11

In the world of Girls Und Panzer, tankery (Sensha-do) is a school activity, and during practice and competitions, they appear to be using live ammunition. Has anyone ever gotten hurt (or killed) doing Sensha-do in the manga? It seems really dangerous:

There's even a flashback scene where a tank driven over mud next to a river falls into the river, and the girls inside almost drowned.

Or is it just that in this world, tanks and large shells simply aren't that dangerous?

Jon Lin
  • 28,141
  • 21
  • 111
  • 169

3 Answers3

9

I don't believe there has ever been a death of a character due to a tank-related incident. However, this is largely due to safety precautions taken by the officials in charge of the tank activities. (And also, a bit of anime physics.)

From the (fan-)translated Rules of Panzerkraft:

3-02 Supplemental Equipment
  Furthermore, for the safety of the participants, the crew compartments are required to be fitted with League-approved armored mantles as an added safety measure.

3-03 Usable Cannons
  All rounds are to be League-sanctioned live ammunition; production of your own warheads or charges is not allowed.

5 Prohibited Actions
  a) Using unregulated equipment or parts
  c) Firing directly on humans

Note the usage of controlled armor, rounds, and a rule that you may not fire at a human. So, it does appear that the tank warfare is dangerous to people, but the safety measures in place are enough that the direct warfare does not cause any fatalities or serious injuries. (I think there's an incident where one girl has her glasses broken, but that's it.)

Community
  • 1
Cattua
  • 29,397
  • 28
  • 131
  • 219
  • 3
    But there's people who ride outside of the tank or half exposed from the waist up while it's being fired on by other tanks, that seems pretty unsafe. – Jon Lin Apr 06 '13 at 02:33
  • @JonLin I haven't seen any situation like that in the competitions. In the practices, I believe they use powder rounds or some other training-safe round. (Though I have no citation for this.) – Cattua Apr 06 '13 at 02:58
  • 1
    @Eric - It's shown in the very first episode (the initial opening fight, before skipping backward), and also in the final duel between the two sisters in the last episode. Probably some additional times as well. – Clockwork-Muse Apr 08 '13 at 17:31
  • @Clockwork-Muse Interesting. I'm afraid I have little explanation for those situations; like in any sport, freak accidents can happen. Perhaps there's a little luck involved in sensha-do as well. – Cattua Apr 09 '13 at 02:16
  • 1
    How can anything survive a hit by the [Karl-Gerät 040](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Ger%C3%A4t) that appeared in the movie? And bullets don't have eyes, you always see those girls exposing themselves even during combat. Conclusion: cute girls are saved predominantly by anime physics. – Gao Jun 05 '16 at 12:12
1

From the Manga. The tanks are coated with high tech materials that prevent penetration by rounds. This is referred to briefly in the anime, when someone says something like, "the tanks have carbon".

Warner
  • 21
  • 1
0

Even if the shells are training or powder, it's still a metal shell, no matter how brittle. Fired by novices (first episode) at like 500mph toward a tank where a girl who is outside the tank as a spotter. No one dies in the entire series and it would be weird to make a cute girls doing cute stuff anime get bloody and tragic.

fred
  • 1