Erika Itsumi Ⅲ GUP ˗ˏˋ ✸ ˎˊ˗

Erika Itsumi (逸見 エリカ, Itsumi Erika) is a supporting character in Girls und Panzer and a main protagonist in Girls und Panzer: Phase Erika.

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Profile:

Joining Kuromorimine's sensha-do team, Erika had to come to terms with the fact that she was just another soldier, fighting under the Nishizumi banner. What she could never come to terms with, is the fact that the younger daughter of Nishizumi (Miho) was already being groomed as their future leader - despite her obvious flaws in and out of the tank. The fact that Miho was just too nice for her own good - even letting her win, in their first match on opposite sides - only added fuel to the fire.

When Kuromorimine lost to Pravda in the 62nd National High School tournament, Erika's anger hit boiling point. Not only was she angry at Miho for transferring out of school ("running away", as she called it) - she was also angry at herself for failing to be as strong as she needed to be. It was in that moment, that the flower which bloomed on the heath turned into a mighty force on the Kuromorimine team, ready to lead the charge to victory.

After achieving success on the Tanklathon circuit, and supporting Maho Nishizumi all the way to the finals of the 63rd National High School Tournament, Erika faced Miho in battle once more. Though the results were the same, the aftermath was different. Erika finally realized that in order to become strong, she couldn't just aspire to be exactly like her idol. She had to aspire to chart her own path - so she could be just as good as her idol.

Since Maho's graduation, there's been no stopping Kuromorimine under its new commander. Executing lightning-fast raids on enemy positions with a cold one (non-alcoholic, of course) in hand, Erika has finally discovered her own style of sensha-do. Batten down the hatches - lest you get blitzed.

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Appearance:

Erika is a girl of average height with platinum blonde hair reaching her shoulders, and a pair of light blue eyes.

She is usually seen wearing either the regular grey Kuromorimine uniform, or the Senshado-specific black uniform, the latter including a hat. She also wore the Ooarai uniform along with the rest of the reinforcement crews during the match against the All-Stars University Team in Der Film.

Once dressed up in a reindeer costume for Maho's Christmas party, and subsequently the infamous Anglerfish Dance costume, a Christmas gift from Ooarai's Anzu Kadotani, as well during the course of the festivities.

Height — 159 cm (5'3")

Pale skin

Slim, athletic build

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Personality:

Erika is initially shown as quite an arrogant character, constantly insulting the Oarai team for their lack of experience and constantly wishing to crush them herself. She has an extremely short temper, and has a tendency to become enraged whenever things don't go her way, similar to Katyusha. She bore a serious grudge against Miho ever since her first year at Kuromorimine, up to and including Miho "abandoning" Kuromorimine and then betraying them by becoming the commander for a different school, despite her previous claim to abandon Sensha-Dō entirely. By the end of the anime however, she does show some decency when she (and Maho) admit defeat to the Ooarai team, happily saying that "We won't lose next time".

She is shown to have mellowed significantly by the events of Girls und Panzer: Little Army Two, berating Sheska for running off and boasting about Kuromorimine's prowess to Emi Nakasuga. She also showed humility after their victory against Bellwall, acknowledging that the enemy team had outsmarted and cornered them at one point in the match, despite having fewer tanks.

During the Das Finale films, once she is in her final year and Maho has graduated, Erika is evidently affected by her former commander no longer being physically present in her life, and as an inevitable consequence, she has grown more prone to thinking with her own head and improvising.

By the time of OVA 11, she is also shown to have adopted a more easy-going and humble personality, while still looking serious most of the time.

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Background:

Erika, along with Maho, criticized Miho intensely for their humiliating defeat from Pravda Girls High School during the previous Sensha-Dō finals that stopped their championship run to only just nine consecutive years. Since then, Miho left Kuromorimine and transferred to Ooarai Girls Academy to avoid Sensha-dō.

In Girls und Panzer: Phase Erika, it is explained that her cold and callous attitude for Miho stems back from their first year at Kuromorimine, since she witnessed Maho promoting Miho as the vice-commander even though Miho was only a first year. She thinks that Miho is incapable of being a vice commander and her position there is a huge insult to the Nishizumi style and especially to Maho's name. Erika thinks that Miho has a poor decision in choosing her crew and that Miho chose to ignore their unpleasant experience with her crew during training rather than to reprimand them was a poor decision as a vice commander. Not only that but she also hated the fact that at Miho's age she was still collecting and bringing a Boko stuffed figure to school.

