Katusha

Basic information

Name:
Katyusha
Name in Kanji:
カチューシャ
Name in Romaji:
Katusha
Age:
17 years old
Height:
127 cm (4 ft 2 in)
Hometown:
Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture
Birthday:
January 31
Zodiac sign:
Capricorn (Earth)
Blood group:
B

AFFILIATION:
Girls' Gymnasium "Pravda"

TEAM:
Girls' Gymnasium "Pravda"

ROLE(S):
Commander
Tank commander

TANK(S):
T-34-85

"You only prepared these tanks to make Katyusha laugh, didn't you? All of you are beneath Katyusha in status! Your tanks, your technology, and your height."
KATYUSHA

"Let's go! We'll leave their flagship tank and destroy every single one of them. We'll show them how much stronger we are!"
KATYUSHA

Katyusha (カチューシャ, Katyusha, Kachūsha), also known as "Snow Storm", is a supporting character in the anime Girls Soldier and the main protagonist of the spin-off Girls und Panzer: The Truth Saga.

Let's get one thing straight. First of all, Katyusha is an adult. No ifs, ands, or buts. Anyone who says otherwise will be sentenced to hard labor in the coldest and harshest Gulag imaginable, with no hope of release.

Even before Katyusha entered Pravda High School—and became the top student in her class—she was incredibly tough. Who else could take on three other students on her first day and defeat them in a fight? Who else could unite the first-year students of Sensei Pravda's team into one of the most powerful armored corps? Who else could the Saint Gloriana Tea Circle accept in her first year of high school?

Who else could calmly give the order to open fire on a defenseless tank - and all for the sake of victory?

But even the great Katyusha is only human. The same mind that understands the intricacies of military history struggles to get up at nine in the morning. The same legs that sent her classmates to the infirmary still walk slower than everyone else's. And the same spirit that drove them to victory at any cost, battling their opponents on Kuromorimine, is at its best after hot soup and a siesta.

So Katyusha is a young woman. The emphasis is on the word "young." But beyond that, Katyusha is a truly great military leader. She's one of those commanders who achieved success by standing on the shoulders of giants—or, in her case, sitting on them. Woe to those who underestimate her.

Katyusha has short platinum-blonde hair styled into a bob and a petite frame. She has piercing blue-green eyes and a yaeba—a protruding tooth on the left side.

Katyusha is usually seen wearing the standard Pravda school uniform, ankle socks, and dark loafers. In Sensei-Do, Katyusha wears a dark green jumpsuit with long sleeves and short legs, adorned with Pravda's four-pointed red star. She also wears a Soviet-style tank helmet with padded ridges along the top, a loose chin strap, and tank boots.

———

Uniform

The school uniform consists of a dark green jacket over a red shirt and a short black skirt. The jacket has two large, closable pockets and a four-pointed red star on the left lapel, reminiscent of the five-pointed star worn by the Red Army. During sensedo matches, a black vest with two large, closable pockets and a four-pointed red star on the left side may be worn over the entire uniform. Many students also wear a light brown fur hat with earflaps.

Katyusha typically uses a strategy based on forcing her opponent to make a mistake, after which she delivers the decisive blow. As we saw in the fight with Ooarai and Kuromorimine, she understands the importance of positioning herself and coordinating her moves to lure her opponent into a trap and then close it. Her favorite technique is the double encirclement, forcing the opponent to fight on two fronts or succumbing to the onslaught of Truth.

Katyusha is not only a brilliant tactician, but also knows how to use weather conditions to her advantage. Being a Soviet-themed tank, Pravda is accustomed to fighting in the bitter cold, which gives her team an advantage, as the cold winter is devastating to enemy tanks and undermines their morale.

Katyusha also has access to the most powerful armor of World War II, including the IS-2 and KV-2. She typically deploys the IS-2 as the vanguard, with her loyal lieutenant Nonna serving as the gunner. The KV-2 provides fire support: its powerful 152mm howitzer destroys virtually everything it hits.

Nonna is a character from the anime and manga Girls & Panzer.

Description: Deputy commander, T-34-85 and IS-2 tank commander, gunner. Named after the Soviet self-propelled artillery gun "Nona-S."

Appearance: A tall, elegant girl with straight, shoulder-length black hair and light blue eyes. She sings well.

Personality: Always calm and composed, never loses her composure or raises her voice. She cares for Katyusha like a child.

—

Klara is a supporting character in the Girls & Panzer anime franchise. Along with Katyusha and Nonna, she participates in tank competitions against the anime's main characters.

Description: A beautiful young woman from Russia, born and raised in Novosibirsk. She has medium-length platinum hair and blue eyes. According to Klara, her father works in intelligence, which she uses to gather information. A calm and calculating individual, she always assesses the situation clearly and maintains her composure even in the most critical situations.
Klara recently joined Katyusha's team, but has already demonstrated her mastery of tank control, earning her the role of T-34/85 tank commander.

Katyusha first appears in episode 8 alongside Nonna, where they meet with Ooarai's commanders before her match. After Anzu Kadotani offered to shake her hand, Katyusha ordered her second-in-command Nonna to carry her on her shoulders, then mocked Ooarai's numerical superiority. As they parted, Katyusha sarcastically "thanked" Miho Nishizumi for winning last year's tournament.

