Girls und Panzer Pilgrimage Guide: Oarai's Urban Tank Battle Streets, Official Café & Gallery

Tanks rumble around the corners of Magarimatsu Shopping Street while matches unfold with the harbor's Marine Tower rising in the background—in 'Girls und Panzer,' the real streets and landmarks of Oarai Town in Ibaraki Prefecture serve as the arena for the martial art of tankery ('Senshado').

Protagonist Miho Nishizumi and her four friends crew their tank together as the five-member 'Anglerfish Team' (Ankou Team). Across town, visitors can spot character standees outside family-run shops, dine at an officially licensed café, and browse the Garupan Gallery chronicling the bond between Oarai and the series.

Streets of the Urban Tank Battles and Anime-Linked Facilities Around the Station and Harbor

1Oarai Station & Umimachi Terrace | The Station Gateway Welcoming Visitors to the Town

Oarai Station is one of the key landmarks plotted on the 'Oarai Urban Battle Strategy Map,' which pairs anime screenshots directly with real town locations, including scenes showing the station kiosk and concourse.

Right next to the station stands 'Umimachi Terrace,' the town's tourist information and exchange center. In addition to providing local sightseeing maps and selling regional specialties, the counter operates rental bicycles—making it an ideal first stop before heading toward the shopping streets and harbor.

Sources: Oarai Tourist Association — Urban Battle Strategy Map / Umimachi Terrace Visitor Guide

2Magarimatsu Shopping Street | The Sharp Street Corner Where TanksWheeled Through Town

Along Magarimatsu Shopping Street, visitors can walk the exact roadway where tanks race through town and pivot around corners. From the area near Wakamiya toward the shrine torii gate, the 'Oarai Urban Battle Strategy Map' links individual street corners to corresponding cuts from the TV anime.

At 715 Isohamacho stands Sakanaya Honten, the traditional inn famously depicted in the anime as having a tank crash straight into its storefront. Operating since the early Meiji era, the inn continues to welcome overnight guests and reservation dining today; visitors can view its exterior from the public street.

The neighborhood name 'Magarimatsu' ('Bent Pine') comes from the historic black pine standing in front of Sakanaya Inkyo, whose trunk was sculpted by sea breezes into a coastal wind-bent pine ('isonarematsu'). Alongside traditional inns, the shopping street is lined with sake breweries and marine product shops.

Anglerfish Team radio operator Saori Takebe serves as the official poster girl for Magarimatsu Shopping Street. Among the shops displaying character standees along the street are Nenpo Confectionery (featuring tank loader Yukari Akiyama), Sakanaya Honten (featuring St. Gloriana commander Darjeeling), and Sakamoto Stationery (featuring Miho Nishizumi).

Sources: Origin of the Name Magarimatsu & Street Shops / Shopping Street — 2026 Character Standees & Host Shops

Life-size character standees are placed outside shops throughout the arcade. Because shopkeepers bring the panels indoors on regular closing days or during stormy weather, they are viewed as part of each store's active daily business.

Sources: Oarai Tourist Association — Urban Battle Streets / Sakanaya Honten Business Info & Address / Depiction of Sakanaya Honten in the Anime / Town Character Standees

3Oarai Marine Tower | Harbor Views and the Official Café ‘Panzer Vor’

Standing at 10 Minatochuo, Oarai Marine Tower is the harbor landmark that appears repeatedly in the series, with an observation deck roughly 60 meters above ground overlooking the port and town.

Garupan Café Panzer Vor on the Second Floor

On the second floor is 'Garupan Café Panzer Vor,' an officially licensed theme café serving dishes named after teams in the series inside a dining room decorated with mascot wallpaper and cushions modeled after those used by the protagonist.

Entry to the second floor where the café is located is free of charge, whereas riding up to the third-floor observation deck requires a separate ticket. The café is normally open from 10:00 to 18:00 (last order 17:00) and closes on Tuesdays (or opens if Tuesday is a national holiday).

The Observation Deck Overlooking the Town and Harbor

Oarai Marine Tower itself operates from 9:00 to 18:00, closing at year-end and during scheduled maintenance days.