She challenged Miho in a match that will decide their faith in Sensha-Dō, to which if Erika wins Miho will quit Sensha-Dō and when Miho wins Erika would be the one who will quit Sensha-Dō. Erika managed to defeat Miho by a close match. After the match; during the assembly Maho dropped Miho then appointed Erika as a vice-commander but she refused since she thinks that she defeated Miho through luck. They happened to come across to each other at the locker room and Erika asked if Miho gave her all. Miho replied that she did not fight at her full potential since losing that match would be a good thing for her. Feeling insulted, Erika slapped Miho's face. By sheer coincidence, Maho decided to pair Erika with Miho, so that Erika's more strict attitude can compensate some of Miho's weaknesses.

Erika shows during practice to be a cold and effective teammate, but shows to be cold and harsh to Miho outside practice. Maho then announces that their school will take a practice match against Keizoku High School, commanded by Touko, the trickster, as training for the 62nd National High School Sensha-Dō Tournament. Shortly after the match starts, Miho, Erika and Koume get separated and ambushed, while the main group is sieged. Finally, Erika's group manages to destroy their enemy, but Erika's tank is destroyed. When Miho approaches to help her and her crew, she orders her to save Maho. She obeys, leaving them and saving Maho's tank from the BT-42, and eventually they win the match. Erika congratulates Miho and they seem to become closer.

After they lose the 62nd National High School Sensha-Dō Tournament to Pravda after Miho got out of her tank to save the Panzer III crew (Koume included), Miho prepares to leave when she gets confronted in her room by Erika, who tackles her and accuses her of being a traitor and tells her that she will become a loser if she leaves now. She leaves her room angry and the stumbles with Koume, asking her why she did not leave the school. She responds that if she wished to fight with Miho in the future, she must get stronger, asking Erika if she will get stronger too. Erika then realizes that that sort of strength, distinct from all others, is what Miho left behind. Disgusted at herself for not being stronger, she takes the decision to get closer to the Nishizumi style and the commander.

Despite her hostile feelings towards Miho, she reluctantly lent a helicopter ride for Miho's teammate Mako Reizei with Saori Takebe to visit the former's sick grandmother, at Maho's insistence.

During the finals, Erika often lost her temper as her opponents used unconventional tactics, such as a smoke screen to cover their escape, and threw a tantrum when her tank's left track broke down and lost the opportunity of immobilising Ooarai's flag tank . After desperately trying to reach Maho to help her, she was shocked to see Miho defeated her, but nevertheless, she accepted defeat and resolved that her school wouldn't lose in the next national tournament.

Erika appears to have grown up in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto and went to the same middle school with Maho and Miho. In the official spin-off comic, a very young Erika (roughly 7 or 8 years old) is seen insulting the Nishizumi sisters as being immature when they were riding tanks, threatening to tell "Sensei" about it. Based on her attire at the time, it is possible she came from a well-off family.

When she becomes overall commander of Kuromorimine after Maho Nishizumi graduates, the latter advises Erika to come up with her own style of Senshado, rather than simply conserve the Nishizumi's way of doing tankery; Erika ultimately embraced the advice in the course of the Winter Continuous Track Cup, specifically in the quarter-finals match against Pravda shown in Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 3.

In said match, Erika swapped her tank with Emi Kojima, supposedly to prioritise speed and agility over armour, then sneaked to the side of Pravda's position on the hill and managed to dodge the enemy's blows with swift manoeuvres, thus managing to approach the enemy flag tank from a weak point. Since Pravda had based their battle plans on their knowledge of pre-established Kuromorimine strategy, they were taken aback by their enemy's sudden change of tactics and could not manage to rescue their flag tank before Erika's own tank shot and immobilised the former.

In Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 4 , however, Kuromorimine's team is seemingly defeated by St. Gloriana Girls' College 's team, during a very intense match that eventually leads to the two flag tanks being destroyed mere seconds from each other: supposedly, the Kuromorimine flag tank was destroyed first, which leads to Erika openly and loudly bemoaning the outcome.

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Facts:

Erika's favorite flowers are moth orchids, and her favorite tank is the German Sturmtiger assault gun, armed with a 380mm rocket-propelled mortar. Erika's birthday — March 6th Der Film seems to imply that Erika's favorite dish is Glühwein und Eisbein (corned ham hock, paired with mulled wine). Also in Der Film, Erika gets to be one of the few characters not from Pravda High School to carry Katyusha on her shoulders. Erika is 18 years old. Blood Type — AB Tank(s): Tiger II Panzer 35(t) (Training Tank) Panzer 38(t) (Training Tank) Panzer IIF (Tankathlon) Panzer III (Das Finale: Part 3) Crusader Mk.I (Erika's Pride) Hometown — Hitoyoshi, Kunamoto Prefecture