Maho Nishizumi | Sick Commander

Profile The daughter of Shiho Nishizumi and older sister of Miho Nishizumi, Maho is a third year student at Kuromorimine Girls' Academy, the overall commander of her school's Sensha-dō team, and the heiress to the Nishizumi family. She is the commander of a German Tiger I.

Appearance Maho is a girl with short dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and slightly above average stature. She has a similar haircut to her sister Miho, but her hair is a darker color and two locks stick out on each side of her head. Other than that, she bears a striking resemblance to Miho.

Outside of Sensha-dō she is usually seen wearing the Kuromorimine Girls' Academy everyday uniform, while during battle she wears their Sensha-dō uniform. In this story she wears a boko (a hurt brown bear with a black eye on it's right eye, a eyepatch on it's left eye and bandages all over, from a show that Maho and Miho watch) onsie.

MAHO IS 19 IN THIS STORY

Personality Maho is well known for her passion for Sensha-dō, and is nationally regarded as a talented leader, as well as being much respected by her mother, sister, and teammates. She seems cold and distant at times, but this is actually a facade necessary to meet her mother's strict expectations. Behind that facade she's a very kind person, even to her opponents, and loves her younger sister, Miho, dearly. One significant reason she strives to be a good Nishizumi heiress is so that her sister will be free to live her life as she wishes.

In the official spin-off manga Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu!, she's revealed to be quite easygoing and caring when she doesn't have any important missions to take care of, as shown when she tried to hold a Christmas party for the Kuromorimine students who couldn't celebrate with their own families. However, her school's overall strictness and her own tendency to communicate in terse messages always make those around her feel uneasy. The fact that she doesn't know much about parties and celebrations didn't help much either.

Background Maho, like Miho, comes from a family that traditionally practices Sensha-Dō. They were once in Kuromorimine Girls' Academy together, until their defeat against Pravda Girls High School during last year's Sensha-Dō finals. Miho's decision to abandon her command of the Kuromorimine flag tank, to assist the crew of a Panzer III that had slid into a nearby body of water, resulted in their defeat. Had they not lost, Kuromorimine would have had ten consecutive tournament wins, a feat unheard of in the sport. As a result of the defeat, Miho left Kuromorimine and transferred to Ooarai Girls Academy to avoid Sensha-Dō. Since then, Maho has been quietly working on Miho's behalf to allow her sister to live her life as she chooses, without the pressure of their mother's expectations.

Despite seeming aloof, she is not without humane sensibilities. Being there at the match grounds as a spectator, after watching Ooarai's match against Saunders, she lends her team's helicopter to Miho's teammates, Mako Reizei and Saori Takebe, when they need to reach Mako's sick grandmother. Much later, it is implied that she has been keeping it secret from her mother that she has been watching Ooarai's matches, to avoid drawing her mother's attention. When her mother does learn that Miho has returned to Sensha-Dō and expresses her intention to disown Miho, Maho is visibly dismayed. During Ooarai's match against Pravda, when Shiho assumes Ooarai will lose and decides that watching the match to its conclusion is a waste of time, Maho shows her confidence in her sister by convincing their mother to stay. Maho also goes so far as to contradict Shiho after that match, arguing that Miho's victory was not the result of luck, but her ability to adapt her tactics to the situation and inspire her teammates. Nevertheless, Maho accepts her mother's command to defeat Miho's team.

During the finals, Maho ends up facing Miho in single combat, and is defeated, resulting in Miho winning the tournament. After the match ends, Maho congratulates Miho, acknowledging her defeat and saying that Miho's style was completely unlike the Nishizumi style, showing her pleasure that Miho has found her own way of Sensha-Dō.

Little Army In the prequel manga Little Army, Maho is first shown on the news having won a tournament for her middle school, and returns home at the end of Chapter 3. However, Miho's friend, Emi Nakasuga, is angry with Maho as her opponent in the final round was Emi's sister, and Miho arranges for a Sensha-Dō match with Maho's team to help ease the hostilities, which ends with Miho's team being defeated.

After the match, Emi becomes somewhat more accepting of Maho, but reveals that during the last tournament, she fired on the opposing team's flag tank while it was in the process of saving one of her own team's tanks. Before Maho can say anything about this, Shiho arrives, congratulating Maho on her victory; in her mother's presence, Maho confirms Emi's accusation before coldly walking off, upsetting Miho.

Miho, troubled by Maho's behavior, considers quitting Sensha-Dō altogether, but realizes with her friends' help that Maho is not acting like herself, and asks her mother whether Maho was expected to make that decision. Maho remains silent as Shiho chides Miho for even asking the question of whether Maho's decision was necessary, but Kikuyo defends Maho in front of Miho's friends, saying that she is burdened by being heiress.

Maho approaches Miho afterward to apologize, and says it is fine for her to quit Sensha-Dō if she comes to hate it, but she should find a way of Sensha-Dō she can call her own if she wishes to continue. Maho later returns to school, asking Kikuyo to look after Miho and saying that as long as she's the heiress, Miho will be free.

Girls und Panzer: Der Film Maho was the first to bring reinforcements to the aid of Ooarai during their desperate match against the All-Stars University Team, with four Kuromorimine tanks, led by Maho, "transferring" to Ooarai.

