Maho Nishizumi

A city-ship containing several houses, convenience stores, small shopping centers, and basic shops. It also has housing for its residents, and the academy is located on board. Additionally, it features trees, vegetation, a large forest, and tall grassy slopes in front of the tank hangar.

Name in kanji: 西住まほ｜Name in Spanish: Maho Nishizumi｜Height: 163cm (5'4ft)｜Hometown, Residence: Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan｜Date of Birth: July 1st｜Blood Type: A｜Affiliations: University of Lower Saxony; Kuromorimine Girls' Academy｜Teams: Kuromorimine Girls' Academy Team; Team Nibelungen (Tankathlon); Team Nishizumi Mask (Tankathlon)｜Roles: General Commander (Trainer); Tank Commander｜Tanks: Panzer VI Ausf.E "TigerI"; StuG III Ausf.F (Little Army); Panzer II Ausf.F (Tankathlon; Panzer III Ausf.J (Erika Pride); Panzer IV Ausf.F2 (Erika pride)

Maho is a girl with medium-length dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a slightly above-average height. She has a similar haircut to her sister Miho, but her hair is a darker color, and two strands stick out on either side of her head. Aside from that, she bears a striking resemblance to Miho.

Outside of Sensha-dō, she is usually seen in the Kuromorimine Girls' Academy daily uniform, while during battle she wears her Sensha-dō uniform. On two occasions, she has worn the Ooarai Girls' Academy uniform. In more casual situations, she has been shown wearing a white button-down shirt with gray horizontal stripes, a gray button placket, and a gray area around the headhole, along with a light blue above-the-knee dress, gray socks, and sneakers. She also wore a Christmas outfit for her Christmas party with several of the Kuromorimine tank commanders.

Maho's favorite flowers are cherry blossoms, or sakura, and her favorite tank is the German Panzer V "Panther" medium tank.

Maho's birthday, on July 1, marks the beginning of the First Battle of El Alamein.

This battle was fought as part of the Western Desert Campaign in World War II, between Allied and German forces, in the deserts of Egypt and Libya. It ended in a stalemate, but it did manage to halt the Axis advance on Alexandria and the Suez Canal.

Maho's Tiger I bears the number 212, which is associated with the German Waffen-SS tank commander, Michael Wittmann. [Heavily based, by the way]

Wittmann was part of the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. He is known for his ambush of the British 7th Armoured Division during the Battle of Villers-Bocage, in which he and his crew destroyed up to 14 tanks, 15 personnel carriers, and two anti-tank guns before losing their own tank. Wittmann's crew has been credited with destroying up to 130 tanks, although this has not yet been verified.

Maho owns an Akita, which she keeps at the Nishizumi family home.

Outside of Sensha-do, Maho has a stoic and serious personality, which has led to misunderstandings among his subordinates.

Maho has knowledge of opera music, specifically Richard Wagner, who was Adolf Hitler's favorite composer. She suggested "Operation Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" (The Singing Masters of Nuremberg) as the name of her operation against the University All-Stars Team. [Another holy fact based 😇]

Maho appears to be the only tank commander who can intimidate Katyusha.

There's a German saying about being the firstborn, "Ein Vorbild wider Willen." A role model, against one's will. Never have truer words been spoken about the elder of the two Nishizumi sisters. I was once tasked with looking after Maho and her sister while their mother was called away on urgent business. Instead of having to care for both of them, Maho was more like a little helper, bringing supplies and toys for her younger sister. I guess some things never change.

Maho has always been a winner, excelling at everything she's attempted in her life. Top of her class at Kuromorimine, a skilled combat leader both inside and outside the turret, and an exemplary inheritor of Nishizumi's legacy. However, I had some concerns shortly after her second year began, when she and her sister were appointed joint commanders of the Kuromorimine Sensha-do team. I couldn't object to Shiho's decision to bestow leadership responsibilities upon her two daughters, but the next time I saw Maho at her mandatory beginning-of-term interview, I could tell something was amiss.

It took some convincing, but we were able to peel back the facade. Maho shared her concerns about how difficult it would be for her to blend in with her subordinates off the battlefield. She mentioned her sister's lack of leadership and combat experience, and that she had tried unsuccessfully to persuade their mother to reconsider giving Miho the burden of command. I realized that Shiho wanted Miho to learn from her older sister, both on and off the battlefield, but this only added to Maho's stress of constantly having to be at her best. More importantly, she confided that she wanted Miho to have the freedom to discover her own path in life, rather than being confined by traditional family values ​​and armored combat doctrine. I made a mental note that day to schedule more sessions with her.