Katyusha led Pravda to the city where Ooarai was located and surrounded it. She offered the enemy two hours to surrender. When Ooarai refused, determined to fight to the bitter end, Katyusha attempted to lure him into a trap by attacking a gap in his defenses. However, when Ooarai broke through, attacking the vanguard, Katyusha was forced to change tactics and sent her flagship tank into the line of fire while the rest of her forces pursued Ooarai's flagship. Ultimately, Katyusha lost to Ooarai in the semifinals after her flagship tank was ambushed.

After the match, Katyusha accepted the defeat with dignity and promised to root for Miho and Ooarai in the final against Kuromorimine.

Katyusha appears again in Girls and Tanks: The Movie.
In the first exhibition match, Katyusha leads the Pravda squad as part of a combined team with the St. Gloriana Girls' Academy against the combined forces of the Ooarai and Chi-Ha-Tan Academies. We first see her break through the Ooarai and Chi-Ha-Tan defenses on a golf course to rescue the crippled St. Gloriana tanks. Later in the battle, Katyusha pursues the Ooarai flagship tank (Team Angler) and ultimately sacrifices herself so that Team Darjeeling's Churchill can destroy a Panzer IV and secure victory for her team.

In the battle for Uarai, Katyusha responds to the call of the Darjeeling and, along with four tanks from Pravda, joins the Uarai team and the Star University team. Katyusha is appointed deputy commander of the Sunflower Company, under the command of Maho Nishizumi. When the company comes under heavy artillery fire and is forced to retreat, Katyusha's comrades sacrifice themselves to cover her retreat. Shocked and saddened, Katyusha gathers all her strength and continues to fight.

When the battle moves to the amusement park, Katyusha is initially sent to the southern entrance and then joins the Kuromorimine tanks to destroy a decoy squad of the university team. She remains with this team, attempting to break through the encirclement at the amphitheater, but they are unsuccessful. After Ooarai's Rabbit breaks through the encirclement using the Ferris wheel, Katyusha retreats and eventually joins Ooarai's Leopard and Ant teams to engage the enemy Pershings. Her tank is one of the last to be disabled in a brief skirmish with the "Bermuda Trio" of All-Star Company Commanders.

At the very end of the film, she appears with the rest of the Ooarai team to congratulate Miho on her victory and, in her cheerfully arrogant manner, personally accept Ooarai's gratitude for the help from all the other schools.

Katyusha appears in the Das Finale arc, possibly in the final months before graduation, when she was still the commander of Pravda.
Team Pravda easily advances to the Round of 16, defeating Viking Fishers High School in a fast, no-communication attack.
In Part III, Katyusha faces Team Kuromorimine, led by Erika Itsumi, in the quarterfinals. Taking a fortified position atop a hill, Katyusha plans to concentrate her fire on Kuromamori's heavy tanks and then finish off the lighter ones. Her strategy is initially successful, disabling a Maus and Elephant and immobilizing a Jagdtiger, but Erika's decision to attack her from the flank catches her off guard. Katyusha personally leads a small force to repel Erika's attack and manages to destroy all but one of the tanks. Just as the flagship tank, a Pravda, commanded by Klara, is about to escape, a Panzer III, commanded by Erika, takes off and fires at the Pravda's top hatch. The Katyusha manages to catch up with it and fire at the Panzer III, but both tanks are disabled, giving victory to Pravda.

Katyusha (カチューシャ, Kachūsha) is a diminutive form of the name Yekaterina, which in turn is a Russian form of the English name "Catherine" or "Katherine".

"Catherine" means "pure."

Katyusha's favorite flower is the daisy, and her favorite tank is the Soviet heavy tank KV-2.

Katyusha's birthday, January 31st, is associated with the following events:
• the surrender of the German 6th Army to the Soviet Army, which led to the end of the Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943. Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus had been promoted the day before, and Hitler believed that his personal pride would either force him to fight to the last or push him to commit suicide rather than surrender. The disruption of German supply lines to the Soviet Union, partly due to Hitler's refusal to allow his soldiers to retreat from Stalingrad when they could, led to one of the largest surrenders of the war and was a serious blow to the German war effort.
• A less significant, but still important, wartime event was the start of the Battle of Kwajalein in 1944, which ended in an American victory after four days of fighting.
• This defeat forced the Japanese to realize that a deep defense of the Pacific islands would be more effective than defending the coastline at all costs. Similar tactics were used in the more famous battles of Guam (also in 1944) and Iwo Jima (in 1945), which were ultimately won by the Americans, but with heavy losses for the victorious side.

"Katyusha" is named after a Soviet song about a girl seeing a soldier off to the front.
• The song also gave its name to the Katyusha series of rocket launchers used by the Soviet Union during World War II. Katyusha and Nonna rode in one of these vehicles to greet the Ooarai team before the match.

At 4 feet 2 inches / 128 cm, Katyusha is the shortest of the main characters in the series.
• Katyusha stopped growing around third grade, so she was never taken seriously. This motivated her to strive for more so she wouldn't be looked down on because of her height.
• Despite wanting to be looked up to, Katyusha still hasn’t gotten rid of some of her childhood habits: she talks about herself in the third person, snacks whenever possible, and sleeps during the day.
• The habit of speaking about oneself in the third person apparently refers to Stalin, who in public speeches, including radio addresses, often spoke about himself in the third person rather than in the first.

Even though Katyusha knows the lyrics to the song of the same name, she doesn't speak Russian very well.
• Much to Katyusha's displeasure, her subordinates Nonna and Klara often speak to her in Russian.
• After finishing school, Katyusha plans to enter a Russian university.