In that battle, Maho led Sunflower Team to take the central hill, only to be driven off the high ground when it became clear it had been set up as a kill zone for the unforeseen Karl-Gerät. She later rejoined the combined main force, and led the defense of the amusement park's southern entrance. Though the All-Stars attempted to tie up Ooarai forces there with a diversion, Maho led the sortie to wipe out that All-Stars unit before again rejoining the main force. In her own turn, Maho was in the Ooarai force that tried to distract the All-Stars' main force at the amphitheater encirclement, but was unable to make headway; that force then rejoined the others after Rabbit Team's unorthodox diversion allowed the encirclement to be broken. In the final showdown, Maho and Miho worked as a team to take down the sub-commanders and commander of the All-Stars, and in the end, Maho's tank was the only tank to survive the entire 30 vs. 30 battle.

Throughout the battle she is seen quietly giving encouragement and support to her younger sister, proving herself a dedicated and reliable sub-commander, as well as exhibiting her own exceptional Sensha-dō skills.

Girls und Panzer: Das Finale (1) She leaves to Germany to study at Niedersächsische Universität with a tank scholarship, transferring command to Erika.

Ribbon Warrior "What kind of monster is the Nishizumi Style?! She turned the tables in only a moment!" ―Tategoto Forward Observer after 4 of 5 Tategoto tanks were knocked out in seconds In chapter 15 of Girls und Panzer: Ribbon Warrior, it is revealed that after Kuromorimine's loss to Ooarai Maho has been reforming its Sensha-do team with new tactics and has introduced new culture to its environment, such as the Post-Training-Non-Alcoholic Beer Festival.

In Darjeeling's Cauldron Tankathlon Tournament, Darjeeling renamed Nibelungen Team to Team Nishizumi Mask (although Maho wanted it to be Siegfried Mask). In the first round Maho faced Tategoto High School in a 5 vs. 1 match and easily defeated them in rapid succession.

Quotes (on loaning Mako Reizei her helicopter) "This is also part of Sensha-Dō." (Little Army) "As long as I'm the inheritor of the Nishizumi School, Miho will be free." (to Miho Nishizumi) "Congratulations on winning the championship; outstanding victory. You fought true to your nature... although it was entirely different to the Nishizumi style." (to Erika Itsumi) "A makeshift team is still a team, we'll just have to supplement what others lack and fight." (to Erika) "Don't fret over results. You should find your own way." (Der Film) "Your favorite food has nothing to do with the operation!" (Der Film) "How's "Operation Meistersinger von Nürnberg"? It's a three-act opera." Etymology The name Maho (1) is written in hiragana (まほ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (愛渉, 愛歩, 雅穂, 間保 or 今歩), it could possibly mean: 愛渉 - "love, affection" (愛) (ma) and "ford, ferry, port" (渉) (ho). 愛歩 - "love, affection" (愛) (ma) and "walk, step" (歩) (ho). 雅穂 - "elegant, graceful" (雅) (ma) and "grain" (穂) (ho). 間保 - "while, time, interval, space, pause, chamber, room, apartment, leisure, chance, entr'acte, intervening, as" (間) (ma) and "protect, maintain, guarantee" (保) (ho). 今歩 - "now/just now, immediately, at the present time, this" (今) (ma) and "walk, step" (歩) (ho). Maho's surname Nishizumi means "west" (西) (nishi) and "residence, housing, living, dwelling" (住) (zumi).

Maho's favorite flower is Sakura and her favorite tank is the German Panther Ausf. F. Maho seems to have knowledge in opera, specifically Wagner, due to her bringing up of the aforementioned composer's three-act opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg during the meeting prior to the All-Stars match. Maho has an Akita-ken breed dog, as shown in Girls und Panzer der Film. Maho seems to be the only tank commander that Katyusha is intimidated by. When Katyusha complained that she's the only realistic candidate for team commander, it took only a sharp glance from Maho to silence her —an unusual occurance, given Katyusha's typical assurance that she's superior to all the other commanders. Maho's birthday is July 1, the same date in 1942 as the start of the First Battle of El Alamein. Fittingly, as the elder sister, Maho represents the First Battle of El-Alamein while Miho Nishizumi, as the younger sister, represents the Second Battle. The Tiger Maho uses has the turret number 212, which is the same as the Tiger tank commanded by German tank ace Michael Wittmann, with tank ace Balthasar “Bobby” Woll serving as gunner. During the Battle of Villers-Bocage, Tiger 212 was immobilized by an anti-tank gun. The exact circumstances of Wittmann's death later, in Tiger 007, during Operation Totalize remains a mystery, as many claim the kill. As Miho claims in the Anzio OVA, it is assumed that either Joe Ekins, a Firefly tanker from the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, or else a Firefly from the 2nd Canadian Armored Brigade's Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment are responsible for the kill. In Phase: Erika, it is revealed that due to the intense nature of Nishizumi Style training and lifestyle, Maho and Miho can sense the presence of a tank or incoming shells without needing to see them. This skill can allow them to dodge incoming shells (as demonstrated when Miho dodged a Firefly's shot without even looking) and sense enemies trying to sneak up from behind (as demonstrated when Maho sensed Turtle Team's Hetzer lurking behind her). However, they still seem susceptible to lying-in-wait ambush tactics (as when Kuromorimine Girls' Academy caught Ooarai Girls Academy by surprise, striking from the forest), perhaps due to the tanks not making any movement or noise until the very last second.