in one, that is). The tanks move like real tanks, not slow and ponderous like the stereotype but fast enough for Blitzkrieg. They shoot like real tanks, with hand-loaded shells, proper military sights, and ... rangefinding done with mental arithmetic involving the target's actual and apparent sizes. They even suffer from real-life limitations, such as engine malfunctions, bogging in rough/muddy terrain, track breakages, and lack of penetrating power affecting tactics on the fly. (Fuel and ammo limitations are also brought up, but never directly affect events.) The only unrealistic part would be the severe lack of efficiency in which the tanks are used, although the pilots can probably be excused for that, given that they're high schoolers. (Real-life tank battles are a lot less glamorous anyways, being mostly fought from a range of several hundred meters.)

Of course, no anime is for everyone. If you don't find the combat scenes captivating, then you probably won't get much out the show as a whole. All developments outside of combat are aimed at making the combat more intense through personal investment in the characters; while this is a strong point for the show as a whole, it leaves the non-combat portions not substantial enough to be worthwhile on their own. Also, many of the background characters are one-dimensional, which some may find off-putting. (They form small groups of 3-6 which are *very* distinct from each other, each being the crew for a separate tank, though there's less variety among the members of each crew.)

All in all, I'd give it an 8/10 - since it's kind of polarized between 10 and 6. If you've got any interest in military history and/or hardware (and moe, but come on... you're on an anime website) then you'll almost certainly enjoy this. If you have a friend who does, watch it with them and you may find it more interesting than you thought. Otherwise, it's still worth giving a shot, though it'll be hit-or-miss: there are much worse shows you could have wasted your time on.

Panzer vor!