Sayaka Sasaki, ChouCho return for anime's theme songs, orchestra concert gets BD release in December

The staff of the Girls und Panzer das Finale anime project announced the opening theme song artists for the anime project during the "Girls und Panzer der Film Cinematic Concerts" concert on Sunday. Sayaka Sasaki will perform the opening theme song "Grand symphony" for the first three episodes. Sasaki previously performed the "Anglerfish Dance" song that is part of the original television anime's story. ChouCho, who performed the opening theme song for the television anime and the 2015 film, will return as the opening theme song artist for the project's last three episodes.

Sasaki appeared during Sunday's concert as a "secret guest" and performed an orchestral rendition of "Grand symphony."

Bandai Visual will also release a Blu-ray Disc of a live recording of Sunday's concert at the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall. The Blu-ray Disc is slated for December 22. The release will also include performances of ChouCho and Sasaki's songs for the anime project. The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra performed the music, under the baton of conductor Hirofumi Kurita, as it did for the earlier "Girls und Panzer Orchestra Concert ~Herbst Musikfest 2015~."

Sunday's concert featured footage from the 2015 film accompanied by the orchestra performing pieces from the film's soundtrack (which also includes traditional real-life military marches). The Blu-ray Disc release on December 22 will also include footage from the real-life Ōarai town's Anglerfish Festival from last November, the Spring Festival Kairaku event from March, and a "D1 GRAND PRIX SERIES Rd.3 TSUKUBA DRIFT" support tour. The release will also contain another installment of the "Akiyama Yukari no Sensha Kōza" (Yukari Akiyama's Tank Lecture) short series, whose previous installments appeared in the television anime and film's home video releases.

The first of the upcoming finale anime's six episodes will open in 59 Japanese theaters on December 9.

The project will also have immersive 4DX and MX4D screenings, after the second episode in the Finale anime project ends its initial run of regular screenings. Each of the immersive screenings will combine two episodes; the first ones will combine the first and second episodes. The next set of immersive screenings will combine the third and fourth episodes, and the last set will combine the fifth and sixth episodes.

The 2015 Girls und Panzer der Film anime opened in November 21, 2015, and continued playing in theaters for over a full year. The film shipped on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in Japan in May 2016, and the release came with a new OVA that takes place after the events of the movie, as well as an episode of the "Akiyama Yukari no Sensha Kōza" (Yukari Akiyama's Tank Lecture) shorts.

Sentai Filmworks announced in September that it had licensed the 2015 film, and the company collaborated with Eleven Arts to release the film theatrically in the United States in November with an English dub.

Source: Dengeki Online