Honoring Military Girls on Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the holiday for people to gather and honor those who gave their all. Whereas regular people gather at barbeques to eat good food, we cultured otaku gather to celebrate cute military girls. These waifus have seen battle and lived to tell the tale, so let’s give them the recognition they deserve.

1. Cammy (Street Fighter)

Cammy was once a member of Bison’s Shadaloo as one of his many Dolls. She broke free of his control and joined the British military’s Delta Red unit. Since then, Cammy has become a firm ally against the never-ending war against the forces of darkness. Cammy is one of the few military girls in Street Fighter and is the best girl on the roster. Her uniform may not be a standard military issue, but her backstory explains it well enough.

Cammy’s enemy-turned-potential-ally needs a home. The Juri POP UP PARADE Figure from Capcom is available for purchase right now.

Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto created the first Street Fighter game, which Capcom released on August 30th, 1987.

2. Sonya Blade (Mortal Kombat)

Sonya is a member of a top US Special Forces unit. Her goal has always been to arrest Kano and dismantle his Black Dragon organization. This formerly ordinary military girl was quickly swept up in a supernatural war with all of Earth at stake. She prevailed repeatedly and even found a connection with the movie star Johnny Cage.

Midway released the first Mortal Kombat game in August 1992.

3. Tanya von Degurechaff (The Saga of Tanya the Evil)

Tanya is an isekai character who was born in modern-day Japan. He — now she — was a ruthless Japanese salaryman with several unkind opinions of God. His defiance of God leads him to be reborn in another world as a cute blonde girl with extraordinary magical abilities. Such people are drafted to fight in a terrible war. Tanya’s goal became clear: rise through the ranks and be promoted away from the battlefield to avoid an early death. She’s still a military girl, even if she’s an isekai genderswap.

Carlo Zen published the original The Saga of Tanya the Evil on Arcadia, the user-generated website from 2010-2017. Enterbrain obtained the rights and hired the artist Shinobu Shinotsuki to adapt the series to a light novel format. This new run began on October 31st, 2013, with fourteen volumes published thus far.

4. Miho Nishizumi (Girls und Panzer)

Miho is the tank commander of the Anglerfish Team and the Oarai Girls Academy’s Sensha-do team. Her team uses a German Panzer IV. Miho is a skilled tank operator who greatly enjoys competing in Sensha-do, a martial arts sport employing powerful tanks. Though she takes pride in victory, she will prioritize the safety of her friends more than anything else. Miho is a military girl because she participates in a sport that wages military-style war games.

Actas created this series as part of a multimedia franchise.

5. Mio Sakamoto (Strike Witches)

Mio has since retired from active service, but she remains a military instructor. As such, she is still a “military girl.” Mio achieved many victories against the Neuroi. Her use of katanas in battle earned her the nickname “Samurai.” Unlike Cammy’s military, Mio’s revealing uniform is a Fuso Imperial Military standard issue.

There’s another Witch who needs a home. The Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen 1/4 Figure Bunny Style Ver. — 501st Joint Fighter Wing from Strike Witches Road to Berlin is available to purchase right now.

Fumikane Shimada first created the Strike Witches franchise in a series of magazine illustration columns. The first entry in this long-running war devoid of pants is a manga series published by Kadokawa Shoten in Comp Ace from September 26th, 2005, to January 26th, 2006.

What do you think of our military girls list? Who would you suggest for a similar list? Did you find any new favorite waifus? Let us know in the comments below.