type 90 kai

90式戦車改 (Type 90 Tank Kai / Kyuu-Maru-Shiki Sensha Kai) is a fictitious tank that appears in the video game series "Gungriffon." It is a modified version of the JGSDF Type 90 tank. As the main gun and armoring have been upgraded in the style of the Leopard 2A6, the suspension has also been modified to support the extra weight. Its fighting capability in the story is also roughly the same as the Leopard 2A6. (Apparently, at the time that the first game of the series was released in 1996, the fighting capability of the actual Type 90 Kyu-Maru was not accurately known.)

The opening intro movie of this game starts from a battle, set in 2015, between APC (Asia Pacific Corps) and PEU (Pan European Union) at Kharkiv. (The English version has a different setting.)
The two tank platoons of the APC Type 90 Kai get overwhelmingly destroyed by PEU's Leopard 3 tanks. (A fictitious mecha that has a 140 mm smoothbore gun and a new automatic turret.)
The conversation between three tank officers of the Leopard 3 after the battle is one of the most famous elements in this game.

"90式はブリキ缶だぜ。" (The Type 90 is a tin can!)
"だが、シベリアじゃ新型が投入されたらしい。" (But I hear a new type was introduced in Siberia.)
"新型!?" (Neue panzer!? [A new tank!?])
"どうせ、たいした代物じゃないさ。" (Don't worry. It's nothing.)

Directly following this dialog, the tank officers' vehicle is swiftly destroyed by Type 12 HIGH-MACS, which are the machines that are operated by the players. For Japanese gamers, the quote from this scene "The Type 90 is a tin can!" became the quintessential "death flag" meme.

See also

• Wikipedia (Japanese): 90式戦車改
• Nicopedia: 90式はブリキ缶だぜ。