Erika Itsumi

Erika Itsumi

Name of the hieroglyph:
逸見エリカ
Romaji's name:
Itsumi Erika
Height:
159 cm (5 ft 3 in)
Age:
16 years old
Hometown:
Hitoyoshi, Kunamoto Prefecture
Date of birth:
March 6
Zodiac sign:
Pisces (Water)
Blood group:
AB

Affiliation(s):
GUP KuromorimineSmall 5224 Kuromorimine Girls' Academy

Team:
Team Kuromorimine Girls' Academy
Schwarzwald Kampfgruppe

Role(s):
General Commander
Junior commander
Tank commander

Reservoir(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 (Erica's Pride)

"Don't look down on Kuromorimine!"
Erika Itsumi

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

Of all the people I've analyzed for the Sensha-Do project, Erika Itsumi is one of the most complex leaders I've ever come to understand. Behind her arrogance and rudeness lies a burning desire to become stronger at any cost.

Upon joining the Kuromorimine Sensha-Do team, Erika had to accept the fact that she was just another soldier fighting under the Nishizumi banner. What she couldn't accept was that her youngest daughter was already being groomed to be their future leader, despite her obvious shortcomings both on and off the battlefield. The fact that Miho was too kind to her—even allowing her to win their first match on opposite sides—only added fuel to the fire.

When Kuromorimine lost to Pravda at the 62nd National High School Tournament, Erika lost her temper. She was angry not only at Miho for dropping out of school ("running away," as she called it), but also at herself for failing to become as strong as she should have been. It was at that moment that the flower that bloomed on the moorland blossomed into a powerful force within Kuromorimine, poised to lead the team to victory.

After a successful performance at Tanklatlon and supporting Maho Nishizumi to the finals of the 63rd National High School Tournament, Erika faced Miho again. The outcome was the same, but the consequences were different. Erika finally realized that to become strong, she shouldn't strive to be an exact copy of her idol. She had to forge her own path to become just as good as her idol.

From the moment Maho Kuromorimine graduated, she was unstoppable under her new commander. Conducting lightning-fast raids on enemy positions with a cold glass of wine (non-alcoholic, of course) in hand, Erika finally discovered her own style of sensha-do. Batten down the hatches to avoid getting shot at.

Erica is a girl of average height with shoulder-length platinum hair and light blue eyes.

She is usually seen wearing either the standard gray Kuromorimine uniform or the special black Senshado uniform, the latter of which includes a hat. She also wore the Oarai uniform along with the rest of the reinforcement teams during the match against the University All-Star team in Der Film.

She once dressed up in a reindeer costume for a Christmas party in Mahō, and then in the infamous Anglerfish dance costume, a Christmas gift from Anzu Kadotani of Ooarai.

Erika initially appears quite arrogant, constantly insulting the Oarai team for their inexperience and wanting to crush them herself. She is very hot-tempered and becomes enraged when things don't go her way, much like Katyusha. She harbored a deep grudge against Miho ever since she enrolled at Kuromorimine, right up until the moment Miho "left" Kuromorimine and betrayed them by becoming a commander at another school, despite her previous claims of completely abandoning Sensa-Do. However, by the end of the anime, she (along with Maho) shows some restraint, admitting defeat to the Oarai team and cheerfully declaring, "Next time, we won't lose."

The events of Girls und Panzer: Little Army Two seem to have softened her character considerably. She scolds Sheska for running away and boasts to Emi Nakasuga about her Kuromorimine prowess. She also showed humility after defeating Bellwall, admitting that the enemy team outsmarted them and cornered them at one point in the match, despite having fewer tanks.

In the Das Finale films, when Erika finishes her final year and Maho graduates, she is clearly affected by the absence of her former commander in her life. As a result, she begins to rely more on her own thoughts and improvise.

By the time OVA 11 came out, she had become more casual and humble, but still appeared serious.

Erika, along with Maho, harshly criticized Miho for the humiliating defeat to Pravda Girls' High School in the previous Sensha-do finals, which prevented them from defending their championship title, which they had held for nine consecutive years. Afterward, Miho left Kuromorimine and transferred to Oorai Girls' Academy to avoid competing in Sensha-do.

In "Girls und Panzer: Erika Phase," it's explained that her cold and callous attitude toward Miho began during their first year at Kuromorimine, when she witnessed Maho appoint Miho as vice-commander despite being a first-year. She believes Miho is unfit to be vice-commander, and her appointment is a huge insult to the Nishizumi style and especially to Maho. Erika believes Miho acted recklessly in choosing her team, and that Miho's decision to ignore their unpleasant experience with the team during training instead of reprimanding them was poor judgment for a vice-commander. She was also outraged that at her age, Miho still collects and carries a Boko plush figure with her to school.