Sources: Oarai Tourist Association — Marine Tower & Anime Scenes / Marine Tower Operating Hours / Panzer Vor Interior & Menu

4Garupan Gallery | A Living Archive of Oarai and the Anime’s Shared Journey

Located on the second floor of Oarai Seaside Station, the Garupan Gallery combines an exhibition space chronicling the shared history of Oarai and the anime with an official merchandise shop, showcasing how the town and the series have grown together since broadcast.

Located at 11-2 Minatochuo, Oarai Town, the gallery is open daily from 10:00 to 19:00.

Source: Oarai Tourist Association — Current Garupan Gallery Guide

5Oarai Isosaki Shrine | The Zuishinmon Gate Featured in Official Town Stamp Rallies

Oarai Isosaki Shrine has participated in official town-wide stamp rallies linking local landmarks with the series; in the rally launched in 2014, the shrine's Zuishinmon Gate served as a designated checkpoint, and the Urban Battle Map also traces the road leading from the shopping street toward the shrine.

Located at 6890 Isohamacho, Oarai Town, the shrine grounds feature the Zuishinmon Gate and main worship hall atop the hill, while the Kamiiso-no-Torii gate stands on the rocky reef down by the ocean shoreline.

Shrine gates open from 5:30 to 18:00 between May and August and from 6:00 to 17:00 between September and April, with amulets and goshuin stamps offered from 8:30 to 16:30.

Sources: Oarai Tourist Association — Shrine Collaboration / Oarai Isosaki Shrine — Precincts & Gate Hours

6Aqua World Oarai | The ‘Bell of Encounter’ Depicted on the Anglerfish Team Poster

The 2026 official Oarai tourism poster illustrates the five members of the Anglerfish Team taking a commemorative photo at Aqua World Ibaraki Prefectural Oarai Aquarium in front of the 'Bell of Encounter'—a monument of two facing dolphins near the aquarium entrance.

Located at 8252-3 Isohamacho, Oarai Town, the aquarium normally opens from 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:00; standard adult admission 2,300 yen). Peak dates may require timed online reservations, and the facility is scheduled to close for maintenance from December 7 to 11, 2026.

Sources: Oarai Tourist Association — 2026 Aquarium Collaboration Poster / Aquarium Opening Hours / Admission Ticket Guidelines

Deeper into the Work | Friends and Tankery (Senshado) in ‘Girls und Panzer’

Here we introduce the five members of the 'Anglerfish Team' seen across Oarai's shops and displays by examining their roles inside the tank, why protagonist Miho Nishizumi returned to tankery, and how the matches through town unfold.

Miho Nishizumi climbs Back Inside a Tank at Oarai Girls’ Academy

In 'Girls und Panzer,' 'Senshado' (tankery) is a traditional martial art practiced with tanks. Hoping to leave tankery behind her, protagonist Miho Nishizumi transfers to Oarai Girls' Academy precisely because the school no longer offers a Senshado program.

Soon after she arrives, however, student council president Anzu Kadotani revives the program and presses Miho to join. Supported by her new classmates Saori Takebe and Hana Isuzu, Miho climbs back inside a tank, and the real streets and shopping arcades of Oarai Town become the stage for their matches.

Sources: Official Site — Senshado & Miho's Transfer / TV Anime Episode 1

Five Roles Inside One Tank: Commander, Radio Operator, Gunner, Loader & Driver

Miho and her four teammates operate a single tank together as the five-member 'Anglerfish Team':

Hana is the daughter of a traditional flower-arrangement master, Yukari is an ardent military and tank enthusiast, and Mako is a top-scoring honor student who struggles to wake up in the morning. The five girls depicted on Oarai's official tourism poster—and celebrated in cafés and shopfronts across town—each hold a distinct station inside one vehicle.