Then there was that fateful day. As part of the post-action review, I was tasked with interviewing those involved in the accident at the finals of the 62nd National Tournament. I remember Maho walking into my office and collapsing within seconds of me closing the door. All the emotions she'd bottled up for weeks on end, carrying on the high life of her family, spilled out. All I could offer was a cup of hot coffee and a box of tissues as we worked out a plan of action to help her recover.

It's been a while since that incident, and I'm happy to say there have been some changes for the better. Although Maho remains as stoic as ever, I heard about the Christmas party she threw for her lieutenant. Even though she's now at university, we've continued our regular counseling sessions, and she's shared that she's been making more of an effort to connect with her sister, especially now that she's several time zones and an entire continent away. It's a small start, but a start nonetheless. And if her efforts are as strong as the bottle of Jägermeister she sent me for Christmas, I think she'll be fine.

Maho, like Miho, comes from a family that traditionally practices Sensha-Dō. They were once together at Kuromorimine Girls' Academy, 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 help the crew of a Panzer III that had slipped into a nearby body of water resulted in their defeat. Had they not lost, Kuromorimine would have had ten consecutive tournament victories, an unprecedented feat 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.

Final showdown

The final showdown between Maho and Miho in the 63rd Senshado Tournament.

Despite appearing aloof, she is not without human sensitivity. While at the match venue 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 contact Mako's ailing grandmother. Much later, it is implied that she has been keeping her attendance at Ooarai's matches a secret from her mother to avoid drawing attention to herself. When her mother learns that Miho has returned to Sensha-Dō and expresses her intention to disown her, Maho is visibly distraught. During Ooarai's match against Pravda, when Shiho assumes Ooarai will lose and decides watching the match to its conclusion is a waste of time, Maho demonstrates her faith in her sister by convincing their mother to stay. Maho even contradicts Shiho after that match, arguing that Miho's victory wasn't due to luck, but rather her ability to adapt her tactics to the situation and inspire her teammates. Nevertheless, Maho accepts her mother's order to defeat Miho's team.

During the finals, Maho ends up facing Miho in a single match and is defeated, resulting in Miho winning the tournament. After the match ends, Maho congratulates Miho, acknowledging his defeat and saying that Miho's style was completely different from Nishizumi's, expressing his pleasure that Miho has found her own path in Sensha-Dō. [I CRIED AT THE ANIME ENDING, IT'S TOO PEAK]

KANJI NAME: 逸見エリカ ||
ROMAJI NAME: Itsumi Erika ||
HEIGHT: 159 cm (5'3") ||
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture ||
DATE OF BIRTH: March 6 ||
BLOOD TYPE: AB ||
AFFILIATIONS: GuP / Kuromorimine / Kuromorimine Girls' Academy ||
TEAM: Kuromorimine Girls' Academy / Schwarzwald Kampfgruppe Team ||
ROLE(S): General Commander / Deputy Commander / Tank Commander || TANKS: Tiger II / Panzer 35(t) (training tank) / Panzer 38(t) (training tank) / Panzer II F (Tankathlon) / Panzer III (Das Finale: Part 3) / Crusader Mk.I (Erika's Pride)

"Don't underestimate Kuromorimine!"
~ERIKA ITSUMI

Of all the people I've analyzed in the Sensha-do circuit, Erika Itsumi is one of the most complex leaders I've had the pleasure of understanding. Beneath the arrogance and brusqueness lies a burning desire to become stronger by any means necessary.

Upon joining Kuromorimine's sensha-do team, Erika had to accept that she was just another soldier, fighting under Nishizumi's banner. What she could never accept was that the youngest daughter was already being groomed to be their future leader, despite her obvious flaws both inside and outside the tank. The fact that Miho was far too lenient for her own good, even letting her win their first match as rivals, only fueled the flames.

Erika's appearance: She is a girl of average height, with platinum blonde hair that reaches her shoulders and light blue eyes.

She is usually seen wearing the standard gray uniform of Kuromorimine or the specific black uniform of Senshado, the latter with a hat.

Erika is initially portrayed as a rather arrogant character, constantly insulting Team Oarai for their inexperience and constantly wishing to crush them herself. She has an extremely short temper and tends to become enraged when things don't go her way, much like Katyusha. She harbored a deep grudge against Miho since her first year at Kuromorimine, even after Miho "abandoned" Kuromorimine and then betrayed them by becoming the commander of another school, despite her earlier claim to have left Sensha-Dō entirely. However, at the end of the anime, she shows some decency when she (and Maho) admit defeat to Team Oarai, cheerfully saying, "We won't lose next time."

Erika's favorite flowers are moth orchids, and her favorite tank is the German Sturmtiger assault gun, armed with a 380mm rocket-propelled mortar.