Erika Itsumi

Height

159 cm (5'3")

Birth Date

March 6th

Affiliation(s)

Kuromorimine Girls Academy

Role(s)

Overall commander Sub-commander Tank commander

Profile

Erika is a second year student from Kuromorimine Girls' Academy, the current vice-commander and has been appointed next in line for the position of overall commander after Maho Nishizumi graduates. She operates a German Tiger II in combat, she can also fly the team's Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 and their LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin. As a first year, she commanded a Pz. 38(t) during practice sessions. Erika is presumably from Kumamoto City, Kumamoto. She is the overall commander of Tankathlon team Schwarzwald Kampfgruppe operating a Panzer II.

Appearance

Erika is a medium-sized girl with platinum blonde hair up to her shoulders, and a pair of light blue eyes. Usually seen wearing Kuromorimine's uniform, wearing the jacket and hat during matches. Was briefly seen wearing the Ooarai uniform along with the rest of the reinforcement crews during the match against the All-Stars University Team. Once dressed up in a reindeer costume for Maho's Christmas party, and subsequently the infamous Anglerfish Dance costume, a Christmas gift from Ooarai's Anzu Kadotani, as well during the course of the festivities.

Personality

Erika is initially shown as quite an arrogant character, constantly insulting the Oarai team for their lack of experience and constantly wishing to crush them herself. She has an extremely short temper, and has a tendency to become enraged whenever things don't go her way, similar to Katyusha. She bore a serious grudge against Miho ever since her first year at Kuromorimine, up to and including Miho "abandoning" Kuromorimine and then betraying them by becoming the commander for a different school, despite her previous claim to abandon Sensha-Dō entirely. By the end of the anime however, she does show some decency when she (and Maho) admit defeat to the Ooarai team, happily saying that "We won't lose next time". She is shown to have mellowed significantly by the events of Girls und Panzer: Little Army Two, berating Sheska for running off and boasting about Kuromorimine's prowess to Emi Nakasuga. She also showed humility after their victory against Bellwall, acknowledging that the enemy team had outsmarted and cornered them at one point in the match, despite having fewer tanks.

Background (1)

Erika, along with Maho, criticized Miho intensely for their humiliating defeat from Pravda Girls High School during the previous Sensha-Dō finals that stopped their championship run to only just nine consecutive years. Since then, Miho left Kuromorimine and transferred to Ooarai Girls Academy to avoid Sensha-dō. In Girls und panzer: Phase Erika, her hatred for Miho stems back during her first year at Kuromorimine since she witnessed Maho promoting Miho as the vice-commander even though Miho was only a first year. She thinks that Miho is incapable of being a vice commander and her position there is a huge insult to the Nishizumi style and especially to Maho's name. Erika thinks that Miho has a poor decision in choosing her crew and that Miho chose to ignore their unpleasant experience with her crew during training rather than to reprimand them was a poor decision as a vice commander. Not only that but she also hated the fact that at Miho's age she was still collecting and bringing a Boko stuffed figure to school.

Background (2)

She challenged Miho in a match that will decide their faith in Sensha-Dō, to which if Erika wins Miho will quit Sensha-Dō and when Miho wins Erika would be the one who will quit Sensha-Dō. Erika managed to defeat Miho by a close match. After the match; during the assembly Maho dropped Miho then appointed Erika as a vice-commander but she refused since she thinks that she defeated Miho through luck. They happened to come across to each other at the locker room and Erika asked if Miho gave her all. Miho replied that she did not fight at her full potential since losing that match would be a good thing for her. Feeling insulted, Erika slapped Miho's face. By sheer coincidence, Maho decided to pair Erika with Miho, so that Erika's more strict acctitude can compesate some of Miho's weaknesess. Erika shows during practice to be a cold and effective teammate, but shows to be cold and harsh to Miho outside practice. Maho then announces that their school will take a practice match against Keizoku High School, commanded by Touko, the trickster, as training for the 62nd National High School Sensha-Dō Tournament. Shortly after the match starts, Miho, Erika and Koume get separated and ambushed, while the main group is sieged. Finally, Erikas group manages to destroy their enemy, but Erika's tank is destroyed. When Miho aproaches to help her and her crew, she orders her to save Maho. She obeys, leaving them and saving Maho's tank from the BT-42, and eventually they win the match. Erika congratulates Miho and they seem to become closer.

Background (3)

After they lose the 62nd National High School Sensha-Dō Tournament to Pravda after Miho got out of her tank to save the Panzer III crew (Koume included), Miho prepares to leave when she gets confronted in her room by Erika, who tackles her and accuses her of being a traitor and tells her that she will become a loser if she leaves now. She leaves her room angry and the stumbles with Koume, asking her why she did not leave the school. She responds that if she wishe to fight with Miho in the future, she must get stronger, asking Erika if she will get stronger too. Erika then realizes that that sort of strengh, distinct from all others, is what Miho left behind. Disgusted at herself for not being stronger, she takes the decision to get closer to the Nishizumi style and the commander. Despite her hostile feelings towards Miho, she reluctantly lent a helicopter ride for Miho's teammate Mako Reizei with Saori Takebe to visit the former's sick grandmother. During the finals, Erika often lost her temper as her opponents used unconventional tactics, such as a smoke screen to cover their escape, and threw a tantrum when her tank's left track broke down and lost the opportunity of immobilising Ooarai's flag tank . After desperately trying to reach Maho to help her, she was shocked to see Miho defeated her, but nevertheless, she accepted defeat and resolved that her school wouldn't lose in the next national tournament.

Background (4)

Erika appears to have grown up in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto and went to the same middle school with Maho and Miho. In the official spin-off comic, a very young Erika (roughly 7 or 8 years old) is seen insulting the Nishizumi sisters as being immature when they were riding tanks, threatening to tell "Sensei" about it. Based on her attire at the time, it is possible she came from a well-off family.