Sources: Characters of the Anglerfish Team / Official Introductory Manga — Crew Roles / 2026 Oarai Tourism Poster

From Hunting for Abandoned Tanks to Discovering Each Member’s Role in Practice

The five did not start out as a fixed crew from day one. In Episode 2 of the TV series, students who sign up for tankery search the woods around campus for abandoned tanks; Miho, Saori, and Hana meet Yukari during the search and wash their tank and eat dinner together as four, before crossing paths the next morning with chronically sleepy honor student Mako.

During the intra-school practice match in Episode 3, Hana initially sits in the driver's seat of the Panzer IV. When Hana faints after a heavy barrage, Mako—who has just climbed aboard—takes over the controls and steers the tank out of danger, prompting the five to settle into their permanent positions with Hana as gunner and Mako as driver.

Sources: TV Episode 2 — Searching for Tanks & Meeting Teammates / TV Episode 3 — Intra-School Practice Match

TV Episode 4 | The Practice Match Against St. Gloriana Starting on the Outskirts of Town

The first tank match fought through the streets of Oarai takes place in TV Episode 4 against St. Gloriana Girls' College. Under Miho's 'Sneaky Operation' (Kosokoso Sakusen), the Panzer IV goes out on reconnaissance and fires on the opponent to lure St. Gloriana's tanks into an ambush by waiting teammates.

When the Student Council team and the First-Year team are knocked out early, the battle shifts from the outskirts of Oarai straight into the downtown shopping streets. The Oarai Tourist Association's 'Oarai Urban Battle Strategy Map' connects the TV anime cuts—from the station kiosk to the shopping street corners and Marine Tower—directly to their real-world spots with dotted lines.

Sources: TV Episode 4 — Match Against St. Gloriana / Oarai Tourist Association — Urban Battle Strategy Map

Opening of ‘der Film’ | An Exhibition Match Cheered On by the Townsfolk of Oarai

Having won the national tournament in the TV series, Oarai Girls' Academy opens 'Girls und Panzer der Film' with a celebratory exhibition match hosted right in Oarai Town, pairing a combined Oarai and Chi-Ha-Tan Academy force against a joint team of St. Gloriana Girls' College and Pravda High School.

The match opens with St. Gloriana's Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe calmly sipping tea inside their tank before the camera pulls back to reveal tanks surrounding them in the middle of battle—an opening sequence that director Tsutomu Mizushima had already pitched to 3D director Keiichiro Yanagino at the TV series wrap party in April 2013.

Sources: Theatrical Film — Exhibition Match / Official Excerpt of the Oarai Urban Battle / Keiichiro Yanagino on Producing the Film's Opening

Radio Deception Tactics and the Final Showdown Against Her Sister’s Kuromorimine

In the first round of the national tournament in the TV series, Oarai faces Saunders University High School. Realizing that Saunders is intercepting their radio transmissions, Miho turns the eavesdropping against them by broadcasting false orders to regroup on high ground—making radio communication itself a decisive tactical weapon.

Waiting in the tournament finals is Kuromorimine Girls' Academy, Miho's former school where her older sister Maho commands. Pushed to the brink by Kuromorimine's super-heavy Maus tank, Oarai prevails through a coordinated three-tank maneuver uniting the Student Council's Turtle Team, the Volleyball Club's Duck Team, and Miho's Anglerfish Team.

Sources: TV Episode 5 — Reunion with Older Sister Maho / TV Episode 6 — Radio Deception Tactic / TV Episode 12 — Three-Team Coordinated Tactic

From a Match to Save the School to the Winter Tournament of ‘Das Finale’

In 'Girls und Panzer der Film,' Oarai fights a high-stakes match against the University All-Stars team to save their school from closure. Following that victory, the ongoing 'Das Finale' theatrical series picks up as third-year graduation and student council elections approach.

Prompted by Momo Kawashima's college admissions predicament, Oarai enters the Winter Continuous Track Cup; in 'Das Finale' Part 5, which opened in theaters on October 9, 2026, Oarai faces Darjeeling's St. Gloriana Girls' College in the tournament final.