She challenged Miho to a duel to determine which of them would remain in Sensha-Do. If Erika won, Miho would leave Sensha-Do, and if Miho won, Erika would leave Sensha-Do. Erika narrowly defeated Miho. After the duel, during a meeting, Maho removed Miho from her position and appointed Erika as vice-commander, but Erika declined, believing her victory over Miho was a fluke. They bumped into each other in the locker room, and Erika asked if Miho had given it her all. Miho replied that she hadn't given it her all because it would have been better for her to lose. Insulted, Erika slapped Miho. By pure chance, Maho decided to pair Erika with Miho, allowing Erika's stricter nature to compensate for some of Miho's weaknesses.

During training, Erika proves herself a cool and effective team member, but outside the training hall, she acts cold and rude toward Miho. Then, Maho announces that their school will hold a practice match against Keizoku High School, led by the deceitful Toko, in preparation for the 62nd National Sensho-do High School Tournament. Shortly after the match begins, Miho, Erika, and Koume are separated and ambushed, while the main group finds themselves under siege. Eventually, Erika's group manages to destroy the enemy, but Erika's tank is damaged. When Miho approaches to assist her and her crew, Erika orders her to save Maho. Miho complies, abandons them, and saves Maho's tank from a BT-42, ultimately winning the match. Erika congratulates Miho, and the two seem to grow closer.

After losing the 62nd National High School Sensho-do Tournament to Pravda because Miho climbed out of a tank to save the crew of the Panzer III (including Koume), Miho prepares to leave, but is confronted in her room by Erika, who accuses her of betrayal and says she'll be a failure if she leaves now. She angrily storms out of the room and runs into Koume, who asks why she hasn't left school. Koume replies that if she wants to fight Miho in the future, she must become stronger, and asks Erika if she will become stronger. Erika then realizes that this is precisely the kind of strength, unlike any other, that Miho left behind. Outraged that she hasn't become stronger herself, she resolves to approach the Nishizumi style and the commander.

Despite her dislike for Miho, she reluctantly agreed to give Miho's teammate Mako Reizei and Saori Takebe a helicopter ride to visit the latter's ailing grandmother at Maho's insistence.

During the finals, Erika frequently became frustrated by her opponents' unconventional tactics, such as using smokescreens to hide, and she became hysterical when her tank's left tread broke, missing an opportunity to immobilize Ooarai's flagship tank. After desperately trying to catch up to Maho to help her, she was shocked to see Miho defeat her, but she nonetheless accepted her defeat and resolved that her school would not lose at the next national tournament.

Erika apparently grew up in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, and attended the same middle school as Maho and Miho. In the official spin-off comic, a very young Erika (approximately 7 or 8 years old) insults the Nishizumi sisters, calling them immature for riding tanks, and threatens to report them to Sensha-do. Judging by her clothes, she comes from a wealthy family.

When she becomes Kuromorimine's commander-in-chief after Maho Nishizumi's graduation, Nishizumi advises Erika to develop her own sensei style rather than simply adopt Nishizumi's fighting style. Erika ultimately followed this advice during the Winter Continuous Cup, particularly in the quarterfinal match against Pravda, depicted in Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 3.

In the aforementioned match, Erika swapped tanks with Emi Kojima, presumably to emphasize speed and maneuverability over armor. She then stealthily approached Pravda's positions on the hill and, with deft maneuvering, evaded enemy attacks, managing to approach the enemy flagship from a vulnerable side. Since Pravda had based their battle plans on Kuromorimin's pre-planned strategy, they were caught off guard by the enemy's sudden change in tactics and were unable to save their flagship before it was knocked out by Erika's tank.

However, in Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 4, Kuromorimin's team is apparently defeated by the St. Gloriana Girls' College team in a very intense match, which ultimately results in the two flagship tanks destroying each other within seconds of each other: Kuromorimin's flagship tank is presumably destroyed first, causing Erika to openly and loudly lament the outcome of the match.

• (Der Film) “We must break through the enemy’s defensive line!”
• (Der Film) "Operation Glühwein und Eisbein! [During a brainstorming session to determine a common name for the Ooarai battle plans]

Erica's favorite flowers are phalaenopsis, and her favorite tank is the German Sturmtiger assault gun, armed with a 380mm rocket launcher.

Erica's birthday, March 6th, is associated with the following events:
• The Battle of Medenine began in 1943. It was an Axis diversionary attack on Medenine in Tunisia, intended to delay the British advance to the Mareth Line. It was the last battle commanded by German General Erwin Rommel during the North African Campaign. He returned to Europe three days after its end.
• Operation Spring Awakening (Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) began in 1945. It was the last major German offensive of World War II, aimed at capturing oil fields and preventing the Red Army from advancing toward Vienna, Austria. Due to organizational inefficiencies and enemy numerical superiority, the Germans failed to advance as far as they had planned, and the offensive ended in failure.

"Erica" ​​is named after the German marching song of the same name. Also known as "Auf de Heide" ("On the Meadow"), it was written by military composer Herms Niel, published in 1938, and immediately adopted by the Wehrmacht. It became the most popular marching song in Germany during World War II.

Erica has an older sister.

The film implies that Erika's favorite dish is Glühwein und Eisbein (smoked knuckle with mulled wine).

In addition, in the film, Erica is one of the few people not from the Pravda school who carries Katyusha on her shoulders.