Sources: 10th Anniversary Story Retrospective / Das Finale Part 1 / Das Finale Part 5 — Final Opponent / Das Finale Part 5 Theatrical Release

The Production Team Behind the Characters, Tanks, and Sound Design

Director Tsutomu Mizushima and Screenwriter Reiko Yoshida

The TV series was directed by Tsutomu Mizushima with series composition and screenplays by Reiko Yoshida, original character designs by Humikane Shimada, and character design and chief animation direction by Isao Sugimoto.

Takaaki Suzuki served as historical researcher and supervisor, Graphinica produced the 3DCGI, and Actas handled animation production, with Director Mizushima, writer Yoshida, and 3D director Keiichiro Yanagino returning to helm the theatrical film.

Sources: TV Series Staff Credits / Theatrical Film Staff Credits

Consulting the Local Shopping Street Before Staging a Tank Battle in Town

Oarai's connection to the anime began through Lantis music producer Yoichi Sekine, who hailed from Oarai and whose family ran a shop in the local shopping street; through that personal connection, animation producer Kiyoshi Sugiyama was introduced to Yoshihiko Tokiwa on the local chamber of commerce side.

What Sugiyama consulted the town about was using Oarai as the setting for tank battles and having local representatives guide the crew on location scouting. Because a story in which tanks race through downtown streets inevitably requires scenes where buildings get damaged or smashed, candidly discussing how the town would be depicted in the anime became the starting point of the partnership between the real shopping street and the work.

Source: Kiyoshi Sugiyama on Location Scouting in Oarai & Consulting the Shopping Street

Engineering CG Tank Tracks So Animators Could Adjust Every Single Frame

3D director Keiichiro Yanagino, who oversaw 3DCG on both the television series and the 2015 theatrical film, designed a custom rig that allowed animators to finely adjust tank tracks and suspension behavior.

A defining feature of the setup was that rather than leaving movement entirely to automated CG physics calculations, animators could adjust the tracks by hand frame by frame—reproducing even the exact meshing of perforated track links with the teeth of the drive sprocket so that multiple animators could start from the same high level of precision.

Source: Keiichiro Yanagino on TV & Theatrical Tank CG

Upgrading Tank Models and Blending 2D Animation with 3DCG for the Big Screen

For the theatrical film, the 3D models of the Panzer IV and other vehicles used in the television series were also substantially upgraded. Shapes and surface textures were refined in detail so close-up shots of the hulls would hold up on a large cinema screen, and additional production passes were added for characters, backgrounds, and shell-impact effects.

Character animation made use of both hand-drawn 2D drawings and 3DCG models—sometimes shifting from hand-drawn animation to 3D and back to hand-drawn within a single cut, and in other cases drawing only the characters' faces by hand while matching their movement to the bucking motion of the tank.

Creating 3D backgrounds also required building assets that allowed the camera viewpoint to move freely through space. In the second half of the film, where battle unfolds inside an amusement park, numerous rides and attractions fill the background—changing the spatial environment around the vehicles as the story moves from Oarai's downtown streets to the final battlefield.

Sources: Keiichiro Yanagino — Upgrading CG for Cinema / Keiichiro Yanagino — Character & Background Production

Distinct Engine Sounds for Every Tank and the Split-Second Silence at the Film’s Climax

Miwa Iwanami served as sound director and Shiro Hamaguchi composed the musical score. Sound effects designer Yasumasa Koyama decided on the acoustic profile of the Panzer IV Ausf. D first and then crafted the sound of each tank to match its personality, staying true to the real-world difference between gasoline and diesel engines while prioritizing how the roar registers on screen.

In the decisive final clash of the 2015 theatrical film, director Tsutomu Mizushima removed both the background music and spoken dialogue to center the audio mix entirely on sound effects, placing a split-second of complete silence amidst the mechanical roar of the moving tanks.

The theatrical film's theme song is 'piece of youth,' sung by ChouCho, and the home video release includes a making-of feature documenting the live studio recording of the orchestral soundtrack.

Sources: Sound & Music Staff / Yasumasa Koyama on Tank Audio & the Film's Climax / Theme Song & Score Recording Making-Of

Das Finale Part 4 | Controlling Blizzard Density and a 24-Second First-Person Shot

In Episode 4 of 'Das Finale' (2023), which depicts a tank battle across a snow-covered mountain, Yanagino rebuilt Director Mizushima's rough storyboards into layouts ready for 3DCG production and carefully adjusted the density of the blowing blizzard in overhead shots so viewers could clearly follow the battle situation.

Assistant director Shinichiro Takahashi handled the continuous 24-second cut advancing from a first-person viewpoint aboard the BT-42 tank, and for the sequence matching the sound of cannon fire and collisions on the snow to Mika and Yuri's musical performance, the team calculated the exact offset between visual timing and acoustic timing.

Source: Das Finale Part 4 — Official Staff Talk on CG & Sound

From the 2012 TV Broadcast to Storefront Standees, the Official Café, and ‘Das Finale’

The Shared Timeline of the Franchise and Oarai Town Since 2012

Sources: Oarai Town — Broadcast & Tourism History / Oarai Tourist Association — History of Standees & Café / TV Broadcast List & 10th Anniversary / Das Finale Official Site

Character Standees and Tank Panels Standing Outside Local Shops

Since spring 2013, an initiative placing life-size character standees in front of shops has spread across Oarai's shopping streets, joined by full-scale tank panels that make the characters and vehicles part of the townscape.

Because the standees are set out in step with each store's business hours, they may be stored indoors on regular shop holidays or during stormy weather. The Oarai Tourist Association Installation Map serves as a guide linking each character or tank panel to its host shop, and visitors can also check current event and store details at Umimachi Terrace next to Oarai Station.

Sources: Oarai Tourist Association — Standee Project / Umimachi Terrace Visitor Information

The Oarai Anglerfish Festival: Voice Cast Talks and Hobby Exhibitions

At the Oarai Anglerfish Festival held on November 16, 2025, voice cast talk stages were accompanied by a pedestrian-only street zone along the shopping arcade and a 'Mini-Mini Hobby Show' at Oarai Seaside Station, dividing franchise-related events across both the harbor facilities and the downtown shopping streets.

For 2026, the festival is scheduled across two days on November 14 and 15, with voice cast talk stages in front of Oarai Marine Tower and hobby exhibitions announced; visitors should follow that year's official festival guide for traffic regulations and stage timetables.

Sources: 2025 Anglerfish Festival Report / 2026 Festival Schedule Announcement

Collector’s Limited Edition Blu-ray Packaging the Film, Animation Booklets, and Recording Making-Of

Released on May 27, 2016, the Collector's Limited Edition Blu-ray of the theatrical film (catalog number BCXA-1123) is a four-disc set combining three Blu-ray discs with one bonus CD. Along with the 119-minute main feature, it includes event footage from the 2015 Oarai Anglerfish Festival, the soundtrack recording making-of documentary, and audio commentaries by the director and 3D director.

A 20-page animation correction book by Isao Sugimoto is also bundled, bringing together records of local town festivals and behind-the-scenes animation and sound production alongside the film itself.

Source: Publisher — Theatrical Blu-ray Specifications

Lab Note | From a Business Perspective: Connecting an Anime Battle Map with an Active Commercial Town

In Oarai, the Urban Battle Strategy Map carrying anime screenshots, the storefront character standees, the official licensed café, and the gallery each create a distinct purpose for visiting—dividing scene comparison, dining, and learning the shared history of the town and series across dedicated locations.

Bringing character standees outdoors and indoors in accordance with shop hours and weather is an operational model that lets a working commercial town introduce the anime day after day. Pairing archival scene maps with up-to-date business and transit guidance also supports fans who return to Oarai repeatedly.

Official Sources & Primary References

• Official Series Website & Guide
• Das Finale Official Site
• Oarai Tourist Association — Anime Guide
• Oarai Urban Battle Strategy Map
• Publisher — Theatrical Film Blu-ray

Exhibition dates, opening hours, admission fees, and ticket details are current at the time of writing. Always check the official websites for the latest schedule updates before setting out on your pilgrimage visit.